Saturday, October 13, 2007
Celebrity Privacy
Workplace Prof Blog notes that more than 24 hospital workers in New Jersey were suspended for improper access to the personal medical records of actor George Clooney following his recent motorcycle accident.
Religious Discrimination Complaints Rise
Religious discrimination complaints have had a sizable increase since the September 11 attacks.
Diversity's Limits
James Q. Wilson looks at the findings on diverse neighborhoods by the author of "Bowling Alone" and their message that diversity does not always produce positive effects. An excerpt:
“Shocking” is the word that one political scientist, Scott Page of the University of Michigan, invoked to describe the extent of the negative social effects revealed by Putnam’s data. Whether Putnam was shocked by the results I cannot say. But they should not have been surprising; others have reported the same thing. The scholars Anil Rupasingha, Stephan J. Goetz, and David Freshwater, for example, found that social capital across American counties, as measured by the number of voluntary associations for every 10,000 people, goes up with the degree of ethnic homogeneity. Conversely, as others have discovered, when ethnic groups are mixed there is weaker social trust, less car pooling, and less group cohesion. And this has held true for some time: people in Putnam’s survey who were born in the 1920’s display the same attitudes as those born in the 1970’s.
“Shocking” is the word that one political scientist, Scott Page of the University of Michigan, invoked to describe the extent of the negative social effects revealed by Putnam’s data. Whether Putnam was shocked by the results I cannot say. But they should not have been surprising; others have reported the same thing. The scholars Anil Rupasingha, Stephan J. Goetz, and David Freshwater, for example, found that social capital across American counties, as measured by the number of voluntary associations for every 10,000 people, goes up with the degree of ethnic homogeneity. Conversely, as others have discovered, when ethnic groups are mixed there is weaker social trust, less car pooling, and less group cohesion. And this has held true for some time: people in Putnam’s survey who were born in the 1920’s display the same attitudes as those born in the 1970’s.
Barone on Britain and the USA
Michael Barone gives his top five list of books about the special relationship between Britain and the United States.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Perfumed Justice
An article from the New Jersey Employment Law Letter about a case of perfume sensitivity and the ensuing disability lawsuit. An excerpt:
Linda Kaufmann began working for GMAC Mortgage Corporation in Pennsylvania in June 2002. Soon after starting the job, she experienced "severe allergic reactions" to her coworkers' perfumes. GMAC took various steps to accommodate her, including development and implementation of a "perfume-free environment."
GMAC also moved Kaufmann's desk, changed the air filters by her workspace, and provided her with a desktop air filter and fan. Throughout her employment, the company repeatedly disseminated the perfume-free policy to employees and spoke directly with certain employees who Kaufmann alleged violated the policy.
Kaufmann took a leave of absence to address her allergies from September until December 2002. Following her return, her attendance was erratic, and she failed to perform her job. As a result, GMAC fired her in May 2003.
Linda Kaufmann began working for GMAC Mortgage Corporation in Pennsylvania in June 2002. Soon after starting the job, she experienced "severe allergic reactions" to her coworkers' perfumes. GMAC took various steps to accommodate her, including development and implementation of a "perfume-free environment."
GMAC also moved Kaufmann's desk, changed the air filters by her workspace, and provided her with a desktop air filter and fan. Throughout her employment, the company repeatedly disseminated the perfume-free policy to employees and spoke directly with certain employees who Kaufmann alleged violated the policy.
Kaufmann took a leave of absence to address her allergies from September until December 2002. Following her return, her attendance was erratic, and she failed to perform her job. As a result, GMAC fired her in May 2003.
Miscellaneous and Fast
Migrant air: Mexican airlines are offering discount airfares to the border.
Scrappleface reports that the Supreme Court has given Gore's Peace Prize to Bush.
Using playing cards to protect ancient sites in Iraq. [HT: Arts & Letters Daily ]
Confession: It is very easy to get hooked on Starbucks Komodo Dragon Blend coffee.
Martha Bayles looks at the art of Edward Hopper.
Scrappleface reports that the Supreme Court has given Gore's Peace Prize to Bush.
Using playing cards to protect ancient sites in Iraq. [HT: Arts & Letters Daily ]
Confession: It is very easy to get hooked on Starbucks Komodo Dragon Blend coffee.
Martha Bayles looks at the art of Edward Hopper.
Mid-Level Blues
Writing in CareerJournal, David Wessel looks at the sagging demand for middle-range jobs. An excerpt:
But technology and globalization are not eroding demand for personal-service workers. Those tasks can't be done by computer or shipped offshore. The services have to be delivered here in the U.S. -- and in person -- either by natives or by immigrants.
Indeed, as the folks at the top make more money, more of them want nannies, gardeners, personal trainers and gourmet chefs. These workers are indirect beneficiaries of the upward flow of wealth.Their wages have been rising while those of midlevel factory and office workers, though still higher than those of many service employees, are stagnating.
Dissecting data on 741 American communities, MIT's Mr. Autor and colleague David Dorn examined places that were particularly heavy with easy-to-automate or easy-to-outsource jobs in 1980. By 2005, they discovered, wage inequality in those communities had widened more than elsewhere. The erosion of jobs and wages in the middle coincided with increasing employment and wages for personal-service workers at the bottom of the income ladder and highly educated workers at the top.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)