Sharp Rise In The Us Subprime Mortgage Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 13 Words: 3774 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? The sharp rise in the US subprime mortgage attracts global attention during the recent past; it not only has had impact on the real estate market, but also on the financial market, labor market and many other markets. Research about the subprime has linked the subprime crisis to the housing bubble, higher financial risk government policy and other factors. However, the term subprime is not consistently defined in the literature. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Sharp Rise In The Us Subprime Mortgage Finance Essay" essay for you Create order For the borrowers, a good credit record is easier to get mortgage loans in the US, but many people who just have a limited or lack of credit history have to be rejected for loans, which prevent the renters from becoming homeowners. From the lenders perspective, the subprime mortgage loan is seeking for borrowers who are suffering from a constraint creditability record but in the demand for the loans. Therefore, naturally, the cost of the subprime mortgage loan is more expensive than the conventional or prime mortgage  [1]  , according to Chomsisengphet and Pennington-Cross (2006); it is typically around 2 percent. Another characteristic of the subprime loan is that it has very loose underwriting standards; subprime lenders are more likely to accept the borrowers limited documentation of their asset or income, in Kiff and Mills (2007). It is noticed that the loan-to-value ratios are usually high: over 85 percent and the debt-to-income requirements are not very stringent: abo ve 55 percent  [2]  Subprime loan can vary a lot from one type to another in the terms of payment amount and payment terms. Summarizing the literature in the prior study, the term of the subprime mortgage can be defined as one kind of mortgage loans to higher-risk borrowers with no or uncertain income and spotty or limited credit history, once the borrowers have difficulties in paying back the loans due to various causes, the disclosure occurs. It is vulnerable loans in many aspects; this will be discussed in detail in section 2.1. Subprime mortgage lender targets borrowers who either have a lack of insufficient credit record, or those borrowers who have been denied due to bad credit history. Because of its loose credit record investigation process, the subprime loan has become many borrowers first resort to home-financing; therefore subprime loan has overtaken several other loans in the mortgage market. As a matter of fact, the mortgage lending market has more than quadru pled between the years 1995 and 2003 (Aoun,2009), it grew into $665 billion in 2005 from $35 billion in 1994 and accounting for nearly a quarter of the whole mortgage loan market in 2005. Subprime mortgage is one of the multiple optional sources for home-purchase cash inflows, however, in Schloemer, et. al. (2006), it is highlighted that the majority of the US subprime loans originated in the last decade have been for the purpose of refinancing rather than for home purchase. At the mean time, the financial market has been experiencing an increased securitization. Securitization is the repackage and re-assembly of the subprime loans in order to attract more third-party borrowers, these loans can diversify the risk and spread the risk into investment portfolio, thus attract more investors. The motivation of obtaining a subprime loan is becoming speculative rather than for realistic purposes. Once the appreciation of house price approaches, borrowers have the incentive to pay the loan off, however, if the borrowers are facing difficulties such as unemployment, increased consumer price index or reduced expected income, they are less likely to clear the debt, thus, the creditor has to place the property for foreclosure, the lenders have reported 847,000 foreclosure filings in 2005 (Schloemer, et. al., 2006). Once the defaults became widespread, the process could snowball, putting more homes on the market and driving prices further down. Some banks and other holders of mortgages could see their highly leveraged portfolios greatly impaired due to such foreclosures. Problems of illiquidity of financial institutions could result in the insolvency (Feldstein, 2007). US is the origination of the subprime mortgage crisis and its remarkable size of the subprime amount makes it become a typical empirical sample, because from 1994 to 2005, the subprime home loan market grew from $35 billion to $665 billion, the subprime share of the total mortgage originations has b een reached to 23 percent in 2006 from 10 percent in 1998 (Ernst, Keest, Li and Schloemer, 2006). What is more, the subprime mortgage loans have resulted in extraordinarily losses in more than one area, homeowners lost their physical shelter, borrowers have to resort to higher default rate in order to recover from the crisis and even some countries are facing bankruptcy risk. It is beneficial for them to know the causes of the higher foreclosure rate in order to guide their future investment or funding decisions, or at least, to keep the losses to a minimum. This paper is organized as follows: Section 1 will give an introduction of the subprime mortgage, in which the definition of the related terms will be investigated, and the background of the subprime mortgage crisis in the US market will be presented; Section 2 is the related literature review, this part explored the past literature about the foreclosures and its causes in the past and try to find the correlation between them ; Section 3 is the empirical analysis where some variables have been selected and were fit into the regression model. The empirical correlation between them will be investigated, the methodology and the result will be discussed; In the section 4, the causes of the high foreclosure rate will be analyzed to provide realistic practice advice about the home financing as well as the remedy action to the subprime mortgage crisis; Section 5 is the conclusion, in which part it summarizes the result of the whole dissertation. Literature Review This part reviews the related literature, this is a very recent topic and the researchers have reviewed it in many aspects. However, this paper only selects a certain part of the literature and tries to indentify the relationship and logic between them. There are three key areas which draw the researchers circle of attention the most: firstly, the causes of the subprime foreclosure; secondly, the results of the subprime foreclosures, and finally a brief summary of underlying lessons. The policy recommendations will be discussed comprehensively in Section 4. 2.1 Literature Assessing Causes of the Subprime Foreclosure Foreclosures occur when householders are unable to meet their house payments. Borrowers who are unable to get their payments have the option of selling their house in the periods that house price is appreciating. In other words, borrowers have the ability to manage the financial budget to make profit from it, when the prices go down, borrowers may find that their mortgage size is greater than the value of their property. Foreclosure becomes a necessary option when the loan-to-value ratio goes over 100 percent (Capozza, Kazarian, and Thomson 1997). Moreover, many factors have been attributed to the termination of the subprime mortgage loans. Variables include loan size, house pricing, family income, the number of ownerships, the unemployment rate, and so on. In the literatures reviewed in this paper, more than one cause has been analyzed in a single paper and the results are mixed. For instance, Aoun has confirmed that lending standards and income have contributed to the high default rate (2009); Loose underwriting, predatory lending, inadequate oversight played a significant role in the deterioration of the real-estate market (Ernst, Keest, Li and Schloemer, 2006, Ellis, 2008); High initial housing cost may compel the potential homeowners to seek financing beyond their normal spending budget. Generally, weak or unstable employment situati on increases unemployment, promotes personal bankruptcies (Kaplan and Sommers, 2009), (Papadimitriou, Hannsgen and Zezza, 2007). Richter (2008) found that low income level, low credit scores and high rate of vacancy are associated with higher neighborhood foreclosure rates. Richter (2008) also demonstrated that more regulated legal environment is conducive to lower foreclosure filings. By summarizing all the causes in the literature, three main aspects causes have been discussed in detail in the following section. 2.1.1 Financial System Aspect Causes Mayer and Pence (2008) also find that lending activity in depressed housing markets is more likely to be subprime. At the same time, these markets high rates of foreclosure were coupled with previous high rates of vacancy and abandonment contributing to the worsening of spillover effects in neighborhoods (Community Research Partners, 2008). The relationship between information asymmetry  [3]  and subprime mortgage crisis is a very recent study and the related literature and empirical analysis appears around and after 2005. In Kau, et. al. (2010) information asymmetry is identified as one of the parameters of the subprime mortgage crisis, they argued that within the three kinds of participants: the borrower, the originator (primary lender) and the ultimate investor (secondary lender), the borrower have the most information about the future repayments and the possibility of foreclosure. The originator (primary lender) have some sort of familiarity with the borrower as they have to approve the loan, however, secondary lender is the party that know the least information and for whatever reason fail to exploit the information. Furthermore, Keys et. al. (2010) compare the performance of securitized subprime loans originated by 48 banks against those of 57 independent lenders, and find the quality of the former loans to be poorer. That is to say, the information asymmetry creates an information gap between t he lender and the borrower, which reduces the publicly available information in the market and that becomes one important factor which can trigger the crisis (Green, 2008). Hartarska and Gonzalez-Vega (2006) conducted the research on the effectiveness of the low-income borrowers credit counseling and found out that the foreclosure rate is reduced especially for the subprime borrowers who have been counseled before applying for the loan. It is not very easy to get the credit counseling data for the author; therefore, this argument is not practically testable as detailed by the author. This is a very fresh research and therefore needs to be looked into more detail to verify the creditability of the research. Poor underwriting standards may result in subprime crisis, according to Foote et. al. (2008), they pointed out that loose underwriting standards create the loans that are highly sensitive to the falling prices, which can be seen from the historical data that subprime default ed in greater numbers than the prime when the housing prices were falling down. Ellis also held the same conclusion (2008). 2.1.2 Government Organization Aspect Causes US regulated organizations played a crucial role in the off-balance financing for the houses, such as the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), as well as the Veterans Administration (VA) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Jaffee and Quigley (2007) reinforced the role of government sponsored enterprises. Besides, some articles have been deep into government organizational aspects, such as Bostic and An (2006) they found that the increased government sponsored enterprises  [4]  purchases activities are associated with the decline in the subprime mortgage volume. They also demonstrate that the phenomenon is becoming stronger in the neighborhoods with minority groups and subprime-purchase groups and this is consistent with the st udy by Wyly et.al. (2006) and Passmore et. al. (2005). The effectiveness of the government policies are also doubtful, for instance, the federal program making home available program  [5]  has proved to be an inability program (Winter et. al., 2010), this statement is in contrary to the conclusion made by Hartarska and Gonzalez-Vega (2006). The key to this question lies in the cost and benefit of the counseling. They estimated the cost but it is hard to evaluate its correctness. 2.1.3 Sociology and Microeconomic Causes Another unique perspective is derived from sociological and physiological point of view, in Nettleton and Burrows (1998). They argued that the sense of insecurity speeds up the desire for the ownership of houses, which increases the chances for a family to fall into mortgages loans. Their argument is based on the UK market data but the empirical result can been seen as a general conclusion in the research field. Moreover, in Williams et. al. (2005) and Wy ly et. al. (2006) their arguments demonstrated that the race segment is one factor contributing to the sense of insecurity, therefore, that is why some minority regions enjoyed higher foreclosure rate. One of Gerardi, et. al. (2007) papers key finding is that appreciation of house prices is a key impact factor to the foreclosure. They divided the data into two groups; the ownerships with a 20% house price appreciation and another with a 20% depreciation. The results showed that the latter group had a default rate of fourteen times more than the former group. In short, they confirmed that the house value is the main driving force for the foreclosure. This is the consistent with the results supported by Papadimitriou et. al. (2007) and (Calomiris, Longhofer and Miles, 2008) The understanding about the causes of the subprime loan is very complex by Follian and Dunsky (1997). They pointed out that the demand of debt is highly responsive to the tax treatment of the deductibility of mortgage loan interests, but the relationship between after-tax income and demand for loans are not linear, however, their result is new and require more in depth analysis of the situation. Ellis made a comprehensive comparison between different countries and also believed that the tax deductible loan interest system encouraged higher leverage (2008) Gerardi, Shapiro, and Willen (2007), argued that it is impossible to know when the borrowers are starting a subprime for the initialization of the ownership. A borrower can start financing a house by various types of loans, however, in Gerardi, Shapiro, and Willen (2007), they addressed that homeownerships funded by subprime mortgage ended up into foreclosure six times more frequently than the prime loans  [6]  . The Role of Subprime Mortgages House is the physical shelter for human, the security sense arising from the ownership of the house will affect peoples personal life. This part the author reviewed the related paper s that link the subprime foreclosure to financial market, real estate market and also personal sociological influences. Immergluck and Smith (2006) find that higher foreclosure levels do contribute to higher violent crime rate. And a few authors confirmed that the subprime affect the sense of security, however, the most widely discussed effects arising from it focused on the financial and housing market, therefore, only the first two aspects will be evaluated in the following sections. 2.2.1 The Role of Subprime Mortgages in the Financial Market It is agreed widely that the declining houses price is one of the parameters of the housing crisis; however, the appreciation of house prices pushed borrowers turn to the subprime market for their expensive houses. Foote et. al. (2008) argued that the widespread of the subprime loans had put upward pressure on the house prices. On the other hand, the wide availability of the subprime loan products triggered the increase of home owne rship. According to Papadimitriou et .al. (2007), it is called the democratization of the credit market. The subprime borrowers do not benefit when they take out unaffordable loans, which in turn leads to the possibility of defaults. Whether it is the appreciation of house prices or the subprime loans which lead to high rates of defaults and foreclosures and the failure of mortgage firms, the large losses incurred by financial institutions is far from simple to define (Coleman IV et. al., 2008). Another perspective is that subprime loans was designed for forcing frequent refinancing, within which fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) is a lower cost refinancing tool managed by the government via the government sponsored enterprise (Ellis, 2008, Gordon,2008). Once the demand for funds increased, the inexpensive FRM is a preferable loan than the adjustable-rate mortgage and any other loans, which result in a higher ratios of origination and outstanding. The US market can be seen as the trigger for the recent finance turmoil with the oversupply of house construction at the late periods, in turn, the US market witnessed the sharp fall in housing prices and high rate of foreclosures due to the loose crediting standards. 2.2.2 The Role of Subprime Mortgages in the Housing Market It is inevitable that subprime mortgage has connection with the housing market, but in which direction does it affect the real estate market is a controversial debate up to now. The pros and cons for them will be analyzed later. In the most cases of the reviewed papers, the disclosure has a negative effect on the house prices, technically, the price and the defaults interact with each other. It is hard to distinguish between the cause and result. The rest part recorded that house price is relatively sticky, because in the analysis, even in the extreme circumstances, the average change of house price is comparatively small to the foreclosure rate fluctuation (Calomiris, Longhofer and Miles, 2 008). Another tricky argument is that subprime loans facilitate the increasing ownership of house in the US, namely, for the most house-tenants, subprime mortgage is the easiest resort to own a house, it is should not be blamed for the bubble of real estate market and the subprime crisis. In Coleman IV (2008), he confirmed that: The widespread availability of subprime loan products during this period, while arguably increasing consumption levels and homeownership rates, has been broadly blamed for this bubble. (Coleman IV et. al., 2008, p.272). Weicher (2007) shown the optimistic view about the crisis, he stated that the crisis is only a short-term event, the developed information technology and the advanced finance literacy will cut off the negative effect of the subprime. In sum, subprime has attracts praises and blames in the academics and it is seems too simply to define its effect on the market, more research need to be done to reveal its effects. Implications of the Subprime Mortgage Foreclosure From the causes and effects of the subprime mortgage, some implications can be drawn, however, this part is only a brief review, more detail implications and suggestions will be discussed in depth in section 4. 2.3.1 Legal and Regulatory System An effective regulatory environment that reduces information asymmetries and promotes a better functioning of the markets ultimately enhances new social surplus. Lower foreclosure rate can be explained by better regulations (Richter, 2008, Feldstein, 2007). It is widely agreed that the government should be partly responsible for the subprime mortgage crisis, but it is known that there is no long-run trade-off between price stability and achieving full employment and growth. From the macroeconomic view, Feldstein argued that the cut in the federal funds rate is a signal for the reduction in residential constructions and will alleviate the worsening economy, but the trade-off between different economi c variants need to be considered before putting into practice (2007). An alternative argument about the government regulations is to oversee the low income borrowers in order to prevent them from steering into the subprime mortgage market. It is oversimplification treatment of the question and as such it is impossible to fulfill the task. However, from another point of view, Bernanke is in strong support for a transparent system rather than for the regulations (2007) by maintaining that the system will warn the potential risk and punish the risky behavior. This requires a joint effort by congress, government administration, financial agencies and other parties involved. 2.3.2 Reducing the Information Asymmetry As for the detection of moral hazard and adverse selection, the easiest solution is to close the information gap in the secondary mortgage market: the firms buying loans must collect and analyze as much objective information as possible, and then classify the mortgages a ccordingly. Other alternative is to force the primary lender to retain an interest in the loan so that the originator will try to keep a reputation. The asymmetry problem faced by the originators themselves in the primary mortgage market seems more difficult to resolve. However, the primary lender have the incentive and ability to take more care in the approval of loans by a return to more traditional practices, such as by acquiring more personal knowledge of the borrower, which the lender is less likely to at such a great informational disadvantage (Kau et. al., 2010). 2.3.3 Establishment of the Credit Counseling System The purpose of the credit counseling is to help the low income borrowers to be aware of how much loans they can serve and to prevent defaults from occurring. However, counseling programs may vary by terms of delivery, desired outcomes, qualifications, counselors professional judgment of the counselors and program content. Therefore, it is very hard to have a s tandard system to evaluate the borrowers credit worthiness. It becomes a necessity to set up a systematic network to keep the subprime mortgage market in order if the counseling can reduce the default rate (Hartarska and Gonzalez-Vega, 2006, Quercia and Watcher, 1996). 2.3.4 Full Utilization of Government Managed Organizations Within the two main organizations held by the government-the HARP and HAMP (see section 2.2), HAMP becomes more important but more controversial in practice. According to Winter et. al. (2010), there is two ways that can be used to modify loans, the first is a direct incentive modification of 1000 dollars to the investors, and the second is a variation modification limit to the 31 percent loans against to the borrowers income. However, Winter et. al. (2010) also claim that only a small proportion (66465/902626 in year 2009 in St, Louis) received permanent modifications. Therefore, the result of the program is effective but limited with some scope. Curren tly, the government loan modifications seem like burdening the counseling agencies. The defaults are obvious and widespread unless right sorts of modifications, incentives and policies are placed for the borrowers in order to help them manage their debt in a timely and effective manner. The cost and benefit of the agencies need more discussions in depth further. The policy maker cannot foretell future trends of the house price, but they are critical in cutting down the unemployment rate, in the argument of Wray (1998), an effective job-creation program could alleviate the losses by offering government jobs who ask for them. Nonetheless, the remedy seems likely to challenge the US congress and government, as the burden of offering jobs is too huge. 2.4 Conclusion and Summary According to Foote et. al. (2008), the recent researches about the subprime only focused on limited data resources  [7]  and ignored the linkage between various mortgages for the same borrower over t ime. The literature review mainly focused on US market, Shiller (2007), however, notes that the appreciation in house prices has occurred widely in American, Australia  [8]  , Canada, China, France, India, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Russia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Moreover, Shiller regarded the boom in house price as a typical speculative bubble, driven by extravagant expectations for future return. In the US, the territory focused mainly on some states such as Massachusetts (Gerardi et. al., 2008) and St. Louis (Winter et. al., 2010). Valverde and Fernandez (2010) analyzed the interaction between house prices and subprime loan in Spain market from 1990s to 2007, their findings show the same result as most mentioned papers in section 2.2.1, increased house price and mortgage loan occurred before the crisis, especially by large part of the subprime have been securitized. Haji has done a very promising report on the forecast of the subprime effects on the short-medium econom ic condition.

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Role of Green Marketing in Sustainable Development -an Opportunity for Innovation Essay Role of Green Marketing in Sustainable Development -An Opportunity for Innovation * Mrs.. Kajal Maheshwari Abstract- â€Å"Sustainability is the mother lode of innovations that yield both bottomline and topline returns The most forward-thinking and progressive businesses today are seeing environmental issues as an opportunity to innovate and change how they operate their companies, how they develop new products, and how they relate to stakeholders in the marketplace. Environmentalists, too, are seeing an opportunity to collaborate with business. They are taking a more open-minded view toward the role that business can play in solving big problems. The best way to succeed in making sustainability a source of value is to drive it deep into the organization and broadly across the enterprise is to go Green. What we call smokestack or tailpipe industries — the energy businesses, utilities, oil and gas, transportation, chemicals — they had to tackle these issues because of the significant impact theyve had. But now we see retailers and technology companies and services companies and hospitality and all sorts of new sectors that are embracing sustainability because theyre finding value there. This article briefly give idea about the companies General Electric, General Motors, Chevrolet volt, Pfizer and Novartis, energy companies like BP, HCL etc. investing in Ramp;D amp; innovation in environmental amp; clean tech area. This article covers terms and concepts of green marketing, briefly discuss why going green is important and also examine some of the reason that organizations are adopting a green marketing philosophy. We will write a custom essay sample on Role of Green Marketing in Sustainable Development -an Opportunity for Innovation specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Role of Green Marketing in Sustainable Development -an Opportunity for Innovation specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Role of Green Marketing in Sustainable Development -an Opportunity for Innovation specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer These days, only marketing doesnt seem to be working as well as it has in the past. For sustainability and growth a marketer has to consider innovative environment friendly trends It also focuses some of the opportunities and challenges in green marketing. Therefore, implementing green marketing is pivotal to the sustainable development of industry.

Free Essays on Shaken Baby Syndrome

Shaken Baby Syndrome is a form of child abuse. Child abuse can be defined in many different ways. The best way to define it is life threatening physical violence, severe beatings, burns, and strangulation. Many incidents of child abuse occur all the time. However, not all cases are reported. â€Å"The national center for child abuse and neglect estimates that nearly one million children in the United States suffer non accidental life-threatening experience every year.† Today, parents use physical punishment as a way to change their child’s behavior. However, the parents don’t realize how easily a child could get hurt. Stress is another cause for child abuse. Parents that are under great stress or unemployed are more likely to abuse their children then those parents who do not have such great problems. Children who are born premature and children with disabilities create more stress for parents. Therefore, these children are more likely to be abused then other children. There are parent support groups, like parents anonymous, and other services that can help relieve stress that can lead to abuse. In any serious cases a child under the age of 18 may be placed in a foster home. â€Å"Shaken Baby Syndrome is caused by vigorous shaking of an infant or damage, Forceful shaking can cause bleeding to the mental, retardation, speech and learning disability, paralysis, seizures, hearing loss, and even death.† It is very hard for doctors to diagnose Shaken Baby Syndrome. One way of telling if a baby has been violently shaken, they will seem less alert. Shaken babies also may vomit or have seizures. Eye examinations may also show blood in the retinas. Computed tomography and magnetic response imaging will be able to reveal any bleeding occurring in the brain. Babies who have been severely shaken could also have bumps, bruises, or other visible signs of trauma such as damage to the neck or spinal cord, bur... Free Essays on Shaken Baby Syndrome Free Essays on Shaken Baby Syndrome Shaken Baby Syndrome is a form of child abuse. Child abuse can be defined in many different ways. The best way to define it is life threatening physical violence, severe beatings, burns, and strangulation. Many incidents of child abuse occur all the time. However, not all cases are reported. â€Å"The national center for child abuse and neglect estimates that nearly one million children in the United States suffer non accidental life-threatening experience every year.† Today, parents use physical punishment as a way to change their child’s behavior. However, the parents don’t realize how easily a child could get hurt. Stress is another cause for child abuse. Parents that are under great stress or unemployed are more likely to abuse their children then those parents who do not have such great problems. Children who are born premature and children with disabilities create more stress for parents. Therefore, these children are more likely to be abused then other children. There are parent support groups, like parents anonymous, and other services that can help relieve stress that can lead to abuse. In any serious cases a child under the age of 18 may be placed in a foster home. â€Å"Shaken Baby Syndrome is caused by vigorous shaking of an infant or damage, Forceful shaking can cause bleeding to the mental, retardation, speech and learning disability, paralysis, seizures, hearing loss, and even death.† It is very hard for doctors to diagnose Shaken Baby Syndrome. One way of telling if a baby has been violently shaken, they will seem less alert. Shaken babies also may vomit or have seizures. Eye examinations may also show blood in the retinas. Computed tomography and magnetic response imaging will be able to reveal any bleeding occurring in the brain. Babies who have been severely shaken could also have bumps, bruises, or other visible signs of trauma such as damage to the neck or spinal cord, bur...

4 Tips That Guarantee Youll Get the Job Interview

4 Tips That Guarantee Youll Get the Job Interview Even if you’re accomplished and well-qualified, the job market can be a tough place, and it can be difficult to get the job interview you really want. Here are four tips that will help make sure your resume ends up in the â€Å"yes† pile and you end up with the interview. Read CloselyYou might be the most qualified person you know in your field, but that doesn’t mean you’re capable of doing every job, particularly jobs not in your usual bracket. That’s why it’s crucial that you go through the job posting with a fine-toothed comb. Make a numbered list of exactly what it is they’re asking for: which degrees are mandatory, which skills are preferred. Then make sure you have most, if not all, of these before proceeding to submit.Target Your ResumeIf you really want this job, then it’s worth the half an hour to an hour to customize your resume to make sure you’re an attractive candidate. Does your resume seem set up for that p articular job title? If it doesn’t fit on first glance, you’ll end up in the shredder. Now make sure to highlight skills and experiences that would be most valuable to this employer for filling this position.Target Your Cover LetterBe specific, particularly if your resume requires an extra bit of context to convince them that you’re right for the job. But this is a good idea in general. Your cover letter is the best window into not only who you are as a worker, but who you are as a person, and how you’d fit into the culture. Address it to the correct person, and do a bit of research into what the company is looking for before you make your promises. Make sure you make the right ones!Show Your FaceIt’s easy to spend most of your time slumped at your laptop, sending resumes into the void. But more and more jobs are landed by face-to-face networking these days. Try hand delivering your resume and cover letter to the hiring manager at that particular c ompany. And then get out there. Meet people. Talk about where you want to be and what you want to be doing, and meet the folks that can help you get there.

Non Western Theatre Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Non Western Theatre - Essay Example history before European countries invaded it and subjugated African nations as colonies, was little known largely because Africans merely improvised their performances without written scripts. Most information of African theater during this time can be gleaned only from the accounts of traders and missionaries and researches of them by scholars. It is not surprising that during the colonial period, the African theater was dominated by European performers who enacted their country’s own classic texts and who made schoolchildren perform them in schools. It was during the post-colonial period, in the 1960s for many African countries and in the 1990s by South Africa, that the African theater was wrested back by the Africans. However, all throughout the different periods and the different categories of African theater, one theme has always prevailed: African theater did not only serve the purpose of entertainment but had been the focal point which sustained African communities as p erformances were the reenactment of the villages’ ethos of the time. In the pre-colonial times, performances were an enactment of the superstitious beliefs of villages, i.e. driving away an evil spirit from the village, and in the post-colonial era, performances were staged first, as a protest against their colonizers and second, when they finally gained independence, as â€Å"critical watchdog† of their new governments.1 African Theater has always been ritualistic and today, traces of the ritualistic aspects still remain in the postcolonial theater. Rituals in â€Å"celebration of birth, marriage, puberty, planting, and harvesting, its epic story-telling tradition of praising heroic and communal achievements, and its visual and auditory spectacle provided by dance and music† are enacted on stage making African theater largely functional. It is said that theaters in general are rooted in ritual, seasonal rhythms, religion and communication but the great distinction between European theater

The Skill Portal as Information System for the IMI Coursework

The Skill Portal as Information System for the IMI - Coursework Example A PEST and interview data analyses have been done following a background study of the IMI's history, objectives and broader mission to provide training, support and service to the individuals and stakeholders of the automotive industry. Operations, value chain and stakeholder analyses are also done and relations between the IMI and the government and other training providers as well as private organizations are studied to understand the primary role of the IMI in the automotive sector. This project conducts interviews with leading professionals in the sector and focus on issues related to training and talent, lack of transparency, the need for an open and accessible information portal, ease of communication and networking, and the importance of training sessions, certifications and awards that would help develop a skills base for the automotive sector. ... This project proves the IMI's role in transformation of the automotive sector especially through upgraded techniques and methods such as the development of a Skill Portal and advanced information system and networking facilities. These issues are highlighted in the subsequent part of this discussion. ChapTer - 3 This section will focus on analysis of Stakeholder demands and provide a PEST analysis as also an operation flow diagram (to show slow op, long time etc). The initial analysis will be on the semi structured interviews and then on the operation flow charts of the basic services. This is followed by a PEST analysis and IMI stakeholder analysis. Part - I Interview Data Analysis In this section, the data analysis of semi structured interviews is presented. The interview questions are provided in the Appendix 1 given below. The response of each question is presented in the table. At the end, the comment /findings are given. The identity of each interviewee was coded to allow clear identification of the participant and ease of presentation. Identification Code Name Designation Division A1 Alan Mackrill Executive Director IMIAwards A2 Johnb Qualification Support Manager IMIAwards A3 Rob Head of Qualification development IMIAwards A4 Ian Head of customer compliance and Quality IMIAwards S1 Steve Head of Skill Development IMI - SSC S2 Michelle National Manager - IMI - SSC S3 Nesta Job National Manager- IMI - SSC P1 Lesley Head of Professional Body Professional Body P2 Sarah Career Development manager Professional Body P3 Jennih Professional Body P4 Karen G Professional Body C1 Linda Stans COO IMI Group Table: 01 Q1. Impact of changing technology on training and development A1 A2 A3 A4 S1 S2 S3 P1 P2 P3 P4 C1 Total Better

The State and Local Government of Illinois Essay Example for Free

The State and Local Government of Illinois Essay Illinois is a state in the northern central of U.S., a center of Midwest, which entered the Union on December 3, 1818 making it the 21st state of the US (Illinois Encarta). Illinois’ economy has increased or developed, until now Illinois is the most dynamic and prolific in terms of its industrial and agricultural characteristics. Illinois is the 5th most populous and diverse state in the Midwest in terms of demography. Chicago is in the northeastern side, tiny industrial cities in the and huge agricultural part in the western and central Illinois, and a lot of natural resources like petroleum and coal in the southern part can   be found. Illinois is also an essential or significant transportation center having the â€Å"Port of Chicago† connecting the Mississippi to the Great Lakes through the Illinois River, and is also is surrounded by compact networks of highways, waterways, railroads, and air routes, which most of it unite or meet on the metropolis of Chicago, the third largest city in the United States. Illinois is consisted of two sections or partitions, and these are Chicago and the downstate or the smaller communities managing to keep their distinctive characteristics. Illinois is divided or separated into 4 major natural regions and these include the Central Lowland, the Ozark Plateaus, The Golf Coastal Plain, and the Interior Low Plateaus. Except for some short streams, nearly all the rivers and streams flow west or southward to the Ohio River or to the Mississippi River, joining the Mississippi close to Cairo in the southern part. Illinois’ climate is composed of cold winters and hot summers, with polar masses moving south to the state of Canada during winters and warm air masses moving up from Mexican Gulf during summers. The average July temperature in Illinois ranging from 24 degrees Celsius in the northeastern Illinois to above 26 degrees Celsius in the southern part wile January averages range from less than -4 degrees Celsius in the northwestern side to above 1 degrees Celsius in the south (Illinois Encarta).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The two top crops grown in the state with respect to value and quantity are soybeans and corns, ranking Illinois as the 2nd primary state its production. Illinois is placed 4th in the country as an industrial state next after California, Texas, and Ohio, based on the Illinois’ industry contribution to the country’s income, with which most manufacturing is done in the Chicago area. Illinois’ urban and industrial areas need huge amounts of electricity with which 51% is supplied or generated through steam driven power plants through the use of coal and 48% is through its 6 nuclear power plants (Illinois Encarta). Chicago is the center of intricate systems of highways waterways, airlines, railroads, and gas and oil pipelines; making Chicago the major or main center of trucking activities in U.S. According to the national census of 2000, Illinois is the 5th most populous state in the US, having a total population of about 12, 419, 293, and having an 8.6% increase compared to the 1990 census, with 88% are living in urban areas (Illinois Encarta). School attendance in Illinois was made obligatory since 1883 and is now oblige for all children 7 to 17 to go to school, resulting to $9851 expenses per student as of 2002-2003 (Illinois Encarta). Illinois: Government   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Illinois first constitution was adopted in the year 1818 and new constitutions have been adopted in 1848 and 1870, and a 4th constitution was adopted in 1970 concerning the 20th century industrialized state and responsibility for financing public education (Illinois Encarta). Illinois’’ State Government   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Illinois’ state government is composed of an executive, legislative, and judiciary, in the executive, the governor is the states chief executive who is elected for a 4 year term and has the power to appoint key officials of the state administrative agencies and department upon the approval of the state senate. The governor has the power to veto bills approved by the legislature, but the legislature can overrule or ignore such veto by 3/5 majority vote of each house’ members. Other elected officials of the executive who are elected for a 4 year term are the attorney general, comptroller, treasurer, secretary of the state, and the lieutenant governor. On the legislative, the state legislature known as the General Assembly which is composed of the House of Representatives and a Senate, having 59 Senators and 1189 Representatives. Representatives are all elected to serve to 2 year terms while the senators are elected to either 2 or 4 year term. The assembly meeting is annually held on the 2nd Wednesday of January, and the governor or the presiding officer of both houses may call special meetings or assembly. The Judiciary of Illinois has 3 types of courts, namely, the circuit courts, the appellate courts, and the supreme courts. The Supreme Court is the states’ highest court composed of 7 judges who are elected for 10 year terms, and the 3 judges are elected from Cook County including Chicago, and 1 judge from each of the 4 other districts. The Judges elect one as chief justice who will serve for 3 years unless the person’s term as a judge ends and the judges of the states appellate court are also elected for 10 year terms. Circuits are Judges elected for 6 year terms and they in turn designates associate judges for 4 year terms. Illinois Local Government An elected county board is the main policy making body of each of the 102 Illinois counties. A county board is voted in each county and the number of members of the county board is set by ordinance in each county. The members of the Cook County Board are elected from 2 districts such as Chicago and outside Chicago. In the local government, there are called county officers who have the responsibilities and power given by the law and by the county ordinance. The president of the Cook County Board is elected from the county having the power as the chief executive officer of the county and each county has a sheriff, a treasurer, and a county clerk who will serve for 4 year terms, and they may assign or vote recorder, coroner, auditor, assessor, and other officials. The treasurer of the county may perform as a treasurer of any school district or local government in his respective county if a school district asked for it. In the local government there are also Home Rule Units or a municipality with a population of more than 25000 and has an elective executive. A Home Rule Unit doesn’t have the authority to acquire liabilities from ad valorem property tax receipts that will mature in 40 years, and doesn’t have the authority to give a penalty of a felony (Constitution of†¦). Home rule units only have the power to punish offenders by imprisonment for more than 6 months or impose taxes based on occupants’ earnings. A home Rule Unit has the power to adopt, repel, or alter a form of government subject to the approval by referendum, and has the power to provide for its officers their manner of selection or terms of office through the approval by a referendum. Municipalities and counties which are not Home Rule Units have only powers given by the law and the powers to have improvements in their locality by especial assessments. Special districts and units, townships, school districts, and appointed by law as local government units only have the authority given by the law. Chicago and most other cities have their mayor and a council form of government. Most of the medium size cities in Illinois have their chosen or selected professional city manager, and most villages are managed by the board president and Board of trustees. Works Cited â€Å"Constitution of the State of Illinois.† n.d.. Illinois Handbook of Government, 18 December 2007 http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publications/handbook/ilconstitution.pdf. â€Å"Illinois.† 2007.   Illinois MSN Encarta, 19 December 2007 http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761566615/Illinois.html. â€Å"Illinois Compiled Statutes.† 2007.   Illinois General Assembly Illinois Compiled Statutes, 19 December 2007 http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs.asp. â€Å"Illinois Government.† 2007.   Illinois.gov Illinois Government Judiciary, 19 December 2007 http://www.illinois.gov/government/judiciary.cfm.

Athena the Greek Goddess :: Greek Mythology

Athena Athena was the virgin daughter of the great god Zeus and she was also one of the great Olympian deities. Not only was she the goddess of wisdom but she was also the goddess of war and the patroness of arts and crafts. Which led her to be a great leader Athena was born beside the river Triton where she was nurtured by 3 nymphs. One of the nymphs Was her playmate, Pallas. When she was just a girl, Athena accidentally killed Pallas. As a token of her grief Athena put the nymphs name before her own, so she was often know as Pallas Athena. Athena was endowed with much wisdom from her mother Metis, which means cunning. Because she enjoyed war and was a fierce warrior she used her intelligence for military strategy I will give you 3 examples of how Athena used he military cunning to pass challenges:- The first is the Trojan War: For ten years the Greeks tried to capture the city of Troy, but its walls were invincible. Athena inspired Odysseus to build a hollow wooden horse. He was to make the horse taller and Wider than the main gate of Troy so the Trojans had to destroy their own wall to bring In the gift from the gods, so they thought. The next example was when the hero Perseus was forced to fight the Terrible Gorgon Medusa. Nobody was able to kill her because if you looked directly at her You would turn to stone. Athena gave Perseus a highly polished shield so he could look at her Since he was looking at her reflection and not her face he did not turn to stone stone and was able to kill her. The 3rd example was when Hercules was forced to clean the filthy Augean stables. He was so overwhelmed by the filth that he couldn't do it. Athena then guided him into Changing the course of the Alpheus and Peneus rivers so that they would flow through the stables And thus wash them for him. She also had a city that she was the patron goddess of. Athens, the city named after her to this day. She competed with Poseidon, god of the sea, to become the patron god of Athens. Their contest took place on the Acropolis. which is a Large flat hill in the middle of the city. The winner was the one who could give the better gift to the people.

Starbucks Solvency Case

STARBUCK’S ASSIGNMENT Question 2 Short-term liquidity: Starbuck’s current ratio has increased from 1. 29 to 1. 83 between 2009 and 2011. At the same time its quick ratio has also increased to a healthy 1. 36 percent in 2011. It is clear that current liabilities are decreasing at a faster rate than current assets. Thus the company’s ability to meet its obligations in the short-term should not be a problem. Starbucks’ liquidity looks healthy going forward as it has a healthy receivables turnover at 33. 95 in 2011, whilst the average collection period is at 10. 75.Long-term Solvency: The debt to equity ratio dropped from 2010 levels where it was at 0. 74 to 0. 68 in 2011 which means that there has been a reduction in financial risk and an improvement in solvency. This may largely be explained by the increase in retained earnings. The interest coverage is between 4 and 5 times meaning that Starbucks is not at any high risk of default on its debt obligations. T hus the risk of insolvency is highly mitigated. Profitability: The return on equity (ROE) for Starbuck’s has improved greatly from 14. 12% in 2009 to 30. 91% in 2011.The return on assets (ROA) has followed a similar trend growing from 9. 99% in 2009 to 25. 15% in 2011. This suggests that for any potential investors Starbuck’s is a lucrative proposition at least to the extent that past performance is a reliable predictor of future performance. P-E Ratios: Given its size Starbuck’s is not likely to see any extraordinary growth and as such a P-E ratio of 23. 65 in 2011 is reasonable even though it shows a drop from 2009 levels. Of an interest is the fact that over the same period Starbucks EPS have actually grown by up to 200% from 0. 53 to 1. 66.It is clear that investors do not expect any rapid growth in the company’s net income but rather more stable growth. Question 3 With regard to short-term liquidity it is clear that Starbuck’s is doing better than the industry where the current ratio averages out at about 0. 7 and the quick ratio at about 0. 3. Insofar as solvency is concerned Starbuck’s also does better than the industry where debt-equity ratios have reached peaks of 128. 075, whilst industry interest coverage averages out at about 1 or 2 times. Thus Starbuck’s is more solvent than a lot of its peers in the industry.Starbuck’s is also more profitable than the industry where both ROE and ROA average below 20%. Starbucks’ P-E ratio of 23. 65 in 2011 shows that the market expects Starbucks to grow its net income faster than the industry average growth rate which is given by an industry P-E ratio that averages out at about 16. Question 4 Up until 2008 Starbucks registered stable growth, growing its ROE from 14. 10% in 2003 to 29. 81% in 2007. During this same period the return on sales number remained steady around 7%. However it’s ROE plummeted in 2008 to 13. 21%, only recovering in 2010 and peaking at 30. 1% in 2011. At the same time its return on sales dropped to a record 3% in 2008. The drop in 2008-2009 is partly explained by the economic downturn of 2008. Starbucks situation was certainly not helped by the fact that it had a liquidity problem that had persisted since 2005 with quick and current ratios below 1. 0. Starbucks has since seen its short-term liquidity improve with its quick and current ratios recovering in 2010 and 2011 to levels above 1. 0. Improved liquidity has also come with improved profitability with the return on sales number peaking at 10. 65% in 2011.

Brown Mackie versus Ivy Tech Essay

Brown Mackie College is better than Ivy Tech in some aspects; this is also reversed for other aspects. Depending on what you are looking for from either school will help to determine which school placement will be the best fit for you. This paper will compare and contrast on these two schools business management programs from its different aspects. Brown Mackie College Business Management Program Options Brown Mackie, (2012) â€Å"If you’re tech savvy and have always had a mind for business, the Business and Technology programs at Brown Mackie College can help you to prepare for a career.† Brown Mackie offers a much wider variety of programs in the field of business management than does Ivy Tech. With twenty-eight different business programs, Brown Mackie has something to offer to anyone seeking a degree in the business field. Some of the programs in business that Brown Mackie offers includes, but are not limited to, Accounting, Audio/ Video Technician, Bioscience Laboratory Technology, Computer Networking, Electronics, Bookkeeping Specialist, Business Administration, Office Management, Graphic Design, and of course Business Management. The business management programs are offered in twenty-eight out of thirty locations nationwide. The Cost for This Program According to Brown Mackie, (2012) website for an Associate of Applied Science in Business Management, â€Å"The institution cost for this program for a full-time student completing the entire program on time,† are as follows; books and digital resources: $0; program fees: $2000; room and board: $0; tuition: $28260. Brown Mackie, (2012) also noted, â€Å"All tuition and fees are subject to change.† The financing options available to pay for this program are as follows; according to Brown Mackie, (2012) â€Å"In addition to any grant and scholarship aid for which they are eligible, ninety-five percent of graduates used loans to finance their education. The median debt for program graduates: Federal Loans: $20966; Private Educational Loans: $0; Institutional Financing plan: $40.† Time Completion Although there are many factors to the time it takes to complete this program, for example, was the student in attendance full-time or part-time, did the student transfer into the program with prior approved credits, was the student required to take remedial courses, did the student fail or withdraw from courses, and these can all effect the rate of completion. Brown Mackie, (2012) reports, â€Å"The program could take as little as twenty-two months to complete. Seventy-one percent of graduates from this program finished in this time.† Post Graduate Employment Brown Mackie currently has no data available on their site for the percentage of students that find employment in their field or related fields. However, Brown Mackie, (2012) implies that, â€Å"information on this topic may be obtained by speaking with an admissions representative.† Ivy Tech Business Management Program Options Ivy Tech remains within the state of Indiana only, offering fourteen locations for attendance. Ivy Tech, (2012) states, â€Å"Ivy Tech Community College offers more than one hundred and fifty programs and concentrations statewide.† However, their site only reports eight options in the School of Business program. These programs include Accounting, Business Administration, Computer Information Systems, Computer Information Technology, Computer Science, Information Security, Office Administration, and Transportation, Distribution & Logistics. The Cost for This Program Although Ivy Tech does not offer a Business Management program, I will offer comparable cost information from their Business Administration field. Ivy Tech, (2012) reports, â€Å"Face-to-Face classes: for Indiana residents: $111.15 per credit hour; Out-of-State: $239.40 per credit hour.† This report is just for time spent in the classroom. Ivy Tech, (2012) gives further quotes for online courses, â€Å"Ivy Tech Online classes: for Indiana residents: $111.15 per credit hour + Online course fee of $20 per credit hour; Out-of-State: $144.50 per credit hour + Online course fee of $20 per credit hour.† Other expenses that will be incurred are reported by Ivy Tech, (2012) as follows: â€Å"Consumable fees apply for some programs and courses; Technology Fee: $60 per semester; Books and Supplies: cost average is $39.23 per credit hour (based on an average of thirteen credit hours per semester).† Ivy Tech, (2012) also notes, â€Å"Many types of financial aid are available, such as grants, scholarships and student loans.† Time Completion As with other colleges, an average is the best that can be offered for time completion. Ivy Tech is not an exception to this rule. Most courses require sixty-four credit hours for completion. Ivy Tech allots an average of thirteen credit hours to a course semester. Ivy Tech’s semesters are three months long. Post Graduate Employment No information is given as to what percent, if any, post graduates find gainful employment in their fields, or related fields, of study through Ivy Tech.

Profitability And Risk Essays - Non-alcoholic Beverages, Nestea

Profitability And Risk Essays - Non-alcoholic Beverages, Nestea Profitability and Risk Qualitative Criteria and Evaluations Profitability and Risk Alternative one offers the highest profitability. The net income after taxes for alternative two is $104,996,299 compared to $160,658,065 for alternative one. Alternative two also offers a high profitability, but not as much as the first alternative. The risk for alternative one is very high. The risk for the second alternative two is average. Purchasing Nestea is risky because the alternative beverage industry is declining. Coca-Cola?s dissolution of their alliance with Nestea also raises some concerns of risk and profitability. The additional profits received from alternative one are not a large enough amount to consider taking this high of a risk. Competitor?s Reaction Competitor?s reactions were thought to be more prevalent in alternative two. The repackaging and offering the non-tea products in cans would cause an immediate reaction. The expected increase in sales would cut into the competitor?s share of the market. When Snapple refocuses itself in the international market, the other alternative beverage companies will also enter the market. Competitor?s reactions for alternative one are expected to be low. The main competitor left after the purchase of the alternative beverage division of Nestea from Nestle would be Pepsi?s Lipton product. There are no clear strategic actions to counteract this movement from Pepsi Lipton. Society?s Reaction Society?s reactions for both alternatives would be high. Buying Nestea, alternative one, would give Snapple the profits they would receive from loyal Nestea customers. This brand loyalty might also help the image of Snapple?s drinks. The convenience of having Snapple in a can, included in alternative two, should have a positive reaction. The slightly lower price of Snapple, for both alternatives, should create increased sales because consumers always appreciate being able to purchase goods at a lower price. Timing The timing of both alternatives is crucial because of Snapple?s declining market share and the slowing growth of the industry. It may also be a good idea to wait a while to purchase Nestea because of its declining sales, which could lower the purchase price. This is the right time for Snapple to enter the international market due to the industry?s growth decline in the alternative beverage market in the United States. Entering the international market should increase Snapple?s sales in a market that is not yet overcrowded. Feasibility Purchasing the Nestea division of Nestle could be difficult to accomplish. It is unknown if Nestle is willing to sell Nestea. Also, acquiring the amount of capital needed to purchase Nestea would be complex. Alternative two is more feasible. There are some promising prospects for international trade markets. It should be easy to offer Snapple in cans because the costs are lower and the company does not produce its own bottles. However, Snapple would be forced to find companies that produce cans and will be willing to bottle the product in cans. Effectiveness Both of the alternatives address the problem that Snapple is facing. Alternative one solves the problem of Snapple?s declining market share by purchasing the Nestea division of Nestle. Alternative two solves this problem by entering the international market. The key success factor of maintaining and improving the image of the company is included in alternative two. Both suggested methods of cutting costs, that would lower the price to the consumer, would also help to improve Snapple?s image Lowering the amount of flavors offered would make it easier to obtain shelf space for Snapple?s products. Choice Alternative two is the chosen solution. This decision was based on its strong numerical rating as well as its strengths. Alternative two was rated at 3.9 compared to 3.05 for alternative one. Entering the international market will increase the sales at less of a risk than alternative one. Alternative two also requires a considerably lessor amount to invest than the other alternative. Alternative One Description As the sales in the alternative beverage industry have slowed, Snapple has to figure out new ways to survive. Snapple needs to look at cutting prices, varieties, and acquiring other investments. These suggestions lead to an alternative which will help Snapple survive and grow in the industry. Snapple needs to cut their prices to some extent, since they have a profit margin of 42.11% according to 1993 standings. They can cut this to 30 percent and still

About Richard Neutra and the Architecture of Modernism

About Richard Neutra and the Architecture of Modernism Born and educated in Europe, Richard Joseph Neutra helped introduced the International Style to America, and also introduced Los Angeles design to Europe. His southern California firm envisioned many office buildings, churches, and cultural centers, but Richard Neutra is best known for his experiments in modern residential architecture. Background: Born: April 8, 1892 in Vienna, Austria Died: April 16, 1970 Education: Technical Academy, ViennaUniversity of Zà ¼rich Citizenship: Neutra became a US citizen in 1930, as the Nazis and Communists rose to power in Europe. Neutra is said to have studied with both Adolf Loos as a student in Europe and Frank Lloyd Wright when Neutra came to America in the 1920s. The simplicity of Neutras organic designs is evidence of this early influence. Selected Works: 1927-1929: Lovell House, Los Angeles, California1934: Anna Stern House, CA1934: Beard House, Altadena, CA1937: Miller House, Palm Springs, CA1946-1947: Kaufmann Desert House, Palm Springs, CA1947-1948: Tremaine House, Santa Barbara, CA1959: Oyler House, Lone Pine, CA1962: Cyclorama Building at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania1964: The Rice House, Richmond, Virginia Related People: Le CorbusierWalter GropiusPhilip JohnsonLudwig Mies van der RoheAdolf LoosFrank Lloyd WrightRudolf Schindler More About Richard Neutra: Homes designed by Richard Neutra combined Bauhaus modernism with Southern California building traditions, creating a unique adaptation that became known as Desert Modernism. Neutras houses were dramatic, flat-surfaced industrialized-looking buildings placed into a carefully arranged landscape. Constructed with steel, glass, and reinforced concrete, they were typically finished in stucco. The Lovell House (1927-1929) created a sensation in architectural circles in both Europe and America. Stylistically, this important early work was similar to the work of Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe in Europe. Architecture Professor Paul Heyer wrote that the house was a landmark in modern architecture in that it showed the potential of industry to go way beyond mere utilitarian considerations. Heyer describes the Lovell House construction: It began with a prefabricated light steel frame that was erected in forty hours. The floating floor planes, constructed of expanded metal reinforced and covered by concrete applied from a compressed air gun, were suspended by slender steel cables from the roof frame; they express the changes of floor level strongly, following the contours of the site. The swimming pool, at the lowest level, was also suspended within the steel frame, from U-shaped reinforced concrete cradles.- Architects on Architecture: New Directions in America by Paul Heyer, 1966, p. 142 Later in his career, Richard Neutra designed a series of elegant pavilion-style homes composed of layered horizontal planes. With extensive porches and patios, the homes appeared to merge with the surrounding landscape. The Kaufmann Desert House (1946-1947) and the Tremaine House (1947-48) are important examples of Neutras pavilion houses. Architect Richard Neutra was on the cover of Time magazine, August 15, 1949, with the heading, What will the neighbors think?   The same question was asked of southern California architect Frank Gehry when he remodeled his own house in 1978. Both Gehry and Neutra had a confidence that many took as arrogance. Neutra, in fact, was nominated for an AIA Gold Medal during his lifetime, but was not awarded the honor until 1977- seven years after his death. Learn More: Neutra: Complete WorksThe Oyler House: Richard Neutras Desert Retreat directed by Mike Dorsey, DVD, 46 minutesRichard Neutra: And The Search for Modern Architecture by Thomas S. Hines, Rizzoli, 2006Neutra by Barbara Lamprecht, 2004Richard Neutra: Mà ¶bel Furniture by Barbara Lamprecht, 2015Life and Shape: The Autobiography of Richard NeutraThe Drawings of Richard Neutra by Thomas S. Hines, Architectural Digest, February 28, 1993

Compare and contrast Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 23

Compare and contrast - Essay Example This has prompted students to design ways of â€Å"surviving the cut† through developing unique architectural designs and concepts that will sell in the market. This starts with the student developing a well outlined thesis topic then developing that thesis to good and sellable project. The paper, therefore, focuses on comparing and contrasting two theses for architectural designs. The major similarities that the two theses designs exhibit are the separation of concerns and locality. The designs separate independent parts of the system and avoid redundant representation of the information. That is, a critical look of the two designs; you can easily tell what they are presenting if you have the architectural skills and knowledge. Both the models provide ways to decompose the system into one or more parts that localize decisions that are vital to the art of model development. In addition, these two models share the same concept in that they are all object-oriented designs. This is because they focus on real world entities as opposed to focusing on internal relation or operation sequencing. The locality of these two designs hides the decision most likely to be changed. Finally, interpretation also exhibits the similarities between the two models. That is, the models cannot be directly interpreted but rather indirectly interpreted. 2. Communicating process. Communication is a vital role that models play in conveying the message carried out by the resultant system. Therefore, it is easier to interpret the message of a simple model as compared to a complex model. Communication process characterizes the difference in the two models. Thesis 7A exhibit implicit invocation. This is because it carries a collection of components that are part of operation that forms the part of the ultimate system. It is worth noting that the components of the thesis 7A

Constitutional and Administrative Law Assessed Corsework Essay

Constitutional and Administrative Law Assessed Corsework - Essay Example he principle of separation of powers assumes that certain functions should be carried out by different institutions with neither impinging the other’s authority. As Montesquieu argued; â€Å"All would be lost if the same man or the same ruling body†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦were to exercise these powers.3† Furthermore, Lord Acton commented that â€Å"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely4†. Accordingly, the preservation of separation of powers is essential as a check on autocratic power. As part of this, judicial review of the legality of acts of the executive represents the central method by which courts control exercise of governmental power; which in turn operates as a central underlying facet of the separation of powers. As such, the doctrine of ultra vires is theoretically vital in serving as a testament to the independence of the judiciary in its role under the fundamental constitutional separation of powers in ensuring that public bodies, such as government departments, local authorities, tribunals, agencies have not acted ultra vires5. Moreover, the ultra vires doctrine is cited as the first principle of natural justice and the rule of law that public bodies are required to act within the scope of the powers allocated to them by Parliament6. With regard to the UK position, the doctrine of the separation of powers has traditionally been limited and criticised for being somewhat unclear in comparison to other democracies7. Nevertheless, it has been commented that the doctrine does in fact influence everyday operations of the executive, legislature and judiciary8 and Barnett argues that â€Å"Separation of powers†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ runs like a thread throughout the constitution of the United Kingdom9.† Nevertheless, in the UK there has not been a clear separation of the branches of the state10, but rather a fusion, which in turn has created polarised debate with regard to the need to reform the British constitution. For example, the executive clearly carries out

Vicarious Liability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Vicarious Liability - Essay Example The concept of vicarious liability can be substantiated in this case in numerous ways. The first evidence can be observed on the agreement signed between Robert Courtney and Eli Lilly and Company. Whereby, Elil Lilly and company were supposed to supply Courtney with Chemotherapy drugs. However, Robert Courtney started participating in pharmaceutical fraud by buying drugs from a grey market and at the same time diluting Taxol and Gemzal drugs supplied by Eli Lilly and company. This means that Elil Lilly and company had a vicarious liability due to the tortuous acts committed by Robert Courtney of whom they had a special relationship based on the agreement they had signed (Giliker, 2011). The second evidence of vicarious liability can be observed between Doctor Hunter and Robert Courtney. Doctor Hunter was supplied cancer drugs by Robert Courtney pharmacy whereby, he used those drugs to diagnose his patient without the knowledge that Courtney had diluted the drugs. This resulted to substantial harm to the patients diagnosed by Doctor Hunter. Therefore, based on this relationship Robert Courtney had vicarious liability towards Doctor Hunter’s patients. This is because Courtney was responsible for the harm that doctor hunter had caused towards his patients (Moses & Jones, 2011). The organizational parties that could be held liable in this case include: Eli Lilly and company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Kansas City General Hospital where Doctor Hunter was working and finally Research Medical Towers Pharmacy Owned by Robert Courtney. Eli Lilly and company were liable because the organisation had a special relationship with Courtney. This relationship was established via an agreement whereby, Eli Lilly pharmaceutical company agreed to be supplying Robert Courtney Pharmacy with chemotherapy drugs. This means that Eli Lilly and Company had a corporate

The Lilly Ledbetter Act Sociology Essay

The Lilly Ledbetter Act Sociology Essay In January 2009, President Obama signaled his commitment to improving the lives of working women with the signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act. By signing this act into law, President Obama signed a significant shift in the view of American polity toward the status of women in the workplace. While this change is significant in the upward mobility of women, only a small portion of women in the workforce will benefit from this new law. Introduction Many explanations have been offered by scholars for gender-wage disparity. Pay disparities have often been attributed to the segregation of women in certain female-dominated occupations, disparities in professional skills, education, and experience, and differences in family status, as well as the role of industry and wage structure. What that said, evidence still suggests that at least part of this gender pay gap is due to discrimination which may be subtle and even unconscious. While the pay disparity exists in nearly every traditional field, jobs associated with male roles continue to be better paid than jobs associated with roles that are considered traditionally female even though these jobs may often require the same skill level. Women dominate jobs in nursing, home health assistance, child care, teaching, cleaning, and food preparation; most of which replace things that women historically have performed in the home for free. While women are making strides in our white collar s ections of our economy, working-class America has not yet benefited from this economic and cultural power shift. Jobs held mainly by women are paid at rates that on average are 20% less than those equivalent jobs held mainly by men. Improvements in pay for women have been related to a greater presence of women in the labor force, rising educational attainment, and the movement into professional and managerial jobs, but there still continues to be an unexplained gender pay gap against women. Today, women with the same amount of education and experience earn 81 percent of what men do; although, this is better than the 60 percent they earned in 1980. This pay gap has persisted and remained relatively consistent for the past 2 decades. Historical Relevance Social Welfare Policies Recent research indicates women now make up almost half of the American work force and earn 60% of college degrees in America. Empowerment alone is not entirely responsible for this revolution. Politics has played a big role in the movement of women into the work force. A number of policies in the 1960s seemingly targeted gender discrimination in the labor market. Legislative efforts that have attempted to address this problem include the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and subsequent amendments, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA), and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Acts of 2009 and 2012. These changes along with the rise of the service sector and the decline in manufacturing have supported and encouraged the entrance of women into the American workforce, but progress has not been uniform as seen in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA). The Equal Pay Act On June 10, 1963, the Equal Pay Act (EPA) was passed by Congress dictating that women and men must receive equal pay for equal work on the recommendation of President John F. Kennedys Commission on the Status of Women. Under the mindset that men were the heads of households and therefore where the primary income producer in families, women had previously been paid less when employed in identical jobs. Regardless of the fact that in many homes women were considered the breadwinners for reasons ranging from death or disability of a spouse, divorce, and/or single parenthood. The EPA prohibits gender-based pay discrimination among employees within the same work place who do substantially equal work. Although gender can no longer be viewed as a drawback, demonstrable differences in seniority, merit, the quality or quantity of work, and/or other considerations might merit different pay can be used if proven. The statute of limitations for filing a suit is 2 or 3 three years, depending on w hether the discriminatory act is intentional. In order to recover under the act, a woman must prove that an employer paid higher wages to men, male and female employees conduct an equal amount of work that requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and men and women performed the work under similar working conditions. The act establishes four main defenses for employers. An employer may pay a male employee more than a female employee if the employer can establish that payment is based upon a seniority system, a merit system, a system whereby earnings are based upon the quantity and quality of production by the employees, or a differential based upon any other factor other than the sex of the employees. While the first three of these defenses have been the subjects of litigation, the fourth exception if often litigated more frequently. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is considered our nations benchmark legislation. Signed into law on July 2, 1964, the Civil Rights Act paved the way for future anti-discrimination legislation and President Lyndon Johnson asserted his commitment to President Kennedys legislative agenda, Passage of the Act ended the application of Jim Crow laws, which had been previously upheld by the Supreme Court in the 1896 case Plessy v. Ferguson.   Congress eventually expanded the Civil Rights Act to strengthen enforcement of these fundamental civil rights. These changes were needed to strengthen the original proposal submitted by President Kennedy in response to the racially-motivated violence across the South which occurred during tumultuous summer of 1963. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and subsequent amendments prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sex in a broader set of categories, including hiring, promotion, and other conditions of employment. It requires filing a comp laint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission within 180 days after an intentional discriminatory act. Although the inclusion of the word sex in the original draft of this 1964 Act was considered a joke, this inclusion has become the basis for most gender-based discrimination policy in the United States. As a result of fears regarding the impact of this legislation on his predecessor, congress adopted the Bennett Amendment into bill shortly before its passage in 1964. Interested parties feared that an employee filing suit under Title IV could file a wage discrimination case without the need to prove equal pay for equal work as required under the EPA. The Bennett Amendment provides that an employer may pay his employees different wages based on gender if the provisions of the Equal Pay Act authorize such differentiation. Executive Order #11246 On September 24, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson issued Executive Order #11246. Generally considered the nations first affirmative action order, Executive Order #11246 requires companies receiving federal construction contracts to ensure equality in the hiring of minorities. The order was amended in 1967 to include gender discrimination. The Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on February 5, 1993. FMLA is considered a labor standard classifying requirements for eligible employers and also a major milestone in the legal support of family life. FMLA recognizes that family life events have an impact on the workplace and requires the workplace to accommodate those events to provide job protection. Entitlements for employees who meet FMLA eligibility requirements include job protection and unpaid leave for a qualified medical and family reason. Eligible employees may take up to 12 work weeks of unpaid leave during any 12 month period for the serious health condition of the employee, parent, spouse or child, or for pregnancy or care of a newborn child, or for adoption or foster care of a child. An FMLA-eligible employee is an employee who has been in the business at least 12 months and worked at least 1,250 hours over the past 12 months. Work must be done at a location where the company employs 50 or more employees within 75 miles. FMLA does not apply to workers in businesses with fewer than 50 employees, part-time workers who have worked fewer than 1,250 hours within the 12 months preceding the leave and a paid vacation, workers who need time off to care for seriously ill relatives other than parents, workers who need time off to recover from short-term or common illness like a cold, or to care for a family member with a short-term illness such as child, and workers who need time off for routine medical care, such as check-ups. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) dictates that families receiving public assistance under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program take personal responsibility for their low-income lives and that paid work is essential to moving the family out of poverty. The PRWORA represents the change in the welfare system that no longer permitted poor families to receive assistance while staying at home with children. With the passage of PRWORA, Congress essentially ended single mothers entitlement to income support by emphasizing paid employment. The Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act In 2009, President Obama signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, which allows victims of pay discrimination to file a complaint with the government against their employer within 180 days of their last paycheck, not as previously stated the first paycheck. Victims were previously allowed 180 days from the date of the first unfair paycheck. Interpretation of Such Policies The 1963 Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act combined are thought to settle the matter of equal pay in law. In 1963, when the Equal Pay Act was passed, full-time working women were paid 59 cents on average for every dollar paid to men. This means it took 49 years for the wage gap to close just 20 cents; a rate of less than half a penny a year.  [1]  In a 2007 U.S. Census Bureau report in, median pay for women is less than of men in each and every one of the 20 industries and 25 occupation groups surveyed. In fact, men working in female-dominated occupations still tend to earn more than women working in those same occupations. According to the Institute for Womens Policy Research, if equal pay for women were instituted immediately across the board, it would result in an annual $319 billion gain nationally for women and their families (in 2008 dollars).  [2]  Over her working life, a typical woman could expect to gain a total of $210,000 in additional incom e if equal pay were the norm (these numbers include part-time workers).  [3]   The Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act are important laws, but they are hard to enforce, and legal cases are extremely difficult to prove and win. Part of the problem is that many women can be underpaid without knowing it. Many companies continue to make it taboo to discuss salaries even though in some cases these policies are unfair and/or sometimes unlawful. In addition, without knowing what a job truly pays, women can devalue themselves when negotiating a new salary. Suing is also not a practical remedy for women since awards are limited under the EPA to 3 years worth of pay, which may make it difficult to find a lawyer to accept the case. In addition, the EPA does not allow participation in class action lawsuits for wage discrimination, and since discrimination is almost never in the form of a smoking gun, women still continue to suffer from the glass ceiling and old boys network. Recent court decisions and settlements reveal women earning low wages, faced with s ystemic discrimination in hiring, pay, promotions, or working conditions. In 2011, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) settled lawsuits against 3 employers in low-wage industries for systemic sex discrimination.  [4]  Although this civil action is promising, the Supreme Court has recognized the fear or retaliation leads many victims of pay discrimination to remain silent. Low-wage workers face substantial risk of retaliation by standing up to an employer to challenge discrimination and often remain silent. Unavailable resources also make options for low-wage workers difficult. Women who complain are labeled troublemakers which may follow them as they seek other employment. Employers often fight back aggressively and seek to ruin the credibility of the employee as they seek to defend the company. Women are often subjected to questioning about their sexual history as well as gynecologic medical records in efforts to intimidate them in court. Legal cases can be extremely difficult to prove and win since enforcement of the laws is complaint-driven and, unfortunately, most of the information needed to prove a complaint is held by employers. Pursuing an equal pay case under these circumstances can be devastating to the personal lives and finances of the plaintiffs. The first Executive Orders addressing discrimination in private sector grew out of the unique labor market conditions created by Americas entry into World War II. The basis for these orders was felt to fall under the Presidents authority to provide for national defense. A significant national commitment was signaled by the Johnson administration to social policy. By issuing Executive Order #11246, President Johnson signaled his belief that to truly level the playing field affirmative measures were required to undo the consequences of the historic exclusion of minorities and women from many areas of the workplace. The Presidents authority to issue this Order derived from his authority to ensure that government procurement was conducted in an economical manner. The relationship between the supply of labor and these Executive Orders is evident in that the eradication of discrimination is empirically related to economy and efficiency in government. As a byproduct, research has determined the effects of affirmative action on the gender pay gap estimating that employment of women increased somewhat faster in contractor firms as a result of the effects of affirmative action, but women have seen greater employment opportunities in the economy as a whole most particularly in the public sector. In the private sector or those contractors that are not subject to affirmative action provisions, affirmative action laws and regulations are few and far between. Under Federal law, only 2 types of private-sector employers are required to implement affirmative action plans; those that have federal contracts or subcontracts in excess of $50,000 and those that have at least 50 employees. This translates to 1 in 4 American workers holding jobs in the private sector covered by mandatory federal affirmative action programs. The role of these policy changes cannot be ruled out in both the increase in the gender pay disparity. Coverage under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 is far from universal and many low-wage, single-income workers simply cannot afford to take time-off from work without pay. Low-wage workers in particular would benefit from expanded paid leave policies as they are less likely to be covered by the federal policy since they are considered the working poor and are in greater need of pay during time-off from work for major life events. Women make up 59% of the low wage service-related work force with nearly two-thirds of those earning minimum wages. Women in low-wage positions often have significant demands on their time including, but not limited to holding down multiple jobs, raising children, pursing education, and training. Many single-mother families live paycheck-to-paycheck and may fear being easily replaced by their employers. Lack of information about better paying jobs or options available to them, lack of transportation, and the inability of low-wage female workers in si ngle income families to easily recover from job loss all factor heavily in a decision to challenge discrimination or remain silent. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 was at the time considered a reassertion of Americas work ethic. This Act single-handedly increased the poverty rate of low-wage families, most of them headed by single mothers. This legislation was passed in the middle of the strongest labor market in decades, especially for low-wage work, and was followed by sharp increases in the employment of unmarried mothers. The hope was that as former single welfare mothers entered the labor market they would eventually climb the job ladder; although, research has shown that wage profiles for less-educated workers remain stagnant even if earnings profiles slope upward. Female workers with low levels of education not only typically earn less; they are also hit hard by the wage gap. Less-educated, low-wage workers experience little wage growth while working for the same employer and only limited gain. Their experience is also less meaningful than for that of more-educat ed workers when moving to a new employer. The occupational segregation of men and women into different jobs in the service sector explains the single-largest portion of the gender pay gap, 49.3 percent. Many jobs that women have historically held by women are underpaid when compared to mens jobs that require similar levels of skill. A traditionally male job can earn more a traditionally female job. It is not that the male job has a much higher level of skills than the female job, but that our society values these jobs differently and this is a choice we make. Jobs considered traditionally female have been systemically undervalued for such a long time that we think it is natural, but in fact this is an ongoing legacy of past discrimination.  [5]   Finally, The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act provides women with a critical tool to challenge discriminatory pay practices, but it will not change pay disparity. The Act amends Title VII and restores the law that existed before the Supreme Courts 2007 decision in the Ledbetter case with regard to the timing of legal challenges. With a record number of women currently participating in the workforce, wage discrimination hurts the majority of American families by compromising their economic security today and their retirement security tomorrow. Rising employment rates have forced an unprecedented number of women into the position of primary breadwinners for their families. This alone makes pay equity even more critical. While the Ledbetter Act does not end pay disparity, it brings women one step closure to making real progress in pay disparity. Stronger incentives are needed for employers to follow the law, women need to be empowered to negotiate for equal pay, strengthen feder al outreach, and education, and enforcement efforts such as those contained in the now failed Paycheck Fairness Act are needed. Discrimination would then be deterred due to strong penalties for equal pay violations as well as retaliation against workers who ask about wage practices or disclose their own wages. Criticism/Critical Debate The consequences of the wage gap are both widespread and numerous. When women are paid less than men, the means by which they support themselves and their families is compromised. The number of single-family households has risen dramatically over the past 4 decades. The increase in the number of single-mother families can be correlated to the increase in child poverty in the United States. Unsurprisingly, single parent families headed by women are nearly twice as likely as single parent families headed by men to live below the poverty level. Although most children reared in mother-only households do well, there may be adverse consequences for others. By earning less, women will automatically experience the disadvantage of a less stable economic status and may be less likely to question their wage status due to fear of poverty. The wage gap disparity is also visible in fringe benefits, which currently make up about 30 percent of total compensation. Lower wages means lower lifetime earnings resulting in lower pension benefits upon retirement. The lack of coverage or lower benefit levels may not be a problem for some women, since they receive benefits through a spouse, but for other women, lack of adequate health or pension benefits from their job is a serious problem. As with wages, the gap in fringe benefits is thought to be related to differences between men and women in human capital and job characteristics. Some studies contribute differences in human capital to motherhood and parenting responsibilities since women are largely responsible for childrearing in our society. The correlation is that women are felt to less likely than men to gain work experience and skills, and therefore, are less likely to qualify for high-paying jobs; however, studies have demonstrated that when controlling for sex-based dif ferences in work hours, work interruptions, and part-time work, childless women earn no more than mothers and single women earned no more than married women. Thus, these wage disparities are not exclusively attributable to motherhood, and factors other than unequal sharing in childrearing duties must be at play. Supporting studies have found that in narrow sections of students graduating from the same law school with the same amount of experience, the human capital argument failed to explain the gender-based wage disparities in the American labor force. Another consideration for the wage disparity can be found in the role of industry and wage structure. This discrimination clearly starts the second women begin their first job, and follows them no matter where they go or what they do. New graduates not only make less, but continue to make less with each subsequent degree and the gap actually widens as they progress. Women make less than men no matter what industry or occupation they enter. This can be attributed to the decline in blue-collar jobs where women are under-represented. The rise of women in blue collar jobs has benefited women in that traditionally men have been more likely to be union members than women. Union representation has historically helped to increase the gender pay gap, but the share of unionized workers who are female has increased as unions have grown in certain public sector and service-related occupations that have a greater share of female workers. This in itself has played a relatively small role in the de clining gender pay gap. Public sector and service-related occupations remain crucial for women. Women have historically been overrepresented in public-sector employment. Public sector jobs generally pay more than jobs in the private sector raising the average pay for women in our contemporary economy, but recent decisions by many state and local governments to respond to diminished revenues and budget shortfalls by cutting public-sector jobs have had substantial economic effects on women. Although state and local public-sector workers have significantly higher levels of education than their private-sector peers, they are consistently underpaid relative to similar private-sector workers in similar jobs, and the disproportionate share of women and minorities working in state and local government has also translated into higher rates of job loss for both groups in these sectors. Affirmative action has played a significant role in public sector jobs, but this has mainly benefited white women, many of which are not coming from the lower-class labor market. According to the United States Labor Department, the primary beneficiaries of affirmative action are white women. The Department of Labor estimated that 6 million women workers are in higher occupational classifications today than they would have been without affirmative action policies. Conclusion The empowerment of women is considered to be one of the greatest changes in the past 50 years. This has been manifested in equal rights acts, changes in social welfare legislation, and changes in employment legislation such as the Lilly Ledbetter Act. The changes have all in one way or another corresponded with the rises in the labor market that have both supported and encouraged the entrance of women and minorities into the American workforce. Improvements in pay for women have been related to a greater presence of women in the labor force, rising education attainment, and the movement into professional and managerial jobs, but pay disparity still persists. Historically, legislation favoring the elimination of discrimination in the workforce has been used also to support economic growth. This would suggest that the driving factor behind this legislation is not discrimination or gender parity, but capitalism/the economy. Executive Order #11246 and The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 are examples of this. The impact of these Acts on low-wage female workers is evident. More low-wage single-mother households are living in poverty at this time than ever before. In fact, there has been no legislation to date to protect part-time and contingent workers at all and their numbers are growing. These workers are not eligible for time-and-a-half overtime, minimum wage protections, and they have very little job security. Most low-wage single-mothers are also not covered by the Family Medical Leave Act. The impacts of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its subsequent amendments, as well as the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Acts of 2009 and 2012, are largely felt to be in the public sector, which is subjected to monitoring and oversight by the EEOC, and in the private sector in the form of blue collar jobs which are dominated by unions. Unions provide better benefit protection, safety protection, and job security. Lilly Ledbetter herself benefit greatly from protection in her job due to her union. Studies have shown that women who have had the benefit of being supported by union membership experience significantly less pay disparity. Low-wage workers often find it hard to unionize, especially in the private sector as this is often discouraged by employers. Workers are often bullied and intimidated to discourage talk of union membership. Strong unions in these sheltered areas would greatly benefit low-wage workers. Better enforcement of existing laws and regulations is also needed as well as stronger laws such as the Paycheck Fairness Act to address this issue. Lawsuits will not have a significant impact on pay disparity as individual wage discrimination cases are very expensive to pursue and difficult to argue. Private cases also do not have an important impact on the labor market. Class-action lawsuits are rare and are usually based on many employees and one employer or a few employers, and are generally not feasible in wage disparity cases. As previously mention, they are forbidden under the EPA. Finally, the fact that this problem is not concentrated in one area or agency makes it difficult to assess. Change is needed from outside these organizations. Federal standards should be adopted to specifically address pay inequality at all levels of government and even in the private sector. Internet Sources American Civil Liberties Union, www.aclu.com. The ACLU takes an active role in defending the freedoms granted to American citizens by our Constitution and laws of the United States in this country. The ACLU brings many discrimination cases on behalf of workers each year, testifies in front of Congress on behalf of womens issues, and works hard to lobby for womens rights in the workplace. National Committee on Pay Equity, http://www.pay-equity.org/. The National Committee on Pay Equity is a coalition of organizations working to eliminate sex-based and race-based pay discrimination to achieve pay equity. The American Association of University Women, http://www.aauw.org The American Association of University Women advances equality for women and girls through legislation, research, advocacy, and philanthropy. Its mission is a community to break through economic and education barriers so that women have a fair chance.