Karen Hanson: Facing Facts and Responsibilities

question 15

Multiple Choice

Karen Hanson: Facing Facts and Responsibilities
According to Karen Hanson in "Facing Facts and Responsibilities," a central problem in the debate over affirmative action is the lack of consensus over where the burden of proof should lie. Given the under-representation of women and minorities in academia, is it up to those who oppose affirmative action to demonstrate that current hiring practices work fairly and ensure equal opportunity for all? Or is it the responsibility of affirmative action advocates to identify specific ways in which gender and racial biases infect hiring procedures, even those claiming to be gender and race-blind? Hanson's answer is that we are not entitled to assume hiring practices are unproblematic until proven otherwise because it is unreasonable to think academics are free from the racism and sexism that remains pervasive throughout society. After all, academics live in that society as well and academic training and allegiance to meritocratic ideals have not shown themselves to be any barrier to unjust discrimination in the past. Thus according to Hanson, the burden should lie with opponents of affirmative action.
Hanson also addresses two concerns commonly expressed by opponents of affirmative action: first, that affirmative action ignores social disadvantages suffered by individuals outside historically marginalized groups; and secondly, that affirmative action may create new forms of injustice by unfairly depriving white men of opportunities and stigmatizing women and minorities. Regarding the first worry, Hanson notes that attending to one form of injustice does not entail ignoring or denying that other forms exist. And the mere fact that other forms of injustice exist does not undercut the case for affirmative unless it could somehow be shown that affirmative action policies exacerbate those other injustices. Regarding the second worry, Hanson admits that affirmative action policies are not immune in principle from creating unjust outcomes for individuals outside historically marginalized groups. But Hanson argues that the onus is on critics of affirmative action to show when and how this is the case. Furthermore, Hanson does not take concerns about stigmatization seriously, since it is unclear to her how much preferential hiring procedures could increase the stigmatization already created by decades of sexism and racism, especially in light of the fact that many white men have enjoyed various forms of preferential treatment and suffered no appreciable stigmatization as a result.
-According to Hanson, academics teach lessons to their student through:

• A) the content of their courses.
• B) the results of their research.
• C) the way their institution is structured.
• D) all of the above.

Understand the process of mentorship and its impact on self-esteem and professional development.

Understand how to calculate various financial ratios, such as debt-to-equity, equity ratio, debt ratio, and times interest earned.

Ability to compute turnover ratios, including accounts receivable turnover, inventory turnover, and days' sales in inventory.

Learn how to compute liquidity ratios, specifically the current ratio and acid-test (quick) ratio.

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Definitions:

Positive Land Rent

The income received by landowners for the use of their land, typically due to the land's desirable location or fertility, which generates a return above the minimum needed to bring the land into production.

Values

The importance or worth that people attach to different things, ranging from material goods to principles and ethical standards.

Acres

A measurement unit used primarily in the United States, equal to 43,560 square feet, often used to describe the size of land.

Allocation of Land

The process of distributing land resources among competing uses or users according to certain criteria, policies, or plans.