Thursday, January 30, 2020
The State of Affirmative Action in Michigan Essay Example for Free
The State of Affirmative Action in Michigan Essay The term affirmative action refers to positive steps taken for the purpose of giving members of minority groups (including women) increased representation in the workplace, education, and in business opportunities. The term was first used in Executive Order (EO) 11246 issued by then President Lyndon Johnson in 1965 to ensure that federal contractors were not discriminating against minority groups pursuant to the provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).            However, it took another five years before the Secretary of Labor came out with Order #4 which contained the implementing guidelines for EO # 11246. In 1972, Revised Order #4 was issued by the Secretary of Labor to amend Order #4 and fully implement EO 11246. In order to carry out the revised order, directives were issued by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to bring colleges and universities under its coverage. Because the revised order already included women among the minority groups that should be â€Å"fully utilized,†the different institutions in the country, including colleges and universities, were required to set their â€Å"goals†and â€Å"timetables†for such full utilization of the so-called â€Å"protected classes†which by then included women (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Controversy followed the implementation of the revised order not only because of the inclusion of women under the minority groups but particularly when it came to the interpretation of the terms â€Å"goals†and â€Å"timetables.†Some quarters insisted that â€Å"goals†and â€Å"timetables†meant â€Å"quotas†which required institutions to employ gender and/or racial preferences in their employee selection. Others believed otherwise. They argued that a correct interpretation of EO 11246 would show that affirmative action did not actually mean using racial or gender preferences in the selection processes but merely increasing representation. In an essay entitled â€Å"Preferential Hiring,†Judith Jarvis Thomson supported the idea of preferences as a way of compensating for the discrimination that minorities suffered in the past. Thomas Nagel, on the other hand, in his â€Å"Equal Treatment and Compensatory Justice,†claimed that preferences could be a manner of achieving social good without necessarily being unfair and unjust to anybody. Their arguments were immediately contradicted by Lisa Newton who argued that if schools give preference to women and minorities, the â€Å"reverse discrimination [that inevitably results] violates the public equality which defines citizenship†(Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). As the debate raged on how to go about giving more teaching posts to women and members of the minority groups, some colleges and universities took the initiative of increasing the presence of minority students in their student population. Unfortunately, one problem became immediately apparent: not enough minority students could obtain sufficient test scores or high school grades that would enable them to gain eligibility for college admission. To overcome the problem, some colleges and universities decided to change their criteria for admissions if only to accommodate minority students and achieve a better representation ratio in the process. This practice resulted to some white applicants being bumped off despite getting higher test scores than some minority students who were admitted. Consequently, charges of reverse discrimination were raised in many campuses nationwide, culminating to cases being filed in court (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). The University of Michigan was not spared from this chaotic situation. One such case was filed by Jennifer Gratz and Patrick Hamacher on October 14, 1977. They took the university to court for allegedly granting illegal preference to minority students in the undergraduate admissions. The case, which was ruled later by the District Court as a â€Å"class action lawsuit†in December of 1998, was initially scheduled for trial in May 1999 but was later postponed at a later date. The Center for Individual Rights represented the plaintiffs (York). The case filed by Gratz and Hamacher stemmed from their failure to obtain admission to the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA). Gratz applied in 1995 while Hamacher filed his application in 1997. According to the complaint, although the college considered Hamacher as â€Å"within the qualified range†and Gratz as â€Å"well qualified,†they were denied admission in favor of minority students. Gratz and Hamacher claimed that the university used racial preference in its undergraduate admissions and violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (York). On October 16, 2000, twenty Fortune 500 companies which included 3M, Abbott Laboratories, Microsoft Corporation, and The Procter Gamble Company filed a joint amicus brief supporting the University of Michigan. In their brief, they stated that ethnic and racial diversity in institutions like the University of Michigan is vital not only in their efforts to put together a diverse workforce but also in their desire to hire workers from all backgrounds who have obtained their education in diverse environments. On January 15, 2003, President Bush made known his opinion on the case. According to his statement which was released by the Office of the Press Secretary, although he was supportive of racial diversity in colleges and universities, he did not approve of the method employed by the University of Michigan. He not only described its method as flawed but pronounced it a â€Å"quota system that unfairly rewards or penalizes perspective students, based solely on their race.†He further said that the university’s practice of granting minority students extra points (20 out of the needed 100 points for admission) is unconstitutional since under the system being observed in Michigan, a student gets only 12 points for obtaining a perfect score in SAT (York). In response, university president Mary Sue Coleman explained the university’s admission criteria which, according to her, were simply misunderstood by the president. She said that the university only allocated 12 points for the SAT score because the high school grades were given more value. Race and socioeconomic status were also among the factors considered, explaining that only one of these factors could get 20 points for a student. Another 16 points could be obtained by a student coming from the upper peninsula of Michigan, in consideration of geographic diversity. She continued on to state that other factors included in the criteria were â€Å"leadership, service, and life experiences†(York). On December 13, 2000, Honorable Patrick Duggan of the District Court of Michigan, ruled that the admissions policies adopted by the university during the years in question was indeed unconstitutional. However, he granted no remedy to the complainants. On June 23, 2003, the United States Supreme Court, after reviewing the case, ruled that the university policy violated the Equal Protection Clause because its use of race was â€Å"not narrowly tailored to achieve [its] asserted interest in diversity†(York). After the Supreme Court came out with its ruling, Ward Connerly, a black who formerly served as regent of the University of California immediately announced his intention to place a voter’s initiative on the ballot. Connerly also spearheaded the campaigns for the earlier ballot initiatives that ended minority preferences in the states of California (1997) and Washington (1998). He convinced Jennifer Gratz to spearhead the effort. Gratz organized the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative and by January 2005 was able to come up with more than 500,000 signatures. That number exceeded the 317,757 signatures needed to get the initiative on the ballot in 2006. After much controversy involving accusations of fraud, proposition 2 was finally placed on the ballot with election scheduled for November 7, 2006 (Vu). Proposition 2 won by a majority of 58% of the votes cast. As a result of that victory, 45 days after the election proposition 2 would take effect to bar affirmative action in employment, public education, and contracting. A CNN exit poll showed that in a state whose population is 14% black and 81% white, one out of every seven black voters and about 67% of the white voters signified their intention to put an end to affirmative action in Michigan. Opponents of the initiative, however, immediately filed a federal lawsuit which challenged the constitutionality of the measure. For her part, University of Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman expressed her intention to continue the fight for a diversified campus. Her exact words were: â€Å"I believe there are serious questions as to whether this initiative is lawful, particularly as it pertains to higher education. I have asked our attorneys for their full and undivided support in defending diversity at the University of Michigan†(Lewin). Unfortunately, on December 29, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit decided against any delay in the implementation of Proposition 2. The result was a considerable drop in the admissions of minority students at the University of Michigan.     Works Cited Cinti, Dylan. â€Å"Leveling the Playing Field.†The Communicator. 11 September 2007.            14 March 2008. http://the-communicator.org/index.php/site/article/leveling_the_playing_field/  Lewin, Tamar. â€Å"Michigan Rejects Affirmative Action, and Backers Sue.†The New York            Times. 9 November 2006. 14 March 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/09/us/politics/09michigan.html?_r=2oref=slogin). oref=slogin Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. â€Å"Affirmative Action.†4 March 2005. 14 March 2008.            http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/affirmative-action/ Vu, Pauline. â€Å"Affirmative action in Michigan ballot.†Stateline.org. 29 August 2006.            14 March 2008. http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=137542 York, Grace. â€Å"Affirmative Action In College Admission: Gratz and Hamacher/Grutter v.            The Regents of the University of Michigan.†The University of Michigan Documents            Center. 18 January 2008. 14 March 2008. http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/affirm.html
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Brief History and Introduction of Privacy and Human Rights Essay
Brief History and Introduction of Privacy and Human Rights From Article 21 of the Japan Constitution states, â€Å"Freedom of assembly and association as well as speech, press and all other forms of expression are guaranteed. No censorship shall be maintained, nor shall the secrecy of any means of communication be violated.†Article 35 states, â€Å"The right of all persons to be secure in their homes, papers and effects against entries, searches and seizures shall not be impaired except upon warrant issued for adequate cause and particularly describing the place to be searched and things to be seized . . . Each search or seizure shall be made upon separate warrant issued by a competent judicial officer.†1 A 1988 Act for the Protection of Computer Processed Personal Data Held by Administrative Organs governs the use of personal information in computerized files held by government agencies. It imposes duties of security, access, and correction. Agencies must limit their collection to relevant information and publish a public notice listing their file systems. The Japanese government has followed a policy of self-regulation for the private sector, especially relating to electronic commerce. Essentially, there were no set privacy laws other than the general issues stated in the constitution, but when needed the Japanese government will intervene and regulate. In June of 1998, former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto announced that he had signed an agreement with U.S. President Clinton for self-regulation for privacy measures on the Internet except for certain sensitive data. â€Å"If data in a certain industry is highly confidential, legal methods can be considered for that industry.†2 Several committees have been ... ...s not safe. We need to take more time.†4 References 1 Constitution of Japan, November 3, 1946. 2 U.S. Japan Joint Statement on Electronic Commerce, May 15, 1998. 3 Japan: More Crime, Less Privacy, 2 Jun 1999, 4 James Brooke, Japan in an Uproar as 'Big Brother' Computer File Kicks In, 5 Aug. 2002, 5 Lies and Secrets: Japan's National ID Network Has Gone Live Already, 31 Jul. 2002, 6 Japan ID System Raises Big Brother Fears, 5 Aug. 2002,
Monday, January 13, 2020
HR Affirmative Action Essay
Human Resource Management is one of the most important parts of an organization. This is due to the fact that it gives due attention to an essential asset in an organization, which is its employees. Due to this, the human resource management has the responsibility of hiring, organizing, motivating, and dealing with other employee-management concern. In relation to these, the concept of affirmative action is also one of the issues that the human resource management has to deal with. It is within their prerogative and authority to implement the policy of affirmative action in the operations of their organization. This could be exemplified through this recent article that discuses the idea of affirmative action in the workplace. This article explains the decision of the Supreme Court with regards to the case of Ricci, et al v. DeStefano that is related with the implementation of affirmative action. The lawsuit is against the city of New Haven, Connecticut that was filed by 18 White firefighters that also belong in the same place. They argued that the municipality discriminated against them when it comes to their promotions, which violated their constitutional rights. In connection to this, they also claimed that they were denied the promotion because they were White. The main root of the case is the New Haven’s 2003 promotion exam that was held in order to help in selecting 15 firefighters that would occupy the positions of captain and lieutenant in the fire department. 118 candidates took the exam and 27 of them are African Americans. The results of the test showed that no African American scored high enough in order to qualify for the position. Being the case, the city did not promote anyone and they defended this decision through the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that outlawed racial segregation (Krenkel, 2009). The case of alleging reverse discrimination that was filed against the city of New Haven, Connecticut was ruled by the federal district court in favor of the city. An appeal was made regarding this case, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision affirmed the district court’s ruling but they added an opinion that required the review of the United States Supreme Court. Currently, the case has reached the Supreme Court and the trial is still undergoing (Whelan, 2009). The issue in this case is with regards to the authority of the municipalities on whether they could decline to certify the results of promotion exams in order not to disproportionately make more white applicants eligible for promotion in comparison with the minority applicants. This issue could be rooted from the reason that the authorities that are involved in this case are afraid that certifying the results of the examination for the promotion of more white applicants would be taken against them that could lead to charges of racial discrimination. In this situation, it is quite observable that the implementation of affirmative action has become complicated and problematic. It even led to a court battle that reached the Supreme Court. This only goes to show that applying the principle of affirmative action in the workplace is not appropriate anymore because favoring minority group sometimes infringed upon the rights of those that belong to the majority. In relation to these, the idea of affirmative action could also be seen as inequality because it tends to favor the minority. This could be seen in this case wherein the examination for the promotion of firefighters was disregarded because of the fact that no African American pass the exam. Despite the notion that the city could disregard the exam as it did not yield the result that they wanted, it still affected the White firefighters who were also availing for promotion. Their efforts for preparing and passing the exam was taken for granted. This kind of situation could de-motivate the other employees especially those that belong in the majority group. Organizations could still be able to maintain equality and prevent discrimination in the workplace by applying the proper standards and measures for this not to happen. However, in terms of admission and promotion they should not favor a certain group over the other especially if they are sure that the proper procedure like a promotion exam has done its job to choose the best people for the position. By doing so, they could still be able to address the concern and at the same give importance to all stakeholders that are involve.
Sunday, January 5, 2020
Essay on John D. Rockefeller - 1369 Words
Jessica M. Hintermeister American History Louisa Garry Due: Thursday, March 15, 2001 The Rockefellers feared the temptations of wealth, yet a visitor once described their estate as the kind of place God would have built if only hed had the money. They amassed a fortune that outraged a Democratic nation, then gave it all away reshaping America. They were the closest thing the country had to a royal family, but the Rockefellers shunned the public eye. For decades, the Rockefeller name was despised in America, associated with John D. Rockefeller Sr.s feared monopoly, Standard Oil. By the end of his life, Rockefeller had given away half of his fortune. But even his vast philanthropy could not erase the memory of his predatory†¦show more content†¦Oil was being used to grease the wheels of Americas infant industries, to fuel the expansion of growth. Rockefeller lamented that so many wells were flowing that the price of oil kept falling yet everyone went right on drilling. He saw an industry plagued from overproduction and h is own success was being threatened by ruinness cut throat competition. John D. was shrewd enough and he was analytical enough that he realized that in order to figure out a way to save his own firm and his own newly-won fortune, that he had to figure out a solution for the entire industry. It was at that point that John D. began to conceive of the oil industry as one big interrelated mechanism. And you couldnt just change one component, you had to control the entire machine. In a move that would transform the American economy, Rockefeller set out to replace a world of independent oilmen with a giant company controlled by him. In l870, begging bankers for more loans, he formed Standard Oil of Ohio. The next year, he quietly put what he called our plan -- his campaign to dominate the volatile oil industry - into devastating effect. Rockefeller knew that the refiner with the lowest transportation cost could bring rivals to their knees. He entered into a secret alliance with the railroads called the South Improvement Company. In exchange for large, regular shipments, Rockefeller and his allies secured transport rates farShow MoreRelatedJohn D. Rockefeller1671 Words  | 7 PagesJohn D. Rockefeller, born on July 8, 1839, has had a huge impact on the course of American history, his reputation spans from being a ruthless businessperson to a thoughtful philanthropist (Tarbell 41). He came from a family with not much and lived the American dream, rising to suc cess through his own wit and cunning, riding on the backs of none. His legacy is huge, amassing the greatest private wealth of any American in history. Rockefeller’s influence on our country has been both a positive andRead MoreJohn D. Rockefeller1369 Words  | 5 PagesIntroduction John D. 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