The Affirmative Action Debate Essay -- argumentative persuasive 2014

For the sake of this essay, affirmative action in education is defined as: â€Å"policies and programs designed to advance equality of educationalopportunity for individuals from groups that have suffered systematic historical discrimination† (Mickelson 29). What is being referred to here is race-based affirmative action, or the act of taking into consideration an applicant’s race in the college admissions process. This is a hot topic all over the United States and has been for quite a while, the debate raging between two sides: those in support of affirmative action and those opposed. The ethics of affirmative action itself are difficult to determine, but here an attempt will be made to prove that affirmative action is indeed unfair. In addition, perhaps people are looking at the wrong issue. Maybe the real problem is the early education gap between the minority and majority students, something that, if fixed, could solve the issue of affirmative action once and for al l. Just to make things clear, because the topic of this is race-based affirmative action, â€Å"majority† will refer to the racial majorities in college admissions (mainly whites and to some extent Asians) and â€Å"minority† will refer to racial minorities (such as African Americans, Hispanics, etc.) Also, diversity, unless stated otherwise, means racially diverse. Before any analysis can take place, it is beneficial to first know a little bit about the subject area. With that in mind, the history of affirmative action can be condensed into the basics: Supreme Court cases and major legislation. Civil Rights Act of 1964 got the ball rolling on affirmative action, both in education and in general. Title VI of this Act ordered desegregation of public educational institutions, from... .... 2008. Web. 01 Nov. 2011 Garrison-Wade, Dorothy F., and Chance W. Lewis. â€Å"Affirmative Action: History And Analysis.†Journal Of College Admission  184 (2004): 23-26.  Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. Mickelson, Roslyn A. â€Å"Affirmative Action in Education.†Ã‚  Education and Sociology: anEncyclopedia. By David L. Levinson, Peter W. Cookson, and Alan R. Sadovnik. New York: RoutledgeFalmer, 2002. Print. Moreno, Pamela Barta. â€Å"The History Of Affirmative Action Law And Its Relation To College Admission.†Ã‚  Journal Of College Admission  179 (2003): 14-21.  Academic Search  Premier. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. Ogletree, Jr., Charles J. â€Å"The Case For Affirmative Action.†Ã‚  Stanford Alumni Association. Stanford Magazine. Web. 01 Nov. 2011. Sacks, David, and Peter Thiel. â€Å"The Case Against Affirmative Action.†Ã‚  Stanford Alumni  Association.  Stanford Magazine. Web. 01 Nov. 2011.

Erosion: Fertilizer and Conservation Stewardship Program

There are three causes of soil erosion over cultivation, overgrazing, and deforestation. All of these causes can be corrected in different ways. Over cultivation is when the land is repeatedly tiling and producing crops faster than the soil can restore resulting in a decrease in the soil value and productivity. One of the ways that over cultivation can be corrected is by a technique called no-till agriculture. No-till agriculture is a procedure where chemicals kill weeds and the seeds are planted without having to plow the soil. Fertilizer is another source of correction in over cultivation. Fertilizer is a process in which nutrients such as organic fertilizer and inorganic fertilizer are added to the soil to nutrient the crops. Organic fertilizers consist of manure and inorganic fertilizers consist of chemical fertilizers. Other methods are used to prevent over cultivation such as contour strip cropping and shelterbelts. Contour strip cropping is where the farmer will plow the land across rather than up and down which reduces the occurrence of water erosion. The rows of trees around the plowed land are called shelterbelts reducing the risk of wind erosion. Overgrazing is another cause of soil erosion. Overgrazing is where there are more animals existing on a piece of land than the land can maintain. During the process of overgrazing the land losses its grass production and the land becomes bare causing wind and water erosion leaving the soil tainted. The Conservation Stewardship program provides information on how farmers can burn woody plants giving them the means to be able to plant grass seeds that hold water and to be able to manage cattle and move them to another land stopping overgrazing from occurring. The means of removing trees and vegetation covering soil and converting the forest into another land of use causing erosion and soil productiveness is called deforestation. The best way to correct deforestation is to cut down trees and to plant more trees. There have been many organizations developed to try to stop deforestation. Some of these organizations are Center for Global Development’s, Group of Earth Observations’, and Avoided Deforestation Partners.

Commentary On The Brain By Tobias Wolff - 1681 Words

In â€Å"Bullet in the Brain,† author Tobias Wolff uses a non-traditional plot and a technique of zooming in/zooming out to help readers understand the difference between wasting their lives or living fully. The effect of shifts in the plot, point of view, and different perspectives of his character startle the reader while simultaneously pulling him into an expanded awareness of the story and its underlying central idea. â€Å"Bullet in the Brain† demonstrates Wolff’s profound approach to life with the theme that a life not lived fully is worse than death. It is the process of choosing how to respond boldly and courageously to random acts in each moment that is important and memorable. â€Å"So many thing in our world tend to lead us to despair.†¦show more content†¦Wolff is poking fun at himself and the reader by leading them to assume they know the outcome. He continues to lead the reader by using third-person limited point of view to describe a typical bank and to only depict Anders’ personality. He masterfully couples the limited point of view with far-away psychic distance to make the reader assume that the plot will keep following a predictable path. This technique allows Wolff to control the reader’s involvement with the character and the overall ho-hum story, up to this point. Then, Wolff suddenly shifts the psychic distance, changes to third person omniscient, and lets the reader view the character’s last thoughts. Anders voice comes through as the reader gets closer in his head. Wolff takes a significant risk with his narrative by jumping straight from a far-away distance into Anders’ last memory. It is like a movie being shot with a wide-angle camera, then suddenly, almost jarringly, the camera zooms in for a close-up. In a paragraph reminiscent of a â€Å"CSI† medical zoom-in moment, Wolff uses this psychic close-up when he describes the bullet tearing into Anders’ b rain: â€Å"the first appearance of the bullet in the cerebrum set off a crackling chain of ion transports and neurotransmissions† (1358). The reader is taken into the character’s very mind and memories to create an extreme sense of proximity and understanding ofShow MoreRelatedFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 Pagesaccommodation. See T. I. Levy, â€Å"Religion in the Workplace,† Management Review (February 2000), pp. 38–40. 44. See, for example, K. C. Cash, G. R. Gray, and S. A. Rood, â€Å"A Framework for Accommodating Religion and Spirituality in the Workplace: Executive Commentary,† Academy of Management Executive (August 2000), pp. 124–134. 45. â€Å"FedEx Faces Lawsuit Citing Religious Bias Against an Ex-Driver,† Wall Street Journal (March 20, 2000), p. B-17. 46. C. J. Layton, â€Å"The Hiring Process, a Primer of Legal Dos and Don’ts