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The San Diego Monitor
Blue Collar vs. White Collar: What's the Difference? "Blue collar" and "white collar" are two terms in the English language that evoke very different pictures. The blue-collar worker is perceived to make less than the white-collar worker. The white-collar worker might work behind a desk in the service industry, while the blue-collar worker gets his hands dirty doing manual labor or working in a division of manufacturing. Perhaps the white-collar worker has a more well-rounded education than the blue collar worker. The distinguishing characteristics between the two types of employees go on and yet there is no dictionary definition that can offer more succinct language as to what the phrases signify other than to suggest, in imprecise terms, the differences in class. Another way to define these two phrases is the white-collar worker not only makes more money than the blue-collar worker, but he or she also fills a different social class. Yet, to suggest the white-collar worker exists in a different social class from the blue collar worker still does not satisfy questions on the quantitative differences of annual income, the number of years of post-secondary schooling each has, or the skills each worker possesses. White Collar Workers White-collar workers are suit-and-tie workers who work at a desk and, stereotypically, eschew physical labor. They tend to make more money than blue-collar workers.
American writer Upton Sinclair is partially responsible for the modern understanding of the term "white collar," having used the phrase in conjunction with administrative work. The differences in connotation between white collar and blue collar have much more to say about the way we perceive the service industry in comparison to manufacturing and agriculture. If a country's infrastructure is so developed as to offer its workers safe desk jobs in clerical or managerial capacities that require mental attention rather than physically exhausting jobs of corporal exertion, then the nation has become empowered enough to remove the burden of physicality from the requirements of earning a wage. Blue Collar Workers Blue-collar worker stereotypical refers to workers who engage in hard manual labor, typically agriculture, manufacturing, construction, mining, or maintenance. If the reference to a blue collar job does not point to these types of work, it might imply another physically exhausting task. The environment may be outdoors or require interaction with heavy machinery or animals. The blue collar worker may be skilled or unskilled. If skilled, his skills may have been obtained at a trade school rather than through a bachelor's degree program at a college or university. Cont. pg.8
What do they Want you to KNOW? What Everyone Needs to Know About 2020 Census Questions By law, the U.S. government is required to count the number of people living in the United States every 10 years. Getting an accurate count is important because census numbers impact daily life in the United States in many ways. For example, census data are often used to determine how much federal funding is allocated for important projects and services that benefit local communities. The census also plays a vital role in our nation’s system of government by determining how many representatives will be sent to Congress from each state. Because getting an accurate count is so important, the process is designed to be fast, easy, and safe. On average, it takes no more than 10 minutes to answer the questions on the census. How Are Census Data Collected? During the first census in 1790, census takers visited nearly every U.S. home to gather data. In 2020, households will have the option of responding online, by mail, or by phone. The Census Bureau expects many households to complete the questionnaire online, using instructions received in the mail. These instructions will also include information about how to respond by phone. Some households will receive a printed questionnaire which they can mail, postage-free, back to the
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Census Bureau. A small percentage of households, primarily located in remote areas of the country, will be visited by a census taker who will help collect the necessary information to complete the form. Who Receives the Census Questionnaire and How Is It Filled Out? Most housing units in the United States that receive mail at their physical location will receive a letter by mail with instructions on how to complete the census questionnaire. Housing units include houses, apartments, cabins, mobile homes—pretty much any place where people live in the United States. In areas where the majority of housing units do not have mail delivered to their physical location, census workers will leave questionnaire packages at every identified housing unit. The census process also includes special provisions to count people who are homeless and those in other types of living quarters, such as college dorms, military barracks, ships, prisons, nursing homes, and homeless shelters. The person in the housing unit who fills out the census questionnaire or talks to the census taker is known as Person 1. Typically, Person 1 is the owner/co-owner or renter/corenter of the housing unit. READ MORE sdmonitornews.com
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Examining the Black-white wealth gap close examination of wealth in the U.S. finds evidence of staggering racial disparities. At $171,000, the net worth of a typical white family is nearly ten times greater than that of a Black family ($17,150) in 2016. Gaps in wealth between Black and white households reveal the effects of accumulated inequality and discrimination, as well as differences in power and opportunity that can be traced back to this nation’s inception. The Black-white wealth gap reflects a society that has not and does not afford equality of opportunity to all its citizens. Efforts by Black Americans to build wealth can be traced back throughout American history. But these efforts have been impeded in a host of ways, beginning with 246 years of chattel slavery and followed by Congressional mismanagement of the Freedman’s Savings Bank (which left 61,144 depositors with losses of nearly $3 million in 1874), the violent massacre decimating Tulsa’s Greenwood District in 1921 (a population of 10,000 that thrived as the epicenter of African American business and culture, commonly referred to as “Black Wall Street”), and discriminatory policies throughout the 20th century including the Jim Crow Era’s “Black Codes” strictly limiting opportunity in many southern states, the GI bill, the New Deal’s Fair Labor Standards Act’s exemption of domestic agricultural and service occupations, and redlining. Wealth was taken from these communities before it had the opportunity to grow. This history matters for contemporary inequality in part because its legacy is passed down generation-to-generation through unequal monetary inheritances which make up a great deal of current wealth. In 2020 Americans are projected to inherit about $765 billion in gifts and bequests, excluding wealth transfers to spouses and transfers that support minor children. Inheritances account for roughly 4 percent of annual household income, much of which goes untaxed by the U.S. government. Just how large and persistent are these racial wealth gaps? As figure 1 shows, median net worth for white households has far exceeded that of Black households through recessions and booms over the last thirty years.
The San Diego Monitor While movements in white wealth are easier to see due to the larger scale, during the most recent economic downturn, median net worth declined by more for Black families (44.3 percent decline from 2007 to 2013) than for white families (26.1 percent decline). In fact, the ratio of white family wealth to Black family wealth is higher today than at the start of the century.
Median wealth—or the wealth of the household at the middle of a distribution—gives the experience of the typical family, but does not reflect the bulk of national wealth that is held by the richest households. White average wealth ($929,800), which is more influenced by very rich families and does not characterize the typical experience, is 6.7 times greater than Black average wealth ($138,100). White adults tend to be older (median age of 55) than African Americans (49 years old), and older people tend to have more wealth, but figure 2 shows that the wealth gap remains when looking within age groups. The typical young adult (18–34 years old) of either race has little wealth, but the gap rises quickly with age, and for 65–74-year-olds accumulates to $302,500 in median white wealth and $46,890 in median Black wealth. Wealth is the sum of resources available to a household at a point in time; as such it is clearly influenced by the income of a household, but the two are not perfectly correlated. Two households can have the same income, but the household with fewer expenses, or with more accumulated wealth from past income or inheritances, will have more wealth. Figure 3 shows median net worth at different points in the family income distribution. What is immediately evident is that the racial wealth gap remains even for families with the same income. For those in the top 10 percent by income (only 3.6 percent Black), the racial wealth gap is still quite large: median net worth for white families in this income group is $1,789,300 versus $343,160 for Black families. A racial gap exists in every income group except the bottom quintile (23.5 percent Black), where median net worth is zero for everyone.
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The San Diego Monitor
SDMNEWS Must Read 2020 CA Census Guide Table of Contents Section 1: General Information (PDF) •
Initiative and Referendum Qualification Requirements
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Candidate Qualifications and Information
Section 2: Nomination Requirements (PDF) •
Presidential Candidates
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United States Representative in Congress, and Member of the State Legislature Candidates
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Nomination Documents – Nomination Papers and Declaration of Candidacy
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Signatures In Lieu of Filing Fee
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Signatures In Lieu of Filing Fee and/or Nomination Papers
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Ballot Designations
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In General
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Campaign Filings and Responsibilities
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Candidate Intention Statement
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Campaign Contribution Account
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Exceptions
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Additional Filing Information
Section 3: Candidate Filing Information (PDF) •
Required Filing Fees, Nomination Signatures
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Write-In Candidates for the Office of President
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Write-In Candidates for Voter-Nominated Offices
In-Lieu
Signatures,
Section 4: Candidate Checklist (PDF) •
President of the United States
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United States Representative in Congress
For download please go to www.sdmonitornews.com
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The historical basis for the two terms may not have changed radically from their origins. Blue collar workers can get dirt on their shirts from working outdoors or in some physical capacity because of the color of the uniform. The blue collar worker might have been wearing jeans or overalls. Special Considerations In its most basic usage, to say one person is working a whitecollar job and another is working a blue collar job carries the significance of salary size. The blue collar worker might not earn a salary at all, he might be working for hourly wages, or he may get paid for every item produced or assembled. The blue collar worker might require the protection of a union to maintain the security of hours and future work. Likewise, there may be insecurity about the stability of the blue-collar worker's job, whether it be dependent on a contractual agreement with a third party or temporary in nature.
The San Diego Monitor position a white-collar worker holds may be stable since white collar work carries specific skills. While these terms may evoke an image of different social classes, the line between these types of workers is fading. As the technology associated with jobs previously considered blue collar increases, so does the amount of education needed and subsequent pay the workers receive. Electricians and cable installers are just two types of employees who have seen this increase in their fields. Also, as some white collar job markets become saturated, employees are not making much more than their blue-collar counterparts because the competitiveness for positions allow employers to offer less, or the employees are taking jobs for which they are overqualified. KEY TAKEAWAYS •
The white-collar worker, on the other hand, might have obtained his job through a more stringent hiring process and, for this reason, is more difficult to fire. If he is not earning a salary, income may be contingent on maintaining a client base, as is true with private practice lawyers and physicians. The
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White-collar workers are suit-and-tie workers who work at a desk and, stereotypically, eschew physical labor. Blue-collar worker stereotypical refers to workers who engage in hard manual labor, typically agriculture, manufacturing, construction, mining, or maintenance.
Is Proposition 209 in the Way of Newsom’s Effort to Close the African American Student Achievement Gap? Joe W. Bowers Jr. | California Black Media
In January when Governor Newsom briefed Californians on his 2020-21 Budget, he said the state’s investment in K-12 education was making progress, “it is stubborn and slow.” “Where we are not seeing progress is for African Americans.” African American students score below the state standard in English language and math tests. According to Newsom, “It seems self-evident that we should focus and concentrate our efforts in those areas in order to address … the substance of the vexing issue as it relates to academic achievement for our African American students.” To close the Black student achievement gap Newsom talked about plans to build a diverse teaching workforce of stable prepared professional teachers including more teachers that look like their students. “That's incredibly important as related particularly to African American achievement.” He announced $900.1 million was being proposed to be invested in workforce investment grants, professional development grants for existing teachers, and teacher recruitment strategies. $300 million was being allocated for “opportunity” grants to close the academic achievement in the lowest-performing districts. $300 million was being proposed to expand community schools to address students physical and mental health needs by establishing public private partnerships with community services. But, a few weeks after his budget briefing, the Department of Finance released the “omnibus education trailer bill” detailing Newsom’s education funding proposals and there was no specific funding designated to help African American students or any reference to sourcing more African American teachers. Last week, the Legislature began its review of the education budget. In advance of the hearings the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) issued a report assessing the governor’s proposals for K-12 education.
Thurmond also admitted that “So many of the things that are in the budget aren't spelled out, but we're working closely with the governor's office and the Department of Finance to put specifics in place ……” The Legislators raised concerns that school districts are facing increasing fiscal challenges and that more funds should be directed to address those concerns. They also acknowledged that closing the achievement gap was warranted but never raised the need for specific funding proposals to help African American students. Not specifying funding targeting help for African American student could be attributed to concerns about violating Proposition 209. This initiative voted by the people in 1996 prohibits state governmental institutions from considering race in public education. Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D - San Diego) twice proposed legislation, AB 2635 and AB 575, which would have directed LCFF funding to Black students. Both times, concerns about violating Proposition 209 were raised and the bills failed. Governor Newsom should be commended for trying to close the African American student achievement gap. But, because his proposed budget uses low income students or students with exceptional needs or students living in deep poverty as proxy for African American students, his proposals are not properly focused on dealing with the issue. Studies suggest that African American students have specific needs that would best be addressed by initiatives written specifically to help them. Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) asked during the Assembly committee hearing, “Isn’t the entire local control funding formula, designed to close the achievement gap?” The local control funding formula (LCFF) provides a base grant of funds to all school districts and additional funds based on the number of low-income children, English learners, homeless students and foster children who attend.
SHENGEKKA Shan Shankaran
Shan Shankaran is a Concept Artist. He specializes in Anime and Manga. Shan received a Bachelor of Science in Game Art & Design in 2006. Shan has been drawing since he was very young, creating art for a board game, greeting cards, magazines, comic books, Webcomics, T-Shirts, Hoodies, Dresses, Home Decor and more. When he was 2 to 3 years old, he spent most of his days Drawing and Building with Lego Toys at his grandfather's house which was like a Museum. Daily, his mother cared for her elderly father for about a year, which meant he was confined to about a 4' by 4' area. That was the start of his drawing career, plus I come from a long line of Artists and Creative People. Creativity is in his bloodlines. SDMNEWS: Give us a glimpse into your world, what are your characters about? SS: The Characters that I created started from a small comic book that I made in High School to show my friends just for fun. As time moved on I went to college and thought the characters and story I made to be very interesting. From there I decided to focus building my own world with all sorts of characters. So, I made a series known as Shadows of the Ecliptic. It's a story of a teenage orphan who stumbles upon a secret lab with a mysterious organization who is trying to revive an ancient goddess and use her powers to take over the world. The orphan accidentally revived her first and now vows to protect her from the mysterious organization. The world is based in modern times but where fantasy is the norm. So basically dragons, elves, goblins and many more coexist with normal people.
SDMNEWS: Tell us your creative process? SS: Before I start I first think of what character that would be best to draw. I look at lots of references from real life, cartoons, comics and video games. When I get an idea I begin drawing various sketches and pick out what works and what doesn't. Once I pick the rough sketch that looks the best I will start refining the drawing and make it look more pronounced. If it's on paper I take a picture of it and put it into the computer where I begin cleaning up the drawing and start inking it using my Wacom cintiq tablet. Next, I will start coloring the work. Also, when coloring I try and think about their personality to match that to their appearance. Then lastly, I add shadows and lighting on the art and fix up any last touches. Then save it out and upload it to whatever I choose to have my art on. SDMNEWS: We noticed you have displayed your work on home decor, why? SS: My art is something that would normally be seen on comics, shirts, games or shows but not on shower curtains, pillows and various other house-hold items. So it seemed like an interesting market to aim for and stand out from the rest. SDMNEWS: Your characters have a lot of emotion in their faces, what is the inspiration for that? SS: When I draw a certain character I imagine what if they were alive. So I try to animate them in my mind and see how they live. There I try my best to portray that emotion into the art, which also helps the viewer get an idea of that character's personality.
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The San Diego Monitor SDMNEWS: So you have a mixture of artistic flavor, tell us about the art deco bedding motivation? SS: When I was in college I was majoring for a degree in Game Arts & Design. There I learned how to pant textures and designs used for environments such as patterns for walls. With that knowledge I started to use it for something different and unique leading to the designs you see now. SDMNEWS: What would call yourself in terms of the Black comics or the graphic novel world? SS: I guess I see myself as an illustrator/concept artist who has a fusion art style that is heavily influenced on Japanese Anime and American Cartoons. SDMNEWS: Do you do custom for your customers? SS: Not always but I do it mostly depends on what the request is, how much time it would take and how much on the price quoted. SDMNEWS: How do we get your lovely items? SS: Yes, thank you for asking. You can find all my work located on my website at SHENGEKKA.com
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