Affirmative Action Essays - Social Inequality, Free Essays

Affirmative Action The state shall not discriminate, or grant 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. The previous statement is the unedited text of the operative part of Proposition 209, the California Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI), that passed November fifth by a percentage of 54 to 46. Though the initiative does not actually mention affirmative action, Californians feel affirmative action may be coming to an end. Will the decision of Proposition 209 have a great impact on colleges and universities? We will soon find out. We do know that affirmative action in colleges and universities has a long history of controversy sparked by the 1978 Bakke case and seems to be far from over with the recent vote on proposition 209. The Supreme Courts 1978 decision in the Regents of the University of California v. Bakke has been the basis for most college affirmative action programs. The case involved a white man, Allen Bakke, who applied for admission to, and was rejected by California University at Davis Medical School in 1973 and 1974. The university had an affirmative action program to accept sixteen Black, Hispanic, and Asian students for every 100 entering. Allen Bakke objected when he found out that he had been turned down while minorities students with lower college grades and MCAT scores had been admitted under the universitys affirmative action program. The court then had been divided between four justices in favor of admitting Bakke on the basis that the quota affirmative Maloney 2 action plan had violated Title Four of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, four Justices against admitting Bakke, and Justice Powell, the swing vote. Justice Powell declared that Allen Bakke would be admitted to the medical school because the University of Californias affirmative action plan had violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In Justice Powells opinion, the Fourteenth Amendment must be interpreted to protect everyone (McWhirter). The Bakke decision has sparked many anti-affirmative action movements, the latest being Proposition 209. Backing the California Civil Rights Initiative, proponents feel it is time to end race and sex-based quotas, preferences and set-asides now governing state employment, contracts and education. Launching a two million dollar television campaign to support the ballot measure, Robert Dole and the Republican Party made proposition 209 the centerpiece in their push for Californias 54 electoral votes (Lesher). Bob Dole states, If affirmative action means quotas, set- asides and other preferences that favor individuals simply because they happen to belong to certain groups, thats were I draw the line (qtd. in What Theyre Saying About Quotas and the California Civil Rights Initiative). Agreeing with Dole, Governor Pete Wilson states that Mandating and practicing inequality cannot bring equality (qtd. in What Theyre Saying About Quotas and the California Civil Rights ! Initiative). Another defender of proposition 209 and affirmative action is House Speaker Newt Gingrich. In a interview with Gingrich, he boldly states that people who want some kind of quota based on racial background should be forced to debate in public their version of America. I would make clear that I oppose Maloney 3 quotas explicitly because I favor an integrated America (qtd. in What Theyre Saying About Quotas and the California Civil Rights Initiative). United States Senator, Phil Gramm, also opposes affirmative action resolutely declaring that if I become President, quotas and set-asides are finished in America (qtd. in What Theyre Saying About Quotas and the California Civil Rights Initiative). Opposing the measure, California college students and other affirmative action supporters protest to sustain variety and diversity. The first incident occurred when 500 students from University of California Berkeley met on Sprous Hall steps, the evening after the election and seized the Campanile clock tower. Some students chained themselves inside. The same day as the as the Berkeley incident, 300 students from the University of California Santa Cruz surrounded and picketed the Student Service Building, effectively closing the financial aid and registrars office. Police made no arrests. On November seventh, 100 students from San Francisco State caused a commotion by blocking 19th Avenue, a main thoroughfare (WALLACE and MARCUM ).

Discuss the values and attitudes of Chouinard and the Patagonia Essay

Discuss the values and attitudes of Chouinard and the Patagonia company and how the company's perfomance is being affected - Essay Example However, Yvon Chouinard looks at it differently. He is a green business premier. Casey (2007, p. 1) looks at the case of green business in through the works of Yvon Chouinard and probed how he became so influential. His secret to success is putting Earth first, questioning growth, ignoring fashion, making goods that don't break or wear out, telling customers to buy less, discontinuing his own profitable products and giving away part of his earnings. Chouinard's intention was to prove that business can make a profit without losing its soul. Refinements of the traditional way of manufacturing clothes are constantly done in Patagonia. His aim is to develop a sustainable initiative which practically shows in how he initiates change continually in their products. Whatever Chouinard thinks is better, they experiment on it and later on find that they indeed discover something better than the usual. It seems that gambling sometimes proved to be beneficial. Let alone the success and the influence that the company advanced against its competitors. The green agenda's point is not on making money, rather to focus on the right things to do. Let's take the instance of the cotton.

Question 2. Standardized Testing of Students Essay

Question 2. Standardized Testing of Students - Essay Example Without a doubt, this uniform and consistent system of assessment has now become an indispensable and requisite part of most of the schools, colleges and universities all over the globe. These educational institutions therefore, spend millions of dollars every twelve months on this system wide testing of their students to judge them in all possible aspects and assist them in overcoming their faults and flaws (Sacks, 12). Initially there were only a few educational institutions that were adopting the special standardized system of assessments (Heller, 152). However with the rapid pace of time and the excessive competitiveness in the world a number of agencies have been developed that are conducting these tests. Some of the most prominent evaluation agencies of the world are named as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Educational Testing Service (ETC), National Council on Educational Standards and Testing (NCEST) and many more widespread all over the world. These a gencies have great expertise in their tasks and are highly professional in conducting the testing methods and practices. This standardized system of evaluating the students was basically introduced for the purpose of shaping the learners so that they get pretty much suitable for the remediation. In addition, this system has therefore gained so much in popularity that renowned educational institutions have started adopting this system. The reason behind this excessive adaptation is the fact that people have widely developed so much trust factor on these testing service agencies. The trust factor is developed because these agencies are well reputed, rated and most importantly known for their unbiased attitude. They treat all students with complete justice and make sure that no unbiased practice exists within their system. Thus all this results in a positive outcome that all the students are objectively judged and evaluated that ultimately lend them a hand to improve on their mistakes. No matter these testing systems are really authentic and bonafide but the question arises that, why do the school, colleges and universities pay so much to get these external services rather than conducting the tests within their management. The reason behind this statement is that these agencies not simply conduct the evaluative assessments but also provide countless benefits to the institutes that hire these agencies. Some major pros of these standardized tests can be highlighted as they are greatly efficient and effective to provide two most important sources of information. These information sources that include the standardized system can bring into play as to weigh up the student’s potential, capability, competence and aptitude towards his or her studies. In turn all these evaluations will lend a hand to the student and institute in order to endow with enhanced or improved teaching, responsibility, and the control (Hamilton et al, 3). Moreover, it also encompasses the piece of evidence that this information can even be used in order to make a number of important and imperative decisions. In addition, the overall focus of these harmonized and uniform tests revolve around her universal and collective nature. It is devised or proposed to the students in a common mode for the reason that the management and admin do not become erratic or capricious in reflecting the complete performance of the students. Thus, all these controlled and calculative variables escort to an