DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Clarence Thomas says 'I don't have a clue' what 'diversity' means as the Supreme Court tackles affirmative action
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said he didn't know what the word "diversity" meant. The Supreme Court is tackling a case challenging affirmative action in college admissions. "I've heard the word diversity quite a few times and I don't have a clue what it means. The court heard oral arguments Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) vs. the University of North Carolina (UNC), a case centered around the school's admissions process. UNC denied SFFA's allegations, and lower courts sided with the university before the case was brought to the Supreme Court.

☆ College use of race in admissions challenged at Supreme Court in arguments
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

"Racial classifications are wrong," the attorney Patrick Strawbridge said in his opening argument on behalf of the group Students for Fair Admissions. The Supreme Court began hearing arguments Monday in two cases that challenge the use of race-based considerations to determine who gets admitted to American colleges. Conservatives hold a 6-3 super-majority on the Supreme Court and are expected to be open to the arguments for ending affirmative action. The cases being argued are Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard, case No. 20-1199, and Students for Fair Admissions v. the University of North Carolina, case No.

☆ Supreme Court's conservative majority seems open to eliminating affirmative action in university admissions process: 'Why do you have these boxes?'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The Supreme Court heard two high-profile challenges to race-conscious university admissions processes. The court's conservatives appeared open to ending race as a factor in university admissions. Thomas, the second Black person to ever serve on the bench, has long been critical of race-conscious admissions policies. They cannot adopt race-conscious admissions and sit back reflexively and let that play out forever into the future," Prelogar said. "At present, it's not possible to achieve that diversity without race-conscious admissions, including at the nation's service academies."

☆ Alito appeared to reference Elizabeth Warren when he asked about 'family lore' on Native American ancestry during Supreme Court affirmative action case
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Samuel Alito appeared to reference Sen. Elizabeth Warren during the Supreme Court's affirmative action case. The Supreme Court is hearing a case challenging affirmative action in college admissions. "It's family lore that we have an ancestor who was an American Indian," Alito offered. Park agreed that in that instance, it would not make sense for a student to say they are of American Indian heritage. Alito replied: "I identify as an American Indian because I've always been told that some ancestor back in the old days was an American Indian."

☆ U.S. high court conservatives lean against 'affirmative action'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Reuters Editorial | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PoliticsU.S. high court conservatives lean against 'affirmative action'PostedConservative U.S. Supreme Court justices signaled skepticism on Monday toward the legality of race-conscious admissions policies in cases involving Harvard University and the University of North Carolina that could imperil affirmative action programs often used to boost enrollment of Black and Hispanic students. Zachary Goelman produced this report.

☆ Conservative justices appear ready to overturn decades of affirmative action precedent
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailConservative justices appear ready to overturn decades of affirmative action precedentNBC’s Morgan Radford joins Shep Smith to report on the Supreme Court hearing two cases, one against Harvard and one against the University of North Carolina, over the use of race as a consideration for admission to college. With Amy Howe, co-founder of the SCOTUS Blog.

The court confronts this divisive issue four months after its major rulings curtailing abortion rights and widening gun rights. The court's 6-3 conservative majority is expected to be sympathetic toward the challenges to Harvard and UNC. The cases give the court an opportunity to overturn its prior rulings allowing race-conscious admissions policies. Blum's group said UNC discriminates against white and Asian American applicants and Harvard discriminates against Asian American applicants. UNC said there is a difference between a racist policy like segregation that separates people based on race and race-conscious policies that bring students together.

According to Harvard, around 40% of U.S. colleges and universities consider race in some fashion in admissions. The Supreme Court has been upheld such policies, most recently in a 2016 ruling involving a white woman who sued after the University of Texas rejected her. Ruling in favor of the plaintiffs could require the court to overturn its 2016 ruling and earlier decisions. 'DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION'The lawsuits accused UNC of discriminating against white and Asian American applicants and Harvard of discriminating against Asian American applicants. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Harvard's use of race was "meaningful" and not "impermissibly extensive" because it prevented diversity from plummeting.

☆ Why Randi Weingarten Supports Harvard’s Discrimination
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Allysia Finley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

You almost have to admire the chutzpah of the teachers unions. Even as they fight to keep poor minority kids trapped in failing public schools, they plead that racial preferences in college admissions are necessary to compensate for these students’ inferior K-12 education. High-achieving Asian-American and white students must be discriminated against to make up for the educational “privileges” that unions deny minorities. That’s the argument advanced by the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers in their friend-of-the-court briefs supporting Harvard and the University of North Carolina in cases the Supreme Court will hear on Monday concerning the legality of racial preferences. “Our schools, from K-12 to higher education, still struggle to provide equitable opportunities for students of color,” the NEA laments.

☆ Supreme Court to Revisit University Affirmative-Action Programs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Jess Bravin | Melissa Korn | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The University of North Carolina has said that narrow consideration of race is necessary to achieving a diverse student body. WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Monday on whether race can play a role when administrators decide who is admitted to many of the nation’s colleges and universities. The court will hear two separate cases, expected to yield two related rulings by July, involving a state flagship, the University of North Carolina, and a private Ivy League institution, Harvard College. Both say having a diverse student body is central to their educational mission, and that narrow consideration of race is necessary to achieving it.

☆ Supreme Court could eliminate affirmative action in university admissions as it considers high-profile challenges against Harvard and University of North Carolina
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Students for Fair Admissions wants the Supreme Court to eliminate race as a factor in university admissions. The Supreme Court will hear the two high-profile challenges on Monday. "I represent so many communities in which affirmative action benefits us all the time," Agustín León-Sáenz, a first-generation immigrant from Ecuador and a sophomore at Harvard, told Insider. The Supreme Court has over the years confronted the role of race in university admissions and repeatedly maintained the constitutionality of affirmative action. The Supreme Court is expected to hand down its decisions in the pair of cases by June.

Most court observers are expecting that the court’s 6-3 conservative majority will be sympathetic to the arguments against affirmative action being brought by a group called Students for Fair Admissions. Ed Blum, the anti-affirmative action activist who leads the group, said he hopes the court "will finally end these polarizing and unfair racial preferences in college admissions." The court shifted to the right following former President Donald Trump’s appointment of three conservative justices, creating the 6-3 conservative majority. Polanco joined other UNC alumni and current students in defending the existing admissions policy in court. They argue that the UNC admissions policy discriminates against white and Asian applicants and that the Harvard policy discriminates against Asians.

☆ The Supreme Court and Racial Preferences
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A great triumph of 20th-century American government was the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It broke the back of Jim Crow and reasserted the principle that no one should be discriminated against for his race. The Supreme Court has a chance to reaffirm that vital American principle on Monday when it hears challenges to the admissions practices at Harvard and the University of North Carolina (Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College and SFFA v. University of North Carolina). The case is an important moment for American law but even more for the country’s social and political future. Yet rather than assimilate this melting pot with race-neutral principles, many in our political class want to divide America into racial categories, allocating jobs, benefits and even elections based on race.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in the two cases on Monday, with rulings due by the end of June. Blum's goal is for the Supreme Court to overturn its own precedents allowing race as a factor in admissions. Blum raised more than $8 million from 2015 to 2020 for Students for Fair Admissions, most going to covering legal fees. No Students for Fair Admissions members served as plaintiffs or testified in court in the Harvard and UNC cases as the group lost in lower courts. The Supreme Court in January agreed to hear appeals backed by Blum in both cases.

☆ Companies Seek Guidance on New U.S. Minimum Tax as Launch Date Nears
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Jennifer Williams-Alvarez | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Analyzing past securities filings, researchers from the University of North Carolina’s Tax Center found that fewer than 80 publicly traded U.S. companies would have paid any corporate minimum tax in 2021 had the tax been in effect. Businesses, including media company Liberty Media Corp., in recent weeks have pressed for additional information from the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service on the implications of the tax. “It’s casting a very wide net,” David Rievman, a partner at law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, said of the minimum tax. Among the concerns from businesses is that reorganizations could cause a company to become subject to minimum tax, or increase their tax liability. Without the deduction, the company would pay another level of corporate tax on that dividend.

☆ Pfizer, facing lawsuit, says minority fellowship program serves public interest
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) said its fellowship program for minorities serves the public interest, as the drugmaker defends against a lawsuit by a group of medical professionals that claims the program illegally excludes whites and Asian-Americans. Fellows receive two years of full-time jobs, fully-funded master's degrees, and employment at New York-based Pfizer after completing the program. The fellowship program "does what Congress has encouraged and controlling law allows," Pfizer said. Among the precedents at risk is a 2003 Supreme Court decision where Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said race could be used as one factor among many to achieve diversity. The case is Do No Harm v. Pfizer Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

☆ US breast cancer death rate drops 43% in three decades, but racial disparities remain, American Cancer Society report finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The breast cancer death rate in the United States has dropped significantly, but Black women continue to be more likely to die from the disease despite having a lower incidence of it, according to a new American Cancer Society report. The study published this week in the CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians finds that in total, the death rate dropped by 43% within three decades, from 1989 to 2020, translating to 460,000 fewer breast cancer deaths during that time. When the data were analyzed by race, Black women had a lower incidence rate of breast cancer versus White women, but the death rate was 40% higher in Black women overall. In contrast, breast cancer death rates have declined steadily since their peak in 1989, the researchers found, falling 1.9% annually from 2002 to 2011 and then 1.3% annually from 2011 to 2022. The ongoing racial disparities highlighted in the new American Cancer Society report came as no surprise to Dr. Samuel Cykert, professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, who has conducted research on racial disparities in cancer treatment.

☆ Meet the 2022 Supreme Court clerks: 38 lawyers who could be tomorrow's politicians, judges, and influential strategists
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Jack Newsham | Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's ClerksSupreme Court Nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. In the interim, Murray has had several different jobs, most recently as an associate professor at Columbia University Law School, where he focused on "constitutional law, election law, and race and the law, among other topics." Michael F. QianQian is no stranger to a SCOTUS clerkship, having worked in the chambers of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg from 2019 to 2020. She previously worked at the law firm Hogan Lovells, where she was on a team that helped a Colorado prisoner with an appeal to the Supreme Court. Before clerking for Judge Jackson, Salmanowitz clerked for Judge Paul Watford on the Ninth Circuit.

☆ Chief Justice Roberts is in the spotlight as the Supreme Court tackles race cases
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Lawrence Hurley | Lawrence Hurley Covers The Supreme Court For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

As chief justice, Roberts was in the majority on both occasions when the court in previous cases weakened the Voting Rights Act, enacted in 1965 to protect minority voters. A 1981 memo written by Roberts about the Voting Rights Act. Then, he unsuccessfully advocated against legislation in Congress that lowered the barriers to bringing race discrimination claims under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. A 1981 memo written by Roberts advocating against legislation in Congress that would lower the barriers for race discrimination claims. “That would be devastating for minority voting rights in this country,” she added.

The Supreme Court in June announced it would hear the case in its new term, which begins on Monday. This showed the increasing willingness of its 6-3 conservative majority take on divisive issues as it steers the court on a rightward path. According to Irv Gornstein, executive director of Georgetown University Law Center's Supreme Court Institute, Kavanaugh now wields outsized influence over the speed and limits of the court's rightward shift. In its most recent term, there were 14 rulings decided on a 6-3 tally with the conservative justices on one side and the liberals on the other. The court appears likely to continue to take up cases particularly important to conservatives, Feldman said.

☆ If you've ever thought, 'this meeting could have been an email,' you were right — meetings cost companies up to $100 million a year
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A four-day work week, remote work, and "no meetings" are the new sticking points for job hoppers. Smaller companies with 100 workers would save nearly $2.5 million annually if they dispensed with meetings, Rogelberg found, while firms with at least 5,000 employees would save more than $100 million. On average, the companies Rogelberg interviewed wasted about $25,000 per employee by scheduling them for unnecessary meetings. The report defines "unnecessary" meetings as ones that employees reported that they could skip, as long as they were kept in the loop. But that's not to say that people aren't enamored with something like a four-day workweek, anyway.

I was continuously berated with various comments.”A spokesperson for the UNC Board of Governors declined to comment on the lawsuit. Justin CookLeigh, Younge, Kapadia and Long painted a different picture from Brown’s of the professors in their open letter. Neither Leigh nor Younge, who were both at the university during Brown’s time there, reported having negative interactions with Brown, they said. “We acknowledge the fact that our experiences are unique to ourselves and not everybody shares those same experiences,” Younge added. In response to the letter on Brown's behalf, Brown’s attorney, Artur Davis, said: “While we respect the experiences of these individuals two things come to mind.

☆ UNC apologizes for handcuffing student whose Sikh article of faith was mistaken for a weapon
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Brahmjot Kaur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte has apologized after a video was posted online showing a Sikh student who was handcuffed for carrying a kirpan, a religious article that resembles a knife. “Further investigation showed the item was a kirpan, an article of faith in Sikhism.”Video of the incident was posted on the Twitter account @thatsamaan, and its user identified himself as the student in question. You want me to take the whole thing off?” the student asked. The police officer told the student to stand up and the student asked, “What are you doing to me, bro?” before the officer told him he was being detained. The Twitter user tweeted on Saturday that he did receive his kirpan back.

☆ Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway Could Be Among Top Payers of New Minimum Tax
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Richard Rubin | Theo Francis | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Warren Buffett, wearing glasses, and other very wealthy Americans could be affected by the new tax law. WASHINGTON—A handful of large companies, such as Berkshire Hathaway and Amazon.com could bear most of the burden from a 15% corporate minimum tax President Biden signed into law last month. Researchers at the University of North Carolina Tax Center analyzed securities filings to determine what companies would have paid if the tax had been in place last year. They found fewer than 80 publicly traded U.S. companies would have paid any corporate minimum tax in 2021, and just six—including Amazon and Warren Buffett ’s conglomerate—would have paid half of the estimated $32 billion in revenue the levy would have generated.

☆ New minimum tax could hit Berkshire Hathaway and Amazon hardest, study shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Jack Stebbins | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett seen at the annual Berkshire shareholder shopping day in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S., May 3, 2019. Researchers applied the Inflation Reduction Act's new 15% corporate minimum tax onto 2021 company earnings and found that the burden would only be felt by about 78 companies, with Berkshire Hathaway and Amazon paying up the most. The study from the University of North Carolina Tax Center used past securities filings to map the tax, which goes into effect in January, onto companies' 2021 earnings. Berkshire led the estimated payout with $8.33 billion, and Amazon follows behind with $2.77 billion owed based on its 2021 earnings. President Joe Biden signed the minimum book tax into law, along with the rest of the Inflation Reduction Act, in August.

Search resuls for: "University of North Carolina"

25 mentions found