INCOME INEQUALITY IN THE U.S

Income inequality in the U.S has been on the increase over the years based on numerous factors and indicators. Surprisingly, most U.S citizens do not actually know the extent of the inequality in their society or perhaps they highly underestimate it. Fitz was right in asserting that if the poor really know how rich the rich are, there would be riots in the streets. Even President Obama said that economic inequality is the defining challenge of our time. The question is: does this apparent income inequality existing in the U.S pose a problem? And what are the problems posed?

A Measure of the U.S Income Inequality

Income inequality is measured by the Gini Coefficient which is a measure of the dispersion between zero and one representing perfect equality and inequality, respectively. There has been an increase in the distribution of income in the United States. The Gini index of income dispersion for U.S households reached as high as 0.44 in 2009, and it keeps rising. 

What exactly is the extent of this inequality? According to Fitz, the average American believes that the wealthiest fifth own 59% of the wealth and that the lowest 40% owns 9%. However, in reality, the wealthiest 20% has more than 84% of the wealth and the lowest 40% totals for 0.3% of the wealth. He also cited a recent survey in which median Americans were asked to estimate how much CEOs and workers earn and should earn. They estimated a CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 30:1 that should be ideally 7:1 but unlikely, it is 354:1, respectively. This shows that we do not actually know our level of existing income inequality.

Income inequality has widened since the 1970s following a reduction in economic growth. The Census family income data reveals that the period of shared prosperity ended in the 1970s and from this time onwards income inequality sets in. Income inequality dramatically increased from 1979 to 2007 before the Great Recession and financial crisis with the net income of the top 1% quadrupling. A peak in the average level of after-tax income of the top 1% was achieved in 2007 and has remained lower than that over the years but the percentage increase during 1979-2013 which is five times higher than the middle 60% and four times higher than the bottom fifth. Moreover, out of the $153.2 trillion world personal wealth recorded by Allianz’s new Global Wealth Report 2015 and the U.S alone has $63.5 trillion total private wealth. In fact, the U.S has the 4^th highest income Gini Coefficient of 0.4 after Turkey, Chile, and Mexico.

Problem of Income Inequality in the U.S

Republicans argue that income inequality is necessary in the United States for economic growth, but evidence has shown that America does not actually need inequality to achieve economic growth. As a matter of fact, income inequality has impeded economic growth over the years in America. Many economists and recognized world leaders have cited income inequality as the greatest existing problem of America. Interestingly, most Americans do not even recognize income inequality as a problem because perhaps they do not know the extent of the inequality in the system and how it affects them.

Due to income inequality, the top rich people have enough money to lavish and save. The middle class and low-income earners do not have enough money to live and are burdened by debt and in fact, they cannot build up wealth. Resultantly, a kind of self-perpetuating cycle is created in the system between the rich and the poor. Moreover, the wealthy have wealth stocked up for 10 to 15 generations and even more whereas the poor barely have enough to feed upon. The result is because of the poor working for the rich in order to earn a living. According to Fitz, the U.S is now the most unequal of all Western nations and the level of income inequality in the United States has considerably hampered social mobility.

CNBC reported a survey by Harvard Business School which pointed out that America would have better leverage to compete globally if it fixes its worsening wealth gap than boosting the overall economic growth. According to the report, the growing inequality in the U.S has posed increasing threat to American companies and largely limited their leverage to compete on the world stage. This income inequality can be easily addressed, and higher taxes on income and wealth would be the most effective way to address income inequality.

Work Cited

Fitz, Nicholas. "Economic Inequality: It’s Far Worse than You Think". Scientific American. N.p., 2015. Web. 23 Oct. 2016. < https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/economic-inequality-it-s-far-worse-than-you-think/>

BIOGRAPHY OF BILL McDERMOTT-"ARE LEADERS BORN OR MADE”

Bill McDermott, co-CEO, SAP, comes from an utterly modest background. By the age of 16Bill was an entrepreneur, and it shows the spark he had in him. Starting his career as an employee of a restaurant with a job profile of clearing away dishes, setting tables and assisting servers, and next assignment as an assistant in a grocery shop, he had the meteoric rise to the coveted position of co-CEO of SAP by dint of seer business acumen. He was born on 18^th August 1961 in New York, United States,

Early Life and Education

Bill McDermott had a humble beginning so far as his early days are concerned. He lived with his parents in Amityville in close proximity of Great South Bay, and the area boasted of several canals that used to flood houses including that of McDermott. He had to wade through water to attend the interview for a job with Xerox.

McDermott is an MBA in Business Management which he obtained from J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management under Northwestern University. He also underwent Executive Development Program successfully from Wharton School under the University of Pennsylvania, and it was from Dowling College that he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Business Management.

The Spark

The career of Bill McDermott has had a meteoric rise from a helper in an Italian restaurant at 16 years of age to an entrepreneur as an owner of a deli where he first exhibited his business acumen and insight into business planning. He managed to hoodwink competitors at this tender age with a deft understanding of consumer behavior. He took into account the needs of the different segment of society such as blue-collar job holders, kids, workers, and the likes. He did not use the age-old cliché of asking customers what else he wanted, and substituted it with what else he could get for them. It shows his deep understanding of consumer psyche at that young age.

He took the first big jump in his career when he joined Xerox in 1983 as a professional in the sales department, and by the age of 37, he became the youngest president as well as a corporate officer of the company. Later, by 2002, he was in SAP and creating history for himself and that of the company.

He believed in himself, and took criticisms of others in the right perspective and ignored them. He took risks that paid rich dividends. He showed early signs of entrepreneurship when he risked $7000 to purchase the deli which he ran successfully. He took recourse to good services to succeed and believed in building business niche by niche. He intended to look at, and do, things differently. That is why; he rose to occupy the coveted position of Co-Chief Executive Officer, Member of Global Managing Board, and Member of the Executive Board, President of Global Field Operations, and Chief Executive Officer of Global Field Operations of SAP AG. He is actively associated with 25 board members across three different establishments in eight industries of various kinds. At an age of 51 years, his total compensation for the fiscal year 2012 has been estimated as €8,856,800.

William R. McDermott, popularly known as Bill, has been SAP as Co-Chief Executive Officer with effect from 7^th February 2010, Chief Executive Officer and Member of Executive Board of SAP Ag since July 2008. He has been serving as Co-Chief Executive Officer, Chief Executive Officer and President of SAP America Inc which is a SAP Labs LLC unit subsidiary till July 2008. He also donned the post of Corporate Officer of SAP from April 2007.  He manages strategic business activities of SAP in America and Canada. He provides direction to over 5000 employees with respect to the needs of consumers. He has won many awards and accolades and widely held in high esteem for getting the best out of employees in terms of performance. During his first year with SAP, he led the organization to the constant increase in market share for all four quarters and increases in revenue generation. He was responsible for the customer as well as employee satisfaction.

After his stint with Xerox for seventeen long years where he started his career in sales division and became its Corporate Officer and Divisional President, Bill was associated with Siebel Systems as Executive President and promoted worldwide sales and looked after field operations and global sales between 2001 and 2002. He served as President of Gartner Inc from the year 2000 to 2001. Since March 2004, he has been a serving director, PAETEC Holding Corp and that of PAETEC communications since 2004. An independent Director of Ansys Inc. with effect from July 2007, he has been serving as Director of ‘Under Armour’ from August 2005. He also performs as a Board of Director for welfare-to-work Partnership based in the U.S., and promoting career opportunities. Bill is a member of the Enterprise Software Roundtable, Business Roundtable, KIIP School National Advisory Board, and the Advisory Board for Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania. Recipient of the nation’s highest award for performance in business Baldrige Award, he was voted to the Dowling College Board of Trustees, and was also accorded the status of Alumnus by Dowling College for 2003 which is presented annually by the President of the U.S. for outstanding achievements in the fields of strategic planning, leadership, information and analysis, customer and market focus, business results and process management.

Other Interests

Bill McDermott is widely acknowledged as an active civic leader and espouser of social responsibilities in businesses. As early as 2005, he has been an elected member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a federation boasting three million companies and organizations as its members which makes it the world’s largest business federation. He was also elected to the Chamber Foundation Board. He was acknowledged as one among ten Most Influential People in Finance of Treasury and Risk Management in June 2005. He has declared as the winner of the Ernest & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2005 Awards in Applied Technology constituted by Ernst & Young. He has been a charter member of the advisory council for the Hands on Network Organization, a conglomeration of voluntary organizations in China, the Philippines, and America which is engaged in the development of entrepreneurial strategies to narrowing the gap between community needs and resources.

                 

WASTE AND SLUDGE MANAGEMENT: HEALTH SCENARIO IN SOUTH ASIA- A CASE STUDY OF NEPAL

Health in a country is normally determined by the number of indicators showing the major health concerns of individuals. The major indicators include life expectancy, infant mortality, maternal mortality and the child mortality of age under 5. The government and non-government organizations (NGOs level) have developed plans after analyzing these basic indicators and the remedial measure in order to ensure good health service and improve the quality of living in Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Health is one of the significant basic issues in Nepal. Health in Nepal is affected by three major factors: the high rate of poverty, illiteracy, and lack of proper sanitation (waste management). In a survey conducted during period 2000-2013 that indicated that the life expectancy rate is low with a maximum of about 55 years; even the women' life expectancy is much lower than men that are alarming. It clearly shows that health care for men is given more priority than women. The highest risk group for poor health is of children having aged less than five years, and this again includes a higher rate of girls and other is females of maturity age. The mortality rate of female is higher than male by 24%.

Waste and Sludge Management

Nepal is, unfortunately, one of the least developed countries of the world, and 60 percent of their population lives below the poverty line along with a high level of illiteracy. The health and education are correlated. Health care measures, preventive health measures, control of communicable diseases and healthy nutritional programs all depend on the education level of people. They would better understand the importance of health and life through proper education. The control of these chronic diseases is also dependent on the availability of safe and pure drinking water, proper sanitation, sludge and waste management facilities. Many of the diseases are infectious, so it is important to design preventive measure by the proper development of the sewerage system, waste and sludge disposal that would result in a hygienic environment in Nepal. It is mentioned in a report that about 37% of the Nepal population (34% rural and 66% urban) have access to safe and clean drinking water and 6% have access to proper sanitation facilities.

In addition, the abundant use of septic tanks in urban areas and waste dumping give rise to sludge management problem. That generated sludge without treatment has become one of the most significant challenges in the context of waste management, in Nepal. The untreated disposals of sewage sludge generate significant amounts of greenhouse gases as well as posing health and other environmental problems. People of Nepal due to lack of education and proper understanding of how to dump their waste and sludge The waste includes kitchen and human solid waste, used water from kitchen and garbage. There is no proper sludge dumping mechanism and is thrown in a large big ground making the soil infertile. The sludge creates an ideal environment for nourishment of bacteria and virus. The standard practices of sludge disposal need to be exercised including composting and incineration. Composted sludge can be used for soil conditioner as green fertilizers in gardens and vegetation.

Proper waste bins are needed to be installed at least one in every group of 10 houses. It will help them to throw solid waste in those bins that can be then either burnt or dumped off by Government bodies or private bodies. A common practice is Nepal is to use human and animal excreta as a fertilizer in fields. They think this practice makes the soil fertile, but they do not know about associated serious diseases. That is again due to lack of education. Proper training mechanism must be ensured to educate rural people how to manage waste. There is no proper inflowing water for homes through proper pipelines. People are forced to drink this water and women also wash clothes on those streams, cleaning of their livestock is also done there along with bathing practice. Using same impure water for drinking is linked with many stomach and skin diseases.

The use of human waste as an agricultural fertilizer is common in Nepal. Many health risks are associated with this practice. Burning eyes, lung diseases, and skin rashes have been found in farmers and residents who use human waste as fertilizer. The geographic distribution of Nepal is another major obstacle in transporting proper health services to each and every part of the country. More than eighty percent of the populace lives in urban areas especially hilly areas that rely only on agriculture. Although there are many problems for the people living on hilly areas but the most serious concerns are due to lack of proper sanitation and waste management. That is the major causes of many health issues among the people living in these places. People normally cook insides of their wooden homes using natural resources for fire as animal waste. Due to the congested and less airy architecture of homes and the burning of animal waste that generates dangerous smoke is the cause of lung diseases among many villagers.

However, there are few NGOs active in designing plans to introduce techniques in rural areas that could improve the quality of living. Such techniques include the architecture change of home so that it becomes airier. Consequently, smoke could not be retained inside home, proper sewerage mechanism to discharge waste water in an efficient way, implement waste and sludge management plans and to highlight the importance of hygiene by designing techniques for sludge disposal. It is not the responsibility of the private sector alone. The government of Nepal must also play its role and support such efforts of NGOs to improve the living quality of the people 

SOLAR DESALINATION PLANT: EVERYWHERE AND ANYWHERE

Solar desalination plant, California, Source: Cole Mellino, EcoWatch

Solar desalination plant and technique is simply to convert any salty water to usable water by solar energy. The seawater and solar available for desalination which can be used for drinking or agriculture or for industrial uses where saltiest water cannot be used. The Great Aristotle told this method during 4 BC, by heating and evaporating the non-potable sale water and vapor collected as potable water. Alexander the Great used the same technique during the voyage in ships during 200 AD.

Around the world, 125 countries are adopting solar desalination technology for drinking water and agricultural uses.

Middle East                                   53.5 %

North America                              17 %

Asian Countries                           10.7 %

Europe                                          10.1 %

Central and South America        02 %

Australia                                       0.5 %

Methods of Solar Desalination

The direct method, a distilling mechanism connected with a solar collector and in a simple cycle method, the salt water converted to usable water.

The second method, an array of solar collector consisting of photovoltaic and or fluid based thermal collectors and conventional separate desalination plant. The reverse osmosis [RO] and photovoltaic panels system available for commercial use from the year 2009 onwards. In the second method, water is cheaper when the production is increased. An average of 200 Liters water can filter in one square meter Photovoltaic panel processor in a day.  This method largely used for agriculture in arid countries and acute shortage of drinking groundwater countries. Around the world, 750 million people are not drinking or not using clean water at this stage. This may go up 1.9 billion in next 8 to 10 years.

Top Countries Using Solar Desalination

The top four countries using Solar Desalination drinking water around the world:

Largest Solar Powered Desalination Plant, Saudi Arabia, 

1.    Saudi Arabia – is the largest desalination water producer in the world and leader in this process for a long time. In Al Khafiji, the largest solar photovoltaic plant installed and working successfully in the Desert Nation. By 2019, Saudi Arabia wants to convert all its plant run by solar energy. In other words, shift towards solar desalination.

2.    Israel – the desert land is the pioneer in water conservation technology. The 80 to 85 % of the wastewater recycled in Israel. The country is planning to use recycled water minimum 55% for agriculture purpose. By installing, processing, and selling their solar desalination technology, 300 more companies earn nearly $ 2.5 Billion per annum.

3.    California – is one of the largest user and 17 plants installed in California. One of the largest independent water producers is WaterFX in California, making several initiatives and kind of researches to supply good water. California uses the water for agri-business and for commercial uses.

4.    South Asia – South India one of largest solar plant installed and produces 37 million cubic meters of water per annum in one plant, and the second plant produces 100 million liters of seawater. This is to mainly to take care of drinking and for commercial uses.

The initial cost is one of the worrying factors in these solar desalination processes. At the cost of USD 1.5 to 2.0 per cubic meter of water produced. The cost varies depending upon the technology used and output made. Israel’s Hadera plant make at a cost of USD 0.65 to 0.50.

Like Mobile towers, internet connection, the Solar Desalination Plants are inevitable in any country. Just planting one tree, one person, and one year will solve this problem. Green the earth and Green your life.                    

OVERVIEW OF FOSSIL FUEL AND FUTURE RESERVES

Fossil fuel is defined as fuel obtained from prehistoric organisms. It may be any fuel containing carbon that is derived from decomposed leftovers of plants and animals that have died thousands of years ago. Examples of fossil fuel include:

• ·         Coal,
• ·         Natural gas,
• ·         Petroleum,
• ·         Peat,

Crude oil (unrefined petroleum) has been the major source of oil over the years and being the major source of energy, it has been heavily exploited over the years. Crude oil is used as the source of fuel and energy for powering automobiles, machinery, residential homes and so forth.

The world’s reliance on crude oil comes with great cost. Primarily, oil is a hydrocarbon that contains high amount of carbon, thus when burnt, crude oil gives off carbon dioxide because its carbon content combines with oxygen and therefore, the resultant carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas that is a little heavier than air. Moreover, carbon dioxide causes global warming; it is a greenhouse gas. Global warming is one of the major issues faced by our planet and with the incessant burning of oil in automobiles and the projected increase, the world will likely face grave issue of global warming if nothing is done about it.

Furthermore, ozone depletion is a major issue caused by the burning of fossil fuel. The ozone layer is being gradually depleted, causing the amount of ultraviolet radiations reaching the earth to increase. These demerits are indeed grave, but no effective alternative to replacing crude oil has been developed. A lot of novel technologies are propping up as alternatives. However, these technologies are not yet mature to replace crude oil as a source of energy.

Natural gas is also an excellent source of energy, and there is even a higher deposit of natural gas than petroleum, but petroleum is still the dominant source of energy for several reasons. Crude oil accounts for more than 30% of the total energy needs of the world. This figure is above that of natural gas and coal. Crude oil can be refined into various forms such as diesel fuel, gasoline, kerosene and these sources of fuel are quite indispensable in the world today. Studies show that the global reliance on crude oil is not likely to change in the next 30 years.

We the habitats of this word need to think about our environment, future generations and natural blessings of God.

DEVELOPMENT OF SUPPORT SYSTEM MODEL FOR EFFECTIVE DECISION MAKING IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY

There is increased concern regarding global food safety in the present modern era. Irish pork incident that happened in 2008 caused the country-wide destruction of pork products and resulted in a fright of food borne illnesses throughout the northern global hemisphere. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 76 million cases in which people suffered food borne disease every year. About 300,000 were hospitalized while about 5000 people died in the year 2009. The US Department of Agriculture has divined a continual increase in food-related diseases in the future. Therefore, it is vital for processed foods manufacturer to take mitigation strategies and framework during production and supply chain. Moreover, it is necessary to communicate the consumers or customers well in time to prevent them from diseases.

Many manufacturers forced to modify the entire production run of a particular product due to safety concerns. For instance, Peanut Corporation of America faced safety issues for their peanut butter by the year 2009. In the recent past, the Food and Drug Administration of the United States reported many incidents ranging from labeling to packaging errors having serious health hazards.

Effective management of processed food products in the context of safety has a great challenge for the industry as well as governments. Unhygienic and contaminated food products can make a potential threat for public health. This is imperative to evaluate existing safety challenges that may generate food borne diseases. The reliable knowledge management can facilitate decision-making during manufacturing of processed food. This all is possible by employing reliability engineering that is based on both qualitative and quantitative characteristics. The measurements of reliability is important for consumer requirements compliance that demands a state of art design in reliability to attain the goals. Reliability engineering emphasizes the significance of moral engineering principles to ensure the product reliability. Identification of possible causes of failure and eradication can help to improve product reliability.

In conclusion, the processed food industry has its unique set of hazards. It is overwhelmed by a long history of fatality and disease occurrence. The study emphasizes the importance of reliability engineering including knowledge management model within the supply chain of the food industry, effective communication and identification of steps to facilitate the industry. In addition, decision management model will enable the industry to overcome the product safety issues and incidents as well as rebuild trust among their customers.

CLIMATE CHANGE CLOSING THE GENDER GAP FOR VALERIAN PLANTS

Valerian plants are likely to grow in hot and cold mountain slopes depending on their sex. The growth of male’s valerian plants depends on heat and resultantly, global warming boosting their growth in the mountains of Colorado’s Rocky. The ratio of male to female plants changes with elevation because of males and females like dry and warm as well as cold and wet conditions, respectively. The female’s plants may probably account 80% in few upland sites, but the weather is becoming warmer on up slopes of the mountain due to climate change. Subsequently, more male’s plants are growing compared to females that is an indication of climate change

According to research conducted in the Rocky Mountains forty years ago, the number of males was one third compared to females which is on the increase with the passage of time. This shows that the warmer climate is lessening the females upside the mountains. The rate of change in male to female plants share has been changing equivalent to the magnitude of climate change since the late 1970s. The upslope area is going to dry due to the melting of snow and summers are becoming warmer. Resultantly, rainfalls and moisture of soil have been moving on the upside of the slope by 133m and 195m in every decade, respectively. Subsequently, the sex ratios of valerian plants and climate have become interlinked. Hence, the researchers can use this trend as a fingerprint to predict future scenario of the species’ population.Moreover, in 2011, the researchers observed a drastic increase in the share of males to females compared to the period of 1978-1980. This may eliminate flowers by destructing female’s plants in lower altitude. In short, the scientists have the opinion that migration due to climate change may set the geographical limits for only one sex of the plants.