The Driverless Car

Image Source: autotrader.ca

We are living in the future, or at least that’s what works of fiction set in the year 2015 had us believe.  According to the movie “Back to the Future II”, 2015 was a time of major technological advancement, such as hoverboards, video calling and flying cars.  Predictions that in retrospect, weren’t too far off.  In present day 2015, we do have video calls (FaceTime, anyone?) and although you can’t buy an actual hoverboard at your local mall yet, a few companies have introduced a prototype for a functioning one. As for flying cars…well two out of three isn’t bad.  Yet, although you may not see flying cars in the sky anytime soon, look around and you may spot some driverless ones. 

Driverless cars, also known as autonomous vehicles, are meant to function like conventional cars with one exception:  the actual driver is optional.  That’s because the robot cars are equipped with advanced control systems capable of sensing their surroundings and keeping track of their positions, and thus can navigate without human input.  The idea for autonomous cars is not new, with references dating back as far as the 1930s.  However, it is not until recent times, that autonomous vehicles have started to make wave. 

Search engine giant Google is perhaps the most common name when talking about driverless cars.  The company has been experimenting with the concept since 2009, self-driving over 1 million miles in the streets of California and Texas.  On November 12^th, 2015 a Google self-driving car was even stopped by Police officers for driving too slow, (24 miles per hour (mph) in a 35 mph zone). 

Traditional automaker companies such as General Motors, Toyota and Nissan, to name a few, have also joined the revolution, all working on their own model.  The most recent breakthrough in self-driving technology, however, came from Ford Motors.  In November 2015, the company became the first automaker to test their vehicle, the Ford Fusion Hybrid Autonomous Research Vehicle, in a simulated city. The 32-acre fake city, Mcity, was created by the University of Michigan and closely resembles a real life urban environment, complete with real road scenarios, such as a variety of street surfaces, traffic lights, stop signs and crosswalks.

However, driverless cars are not just being tested, a French company called Induct Technology, has even put one on the market. The electric vehicle is called the Navia and comes with a hefty price tag of $250,000.  But even if you have the money, it is doubtful that you will be speeding down in this car any time soon. Its top speed is only 12 mph and it is only meant to be used in closed spaces where the use of a traditional car would be impractical, such as college campuses, hospitals and resorts. No flying car, but still pretty awesome right?

Still, the argument for automated cars is not just that it’s a cool concept; many believe that it is safer as well.  According to Google, 94% of car accidents occur as a result of human error.  Experts believe that self-driving cars would decrease this number significantly.  In addition, it would save the US millions of dollars in medical cost and insurance costs associated with traffic accidents.  Saving lives and money?  Now that’s a future we can all get behind of.

Originally published in LatinTrends Magazine, Jan/Feb 2016

The Age of The Telecommuter

Image Source:  http://www.workflexibility.org

Imagine waking up to a horrible storm, several subway lines have been affected. Your job is an hour and a half away, due to service changes getting there could take double that. Lucky for you, you work from home.

Now imagine that you’ve finally booked that much-needed vacation. Seven days of rest and relaxation with family, friends…and your work colleagues who will be joining in via conference calls and e-mails, because unfortunately, you will be working while on vacation.


Those are two very different scenarios, but both quite possible due to expansions of workplace technology that have made it easier than ever to work from remote locations.

As of 2013, there are 3.3 million Americans, not counting those self-employed, working from home. Working from home comes with many perks. Schedule flexibility, fewer interruptions from coworkers, and a lack of commuting that not only saves money on transportation costs but also helps the environment by reducing pollution associated with driving to work daily.

Work from home opportunities can be found in many fields, primarily health care, information technology, education, nonprofit, and sales and marketing. However, if your current job does not offer any telecommuting opportunities, that’s not necessarily a deal breaker.

If telecommuting is something that you are truly interested in, experts suggest you pitch the idea to your boss. Begin by writing a proposal, address the pros and cons and try to come up with solutions for any anticipated challenges. Ask for a trial period, a fixed amount of time in which you could demonstrate the benefits associated with your proposal. Lastly, be prepared to negotiate! Be clear on the details so that both you and your employer get positive results.

If you can work from home, however, then it’s very likely that you can work from vacation as well. Although many of us may cringe at the idea, the reality is that most of us already do it. Working outside the office is not limited to telecommuters, research shows that 60% of all American employees work while on vacation. Although the best option would be to unplug all together, sometimes you may have no choice. So how can you get the work done and still have fun?

The first step is to set aside specific times. Designate a few hours a day (i.e early in the morning or before going to bed) to check work emails and perform pressing work related duties. Make sure you plan your time effectively, so that the things that need to get done, do get done.

Conversely, designate “family/friends” times in which you will not handle any work business at all. Make sure to inform your colleagues of these times beforehand so that they know what to expect. Finally, do not be afraid to delegate less important items to other co-workers. After all, you are on vacation!

Working remotely results in increased productivity and decreased absenteeism, benefiting both employers and employees. The workplace has outgrown the traditional in-office setting, calling employees to work in non-traditional ways, whether that be while sitting in their living rooms in pajamas or lounging on a hammock on the beach in Costa Rica.

Originally published in LatinTrends Magazine, August 2015

World's Billionaires

They say that while the poor get poorer, the rich get richer. This may very well be the case, as there are now more billionaires than ever before. Every March, Forbes Magazine ranks the richest people on earth, compiling the renowned “The World's Billionaires” list. This year’s list is made up of 1,862 individuals with billion dollar fortunes, a significant increase from the 1,645 reported just last year.

The list is typically compromised of the usual magnates: Global investor, Warren Buffet, the third richest man in the world with a $72.7 billion dollar net worth, industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch valued at $42.9 billion dollars respectively, and of course Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, who with a net worth of $79.2 billion, has held the title of the richest man in the world for sixteen out of the past twenty-one years.

However, there are a few surprises.

Basketball great, Michael Jordan, for example recently joined the billionaires club with a net worth of $1 billion. A few more women have also joined the league. This year there were 197 women billionaires, up from the 172 the year before. Christy Walton, widow of John Walton, son of WalMart founder Sam Walton, is currently the wealthiest woman in the world, with an inherited net worth of $41.7 billion. Liliane Bentacourt, heiress to L’Oreal cosmetics, is the second, her net worth valued at about $40.1 billion.

What’s perhaps most surprising however, is that although many of the world’s billionaires achieved their wealth through inheritance alone, most of them are actually self-made. A notable example is Elizabeth Holmes, whom after dropping out of Stanford at 19 years old, has not only revolutionized health care with her blood testing company, Theranos, but has managed to become the worlds youngest female billionaire in the process. Then there’s Jorge Perez, who immigrated to the US from Argentina to become an urban planner, and is now amassing billions developing luxury condos in Florida.

There are many other Latinos and Hispanics counting their billions all the way to the bank. For example, there’s Jorge Paulo Lemann, the richest man in Brazil, who accumulated his wealth as a beer baron through stakes in the world’s largest brewery and the richest man in Colombia, banker Luis Carlos Sarmiento, who’s investments have earned him a $12.5 Billion net.

At 30 years old, the youngest Latino Billionaire is Julio Mario Santo Domingo, III, a New York City DJ and heir to grandfather Julio Mario Santo Domingo’s Colombian beer company fortune. Other notable Latino billionaires include, Mexican business woman Eva Gonda Rivera, widow of Eugenio Garza Laguera, former chair of Latin America's biggest independent beverage distributor and Peruvian Eduardo Belmont, owner of the cosmetics company Belcorp.

The wealthiest Latina woman in the world is Iris Fontbona. The Chilean businesswoman ranks 82 among the world’s billionaires. After inheriting her late husband Andronico Luksic’s mining business in 2005, her net worth is currently estimated at $13.3 billion.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, two of the top five wealthiest billionaires are Latinos. Amancio Ortega, founder of the retail company Zara, ranks as the fourth richest person in the world. The son of a railway worker, Ortega’s first job was in a shirtmaker’s shop. Now, his very own clothing company has accumulated him a worth of $64.5 billion.

Finally, there’s CarlosSlim Helu. With a net worth of $77.1 Billion, the Mexican investor is considered the second richest man in the world. At a point, he even out-earned Bill Gates, and was named the richest man on earth from 2010-2013. Helu’s wide array of business ventures extends across a number of fields, from telecommunications, to retail, to automotive services to energy and construction, to name just a few. With stakes in so many places, Gates better watch out, it looks like Helu is still out for that number one spot.


Originally published in LatinTrends Magazine, August 2015

A Dissection of the Prison Population

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world…by a landslide. No other country even comes close to incarcerating as many of its citizens as us. In the past thirty years, the American prison population has increased by about 500%, from 300,000 in the 1980s to over 2.2 million now. It is no wonder that prisons are severely overcrowded, and if the cast of the popular Netflix series “Orange Is the New Black” is any indication, a sizable amount of those in prison are Latino.

Data on incarcerated Latinos is hard to find due to ambiguous record keeping, as Hispanic is characterized as an ethnicity rather than a race and the federal government's data source for national crime statistics does not keep data on ethnicity. However, as per the SentencingProject, an organization that promotes reform in sentencing policies, it has been estimated that as of 2012, Latinos are four times as likely as Caucasians to end up in prison. One out of every three people in Federal prisons is of Latino descent. The numbers for state prisons are just as alarming. Data records show that even though White Americans make up 78 percent of the U.S. population, they only account for 35 percent of the state prison population, while Hispanics, who make up 17 percent of the U.S. population, account for 21 percent of those in state prisons.

This overwhelming number of incarcerations continues to increase even though overall crime in America is at a steady decline. The United States crime rate saw its peak in the 1990s. Since then, violent crimes, such as homicides, rapes and robberies, have dropped by an average of 48% nationwide. This increased number of incarcerations but decreased number in crime can be largely attributed to escalated policing and harsh sentencing, practices, which many believe target African Americans and Latinos.

This allegation may not be too far fetched. It seems as if there is a new case of law enforcement using deadly force against men of color who pose minimal threat almost weekly. In Baltimore, for example, the city has seen weeks of unrest due to the death of a 25-year-old man at the hands of police. Since the number of Latinos that reside in that city has almost doubled in the past 10 years, it is no surprise that many Latinos stand in solidarity with Black Americans regarding this issue. Gustavo Torres, executive Director of Casa de Maryland, a Latino and immigration advocacy organization, told MSNBC that Latinos in Maryland are also concerned with the hostile relationships between law enforcement and minorities. This volatile relationship is perhaps most obvious when examining drug-specific arrests.

Drug related offenses have increased by an astounding 1100% since the 1980s. To the extent that those currently incarcerated for drug related crimes amount to more than those incarcerated for all offenses in 1980. Even though government records show that White Americans use and sell drugs at a higher rate, more than 80% of those arrested for drug offenses (primarily marijuana possession) are Black and/or Latino.

This stark comparison is not surprising, considering that research also shows that Black and Latinos are stopped and frisked three times more often than White Americans. A recent study conducted by Christopher Petrella at the University of California Berkeley, found that not only are people of color more likely to be arrested, but they are also more likely to serve time in private prisons. Private prisons became popular in 1984, when as a response to the massive costs associated with the overpopulation of federal and state prisons, a group of Tennessee investors created an organization called Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). The CCA uses private investment or venture capital to build and run their own prisons then make profit off of them by leasing the beds to the state. Currently, nearly ten percent of American prisons fall under the private prison jurisdiction. Prisons, which compared to their public counterparts, have a higher level of violence and corruption and a lower level of health care services and educational programs.

However even though Latinos are incarcerated for minor drug offenses at a disparate rate, most Hispanic prison sentences come as a result of immigration crimes, particularly illegal crossing and alien smuggling. As per the Pew Research Center, among all Hispanics sentenced in federal courts since 2007, 48% were sentenced for immigration offenses, 37% for drug offenses and 15% for other offenses. What’s perhaps more interesting to note is that immigration crimes, unlike most other criminal offenses, fall under the jurisdiction of federal prisons rather than state or local courts, therefore they are always tried as Federal offenses. The average sentence for immigration crimes is currently two years.

The overcrowding of prisons, particularly by people of color and particularly for non-violent crimes, has become such a problem that many politicians are beginning to take note. In reaction to current events, 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton recently proposed an end to mass incarceration, calling for a re-evaluation of prison sentences and trust between police and communities. New Attorney General, Loretta Lynch’s stance however is still pretty much undefined. Yet the numbers are hard to ignore. The United States is only 5% of the World’s population, but 25% of its prison system, a system that costs us upwards of $80 billion a year. It’s clearer now more than ever that our criminal justice system needs some serious reform.

Originally Published in LatinTrends Magazine, June 2015