The Individual Experience in a World of Categories :: Sociology Sociological Essays

The Individual Experience in a World of Categories Lakoff and Johnson argue for an embodied mind, saying that our categories are based on how we experience the world through our bodies. According to this theory, as a result of their different anatomies, men and women would experience the world differently and their categories would be inherently different. Also, it would be expected that all women would share the same categories. Our class and our discussions have demonstrated a diversity of opinions and methods of categorization that refute this part of Lakoff and Johnson's argument. I think that Lakoff and Johnson were correct in saying that "the categories we form are part of our experience" (Lakoff and Johnson 19). However, what they neglected to factor into their analysis of the way human beings categorize is the differences of each individual experience. Categories and their meanings are based on an individual's personal knowledge of the world, and that is why no category means exactly the same thing for more than one individual. I want to examine the categories of race and sexuality in Moraga and Delany to demonstrate the significance of the individual experience and its direct connection to categories. Also, I want to suggest that race as "other" is more problematic than sexuality to one's personal identity. Delany's "Aversion/Perversion/Diversion" presents us with a series of troubling tales. They all originate within Delany's life, but his reason for choosing these particular tales is "precisely because they are uncharacteristic" (Delany 125). Even within one's own individual experience, there is an uniqueness to events. The category "gay" doesn't mean that the individuals who identify themselves as part of it will share an understanding of all that it has meant for one person to claim this label for himself/herself. Delany acknowledges that the identification with others that categories create is in a way false, "even the similarities are finally, to the extent they are living ones, a play of differences" (Delany 131). He emphasizes that much of the sexual experience remains outside of language. No everything will be shared, not everything can be. An individual's journey to claiming his/her own identity is entrenched in the personal journey, in occurrences both characteristic and unch aracteristic. However, maybe these "uncharacteristic" tales are not as uncharacteristic to his experience as Delany believes. It is fact that they are indeed a part of Delany's experience as a gay man, and he says himself that there is no universal "gay experience.

Comte vs Spencer :: essays research papers

Auguste Compte and Herbert Spencer were two of sociology’s first great theorists. Both Compte and Spencer studied society and the many ways in which people in society interact. Both theorists agree on certain issues pertainning to society and social science, yet they completely differ on their views of the function of sociology.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Spencer and Compte both realize that there is an order of co-existance in society. Society itself is made up of several components and parts which are subject to change and progress, thus altering society as a whole with these changes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With regards to the function of sociology, Compte believed that sociology was important due to the fact that it acted as a guide for people in order to make a better society. Compte saw evolution as very important and believed that every society went through three stages. These include; the theological stage, the abstract stge and the positive stage. Spencer on the other hand believed that sociology was necessary to demonstrate that people in society should not interfere with the â€Å"natural processes†. Spencer’s theories on evolution focused more on a different set of three basic laws. These include; the law of persistence of force, the law of the undestructibility of matter and the law of the continuity of motion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Compte saw society in two major categories, the first was theological (military) which looked at the power of religion spiritual leaders as well as priests and those with intellectual power. The second was scientific (industrial) where there was a moral intellectual power, which included scientists and thinkers. Spencer saw society in two ways as well. The first included the movement from a simplistic society growing into a more complex one with various levels. The second was that society was changing from being more militant to industrial. Both Compte and Spencer seemed to share a common perspective on these particular views of society. When reviewing Compte’s methods, one sees that he focused primarily on empirical facts.

Research on behaviour of children with stay at home Essay

It is a personal and specific decision that has its perks as well as its pitfalls. Advancements in women’s rights in the workplace have encouraged women to acquire higher paying Jobs. However, recent research suggests that more women are choosing to stay at home. It is not because of a lack of education or opportunity; they simply dont want to have someone else raise their children. A study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in 1999 found that the more hours a child spent at a non- maternal care before age 5, the less positive the childs interactions with his/her other will be. Two studies published in 2003 conducted by the NICHD found that children in day care had higher levels of stress and were more aggressive than those cared for at home by the mother. There are millions of children, however, who have working mothers and who grow up to be responsible, sucessful adults. Benefits for children raised by stay-at-home mothers. STABILITY: This is the main benefir for your children. Knowing that you are there gives your child stability. You are able to answer your child questions, dry tears, and offer support. In addition, you will never get those year back. They experience fewer emotional and behavioural problems in childhood: want to help ensure your children turn out to be happy and socially well adjusted? Bond with them when they are infants. Thats the message from the university of Lowa, USA, which found that infants who have a close intimate relationship with their mothers are less likely to be troubled, aggressive or experience other emotional and behavioural problems when they reach school age. Bonding with your child has proven to help in a childs mental and emotional development. Consistency: Your children can rely on you. They can trust the consistency on the way you run your household. Being consistent with mealitimes, Chores, baths, and bedtimes teaches children organization and discipline. They need this consistency to give them structure and routine in their lives. Quality time: All kids need quality time with their mothers. Quality time gives them the assurance of being loved all the time. Quality time also keeps your child out of trouble, which often stems from boredom. the memories they will have of you depend on this quality time

Confessions of an Application Reader Essay

A HIGHLY qualified student, with a 3. 95 unweighted grade point average and 2300 on the SAT, was not among the top-ranked engineering applicants to the University of California, Berkeley. He had perfect 800s on his subject tests in math and chemistry, a score of 5 on five Advanced Placement exams, musical talent and, in one of two personal statements, had written a loving tribute to his parents, who had emigrated from India. Enlarge This Image Brian Cronin for The New York Times Related Go to Education Life  » Enlarge This Image Peg Skorpinski Sather Gate, a literal and symbolic portal on Berkeley’s campus. Readers’ Comments Readers shared their thoughts on this article. Read All Comments (250)  » Why was he not top-ranked by the â€Å"world’s premier public university,† as Berkeley calls itself? Perhaps others had perfect grades and scores? They did indeed. Were they ranked higher? Not necessarily. What kind of student was ranked higher? Every case is different. The reason our budding engineer was a 2 on a 1-to-5 scale (1 being highest) has to do with Berkeley’s holistic, or comprehensive, review, an admissions policy adopted by most selective colleges and universities. In holistic review, institutions look beyond grades and scores to determine academic potential, drive and leadership abilities. Apparently, our Indian-American student needed more extracurricular activities and engineering awards to be ranked a 1. Now consider a second engineering applicant, a Mexican-American student with a moving, well-written essay but a 3. 4 G. P. A. and SATs below 1800. His school offered no A. P. He competed in track when not at his after-school job, working the fields with his parents. His score? 2. 5. Both students were among â€Å"typical† applicants used as norms to train application readers like myself. And their different credentials yet remarkably close rankings illustrate the challenges, the ambiguities and the agenda of admissions at a major public research university in a post-affirmative-action world. WHILE teaching ethics at the University of San Francisco, I signed on as an â€Å"external reader† at Berkeley for the fall 2011 admissions cycle. I was one of about 70 outside readers — some high school counselors, some private admissions consultants — who helped rank the nearly 53,000 applications that year, giving each about eight minutes of attention. An applicant scoring a 4 or 5 was probably going to be disappointed; a 3 might be deferred to a January entry; students with a 1, 2 or 2. 5 went to the top of the pile, but that didn’t mean they were in. Berkeley might accept 21 percent of freshman applicants over all but only 12 percent in engineering. My job was to help sort the pool. We were to assess each piece of information — grades, courses, standardized test scores, activities, leadership potential and character — in an additive fashion, looking for ways to advance the student to the next level, as opposed to counting any factor as a negative. External readers are only the first read. Every one of our applications was scored by an experienced lead reader before being passed on to an inner committee of admissions officers for the selection phase. My new position required two days of intensive training at the Berkeley Alumni House as well as eight three-hour norming sessions. There, we practiced ranking under the supervision of lead readers and admissions officers to ensure our decisions conformed to the criteria outlined by the admissions office, with the intent of giving applicants as close to equal treatment as possible. The process, however, turned out very differently. In principle, a broader examination of candidates is a great idea; some might say it is an ethical imperative to look at the â€Å"bigger picture† of an applicant’s life, as our mission was described. Considering the bigger picture has aided Berkeley’s pursuit of diversity after Proposition 209, which in 1996 amended California’s constitution to prohibit consideration of race, ethnicity or gender in admissions to public institutions. In Fisher v.  the University of Texas, the Supreme Court, too, endorsed race-neutral processes aimed at promoting educational diversity and, on throwing the case back to lower courts, challenged public institutions to justify race as a factor in the holistic process. In practice, holistic admissions raises many questions about who gets selected, how and why. I could see the fundamental unevenness in this process both in the norming Webinars and when alone in a dark room at home with my Berkeley-issued netbook, reading assigned applications away from enormously curious family members. First and foremost, the process is confusingly subjective, despite all the objective criteria I was trained to examine. In norming sessions, I remember how lead readers would raise a candidate’s ranking because he or she â€Å"helped build the class. † I never quite grasped how to build a class of freshmen from California — the priority, it was explained in the first day’s pep talk — while seeming to prize the high-paying out-of-state students who are so attractive during times of a growing budget gap. (A special team handled international applications. ) In one norming session, puzzled readers questioned why a student who resembled a throng of applicants and had only a 3. 5 G. P. A. should rank so highly. Could it be because he was a nonresident and had wealthy parents? (He had taken one of the expensive volunteer trips to Africa that we were told should not impress us. ) Income, an optional item on the application, would appear on the very first screen we saw, along with applicant name, address and family information. We also saw the high school’s state performance ranking. All this can be revealing. Admissions officials were careful not to mention gender, ethnicity and race during our training sessions. Norming examples were our guide. Privately, I asked an officer point-blank: â€Å"What are we doing about race? † She nodded sympathetically at my confusion but warned that it would be illegal to consider: we’re looking at — again, that phrase — the â€Å"bigger picture† of the applicant’s life. After the next training session, when I asked about an Asian student who I thought was a 2 but had only received a 3, the officer noted: â€Å"Oh, you’ll get a lot of them. † She said the same when I asked why a low-income student with top grades and scores, and who had served in the Israeli army, was a 3. Which them? I had wondered. Did she mean I’d see a lot of 4. 0 G. P. A. ’s, or a lot of applicants whose bigger picture would fail to advance them, or a lot of Jewish and Asian applicants (Berkeley is 43 percent Asian, 11 percent Latino and 3 percent black)? The idea behind multiple readers is to prevent any single reader from making an outlier decision. And some of the rankings I gave actual applicants were overturned up the reading hierarchy. I received an e-mail from the assistant director suggesting I was not with the program: â€Å"You’ve got 15 outlier, which is quite a lot. Mainly you gave 4’s and the final scores were 2’s and 2. 5’s. † As I continued reading, I should keep an eye on the â€Å"percentile report on the e-viewer† and adjust my rankings accordingly. In a second e-mail, I was told I needed more 1’s and referrals. A referral is a flag that a student’s grades and scores do not make the cut but the application merits a special read because of â€Å"stressors† — socioeconomic disadvantages that admissions offices can use to increase diversity. Officially, like all readers, I was to exclude minority background from my consideration. I was simply to notice whether the student came from a non-English-speaking household. I was not told what to do with this information — except that it may be a stressor if the personal statement revealed the student was having trouble adjusting to coursework in English. In such a case, I could refer the applicant for a special read. Why did I hear so many times from the assistant director? I think I got lost in the unspoken directives. Some things can’t be spelled out, but they have to be known. Application readers must simply pick it up by osmosis, so that the process of detecting objective factors of disadvantage becomes tricky. It’s an extreme version of the American non-conversation about race. I scoured applications for stressors. To better understand stressors, I was trained to look for the â€Å"helpful† personal statement that elevates a candidate. Here I encountered through-the-looking-glass moments: an inspiring account of achievements may be less â€Å"helpful† than a report of the hardships that prevented the student from achieving better grades, test scores and honors. Should I value consistent excellence or better results at the end of a personal struggle? I applied both, depending on race. An underrepresented minority could be the phoenix, I decided. We were not to hold a lack of Advanced Placement courses against applicants. Highest attention was to be paid to the unweighted G. P. A. , as schools in low-income neighborhoods may not offer A. P. courses, which are given more weight in G. P. A. calculation. Yet readers also want to know if a student has taken challenging courses, and will consider A. P. ’s along with key college-prep subjects, known as a-g courses, required by the U. C. system. Even such objective information was open to interpretation. During training Webinars, we argued over transcripts. I scribbled this exchange in my notes: A reader ranks an applicant low because she sees an â€Å"overcount† in the student’s a-g courses. She thinks the courses were miscounted or perhaps counted higher than they should have been. Another reader sees an undercount and charges the first reader with â€Å"trying to cut this girl down. † The lead reader corrects: â€Å"We’re not here to cut down a student. † We’re here to find factors that advance the student to a higher ranking. Another reader thinks the student is â€Å"good† but we have so many of â€Å"these kids. † She doesn’t see any leadership beyond the student’s own projects. Listening to these conversations, I had to wonder exactly how elite institutions define leadership. I was supposed to find this major criterion holistically in the application. Some students took leadership courses. Most often, it was demonstrated in extracurricular activities.

Chozam - utilizing transportation software Essay

Chozam - utilizing transportation software - Essay Example TMWSuite is a highly configurable enterprise transportation management solution that provides an integrated suite of functions and services to help trucking companies operate efficiently and profitably. It performs following tasks: Manages end-to-end transportation processes - from order entry and dispatch through logistics management and settlement. Combines the power of a PC-based client/server system with the flexibility and familiarity of Microsoft Windows. Provides an infrastructure that links technologies, plus business processes and functions, allowing for high visibility within an organization. Reports "numbers-based" information, enabling decision makers to act on quantifiable facts and established procedures. TMWSuite's framework for logistics software was discussed in TMWSuite Brochure. It includes 3 layers: Executive Office, Asset Management and Back Office, as it is shown at Figure 1. Figure 1. Three layers of the TMWSuite's framework. (TMWSuite Brochure, 2005) TMWSuite is very efficient software solution, but it does not allow transport companies to cooperate their efforts. Nevertheless, it provides support of a full-cycle transport operations. Another product of TMW Systems, TL2000 is software that supports various types of transport operations (first group). TL2000 is a fleet management program that provides an integrated suite of functions and services to help transportation companies on AS/400 platforms to operate efficiently and profitably. It performs following tasks: Provides capability to easily track loads, control equipment and practice peak asset utilization. Integrated accounting system...With TMW trucking software, its customers (trucking companies from 50 to 5,000 trucks) are improving profitability through: Depending on business needs and the transportation software, there are a number of benefits from utilizing transportation software in business environment. Following benefits are cited at the website of Chozam Inc.: Also software exists that performs both of these tasks. I would refer to this group TMW Systems that is the world's premier developer of trucking software for dispatch and transportation solutions. (TMW Systems, Inc. 2005) TMWSuite is a highly configurable enterprise transportation management solution that provides an integrated suite of functions and services to help trucking companies operate efficiently and profitably. It performs following tasks: Another product of TMW Systems, TL2000 is software that supports various types of transport operations (first group). TL2000 is a fleet management program that provides an integrated suite of functions and services to help transportation companies on AS/400 platforms to operate efficiently and profitably. It performs following tasks: TL2000 is light and easy-to-use solution, but it also does not allow transport companies to cooperate their efforts.

Diversity at the work place Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Diversity at the work place - Essay Example ..........................................................................................................................5 Statement of the problem...............................................................................................................5 Literature review............................................................................................................................6 Findings .......................................................................................................................................10 Discussion.....................................................................................................................................12 Overcoming discrimination disability...........................................................................................15 Recommendations.........................................................................................................................17 Conclusion...................... ...............................................................................................................18 References .....................................................................................................................................20 Disability in the Workplace Abstract The issue of disability at workplaces has now taken a centre stage in many organizations and states for many years. Many governments have established policies, regulations and codes of conduct towards disabled individuals in terms of their involvement in organizational operations and responsibilities. As a result, management of companies have recognized the significance of implementing set policies on disabled individuals in their organizations. However, many disabled people in organizations across the world have been experiencing workplace discrimination based on their shortcomings. Disability discrimination is an illegal practice described by selective treatment of individuals with respec t to their physical abilities. Majority of the disabled individuals experience unfair treatment in the professional fields for many years. To date, some organizations have not completely gotten rid of the stigma. However, numerous organizations have implemented rules and regulations aimed at overcoming the disability in the workplace. Introduction Disability is a state of the body that limits the performance of an individual because of their physical or mental inability. A person with any physical or mental impairment or has a history of these conditions or is perceived to possess them is considered disabled in many organizations and countries across the world. Physical disability appears in many forms such as visual, hearing, mobility impairment, mental conditions such as autism and other chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy and asthma. Disability discrimination in the work place still exists today with many disabled workers facing unfair treatment from either the employers or the co-workers. The management of all organizations are required to prevent and discourage any form of discrimination against the disabled. Disabled employees may receive lesser job benefits as compared to other workers because of their physical or mental conditions. Such benefits include less pay, minimal tasks assigned, limited training and other fringe benefits. The disabled employees may also be put under hardship working conditions that include being assigned difficult tasks with respect to

Louis V Gerstner Jr Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Louis V Gerstner Jr - Research Paper Example In line with that, he also co-chaired Achieve, an organization that focus on improving the academic standards for public school in the U.S. In fact, he really supported quality education even when he was the CEO of IBM. He established Reinventing Education, an educational partnership with a number of states and school districts, enabling them to benefit from IBM technology, and technical assistance. His actions and advocacy did not go unnoticed; in fact, he was awarded honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 2001. Social responsibility was already a concern for Gerstner even during his IBM days. In a speech addressed to Comdex, he already made mention of how technology and social responsibility go hand in hand, to wit: I think we will make our visions reality. I think that as stewards of our industry, we will step up to the challenges of social responsibility. We will improve the world, and the way we work, the way we communicate, live and learn as people.  (Transcript of Louis Gestner speech at Comdex) During that time that Louis Gerstner ruled IBM, social responsibility then was a concept that was uncommonly practiced by organizations. He contributed to social responsibility by erasing the barriers between class and gender within the organization which is a higher form of social responsibility. Unlike other organizations, that donated for a cause or planted a tree, Gerstner walked his talked. Gerstner established a diversity taskforce that addressed to diversity issues .Cohen (2010) perfectly describes from Drucker’s viewpoint how Gerstner practiced the It worked and understanding and its using its diversity became a major competitive advantage for IBM. As a result of Gerstner’s initiative the number of female executives in the company grew 370 percent and the number of ethnic minority executives increased by 233 percent. All of this had a