E Waste

Electronic equipment contains metals and other materials that can be hazardous to human and animal health and the environment. Electronic discards are one of the fastest growing segments of our nation's waste stream. Many old electronic goods gather dust in storage waiting to be reused, recycled or thrown away. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that as much as three quarters of the computers sold in the US are stockpiled in garages and closets. When thrown away, they end up in landfills or incinerators or, more recently, are exported to Asia.

The Wage Gap

The wage gap is a statistical indicator often used as an index of the status of women's earnings relative to men's. It is also used to compare the earnings of other races and ethnicities to those of white males, a group generally not subject to race- or sex-based discrimination. The wage gap is expressed as a percentage (e.g., in 2010, women earned 77.4% as much as men) and is calculated by dividing the median annual earnings for women by the median annual earnings for men.

Mental Health Stigmas

Many people with serious mental illness are challenged both with the symptoms and disabilities that result from the disease and the stereotypes and prejudice that result from misconceptions about mental illness. As a result of both, people with mental illness are robbed of the opportunities that define a quality life: good jobs, safe housing, satisfactory health care, and affiliation with a diverse group of people. Although research has gone far to understand the impact of the disease, it has only recently begun to explain stigma in mental illness. Much work yet needs to be done to fully understand the breadth and scope of prejudice against people with mental illness.