CC 3.2

In a recent article entitled Why Women Vanish As They Move Up The Career Ladder by Bob Sherwin. He points out several reasons that keep most women from advancing up in the career work. His purpose is to let it be known so that maybe some women can avoid these feelings or thoughts.

As Sherwin states "Whether they want it or not, it’s also clear that women end up with a double burden of responsibility in our society at large" Although it's still unclear as to why, I believe that this accounts for more than half of the reason as to why we don't see as many women holding higher positions in the world today.

Next mentioned in the article "most damaging reason that women are vanishing from the corporate ladder is the traditional belief that women are simply less effective leaders than men." If women do decide to start making their way up, I do believe that this is an important point whether it be true or not. Being strong and assertive is a must for women to survive in the career world.

Lastly as stated by Sherwin "Many take the form of assumed limitations on the part of senior hiring managers like, “she wouldn't want a job that required a relocation," “the hours required in this position wouldn't work for her family," or “women don’t have career aspirations for this kind of role.” Not all women should automatically put into this stereotypical position, and its wrong for the hiring managers to even base one woman's situation off of another's keeping them from obtaining the position, a place where someone or something is located or has been put, they are applying for. Making it harder for women to get jobs, the hiring managers in result continue the search for men.

This reminds me of a time when my mother went and tried to apply for a job at a place where mainly men worked and they basically told her she couldn't have the job because she told them that she may have to leave anytime or could be unavailable some days if one of her kids were to get sick. I don't see how some places have no sympathy for employees, when they more than likely have kids as well that sometimes need be taken care of.

The problem having risen, we still have done nothing. There need to be more women role models that go out and make their mark in the workplace, so that women aren't so easily discouraged and intimidated to start climbing up the career ladder.

CC 3.1

In a recent article "Will Boston succeed in closing the gender wage gap" by Mary Kozelka from NBC News she talks about the struggles that women have in the workplace, and how wages are still far from being fair for women compared to men. Kozelka's purpose clearly comes off as being quite descriptive because she feels as if this is an very important topic that you should know your facts on.

As Kozelka states "Right now, however, women in the U.S. earn 77 cents for every dollar men make" This gives one more of a bigger picture of how unequal things are in today's society, men are bringing in another whole 23 cents over women that are perfectly capable of doing the same job, just because of gender differences.

Also stated in the article "“Women in Boston make up more than half the population and half the workforce … They are central to families. They are central to the communities. They're central to business,” Okay, sure women get good recognition and publicity but it's about time that they start getting to benefit from it by being able to make just as much as males since they are so "central" to businesses. 

One of Kozelka's bigger points "According to the compact, roadblocks such as inflexible work hours, lack of female role models -- and perhaps the most pervasive obstruction --unconscious bias, make it difficult to grow and remain in the workplace as a female employee." Just because for say a group of women or past employees that a company has had pretty well match up to some of this unconscious bias does not mean that all of the female gender should have to suffer because of the way of a select few females present themselves. 

This reminds me of a time back at my previous employer where me and one of my best friends that happens to be of the female gender worked at. We both had been working there for the same amount of time, same position, and same days. Payday came around. Walking to the break room, we compared paychecks. There it was clear as day, even though it was just a couple of cents more, she was still making less than me just for the simple fact of her gender. Everything else about our job was exactly the same, so this was clearly the culprit.

Not every female needs a male figure, human being of the male gender,  to take care of them, and are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves just fine. But how can one do this when they still seem to be coming in second in the workplace with men being the first and making more. The problem having risen, we still have done nothing. Maybe one day our society will realize how unfair this can be to some and just how it affects the women that do work their butts off for a living everyday.

CC 2.1

In a recent article by Veronica Linares entitled "Tsunami debris to wash onto US shores over next few years" she talks about the gigantic, very large or extensive, tsunami, large ocean waves caused by an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption, that struck Japan 2 Years ago. Debris is starting to just now show up in the Pacific Ocean, and its headed towards the U.S. The amount of debris that is on it's way has been described as the size of the state of Texas, so that's a lot of debris that going to have to be cleaned up over the next few years. Linares purpose for writing this article was to inform citizens of the US about whats happening around them.

As the article states "A significant amount of debris has already arrived on U.S. and Canadian shores, and it will likely continue arriving in the same scattered way over the next several years," There has already been reports of debris, arriving regularly now, on the west coast piece by piece and from the looks of things the debris will continue to arrive for quite a while because of how scattered out the debris is in the ocean.

Next Linares beings up ""As we get further into the fall and winter storm season, NOAA and partners are expecting to see more debris coming ashore in North America" Part of the reason why we will start seeing more of the debris is because of the tropical storms, knocking down anything standing in the way, will be beginning to form. These storms cause the water to move around more resulting in more amounts of debris being pushed towards surrounding countries including the US.

Lastly stated by Linares "The waste includes everything from boats to kitchen appliances. And while around 70 percent of the litter sunk into the ocean, the rest -- some 1.5 million tons -- is scattered in the water and drifting toward North America." This just is not your everyday debris, floating usually in groups, that you may see washed up, these are actually items that are used by humans everyday. If it were not for most of the debris plummeting to the ocean floor like an anchor, it would have taken centuries to cleanup all of that extra debris that would be coming in left and right.

Articles like these are helpful to the world, without them people would have no clue what's going on around them from day to day. I find articles to be a little bit more useful than say a news report, because you can actually read whatever it may be that happened, and there is usually more info included in a article that would take up too much time on a news broadcast.

On that note, the author clearly expresses her reason for publishing this article and provides plenty of supporting evidence that is used to back up her main point. Even though the US will be receiving these large amounts of debris; with the right amount of help the cleanup could go by pretty quick. 

Works Cited:
  Linares, Veronica. "Tsunami Debris to Wash onto US Shores over next Few Years." UPI. N.p., 07 Nov. 2013. Web. 09 Nov. 2013.

CC 1.2

Schools not teaching enough?

In a recent article by Betsy Hammond entitled "Oregon high school students rip schools as too easy, too prone to keep bad teachers" she talks about a certain high school in Oregon where students feel that they are getting under educated by their high school because everything seems so easy, teachers don't seem to care, and the list goes on and on. Betsy purpose to writing this article was to inform others of what’s going on at this high school, in hope of maybe something possibly being done about it in the near future.

     

As the article states "Oregon high school students are broadly dissatisfied with their public education experience, saying school isn't challenging enough, too many teachers are careless or incompetent and too many students are falling through the cracks." Here Betsy is explaining exactly how the students think and feel about their school, and just how careless the school can be when it comes to educating their students.

     

Next Hammond brings up that “Only 18 percent reported they are "very satisfied" with their own education" This is just horrible only 18 percent out of 200 kids believe that their school is doing the best they can, while all the others have taken into account that they are not being educated near as much as they should, and that's okay because chances are they probably are not, according to the data taken from surveys, a gathering of a sample of data or opinions, that were conducted at the school about the issue.

     

Now for the teachers, as Hammond writes "Among students who expressed dissatisfaction with their education, 20 percent cited incompetent or unmotivated teachers" I unfortunately find this somewhat to be true because every school has those teachers that are unmotivated and just let their class sit there, then give of loads of homework at the end of the class; therefore leaving the students stumped because they have no clue how to actually do it because it was never explained thoroughly, or even at all.

     

Can not forget the classes, near the end of her article Betsy states that "Those who want to succeed however are held back, by things like limits on available AP classes." This is also a very understandable topic, some students have the want and drive to learn more than just what a core classes offer sometimes, but have no other option if their school barely has any AP courses that can be alternatively taken.

     

There are many more factors that can make students feel like they are being under-educated, poorly or insufficiently educated, by their high school just like the ones above. I can relate to this myself because there are teachers at our school that act the exact same way; Honestly those few should not even be teaching in my opinion.

No one really thinks much of, or pays any attention to this issue, which is where the problem arises. If a teacher doesn't seem to like teaching and can never seem to get motivated then chances are they probably don't belong there and should be replaced with someone who actually wants to help their students succeed.

CC

Apple

As many may know, Apple recently came out with their 2013 lineup of smartphones. The 5C and the 5S these two phones are explained more in depth in this recent article that I read. It is clearly an ad because through out the whole article they are telling your interesting facts and details about the product that make you want to buy it.

For example, "It’s pretty, guys. It’s really pretty. The 5C is made from one single hard-coated poly carbonate  surface with no seams, part lines or joins which has a reinforced steel structure on the inside. ( Poly carbonate is basically a plastic shell instead of aluminum). "The 5C comes in a range of bright poppy rainbow bright colors" the 5C was basically designed to attract younger buyers that's why it's so flashy you could say. The design is also a tad different than previous models released that were more square shaped.

In addition, "The iPhone 5S has an A7 chip, and is the first smartphone ever to have one. The A7 is a modern instruction set, with 2x general purpose registers, 2x floating point registers, over 1 billion transistors and 100 square mm die size." Here are the internals of the iPhone 5S, with just a few minor upgrades from the 5. Not worth the upgrade if you already own the 5 in my opinion.

Lastly, "The new iPhone has a crystal inlaid fingerprint scanner in place of the home button that can read multiple fingerprints. There is a stainless steel detection ring around the home button, so that the sensor can detect your finger without you having to press the button." This is probably the biggest factor that would make you want to go out and buy it, a finger print scanner is quite an advancement for the mobile phone anyway.

On that note, these are all some of the many great new features included in the two new iDevices. This is what draws a consumer's attention to go out and buy the product, and company's know that by now, that's why they continue to do it, and we all fall for it sometimes.

Cc#3

Puerto Rico becoming a state?!


In a recent magazine entitledUpfront by The New York Times, an article named "Puerto Rico: The 51st State?" enforms readers of the possibility of allowing Puerto Rico to be officially apart of the United States, making it the 51st state in the Union.

For the first time ever, Puerto Rico has cast a ballot "in favor of... becoming the 51st state." Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and has been since 1898, during the Spanish-American War. Now, more than ever, the citizens of Puerto Rico are ready for a major change and hope to one day be an addition to the 50 states of America.

Although the people who live in Puerto Rico are considered American citizens, "those living in the U.S. enjoy full constitutional rights." Puerto Rico is about 1,000 miles from the coast of Miami, Florida and has only one non-voting member of Congress. Also, those living in Puerto Rico cannot vote in the presidential elections, making the residents feel not as important as those who actually live in the United States.

A Puerto Rico local stated in the article that, "[they] are not happy being second-class citizens." Those who support Puerto Rico becoming an official state believe that Puerto Rico would highly benefit from it, both economically and with increased tourism. Those who oppose statehood believe the island would lose it's culture and the residents would then have to pay federal income tax.

This article certainly caught my attention. The fact that Puerto Rico may have the opportunity to become the 51st state is very interesting. It also reminded me how some states were wanting to secede from the Union not too long ago, after the election of President Obama. It's funny how those who are already states and benefit from all America has to offer want to secede, while Puerto Rico would love to join the Union as a state.

It is unfortunate that the residents of Puerto Rico feel like "second-class citizens." It is not sure whether Congress will actually approve the statehood for Puerto Rico, considering it is a very important decision and the United States is dealing with enough issues, including the economy and certain nuclear threats from North Korea. Eventually, it may become an official state though, and those living in Puerto Rico will not stop hoping for this day will come.

CC #4 Trying Times

Trying Times


Times are getting harder as the economy starts to get worse, all that people have known is to go to college, get a good education, and anything to do with college. But is that so much the truth anymore? Dosen't seem like it, because in the artice from a New York Times Upfront magazine they are talking about how the number of college graduates that are unemployed are steady rising, leaving them struggling with debts that have to be paid back, and even just to live.

As Herring says "The end goal is to work in entertainment marketing, but at this time, in this economy, I just need a job" Her dream job that she went to school to major in dosen't have any openings obviously in her area, and she just needs a job doing whatever because some money is better than no money at all.

Stated in the text by Heidi Shierholz "Every way you cut it- by race or gender, with or without a college degree- young people are just not getting the job opportunities they need" What's being said here is that even though most of us don't want to believe it, some people used to get jobs because of their gender, college degree,  and sometimes even race. Well it's not like that anymore, it has now gotten to the point to where that does not matter anymore. There just aren't any jobs available. Simple as that. People are starting to retire later now than what people normally do.

Also stated in the text "The difficult job market is comming at a time when paying for a college degree has become harder" Paying for college's high fee's and prices is already hard enough, truth be told most people don't really have the money to pay for college, so they put their house's, cars and etc up. Which is a huge risk. While other's just take out student loans and slowly pay them back over the years. But how will they be able to do that when job opening's for what they went and payed thousands for are not available, leaving them jobless.

I hope and pray that when I graduate college I will not have this problem because it will be so hard to make it, it will be unbelievable. This problem is killing the 'American Dream" of most people because money is a big part of life, especially with today's economy. My biggest fear is having to move back in at home. Once your gone, I believe that you should not have to come back home, you should try and succed the best you can, then IF you hit rock bottom, then you have no other choice but to.

Hopefully overtime this issue will start to get better, because it's not right for you to put in all the hard work and effort to get through the hard times of college just to come out to basically be devastated, because there are no job openings for what you just spent 4 years of your life majoring in. Time will only tell