Affirmative action, is it still needed in this day and age? Has it accomplished what it was supposed to? Many people say that if America concentrated on programs that provided assistance to the most needy then they would have the opportunities that affirmative action is trying to provide. By going into the ghettos of our cities and stimulating business, thereby, promoting economic growth, the disenfranchised will reap the benefits. Have they been reaping the benefits of affirmation action? As a nation devoted to equality, the United States must do away with unproductive race-dividing policies. By eliminating them, Americans can take major steps in promoting competition and overcoming the color barrier. In his famous march in 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. longed for a society where "people would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Moreover, skin-color and social status should be irrelevant in hiring employees. Whereas, judging people by the "content of their character" and their capabilities will create a thriving country. The emergence of Louis Farrakhan and the O.J. Simpson verdict have aroused American awareness regarding the extent to which race relations in this country have deteriorated. While Martin Luther King Jr. preached unity and equality in America, Farakahan supports segregation. Any organization or individual promoting a particular race diminishes uniformity. The existence of affirmative action and quotas further segregates American society by characterizing people by race and distinguishing between skin color. In order to bring people together, these classifications must yield. In employment situations, when the employer is bound to affirmative action policies, an individual of race A will receive a job before a better qualified individual of race B. These results are unfortunate. It’s discouraging to think that a company may not reach its greatest economic Affirmative Action 3 potential because it is forced to hire the less qualified of two individuals. How can we, as Americans, possibly promote policies that give preferential treatment to one person over another, based on something as irrelevant as the color of their skin? We can’t. Maintaining the role of one of the most competitive countries in the world, I would like to think that, as Americans, we have more pride in our country than that which is hampered by affirmative action. Furthermore, affirmative action and quotas play a very similar role in education. Unfortunately, many exceptional young students may not reap the benefits a well-respected college has to offer because someone with a possible, lesser degree of potential may be granted admission on the basis of their skin color.
John M. Murrin’s essay Coming to Terms with the Salem Witch Trials helps detail the events of these trials and explains why they might have occurred. The witch trials happened during a “particularly turbulent time in the history of colonial Massachusetts and the early modern atlantic world” (Murrin, 339). Salem came to be in 1629 and less than seventy years later found itself in a mess of witch craft.
In many ways, the trials that delivered verdicts that often lead to an alleged witch’s death were often based on the word some respected member of the community or another. On close inspection, it becomes clear that most of the individuals accused and punished for practicing witchcraft led lives that were considered out of the ordinary, and were usually marginalized by society, as a result. After many innocent lives had been lost, Increase Mather, a Harvard College academic and a respected member of society, urged the Massachusetts’s legal representative to change the standards governing evidence on witchcraft to be equal to other crimes. The Massachusetts General Court later deemed the trials as being unconstitutional and unlawful since they did not adhere to the due process. Magistrates such as Samuel Sewall, who were responsible for executions in the trials, apologized publicly for their actions to undermine the people’s rights. The court also ruled on offering financial compensation to the heirs of the executed suspects in 1711. The Salem Witch Trials are now widely accepted as unjustified killings resulting from inaccurate accusations made due to mass hysteria, religious extremism and social
...in their family to become sick and possibly die. Many people were accused of witchcraft. More than twenty people died all together. One person was flattened to death because he was accused of witchcraft. When people were accused they had to go to jail, which the conditions were terrible. Then, they had to get a trial from the Court of Oyer and Terminer. After an accused witch had their trial, and went to jail, they would be carted off to Gallows Hill. This was the hill where all the witches were hanged. After a witch was hanged, later that night, their family would usually take the body down and give it a proper burial. The Salem Witchcraft Trials were one of the most terrible times in the history of America. As you can see the chaotic Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were caused by superstition, the strict puritan lifestyle, religious beliefs, and hysteria.
The Salem witch trials transpired in the late 1600’s and caused uncertainty and controversy throughout the society. The town of Salem is where most of the trials occurred, and practicing witchcraft, and our American government forced over a dozen citizens to pay with their lives. The witch trials happened because of conflicts dealing with religion, fear, and feuds. The trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of adolescent girls claimed to be possessed by the devil and they accused several local women of witchcraft. A wave of hysteria spread throughout Massachusetts, and a special court place was set up to hear the cases. During the Salem witch trials “nineteen were hung on Gallows Hill, a 71-year-old man was pressed to death with heavy stones, several people died in jail and nearly 200 people, overall, had been accused”(Wigfall, Lyric).The first condemned witch, Bridget Bishop, hung in June and eighteen others followed. A man named Giles Corey, pressed to death with stones for not pleading guilty or not guilty, also condemned. One hundred and fifty more men, women, and children indicted over the next several months because of accusations. The puritan religion arguably caused a breaking point in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, which lead to the persecution of twenty innocent people. The Salem witch trials affected the American culture with the horrendous events that occurred during 1692.
In 1702, the general court finally ruled the trials unlawful. Soon after the main accuser Anne Putman was made to apologize to the people of Salem, as well as Samuel Sewall, a judge during the trials, publicly confessed of guilt and apologized. Reverend Samuel Sewall also confessed of his misjudgment, but he mostly blamed others. Massachusetts even formally apologized for the event in Salem. Even though it took ten years the trials were finally over and the citizens of Salem were able to live with the right to having a fairer trial. Unfortunately, after this whole ordeal the Salem community became separated.
According to Andrew Herman, “Each year, 14,000 die from drinking too much. 600,000 are victims of alcohol related physical assault and 17,000 are a result of drunken driving deaths, many being innocent bystanders” (470). These massive numbers bring about an important realization: alcohol is a huge issue in America today. Although the problem is evident in Americans of all ages, the biggest issue is present in young adults and teens. In fact, teens begin to feel the effects of alcohol twice as fast as adults and are more likely to participate in “binge-drinking” (Sullivan 473). The problem is evident, but the solution may be simple. Although opponents argue lowering the drinking age could make alcohol available to some teens not mature enough to handle it, lowering the drinking age actually teaches responsibility and safety in young adults, maintains consistency in age laws, and diminishes temptation.
The Affirmative Action Law was formed as a solution to the long history of animosity towards minorities, and to eradicate the segregation between minorities and majorities. The program certainly aided many of disadvantage people living in the United States. The Affirmative Action encouraged many individuals, particularly, women, and group of people that belongs to different ethnic groups to have hopes and dreams due to the fair chance that were being given by the program. However, even though the Affirmative Action Law’s aim is to provide equal human rights for all the citizens of the United States, there will always be a group of people who will oppose, because each individuals’ have different notion and needs.
Today there is considerable disagreement in the country over Affirmative Action with the American people. MSNBC reported a record low in support for Affirmative Action with 45% in support and 45% opposing (Muller, 2013). The affirmative action programs have afforded all genders and races, exempting white males, a sense of optimism and an avenue to get the opportunities they normally would not be eligible for. This advantage includes admission in colleges or hiring preferences with public and private jobs; although Affirmative Action has never required quotas the government has initiated a benefits program for the schools and companies that elect to be diversified. The advantages that are received by the minorities’ only take into account skin color, gender, disability, etc., are what is recognized as discriminatory factors. What is viewed as racism to the majority is that there ar...
Winston A, 2010, Five Lessons from the BP Oil Spill, Harvard Business Review, accessed 1 April 2014,
5. What would a competitor of BP now discover about them in a competitor analysis?
As a result of underage drinking, 5,000 adolescents under the age of 21 die annually due to intoxication (taking motor vehicle crashes, homicides, suicides, and other injuries while intoxicated into consideration) (paragraph 2). Later in life, underage drinkers are more likely to develop alcoholism, poor performance in school, and risky sexual behavior (paragraph 43). Although this research is not opposed to my argument, there is an importance to acknowledging it as proof of dangerous, underage drinking occurring significantly regardless of whether it is illegal. More importantly, this research stems from adolescents drinking without the supervision of adults and in uncontrolled quantities. Since adolescents must wait a long period of time to drink legally, I believe they fear they must take advantage of drinking opportunities by excess drinking and risk of safety due to their restriction to alcohol. Based on this mindset, I believe exposure to alcohol at a younger age in controlled environments would not only decrease underage drinking in large quantities, but injury and death related to intoxication, as
In 1999 a lady was killed in the name of honor in the office of human rights lawyers Lahore because she demanded her right to marry the man of her choice. The lady did not get the justice.
"Goodwill may be classified into purchased goodwill' and non-purchased goodwill'. Purchased Goodwill arises from the acquisition of an existing business, while non-purchased goodwill has been built-up over time and cannot be verified objectively".
The FAS has made changes throughout the years in the way to account for goodwill. Goodwill is when a company attempts to merge with another company to obtain the valuable intangible assets. These assets are anything that can 't be seen or touched. Valuable intangibles can be anything like a company name because it is well known. Many times companies will decide to merge because it can be beneficial to them to merge with well-known entities. This can also be less costly and less time-consuming versus building a brand new business on its own. On many occasions, gooodwill is amortized on accounting records. Amortization is not the most favorable approach for companies who are trying to attract investors. This because when amortization is not present in the books, it means that there aren 't high physical cash profits for shareholders.