Questions for Debera Johnson
1. Does being environmentally conscious create any difficulties in designing and producing apparel and if so, how? (specifically with regards to the s.LAB)
2. How does BF+DA go through the process of selecting its academic fellows?
Questions for Debera Johnson Topic II
1). What problems did you see in the fashion industry that led you to create this new innovation initiative? How specifically does your launchpad initiative go about solving those issues?
2). On your website you call yourself a hub for ethical fashion and design? What exactly does ethical fashion & design mean/ entail?
Future of Work Problems
With technology becoming more prevalent and the human population increasing exponentially, the future of work is an uncertain aspect of life. While technological advances are necessary in the development of society, it will also force certain changes in society that may benefit or harm certain groups of people.
One problem regarding future work practices is the issue of freelance work. Freelance jobs are becoming more popular because companies do not have to worry about space and the labor force. The labor supply seems endless and cutting costs with electricity and office space is ideal to a large corporation. Freelance work is controversial because of possible safety problems and job security. Uber, a popular car service company utilizes an app to give customers a ride, similar to taxis. However, there have been many safety concerns with Uber because drivers are required to use the app to determine customer location and fare. Using a phone while operating a vehicle is a safety hazard and one incident occurred where an Uber driver killed a pedestrian while using the app. Uber drivers have a 15 second window to accept a customer on the app and this is a very unsafe practice especially on the road. Freelance workers also have no security as the same driver was not insured or protected by Uber for the accident. Other freelance companies are no safer as background checks are often lacking and employee history is rarely maintained. This also reveals the issue of employee benefits. Most freelance workers are considered “independent contractors” and have issues receiving health care, retirement, and other insurance benefits.
Technology heavily influences the way we work and increases the speed of communication. With email and video calling, workers are effectively working past their work hours and outside of the office. Smartphones, which can connect an employee anywhere and any time, keep workers on call 24/7 and can also change the way people work. While it is convenient for the company to be consistently active, employees have little time for themselves because of constant work related distractions. Workers are not paid after hours and proper office hours become blurred. Employees are not motivated with this increased work and may become a further problem in the future as more technology is introduced in the work environment.
Lastly, a problem with work is the uncertainty that one will receive a job. It is now very common for people to graduate college and receive a Bachelor’s degree and the increasing global population equates to more competition for a certain position. With increasing expectations by companies, students are almost required to have prior work experience before obtaining a job fresh out of college. In this society where employers search for the best, it is common to see that entry level positions requiring a few years of experience from internships. This creates a paradox with many people because they need experience to get a job but need a job to get experience, which makes finding a job and moving up in the ranks much harder. In this society, internships are effectively entry level positions and pressures college graduates to work before they officially should be working.
http://www.businessinsider.com/apps-like-uber-could-be-a-serious-distraction-for-drivers-2014-12
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26958079
http://www.wsj.com/articles/want-an-entry-level-job-youll-need-lots-of-experience-1407267498
Questions for the Centre for Social Innovation
In this class we are currently speaking about the changing nature of work. How do the facilities at CSI reflect these changes? What aspects of the space mimmick those of the traditional workplace and what aspects of that is CSI trying to change?
According to the CSI website, each organization has access to a private office space, so how are collaborations made between organizations? Are there any collaborations between organizations or ventures currently happening at the center?
Policing Solutions
Three major policing problems that I addressed in my last post were excessive police brutality in prisons, the inefficiency of the court systems, and the disconnection between the public and the police force.
Prison and jail guards very often mistreat inmates beyond what is necessary and the repercussions for their unprovoked violence are either nonexistent or less punitive than they should be. Policemen should be regarded as normal people before the law and should not receive special treatment because of their badge or status. I propose that we install more cameras in prisons and jails in order to monitor not only the prisoners’ behavior, but also the officers’. The prison officials themselves should not handle this footage, but rather an unbiased, outside government agency should. Jail officials have a tendency to bury evidence, as in the case of Darren Rainey, a mentally ill prisoner who was forced into a shower of scalding water by prison guards. The report stated that his death was a result of a heart attack. We also need to install a fair system of punishment for police officers to avoid granting them immunity for their actions. This will consequently reduce the abuse of power that so many incarcerated people must endure.
The inefficiency of the court systems in providing inmates with speedy and fair trials is another huge issue that is primarily relevant for overcrowded, poor districts. Many people are sentenced to prison unfairly and usually have to serve long sentences. There are many judges, such as Judge Herman C. Dawson, who will very often oft for long periods of incarceration as the only choice to correct these “criminals”. Such frequent, unnecessary lock ups perpetuates the inadequacy of the whole system. We can ease this backlog by hiring more court staff, but I think a more sustainable and just approach would be to put a system in place that would monitor judges’ court decisions, especially those who are known for imposing unreasonably harsh sentences. Another judge or court worker will be assigned to oversee the cases of the exaggeratedly punitive judge and work with them to administer fairer punishments. Even judges need to be judged.
Anyone who watches the news recognizes that tensions between the public and the police force have reached a new high. Police brutality incidents, such as those of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, have instigated protests that have resulted in both civilian and police officer deaths. Disagreements between Mayor de Blasio and the police department have also increased qualms among the general public. The first step to resolving, or at least easing, this issue is for the mayor and the police to develop a better relationship and maintain a united front for the sake of the public. If even the mayor is distrustful of the police, citizens will certainly have concerns about officers. A further way of alleviating the problem is to place full-body cameras on police officers in an effort to decrease police brutality incidents and reassure accountability. This will pacify the sentiment that policemen are “out to get you”, and instead demonstrate that they serve to protect us.
References:
http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/darren-rainey/
Policing Solutions
One of the problems that I will address with a solution is the problem of police brutality and police overstepping their boundaries. Police officers are overwhelmed with work and policies like quotas make it so that they can not do their work efficiently. Officers are under a lot of pressure in and out of the field as a result. My proposal for a solution is to better train the officers to handle certain situations and keep them under as little stress as possible. Police education is very important because in an example from the Eric Garner case, an illegal chokehold was administered to the victim and better reminders on what to do and what not to do needs to constantly be emphasized. Having more police officers on duty would certainly help the situation because there is strength in numbers. Since officers are risking their lives in daily unknown situations, there is the possibility of mitigating that risk with more backup. Reallocating funds to the purchasing of body armor would be extremely helpful in lowering that risk as well.
Of course, this would create a financial issue so the police would need to budget their spending on certain areas. The police system could potentially reduce spending on incarceration of non-harmful drug crimes such as marijuana. In 2013, 1.5 million people in the United States were arrested and that money and police labor used to do so could be spent on something else. With less people in prison for non-violent drug crimes, prisons could potentially close down thus saving even more money. While it may not be an immediate solution to the money problem, it is a start and a possible solution that can knock two birds with one stone.
Another solution that can be implemented is the use of body cameras. While controversial in their cost and skepticism about its reliability, body cameras will keep officers honest and is a vital piece of evidence in the courtroom. In the case with Michael Brown, video evidence would have helped shed light to what exactly happened. This would probably prevent some of the violent rioting that happened in Ferguson. The witnesses of the shooting were unreliable themselves and some even admitted that they weren’t at the scene when it happened. Body cameras can record exactly what happened during a scene and can determine whether the police officer is following proper protocol. A camera is unbiased and having some source of evidence is better than having nothing. In a study, officer complaints dropped 87% and violent arrests decreased 59% showing that it is indeed effective. Of course, video evidence has been shown to not always work as seen in the Eric Garner case but video evidence can be part of a large scale reform that will slowly eliminate this problem. Body cameras would keep officers and society more honest and help towards the cause of an unbiased and fair society.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/12/26/new-study-has-good-news-for-police-body-camera-proponents/
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/19/ferguson-prosecutor-witnesses-darren-wilson-michael-brown
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2014/dec/04/i-cant-breathe-eric-garner-chokehold-death-video
http://www.drugpolicy.org/drug-war-statistics
Questions for Milk not Jails
How will Milk Not Jails accommodate and help prison workers who lose their jobs if this venture is successful in their goal?
What is the plan of Milk Not Jails to help the incarcerated reintegrate themselves back into society and progress beyond farming occupations?
Policing Problems
Due to recent incidents such as failure to indict officers responsible for the death of Michael Brown and Eric Gartner, policing has come into close scrutiny lately. There have been a myriad of protests calling for an upheaval of the police system. Some of the problems regarding policing practices that have been brought to the surface are unreasonable and unnecessary use of force, police training, and racial profiling.
The problem with police training is that while at the academy the concept of officer safety is heavily emphasized. These officers in training are shown painful videos of officers beaten, gunned down, and killed due to moments of hesitation. They are shown demonstrations of situations such as someone pulling a gun when reaching behind car door, or turning around abruptly and shooting, or someone armed with a knife attacking an officer, all before the officer has a chance to remove his gun from his holster. Such training instills such fear into police officers that many are in a sense wired to shoot before the threat is fully realized.
The problem with unnecessary use of force can be demonstrated by the case of Eric Gartner who was killed due to a chokehold by a police officer even though he was unarmed and posed no immediate threat other than swatting his arms. This problem stems from the fear that many police officers have that was described earlier which leads to rash reactions. These police officers which are heavily armed and plenty of times will react to situations with excessive force instead of using other methods to handle the situation. Such cases contribute to ever growing rift between police and civilians.
The main problem with policies such as stop and frisk is that such practices create a sense of mistrust between police officers and the communities that they protect. In 1994 Mayor Giuliani and the NYPD adopted policies that promote aggressive enforcement of minor offenses. Each year thousands of New Yorkers are wrongfully stopped and searched. Many of these citizens stopped are sexually or physically assaulted by officers. In 2011 there were 684,000 stops and 90% of those stops did not result in arrests and those that did resulted in low level arrests. This policy is not only flawed in that it does not aid in reducing crime, it is also a form of racial profiling as a majority of those stopped are of color. Policies such as stop and frisk systematically target low-income communities of color, young people, LGBT, and immigrants. In 2011 53% of stops made were performed on blacks, 34% of stops were made on Hispanics. In Park Slope 79% of stop and frisk stops were performed on Black/Hispanics. Such policies make us all less safe by creating an environment of fear instead of trust.
In order for an effective reform on the current system of policing to occur it is imperative to understand these problems and the roots of these issues. New policies need to be implemented which will work towards a partnership between communities and the police in order to prevent crime together.
Sources:
http://changethenypd.org/issue
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/12/police-gun-shooting-training-ferguson/383681/
http://www.psmag.com/politics-and-law/problems-police-sanctions-eric-holder-cops-cleveland-firearms-crime-97137
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/katrina-vanden-heuvel-the-moral-and-political-case-for-criminal-justice-reform/2014/11/17/3eedc60c-6e7a-11e4-8808-afaa1e3a33ef_story.html
