Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Life Requires Imagination Essay - 1289 Words

Life Requires Imagination Not very many people have looked death in the eye. But, when a person does it is something can have a drastic effect on them. Some people are able to survive their deaths, however some end up passing on and are not able to turn their lives around. However, in the short story To Build a Fire by Jack London the man in the story does not survive his dance with death. In the story, the man, whom never gets a name, embarks on a very cold, very long journey to a mining camp. On his journey, he has to stop several times and build a fire in order to keep himself warm and keep himself going throughout his journey to the camp. He has a dog lead him, and then he must save the dog as it fell through the ice. Soon after, he†¦show more content†¦But, rather than waiting and keeping warm, the man simply keeps on moving when his body does need the rest. Also, he not only needs to keep warm, he separates himself from the boys. London states the other boys â€Å"had come over across the divide from the Indian creek country, while [the man] had come the round-about way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon† (4). This basically shows how confident he was about going about this trip alone and how he needed no one by his side in order to have a successful journey. This man wants to be just that, a man. And if he slows himself down, he does not consider himself a man any longer. The man tries to do everything in his power to make his trip to the mining camp successful, little does he know, he made his mistakes before the trip even began. He did not want to listen to the advice of an old man from Sulphur Creek. The man told him to never travel alone in that cold of whether, but instead of listening, he only continues with his travels, only because he wants to protect his own pride, and to be a man. London shows how foolish the man thinks the old man is when he states â€Å"Those ol d-timers were rather womanish, some of them, he thought. All a man had to do was keep his head, and he was all right. Any man who was a man could travel alone† (21). This clearly shows the manShow MoreRelatedChildren Of The Holocaust Survivor Essay1384 Words   |  6 Pagescoping mechanism to deal with his pain of remembering and to provide him with a moral compass from using his imagination to remember his past. Repression of Memories To try to deal with his memory of his parents and sister Bella, Jacob develops ways to repress his memories of losing his family during the Holocaust. His painful memories of losing his parents haunt him throughout his life. Memories that are so vivid, he has a difficult time letting go of his past most importantly his sister BellaRead MoreKnowledge Vs. Imagination1250 Words   |  5 PagesKnowledge End of Semester Assignment Question 3: â€Å"imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there will ever be to know and understand â€Å"(Albert Einstein) Do you agree? In this essay, I aim to discuss the issue whether imagination is more important than knowledge. â€Å"For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there willRead MoreReview Of Lederach Named As An Essential Guide For Research And Practice Essay973 Words   |  4 PagesWhile reading the book by Lederach named as â€Å"Pertinent to The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace† and the book by Umbreit and Peterson â€Å"Restorative Justice Dialogue: An Essential Guide for Research and Practice† I have learned three important things; self-determination Creativity and Structure and Flexibility. Through the paper, I shall show how these important readings shall apply in my personal and professional life. a. Self-determination The first thing that I have learned fromRead MoreAnalysis Of Hunting By Rick Bass962 Words   |  4 Pagesstory describing his surrounding beautifully that towards the end of the article, his attempts to appeal to reader’s imagination strengthen his credibility and, ultimately, his argument. Bass begins building his credibility with personal experience and claims from other locals in the area. He argues that the two reasons that made him a hunter are the surrounding and the imagination. Throughout his piece, he talks about his surrounding and how it intrigued him to hunt He shares his story of an unplannedRead MoreProduct Review : Step2 Deluxe Toy Workbench1004 Words   |  5 Pagesevery aspect of life. The future mainly depends on how your child grew up and to some extent, the toys they interacted with. Therefore, parents should consider toy features and how they relate to real life before purchasing. An example to that can be possible choice is the Step2 Workbench. Looking at some of the key product features, you can make an informed decision about the product. Step2 Deluxe Toy Workbench Details The toy workbench transforms child play equipment to almost real life situation.Read MoreWilliam Wordsworth Poetry Analysis968 Words   |  4 Pages Individual Powers: Reflection, Imagination, and Feeling gives the poet, William Wordsworth, a chance to reflect upon his life. He writes this renown piece of literature at a time that the world is rapidly changing and shifting. Wordsworth is able to extract himself from hectic society, slow down, and absorb his surroundings while portraying central components of true romantic poetry in his piece. The poem was written toward the end of the 18th century, during the Romantic period. Romanticism emphasizedRead MoreCould Imagination Be More Important than Thought?643 Words   |  3 Pagesthe same knowledge but can never have the same imagination. Imagination is not only seeing pictures in the mind, it also includes smelling, feeling and tasting. According to Webster’s New World College Dictionary, imagination is, â€Å"the act of forming mental images of what is not actually present or never been actually experienced† (Agnes). Knowledge is, â€Å"the act, fact or state of knowing† (Agnes). Imagination and knowledge work hand in hand. Imagination is more important than knowledge because it leadsRead MoreDescartes Greatest Argument : Mind Body Duality1323 Words   |  6 Pagessimply be the brain and why, although we physically are present, our essence, our existence, is not linked with our physical self. Descartes arguments, however well crafted they may be, logically appear an inadequate explanation to our understanding of life. Descartes presents his opinion on the nature of the human mind throughout his second Meditation, and builds on this in his third. He lists the forms of activities that a ‘thinking thing’ engages in, providing the meditator with a more detailed descriptionRead More Sublime Elements in Of Love and Other Demons Essay919 Words   |  4 PagesSierva and Delaura is the most important of all the magical elements However, this element may also be indentified as sublime. In the sublime, there is a frightening breakdown of identity, a breakdown that leads to another world of dreams and imagination, and of spirit (qtd. in Sandner 54). This one event, called transcendence, has a huge effect on the characters and the outcome of the rest of the story. Through this dream, Delaura realizes he is in love with Sierva whom he has not even met. TheRead MoreSociology Imagination833 Words   |  4 Pagessociological imagination as the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience a nd the wider society. The sociological imagination is the capacity to shift from one perspective to another: from the political to the psychological; from examination of a single family to comparative assessment of the national budgets of the world; from the theological school to the military establishment; from considerations of an oil industry to studies of contemporary poetry.[1] Sociological Imagination: The

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Causing Harm With Trade Embargos And Sanctions - 1678 Words

Causing Harm With Trade Embargos and Sanctions Trade embargos have tremendous consequences for countries that are being embargoed. The embargos not only affect the country that are being embargoed, but the effect bleed over the borders to the surrounding countries. The list of countries that have been sanctioned by the United Nations included Russia, North Cyprus, and Cuba. United Nations sanctions that target countries affect the economy, the morale, and encourages criminal activities to obtain goods. The majority of good hearted citizens would be appalled if they were walking down a street and saw a dog tied up in a yard looking like it hadn t eaten for a week. These citizens would take a minute retrieve their phone and call the Humane Society to report this cruel treatment of this poor dog. As doctor C. M. Tiplada, D. B. Walsh, and C. J. C. Phillips wrote in their journal article, â€Å"â€Å"Public outrage after undercover footage of animal cruelty is screened has been reported in a range of countries, such as USA, Canada, and the UK† (636). Who do the citizen call when they are being treated like the dog and the owner of the dog is the United Nations? This is how people around the world are being treated each and every day when their country has an embargo imposed on the resources that are able to enter and exit their country. These embargos create personnel harm to the citizens of the country at the expense of political malfeasance. The United Nations has a greaterShow MoreRelatedUnited States and Cuba Foreign Policy891 Words   |  4 Pagesbecause president Kennedy resolved a major crisis, the USSAR could have bombed down the USA within minutes. For Cuba this gave them a since of defiance and strength against America. Although there was a trade reduction in tension, Castro kept lines of trade with the US shut. In 1996 the US trade embargo was made permanent , in response to Cuba’s shooting down of the two US aircrafts operated by Miami based Cuban exiles(US). The 104th United States Congress passed this law on March 12th, 1996(Clinton)Read MoreNorth Korea And The United Nations1536 Words   |  7 PagesRussia, for the purpose of dismantling North Korea’s nuclear program. Currently, China is North Korea’s most important ally, biggest trading partner, and main source of food, arms, and energy, and accounts for more than 70% of North Korea’s total trade volume (Albert Xu, 2016). And, due to their increasing isolation, North Korea’s dependence on China continues to grow. Kuznets (2008) suggest that in most, if not all cases, donors pull out for fear of their nuclear program: Conflict between recipientRead MoreIs the Rise of the East Viewed as a Threat or an Opportunity?1477 Words   |  6 Pagescreated by inexpensive Chinese imports. The theory is that China’s seemingly endless supply of cheap and lack of regulation allows them to produce goods at costs much lower than American firms causing a shift of employment to the East. China’s growth has largely revolved around increases in manufacturing causing American manufactures to face downward wage pressures and reallocations of labor (Eichengreen, 2011). They worry demand will fall for domestic goods and shift towards cheap imports costing theirRead MoreForeign Policy Has The Diplomatic Pendulum Swept So Wide An Arc Essay1078 Words   |  5 PagesAmericans hostage, causing many individuals in the U.S to become infuriated with the situation. Little did the citizens of both nations know that this strenuous period would last 444 days, with United States taking desperate measures to keep its citizens out of harm and free them swiftly. During the majority of the crisis, President Jimmy Carter was commander in chief of the U.S, taking immediate action after hearing of the emergency on the other side of the globe. By placing an embargo on oil importsRead MoreNew Relations With Cub A Historic Mistake2064 Words   |  9 Pagesthis position, also want to end the US embargo on Cuba, but what they fail to realize is that what has oppressed the people of Cuba for over 50 years are government imposed internal restrictions and their embargo to its people. The reality is that these changes rather than help the people of Cuba, in turn, empower the Castro dictatorship and allow them to continue to oppress and violate the human rights of the Cuban people. Per Senator Marco Rubio â€Å"the embargo is not what is hurting the Cuban people Read More An Analysis of Joseph Nye’s Use of â€Å"Soft Power† and its Relationship with Morality in International Relations3033 Words   |  13 Pagesact in a manner which enhances or advances its own national interest at all costs despite morality and the interests of other nations. A nation cannot successfully navigate the muddy waters of International Relations by waging war and imposing trade sanctions upon all of those who oppose that nation. The second viewpoint on State power is based purely in morality. Idealism requires self sacrifice for the overall good of the global community. Physical power should perform as little of a role as possibleRead MoreCompany Valuation Report for Bp20320 Words   |  82 Pages92 at the point of oil leak containment. Despite a general increase thereafter, share prices trend was somewhat unstable and was considerably lower that its initial share price. Figure 2.1 BP Oil Spill Timeline Source: Moreano 2011 BP currently trades shares on a number of platforms including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and London Stock Exchange (LSE). Figure 2.2 shows the summary of BP’s listing on the NYSE as of 3rd February. The share price opens at US$45.54, with a market capitalizationRead MoreCoco Cola18335 Words   |  74 Pagesproducts, * a poor  environmental  record, * perception of the companies engagement in  monopolistic  business practices, * questionable labour practices (including allegations of involvement with paramilitary organisations in suppression of  trade unions), * questionable  marketing  strategies, and * accusation of violations of  intellectual property  rights. Perception of the company as behaving unethically has led to the formation of  pressure groups  such as Killer Coke, product boycottsRead MoreNational Security Outline Essay40741 Words   |  163 Pagesof force† as opposed to â€Å"war† (in Kellogg-Briand Pact) shows intent to prohibit forceful reprisals as well as major coercion ii) Fundamental purpose of Charter is to prevent coercion – suggests that even minor coercion, even imposed simply as a sanction, should also be prohibited (evidence of this: 1964 Sec. Coun. Censured Britain for reprisals vs. Yemeni guerrillas) c) However, some actions popularly termed reprisals may more usefully be thought of as efforts of defense (lawful defense under ArticleRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesis not just a teleological assumption. Moving may have been one of the elemental activities of our species, along with eating and reproducing, but mass movement was a new phenomenon—as was the related â€Å"massification† of reproduction, production, trade, and transportation, as well as communication, consumption, and culture. Mass migration is an integral part of these broader global processes that have shaped the modern world. Dating the shift is—like the periodization of any social process—a slippery

Monday, December 9, 2019

Stroop Effect free essay sample

CogLab Report Stroop Effect CogLab Report The Stroop effect is a test that demonstrates a decrease in reaction time that occurs when the brain receives conflicting information. When sensory information conflicts, a processing delay occurs in the brain; this is interference. If a specific color is paired with its corresponding word then those two pieces of information are compatible. If the information conflicts then the individual is forced to make a decision. It is hypothesized that reaction times will be lower when the word and font color are the same and reaction times will increase when the word and font color are different. Method Participants A total of 20 undergraduate students participated in this experiment; 18 were women and 2 were men. Materials Students used CogLab, an online laboratory used as part of a cognitive psychology class, to complete the Stroop Effect task. Procedure Participants were asked to identify the color of each word as quickly as possible. Stroop effect and reading process Stroop effect is one of the most used indicator tests in investigating the efficiency of mental processes that confine action, emotion or thought (Bioulac et al. , 2005). Stroop effect is described as a test to further understand human perception which involves the automatic and the controlled mental processes (Shabazz, 2010). Stroop task is usually directed with two different conditions, the first one (congruent) is where participants are presented with a list of color names printed in ink color that it corresponds, and the second condition (incongruent) which incorporates a list of color names that does not agree with its ink color. In both condition, participants are ask to report the ink color used to print the color names (Bioulac et al. , 2005). Interference is found in both condition but with a greater magnitude in the condition where words or color names do not agree with the ink color (Bioulac et al. , 2005). Related to this is the reversed Stroop effect that requires participants to report the printed word rather than the ink color that produces which also produced interference but wilt a lower level than the classical Stroop effect (Au, E. Chen, R. Chen, Wong, 2000). Many researches pointed out automatic processes as the primary cause of Stroop effect (Aisenberg, Goldfarb, Henik, 2011; Bioulac et al. , 2005; Juvina Taatgen, 2009; Shabazz, 2010). Automatic processes is described as the thinking which is unintended, indirect or unaware that suggests unconsciously performing task beyond what is required to do, which supports the cause of automatic reading of words in a color-naming task (Aisenberg, Goldfarb, Henik, 2011; Shabazz, 2010). Cattell (1886) and Fraisse (1969) further proposed that it is more automatic to read words than to name certain color (as cited in Juvina Taatgen, 2009). A research by Shabazz (2010) also supports the conclusion that individuals are faster in recognizing the color and reading the color names than reporting the color of the ink used. Researches regarding stroop effect is essential for further and more in-depth understanding of human perception and also seeking to provide more information to further investigate and contributes to existing knowledge regarding Stroop effect and its future applications for human development. Many researches already used Stroop task to investigate different ideas such as the study about cognitive control that is said to be fundamental to interference resolution (Juvina Taatgen, 2009). Stroop task also became applicable in investigating attention bias of individuals to their own interest (Franken, Sayette, Schwartz, Waters, 2004). The present study is a replication of the research by Stroop (1935). In which the researchers faced with an inquiry of how the word stimuli (color name) interfere with the identification of the ink color of the word, and also how the ink color of the word affects the reading of the color name. The researchers hypothesized that individuals can name ink color faster if it corresponds to the same name color that when it is not. The response time between two conditions – congruent and incongruent – are measured to test whether congruency between color name and ink color results to a faster naming of color. Method Participants The participants of the study were two senior BASS Psychology students and 28 B. A Psychology sophomore students of University of the Philippines in the Visayas Tacloban College with ages ranging from 17-21 years old, 4 of which were male and 26 were female. Materials Materials used in the experiment were experimental instructions, congruent list (annex A), incongruent list (annex A) and data sheet. Procedure The experiment was divided into two sets. The first set was a condition wherein congruent color names and ink color were presented first before the incongruent set of words. In the second set, the first set of words presented was incongruent, followed by the congruent list of words. The experiment was conducted inside the Psych laboratory of the University of the Philippines Eastern Visayas Tacloban College. Assignment of which among the participants would be on the first set or second set was decided through count off. After the count off, all the participants inside the psych laboratory were told to stay at the DMX and wait for their names to be called by one of the experimenters. Two participants were called in every now and then. One of which was someone who was assigned to the first condition or first set, while the other participant was from the second set. There were three experimenters, two of which were the ones who conducted the exam and the third one was the person responsible for calling in the next participants of the experiment. Between the two examiners, each of them was assigned in conducting either of the two conditions and each of the experimenter has their own copy of the congruent and incongruent lists and manuscript of the procedure. The instructions that they gave to the participants were also from the same manuscript and were read at the same time. After the experimenter was assured that their participant has understood the instruction given and both him/her and the participants were ready to begin, they then commenced the test. Each participant has to read the set of words listed in the congruent or incongruent list given to them. In the congruent list of words, the participant was told to read the color names. On the other hand, in the incongruent list, the participant was told to name the ink color of the words. The length of time that the participant spent in reading was recorded by the experimenter. The experimenter spoke out the word â€Å"Go! † as a mark that the participant was already allowed to begin reading the words, while participants had to say â€Å"done! † right after they had finished reading the list to notify the experimenter that he/she has ended the first test. The experimenter then recorded the time duration right away on the line at the bottom of the data sheet. The same procedure was followed for the second test. Various measures were carried out by the experimenter to maintain control in the experiment and to ensure that only the IV would affect the DV of the experiment. The purpose of saying the words â€Å"Go† and â€Å"Done† were for helping the experimenter to correctly jot down the correct length of time the reading process of the participant has taken in each set of words, be it in Incongruent list or Congruent list. Reading of the same instruction to each participant was also to make sure that there would be no other factors that would intervene in the performance of the participant or having unnecessary disturbances in the flow of the experiment, which could influence the reliability of the result or data gathered. Research Design The research design used is Within-subjects design. Variables The independent variable of the experiment was congruence of color names and ink colors. Levels of IV were congruent color names and ink color and incongruent color names and ink color. The Dependent variable was reading speed which was measured in seconds using stopwatch. Extraneous variables controls were random assignment of participants, the distance between the locations of the two experimenters to avoid disturbance during the experiment, synchronized reading of the instructions and the use of counterbalancing. Data Analysis

Monday, December 2, 2019

Recruitment and Retention of Minority Officers an Example of the Topic Foreign Essays by

Recruitment and Retention of Minority Officers Abstract Overt racism, past and present, contributes to social and residential segregation, thereby isolating minorities at every income level from white society. Because of such isolation, minorities are vulnerable, by exclusion, to selection by personal connections. The negative impact of qualification standards in employment is sustained by racially biased funding of education and training resources and by the cumulative racist impact of such practices as tracking in schools. Minorities suffer the adverse effects of seniority based promotion and layoff because of past racist hiring of whites ahead of minorities. Institutional racism also reinforces future racism by contributing to the disproportionate presence of minorities at the bottom of employment--a presence that helps perpetuate the racist attitude that minorities are inherently inferior. White notions of minority people have been formed in a social world where minorities visibly predominate at these bottom levels. Thus they have lab ored--and continue to labor--as maids and porters, at "hot, heavy, and dirty" jobs in the foundries and paint pits of the auto plants, the boiler rooms of utilities, the dusty basements of tobacco factories, and in the murderous heat of the steel mills' coke ovens. Need essay sample on "Recruitment and Retention of Minority Officers" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed The neutral procedures that have had the greatest racist impact within employment are selection by (1) personal connections, (1) qualification standards, and (3) seniority status. Reliance by employers on friends, relatives, and neighbors-their own or their workers'--has powerful racist impact--first, because of its paramount importance in the world of work, second, because of its links to overt racism. Numerous studies of workers--blue and white collar, professional and technical--indicate that communicating job information to family, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances by word of mouth is probably the most widely used recruitment method. Vocational counselors emphasize the importance of making contacts through personal connections. Job seekers know the value of having friends in the department of their choice. Referral unions that influence or control hiring for many well-paid jobs in such industries as construction, printing, publishing, and transportation commonly recruit through personal contacts. Because, for the most part, minorities and whites live as two separate societies, it is not surprising that minorities suffer because of selection by personal contacts. Lacking ties to whites as family, friends, fellow students, neighbors, or club members, minorities tend to be isolated from the networks in which connections to desirable employment--where whites predominate--are forged. (Dana Y. Takagi, 1992). Hence minorities have been outside the channels leading to well paid jobs controlled by the predominantly white referral unions that recruit by word of mouth. Family or friends had virtually automatic preference for membership cards in such overwhelmingly white labor organizations as the Ironworkers' Union. Such recruitment by referral unions contributed to the virtual exclusion of minorities from employment on public construction projects until affirmative action enforcement brought some improvement in the recruitment and retention of minorities. Minorities also lack personal connections to residents of all-white suburbs where many new jobs have been created. That adverse effect on minorities is exacerbated when suburban employers rely on "walk-in" applicants from these white neighborhoods. Because whites disproportionately occupy elected government office, especially the more powerful positions, minorities suffer from the widespread use of political patronage to distribute government jobs. Although the lack of personal connections to the job market is in most cases an institutional barrier to employment for minorities, it arises in large part from segregation created by overtly racist practices. The segregation of minorities in schools, housing, accommodations, and public and private facilities was imposed by whites throughout the nation, either in ready conformity to explicitly racial laws or to the silent toleration of violence against minorities who dared to cross racial barriers. Today widespread segregation continues as an inherited social structure, excluding minorities from white residential areas and neighborhood schools, where they might develop white connections leading to employment. That structure of "ghettoization" is sustained by pervasive housing discrimination against minorities who wish to move into white areas. The isolation of minorities from white society is also sustained by widespread racist attitudes that exclude minorities from white clubs and social circles where networks leading to jobs are formed. Even mild unconscious racial prejudice tends to cut minorities off from relations of friendship and intimacy with whites. (D. Keith Denton, 1992). Recruitment and retention by personal connections also tends to keep minorities at the bottom of the occupational ladder. Because individuals often hear of openings in their own kind of work, they tend to funnel such information to relatives and acquaintances. Thus both black and white workers informally recruit to their types of jobs. Because minorities are disproportionately represented in bottom level positions, their personal recruitment tends to maintain occupational segregation. Continued perception of minorities in menial, undesirable jobs reinforces the racist conception that minorities belong there. Thus, although selection by personal connections is intrinsically free of bias, its ties to overt racism--past, present, and future--justify characterization of its adverse impact on minorities as racist impact. Although black-white inequality of educational attainment has been substantially reduced in some respects, such as in the amount of schooling received and the level of reading, nevertheless requirements for a college diploma and for adequate test scores continue to exclude minorities from employment and from postgraduate schools that provide training for desirable positions. Similarly, requirements for certain work experience and vague personality traits have a negative impact in employment. Overt racism, especially in its contribution to segregating minorities from whites throughout society, makes a significant contribution to the racist impact of qualification requirements on minorities. Millions of black persons still in the labor force today attended legally segregated public schools in seventeen southern states and the District of Columbia, where a presumption of black inferiority--destructive to their self-confidence--was pervasive, and where, because of gross discrimination in funding, black schools were invariably inferior. Many minorities are excluded by requirements for work experience because as students they had been barred from white schools where relevant training was available or had been denied work experience and training by prejudiced supervisors and employers. (Cheryl Holcomb-Mccoy, Carla Bradley, 2003) Overt housing discrimination affecting all economic classes of minorities works indirectly to reduce the achievement of black youngsters by contributing to the significant racial segregation of neighborhood schools. The positive effect of socialization within white families on black children's test scores is indicated in a comparative study of black children adopted by middle-class parents, white and black. The children adopted by white middle-class parents scored significantly higher on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children than did the children adopted by black middle-class parents. The scoring difference is of the magnitude "typically found between the average scores of black and white children." Our Customers Often Tell Us: How much do I have to pay someone to make my assignment today? Essay writers suggest: Academic Papers For Students Collage Papers For Sale Professional Writer For Hire Custom Writing Service Professional Academic Writing Services The racist impact of qualification requirements in employment is the terminus of a cumulative impact that begins in school. Black students are vulnerable to traditional practices such as standardized testing and tracking--that is, ability grouping in schools--which place them disproportionately at the bottom level, sometimes at a very early age, where, deprived of educational resources and instruction in higher-order skills, they have little possibility of moving up. In the job market the vulnerability of minorities to qualification requirements is exacerbated when employers insist on credentials such as higher-education diplomas that are not related to work performance. Such requirements have had a severe effect on black employment. Irrelevant testing excluded minorities even from such dead-end work as dishwashing. An important race-neutral qualification standard in the academic marketplace is published research. Taking Harvard University as an example, sociologist Thomas Pettigrew shows how this requirement adversely affects black candidates. In the 1930s, Harvard developed criteria for tenured faculty appointment, which included scholarly publication. The purpose was to ensure a faculty of high quality. Publication requirements, however, worked against the recruitment of black professors because the majority taught heavy course loads in predominantly black colleges, which limited their time for research and writing. This concentration of minorities in predominantly black colleges has links to a racist past, because black academics were initially excluded by racist attitudes from many white departments. Hence in the 1970s, when some predominantly white universities following affirmative action requirements sought black professors, black college faculty were less able to fill their race-neutral publication requirements. (Gregory B. Lewis, Samantha L. Durst, 1995). Although qualification requirements are intrinsically bias-free, they can be manipulated by racist employers and union officials to exclude minorities. Thus while some employers who set irrelevant higher education requirements may simply have undue reverence for diplomas, many are not unhappy that their requirements tend to keep minorities out. According to one legal scholar, raising qualification criteria has been a "common device of employers and construction unions" when, because of civil rights law, hiring and promotion of minorities appeared likely. Vague subjective standards, such as "fitting in," "personality," "vigor," and "self-confidence"--widely used for promotion-easily serve racial prejudice. In Rowe v. General Motors Co., the court stated that promotion procedures that depend on "subjective evaluation" by immediate supervisors are a "ready mechanism" for covert race discrimination. The court expressed skepticism that minorities, dependent on whites for decisive recommendation, can expect impartiality. Seniority status determines promotion, layoff, and job termination for vast numbers of employees: professionals, managers, clericals, skilled, and unskilled workers. Seniority systems have brought significant benefits to American workers. Promotion based on seniority enables harmony, cooperation, and solidarity to replace an ugly scramble for advancement over one's co-workers. Seniority-determined layoff protects workers against arbitrary dismissal due to an employer's whim, malice, or prejudice. Strengthened by such security, many workers have gained in dignity and self-esteem and are less tempted to pander to supervisors or accept humiliating conditions. An older auto worker told me that before the union had negotiated a seniority system his supervisor would invite subordinates over on Sunday to mow his lawn. With the protection of a seniority system, workers can demand to be treated with a measure of respect. Egalitarian philosophers, that is, those committed to equal economic rew ard, may note that seniority-based benefit systems constitute a significant egalitarian substructure in the hierarchy of employment. Insofar as seniority determines promotion, pay, and job security, protected employees tend to gain equally throughout their working lives. But seniority, in itself race-neutral, has disproportionately benefited white workers. Hired in most cases ahead of minorities, whites halve enjoyed higher seniority status. Minorities felt the racist impact of such past hiring discrimination when, as less senior, they were less likely to gain promotion and more likely to lose their jobs in economic recessions. In the 1970s minorities, hired under affirmative action programs in private and public employment (e.g., as teachers, police, and firefighters), were devastated by seniority-based layoffs--a consequence of three recessions and severe government budget cutbacks. Such layoffs threaten minorities again in the 1990s. As job losers, minorities tend to move down to unskilled temporary work or to no work at all. This downward move is facilitated by their lack of significant financial assets, which often makes job retraining unfeasible. Whites have eleven times the wealth of minorities; one-third of all minorities have no major assets whatsoever except for cash on hand. Thus seniority-based layoffs of minorities, including those hired because of affirmative action programs, increases the concentration of minorities at the bottom of the occupational ladder or among the unemployed, thereby reinforcing the racist stereotype of minorities as inferior. Although long-term black employees have the benefit of high seniority ranking, after the 1964 Civil Rights Act many continued to suffer the racist impact of departmental seniority arrangements. Under such arrangements, a worker who transfers from one department to another loses all seniority credit. Although departmental seniority is a race-neutral practice, it perpetuates the victimizing effect of past overtly racist job assignment. Newly hired minorities in northern and southern plants had traditionally been assigned to segregated departments where they labored in the most undesirable, low-paying jobs, for example, at garbage disposal, the blast furnaces and the coke ovens, and in the foundries. After the 1964 Civil Rights Act, black workers could no longer be legally prevented from transfer to the better, white departments. But under departmental seniority arrangements, transfers were stripped of all seniority, and so they descended to the bottom rung for promotion and layoff. Thu s minorities naturally tended to remain in the racially segregated departments, where they had originally been assigned by biased company supervisors. (Willie Brisco, Charlotte Forh, Vic Haynes, Barbara Wheeler, 2004) Today, while some minorities have moved on up, it is still true that the more disagreeable the job, the greater the chance of finding a high proportion of minorities doing it. The racially exclusionary impact of race-neutral policies on employment also contributes to the official black unemployment rate as perpetually double that of whites, thereby reinforcing the racist view of minorities as unwilling to work. Thus these race neutral policies function as social mechanisms through which the victimizing effects of overt racism, past and present, continue to keep minorities at the bottom levels of employment. Learn more: Cyber BullyingOccupational Safety and Health AdministrationThe Roles and Barriers of Curriculum Leaders References: Cheryl Holcomb-Mccoy, Carla Bradley (2003). Recruitment and Retention of Ethnic Minority Counselor Educators: An Exploratory Study of CACREP-Accredited Counseling Programs; Counselor Education and Supervision, Vol. 42 D. Keith Denton (1992). Recruitment, Retention, and Employee Relations: Field-Tested Strategies for the '90s; Quorum Books Dana Y. Takagi (1992). The Retreat from Race: Asian-American Admissions and Racial Politics; Rutgers University Press Gregory B. Lewis, Samantha L. Durst (1995). Will Locality Pay Solve Recruitment and Retention Problems in the Federal Civil Service? Public Administration Review, Vol. 55 Willie Brisco, Charlotte Forh, Vic Haynes, Barbara Wheeler (2004). Minority Recruitment: For the 21st Century; Corrections Today, Vol. 66, August