Author Archives: Kenan Redzematovic

Posts by Kenan Redzematovic

Comments by Kenan Redzematovic

"I agree with your solution regarding the Equal Pay Act that would ensure equal hourly wages for the same work, as it is the only rational solution to the issue. There is no reason women should be paid less for the same work. It is understandable that a woman might be paid less than a man in a job that is commission based, based on the fact that it is purely performance related. The better salesperson will reap the greater reward in terms of pay. Otherwise, in a day-to-day office job it is only ethical and reasonable that a person performing the same tasks as another be compensated in the same way. While it is true that women generally chose to hold positions that grant lower pay I would love to know why? Why are women geared toward these sorts of jobs? Should they not be entitled to the same positions and of course the same money as men? I believe a greater effort should be put toward empowering and building confidence in our women so they can move up in society and shatter the glass ceiling that lies above them."
--( posted on Apr 27, 2015, commenting on the post Gender Inequality Solutions: Working Against the Pay Gap )
 
"I really enjoyed your group presentation and this is greatly due to the fact that your idea is very plausible as CCNY is the perfect breeding ground for your support group. I believe, as you do, that girls are generally turned away from the STEM fields simply because they have few role models to seek advice and guidance from. I believe your group will facilitate and encourage young students to pursue studies and careers in the science and engineering fields which will prove to be beneficial not only to women but also to the field of engineering. The greater the variety of gender, nationality, religion, etc. the better it will be for any organization. While I do believe your idea has incredible potential to significantly impact many young women students, I feel as though a big name connection is necessary to inspire as many girls as possible. Perhaps a woman CEO, CFO or a high-ranking official would provide your group with the extra boost that would set you over the top and allow you to make serious strides with regard to aiding these young women students."
--( posted on Apr 27, 2015, commenting on the post Gender lens- Solutions )
 
"I can’t believe that women account for only about 5% of the CEOs of the most profitable companies in the United States. This is an incredible statistic given the fact that we are told from a young age that “we can be whatever we want when we grow up” and while this has proven to be true in many cases, we can also argue that it is not true for women. Given the 5% statistic, it is undeniable that males have a larger array of career options in their future than females do. Even though it seems that via the right education and training, anyone can have any position they are willing to work for, but clearly in reality this is not true. Women can have the same level of education and compete for the same jobs as men but are severely handicapped in the eyes of an employer. This is clearly a problem in our society, we need to empower our women from a young age so that they can truly believe that they can actually “be whatever they want when we grow up”. This type of discrimination stagnates our society in that we stunt the growth of our nation’s female population."
--( posted on Apr 9, 2015, commenting on the post Gender and Economic Growth Problems )
 
"I am shocked by the statistics you’ve presented about domestic violence around the world. Of course domestic violence is viewed differently in different parts of the world but I didn’t think it was that widely acceptable, after all it is physical abuse. That fact that one-third of women in 19 countries believe domestic abuse can be justified at times is appalling. We teach children that it’s not right to hit their classmates in school, no matter what the reason. But now it’s acceptable by grown men and women around the world? How can this be? I feel that this is a serious problem in our society. We need to empower our women to understand that they should not be so accepting of this abuse. If this type of behavior is accepted in some cultures it is also to some degree encouraged. Domestic violence ultimately stagnates the society progress of our women by literally and figuratively clubbing them into submission."
--( posted on Apr 4, 2015, commenting on the post Cultural Gender Roles and Economic Growth )
 
"While I agree with your proposed solution to include government incentives to companies who employ full time workers, I wonder how realistic this model actually is. Do you believe the government would essentially cut freelance workers out of these major employment opportunities? Freelance work is a very integral part of the American economy as these types of workers fill jobs that are essential to life as we know it, especially in New York City. You also brought up an interesting point with regard to the janitors and secretaries who are currently employed at office buildings all throughout the United States. With the increasingly technological nature of work these days, we will no doubt see a decline in the number of office buildings being built if not shut down. This is a similar issue that was raised when we learned about Milk Not Jails. What happens to all the guards, wardens, educators and doctors employed by the prison if it were to be shut down? How would these individuals fair following being laid off? This is the same issue we may face in the future, given the online nature of work. I wonder if educational stipends would be accepted or even be deemed desirable by these individuals after being let go."
--( posted on Mar 21, 2015, commenting on the post Solutions: The Future of Work )
 
"I totally agree with your point that these new types of open, creative workspaces no doubt promote the best innovative ideas, and I also support your theory that traditional workplaces should have different workspace options for their workers. Every employee just as every student has an environment in which they function best, so how can we expect employees to produce in environment in which they are not comfortable. I believe employees should have a choice with regard to workspace in order to work most effectively. I also agree with your point regarding manager distractions and unnecessary meeting and stoppages. These meetings are largely ineffective and often called to evaluate work progress when actually more work would be done had the manager not called the meeting in the first place. And while I agree that fewer meetings should be called, I don’t know if a website like Asana is the right alternative. This kind of website supports telework which virtually eliminates the need of an actual workplace because all that is really required is a computer which would promote a heavily anti-social work environment. So while I do agree with your earlier points about the variety of workspace and inefficiency of meetings, I don’t think telework is the way to change the workplace."
--( posted on Mar 21, 2015, commenting on the post Future of Work Solutions )
 
"I also agree with your notion that employees these days must deal with the many distractions of 2015. With the emergence of social media we are always connected, there is essentially no such thing as being offline or unreachable. Before the age of cell phones, people would leave work for the day and virtually forget about it until the next morning. But in this day and age we are subject to emails, texts and direct messages virtually 24/7. There is almost no excuse for not responding to someone in a timely fashion, we have cell service everywhere, and every other building has Wi-Fi. So given this constant connection, bosses and managers are able to demand work to be done at home and due the next day at work. This constant connection clearly cuts into personal time to spend at home with family or for whatever other personal venture an employee might want to do. After analyzing this fact we can see that the 45% of employees who wanted more time for personal life is justified. Long days of work coupled with work finding its way home can certainly take a toll on an employee’s mental state. The constant work will eventually wear the employee down to a pulp and turn them into work machines. So with this analysis we must admit that social media and technology has both improved the way we work but it has also created a more hostile, demanding environment."
--( posted on Mar 10, 2015, commenting on the post Future of Work Problems )
 
"I agree with you in the fact that today’s world has become increasingly more anti-social and this is why I believe the structure of workplace deserves a facelift. As I addressed in my problems, employees spend endless hours each day pushing paper and filling out spreadsheets with minimal interaction with other coworkers. Employees sit behind their desktops and concealed by their cubicles and crunch all day with so little social interaction, only in the form of a lunch break and perhaps one other smaller break. This is clearly not healthy for the growth of a social network and obviously does not allow human interaction to grow. This sort of working environment will certainly bring developing ideas and innovation to a plateau. When new ideas are not being born and cycled about by colleagues we as a society ultimately stagnate. Without innovation and the desire to advance our knowledge or thinking what do we become? Perhaps ignorant to the anything that might better our lives, which is the direction the world must move in order to continue to innovate. So in this regard, I agree with your point that today’s workplace is terribly anti-social and desperately in need to renovation."
--( posted on Mar 10, 2015, commenting on the post Problem 2 – The Future of Work )
 
"While I agree with the fact that body cameras are a good idea, I think that if we equip each police officer with one we are saying to our officers “we don’t trust you, so we’re going to watch your every move”, and I don’t agree with this notion. I believe young, rookie officers could benefit from the use of body cameras just so they can be monitored for their first 6 months or first year of service so we can keep track of their actions as they assimilate into their new positions. I also recognize and understand the statistics that body cameras have reduced citizen complaints and what not, but citizen complaints would certainly rise when their taxes are increased to fund a multimillion dollar body camera operation. Given that body cameras on every cop would ultimately be a very, very expensive program, this is why I agree with the idea that only rookie officers should wear body cameras for a while until they acclimate themselves to their new environment. There is surely a learning curve when it comes to the police officer career and I believe body cameras would benefit both rookie cops and the community."
--( posted on Mar 3, 2015, commenting on the post Policing Solutions )
 
"I agree with the fact that the United States should decrease their pursuit of non-violent drug possession offenders. If we stop arresting civilians who are simply using drugs, particularly marijuana, I would be amazed to see how many fewer prisoners we would have to house, feed and care for. While I don’t support the incarceration of recreational drug users, there would have to be specific criteria for these types of suspects. For example, if someone is found with an excessive amount of marijuana, clearly with the intent to sell, they should be arrested for drug dealing often leads to violent crimes. So, while there must be a very strict set of criteria for non-violent recreational drug users, I do believe we will be able to see a sizable decrease in the number of incarcerated drug-users. I also agree with your premise that human nature is to go after that which is forbidden. And I believe if marijuana was legalized, there would be an initial spike in both sales and use throughout the country, but after a while the levels would plateau and it would become more controlled. For example, the Dutch civilians attest that in the Netherlands the coffee shops that sell marijuana are largely for tourists rather than the public. I feel as if the U.S. would experience this same sort of phenomenon if marijuana were to be legalized."
--( posted on Mar 3, 2015, commenting on the post Policing Solutions )
 
"I do agree with you that speed traps are controversial and quite annoying in the fact that they are designed to ‘trap’ us, the civilian drivers. But they are necessary because they do deter drivers from speeding and ultimately causing harm to themselves and others who are in the wrong place at the wrong time. I also agree with you with respect to how strategically placed the traps are, and I think they should be moved to sections of road where there has proven to be many accidents or even areas where there is an elevated risk of accidents. Intertwined with this issue of speed traps is the ever-present question of how do we evaluate an officers worth? Clearly in the past and even now it is by the dollar sign. The more tickets you write, the more money you can bring in, the ‘better’ cop you are. This obviously makes no logical sense but this is the standard we have come to recognize. Also, I wouldn’t say that the police are ‘deviating from the original purpose of serving the people’ because they do, for the most part, keep our communities safe; or at least safer than it would be if they were not around. But there is no doubt flaws in the way police go about there business, whether it be in the form of speed traps, tickets or other, but changes will not make much of an effect on the base level, the problem lies deeper in our judicial system."
--( posted on Feb 19, 2015, commenting on the post Problems with Policing )
 
"Wow, these militarization figures are quite stupefying if you ask me. Military-grade weaponry for officers patrolling highly-populated areas of the United States of America? This mixture of heavy machinery and millions of innocent bystanders seems like a perfect recipe for tragedy and inevitably civilian blood on another officer’s hands. 92,442 small arms and 5,235 Humvees in the hands of local police officers across the nation is a startling fact given the recent emergence of the Ferguson and Eric Garner trials where we have seen that officers may sometimes overreact to situations that could have been handled differently and more peacefully of course. What also troubles me is the additional training that must be undergone to safely and successfully operate these heavy duty arms. Officers are often too quick to remove their pistol from a holster, which has the potential to kill but could also simply harm a perpetrator; a military-grade assault rifle on the other hand doesn’t leave much room for error. A shot is, in most cases, fatal with this gun. While seeing police officers walk around with assault rifles and Humvees would be a disturbing sight, I can understand that in some of the more dangerous cities in America more protection might be required. But I also wonder if these ‘war time weapons’ could be replaced by other instruments that could protect both the officers wielding them and the communities they are paid to protect. Could the government invest their defense funds elsewhere and fortify other parts of country that actually require higher grade weaponry? Because I sense that the militarization of police is a powder keg that is bound to explode sooner or later."
--( posted on Feb 19, 2015, commenting on the post Policing Problems )