The Diversification of America Essay Example for Free

The Diversification of America Essay The commentary: â€Å"Culturally and ethnically, America is now one of the most diverse members of the global village. This remarkable pluralism is transforming Americans’ inherited values and institutions faster than they can adapt to the consequences. Globalization is propelling this country toward an era of conflict and upheaval-and that is precisely what makes Americans such a good reference point for other societies where time-honored traditions are also collapsing. † is an appropriate observation to the current situation. However, it is with all hope, as diversity and multiculturalism are unavoidable, that society finds a â€Å"broader sense of we† (Putnam, 2007) and creates a new identity that combines all cultural heritage into one harmonious blend. Multicultural Origins The United States has always been multicultural. The country was built by immigrants. The first African Americans came in, although forcibly, in 1619. During the mid-19th century railroad constructions, Chinese immigrants came in to the country as workers. Many Mexicans were still living in previous Mexican territories taken over by the United States in 1848. Especially with the United States rise in power and wealth, it is no surprise that more and more people wanted to enter and live in the country. Today, people of different colors comprise the majority in many large cities and in the state of California (PRA, 2002). Difficulty of Assimilation It took centuries before an African American was elected president and demonstrate a sense of equality in society from their beginnings in slavery and segregation. Many Mexican immigrants living in the country today cannot speak fluent English. Racial stereotypes also hinder benevolent assimilation. Assimilation versus Multiculturalism In today’s age of individualism and self expression, the trend is more towards multiculturalism than assimilation. Instead of assimilating to existing norms and traditions, immigrants bring in their own, fostering the value of pride for their heritage. Even their own holidays are celebrated nationally like the Irish’s St. Patrick’s Day and the Mexican’s Cinco de Mayo. Certain ethnic groups also exist, for example the Amish and Hassidic Jews, who have attempted to preserve their unique cultures by resisting assimilation, while living peacefully alongside other communities (PRA, 2002). Evolution of Language The different ethnicities bring in their own language, assemble their own communities where they can talk freely in their native tongue, diminishing the need to learn English. Even when they do, they bring in their own accent, jargon and additions to the language, in a way making their own version e. g. ghetto speak, double-negatives. As a result, English speakers are the ones to adjust. Even in some states, the inability to speak Spanish is a disadvantage as some employment need communication with both Spanish and English speakers. Instead of English being able to bring together different ethnicity and help bridge diversity, the purely English-speaking Americans are the ones to feel like the foreigner in their own country. The Neighborly Attitude Gone are the days of bringing freshly baked pies to the doorsteps of a new neighbor. In ethnically diverse neighborhoods, Putnam found that people are less likely to trust each other: not only people of a different ethnicity or race but more so their own (Leo, 2007). People tend to keep to themselves and are less likely to make friends and less likely for community cooperation. This is not just a marginal issue but a mainstream one. It does not just affect certain ethnic groups but the whole country. More and more, people become isolated in their own homes and know very little about the families just living next door. Constructing A New Identity To diminish the negative effects of unavoidable increase in immigration and diversity, a new identity must be constructed. Some say that contact with others increase tolerance and social solidarity. On the contrary, some say that contact with others make one group stick to their own more, hence the trend of self segregation, where people of the same race move in one place creating their own homogenous community. It is a likely attempt to resist diversity instead of adjusting to it, highlighting more the differences between cultures, thus increasing the gap instead of bridging it leading to social deterioration which nobody benefits from. A successful society would be one that is able to seamlessly fuse its disparate parts into one new entity. However the era of multiculturalism poses a great challenge to this. Cultural Diversity in British Cultural Institutions Another example of society feeling the effects of diversity is that of the British culture, particularly their cultural institutions. The old cultural elite’s idea of â€Å"proper culture† is being revised by multiculturalism. British history and Shakespeare are being replaced by Sikh theater and exhibitions about immigrant histories (Appleton, 2004). Conclusion Cultural and ethnical diversity happen in most advanced countries where people want to migrate to. Particularly in the United States, considered the superpower of the world, diversity has been rampant with the sharp increase in immigration, especially in recent years and people had a confused way of dealing with it. There had been self-segregation, diminished community cooperation and neighborliness, language barriers and the general inflexibility of adapting to each other. Even experts like political scientist Robert Putnam do not paint a good picture. He found that ethnic diversity tend to reduce social solidarity and social capital. However difficult it may be, as in the example of African Americans, the fragmentation has to be overcome to create a successful new society by crossing the boundaries, breaking the walls, bridging the gap and merging into one. References Appleton, J. (2004, April 7). Art for Inclusion’s Sake. Spiked Essays. Retrieved April 16, 2009, from http://www. spiked-online.com/Articles/0000000CA4BC. htm Leo, J. (25 June 2007). Bowling With Our Own. City Journal. Retrieved April 16, 2009, from http://www. city-journal. org/html/eon2007-06-25jl. html Political Research Associates. (2002). Immigration and Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Diversity. Retrieved April 16, 2009, from http://www. publiceye. org/ark/immigrants/CulturalDiv. html Putnam, R. D. (2007). E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty-first Century The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture. Scandinavian Political Studies, 30. 2, 137-174.

The Synthesis of Knowledge :: Mind Mental Knowing Knowledge Essays

The Synthesis of Knowledge "Society values mental labor more highly than manual labor." This is a claim that Ruth Hubbard makes in her essay "Science, Facts, and Feminism." This claim suggests that those who are the thinkers, the innovators, the inventors, and the great minds are highly valued by society; however, those who are the doers, the laborers, the hand-crafters, and the workers are not valued as greatly. Hubbard implies that society regards mental labor as more important than manual labor because it requires more specifically human qualities. Knowledge making is one of these specifically human qualities. Mental laborers and manual laborers are distinguished by this knowledge making process. For Hubbard’s claim to have meaning, there are assumptions that must underpin the claim. First, society must value labor. Labor must be something usable in society. A distinction between manual labor and mental labor must exist. A line must be drawn as to what makes mental labor mental and manual labor manual. There exists a specifically human quality, like knowledge making, which classifies the mental and manual laborers. Labor must exist in society to place value upon it. One also must assume that the more knowledge making ability one has, the more successful one can potentially be. These assumptions must be accounted for, for the claim to have any validity. This claim, to me, explains what can be said about the value of knowledge making and experience. Knowledge making is valued greatly by society and society values those who posses this knowledge making ability. Knowledge comes from personal experience and these experiences make that person more intelligent. One makes a decision, and then one learns from the consequences of that decision resulting in more apprehension. An example of building knowledge making is when a small child touches a hot pan on the stove and gets burnt. This child’s knowledge making has increased and the child knows to never touch a pan on the stove without proper protection. Book knowledge is another important element. This type of knowledge can be defined from what results in a college degree, a doctorate, or just a secondary degree of education. One must have base comprehension of empirical insight. Mental laborers have this intuitive synthesis of knowledge where manual laborers do not posses as much. An example of this book knowledge is taking a course in trigonometry and how it affects future comprehension. With trigonometry learned, mathematical calculus can be more easily learned.

Importance of deadlines Essay

I have never worked in any job were it is acceptable to miss deadlines. Deadlines should never be disregarded as they are. I can offer no explanation as to why people routinely complain about instructors who do not return graded tests and papers when promised; faculty routinely complain about colleagues who neglect to complete their work on time; and I have seen administrators that simply plead with faculty, time and again, to complete long-overdue assessments or other important work. I’ll grant that in the current economic circumstances, with many academic units at many colleges, universities and branches underfunded and understaffed, faculty and staff alike are being asked to do more and more work with fewer people, fewer resources, and less time. But if we’re being honest we have to admit that the problem of faculty who are unaccountable to deadlines is an older problem than the current economic crisis; within academe the problem is endemic, systemic, epidemic. Regardless of the cause, when the routine, sometimes mundane business of the university is neglected or even just delayed, complications and stress cascade through the ranks, amplifying the problems that fellow faculty, staff, and even students must then deal with and solve. Even worse, sometimes the most egregious offenders when it comes to blowing off deadlines are senior faculty, who should, frankly, know and behave better. One step toward reducing the stress and work we create for others, and ourselves, might be to take more seriously the deadlines that often accompany our work, but that are sometimes neglected when faculty perceive, often quite wrongly, that there are no negative consequences for missing a deadline. Some deadlines are absolutely rigid, such as the filing dates for theses and dissertations, the sorts of deadlines that must be met if one hopes to graduate on time. These rigid deadlines are the types of bureaucratic  deadlines that we have to navigate routinely in order to complete graduate degrees, apply for grants, or otherwise navigate the complex institutions of the modern academy. Other deadlines are effectively rigid. When your department chair or a fellow faculty member assigns you a task with a due date, it behooves all faculty members to regard those sorts of deadlines as rigid, especially if you don’t have tenure. Such deadlines might be negotiable in some circumstances, but they aren’t to be disregarded altogether. Blowing off your campus bookstore’s deadline for textbook orders, for example, may seem like a trivial lapse. But potentially, missing even such a seemingly small deadline creates additional work for the already-swamped employees placing the orders, and it can result in higher costs for students if books have to be rush-shipped or if the window to order used texts is missed. Even though you are unlikely to suffer personally for missing the deadline, others may suffer. A whole other set of the deadlines that we face in academe are self-imposed, milestones that we set for ourselves in order to complete the nebulous, long-running projects that often comprise research and scholarship. Even though such self-imposed deadlines are â€Å"soft,† in that there is no enforcer that will come forward and punish, chastise, or cajole us if we miss them, I think that it’s generally a bad idea to miss even the deadlines that we set for ourselves. Assuming, and this is a big assumption, that the deadlines we set for ourselves are realistic. These soft deadlines can’t be taken too lightly — the ability, or inability, to set and meet goals without external guidance or enforcement will determine whether or not a tenure-track faculty member is able to meet expectations for scholarly productivity and ultimately win tenure. One of the tricks to managing these soft deadlines is learning to set goals that are both meaningful and realistic. It is much easier said than done, and hopefully an advanced graduate student receives extensive mentorship on how to manage the research workload. Cooperative, self-policing structures like writing groups are one way to formalize soft deadlines and hold ourselves  accountable to ourselves and to others to complete, or at least make progress on, our long-term projects. An important part of managing our work is knowing how to differentiate between soft and rigid deadlines, and how to prioritize deadlines across all of the varieties of work required of faculty. Deadlines matter in our interactions with students as well. My feeling is that if I am going to hold students strictly accountable to a deadline, then I too need to be accountable in similar ways. When I give my students writing assignments, each assignment is accompanied by a specifically articulated series of deadlines for when drafts and peer reviews are due, a deadline for each stage of the writing process, each of which students are expected to meet. But my assignments also include deadlines for myself, essentially promises of when I will return things like graded papers. Holding students strictly to deadlines, but then failing to return work in a timely manner, sends a message of hypocrisy to students that they immediately detect and disdain. I hold myself as accountable to self-imposed deadlines, just as I hold my students accountable. By advertising my own deadlines for tasks like grading, in this case on the writing assignment itself, I create a mechanism that forces me to be accountable. When it comes to interacting with colleagues, I also work hard to meet deadlines. As a junior faculty member, I never want to be the squeaky wheel, never want to be the committee member who fails to turn in work on time and holds up other people and an entire process. My unwillingness to be branded as a shirker is in addition, of course, to the glaringly obvious point that it is simply a common courtesy to meet administrative deadlines. Everyone in the university has work to do, much of it important work, and failing to do our own work in a timely, professional manner unnecessarily delays the work of others. There are certainly times when we realize that we will be unable to meet a deadline. If you foresee missing an externally imposed deadline, it’s both courteous and good policy to let interested parties know, sooner rather than  later, that you may be delayed in delivering your work. Such a warning at least allows others involved in the work to improvise an accommodation. Simply allowing a deadline to pass without a word of warning is discourteous and doesn’t allow others to help ameliorate the effects of your own delays. And missed deadlines are almost always noticed, even when the matter at hand may seem trivial. As you progress in your career, you may be asked to peer-review manuscripts that have been submitted to journals in your subdiscipline. It is especially important to meet an editor’s deadlines when conducting reviews of manuscripts. Some disciplines have a culture of turning reviews around quickly, while other disciplines (particularly in the humanities) are notorious for a tradition of taking months, sometimes even over a year, simply to review manuscripts. As a result of slow turnarounds and senior scholars who can sometimes be cavalierly unconcerned about conducting reviews in a timely manner, junior scholars often suffer. I once had a journal hold onto an article of mine for four months, during which time a staffer sent me a cryptic message implying that the article was undergoing review. After four months had passed, I was notified that the editor had decided not to send out the article for review, and to reject it outright. The editor was well within his rights to reject the article, but to take four months to do so was lazy and unprofessional in the extreme, and borderline unethical. Secondarily, because the article had not been sent out to reviewers, but simply sat on the editor’s desk, I did not even have the benefit of the feedback of reviews. Those four months were time that I could have spent revising the article, or submitting it at a different journal. Unfortunately, such stories are legion, and I have heard much more egregious examples of how editors’ or reviewers’ failures to keep to a reasonable schedule have hurt the publication prospects of junior scholars. Unfortunately, we are often tasked with work that feels trivial or futile. Or meaningful work simply piles up into seemingly unmanageable stacks. Every faculty member I know feels overwhelmed at some point in the semester. Nonetheless, when we neglect to complete work in a timely manner, our  colleagues and students sometimes suffer. Sometimes there isn’t as much accountability in the academy as there should be, which is all the more reason to hold ourselves accountable

The Changing Mattress Industry in America - 2517 Words

The Changing Mattress Industry in America Changes in the global environment in conjunction with the deepest and most prolonged economic downturn since the Great Depression have started what I believe is a sea change in the domestic mattress industry. Factors such as declining new home sales, tightening of consumer credit, the consumer confidence index still well below pre-recessionary levels (Wang, 2010) and unemployment hovering near 10% have all contributed to the end of conspicuous consumption for big-ticket items like mattresses and foundations (‘mattresses’). Mattress manufacturers will need to lower material and manufacturing costs, develop products that differentiate them from their competitors, or develop new channels of†¦show more content†¦There are now processes in place that include the production of individual objectives, strategies and action plans. In addition, in order to create an environment of cooperation, trust and motivation for both KKLC and its licensees, the Executive Vice Presid ent at KKLC has directed the sales team to establish a â€Å"big brother system† where each of the sales team members are now assigned specifically to certain licensees around the country. As such, each sales team member has begun the process of fostering a harmonious working relationship with the sales executives from their assigned licensees. For the first time in the history of the licensee-licensor relationship, there are now defined strategies and objectives that both parties are tackling together. This is a new initiative for KKLC, and one that is necessary to foster the creation of a synergistic approach to mutual growth. If each of the five sale team members have eight personal objectives, strategies and action plans and each establishes eight additional objectives and strategies with two sales managers who we are assigned to from the licensee side, as a total company we now have approximately 120 total objectives and strategies for 2011. The framework of management by objective is now in place. Specific goals have been determined in a participatory manner, and the goals are reviewed monthly. This is a step in the evolution of the two parties,Show MoreRelated The Changing Mattress Business2591 Words   |  11 PagesGreat Depression, have started a sea change in the domestic mattress industry. The end of conspicuous consumption for big-ticket items such as mattresses and foundations, is the result of declining new home sales, tightening of consumer credit, the consumer confidence index still well below pre-recessionary levels (Wang, 2010), and unemployment hovering near 10%. In order to remain viable in rapidly changing global and task environments, mattress manufacturers will need to lower material and manufacturingRead MoreThe Sixties Were A Great Decade1230 Words   |  5 PagesBlock, and Sugar Hill Gangs where introduced in the eighties. In 1982 Michael Jackson broke away from the Jackson five to come out with his song â€Å"Thriller† and that song is still very well like even to this day. The music in the 1980’s was constantly changing with a large gen re of music. With most of the 80’s music still well known to most even today. When someone speaks of the 80’s most even the younger generation can relate. The eighties were one of the best decades if you were fortunate enough toRead MoreEssay on The culture of Quality at Arnold Palmer Hospital2902 Words   |  12 Pagesethnocentric perspective among both students and the public and, in the process, recognize the cultural variables: — Some cultures (many of the poor farmers of the world) have children so they can work and help the family. — Some cultures (such as America) encourage teenagers to work even to the detriment of schoolwork. — Some cultures (such as Germany) think teenagers should be in school or training and not in the regular workforce. ï‚ · This case brings up broader issues regarding any sort of standardsRead MoreProblems Faced by Coir Industry Indis11436 Words   |  46 PagesCHAPTER I 1.1 Introduction To Coir Industry The Coir Industry has been significantly Export-Oriented and a valuable foreign exchange earner. On an average about 20 per cent of the total Coir products manufactured are exported from the country, mainly to West European countries, United States of America (USA) and Canada. The products include fiber, yarn, mats, matting, rugs and carpets, rope and rubberized coir. Unfortunately, the exports in the recent past show a declining trend. Increased competitionRead MoreTotal Care Nursing Home s ( Tcnh ) Rehabilitation Therapy Program3864 Words   |  16 Pagesis essentially important, especially when it comes to the recovery of patients. The most recommended bed in America is at Total Care Nursing Home. Every room in the facility is equipped with the Therapeutic Bed. The tempur material conforms to the body’s unique, shape, weight and temperature. This provides more comfort than a traditional spring mattress or a generic memory foam mattress. Total Care has collaborated with the manufacturer of Therapeutic Bed to specifically design a unique bed onlyRead MoreBusiness Analysis : Four Seasons Hotels Essay3998 Words   |  16 PagesFour season’s hotel Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts have a worldwide presence running more than 60 properties in over 25 countries. Among them are luxurious hotels and top destination spots, making Four Seasons a leading player in the hospitality industry. Its unique management style has enabled it to clinch the top position and becoming a world-renowned brand. The company has geared its efforts towards creative innovative ways to address the needs of their guests while maintaining a high ethicalRead MoreTravelodge5570 Words   |  23 PagesTravelodge Travelodge is private hospitality industry. The Travelodge brand was founded by Scott King (Travelodge Corporation Founder) from America. And the first Travelodge was established in San Diego in 1940. Travelodge has several hotel chains around the world and many of them are operated under independent companies without having connection with brand operating in other countries. Travelodge in UK Travelodge in UK was founded in 1985 which brand was bought in 1980 by the sameRead MoreEdible Oil Industry-India19316 Words   |  78 PagesA MANAGEMENT RESEARCH PROJECT -I ON â€Å"In Depth Study of Edible Oil Industry in India† In the partial fulfillment of the requirement of Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) Program (2002-2004) Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University, Patan. Project Guide Prof. Bhavin Pandya Faculty Member, SVIM Prepared By Samir Patel Rajendra Patel S.V.INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT Acknowledgements Preparing a project of this nature is an arduous task and we were fortunate enough to get support from largeRead MoreEdible Oil Industry-India19329 Words   |  78 PagesA MANAGEMENT RESEARCH PROJECT -I ON â€Å"In Depth Study of Edible Oil Industry in India† In the partial fulfillment of the requirement of Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) Program (2002-2004) Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University, Patan. Project Guide Prof. Bhavin Pandya Faculty Member, SVIM Prepared By Samir Patel Rajendra Patel S.V.INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT Acknowledgements Preparing a project of this nature is an arduous task and we were fortunate enough to get supportRead MoreCoercion by Douglas Rushkoff7762 Words   |  32 Pagesdistributor. Rushkoff had just received a phone call from Mort informing him that he was in the hospital. After going to Morts apartment in Queens, Mort tells the author that his own heart attack was do to his guilt in coercing a couple into buying a mattress from him. The author cleverly describes this classic example of the hand-to-hand technique and how easily some people are coerced into buying things they would never have guessed that they wanted. Coercion actually has a horrible effect not just