Author Archives: Michael Sanchez

Posts by Michael Sanchez

Comments by Michael Sanchez

"Your idea of locally grown products is a positive and beneficial solution to counter both the obesity rates and the food desert situations in America. One of our readings did incorporate a part into this, mainly focusing on subsidizing healthy foods and unsubsidizing the processed food. Processed food gets some sort of a government break because of its supposed cheapness to produce, and cheapness in regards for the public to purchase and eat. However, these processed foods are what are contributing to the health problems like obesity and food deserts. Your idea to get farmers more involved in markets for these food deserts is a great one. Not only will the public have access to cheap, fresh produce and healthy food, but the farmers will be able to corner a market they may have previously never been known to them. It seems to be a great situation both benefiting the supplier and the supplied. Also, it would help to introduce this sort of healthy food into school lunches, as the lunch program in America is nothing short of abysmal. In order to bring the most change, starting with the children seems like the most promising venture."
--( posted on May 8, 2015, commenting on the post Topic IV: Public Health Problems and Solutions )
 
"You have some interesting comments Yeji, I see that you focus on is the cost of insurance. I really believe insurance is a big issue that faces many Americans, in fact, I've heard that over 60% of bankruptcy is caused by health insurance and medical bills. This is an interesting topic, as it combines health issues with economic issues. As you've pointed out, Obama's Affordable Care Act has caused a significant benefit to people facing situations lacking any sort of insurance. Having a mandated and government insurance guarantees that most people will have access to health care no matter their situation, and basically make health a public property and not a commodity to be sold and bartered. This however, proves a difficult task in America, as health is more often seen as a private company source, even with the idea that private companies somehow have better heath services then public health centers. The best way to combat this would be a change in policy, a move to progressive social institutions of free health care, but obviously that is a far reaching goal, and seems like a radical movement for American politics. Nevertheless, the push for it may be gradual, but someone must try, and our generation would be one to accept that."
--( posted on May 8, 2015, commenting on the post Health Problems and Solutions )
 
"Your solution focuses on the wage gap, like mine. I agree with your post, I feel that women should be encouraged to participate in the STEM fields more often, and not see mathematical calculation as a "man's job." I also find this to be a bit of irony, as if these roles are made for men, yet if women are in the liberal arts majors, they are still paid less and looked as inferior to men. So there really are no women fields and male fields in the workforce, there is only, male fields, and super male fields. Now, while it is true that joining the STEM program would garner an increase in income, it would not be enough to close the income gap. Also, this assumes that once the opportunity is open, most if not all women would flood the workforce looking to join STEM fields. Obviously, people are diverse, and will seek different careers and jobs, from STEM fields to liberal arts and social science fields. My solution argued small time policy change, but yours may be a little harder to implement simply because of the structure surrounding the issue in STEM. The structure must be dealt with first for STEM fields to open up, and yet, pay should be equal no matter what job you do."
--( posted on Apr 23, 2015, commenting on the post Gender Solutions )
 
"I find your solution on changing culture a very interesting and encompassing answer to the problem at hand. The first part of your solution works at the opposite end of the spectrum of mine, as mine focused on small legislation to ensure equality in the work force. Your solution however, to ensure gender equality in schools, would be able to hit the developing generations at their early stages, hopefully implementing a sense of equality in them. However, there is a difficulty there. The inequality and gender roles are not always apparent, but sometimes express themselves in subtle ways. The teacher is enforcing gender roles simply by asking the girls to put away the pencils and asking the boys to put away the chairs. Gender roles are very hard to target, so these educators must be very aware of the situation at hand. However, I also feel that with enough emphasis on this, this social idea can bleed into the media. Take Sesame Street for example. They recently had a skit where one of the muppets had to deal with his father being in prison, one would assume for a low level drug offense. This is almost unheard of in the media, but is a common occurrence in real life, leading to the media to adopts its ways to become more relatable. If society starts focusing on that more and more, keeps issues like gender equality center stage, it may eventually bleed into the media, giving a double whammy if you will of gender equality education: at school and at home."
--( posted on Apr 23, 2015, commenting on the post Gender Lens on Economic Growth: Solutions )
 
"Your post was concerned with women pay and mobility through the work force, which almost mirrored my own discussion on the pay gap. Your post and the sources you use only help confirm it: the pay gap is a very real and serious issue. For women to be paid less then men simply because of gender, having nothing to do with productivity and the actual work and expertise they are paid for, is appalling and hypocritical. I also am not too well informed on the glass ceiling that women workers face when trying to advance in their own professional careers. I am aware that most CEO's are male, and very few are female. Though, CEO's, I assume, generally seem to be more of a monopoly of old white men, very rarely being women or minorities. I assume that this is because of a very personal chain of command, and CEO's and high level employees are based more on connections and old time networking rather than effort, an entirely different problem, but still concerning. It seems that these old networks perpetuate their ideal of a good leader, usually being a white man, and that is the symbol, the staple, they look for. To get a fair assessment and fair representation, the entirely culture must be changed."
--( posted on Apr 2, 2015, commenting on the post Gender Lens and Economic Growth Problem Set )
 
"I find your comments on the problems women face very interesting. The domestic violence is something that, thankfully, is seeing more traction to be better monitored in this day and age. Unfortunately, domestic violence spreads far beyond America, with less developed countries with different cultures having more of an affinity towards practices like that. It is my opinion that any societal culture that perpetuates domestic violence, or a de-humanizing of another person, be it through gender, religion, race or sexual orientation, is flawed. This day and age fortunately has the growth of international activism, where any sign of abuse, either through cultural practices or not, are being met with the very least, criticism and the call to reform. Also, the point you made about the STEM fields is also interesting. It leads to me ask, what is the typical female profession then? It seems that in the humanities professions, writing, directing, editing, etc., men are still valued more than women, are paid more, and hold more positions. What profession is the female profession? Or perhaps, people should realize that a profession should have nothing to do with gender."
--( posted on Apr 2, 2015, commenting on the post Cultural Gender Roles and Economic Growth )
 
"This is a very well crafted solution. Before your post, I never know about these "soft skills." I wholeheartedly agree that these interpersonal work relatable skills should not only be taught, by focused on in the later years of college. One of the main reasons that finding a career right after graduation is the issue of inexperience. One of the biggest inexperiences is the lack of exposure to a social community in the workforce. An experience like this, which focuses on community building and social interaction towards a specific goal, would be very helpful in preparing one for an upcoming career. However, I believe that professions should also be willing to train employees, especially new ones. It seems to me that colleges, which are supposed to provide the next level of education in order to get a career, provide so basic of an instruction, that they are not as viable in helping land a career. Employers now seem to be looking for employees that already have training, which is unfair to the millions of graduates who followed the system that was provided and expected at the time, and was then expected to do even more. Hopefully, experiences like this will help better their ability to land jobs."
--( posted on Mar 19, 2015, commenting on the post Work Solutions )
 
"I find your discussion and focus on internships intriguing, and a great idea to help solve issues we may face as post graduates. This also relates to my own solution that I posted about internships . I feel that internships, while a great stepping stone to careers as you pointed out, do tend to have an abuse in the system. Many companies may use internships as replacements for actual employment, which is a dangerous and unfair tactic. My solution of limiting unpaid internships to just college students can integrate nicely with your suggestion of required internships in college students. Since we are part of the Macaulay program, that requirement does give us a bit more of an incentive to find ourselves an internship. Nevertheless, it seems like the biggest issue is the structure of "entry level" jobs. It always baffles me that entry level positions most of the time require 2-3 years experience. Entry level jobs should be exactly what they advertise themselves to be, entry level. If positions would open up to the newer work force, and be willing to train individuals in their respective professions, then the work force situation would be much easier to handle."
--( posted on Mar 19, 2015, commenting on the post Work Solution )
 
"The problems you suggested caught my interest, especially the one dealing with the growing pace of technology. This growth, to me, signifies two detrimental affects. The first being a larger increase of distraction in the workplace, and the second, being your suggestion of robots taking over the work force. While the distraction one you covered pretty in depth, the second concept seems the most troublesome and, to me, downright apocalyptic. It feels as if people are creating robots with the ability to do jobs without realizing the affects it can have. For example, what jobs are we going to program the robots to do? Menial jobs? What happens to the individuals who were using those jobs to make a livable wage? Yes, they have more freedom to pursue their interests, but it seems that they'll be losing the financial stability they once had. Will they all of a sudden be put on par with the next tier of workers? What will qualify as minimum wage if machinery is operating all menial jobs? Will professional jobs like lawyers and doctors now be classified as minimum wage jobs, despite the extensive effort put in to not only performing, but qualifying for such a job? I feel that introduction of machinery to "replace" menial jobs will create a destruction of the lower class, thereby placing middle class families as the new lower class. It doesn't seem very beneficial to anyone in the long run, not unless you own the company that saves money and increases profit because of your choice of machinery over workers."
--( posted on Mar 10, 2015, commenting on the post Future of Work Problems )
 
"I find your comments on unemployment and distraction very similar to my own post. Distraction is no doubt one of the biggest killers of productivity. I've been distracted myself just trying to get my school work done. I also agree with your sentiment that distraction mostly comes from an individual basis of self-distraction, rather than meetings. It seems that this day and age many people claim that they can multi-task, or set it as one of their many skills. I feel that if one has the ability to "multi-task" while watching youtube videos and getting work done, then they should have the ability to "multi-task" during meetings and continue to get their work done. Distraction, I feel, is largely self imposed, possibly due to people being unsatisfied or strained in their jobs, are not feeling comfortable in their environment. Unemployment is also something I mentioned, but I focused more on the internships, stealing away employable opportunities. 16.8% of grads being unemployed is a horrendous amount, almost 1/5th of all grads aren't able to land a job. I believe a remedy to this is to have companies focus on training their future employees with pay, rather than exploit internship opportunities to further company gain. The work industry may face many issues in the coming future."
--( posted on Mar 10, 2015, commenting on the post Work Problems II )
 
"Your solution to prison refinement is a great way to start paving the path for rehabilitation. The one aspect about your solution that stood out was its concept of treating prisoners like humans who made mistakes, not terrible monsters. That is a concept of the prison system in America, people are sent there to face punishment and vengeance, not necessarily rehabilitate. It seems odd though, that someone who stole money at one time could be placed in the same location with someone who's been a serial killer. Some crimes are much hasher than others, and deserve a much harsher punishment. But just as some deserve a harsher sentence, since they seem to be beyond rehabilitation, so do people who made mistakes and are seeking active change. One of the biggest issues of people who face prison sentences is seeking employment after serving their time. Perhaps a program geared to assuring opportunities outside of prison would also be an area for improvement. There's also been instances where prisoners are treated like human, and respond in a much kinder way. For example, some prisoners were given cats to take care of, and not only did they become protective, but loving, of their pets. Actions like that, no matter how small, would help prisoners, and the population realize, that they are just human, and deserve a second chance like everyone else. http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/cats-bringing-out-the-soft-side-of-inmates/"
--( posted on Mar 9, 2015, commenting on the post Policing Solutions )
 
"I find your solution to this problem justice system very promising, and a step in a more humane approach to dealing with certain legal issues. What you propose is basically a counter argument to the "war on drugs" in the 1970's. While I agree that the war on drugs should be upheld to the illegal distribution and production of drugs, the decriminalization of drug abuse should be a priority in justice system reforms. Drug abuse should be treated more as an illness rather than a crime. Mandatory rehabilitation is a safer and better alternative to prison sentences. How can the justice system choose to punish someone who has a physical and psychological dependence on drugs? However, there is a problem that the departments would point out: funding. The main argument against this solution would be how to properly fund it. An argument could be made that a great amount of money will be saved by not imprisoning drug addicts, and that could be used to fund a project of this size. Also, since rehab centers are privately owned, another issue would be trying to find which rehab centers would be part of a government program, etc. Of all the reforms however, this seems the most feasible. And with the changing drug laws slowly taking place in the country, hopefully the criminalization of drug addiction will begin to falter as well."
--( posted on Mar 9, 2015, commenting on the post Policing Solutions )
 
"Hello Claudia, I found your comments on the overall issues facing police very interesting, in particular the Stop and Frisk policy. The Stop and Frisk Policy has been a long standing debate for years within New York City, with many protestors stating its detriments. It is entirely true that the stop and frisk policy is centered towards minorities, and, before the new marijuana laws, was most likely the leading technique to charge and arrest many young minorities with pot possession. In fact, I think the change in law may actually be a factor in altering Stop and Frisk, as police may no longer have to factor that into their quotas. However, I have heard that the stop and frisk policy does help prevent suspicious behavior, for example, if a man seems to scoping out a car, it gives an officer legal right to question him. I believe this was the original intention of the law, but has been taken advantage of. To this end, I feel that stop and frisk should be heavily reformed, but maybe not completely repealed. I'm not sure, but it would make an interesting debate! I also found it interesting that you mentioned the broken windows theory. Im not sure if you are aware, but the current NYPD commissioner, Bratton, was the commissioner who instituted this theory with Mayor Giuliani. Its almost ironic that he is the commissioner once again when the public is calling for reformation. Im curious to see what reforms, if any, the NYPD will be able to accomplish."
--( posted on Feb 18, 2015, commenting on the post Policing Problems I )
 
"I find your comments on policing issues quite interesting, and similar to the ones I stated in my own post. Police brutality and an over-reliance on guns is a very pressing issue in the police community. In my post, I mentioned the officer discretion laws, giving New York City officers the choice in using guns during emergency encounters based on their judgement. However, you took it a step further by mentioning the Peter Liang case, which I've heard about earlier. In my opinion it was an accident. I believe the firearm went off and struck a bystander further down the stairwell, whom the officers were unaware of. Unfortunately, he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Despite being an accident, the question arises, why did officer Liang have his gun unholstered in the first place in a housing complex? There could be many bystanders who are in danger in that situation, and it is up to the officer's discretion to use his firearm. This, however, just points to the police's over dependence on firearms. Ideally, officer Liang should have had more training to deal with situations and learn not to depend on his firearm as much. He has many other tools at his disposal, but out of habit, he decided to use his firearm. I believe the only way to effectively reduce the over dependence on firearms is a yearly or monthly training session on firearm use, takedown use, and martial arts training. An officer with a larger skill set means more tools at his disposal in tense situations, meaning he may start to feel comfortable doing routine searches without his weapon drawn, and perform takedowns without chokeholds. Though this seems a big venture, an added training program to the NYPD doesn't seem like to big an idea to handle."
--( posted on Feb 18, 2015, commenting on the post Problem 1 – Policing )