Page 1 2011-2012 Benefit Enrollment Change Form: Fill & Download for Free

When Trump boasted that his IQ was higher than Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's, it was part of a pattern. In 2013, he tweeted that his IQ was "much higher" than Barack Obama and George W Bush. He has also claimed a higher IQ than comedian Jon Stewart. This is a guy who seems obsessed with IQ…. what psychologists might rightly call “illusory superiority,” a condition of cognitive bias wherein a person overestimates their own qualities and abilities, in relation to that of others…..or what we might call wishful thinking.Trump has never revealed his own IQ. So can we work it out? Well, it’s not as impossible as it looks, here is a review of what we do know, all of it quite revealing and refection of a person’s intelligence. After all, isn't the real issue not an abstract IQ number, but how we leverage our intelligence to interact, socialize, learn and maneuver through the ups and downs that life throws at us?So let's take a look at the evidence readily available in regard to both men.Trump is a guy who doesn't read, has no interest in any type of intellectual pursuits of any kind and was rated as really dumb by one of his Profs;"William T. Kelley, who taught Trump at the University of Pennsylvania, said, “Donald Trump was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had.”Source: Chicago Tribune “Donald Trump's biggest flaw: He's not that bright” https://www.chicagotribune.com/n...“Trump transferred into Wharton’s undergraduate program — then known as the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce — after spending two years at Fordham University in New York. Despite Trump’s repeated mention of Wharton, his own classmates hardly remember him, and he even describes the school’s high-flung reputation as overwrought in his 1986 book, “Trump: The Art of the Deal.”In a 1985 biography of Trump, Jerome Tuccille wrote that he was not an honor student and “spent a lot of time on outside business activities.”Another biographer, Gwenda Blair, wrote in 2001 that Trump was admitted to Wharton on a special favor from a “friendly” admissions officer. The officer had known Trump’s older brother, Freddy.Source: Trump flaunts Wharton degree, but his college years remain a mystery. The Daily Pennsylvanian; Trump flaunts Wharton degree, but his college years remain a mysteryTony Schwartz, the ghostwriter of “The Art of the Deal,” ( you really didn’t think Trump wrote this did you?) said Trump had “a stunning level of superficial knowledge and plain ignorance.”Source: https://bluenationreview.com/don...This is not a smart person. By the way, one of the markers of intelligent people is their vocabulary. One psychologist who tests students rated Trump’s vocabulary at the grade 6 or 7 level, virtually spot on to General Jim Mattis’ assessment.Source: Donald Trump speaks at the level of an 8-year-old, analysis findsSource: https://bluenationreview.com/don...David Cay Johnston, a financial reporter, and someone who knows Trump intimately, having literally followed and reported on Trump and his career for decades, had this to say after scoring an interview with Trump, at a time when Trump was planning to enter the casino business. Johnston said he was stunned by Trump’s lack of business acumen and stated: “Trump couldn’t answer basic business questions that a first-year Wharton student could.” This was a poseur, a phony, someone who always got by on bluff and intimidation, unable and/or unwilling to do the work or take the time to learn the business or develop the business skills necessary to succeed.Source: “It's Even Worse Than You Think; What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America By David Cay JohnstonIt has become more than apparent that Trump knows little about most things and next to nothing in terms of either managing his administration, the country or in fulfilling his role as president. Not only are these accusations voiced by his opposition, but similar concerns have also been even documented by his cabinet ministers, a number of whom have called him an idiot, a “fucking moron” or as “having the intelligence of a 5th or 6th grader”, virtually spot on with General Jim Mattis’ assessment of Trump’s ability.Source: “Fear: Trump in the White House” by Bob WoodwardSource: Donald Trump speaks at the level of an 8-year-old, analysis findsSource: https://bluenationreview.com/don...This guy is always claiming he " is like a real smart guy", yet Gary Cohn, the former White House adviser and former head of Goldman Sachs, someone considered as one of the, if not the, smartest guys on Wall Street, having joined TRUMP as an advisor, stated “this man HAS THE I.Q. OF AN INBRED TANNING BED”.Cohn said he was “astounded” by the depths of the president’s stupidity. He said it was a stone-cold, mind-blowing, we’ve-never-seen-an-I.Q.-in-the-single-digits-before levels of stupidity.He called the president a joke a liar and a “con on the public”, this from Cohn, the Goldman Sachs president turned National Economic Council director. Cohn stated he came away from his very first meeting with Donald Trump “astounded” by just how dumb the guy was.Cohn gave examples of what he meant. During a chat about various economic issues, Cohn told Trump that the Federal Reserve would likely increase rates during his first term in office, to which the President responded, “We should just go borrow a lot of money, hold it, and then sell it to make money.” This suggestion and “lack of basic understanding” about how federal debt works apparently sent chills up Cohn’s spine.Cohn went on to explain that borrowing more money would increase the deficit and add to the debt, something that would, in theory, be counterproductive for a delusional president who had pledged to completely eliminate the federal debt!!But “ I’m like a really smart guy”, wasn’t finished: The president-elect offered a solution. “Just run the presses—print money,” Trump said. Cohn suggested that would be detrimental to the fiscal and economic health of the U.S., since printing vast amounts of money leads to inflation. . . . Cohn also pointed out that there was a federal debt ceiling, a statutory limit to the amount of debt the federal government can have outstanding. Even approaching the debt ceiling can be harmful to the stock market and U.S. economic growth. But Cohn’s message did not seem to connect. Cohn told friends “It was clear that Trump did not understand the way the U.S. government debt cycle balance sheet worked”. Of course, the fact that the 45th president of the United States is an idiot is not exactly a new revelation.Source: “Fear: Trump in the White House” by Bob WoodwardBy contrast, Obama attended two top Ivy league schools, Columbia and Harvard Law, where he earned the very vaunted Harvard Law Review role in 1990.Here is what the New York Times reported at the time back in 1990: “The Harvard Law Review, generally considered the most prestigious in the country, elected the first black president in its 104-year history today. The job is considered the highest student position at Harvard Law School.The new president of the Review is Barack Obama, a 28-year-old graduate of Columbia University who spent four years heading a community development program for poor blacks on Chicago's South Side before enrolling in law school. His late father, Barack Obama, was a finance minister in Kenya and his mother, Ann Dunham, is an American anthropologist who did fieldwork in Indonesia.”As well as the high office won on merit, of note is the fact that both of Obama’s parents were well educated, each holding graduate degrees as well as a Ph.D. in his mother’s case. The education of parents is often a harbinger of similar intelligence levels in their offspring.Harvard professor Laurence Tribe is a sort of legal rock star rated as one of the very best of the best legal minds and American Law Professors who taught Obama and had this to say about his famous student: Upon checking his day timer, Tribe pointed out, "and there's an exclamation point next to it. ( Obama’s name)" That was to remind Tribe how impressed he was by this skinny kid in jeans, a sweatshirt and an afro, then a lowly first-year law student.” Their first conversation lasted hours, and Obama went on to work for Tribe on articles and books, including one called Abortion: The Clash of Absolutes.Tribe recalls that his research assistant tried to find a way out of deeply entrenched lines of the abortion debate, focusing instead on education and access to birth control. "It's as though he was looking not just for a point in the middle of a spectrum, but for a line that was perpendicular, so that one could get outside the tragic choice."The two have remained close, with Tribe serving as a mentor and informal adviser to the president over the years.Professor Charles Ogletree plays a similar role in Obama's life. In 1989, Ogletree taught a non-credit Saturday course to give first-year students a basic set of skills in law school.Ogletree remembers the student “who always arrived on time, sat in the front row, and was professorial almost to a fault. After answering the question, Obama would say, "But Al, who talked earlier, had a very good point when he said X. And Sarah, I think she really captured it when she said Y. And if you think about Latoya, her analysis was ..." at which point Ogletree would interject, "Barack, I'm teaching this class, not you!" That might sound like the arrogance Obama is sometimes accused of, but to Ogletree it sounded like this student was trying to bring everyone into the conversation.Bridge-BuilderAccording to Harvard classmate Ken Mack, “He (Obama) seemed to know who he was, be very grounded. Even then, classmate Ken Mack recalls, Obama stood apart. Mack is now a professor at Harvard Law School and author of the book Representing the Race: The Creation of the Civil Rights Lawyer."He seemed to know who he was, be very grounded," says Mack. There was no sign of the kid people used to call "Barry.""If you would've told me that someone had called him Barry, I would have been surprised. Barry is a little bit diminutive — that would not have fit him at all," Mack saysTaking The LeadBy the end of Obama's second year, his academic record and reputation had qualified him to run for one of the most prestigious roles at the law school — president of the Harvard Law Review.The review editors were a partisan, contentious group. Classmate Brad Berenson remembers the guy from Hawaii who floated above the fray. "One of the enduring images I have of him is of a guy in jeans and a leather jacket, Jimmy Dean style, standing out in front of Gannett House smoking a cigarette."Berenson was one of the conservatives, and in a long, contentious election, his group ultimately supported Obama's candidacy."They did that in part because they had a sense that he was more open-minded and would listen to the conservatives, and would value and accept their contributions in a way that some of the other candidates would not," says Berenson, who worked in the George W. Bush White House and is now a member of Romney's justice advisory committee. The following are Obama's top 16 major accomplishments:1. Ended the 2008 RecessionIn February 2009, Congress approved Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package. It cut taxes, extended unemployment benefits, and funded public works projects.The recession ended in July 2009 when GDP growth turned positive.In just seven months, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act pumped $241.9 billion into the economy. That increased growth to a robust 3.9 percent rate by early 2010. By March 30, 2011, almost all ($633.5 billion) of the funds were spent.2. Modernized the Auto IndustryObama bailed out the U.S. auto industry on March 30, 2009. The federal government took over General Motors and Chrysler, saving three million jobs. It forced the companies to become more fuel efficient and therefore more globally competitive.3. Received the 2009 Nobel Peace PrizeOn October 9, 2009, Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Committee lauded "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." He withdrew troops from Iraq in 2011. He reduced the U.S. nuclear warhead stockpile by 10 percent.4. Reformed Health CareOn March 23, 2010, the Affordable Care Act revolutionized healthcare. By 2014, the economy benefited from having 95 percent of the population on health insurance.The greater number of people receiving preventive care reduced the number of expensive visits to emergency rooms.That slows the rise of health care costs for everyone. That's because Medicaid reimburses hospitals for emergency care. Those are the most significant of Obamacare's 10 advantages.Why did health care need to be reformed? Rising costs threatened to take over the entire federal budget. It was also the no.1 cause of bankruptcies. In return, Americans received the worst health care in the developed world. It is the only one of 33 developed countries without universal health care.President Donald Trump promised to "repeal and replace" Obamacare. As of October 2017, he has failed to pass any legislation. But he is weakening Obamacare even without repeal.5. Regulated the Big BanksIn July 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act improved regulation of eight areas that led to the financial crisis. The Consumer Financial Protection Agencyreduced harmful practices of credit cards and mortgages. The Financial Stability Oversight Council regulated hedge funds and banks that became too big to fail. The "Volcker Rule" banned banks from risking losses with their depositors' money. Dodd-Frank clarified which agencies regulated which banks, stopping banks from cherry-picking their regulators.Dodd-Frank directed the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. These regulated the riskiest derivatives, like credit default swaps and commodities futures. Dodd-Frank also asked the SEC to recommend how the credit rating agencies, like Moody's and Standard & Poor's, could be improved.6. 2010 Tax CutsIn December 2010, Obama and Congress agreed upon additional stimulus in the form of an $858 billion tax cut. It had three main components: a $350 billion extensionof the Bush tax cuts, a $56 billion extension of unemployment benefits, and a $120 billion reduction in workers' payroll taxes. Businesses received $140 billion in tax cuts for capital improvements and $80 billion in research and development tax credits. The estate tax was exempted (up to $5 million), and there were additional credits for college tuition and children.7. Eliminated bin Laden Threat and Withdrew Troops from Iraq and Afghanistan WarsOn May 1, 2011, Navy SEALs attacked the al-Qaida leader's compound in Pakistan and eliminated Osama bin Laden. Later that year, Obama withdrew troops from the Iraq War. Three years later, renewed threats from ISIS meant troops had to return. The Sunni-Shiite split within Islam means there may always be wars in the Middle East.In 2014, Obama wound down the war in Afghanistan. Ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan should have reduced annual military spending. At over $800 billion, it was the largest discretionary budget item and one of the leading causes of the budget deficit and national debt.Instead, spending on the War on Terror remained higher than during the Bush administration.8. Raised Fuel Efficiency StandardsOn August 28, 2012, the Obama administration announced new fuel efficiency standards. He required cars and light trucks obtain 54.5 MPG by 2025. That would reduce oil consumption by 12 billion barrels, saving drivers $1.7 trillion. It would also reduce the damage of climate change by lowering greenhouse gases.The Trump administration promised to roll back these standards. But California requires zero-emissions vehicles. Twelve other states adopted the mandate. Major automakers must build cars to meet stricter standards in the European Union and Asia.9. Won 2012 Presidential Re-electionOn November 6, 2012, Obama won a second term. Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney promised to repeal Obamacare and Dodd-Frank. Voters were not sure about eliminating health benefits and regulations against big banks. Romney failed to capture the country's imagination by not presenting a new vision for economic growth.10. Reduced Carbon EmissionsObama announced carbon reduction regulations in 2014. He enacted the Clean Power Plan in 2015. It reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. It did this by setting carbon reduction goals for the nation's power plants. To comply, power plants agreed to create 30 percent more renewable energy generation by 2030. It encourages carbon emissions trading by allowing states that emit less than the carbon cap to trade their surplus to states that emit more than the cap.11. Nuclear Agreement With IranOn July 14, 2015, Obama brokered a nuclear peace agreement with Iran. That meant Iran could not longer build a nuclear bomb in three months. Instead, it would take at least a year. In return, the United Nations lifted the economic sanctions it imposed in 2010. Trump is weakening the agreement to try and negotiate a better deal for the United States.12. World's Largest Trade AgreementOn October 4, 2015, Obama's team negotiated the Trans-Pacific Partnership. It would have replaced NAFTA as the world's largest free-trade agreement. It would have removed tariffs between the United States and 11 other countries that border the Pacific Ocean. On January 23, 2017, Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement. The other countries are planning to continue the agreement anyway. Japan and the European Union are negotiating their own agreement.Obama launched the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the United States and the European Union.Obama's term ended before negotiations on the TTIP could be finalized. It would have been bigger than the TPP. President Trump has not made much progress on the TTIP.13. International Climate Change AgreementOn December 12, 2015, Obama and 196 other countries announced the Paris Climate Agreement. Countries agreed to reduce carbon emissions and increase carbon trading. The goal is to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. Developed countries will contribute $100 billion a year to assist emerging markets. They bear the brunt of damage from climate change. They face increased typhoons, rising sea levels, and more severe droughts.On October 5, 2016, enough countries ratified the agreement that it went into effect. At the 2016 G20 meeting, China and the United States agreed to ratify the agreement. These two countries are the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases. On June 1, 2017, Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement.14. Third-Best Job CreatorObama is the third-bestt job-creating president in U.S. history. His policies put 16 million people to work from the depths of the recession in December 2009 to the end of his term. That's because unemployment continued to rise even after the recession ended in July. It takes a few months of economic growth before businesses are confident enough to begin hiring again.Other AccomplishmentsMaintained Continuation of Federal Reserve Policy - Obama appointed Federal Reserve Vice-Chair Janet Yellen to replace Ben Bernanke. She maintained an expansionary monetary policy that created the lowest interest rates in 200 years. This allowed the early stages of the housing recovery and slow but steady business expansion to continue. That's because Treasury yields affect mortgage interest rates.Deficit Spending - The major mark against Obama is the increase in the national debt. Part of the reason for this increase was the deficit spending he used to stimulate the economy. Deficits fell in his second term. Obama's total deficits were $6.785 trillion, more than any other president.·FY 2017: $666 billion·FY 2016: $585 billion·FY 2015: $438 billion·FY 2014: $485 billion·FY 2013: $679 billion.·FY 2012: $1.087 trillion·FY 2011: $1.3 trillion.·FY 2010: $1.294 trillion.·FY 2009: Added $253 billion in stimulus spending to the Bush budget.No Personal Scandal - One achievement has gone unnoticed but is nevertheless admirable. That's Obama's unblemished personal record. President Obama has served longer than any president in decades without the appearance of the word “scandal” on the front page of The Washington Post.For any thinking person, looking at Trump and Obama, there is no question that Obama essentially the same height as Trump, but metaphorically Obama is head and shoulders over Trump, more intelligent and smarter in every measurable way.

★★★★The Case for an Overlooked University2013-09-16While searching for colleges to apply to, you may have heard about the University of California, Riverside, or UCR. Often an overlooked campus for its lack of top-achievers and applicant ignorance to the point of knowing nothing besides there being a river nearby (which there isn't), UC Riverside is definitely a campus worth considering.FactsLet's start with the facts. UCR is the sixth out of the ten UCs to be founded. It hosts 18,539 undergraduate and 2,466 graduate students. It sits in the Inland Empire, fifty-six miles east of Los Angeles. It's U.S. News ranking is 112th nationally, or 55th among public schools. [1] It also ranks 10th in Leiden University's Natural Science and Engineering rankings and 2nd in the Washington Monthly National Universities rankings. [3] All rankings were taken from 2013.UC RejectsNow when hearing about UCR, you may have heard the term "UC Rejects". This is quite the insult, but it was in fact justified. The exact nature of this term refers to the "referral" pool of UC applicants--those who meet the a-g minimum requirements to apply, but are not accepted to any of the UCs they apply to. UCs low on applicants offer these referral students an application, or "referral" to their school. In the past, UCRiverside took part in the referral program, but from 2011 on, UC Riverside has enough applicants such that they do not accept referral students anymore. [4] Therefore, the term "UC Rejects" is no longer justified.AcademicsAcademics are the most important part of any school comparison. When picking a school, the most important question should be "What is the quality of the undergraduate program for my major?" And like two t-shirts at Ross, two four-year academic programs are best compared by experiencing both of them and comparing from the student perspective. Unfortunately, most people do not have eight years to compare two different programs firsthand.I am a student currently enrolled in UCR's electrical engineering program, or EE for short. I will be starting year four in the fall. Even now, I am curious as to whether my education would have been better had I gone to another school, so I did the next best thing to experiencing two programs--I experienced one and read about another.During summer 2013, I decided to do my own investigation. I went to UC San Diego's advising office and obtained a copy of their EE program description with course listing. I also went to a professor's office and looked at the final exam for an "electronic circuits" class. Comparison between the UCR and UCSD EE program descriptions did not yield much--sure there was "multivariable calculus" on both programs, but this told me nothing of the actual rigor of the courses. For the more specific final exam that I reviewed, I did see some content that was not covered at my school, such as "frequency response of differential amplifiers," but there was also content in my course that was not on the UCSD final exam. In short, if it is hard for me to compare having experienced one of the programs, it would be nearly impossible for someone who has experienced neither program to compare well.Fortunately, there exists a solution to this difficulty in program comparison. A set of standards set forth by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) sets very specific standards on the material that should be taught in every course. For example, in the "Logic Design" standards, students should be able to "understand Boolean algebra", "design simple combinational logics" and be familiar with concepts such as "SR Latch, D Flip-Flop". [7] In other words, any school that is ABET accredited will exhibit the same material in all of their courses. As of this writing, all nine undergraduate UCs except UC Merced are ABET accredited. In fact, in November 2012, UCR's ABET accreditation was renewed for the maximum length of six years, with the visitors saying that the programs were "among the best they have visited". [8]These ABET requirements are rigorous as well--they are not like SFUSD's bare minimum graduation requirements, being so lax that the UC and CSU systems had to define their own standards. No, these standards are credible enough such that one of the requirements to obtaining "Professional Engineer" certification is to "Earn a four-year degree in engineering from an accredited engineering program" (ABET) [9] And with the programs being so difficult to compare and the ABET standards so definitive, U.S. News' only requirement for being on "Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs Rankings" is "a school must have an undergraduate engineering program accredited by ABET." [10] As far as how they are ranked, "These undergrad engineering programs were ranked solely on a peer assessment survey conducted in spring 2013", peer assessment being senior faculty and deans, whatever their perspective is worth on an undergraduate education.As for outside the engineering college, the situation is very similar. From the perspective of lower-division psychology and biology courses that I have taken, the standards are the same across schools. This is manifested by the textbook schools use. At both City College of San Francisco and UCR, the "Introduction to Psychology" courses that I took both used "Psychology" by David G. Meyers, the same textbook used in AP Psychology at Lowell. Leo, a personal friend of mine, told me Meyers is also used at UC Irvine. In my "Cell and molecular biology" course, the textbook was "Campbell Biology", the same one used in Lowell's AP Biology course. These textbooks are large and contain much material, but they are nonetheless the same across schools.What this ABET and textbook standardization means is that the material taught across schools is the same with very minor differences. This is especially true in the University of California, where lectures are only three hours per week per course, leaving most of the learning to be done at home, from the textbook. What will differ across campuses is the performance of the students. If your SAT score and GPA are well below the average for that campus, that is a good indication that you will be in the lower half of the class. This can be motivating--but at the same time it can be demoralizing. The right balance is needed.FacilitiesIn addition to great academics, UCR has excellent facilities that will benefit all students--not just engineering majors. All classrooms are very modern and come equipped with a ceiling mounted projector (often three), audience response system, desktop computer and wireless microphone. The newest classrooms even come with touch screens. Also present are things I wished Lowell had when I graduated in 2010: namely, online class enrollment and teacher evaluation forms. All of this allows for excellent instruction.The school is also constantly being improved. A million-dollar track was completed in 2012 as a result of the UCR episode of television series "Undercover Boss". [5] In the case of the student recreation center, where you may want to run, lift weights or learn martial arts, UCR's recreation center offers all the same facilities as UCSD's RiMAC, but with a better layout. (I have been to both) A recreation center add-on, due for 2014 completion, will contain triple the machines, indoor pool and more. [6]For engineering majors specifically, a new materials science and engineering building was completed in 2010, with another building scheduled for the future. Engineers are also supported by the UCR Library, where they have access to online research journals such as IEEE Xplore.EmploymentAs far as UCR grads being hired, I see my peers being hired full-time from large defense companies like Boeing, Northrop Grumman and other organizations like NASA. Even more obtain internships at Aerovironment, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and other engineering firms. In other words, companies look everywhere for talent.ConclusionNow after all of this, your opinion may not change. Relatively speaking, UC Berkeley, Los Angeles, and San Diego are still more selective and more prestigious universities overall. There is nothing wrong with applying to them. However, if your GPA and SAT score do not put you in a favorable position for those schools, know that there are several places, Riverside included, where you may still obtain a high quality education.[1] University of California--Riverside[2] Page on scrible.com[3] National University Rankings 2013[4] Students Clamor to Attend UCR[5] UC Riverside Track Facility to be Dedicated on Friday, March 2[6] UCR Recreation: Home[7] Page on ucr.edu[8] Page on scrible.com[9] What is a PE?[10] Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs

This can get really long. So request readers to be a bit patient.Before going to answer the question , I would like to post some facts and figures about the demographics of our great India.Note: We have to do a lot of number crunching here.Reservation split up:As I am sure you will all know this:SC: 15%ST- 7.5%NC-OBC: 27%General: 50.5%No disputes here.Caste wise population of India:Source : Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011Population change of SC/STs in 10 years:Source: http://tribal.nic.in/WriteReadDa...Clearly there has been a 4.5% age points difference between the overall growth and the growth of SC/STs, latter being more.Nation-wide split up of poverty caste-wise:From the above figure we can see that SC/ST has the highest poverty share of nearly 46 %. The general category which comprises of Hindu UC, Muslim UC, Christian UC, Sikh UC, and other UC forms nearly 36 % of the poverty population(second highest) whereas the OBCs form only 16 % ( the least in the race). Also the gap between the SC/STs and the general in terms of the total number of poor people is only less than 7%.Consider this scenario. We know the following scenario for reservations:SC: 15%ST- 7.5%NC-OBC: 27%General: 50.5%Now assuming that all the poor compete for the seats given above then there are 46 SC/STs competing for 23 seats, the chances that an SC/ST getting selected will be around 50%. Similarly the chances for OBC is 164% and for general category is 140%.Now considering the level of cut-throat competition amongst the general category and the irrationally high cut-offs GC candidates here can calculate the actual odds for them getting a seat. Let me take an example here: The CAT cut-off for IIMs for the general category to be assured of getting a call is at least 97%ile. Now there are around 4000 seats in all IIMs put together out of which 2000 are available to the general category. Now lets assume that 200000 students are taking CAT this year . Lets also assume that the split up of the number of students category -wise is according to the table above (SC/ST- 27% OBC- 41.1% and general: 30.8%). So there are about 61600 general students competing for 2000 seats. The chances of securing a call from the lowest ranked IIM for these candidates will be around 3%. But we also know that number of GC candidates will be larger than the suggested 30.8%( due to various reasons) . So lets scale up the figure to say 60%.( to be very liberal). So 120000 GC are competing for 2000 seats. The odds are now reduced to 1.6%. Chances for OBCs , SC/ST put together will be 5%.Note: This is just a weak sample of what an average GC has to content with.Ironically, the OBCs who are comparatively richer than the GC has got 17.1% more chances of getting selected compared to a GC candidate.Hypocrisy??.Percentage of poverty by across castes:Source: Planning Commission, Government of IndiaClearly according to the above picture, the decline in BPL population in SCs and STs combined together is 17.5 %age points from 1993 to 2004-5. The 2015 statistics are not posted yet because the government did not release the caste census of India in 2015. But we can do a fair amount of guesswork here. The percentage drop for SCs is approximately 1.096 % age points annually every year from 1983 to 2004. So assuming that the same trend follows from 2005 to 2015, in these ten years, we can assume that another 10.96% age points drop for SCs, so the figure for 2014 is most likely to be around 26- 27%( if not lesser). An error of 1 or 2% can be accepted also. Compared to the overall percentage drop in poverty which is only 8.8 % age points , the drop in poverty for SC and STs combined together is about 6 %age points higher. So for 21.7 % change in the population of SC/STs for the past 10 years, there has been an almost 11% age reduction in poverty in the same period. And its projected to become more than 15-16% in the next 10 years. So claims made by those defending reservation, there is not enough growth amongst SC/ST are not true. They are coming out of poverty and mingling with the mainstream India really fast.Note :The above data was taken from the website of Planning commission of India. If anyone else knows any other credible source which displays a different statistic, please feel free to comment.Now lets look at some more figures:Total growth in technical institutions in India:Following figure shows the growth rate of engineering colleges in India from 1950 to 2007. The number of engineering colleges post-liberalization and privatization saw a seven fold increase and a 18 fold increase in the intake of the number of students:And yet despite the growth in the number of engineering colleges , the number of engineers actually per million people is very low in India. This shows , that despite reservation and affirmative action policies in India for the past 7 decades, the quality of either the faculties or students ( even both) is poor in India. Ideally, India being the second populous country, and accounting for nearly 1/5 of the world's population, produces engineers who do either not continue with their jobs, or drop out of colleges. Countries like New Zealand and Japan with a smaller population than India produce larger number of engineers per million. This shows the literacy rate of India has not improved after the inception of reservation.Source: Page on namstct.orgTo corroborate the above fact, we can examine the enrollment rates of students here:The enrollment rates among SC s have just increased by 6% from 2005 to 2012.Source: Page on mhrd.gov.inEven now , in the recently concluded TNEA counselling in Tamil Nadu, more than half the seats for SC/STs remained vacant.The scenario is even more grim in the villages, especially at primary school level. Following figure shows the lack of innate learning abilities for children in school age.The below figure shows how pathetic our village schools , especially government schools function:When you cant even learn the basic numerals, how can those people be expected to compete in competitive exams like JEE / IBPS ? How can one expect them to cope up with engineering and medical syllabi?. Of what use would reservation be then? Protection against discrimination?. No. Just a temporary measure to alleviate the pain.Changes that can be done to the present systemFollowing are some the changes that can be done to the present system:Beginning with the children: Building proper schools with basic amenities:This is perhaps the most important one. Nearly 65% of the village schools in Tamil Nadu( a highly pro-reservationist state) have got no toilets. Access to basic amenities are much harder. Modi government is planning to build new smart cities. I say, lets improve our villages, where our real talent lies instead of building a new smart city altogether (Nothing against the smart city project: just presenting my opinion). It requires more motivation, both on the part of the schools and on part of the parents of the children. Reservation has degenerated to such an extent that what was envisioned once as means of upliftment has now reduced to a game of vote-bank politics.How Tamil Nadu's freebie culture is killing its economyYes, TN being the second largest economy in India, but vote-bank politics and freebies are a hard reality for most general category people in TN. Its being played out in a very blatant fashion. It pinches a deep hole in the pockets of hard-working people.Treat reservation as a privilege and not as your right:The recent protests in Gujarat is an ominous sign of an impending problem: Reservation given to the undeserving and its exploitation, would create an unrest in the general category: especially the youth. You cannot explain the sins of our forefathers to a 17 year old boy who has to bear the injustice of giving up his dream college seat to a guy from a reserved caste. The reason is that almost all( I mean almost) of the reserved category treat reservation as their right.Reservations are a compensation for the lost opportunity..The opportunity to study, to compete , to work..Its a privilege given to a specific sect of society and was determined by certain factors at the time of Independence.Lets look at this way: Lets say that someone happens to lose their loved ones in a bomb blast or an earthquake or something..Then the government will give you a compensation of say 5 Lakhs. Will that money help you get back your loved one?.No. Will it lessen the pain and your grief?. No. So practically the money has got no use for you. Yet the govt. gives you . Why?. Because the loved one whom you lost might have been the sole breadwinner of your family. Without him, your family would struggle. So the money is given you as a compensation for you to face the financial hardships. Does that mean you guys can expect the government to come to your aid every time throughout your life?. No. If you happen to carelessly invest that money in gambling and if you lose it, can you go back to the govt nd ask for more?. No.Reservation works in a similar way: Its a way to uplift you people from poverty and the deplorable lifestyle. A privilege by which you can gain access to good education and jobs, thereby helping you lessen your burden. It cannot eradicate casteism. Any reservation given to you can at the maximum level possible get you a good education , a good job. After that , you are supposed to give it to a less unfortunate fellow, and not avail it yourselves. In short: Reservation is a privilege and not your right.It should be sabka haath, sabka vikas.Identify the needy benefactors:Any affirmative action must reach the needy and it must be updated with time. Its no use saying that reservation was meant for creating social justice and its not a solution for economic problems. Reservation is not a solution for economic problem. But it prevents those with economic problems from coming up. Thats the main reason for the Patel agitation in Gujarat. The criteria for any affirmative action must be changed so that the needy gets benefited always.Instead of classifying society as backward, most-backward , general by just basing it on their caste names we can conduct a survey of all the castes and sub-castes in every category: be it SC/ST , MBC , OBC or general category.Even within say SC group there are different castes and sub-castes. Take a survey of each of these castes.After this we can rank them based on1. Economic criteria:Which includes access to resources, basic amenities, their family income, number of earning members and their general lifestyle.2. Social status:This is more sensitive . Because the definition for social backwardness is not defined anywhere in the constitution. We cannot ideally measure the degree of discrimination that one has to suffer. But still, based on NCRB statistics we can have more or less a rough idea of the discrimination a caste faces.3. Location/ geography:Any caste( be it a Dalit/Brahmin/Gounder), living in a bungalow in a major city or a tier 2 city will be better placed for accessing the resources required for cracking an exam or preparing for a job interview. I have many friends from Gounder community, who are into textile and garments business. Obviously they are economically well off. Also they own large acres of land near Tirupur, Salem and Coimbatore. They are the landlords of their villages. They are also socially well off. Yet their children avail MBC quota. Is it fair?. When I coming from a far off village have to toil hard to support my family, their kids are availing MBC quota?. Something is amiss here.After this classification is done, we can then start about creating more schemes to resolve their problems and then monitor those schemes like every 10 years as someone had said below. Like for economic problems we have MGNREGA and Jandhan Yojana. But I recently visited an MGNREGA site near my village. People are doing work, but no government official is coming to monitor it. If there is no supervisor there, then salary for those workers is out of question. As a result, the site is being neglected. Appropriate monitoring of any affirmative actions is necessary for it to be sustained over period of time.Providing moral education: This involves changing the school curriculum as someone had pointed out in his answer. I am sure that in your school you had learnt a subject called social studies and moral science.Lets bring out the evils of caste ism and the incidents of discrimination. Expose the children to those evils which are even now prevailing in the society. We cannot say that they are not old enough to learn all these things. Its this sort of attitude that is killing the nation. Let them understand about the reason for reservation from their school days itself. If we try to push it under the carpet and only portray the history of India in a good light and hide the harsh realities, then at later point they might not be prepared to understand the misconceptions of caste-system.Eliminate the need for caste-certificates: This is the next important step that must be done. It will give two major advantages:a. It will eliminate the caste bias in the society. (Which is what you pro-reservation guys want)b. It will clearly bring into light on who is really suffering due to poverty, irrespective of their castes.If we are not asked for our caste/community/language/religion in every application form for a college/job, then within the next 15 -20 years, nobody will know what caste they belong to.This requires a huge willpower on the part of our politicians (who still like to divide and rule us based on our caste and use the villagers simplicity in milking their votes) and on the part of common man also, many of us still ask for caste/community whenever we meet someone for the first time.Fast track courts for caste based violence: This is perhaps the most important thing in handling caste based violence. I am sure both pro-reservation and those who are against reservation would also agree with it.Capital punishment must be handed out for any Dalit killing hereafter. Make it a non-bailable offence. How is reservation into IIMs gonna help those people in the backward villages?. It is no way related to casteist shit they spew upon