Jurassic Park #2 Essays - Films Using Computer-generated Imagery

Jurassic Park #2 Jurrasic Park Richard Graczyk JURASSIC PARK Crichton, Michael Publisher: Ballantine Books City Where Published: New York Date of latest copy: 1990 Edition: First Ballantine Books Edition: December 1991. 399 Pages, Hardcover I. A Brief Summary of the Plot. A billionaire has created a technique to clone dinosaurs. From the left behind DNA that his crack team of scientists and experts extract he is able to grow the dinosaurs in labs and lock them up on an island behind electrified fences. He has created a sort of theme park on the island which is located off the west coast of Costa Rica. The island is called Isla Nublar. He plans to have the entire planet come and visit his wondrous marvels. He asks a group of scientists from several different fields to come and view the park, but something terribly goes wrong when a worker on the island turns traitor and shuts down the power. II. A Description of the Most Important Aspects of the Contents. The main characters in the book are: John Hammond who is a billionaire developer who has used his

The Probability of Rolling a Yahtzee

The Probability of Rolling a Yahtzee Yahtzee is a dice game involving a combination of chance and strategy. A player begins their turn by rolling five dice. After this roll, the player may decide to re-roll any number of the dice. At most, there are a total of three rolls for each turn. Following these three rolls, the result of the dice is entered onto a score sheet. This score sheet contains different categories, such as a full house or large straight.  Each of the categories is satisfied with different combinations of dice. The most difficult category to fill-in is that of a Yahtzee. A Yahtzee occurs when a player rolls five of the same number. Just how unlikely is a Yahtzee? This is a problem that is much more complicated than finding probabilities for two or even three dice. The main reason is that there are many ways to obtain five matching dice during three rolls. We can calculate the probability of rolling a Yahtzee by using the combinatorics formula for combinations, and by breaking the problem into several mutually exclusive cases. One Roll The easiest case to consider is obtaining a Yahtzee immediately on the first roll. We will first look at the probability of rolling a particular Yahtzee of five twos, and then easily extend this to the probability of any Yahtzee. The probability of rolling a two is 1/6, and the outcome of each die is independent of the rest. Thus the probability of rolling five twos is (1/6) x (1/6) x (1/6) x (1/6) x (1/6) 1/7776. The probability of rolling five of a kind of any other number is also 1/7776. Since there are a total of six different numbers on a die, we multiply the above probability by 6. This means that the probability of a Yahtzee on the first roll is 6 x 1/7776 1/1296 0.08 percent. Two Rolls If we roll anything other than five of a kind of the first roll, we will have to re-roll some of our dice to try to get a Yahtzee. Suppose that our first roll has four of a kind. we would re-roll the one die that doesn’t match and then get a Yahtzee on this second roll. The probability of rolling a total of five twos in this way is found as follows: On the first roll, we have four twos. Since there is a probability 1/6 of rolling a two, and 5/6 of not rolling a two, we multiply (1/6) x (1/6) x (1/6) x (1/6) x (5/6) 5/7776.Any of the five dice rolled could be the non-two. We use our combination formula for C(5, 1) 5 to count how many ways we can roll four twos and something that is not a two.We multiply and see that the probability of rolling exactly four twos on the first roll is 25/7776.On the second roll, we need to calculate the probability of rolling one two. This is 1/6. Thus the probability of rolling a Yahtzee of twos in the above way is (25/7776) x (1/6) 25/46656. To find the probability of rolling any Yahtzee in this way is found by multiplying the above probability by 6 because there are six different numbers on a die. This gives a probability of 6 x 25/46656 0.32 percent. But this is not the only way to roll a Yahtzee with two rolls. All of the following probabilities are found in much the same way as above: We could roll three of a kind, and then two dice that match on our second roll. The probability of this is 6 x C(5 ,3) x (25/7776) x (1/36) 0.54 percent.We could roll a matching pair, and on our second roll three dice that match. The probability of this is 6 x C(5, 2) x (100/7776) x (1/216) 0.36 percent.We could roll five different dice, save one die from our first roll, then roll four dice that match on the second roll. The probability of this is (6!/7776) x (1/1296) 0.01 percent. The above cases are mutually exclusive. This means that to calculate the probability of rolling a Yahtzee in two rolls, we add the above probabilities together and we have is approximately 1.23 percent. Three Rolls For the most complicated situation yet, we will now examine the case where we use all three of our rolls to obtain a Yahtzee. We could do this in several ways and must account for all of them. The probabilities of these possibilities are calculated below: The probability of rolling four of a kind, then nothing, then matching the last die on the last roll is 6 x C(5, 4) x (5/7776) x (5/6) x (1/6) 0.27 percent.The probability of rolling three of a kind, then nothing, then matching with the correct pair on the last roll is 6 x C(5, 3) x (25/7776) x (25/36) x (1/36) 0.37 percent.The probability of rolling a matching pair, then nothing, then matching with the correct three of a kind on the third roll is 6 x C(5, 2) x (100/7776) x (125/216) x (1/216) 0.21 percent.The probability of rolling a single die, then nothing matching this, then matching with the correct four of a kind on the third roll is (6!/7776) x (625/1296) x (1/1296) 0.003 percent.The probability of rolling three of a kind, matching an additional die on the next roll, followed by matching the fifth die on the third roll is 6 x C(5, 3) x (25/7776) x C(2, 1) x (5/36) x (1/6) 0.89 percent.The probability of rolling a pair, matching an additional pair on the next roll, followe d by matching the fifth die on the third roll is 6 x C(5, 2) x (100/7776) x C(3, 2) x (5/216) x (1/6) 0.89 percent. The probability of rolling a pair, matching an additional die on the next roll, followed by matching the last two dice on the third roll is 6 x C(5, 2) x (100/7776) x C(3, 1) x (25/216) x (1/36) 0.74 percent.The probability of rolling one of a kind, another die to match it on the second roll, and then a three of a kind on the third roll is (6!/7776) x C(4, 1) x (100/1296) x (1/216) 0.01 percent.The probability of rolling one of a kind, a three of a kind to match on the second roll, followed by a match on the third roll is (6!/7776) x C(4, 3) x (5/1296) x (1/6) 0.02 percent.The probability of rolling one of a kind, a pair to match it on the second roll, and then another pair to match on the third roll is (6!/7776) x C(4, 2) x (25/1296) x (1/36) 0.03 percent. We add all of the above probabilities together to determine the probability of rolling a Yahtzee in three rolls of the dice. This probability is 3.43 percent. Total Probability The probability of a Yahtzee in one roll is 0.08 percent, the probability of a Yahtzee in two rolls is 1.23 percent and the probability of a Yahtzee in three rolls is 3.43 percent. Since each of these are mutually exclusive, we add the probabilities together. This means that the probability of obtaining a Yahtzee in a given turn is approximately 4.74 percent. To put this into perspective, since 1/21 is approximately 4.74 percent, by chance alone a player should expect a Yahtzee once every 21 turns. In practice, it may take longer as an initial pair may be discarded to roll for something else, such as a straight.

JTF-GNO Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

JTF-GNO - Research Paper Example † The implication of the issues predominantly hinges on the question of normalcy which is of paramount importance in the national and international perspective. General Network Relationships: The GIG operations extend to giving support services and coordinating with the activities in areas such as the White House Situation Room, Department of State Operations Center, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Federal Emergency Management Agency. Central Intelligence Agency Operations Center, the National Coordinating Center for Telecommunications, United Nations Military Mission, United States Coast Guard Command Center, Federal Aviation Administration Executive Communications Control Center), and other agencies are also covered on regular basis under various circumstances. Allied Partnership: The operations are global in nature and include information sharing with the allied and coalition partners on various security aspects. The differences in the c ommunication systems, operation standards and procedures need to be overcome through a common policyfor effective operations. NETOPS is responsible for integration, monitoring, control, and protection of the networks. Department of Homeland Security: The DOD coordinates with the civil authorities in homeland, be it federal state or local bodies through the national communication systems with JTF-Civil Support Unit of USNORTHCOM, in its security/homeland missions. Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT): The JTF-GNO established the GNC through the merger of the JTF Computer Network Operations’ Directorate, DISA’s Global NETOPS and Security Center and the DOD computer emergency response team (CERT). US-CERT provides support and defense against cyber attacks and aids information sharing at various levels, government, industries and international agencies. National Communication Systems: The JTF J-6, bridges the gaps between civil, DOD, NGOs and other agencies in mission-o riented communications solutions and gather information on the commercial communications from the National Communications systems. Intelligence Community: The scope of GIG covers all communication systems or channels either owned or leased and include computing systems/services, software, data management and other security related aspects. The GIG supports the strategic, tactical and business operations related to national security and intelligence. The Director, National Security Agency (NSA) is also the commander USCYBERCOM. The NSA is responsible for developing and prescribing cryptographic standards and principles. DOD agencies, such as DIA, National Security Agency, and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, are responsible for ensuring that the respective systems are consistent with the GIG. Coordination with the CIA and FBI is also covered for combating cyber terrorism in the country and internationally. Law Enforcement / Counter Intelligence: Computer Network Defense (CND) takes measures for monitoring, analyzing and responding to the

The Securities and Exchange Act of 1933 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Securities and Exchange Act of 1933 - Essay Example Prohibit deceit, misrepresentations, and other fraud in the sale of securities (Sec, 2011). The following year the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 was created. The Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 gives the SEC power to register, regulate, and oversee brokerage firms, transfer agents, and clearing agencies as well as the nation's securities self regulatory organizations (SROs) (Sec, 2011). Both these Acts worked as control mechanisms that ensure the market works properly. The consumer of financial instruments needed an agency to properly regulate the market. References Sec.gov (2011). Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. Retrieved November 16, 2011 from http://www.sec.gov/about/laws.shtml#secexact1934. Sec.gov (2011). The Laws that Govern the Securities Industry: Securities Act of 1933. Retrieved November 16, 2011 from http://www.sec.gov/about/laws.shtml. DQ2 At the beginning of the 21st century after decades of a bull market in which people believed on Wall Street the financi al industry was devastated by a series of financial scandals including Adelphia, Tyco, WorldCom and the infamous Enron debacle. The U.S. Congress acted quickly in relative terms and by 2002 they formulated a new legislation called the Sarbanes and Oxley Act (SOX). SOX had a very positive impact on the market because it was effective at raising the confidence of the consumers of financial instruments. ... Corrupt executive managers including CEOs, Controllers, and CFO now face up to 25 years in prison for their crimes. White collar criminals are going to be judged as severely as hard core criminals such as murders, thieves, and drug dealers. One of the cons of the Sarbanes Oxley Act is that it costs several million dollars to implement the regulations. Public companies have been complaining for years about the excessive costs of implementation of the Act. 3. I like your perspective about the importance of the Securities Act of 1933 and 1934. I personally believed that these acts came after the government realized that the market crash on 1929 needed to be prevented from occurring again. It took 58 years for another market crash of similar magnitude to occur. In 1987 Wall Street was devastated by its biggest one day down in value since Black Tuesday. The government always seems to react to news affecting the market. In 2002 the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was created based on a reaction to a se ries of economic scandals including Enron and WorldCom. 4. You are correct in your asseveration that War Times influence the marketplace. This many be true, but if you think about history is repeating itself. The United States has been at war with Iraq and Afghanistan for nearly a decade with no end in sight. The recession of 2008 occur while the U.S was at war. The U.S. is spending over $100 billion each year in war, while its citizens are suffering in a horrible economy where nearly 1 out of 10 people are unemployed. 5. The Sarbanes Oxley Act was created as a direct consequence of Enron and a series of other financial scandals including WorldCom, Tyco, and Adelphia. It is my opinion that despite the high cost of implementation the Sarbanes

Critical Theory in Sociology

Critical Theory in Sociology The critical theory is a social theory, which is known to criticise and trying to change society as a whole. The traditional theory only described and explained society. Theorists such as Max Horkheimer, T.W. Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, Leo Lowenthal and Reich Fromm, were the main theorists who took part in the Frankfurt School, In Germany in the late 1920s at the institute fur Sozialforschung. The Frankfurts schools theory of society is very negative about how society runs, reasons for this is the increase in capitalism, and that societies social structure has been separated, (Swingewood 200, p. 130). Throughout the essay, there shall be more information about the Frankfurt school, and what they believed and wanted to change in society, also more information about what is critical theory and what it is critical of in society, also more information about the traditional theory. The work of Frankfurt school become very influential in the social sciences in the 1960s. Culture industry wor ked to put together the role of social struggles in the production and reproduction of society. Culture industry worked like an apparatus which brought together individuals and got them doing and thinking the same. The critical theory may be defined as a theory of setting humans free of human enslavement, and manipulation. Both Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno argued that critical theory is the theory of human emancipation based on free capitalist society, the bourgeoisies controlled the working class through manipulation of interests of politics, media, culture etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦as a silent dominant force. The critical theory argues that there are various types of manipulation, such as; Ideological, this consists of justifying decisions made by enforcing ones thoughts onto another, secondly, Cultural, this consists of the attempt to commercialise to maintain the status quo of the working class. Finally the psychological manipulation which means that we are more interested in other peoples life and this is because of the decline of the father figure in many families. Horkheimer argued that a capitalist society can only be changed if it becomes more democratic is it could be that all conditions of social life that are controllable by human beings depend on real consensus in a rational society (Horkheimer 1982, 249-250). Horkheimer argued that the only way in which we could fix problems in society, was by introducing the critical theory. There are four main points for the Critical theory these are; Reflective, this refers to that facts can be revised separately from other things that we may have to learn such as values. Dialectical; this refers to humans understanding of the world changing as the world changes too. Critical; which refers to stating what is wrong with the current society, and coming up with reasonable ideas on how to change it. Immanent critique is the main support for critical theory.(Adorno, 1991) Critical theorists argued that Marx did not foresee some key developments on capitalist society. Especially, centralisation and various mechanisms of ideological, cultural and psychological domination, associated in particular with the development of a commercialised mass media. Critical theorists conclude that the working class was no longer the revolutionary agent foreseen by Marx. The only way in which theorists could change the way society was is by firstly stating what is wrong with the current society, has to identify the actors to change it and finally it has to provide achievable goals for social transformation. Any truly critical theory of society, Has as its object human beings as producers of their own historical form of life (Horkheimer, 1992, 21). Critical theorists have argued that humans need to become more aware of how science and other type of facts and knowledge work together in creating oppression.Critical theory identifies facts and everyday life as the foundation for human beings, in waiting that people will realise the power and their influences on their lives and be able to overcome them. Fredrick Taylor introduced science in the 19th century, Henry Ford among many other people was influenced by Fredrick Taylor by his ideas on how to improve and raise production. By being influenced by Fredrick, Henry Ford creating an assembly line. By doing this Ford was able to reduce hours and save money, at the same time produce more. This idea became very popular, companies were able to produce much more with less work due to the right machinery. Instrumental reason refers to the opening up of reliable modes of organisations, the critical theory criticises the instrumental reason. The reason which why critical theory is critical of instrumental reason is because it raises action, which means this would be a means to an end. The instrumental reason sees individuals as instruments instead of humans this was introduced by positivistic science. As mentioned before, in the concentration camps humans were not seen as humans, but they were seen as objects. (Swingewood, 2000). Another example of this could be the rise in tuition fees in 2010, this change would benefit large institutions, especially the government, however it does not benefit the people who would mostly experience the change of this such as students. Critical theory is also critical of mass culture, mass culture refers to individuals following and believing what the media say. An example of this can be such as girls believe it is always best to be slim. Culture industry refers to anything that gets in the way of freedom. The Frankfurt school gives us useful information about the process of how society changed from traditional culture and modernism in the arts to a mass produced media orientated society. Society has become much more media orientated as technology has become much more advanced, The traditional theory was originally known as the positivism theory, however, Horkheimer labelled the traditional theory. The traditional theory was based more on facts, the more facts we had about everything, the more knowledge we have. The traditional theory did not see people as humans, instead humans were looked at as things for example in the concentration camps individuals who died, were not looked at as humans dying, but a specimen. Unlike the critical theory, the traditional theory only explains how society is in the present time, where as the critical theory looks at society, what is wrong with it and aims to change it. Positivism functions ideologically, this is done by promoting passive behaviour. Habermas argued that a free society should let people communicate freely without anything getting in the way, when people can do so, this would be known as a free society. Positivists ignore the roles of humans in society, they tend to treat society as a natural process. Habermas did not agree with Adorno and Horkheimer views that they can identify what is wrong with society and change it, also change the whole technological interaction with nature (Habermas, 1971). Horkheimer continued to argue that critical theory should focus on society being complete, e.g. how society became how it is in the present time. He argued this could be done by bringing together major social sciences such as geography, economics, sociology, history, science etc (Bohman, 1996). Adorno and Horkheimers book Dialectic of Enlightenment, which is a text about critical theory, which explains what the Frankfurt School considered as the failure of Enlightenment, the book was published in 1944 in New York. It is one of the main core texts about Critical theory. In the book we can see how Enlightenment norms had turned into their opposite, how democracy had produced fascism and reason had produced unreason. In conclusion to the above, we can see that there are many different views on how society runs, and as we can see is whether society is fine the way it is, or what should be changed if its not. The critical theory is obviously critical of society as it is now, The critical theory is mainly critical of how society is in terms of exploitation of humans., especially jobs such as labour work. However, the critical theory can be negatively criticised as it always looks upon society negatively. Horkheimer argued that the a theory can only be critical if it is explanatory, therefore critical theory should successfully explain what is wrong with the current society and what is needed to make it right, (Bohman, 1996). As we can see, there are many factors that affect society, also we can how society brain washes individuals to thinking that they live in an equal society system.

Immigrants :: essays research papers

More Immigrants find roots in U.S. Soil 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Using the text from the book there are three demographic variables; fertility, mortality, and migration. Fertility is the number of children an average woman bears (text pg. 394). Mortality refers to the annual number of deaths per 1,000 population (text pg 394). Finally, migration in the difference between number of people moving in (immigrants) and the number of people moving out (emigrants) per 1,000 poplulation (text pg 394), and the best description of the recent immigration to southwest Michigan is migration. The article â€Å"More Immigrants find roots in U.S. Soil† cites that some reasons for this is the opportunities offered. Since many traditional farmers are getting older and are retiring to warmer climate and the offspring choose careers other than farming, many farm owners are selling their farms to the help. These â€Å"help† are usually minorities. Also with the minorities farming other minority groups chooses their products to purcha se; therefore the groups help each other. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since the 1970 more and more people are choosing to move from the city and suburbs to rural areas. Southwest Michigan is a perfect example of why people are moving to rural areas. With the help of highways and other transportation, movement is easy and quick, right between big cities such as Chicago and Detroit. The low crime rate, the sense of safety and cost of living all make southwest Michigan very inviting to any individual or family. 3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sociologist William Kandal quoted â€Å"farming may be the rural equivalent of driving a cab.† In many urban cities and suburbs many immigrant find jobs as taxi cab drivers. Now in rural areas many immigrants are finding jobs as farmers and farmers helpers and characterized as the â€Å"rural taxi cab driver.† 4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Traditionally, immigrants had moved to cities first when settling the U.S., this is called urbanization. Urbanization differs from that of the rural rebound of southwest Michigan. Traditionally people moved from the rural areas only when there was a surplus of food and they were not needed to produce food, as opposed to the migration to southwest Michigan, because immigrants are moving there to produce food. 5  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What stands out between the fastest growing and fastest shrinking U.S. Cities is geographic location. Most of the colonial states such as N.Y., PA, CT, RI, are all experiencing shrinking population, while the Western U.S. is experiencing increasing population. The main factors for this is that more and more people are less needful of fertile land to support themselves and there families. Immigrants :: essays research papers More Immigrants find roots in U.S. Soil 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Using the text from the book there are three demographic variables; fertility, mortality, and migration. Fertility is the number of children an average woman bears (text pg. 394). Mortality refers to the annual number of deaths per 1,000 population (text pg 394). Finally, migration in the difference between number of people moving in (immigrants) and the number of people moving out (emigrants) per 1,000 poplulation (text pg 394), and the best description of the recent immigration to southwest Michigan is migration. The article â€Å"More Immigrants find roots in U.S. Soil† cites that some reasons for this is the opportunities offered. Since many traditional farmers are getting older and are retiring to warmer climate and the offspring choose careers other than farming, many farm owners are selling their farms to the help. These â€Å"help† are usually minorities. Also with the minorities farming other minority groups chooses their products to purcha se; therefore the groups help each other. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since the 1970 more and more people are choosing to move from the city and suburbs to rural areas. Southwest Michigan is a perfect example of why people are moving to rural areas. With the help of highways and other transportation, movement is easy and quick, right between big cities such as Chicago and Detroit. The low crime rate, the sense of safety and cost of living all make southwest Michigan very inviting to any individual or family. 3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sociologist William Kandal quoted â€Å"farming may be the rural equivalent of driving a cab.† In many urban cities and suburbs many immigrant find jobs as taxi cab drivers. Now in rural areas many immigrants are finding jobs as farmers and farmers helpers and characterized as the â€Å"rural taxi cab driver.† 4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Traditionally, immigrants had moved to cities first when settling the U.S., this is called urbanization. Urbanization differs from that of the rural rebound of southwest Michigan. Traditionally people moved from the rural areas only when there was a surplus of food and they were not needed to produce food, as opposed to the migration to southwest Michigan, because immigrants are moving there to produce food. 5  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What stands out between the fastest growing and fastest shrinking U.S. Cities is geographic location. Most of the colonial states such as N.Y., PA, CT, RI, are all experiencing shrinking population, while the Western U.S. is experiencing increasing population. The main factors for this is that more and more people are less needful of fertile land to support themselves and there families.

Implications of Affirmative Actions on Business

Implications of Affirmative Action on Business ` Affirmative actionprograms, as we know them, are less than 50 years old, and are usually viewedas a series ofpositive steps taken to ensure the representation of minority groups in fields that have traditionallyexcluded them. It protects both racial and ethnic minorities, as well as women, in the areas of education, business, and government. Affirmative action, whichhas its roots in the Constitutional ideal of equal opportunity, is the government’s way of both eliminating inequality and making amends for past discrimination. Sometimes viewed as â€Å"reverse discrimination† for blatantly favoring one group over another, affirmative action programs often differ in the extent to which they attempt to rectify discrimination by either instituting reviews of the hiring process for minority groups or explicitly preferring members of select groups. In many ways, affirmative action has helped women and minority groups obtain and keep positions in either work or school that they would otherwise have been unable to attain. However, since the beginning of affirmative action in the 1960s, these policies have had many implications for businesses—both positive and negative—and have instituted many changes. ` ` President John F. Kennedy signed Executive Order 10925 in March of 1961. The order was originally designed with governmentcontractors in mind, and stated thatsaid contractors would â€Å"take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated during their employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin. Executive Order 10925 did not advocate special treatment of minority groups, as would later come to pass, but was initially intended to eliminate discrimination from hiring and employment practices. In Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,the government’s position on the policy of affirmative action was solidified, and a new branch of the U. S. Department of Labor was created: the Equal Employment Opportunity Commi ssion (EEOC). The purpose of the EEOC was to serve as a mediator between plaintiffs and private employers who disregarded the tenets ofaffirmative action, and to ensure restitution to the affected. These changes to hiring and employment practices caused many to voice concerns: Should minority groups receive preferential treatment in fields they were previously excluded from? Does this constitute a violation of the principle of equal opportunity in the form of â€Å"reverse discrimination†? ` ` In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued Executive Order 11246 which required government contractors to actually document their efforts to ensure equality in hiring practices, and gave the Secretary of Labor the right to investigate and rectify anyaccusations of discrimination. The government could punish violations of the order by canceling contracts, barring companies from future contracts, and other measures† (Kowalski, 27). In 1967, Johnson’sorder was furtherexpanded by Executive Order 11375 to include women as well as minorities and, in 1968, under the administration of President Nixon, specific goals or â€Å"quotas† for the hiring of women and minoriti es wasinstituted. By 1972, the â€Å"four-fifths rule† was in effect, which â€Å"held that firms contracting with the federal government should not be allowed to hire any race, sex, or ethnic group at a rate below four-fifths that of any other group† (eNotes). The EEOC was also strengthened in 1972 by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act. Now, the Commission was able to file class action law suits against corporations in violation of affirmative action policies. The Carter administration, in 1977, initiated the Public Works Employment Act, requiringat least ten percent of federal money given to certain projectsto be allocated toboth minority and women business enterprises. ` ` During the 1980s, affirmative action felt little government support under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush. Both resisted expansion in government contracting, and court decisions began to negate some affirmative action programs. Universities and businesses were struggling to conform to theguidelines of affirmative action while still maintaining certain standardsof operation. Eventually, many of these programs were either scaled-back or set-aside altogether. In the 1990s, Clinton vowed to â€Å"mend, not end† affirmative action programs. He began to reevaluate the programs of several federal agencies, which some believe had positive results. ` There are many arguments for affirmative action in hiring and employment practices. Historically, almost 90% of all jobs are filled internally, with positions going to relatives and friends of those already employed. Employers often fill these positions with people who are under-qualified, and had the position been advertised properly, the hiring managers may have found a better candidate for the job. Affirmative action has â€Å"encouraged ma ny companies to engage in employment practices that set minimum standards of job definition, recruiting, outreach, and evaluation hat result in choosingthe right person for the job† (Diverse Strategies). These practices also promote diversity. When properly managed, diversity can â€Å"increase creativity and innovation in organizations as well as improve decision making by providing different perspectives on problems† (Judge, 20). Greater diversity in certain fields, such as medicine and law, will increase the aid given to underrepresented groups. ` ` The main focus of affirmative action, however, is to level the playing field and counter both ongoing discrimination as well as bigoted attitudes. Even in this day and age, minorities and women continue to lag behind white Anglo-Saxon protestant men in the business world. Male employees may be promoted over women, because some companies still put women on a â€Å"mommy track† without their consent, and many people publicly lie about how they feel with regards to race. Studies have shown that many people â€Å"found it easier to link women’s names with home-related words than with career-related words† (Kowalski, 45), and test subjects â€Å"are often quicker at linking black faces with negative words than with positive words† (Kowalski, 45). ` With all of these arguments for affirmative action, there are still critics that believe these policies not only perpetuate continued racial tension, but alsolead members of these groups to believe they cannot succeed on their own. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is quoted saying â€Å"It never ceases to amaze me that the courts are so willing to assume that anything that is predominantly black must be inferior. † Affirmative action is also seen to stigmatize people. Others may assume that someone obtained their position because of affirmative action, and this breeds resentment and anger. People relate to each other as either inside or outside the groups benefiting from affirmative action, and it becomes a â€Å"them versus us† mentality. Managers,who have never done anything wrong, may feel painted with a bigot or chauvinist brush. ` ` Opponents of affirmative action also believe itviolates the idea of a merit system. Choices in hiring, raises, and promotions should benefit the people who worked hard and deserve them. Any hiring decision istheresult of an interview, given bymanagers who already have ideas about the qualities an employee should have, and as such, should be based on the skills and education the candidate brings to the table. Managers feel constrained by words such as â€Å"quota† and â€Å"preferential treatment† when it comes to hiring decisions, and developa negative outlook on the idea of affirmative action. ` ` Not only do managers find it interferes with hiring decisions, many businessesalso feel that affirmative action is a burdensome procedure. Scores of businesses protested â€Å"they were wasting too much time on paperwork and spending too much money defending themselves against discrimination charges† (Anderson, 167). During the Reagan years, research into the cost of affirmative action policies for businessesestimated that â€Å"a contract compliance review cost a contractor over $20,000, and that such appraisals were costing the Fortune 500companies $1 billion annually† (Anderson, 167;that estimate has only grown. ` Another issue is that some employees, or potential employees, now use affirmative action as a form of revenge if they feel they have been slighted in some way, such as by not being hired or notreceivinga promotion. It is very difficult to prove that someone was discriminated against based on their race or gender, but the case can still take many court hours and much money. Because of this, many businesses are more likely to settle out of court, rather than tie up thousands of dollars in court fees. This ends with the company taking a financial hit and the angry employee with a settlement. ` ` Since the introduction of affirmative action in the 1960s, affirmative action has had many implications for businesses. Businesses now have to fill certain quotas based on how many people they have working for them, they are subject to reviews of their policies and procedures,and businesses owned by minorities and females are given special privileges and loans that are not offered to others. Businesses arealso responsible for the financial burdens placedon them as a result of affirmative action. Many employees feelthat affirmative action is â€Å"reverse discrimination†,because hiring managers are openly favoring one group over another based on their race or gender,and many believe affirmative actioncontinues to perpetuate racial tension. ` ` With all of these issues, it’s no wonder that some peoplehave negative feelings and attitudes toward affirmative action. They feel that jobs should be given to the people that most deserve them, and that raises and promotions shouldbeawarded basedon the merit system. It is impossible for businesses to operate fairly to all within the guidelines of affirmative action since, by definition,it requires businesses to base their hiring standards on what the government requires rather than ontheir business needs. Hiringthe best possible candidate for a job, no matter what race or gender, should be the main goal when making hiring decisions, and not what minority group may be underrepresented in your company. As long as affirmative action is law, businesses will have to finda way to meet its requirements or face harsh fines and lawsuits, and while there are many compelling arguments against affirmative action, its policies will not be changed any time soon. ` Works Cited â€Å"Encyclopedia of Small Business/ Affirmative Action†. eNotes. com. April 8, 2009 http://www. enotes. com/small-business-encyclopedia/affirmative-action. com. Anderson, Terry H. . The Pursuit of Fairness: A History of Affirmative Action. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc. , 2004. Coulter, Ann. How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must). New York, NY: Crown Forum, 2004. Grapes, Bryan J. . Affirmative Action. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, Inc. , 2000. Judge Timothy A. , and Robbins, Stephen P.. Organizational Behavior. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. , 2009. Kowalski, Kathiann M. . Open for Debate: Affirmative Action. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2007. Skrentny, John D.. The Minority Rights Revolution. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2002. Tong, Clifford M.. â€Å"Diverse Strategies†. Diverse Strategies Incorporated. April 8, 2009 http://www. diversestrategies. com/Affirmative_action. htm.