Frances Perkins and the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

Frances Perkins and the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire A wealthy Bostonian who had come to New York for a Columbia University graduate degree, Frances Perkins (April 10, 1882 - May 14, 1965) was having tea nearby on March 25 when she heard the fire engines. She arrived at the scene of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in time to see workers jumping from the windows above. Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire   This scene motivated Perkins to work for reform in working conditions, especially for women and children. She served on the Committee on Safety of the City of New York as executive secretary, working to improve factory conditions. Frances Perkins met Franklin D. Roosevelt in this capacity, while he was New York governor, and in 1932, he appointed her as Secretary of Labor, the first woman to be appointed to a cabinet position. Frances Perkins called the day of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire the day the New Deal began.

Evaluation of the 2011 Policy of the Bank of England Essay

Evaluation of the 2011 Policy of the Bank of England - Essay Example This essay discusses that in 2011, the Bank of England maintained the interest rate low even when the inflation rate was higher than the targeted level. Is this policy sound? The â€Å"monetary policy objective is to deliver price stability --- low inflation --- and, subject to that, support the Government’s economic objectives including those for growth and employment†. Low inflation itself is not defined but â€Å"price stability is defined by the Government inflation target of 2%†. Maintaining t a 2% inflation rate is the continuing target of the United Kingdom through the Bank of England which is the central bank of the UK. Yet, as indicated by Table 1, inflation was 2.1% in 2005, 2.33% in 2006, 2.32% in 2007, 3.6% in 2008, 2.17% in 2009, 3.29% in 2010, and 0.5% in 2011. If the inflation rate â€Å"target is missed by more than 1 percentage point on either side ---i.e. if the annual rate of CPI inflation is more than 3% or less than 1%---the Governor of the Bank must write an open letter to the Chancellor explaining the reasons why inflation has increased or fallen to such an extent and what the Bank proposes to do to ensure inflation comes back to the target†. During the period 2005-11, annual average bank interest rate decreased from 4.65% to 0.5% when the usually logical action to take is to increase the interest rate given the overall trend of an increasing inflation rate. If she wants to, the Bank of England can influence bank interest rates through several policy instruments such as her control over government. Over the period 2005-11 or 7 years, inflation rate was above 2% and, yet, interest rate has been made extremely low. Inflation has been on the uptrend since 2005 but interest rates were on the downtrend beginning the same year. The United States sub-prime crisis that became the trigger for the ongoing world crisis started to express itself sometime 2007. In the United Kingdom, the gross domestic product dropped in 20 09 and recovered its 2008 level in 2010 but the GDP per capita figures probably continued to decrease. UK inflation, on the other hand, has been increasing since 2005. This indicates that the ongoing UK inflation is independent from the United States crisis and its aftershocks. At the same time, this also implies that it may be possible to address the two problems separately or that specific measures are needed to address UK inflation independent from the measures needed to address the fallouts on the UK from the U.S. sub-prime crisis. Nominal GDP or GDP in current values decreased in 2009 despite an inflation of 2.17% during the year. Needless to say, the impact of this double hit of a decrease in the nominal value of the GDP combined with inflation is that the quality of life deteriorated for at least several households in the United Kingdom. Chart 1. Quarterly GDP change, 1955 to 2011 Source: Roger, et al. 2012 Using Chart 2 for looking at the period 2000-2011 within a longer ter m horizon or between 1955 to 2011, it is to see that 2000-2011 is a period wherein GDP change on a per quarter basis is lower compared to the GDP change on a per quarter basis over the period 1955 to 1980. A lower growth rate should imply a lower demand for money and provides a merit for higher levels of interest rates. Chart 3 also suggests that the pattern of

Role of gender Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Role of gender - Essay Example They were considered to be clean after the cut, and this was a licence to marriage (Dirie 11). The essay, "The Brothels Bottom Line," highlights the various evils young girls are subjected to in the brothel business. According to the story girls are sex objects that men can buy to please themselves and dispose whenever they please. They are used as tools of trade by brothel owners, who attach no value to them, to a point of beating them to death. Others are stitched their private parts to become virgins solely for the purpose of their owners making more money. While there are people who attach good gender roles to girls’ economic growth, like involving in businesses, others do not see the use of women apart from pleasing men (Kristof 4-8). The essays have various lessons about the role of gender in our culture. They show that gender plays a big role in shaping our children’s destiny. Gender assigns various roles to people and they assume these roles to their maturity. While in the essay "The Tragedy of Female Circumcision," the author was circumcised because her grandmother and great grandmother had too been circumcised, the girls in "The Brothels Bottom Line† essay who had become used to prostitution found it hard to leave the business. Gender plays a great role in shaping our reasoning and determines who we are at maturity. Srey Mom in the essay had become addicted to methamphetamine and decided to stick to it even after being saved from the brothels, she opted to go back to the habit. From both essays, it is evident that gender is responsible for assigning people various roles that they play in their cultures. Although they point at the negativity of the said roles, gender is also responsible for posit ive roles assigned to people in the society.   Globally, different cultures have different perceptions regarding gender. While the culture of various third world countries like Africa and some Asian countries assign specific

Chart and Reflection Essay Example for Free

Chart and Reflection Essay The Somebody-Wanted-But-So chart is an excellent way to summarize important information from history. In it, you identify a person or group of people; their goal, need, or want; what conflict of interest stood in the way; and the outcome. This strategy works great because history depends on the needs, wants, and actions of humans. Part 1 – Complete the following chart using information from the lesson. One example appears for you. Somebody Wanted But So President Abraham Lincoln the nation to heal as quickly as possible from the Civil War and planned to reunify the nation quickly he was assassinated in 1865 only days after Robert E. Lee’s surrender plans for Reconstruction were taken over by Vice President Andrew Johnson, who became president after Lincoln’s death President Andrew Johnson To continue the Reconstruction Congress kept over-riding his request Radical Republicans started the Radical Reconstruction. Radical Republicans Southerners to be punished for re-unifying with the Union. President Hayes took office and removed the federal troops from the south Federal protection for African American voters and pro-republicans, including freedmen, was over. Southern Democrats To have federal troops removed from the south and to have a southern Democrat named in the cabinet. Hayes accepted this request and removed the federal troops while also naming a southern democrat in his office. The reconstruction policy came to an end after the federal troops were removed from the south. Part 2 – Answer the following questions in a complete paragraph of your own words. What was the  main issue relating to Reconstruction that divided Republicans at the end of the Civil War? If you had been a member of Congress at the time, what type of plan for Reconstruction would you have supported and why? There were many different opinions which had divided Republicans at the end of the Civil War. One of these opinions was about the punishment that confederate leaders should receive. Whether the confederate leaders should be punished as traitors or just pay for damages was the main topic of interest. I probably would have supported Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson’s plan for Reconstruction. They sought a perfect unification of America which was the ideal way to end things. It wasn’t their fault that the plan didn’t work either, if it wasn’t for Lincolns assassination and the Radical Republicans taking the policy from Johnson, all would have been well.

How To Play Asshole :: essays research papers

To all you incoming college freshman that don’t want to make a fool of yourself at college parties, learn this drinking game. Perhaps the King of all drinking games, Asshole is a true American classic. Asshole is a game that tests one’s ability to concentrate, as well as one’s threshold for humiliation, for the object of the game is for those in power to abuse those who are not. I’m sure that most of you out there have at least heard of this game, and I am aware that there are many different ways to play. With this in mind, the following is intended as a basic outline of the rules. The first thing you need is a group of willing and open people, a large table and a deck of cards. Further, be advised that plenty of beer should be on hand as this game has a tendency for mass consumption of alcohol. Shuffle the cards, (I realize that this is obvious, however there are boneheads out there) and remove the jokers. To begin play, have all the cards placed in the middle of the table and have every player draw a card. The player with the highest card, 2 being low and Ace high, is appointed President. The next highest cardholder becomes the Vice-President, and so on and so forth until the player holding the lowest card becomes affectionately known as the Asshole. In the event that two or more players draw the same value card, have those players draw again so that their position can be determined. However, if one of the players involved in a second drawing happens to draw a card higher than the card that of the President that player doesn’t become President. They as sume the position in question and the loser of the draw-off takes the position below that person. Players occupying positions falling between VP and Asshole are known as common people, but they may choose titles as well. Some of them are as follows: Secretary, Sergeant at Arms, Speaker of the House, Treasurer, Doorman and Beer-bitch, (who assists the Asshole in his/her duties), are often used. All titles are subject to the dreaded presidential veto and has his or her subsequent wrath, so be humble. The roles of each player are as follows: President: can make any player drink at any time, no one may make the President drink but himself. How To Play Asshole :: essays research papers To all you incoming college freshman that don’t want to make a fool of yourself at college parties, learn this drinking game. Perhaps the King of all drinking games, Asshole is a true American classic. Asshole is a game that tests one’s ability to concentrate, as well as one’s threshold for humiliation, for the object of the game is for those in power to abuse those who are not. I’m sure that most of you out there have at least heard of this game, and I am aware that there are many different ways to play. With this in mind, the following is intended as a basic outline of the rules. The first thing you need is a group of willing and open people, a large table and a deck of cards. Further, be advised that plenty of beer should be on hand as this game has a tendency for mass consumption of alcohol. Shuffle the cards, (I realize that this is obvious, however there are boneheads out there) and remove the jokers. To begin play, have all the cards placed in the middle of the table and have every player draw a card. The player with the highest card, 2 being low and Ace high, is appointed President. The next highest cardholder becomes the Vice-President, and so on and so forth until the player holding the lowest card becomes affectionately known as the Asshole. In the event that two or more players draw the same value card, have those players draw again so that their position can be determined. However, if one of the players involved in a second drawing happens to draw a card higher than the card that of the President that player doesn’t become President. They as sume the position in question and the loser of the draw-off takes the position below that person. Players occupying positions falling between VP and Asshole are known as common people, but they may choose titles as well. Some of them are as follows: Secretary, Sergeant at Arms, Speaker of the House, Treasurer, Doorman and Beer-bitch, (who assists the Asshole in his/her duties), are often used. All titles are subject to the dreaded presidential veto and has his or her subsequent wrath, so be humble. The roles of each player are as follows: President: can make any player drink at any time, no one may make the President drink but himself.

Marriage versus living together

Trends are showing that there is a change in the way intimate relationships are constituted throughout the world. Cohabiting, in the absence of a marriage contract has only become so common over the past few decades. This practice of living with a partner in an intimate relationship that does not involve signing a marriage contract, referred to by any of the terms consensual unions, cohabiting unions, cohabitation, or living together, is evidenced both in developed and developing countries. Mokomane (2005) notes an increase over marriage in this type of relationship (p. 57). Kenny and McLanahan also observe that, in the U. S., cohabitation has surpassed marriage as the preferred mode of intimate unions. It is useful, therefore, to understand differences between a cohabiting and a marriage relationship, in order to determine why couples are now choosing this type of union over marriage. The most apparent difference between a marriage and a cohabiting relationship is in their institutional makeup. A marriage is, by its very nature, a contractual type of relationship where both couples agree to an intimate union. A cohabiting relationship is also an agreement between two partners. The difference is that a marriage requires signing a legal document representative of the couples’ legal obligations to each other. In a cohabiting union such legality is not evident. Marriage relationships are therefore more permanent than cohabiting unions specifically because of this legality. A cohabiting couple may choose to end a relationship at any time without facing much external difficulties but a married couple has to apply for a divorce. Simply put a married couple is legally accountable for either staying together or separating while this is not so in the case of cohabiting couples. Mokomane (2005) notes a further difference in the average age of individuals who enter either union. She has observed that couples in a cohabiting relationship are usually much younger than those in a cohabiting relationship. From her research it was discovered that cohabiting men and women average 37.9 and 32.8 years respectively while their married counterparts average 51.3 and 45.6 years respectively based on the 2001 census in the U.S. (p. 63). This is suggesting that cohabiting relationships is usually the first choice relationship and later there is the transfer into a marriage union when the individual gets older. It has also been noted that married couples earn more than their cohabiting counterparts. According to Clarkberg (1999), income is usually a predictive factor for individuals to get married. She argues that, since individuals with more income seem to be the ones that enter into married unions, then a good income is probably seen as a requirement for entering into a married union. Clarkberg cites research conducted in Puerto Rico in which it was concluded that cohabiting relationships are ‘a poor man’s marriage’(p. 947). Markowski, Croake and Keller also found that cohabiting couples had more lifetime partners than married couples suggesting a higher rate of promiscuity in the former group. They establish that cohabiting couples are more likely than married couples to have had more than six sexual partners (p. 33). Finally research has found that there is a higher rate of domestic violence among couples that are cohabiting than those that are married. Even further there are also higher rates of homicide within this group (Kenny & McLanahan, 2006). In consistent cases it has been found that the rate of domestic violence among married couples is significantly less than the rate among cohabiting couples. These researchers estimate that cohabiting relationships are between two and four times more likely to involve domestic violence than married relationships. It appears therefore that, for reasons of economy and because of its perceived permanence, more persons are staying away from marriage relationships, at least in their younger days, while enjoying the privileges of an intimate living relationship with their partner. Related essay: â€Å"My Ideal Wife† Reference Clarkberg, M. (1999). The price of partnering: The role of economic well-being in young adults’ first union experiences. Social Forces, 77(3), 945-968. Kenny, C. T. & McLanahan, S. S. (2006, Feb). Why are cohabiting relationships more violent than marriages? Demography, 43(1), 127-140. Markowski, E. M., Croake, J. W. & Keller, J. F. (1978, Feb). Sexual history and present sexual behavior of cohabiting and married couples. The Journal of Sex Research, 14(1), 27-39. Mokomane, Z. (2005). A demographic and socio-economic portrait of cohabitation in Botswana. Society in Transition, 36(1), 57-73.   

Lorraine Hansberry s A Raisin - 1395 Words

Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun is a play about African American family living in Southside Chicago. A Raisin in the Sun portrays different ideas of the American dream through the Younger family members, and shows how these individuals struggle to achieve their personal dream in times of racism and social inequality. The character Walter Lee Younger dreams of becoming a successful businessman and providing more for his family. During the time A Raisin in the Sun was written, the United States was going through a major problem of race segregation and inequality. Specifically obstacles that African Americans encountered in achieving their dream. Loraine Hansberry portrays Walter Lee as a man with a common dream of class mobility in†¦show more content†¦Unions drove African Americans from such occupations as railroad fireman and meat cutter.† (Loewen 61) African Americans were forced to work low paying jobs with no hope of carrier advancement. Walter sees himself in that situation but he is not willing to sit around and do nothing, Walter has a plan to make his dream come true. He wants to invest the insurance money Lena received to go into business with two of his friends Bobo and Willy Harris. Walter explains to Ruth â€Å"You see, this little liquor store we got in mind cost seventy-five thousand and we figured the initial investment on the place be ‘bout thirty thousand, see. That be ten thousand each.† (Hansberry 33) Walter sees this money as an opportunity for him to move up the income ladder that he may never come across again. Walter’s mother has a different dream, a dream of having a house of their own. His dream of becoming a businessman was destroyed when Mama bought a house. His manhood also took a big hit. Walter said â€Å"What you need me to say you done right for? You the head of this family. You run our lives like you want to. It was your money and you did what you wanted with it. So what you need for me to say it was all right for? So you butchered up a dream of mine – you – who always talking ‘bout your children’s dreams . . .† (Hansberry 94) Walter was not able to make a call as the head of the house and he blamed his mother. The lost dream also took a toll on Walter’s morale. Because