A Natural History of the Dead essays

A Natural History of the Dead essays As one begins to dissect Ernest Hemingways short story A Natural History of the Dead, a great deal of meaning can be found through the situations he conveys. Through his commentary and the experiences of Mungo Park, much can be learned about Hemingways views and ideas. Upon quick read, one might think this is a simple-minded story about death and its place in history. However, it actually has a much deeper idea hidden in it. Hemingway is revealing to the reader how trivial death actually is. In fact, A Natural History of the Dead is completely irrelevant except to provide the reader with examples of how death is only a small part in the tremendously large scope of nature and the rest of the world. In his short story, Hemingway provides examples as to why death is just one facet in the big picture of life. Early in his story, Hemingway jump-starts the theme that is to be stressed through the rest of the short story by depicting many smaller experiences and cases. One such story is his description of dead bodies on the battlefield. He explains that one of the most surprising things seen on a battlefield is the paperwork scattered among the bodies. One does not remember the smell of the battlefield as much as the incredible amount of paper strewn about. By way of this example, Hemingway shows that even though a person might die, the rest of life, and everything that person has touched, goes on. After reading this particular part of the story, a real life example immediately came to mind. Throughout the September 11th disaster, it was common knowledge that many of the bodies of the deceased were never found, and most likely never will be. Yet, hundreds of thousands of documents proving these people had lived remain. Financial statements, tax returns, employment records, and so on were e verywhere to be found, but the body of the person often was not. Once again, it shows that death pales in comparison ...

Affirmative Action Essays - Social Inequality, Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action Essays - Social Inequality, Affirmative Action Affirmative Action Affirmative Action: Reverse Discrimination? Affirmative Action is a hot issue in the United States, with wide differences of opinion over the correct way to expand opportunity for people who have historically been discriminated against. With the philosophical difference behind the legal and political tensions is deep. One side wants a total rollback of affirmative action programs, making individual merit the only criterion for hiring and promotional considerations. While the other extreme wants affirmative action to be pushed until the racial makeup of all professions mirrors the racial makeup of US society exactly. While both these sides are to the greatest ends of the argument there needs to be an approach to come up with a medium. This could include laws to force companies to vigorously recruit and develop minorities for professional and managerial jobs. However, there should not be any outright quotas, which reserve a certain number of slots for particular minority groups. This will cause resentments and constitutional obs tacles down the road. The objective here is not to do away with affirmative action in one sweep, rather to seek out strategies to help promising minorities and match them with opportunities they have rightfully earned and deserve. Now, what does the law say? Although Title VII has an affirmative action component part of it, most regulations stem from a requirement imposed by Executive Order 11246. There are a lot of misconceptions about affirmative action and what laws companies actual have to follow. One is that all companies are required to adhere to the laws under affirmative action, this is not the case. Executive Order 11246 states that once a company enters into a contract with a federal governmental agency that exceeds $10,000 it must abide by the affirmative action rules and regulations. These regulations include, but are not limited to, the following: to post in a conspicuous place, available to all applicants, provisions of the nondiscrimination clause; include in contractor's advertisements that all qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, gender, or national origin; include statements of these obligations to all subcontractors; and furnish all informa tion and reports to the Secretary of Labor for purposes of investigation to ascertain compliance with the executive order and its regulations. In addition to the above regulations if a corporation enters into a contract of $50,000 or more additional requirements are put in place. A Corporation must develop a written action plan within 120 days of the beginning of a governmental contract. They must also perform a workforce analysis, which must indicate how many women and minorities are in job categories ranging from unskilled workers to managerial employees. These are the basic rules and regulations companies and corporations must follow in order to be within the compliance of the law. There have been several major court decisions that have helped define the application of the statutes and regulations. One of the biggest and earliest cases was that of Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. This case was not against an individual's employer rather against a university. Bakke applied to Davis for two consecutive years but was rejected on both occasions. In both years, applicants with lower scores than Bakke were admitted due to a special admit program. Davis had a program that says applicants who are not of minority status are totally excluded from a specific percentage of the seats in the entering class. When the State's distribution of benefits hinges on the color of a person skin, that individual is entitled to a demonstration that the challenged classification is essential to promote a tangible state interest. For this reason the court's judgment was that Davis' special admission program was invalid under the Fourteenth Amendment. Another case, that di d deal with the employer-employee relationship, was United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO v. Weber. In this case a white employee sued because his employer adopted a voluntary affirmative action plan reserving for black employees fifty percent of the openings in a training program. Because the company had put in place a voluntary program to eliminate an apparent racial imbalance the Supreme Court held that the program was permissible and did not unnecessarily trample the rights of white employees. These are just