Originally written in December 2010
The Copernican Revolution in astronomy was a watershed event in the history of science. The event can be seen as the birth of modern science and the cause of the first of the first major battles between science and religion were brought about due to conflicts between the Bible and the field of astronomy. The theory of evolution, another watershed moment in science was introduced in 1859, and is one of the most controversial theories ever brought about, yet despite the approval of an overwhelming majority of scientists, this is a theory which has not been accepted by many people in the United States and is quite controversial especially in evangelical Christian circles. Many in this group of Christian evangelicals are opposed to teaching evolutionary theory in public schools and instead favor intelligent design or creationism due to the perceived conflict between evolution and the Judeo-Christian Biblical account of how life came about. The theory of evolution is even viewed as an attack on the Bible itself by fundamentalist Christian groups several of who teach that the Bible and its teachings are infallible. The debate over teaching creationism or intelligent design in public schools is one that has drawn supporters from Evangelical Christians and politicians, and has simultaneously drawn much criticism from the scientific community and others. Intelligent design was at one time widely accepted among scientists, but now in its current form has been derided as pseudoscience by prominent scientists in court cases and literature as a belief which does not pass the merits of scientific theory yet and should not be taught in public schools.
The debate over evolution vs. creationism is one of the many battles in the war between science and religion that has been ongoing for centuries. The debate over intelligent design vs. creation opens up many secondary questions such as the role of religion in the classroom and whether two theories that seem very different can in fact be compatible with each other. This study will examine the scientific backgrounds of evolution and intelligent design, the controversy and history of the teaching of intelligent design and evolution in the United States, and ask whether such theories which look radically opposed to each other can indeed co-exist.
Part I Science and Religion Background
The Bible as a book contains answers to many questions such as the creation of the universe, the Earth, and the origins of life on Earth. The Bible in its opening book of Genesis refers to the creation of animals according to their own kinds, and the creation of man in God’s image. The Bible which is the basis of Christianity is perhaps the most influential book in Western civilization. During the final years of the Roman Empire and in the centuries after its demise, the Roman Catholic Church became the leading power in Europe and its position of power also allowed it to be the main provider of education. The church’s position and authority put the teachings of the Bible in the forefront as the mainstream accepted view of how things came to be in Western Europe. The goals of science for a long time were to corroborate the teachings found in the Bible. To attack or challenge the authority of the Church and it’s teachings was very dangerous and could be punishable by death. In the past other scientific theories have been introduced in the Western World which have been attacked in religious circles for disagreeing with commonly accepted religious teachings, among them are the heliocentric theory, the age of the Earth, and evolution. The displacement of the geocentric theory by the heliocentric theory may be the most famous of theories that was condemned by the Catholic Church.
"To be effective, a theory- the framework of ideas and assumptions used to explain some set of observations and make predictions about the real world-must be continually tested." (Chaisson 2008:20) Polish scientist Nicholas Copernicus in 1543 published his monumental work explaining that the planets and Sun do not revolve around the Earth, but rather the Earth revolves around the Sun. Copernicus’ work was not too popular after its publication partly because it was written in Latin and largely because this theory was seen at odds with Biblical passages that postulated that the Earth itself was fixed and didn’t move, and in fact it is the Sun that moves. (Psalm 93:1, Job 9:6, Joshua 10:12, 1 Chronicles 16:30, Isaiah 38:8) After Copernicus’ death other scientists work such as Brahe and Kepler would do more work that would bolster the Copernican view of the solar system. But, the most important scientist to bolster Copernican theory would be Italian scientist Galileo Galilei. The invention of the telescope would help Galileo as he used his telescope to observe the moons of Jupiter and the phases of Venus which contradicted the Ptolemaic model of the universe but bolstered the Copernican theory. Galileo then became a major defender of the theory of heliocentrism but as Galileo lived in Italy he was living in the center of Catholic power. In Italy the Catholic Church through the Inquisition had the power to punish people suspected of heresy. In 1616 a year after Galileo’s “Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina”, the Catholic Church outlawed the teaching of Copernican theory and declared teaching heliocentrism as a fact to be heresy, and placed Copernicus’ writings on a list of banned books. Galileo was ordered not to speak of the heliocentric theory except as a hypothesis. A 1632 book by Galileo, “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems” supporting heliocentric theory and ridiculing the geocentric view would prove to be Galileo’s undoing as shortly after he would have to face the Inquisition. The next year Galileo would be placed on trial for suspicion of heresy. Galileo would be found guilty, had his work banned, was forced to recant his claim of the Earth orbiting the Sun and would spend the rest of his life under house arrest. It would only be hundreds of years after Galileo’s death that the Church would offer an apology for what happened to Galileo.
The Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation during the 15th and 16th centuries and the later Enlightenment of the 18th century did much to end the dominant power of the Catholic Church as a new wave of learning and questioning swept through Europe. No longer would the goals of science simply be to corroborate the works of the Bible, but it was expected to provide answers for questions that might even disagree with the Bible. Scientific discoveries and theories soon started to rise arose that directly conflicted with mainstream religious Christian thought, creating dilemmas for some Christian scientists such as John Ray and Robert Hooke, who originally sought to reconcile scientific discoveries with Biblical ideas. Scientific ideas, such as the extinction of species which was once thought impossible to coexist with the idea of a benevolent creator was proven true as the discovery of fossils of extinct species started to take place. Not only did the discovery of fossils show that extinction was possible, it showed as well that the Earth was much older than what it was commonly thought to be, and it also would play a key role in the theory of evolution. But, as more work and research was done geology and biology would both be freed from the constraints of trying to make scientific ideas conform to Biblical teachings. But some scientific concepts have yet to be accepted in Western religious circles and among them are the age of the Earth and the theory of evolution. In 1859 Charles Darwin published “On the Origin of Species” which introduced the theory of evolution and changed the perception of how life came to be about.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Who am I? A question of identity
Who am I, is a question that can be said to be getting more difficult to answer in this day and age. Identities are shaped in part based on how a person wants to shape it. The case of Frida Kahlo provides an excellent example of how self identity can be constructed to a degree by how a person chooses. Although Frida was the daughter of a German immigrant and a person of Spanish descent she still largely identified herself as a Mexican. President Obama of the United States is another example as he was the son of an African immigrant and a White woman, he chooses to identify with the African-American racial group. With the advent of the Second Media Age the ability to shape identities as a person chooses to do so, has grown in ways that might have been unthinkable even 100 years ago. No longer does a person’s identity have to be ground solely on the basis of racial classification or ethnicity, but the manner in which a person chooses their identity has grown far beyond that.
The American Heritage Student Dictionary defines culture as “The arts, beliefs, customs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought at a particular time.” As Krug said, self, culture, and technology not only reflect but create each other. The technological advances of the internet have led to massive changes in American culture. Terms like tweet and google which refer to internet functions have entered the vocabulary. People spend hours working on their internet profiles and searching for work on the internet. The internet is used now for banking, social networking, shopping, music, movies, school, researching, news, maps, and many more things that were formerly handled offline. The culture of this country has grown with the changes brought on by the internet, as the culture of the internet has grown to mirror the culture of America. These changes in culture and technology have as could be expected lead to a change in a how a person views their self and constructs it.
The modern self though is not purely shaped by one’s own desires. Particularly in this time outside forces and events beyond one’s control helps to shape a person’s identity. It can be argued that the modern self in the Western World is more constrained and manipulated than at any time in human history. In modern America, people are bombarded by advertising and images from advertisers who are trying to build brand loyalty from consumers of ever younger ages. The internet allows advertisers to directly tailor advertising messages to us based on the sites we have visited. In the year 2000 only ten media conglomerates controlled more than two-thirds of the annual worldwide revenue of the entire communications industry. (Steger, 2003, p.76) These media conglomerates play a vast role in what we watch and even how we think. As Krug said what we think of as choice is actually just wearing the clothes differently, as conformity in thought seems to grow more by the day. Not having the right thoughts or not being politically correct can be disastrous in many careers.
The quotes by Morgano and Barr given for this assignment are closely interrelated. The internet as a form of communication is more open than any form of mass communication available. The internet provides a platform for people to stay in touch with friends and family, but also gives them the opportunity to meet other people that it would otherwise be mostly impossible to connect with without the net. Consequently some people feel free when on the internet talking about their selves and speaking with others. They can construct their identity in a way that may be fact or fiction for all to see on the internet. But, as Morgano mentioned some employers have used internet sites to see how potential employees really are when those people let their guards down. The internet lets these employers see these people in a way how they generally never would be able to. And with people posting information about their selves, an employer can see if a person is truthful, lying, or hiding information that they might not want a potential employer to know. Social networking sites have thus become one of the best ways to do a background check on someone and find out partially who a person really is.
Identity as an issue is an issue that will continue to change in the years ahead. Technology has brought great changes to how we view and can view ourselves. The ways in manipulating identities and changing them will continue to shift as technology and culture changes.
Reference
Barker, Chris. 2008. Cultural Studies Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Steger, Manfred. 2003. Globalization: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press
The American Heritage Student Dictionary defines culture as “The arts, beliefs, customs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought at a particular time.” As Krug said, self, culture, and technology not only reflect but create each other. The technological advances of the internet have led to massive changes in American culture. Terms like tweet and google which refer to internet functions have entered the vocabulary. People spend hours working on their internet profiles and searching for work on the internet. The internet is used now for banking, social networking, shopping, music, movies, school, researching, news, maps, and many more things that were formerly handled offline. The culture of this country has grown with the changes brought on by the internet, as the culture of the internet has grown to mirror the culture of America. These changes in culture and technology have as could be expected lead to a change in a how a person views their self and constructs it.
The modern self though is not purely shaped by one’s own desires. Particularly in this time outside forces and events beyond one’s control helps to shape a person’s identity. It can be argued that the modern self in the Western World is more constrained and manipulated than at any time in human history. In modern America, people are bombarded by advertising and images from advertisers who are trying to build brand loyalty from consumers of ever younger ages. The internet allows advertisers to directly tailor advertising messages to us based on the sites we have visited. In the year 2000 only ten media conglomerates controlled more than two-thirds of the annual worldwide revenue of the entire communications industry. (Steger, 2003, p.76) These media conglomerates play a vast role in what we watch and even how we think. As Krug said what we think of as choice is actually just wearing the clothes differently, as conformity in thought seems to grow more by the day. Not having the right thoughts or not being politically correct can be disastrous in many careers.
The quotes by Morgano and Barr given for this assignment are closely interrelated. The internet as a form of communication is more open than any form of mass communication available. The internet provides a platform for people to stay in touch with friends and family, but also gives them the opportunity to meet other people that it would otherwise be mostly impossible to connect with without the net. Consequently some people feel free when on the internet talking about their selves and speaking with others. They can construct their identity in a way that may be fact or fiction for all to see on the internet. But, as Morgano mentioned some employers have used internet sites to see how potential employees really are when those people let their guards down. The internet lets these employers see these people in a way how they generally never would be able to. And with people posting information about their selves, an employer can see if a person is truthful, lying, or hiding information that they might not want a potential employer to know. Social networking sites have thus become one of the best ways to do a background check on someone and find out partially who a person really is.
Identity as an issue is an issue that will continue to change in the years ahead. Technology has brought great changes to how we view and can view ourselves. The ways in manipulating identities and changing them will continue to shift as technology and culture changes.
Reference
Barker, Chris. 2008. Cultural Studies Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Steger, Manfred. 2003. Globalization: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press
Analyzing Orchestra Conductors
Of the 5 orchestras I chose, 4 of them are in the New York area and 1 of them is in Boston. They all shared the same characteristics of having White males as the conductor.
The Astoria Symphony Conductor- Silas Nathaniel Huff- White Male
Long Island Philharmonic Conductor- David Stewart Wiley- White Male
American Symphony Orchestra Conductor- Leon Botstein- White Male
Brooklyn Philharmonic Conductor- Michael Christie- White Male
Boston Civic Symphony Conductor- Max Hobart- White Male
In analyzing the data compiled in Part 1 from the entire class the results were out of 52 conductors 44 of them were White while 1 was Black, 4 were Hispanic, and 3 were Asian. 47 out of the 52 conductors were males, with only 5 conductors being females. The orchestras profiled were from throughout the country with there being no chance of a regional bias coming out through the numbers. The numbers showed that no matter from what part of the country an orchestra was it was likely that the conductor/musical director would be both white and male. In deciphering why such a small number of women and minorities make it to the positions of conductor and musical director there are many factors to consider from a lack of training programs to prepare women and minorities to a position leading some of these orchestras, to exposure to classical music itself, to a tradition that would prefer that the leaders of orchestra are White males. All of these might account for the lack of women and minorities among the numbers of orchestral conductors. Another more controversial idea might be the idea that perhaps the reason for the lack of women and minorities among conductors is a lack of ability in comparison with the white males who dominate the field. If not that perhaps a lack of ability exists for the women and minorities who are qualified to be orchestral conductors but the numbers are so small hence their lack of representation. The numbers show that for a non-White male to even make it far in the field of conducting takes extraordinary work.
The lack of women and minorities among the ranks of conductors in the United States is one that is proven both a casual glance and an in depth study of numbers. The lack of women conductors is also an issue in Britain where apart from Jane Glover in the Royal Academy of Music, there are no women in any of the higher positions in the orchestras of that country, while in Lisbon, Portugal half of the 6 conducting jobs that are available feature women in those roles. This shows that given the chance women can rise to the top of the conducting field given the proper opportunity in the biggest cities.
Minority conductors face added pressures that women do not face with the foremost of them being racism and lack of opportunity. According to black musician Aaron Dworkin classical music has yet to even being to confront the issue of racism. In an analysis of 200 symphony orchestras in the U.S. in 2000, 1.4% of all musicians were black and 1.9% was Latino which was actually a declining number from the early 1990’s. For minorities to even aspire to being the leaders of orchestras the actual number of minority musicians must go up. Another thing that would have to be addressed in creating higher numbers of minority conductors especially among blacks is to increase their exposure to an art medium that has traditionally not seen black participate in it.
The stereotypical view of orchestral conductors as an upper class white male is part of the reason for the lack of women and minorities among orchestral conductors. Classical music is a music that is strongly tied to tradition, and the traditional elements of classical music have never seen women and minorities go far. The music played is often times music composed by European males such as Mozart and others. In Italy Julia Jones becoming the first women to conduct Wagner was a major thing due to the perception of Wagner music perhaps being beyond the reach of a woman to conduct. The traditional view of women as not being strong enough to lead and command men is a giant problem for women hoping to rise up in the ranks. The upper-class traditions of classical music also work well to bar many minorities especially blacks from getting involved in classical music from the outset, since blacks have been traditionally at the bottom of the class scale in the United States. All the upper-class trappings that are associated with the music are beyond the reach of many blacks and unless there are school programs are some kind of endowment program being used for blacks, many of them are never exposed to classical music.
References
http://bostoncivicsymphony.org/
http://www.astoriamusic.org/
http://www.americansymphony.org/
http://www.brooklynphilharmonic.org/index.html
http://www.liphilharmonic.com/index.html
The Guardian. Accessed from http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/tomserviceblog/2010/jan/22/women-conductors-julia-jones
The San Diego Union Tribune. Accessed from http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20051016/news_1a16conduct.html
The Free Library. Accessed from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Classical+music:+Black+and+Latino+musicians+hope+to+change+the+image+...-a0157950599
BBC. Accessed from http://www.bbc.co.uk/musictv/maestro/news/do-men-hog-the-podium/BBC. Accessed from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7612180.stm
The Astoria Symphony Conductor- Silas Nathaniel Huff- White Male
Long Island Philharmonic Conductor- David Stewart Wiley- White Male
American Symphony Orchestra Conductor- Leon Botstein- White Male
Brooklyn Philharmonic Conductor- Michael Christie- White Male
Boston Civic Symphony Conductor- Max Hobart- White Male
In analyzing the data compiled in Part 1 from the entire class the results were out of 52 conductors 44 of them were White while 1 was Black, 4 were Hispanic, and 3 were Asian. 47 out of the 52 conductors were males, with only 5 conductors being females. The orchestras profiled were from throughout the country with there being no chance of a regional bias coming out through the numbers. The numbers showed that no matter from what part of the country an orchestra was it was likely that the conductor/musical director would be both white and male. In deciphering why such a small number of women and minorities make it to the positions of conductor and musical director there are many factors to consider from a lack of training programs to prepare women and minorities to a position leading some of these orchestras, to exposure to classical music itself, to a tradition that would prefer that the leaders of orchestra are White males. All of these might account for the lack of women and minorities among the numbers of orchestral conductors. Another more controversial idea might be the idea that perhaps the reason for the lack of women and minorities among conductors is a lack of ability in comparison with the white males who dominate the field. If not that perhaps a lack of ability exists for the women and minorities who are qualified to be orchestral conductors but the numbers are so small hence their lack of representation. The numbers show that for a non-White male to even make it far in the field of conducting takes extraordinary work.
The lack of women and minorities among the ranks of conductors in the United States is one that is proven both a casual glance and an in depth study of numbers. The lack of women conductors is also an issue in Britain where apart from Jane Glover in the Royal Academy of Music, there are no women in any of the higher positions in the orchestras of that country, while in Lisbon, Portugal half of the 6 conducting jobs that are available feature women in those roles. This shows that given the chance women can rise to the top of the conducting field given the proper opportunity in the biggest cities.
Minority conductors face added pressures that women do not face with the foremost of them being racism and lack of opportunity. According to black musician Aaron Dworkin classical music has yet to even being to confront the issue of racism. In an analysis of 200 symphony orchestras in the U.S. in 2000, 1.4% of all musicians were black and 1.9% was Latino which was actually a declining number from the early 1990’s. For minorities to even aspire to being the leaders of orchestras the actual number of minority musicians must go up. Another thing that would have to be addressed in creating higher numbers of minority conductors especially among blacks is to increase their exposure to an art medium that has traditionally not seen black participate in it.
The stereotypical view of orchestral conductors as an upper class white male is part of the reason for the lack of women and minorities among orchestral conductors. Classical music is a music that is strongly tied to tradition, and the traditional elements of classical music have never seen women and minorities go far. The music played is often times music composed by European males such as Mozart and others. In Italy Julia Jones becoming the first women to conduct Wagner was a major thing due to the perception of Wagner music perhaps being beyond the reach of a woman to conduct. The traditional view of women as not being strong enough to lead and command men is a giant problem for women hoping to rise up in the ranks. The upper-class traditions of classical music also work well to bar many minorities especially blacks from getting involved in classical music from the outset, since blacks have been traditionally at the bottom of the class scale in the United States. All the upper-class trappings that are associated with the music are beyond the reach of many blacks and unless there are school programs are some kind of endowment program being used for blacks, many of them are never exposed to classical music.
References
http://bostoncivicsymphony.org/
http://www.astoriamusic.org/
http://www.americansymphony.org/
http://www.brooklynphilharmonic.org/index.html
http://www.liphilharmonic.com/index.html
The Guardian. Accessed from http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/tomserviceblog/2010/jan/22/women-conductors-julia-jones
The San Diego Union Tribune. Accessed from http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20051016/news_1a16conduct.html
The Free Library. Accessed from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Classical+music:+Black+and+Latino+musicians+hope+to+change+the+image+...-a0157950599
BBC. Accessed from http://www.bbc.co.uk/musictv/maestro/news/do-men-hog-the-podium/BBC. Accessed from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7612180.stm
Minority and Women conductors
The lack of women and minorities among the ranks of conductors in the United States is one that is proven both a casual glance and an in depth study of numbers. The lack of women conductors is also an issue in Britain where apart from Jane Glover in the Royal Academy of Music, there are no women in any of the higher positions in the orchestras of that country, while in Lisbon, Portugal half of the 6 conducting jobs that are available feature women in those roles. This shows that given the chance women can rise to the top of the conducting field given the proper opportunity in the biggest cities.
Minority conductors face added pressures that women do not face with the foremost of them being racism and lack of opportunity. According to black musician Aaron Dworkin classical music has yet to even being to confront the issue of racism. In an analysis of 200 symphony orchestras in the U.S. in 2000, 1.4% of all musicians were black and 1.9% were Latino which was actually a declining number from the early 1990’s. For minorities to even aspire to being the leaders of orchestras the actual number of minority musicians must go up. Another thing that would have to be addressed in creating higher numbers of minority conductors especially among blacks is to increase their exposure to an art medium that has traditionally not seen black participate in it.
The stereotypical view of orchestral conductors as an upper class white male is part of the reason for the lack of women and minorities among orchestral conductors. Classical music is a music that is strongly tied to tradition, and the traditional elements of classical music have never seen women and minorities go far. The music played is often times music composed by European males such as Mozart and others. In Italy Julia Jones becoming the first women to conduct Wagner was a major thing due to the perception of Wagner music perhaps being beyond the reach of a woman to conduct. The traditional view of women as not being strong enough to lead and command men is a giant problem for women hoping to rise up in the ranks. The upper-class traditions of classical music also work well to bar many minorities especially blacks from getting involved in classical music from the outset, since blacks have been traditionally at the bottom of the class scale in the United States. All the upper-class trappings that are associated with the music are beyond the reach of many blacks and unless there are school programs are some kind of endowment program being used for blacks, many of them are never exposed to classical music.
References
The Guardian. Accessed from http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/tomserviceblog/2010/jan/22/women-conductors-julia-jones
The San Diego Union Tribune. Accessed from http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20051016/news_1a16conduct.html
The Free Library. Accessed from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Classical+music:+Black+and+Latino+musicians+hope+to+change+the+image+...-a0157950599
BBC. Accessed from http://www.bbc.co.uk/musictv/maestro/news/do-men-hog-the-podium/
BBC. Accessed from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7612180.stm
Minority conductors face added pressures that women do not face with the foremost of them being racism and lack of opportunity. According to black musician Aaron Dworkin classical music has yet to even being to confront the issue of racism. In an analysis of 200 symphony orchestras in the U.S. in 2000, 1.4% of all musicians were black and 1.9% were Latino which was actually a declining number from the early 1990’s. For minorities to even aspire to being the leaders of orchestras the actual number of minority musicians must go up. Another thing that would have to be addressed in creating higher numbers of minority conductors especially among blacks is to increase their exposure to an art medium that has traditionally not seen black participate in it.
The stereotypical view of orchestral conductors as an upper class white male is part of the reason for the lack of women and minorities among orchestral conductors. Classical music is a music that is strongly tied to tradition, and the traditional elements of classical music have never seen women and minorities go far. The music played is often times music composed by European males such as Mozart and others. In Italy Julia Jones becoming the first women to conduct Wagner was a major thing due to the perception of Wagner music perhaps being beyond the reach of a woman to conduct. The traditional view of women as not being strong enough to lead and command men is a giant problem for women hoping to rise up in the ranks. The upper-class traditions of classical music also work well to bar many minorities especially blacks from getting involved in classical music from the outset, since blacks have been traditionally at the bottom of the class scale in the United States. All the upper-class trappings that are associated with the music are beyond the reach of many blacks and unless there are school programs are some kind of endowment program being used for blacks, many of them are never exposed to classical music.
References
The Guardian. Accessed from http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/tomserviceblog/2010/jan/22/women-conductors-julia-jones
The San Diego Union Tribune. Accessed from http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20051016/news_1a16conduct.html
The Free Library. Accessed from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Classical+music:+Black+and+Latino+musicians+hope+to+change+the+image+...-a0157950599
BBC. Accessed from http://www.bbc.co.uk/musictv/maestro/news/do-men-hog-the-podium/
BBC. Accessed from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7612180.stm
Monday, June 7, 2010
Jackson Heights
Originally written in April 2010
Demographic change in New York City neighborhoods has been a constant fact of life in the history of New York City. Very few neighborhoods maintain a constant ehtnic composition over a long period of time. The neighborhood of Jackson Heights in Queens is one of the neighborhoods that went undergone a demographic change from being a White neighborhood for much of its existence to being called New York City’s most diverse neighborhood by Time Out New York. This in itself is a surprise as the creator of Jackson Heights planned the neighborhood with the purpose to keep out minorities. Jackson Heights is part of the Queens Community District 3 which also includes the neighborhoods of East Elmhurst and North Corona. From 1990 to 2000 the non-White Hispanic population numbers dropped from 28.4% to 15%. The percentage of people of Hispanic origin increased from 43.7% to 57.5%. The Asian population increased from 11.5% to 13.5%, and the Black non-Hispanic population decreased from 15.5% to 10.5%. 46.4% of the population was not proficient in English according to the 2000 census. 74.6 of people who were not proficient in English spoke either Spanish or Spanish Creole at home. 65.4% of the foreign born population is from Latin America, and 19.8% coming from Asia. The country with the most nationals in the area was Ecuador with 15.9% followed by Colombia at 14.7%. The majority of the population is from the ages of 25-44 which is 34.8% of the population and the next largest age range is 45-64 which 20% of the population is. The birth rate was 16.6 per 1000 in 2000, the death rate was 5.2 per 1000, and the infant mortality rate was 6.7 per 1000 in 2000. The median family income of Jackson Heights in 1999 was $43,197 which was lower than the median family income of the entire Queens County which was at $48,608. Only 4% of Jackson Heights residents were on public assistance. Jackson Heights is also home to a growing gay community that has been growing in numbers since the 1960’s. Jackson Heights has its own Lesbian and Gay Pride Day with an annual summer parade. Jackson Heights is home to the second largest gay community outside of Manhattan.
Jackson Heights got off to a different start from the other neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens. Unlike those neighborhoods Jackson Heights was never its own town, Jackson Heights was created from the visions of a real estate developer. The Queensboro Corporation purchased 325 acres of farmland near Jackson Avenue in 1913 and named the development Jackson Heights after the avenue. The neighborhood was built on the vision of garden apartment houses. For most of its early existence Jackson Heights was a predominantly White neighborhood, and Jews, Catholics, and Blacks were barred from these apartment houses. Restrictive covenants would later be struck down as illegal and the 1968 Fair Housing Act made discrimination based on race in housing illegal. The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act eased the restrictions of immigration to the United States from non-White countries and would play a big part in the future of Jackson Heights. In the 1960’s a large number of Latinos started moving into Jackson Heights. One of the appeals of Jackson Heights was its location as Jackson Heights has the 7 train running through it providing close proximity to Manhattan and buses that take people from Jackson Heights to 5th Avenue. What made Jackson Heights unique among other NYC neighborhoods is that unlike neighborhoods such as East New York, the influx of Latinos in the neighborhood did not lead to a rapid demographic change and move from the neighborhood. Jackson Heights never experienced the mass panic selling that white flight and blockbusting that occurred in other areas and that would usually be followed by a collapse of the neighborhood. Jackson Heights was actually able to obtain new white residents in the 1970’s and 80’s. Another way in how Jackson Heights was unique is that it was not an area targeted for these ethnic changes in the way how other neighborhoods were. It has even been suggested that the diversity in the neighborhood prevents segregation occurring again with one dominant racial or ethnic group.
Colombia is the home country for a large portion of the current residents of Jackson Heights. Colombia is frequently mentioned in media reports for negative things that have gone in the country. Colombia is a country though rich in culture, with a diverse population, and a rich culinary and artistic heritage that draws on African, European, and native traditions.
According to the CIA World Factbook Colombia is the home to 43,677,372 people. The median age of the population is 27.1 years old, and the birth rate is 18.09/1,000. The infant mortality rate is 17.37 deaths/1,000 live births. 74% of the population lives in urban areas, and 90% of the population is Catholic. 58% of the population is mestizo, 20% is white, 14% mulatto, 4% black, 3% mixed Black/Amerindian, and 1% Amerindian. 46.8% of the population is living below the poverty line. The life expectancy at birth is 74.07 years, and 90.4% of the population is literate. Colombia is the world’s leading producer of coca derivatives, and also produces heroin and marijuana. The violence in Colombia has at times threatened to spill into other countries and is one of the leading causes for their citizens to leave to go to other countries or the United States. As mentioned, more people have been displaced from their homes in Colombia than in any other country outside Africa with the majority of them being black.
Roosevelt Avenue in which runs in Jackson Heights through Elmhurst is known as Little Colombia. This area is the heart of the Colombian New York and is known for its wide culinary features and its slice of Colombian life in New York. The area provides services for documented and undocumented Colombian immigrants with legal services, wire services, and other tools to help them. The area though has also received a lot of negative attention. Much of this attention was due to a 1993 New York Times Article describing the area as an area where major drug dealers operated, who were also involved in money laundering and prostitution. The Drug Enforcement Administration estimated that 90% of its money laundering investigations in the New York area was traced back to Jackson Heights. Wire services and travel agencies were also propped up by drug dealers. Roosevelt Avenue was described as filled with brothels, and 60 brothels alone were counted on Jackson Avenue. Little Colombia also made headlines due to the murder of journalist Manuel de Dios Unahue who wrote articles detailing the drug cartels, Unahue was killed on the orders of the cartels. The crime associated with the Roosevelt avenue drug dealers led to many whites in the community claiming that Roosevelt Avenue was not part of Jackson Heights. Community groups began to fight back against the drug dealers and prostitution centers leading to a reduction of the public presence of prostitution and leading to many of the major drug dealers relocating elsewhere. Despite this Roosevelt Avenue is still viewed with a negative perception by others, mostly the older whites in the community.
References
The New York Times. [Cited April 3, 2010] Accessed from http://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/17/nyregion/window-immigrant-crime-jackson-heights-drugs-dirty-money-prostitution.html?pagewanted=1
Maly, Michael. Beyond Segregation: Multiracial and Multiethnic neighborhoods in the United States. Temple University Press, 2005
The New York Times [cited April 3, 2010] Accessed from http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/11/nyregion/seven-indicted-in-1992-slaying-of-a-journalist.html?pagewanted=all
CIA The World Factbook. [cited April 3,2010] Accessed from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/co.html#top
Reuters. [cited April 3,2010] Accessed from http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN05469226
TimeOut New York. [Cited April 3, 2010] Accessed from http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/features/60591/new-yorks-most-diverse-neighborhood
New York Magazine December 31, 1973-January 7, 1974. Page 34
Demographic change in New York City neighborhoods has been a constant fact of life in the history of New York City. Very few neighborhoods maintain a constant ehtnic composition over a long period of time. The neighborhood of Jackson Heights in Queens is one of the neighborhoods that went undergone a demographic change from being a White neighborhood for much of its existence to being called New York City’s most diverse neighborhood by Time Out New York. This in itself is a surprise as the creator of Jackson Heights planned the neighborhood with the purpose to keep out minorities. Jackson Heights is part of the Queens Community District 3 which also includes the neighborhoods of East Elmhurst and North Corona. From 1990 to 2000 the non-White Hispanic population numbers dropped from 28.4% to 15%. The percentage of people of Hispanic origin increased from 43.7% to 57.5%. The Asian population increased from 11.5% to 13.5%, and the Black non-Hispanic population decreased from 15.5% to 10.5%. 46.4% of the population was not proficient in English according to the 2000 census. 74.6 of people who were not proficient in English spoke either Spanish or Spanish Creole at home. 65.4% of the foreign born population is from Latin America, and 19.8% coming from Asia. The country with the most nationals in the area was Ecuador with 15.9% followed by Colombia at 14.7%. The majority of the population is from the ages of 25-44 which is 34.8% of the population and the next largest age range is 45-64 which 20% of the population is. The birth rate was 16.6 per 1000 in 2000, the death rate was 5.2 per 1000, and the infant mortality rate was 6.7 per 1000 in 2000. The median family income of Jackson Heights in 1999 was $43,197 which was lower than the median family income of the entire Queens County which was at $48,608. Only 4% of Jackson Heights residents were on public assistance. Jackson Heights is also home to a growing gay community that has been growing in numbers since the 1960’s. Jackson Heights has its own Lesbian and Gay Pride Day with an annual summer parade. Jackson Heights is home to the second largest gay community outside of Manhattan.
Jackson Heights got off to a different start from the other neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens. Unlike those neighborhoods Jackson Heights was never its own town, Jackson Heights was created from the visions of a real estate developer. The Queensboro Corporation purchased 325 acres of farmland near Jackson Avenue in 1913 and named the development Jackson Heights after the avenue. The neighborhood was built on the vision of garden apartment houses. For most of its early existence Jackson Heights was a predominantly White neighborhood, and Jews, Catholics, and Blacks were barred from these apartment houses. Restrictive covenants would later be struck down as illegal and the 1968 Fair Housing Act made discrimination based on race in housing illegal. The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act eased the restrictions of immigration to the United States from non-White countries and would play a big part in the future of Jackson Heights. In the 1960’s a large number of Latinos started moving into Jackson Heights. One of the appeals of Jackson Heights was its location as Jackson Heights has the 7 train running through it providing close proximity to Manhattan and buses that take people from Jackson Heights to 5th Avenue. What made Jackson Heights unique among other NYC neighborhoods is that unlike neighborhoods such as East New York, the influx of Latinos in the neighborhood did not lead to a rapid demographic change and move from the neighborhood. Jackson Heights never experienced the mass panic selling that white flight and blockbusting that occurred in other areas and that would usually be followed by a collapse of the neighborhood. Jackson Heights was actually able to obtain new white residents in the 1970’s and 80’s. Another way in how Jackson Heights was unique is that it was not an area targeted for these ethnic changes in the way how other neighborhoods were. It has even been suggested that the diversity in the neighborhood prevents segregation occurring again with one dominant racial or ethnic group.
Colombia is the home country for a large portion of the current residents of Jackson Heights. Colombia is frequently mentioned in media reports for negative things that have gone in the country. Colombia is a country though rich in culture, with a diverse population, and a rich culinary and artistic heritage that draws on African, European, and native traditions.
According to the CIA World Factbook Colombia is the home to 43,677,372 people. The median age of the population is 27.1 years old, and the birth rate is 18.09/1,000. The infant mortality rate is 17.37 deaths/1,000 live births. 74% of the population lives in urban areas, and 90% of the population is Catholic. 58% of the population is mestizo, 20% is white, 14% mulatto, 4% black, 3% mixed Black/Amerindian, and 1% Amerindian. 46.8% of the population is living below the poverty line. The life expectancy at birth is 74.07 years, and 90.4% of the population is literate. Colombia is the world’s leading producer of coca derivatives, and also produces heroin and marijuana. The violence in Colombia has at times threatened to spill into other countries and is one of the leading causes for their citizens to leave to go to other countries or the United States. As mentioned, more people have been displaced from their homes in Colombia than in any other country outside Africa with the majority of them being black.
Roosevelt Avenue in which runs in Jackson Heights through Elmhurst is known as Little Colombia. This area is the heart of the Colombian New York and is known for its wide culinary features and its slice of Colombian life in New York. The area provides services for documented and undocumented Colombian immigrants with legal services, wire services, and other tools to help them. The area though has also received a lot of negative attention. Much of this attention was due to a 1993 New York Times Article describing the area as an area where major drug dealers operated, who were also involved in money laundering and prostitution. The Drug Enforcement Administration estimated that 90% of its money laundering investigations in the New York area was traced back to Jackson Heights. Wire services and travel agencies were also propped up by drug dealers. Roosevelt Avenue was described as filled with brothels, and 60 brothels alone were counted on Jackson Avenue. Little Colombia also made headlines due to the murder of journalist Manuel de Dios Unahue who wrote articles detailing the drug cartels, Unahue was killed on the orders of the cartels. The crime associated with the Roosevelt avenue drug dealers led to many whites in the community claiming that Roosevelt Avenue was not part of Jackson Heights. Community groups began to fight back against the drug dealers and prostitution centers leading to a reduction of the public presence of prostitution and leading to many of the major drug dealers relocating elsewhere. Despite this Roosevelt Avenue is still viewed with a negative perception by others, mostly the older whites in the community.
References
The New York Times. [Cited April 3, 2010] Accessed from http://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/17/nyregion/window-immigrant-crime-jackson-heights-drugs-dirty-money-prostitution.html?pagewanted=1
Maly, Michael. Beyond Segregation: Multiracial and Multiethnic neighborhoods in the United States. Temple University Press, 2005
The New York Times [cited April 3, 2010] Accessed from http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/11/nyregion/seven-indicted-in-1992-slaying-of-a-journalist.html?pagewanted=all
CIA The World Factbook. [cited April 3,2010] Accessed from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/co.html#top
Reuters. [cited April 3,2010] Accessed from http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN05469226
TimeOut New York. [Cited April 3, 2010] Accessed from http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/features/60591/new-yorks-most-diverse-neighborhood
New York Magazine December 31, 1973-January 7, 1974. Page 34
Thursday, June 3, 2010
2008 Financial Collapse
Written in May 2009
The recent financial collapse in 2008 was one of the worst financial disasters in American history. Billions of dollars were lost and the economy was ruined. Several lessons have been learned and can be learned on how to make sure such collapses never happen again.
The main characteristics that led to the financial meltdown were a lack of oversight, organizational hubris, and a lack of strategic renewal. Some companies such as Bear Stearns featured managers that had no idea of what employees were doing and were too absorbed in making money. There was no diagnosis in what needed to be upgraded, what changes were needed coming down the line, and a management concerned with keeping their positions. There was no strategic renewal, no shared diagnosis, and no change since it seemed that the good times were going to last forever. By the time the need for effective change was diagnosed at these organizations it was too late for these organizations.
The financial collapse of 2008 was one of the dark moments in American business. The collapse showed the need for companies to always be aware of future collapses and downturns despite the good economic period a company might be going through. The failure of being unaware can be catastrophic not just for the company but also the American economy.
The recent financial collapse in 2008 was one of the worst financial disasters in American history. Billions of dollars were lost and the economy was ruined. Several lessons have been learned and can be learned on how to make sure such collapses never happen again.
The main characteristics that led to the financial meltdown were a lack of oversight, organizational hubris, and a lack of strategic renewal. Some companies such as Bear Stearns featured managers that had no idea of what employees were doing and were too absorbed in making money. There was no diagnosis in what needed to be upgraded, what changes were needed coming down the line, and a management concerned with keeping their positions. There was no strategic renewal, no shared diagnosis, and no change since it seemed that the good times were going to last forever. By the time the need for effective change was diagnosed at these organizations it was too late for these organizations.
The financial collapse of 2008 was one of the dark moments in American business. The collapse showed the need for companies to always be aware of future collapses and downturns despite the good economic period a company might be going through. The failure of being unaware can be catastrophic not just for the company but also the American economy.
Thoughts on CEOs
Organizations sometimes have the feel as if their only motivation and the only reason for their existence is for the sake of profit. Some organizations have gone through unethical and even illegal means simply for the sake of profit. John Mackey of Whole Foods who was nominated for CEO of the year is one CEO who has remembered that organizations are beholden to multiple stakeholders and doing nothing for the other stakeholders simply in the pursuit of profit can put their teams on risk.
Currently the American marketplace is set against companies who have a reputation of being greedy. Whole Foods under Mr. Mackey has taken great strides to ensure that his organization does not have that reputation as they have taken the unusual step of capping executive pay. They have taken the rare step of ensuring strategic renewal in a down economy while not laying off a single employee. Mackey has appreciated that creating a state of congruence where the company has a positive reputation with the public can help the company beat a down period. Mackey’s policy of making sure the employees have health benefits can only increase his view in the eyes of his employees especially at a time when many companies are cutting the health benefits of their employees.
Being a successful CEO is not exactly an exact science. Going to school and having the highest level of education does not ensure competence as a CEO, as some CEOs with the best education have failed miserably and other CEOs such as John Mackey never finished college and have been extremely successful. Leadership takes the ability to properly diagnose the organization and lead the organization to the best of its abilities. John Mackey has done this with Whole Foods and become one of the best CEOs in the nation.
Currently the American marketplace is set against companies who have a reputation of being greedy. Whole Foods under Mr. Mackey has taken great strides to ensure that his organization does not have that reputation as they have taken the unusual step of capping executive pay. They have taken the rare step of ensuring strategic renewal in a down economy while not laying off a single employee. Mackey has appreciated that creating a state of congruence where the company has a positive reputation with the public can help the company beat a down period. Mackey’s policy of making sure the employees have health benefits can only increase his view in the eyes of his employees especially at a time when many companies are cutting the health benefits of their employees.
Being a successful CEO is not exactly an exact science. Going to school and having the highest level of education does not ensure competence as a CEO, as some CEOs with the best education have failed miserably and other CEOs such as John Mackey never finished college and have been extremely successful. Leadership takes the ability to properly diagnose the organization and lead the organization to the best of its abilities. John Mackey has done this with Whole Foods and become one of the best CEOs in the nation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)