Chemistry Reaction With Sugar Essays - Sugar Substitutes, Sugar

Chemistry: Reaction With Sugar The variable that was used in our experiment was common sugar. The process of spearation is refining. The natural sugar stored in the cane stalk or beetroot is separated from the rest of the plant material. Sugar cane is refined by the following process: a) pressing the cane to extract the juice; b) boiling the juice until it begins to thicken and sugar begins to crystallize; c) spinning the crystals in a centrifuge to remove the syrup, producing raw sugar; d) shipping the raw sugar to a refinery where it is washed and filtered to remove remaining non-sugar ingredients and color; and e) crystallizing, drying and packaging the refined sugar. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports disappearance figures for sweeteners. They estimate that annually, about 67 pounds of sugar (cane and beet); 85 pounds of corn sweeteners; and 1 pound of other sweeteners (honey, maple syrup) per capita were delivered into the food supply. In its report, the Food and Drug Administration estimated U.S. average daily intake of added sugars at 11% of total calories current levels of sweetener consumption do not constitute 'overconsumption,' says the Food and Drug Administration. Americans are not consuming an overabundance of sugar.. Science Essays

102 Monster Structure And Bib Professor Ramos Blog

102 Monster Structure And Bib Quick Write Quick Write What is the purpose of evaluating a monster? Points to Consider Definition: Explain and define the monster you are writing about. Mission: Explain your mission early on. Hook us with a good reason to continue reading. Background: How did the monster come to be? Culture: How the monster represents culture?   What cultural use does the monster serve? Theory: How does the monster theory help us understand the monster or society? Focal Point: Evaluate a specific monster representation not all of the representations. Use the other ones to help evaluate the main one. Compare and Contrast: Examine the differences. Compare the strengths and weaknesses. Judgment: How dies the monster meet the criteria for evaluation? Purpose: Most evaluations provide usable information and beneficial criticism. After studying the monster and reading your essay, we should have a better understanding of the monster. Keep it Simple: Choose a simple or predictable structure, criteria, and grading/evaluation. Monster Theory and Frankenstein In small groups, look at the seven theories to see which apply to Frankenstein and his Monster. Monster Theory Thesis I. The Monster’s Body Is a Cultural Body (4) Thesis II. The Monster Always Escapes (4) Thesis III. The Monster Is the Harbinger of Category Crisis (6) Thesis IV. The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference (7) Thesis V. The Monster Polices the Borders of the Possible (12) Thesis VI. Fear of the Monster Is Really a Kind of Desire (16) Thesis VII. The Monster Stands at the Threshold . . . of Becoming (20) Monster Theory Class Notes Monster Annotated Bib You will need to decide on the monster you want to evaluate, and investigate the subject thoroughly. You will need to find your primary sources and scholarly sources. For Example: Dracula or Vampires Primary Sources: Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula (1898) – Book Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) – Film Scholarly Sources: Search the  Crafton  library database for your monster or category of monster. Also, Google Scholar is a great search engine for scholarly stuff. Possible search terms: Dracula Dracula critical analysis Dracula vampire For this assignment, you should include: Summary of Source, 2-4 sentences How you are using it in your report, 1-3 sentences Krikorian, Mark. â€Å"Two Immigration Priorities.†Ã‚  National Review, Dec, 2016, pp. 18-20, SIRS Issues Researcher,  www.sks.sirs.com. This article goes into detail on some of the other less talked about factors of the changes in how we deal with illegal immigrants under our new president and his policies. The author is the director of the Center for Immigration Studies so I assume he is a credible expert in immigration. I will use this source to get more specific in my critique of the border wall proposal. Krikorian, Mark. â€Å"Two Immigration Priorities.†Ã‚  National Review, Dec, 2016, pp. 18-20, SIRS Issues Researcher,  www.sks.sirs.com. This article goes into detail on some of the other less talked about factors of the changes in how we deal with illegal immigrants under our new president and his policies. The author is the director of the Center for Immigration Studies so I assume he is a credible expert in immigration. I will use this source to get more specific in my critique of the border wall proposal.

Human Resource Issues Facing HOME CARE HOUSING Assignment

Human Resource Issues Facing HOME CARE HOUSING - Assignment Example The inability of the organization to develop a HR policy that would regulate all HR issues in all organizational units has led to severe conflicts at all organizational levels and to failures in regard to the development of various organizational activities. The literature related to the particular sector, the HRM sector, has been reviewed so that appropriate explanations are retrieved in regard to the HR problems appeared across the organization. It is proved that the elimination of conflicts in the workplace and the resolution of the firm’s HRM problems are possible only if an appropriate plan of action, that would address all the needs of the organization in terms of its HR, would be introduced. Part A Summary of all HR issues currently faced by Homecare Housing – Links between these issues The HR issues that Homecare Housing currently faces seem to be related with the rapid development of the organization. As noted in the case study, the transformation of the organi zation during the last 12 years has been rapid, leading to the increase of the staff at high levels; today, the workforce of the organization reaches the 600 employees. ... Inequality has become a key organizational problem not only in regard to the level of payment but also in regard to ‘working hours, swift payments and holidays’ (case study, p.2). According to the case study the difference, in percentage, in the amount paid to employees for swifts ‘can vary from ‘0% to 60%’ (case study, p.2), a fact that cannot be accepted. The elimination of inequality and unfairness in the workplace should be the key priority for the firm’s HR managers so that employee morale is increased positively affected the employee performance. Indeed, as noted in the third page of the case study, HR managers in Homecare Housing have understood the need for eliminating inequality in the workplace, especially in regard to the level of payment. Still, inequality across the organization should be addressed in all its aspects and not only in regard to the employees’ remuneration. The introduction of an appropriately customized reward system, as announced by the firm’s managers (case study, p.3) could benefit the organization leading to the increase of employee satisfaction and employee morale (West and Markiewicz 2008, White and Druker 2012); however, such plan could not help for eliminating conflicts in the workplace unless it would be combined with other measures targeting inequality and unfairness (Searle and Skinner 2011). Another problem that the organization has to face in regard to the management of its HR is the development across the organization of union support. Participating in unions can help employees to promote their interests in the workplace (Kirton and Greene 2012); however, if the relevant initiatives are not carefully organized it is quite possible for the involvement of union in the

What was the impact of the use of nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Essay

What was the impact of the use of nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the end of the Second World War and why - Essay Example eading to carry out unimaginable human destruction has clearly shaped common perceptions regarding the level of destructive consequences can be derived from any future war1. In this context, a revolution was constituted soon after the inception of nuclear weapons in the modern warfare. Comparatively, the use of nuclear weapons is deemed to impose brutal and more destructive effects in nature than any other war weaponries used throughout the centuries. Periodic historical observations have consequently set out clear reflections regarding the most controversial and consequential war decisions taken in the modern warfare, indicative to the use of atomic nuclear weapon on the two major Japanese cities - Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the year 1945. From the worldview, the nuclear weapons dropped by the American Air Force Bombers on respectively 6th and 9th August 1945 had been considered as the most destructive and consequential events in the modern warfare history2. With an in-depth understanding about the adverse and most devastative effects of nuclear weapon, the primary aim of this essay is to deliver a clear reflection on the short and long-term impacts of nuclear bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In this regard, the primary research question of this study has been formulated as - â€Å"What were the grounds that caused nuclear attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and what were the consequences witnessed thereafter?† In order to address the aims determined for the study based on the key question, the discussion of the essay tends to comply with a set of relevant study objectives. The key objectives designed for this essay has been demonstrated as follows. To explain the arguments and give overall description whether the use of such destructive weapons have positive or negative effects after evaluating the consequences caused by the nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Deterrence of nuclear weapon has been widely witnessed by the world in context to the

Reflective Diray Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Reflective Diray - Essay Example I believe that in order for me to triumphantly finish this academic year, I need to improve on learning, and this I can to by working harder. During the ICT lecture that I have attended last Tuesday, I encountered problems regarding the database table. Apparently, this was the major conflict I’ve had so far. I was able to overcome it however I am still a bit unsure of how to use it. This week was a little intense for me. This week, I finally became conscious of the difficulty of jumping from one approach to another in order to keep up with the courses. First, I went to the library to research on for the Educational Development module. There I found books which will enlighten me better with our topic. Our lecture was about â€Å"how to take notes†, incorporating active learning in the lesson. During the lecture, we were given tasks and they were to be done as a group however at first I was not that engaged in the group work. It was then I realized that this was what the lecture was teaching me – to become more active and to be more engaged in tasks as much as possible. This is what I have to try, and I know that in so doing I will be able to understand the lecture better. Group tasks can help me explore more things, I learn from my group mates and in return, I contribute some knowledge. Perhaps, this is another aspect of active learning. I do not only learn from reading, but I learn fro m experience, not just of my own but of others as well. Mates are like authors, with the authors, you read carefully their ideas, with mates, you have to listen to them carefully and observe them. Through listening and observing, you learn new ideas (Voeks 1979). I also realized that I need to do some more reading during my spare time as this will help me as well.   Through active reading, we begin to search new ideas and in vigorously

The Un Global Compact Politics Essay

The Un Global Compact Politics Essay The United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) is a worldwide initiative started by the United Nations in order to encourage businesses to take up more sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to also report their implementation. It consists of ten guiding principles pertaining to the areas of human rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption. It is the worlds largest corporate citizenship initiative with over 7700 members in 130 countries. UNGC is a unique platform that gives a strategic edge to its participants to advance their corporate commitments to the sustainability. UNGC is endorsed directly by the CEOs. It has been structured as a public-private initiative. The UNGC is a policy framework to advance the development as well as implementation, and also the disclosure of sustainability principles and practices. It offers its participants an array of specialized work streams, management tools and resources, and special programs and projects which have been designed to advance sustainable business models and markets in order build a more sustainable global economy.UNGC has two main objectives: First; Mainstream the ten principles in business activities around the world and Second; Catalyze actions in support of broader UN goals, such as the Millennium Development Goals. TheUN Secretary-General at that time Mr. Kofi Annan in an address to The World Economic Forum announced the UNGC on January 31, 1999. Itwas officially launched at UN Headquarters in New York on July 26, 2000. The first two principles pertain to human rights. The next 4 principles deal with labor standards businesses should follow. The next 3 deals with environment protection and the last one advocated anti-corruption. The Global Compact is a voluntary initiative and a company that wants to subscribe to the Principles has to make a clear statement of support and has to include references in its annual report or in any other publically available documents detailing the progress it has made in adhering to the Principles. The company also needs to submit a brief description of this report to the Global Compact website. If the company fails to submit this description within two years of signing to be a part ofthe Compact (and after that every two years), the company will be removed from the list of participants. The participants to UNGC intend to lead through good example and setting a high moral tone. The main purpose of the Global Compact is to focus on the moral purpose of business. Kofi Annan summarizes it well in a quote: Let us choose to unite the power of markets with the authority of universal ideals. Let us choose to reconcile the creative forces of private entrepreneurship with the needs of the disadvantaged and the requirements of future generations. Then ten principles are as follows: Human Rights Principle 1:Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights within their sphere of influence; and Principle 2: Make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses. Labor Principle 3:Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; Principle 4: The elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labor; Principle 5: The effective abolition of child labor; and Principle 6: The elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. Environment Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges; Principle 8: Undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility, and Principle 9: Encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies. Corruption Principle 10:Business should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery. Is the Global Compact a Product of Occidental Liberalism? International regimes are defined as social institutions around which actor expectations converge in a given area of international relations. Being true for any social institution, the participants discretion to act on issues that fall within the realm of the institution is by themselves limited by the international regime. The occidental international economic order that emerged post the Second World War was a highly advantageous combination of factors that led to long and sustained economic growth. The economic power was distributed worldwide in such a manner that it favored an open approach to organizing international economic relations. Worldwide there existed an ideological consensus regarding the role state should play to ensure domestic employment, price stability and social security. The body of economic analysis and policy prescriptions at that time prescribed the governments to act in this manner. Most of the major corporations were national in scope and the international e conomic relations more or less comprised of transactions amongst separate and distinct national economies. The Bretton Woods institutions, the GATT and the United Nations were the few international organizations that had been put in place to express and support the post WWII compromise of embedded liberalism. Major changes have taken place in the last half-century that has undermined the effectiveness of this set of understandings and arrangements. However, Globalization is the single greatest factor that has brought about these changes. Globalization has led to a complete disconnection between the world of production and the world of finance leading to an overall change in the system of institutional relationships. This has led to two disequilibria in the worlds political economy. The first disequilibrium exists between the economic sphere, and the broader frameworks of shared values and practices of which the economic sphere is a part. The second disequilibrium exists within the international governance structures. The major capitalist countries can withstand even the worst effects of this imbalance since they have the domestic and the institutional capacity to protect themselves but the rest of the developing world is extremely vulnerable, and this vulnerability has been further exacerbated by the neo-liberal orthodoxies of the so-called Washington consensus. Therefore, the international community has to devise the kind of institutional equilibrium that used to exist in the post WWII international economic order. The international community has to focus here on the long-term interaction between two key actors in the global economy, the multinational corporations (MNCs) and multinational Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). The key players of civil society have started to increasingly target MNCs and the international trading system as leverage to pursue social and environmental concerns. This dynamic interplay between the two creates a potential for to bridge the disequilibrium between economic globalization and the international governance structures. The United Nations Global Compact is one such initiative that challenges the international business community to help the UN in implementing the social values of human rights, environment and labor. John Gerard Ruggie who is the Kirkpatrick Professor of International Affairs at the Harvard Universitys Kennedy School of Government says that the basic problem is that MNCs, acting as non-territorial spaces and management, have given rise to global governance gaps and governance failures. Ruggie is well known in academic circles for coining the term embedded liberalism, that he uses to describe the post-WWII coupling of multilateralism with the aim to achieve domestic stability; and for having emphasized the roles that ideas play in world politics. He has explored the emergence of such gaps in governance in several of his works (e.g., Ruggie, 1998b, 2003, 2004). Ruggie helped UN Secretary- General Kofi Anan in designing and establishing the UN Global Compact, as the Assistant Secretary-general and Chief Adviser for strategic planning to Kofi Annan. Without speculating on the importance of Ruggies role in the creation of the compact, the speech Kofi Annan used to launch the Global Compact at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 1999, strongly suggests that John Ruggies influence was substantial. It appears that Kofi Annans suggestion that: Globalization is a fact of life. But I believe we have underestimated its fragility. The problem is this. The spread of markets outpaces the ability of societies and their political systems to adjust to them, let alone to guide the course they take. History teaches us that such an imbalance between the economic, social and political realms can never be sustained for very long. Seems to have been directly informed by Ruggies work on embedded liberalism (e.g. 1982, 1998b) According to Ruggie (2003), theà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨ten principles of the UNGC are drawn from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, theà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨ILOs Fundamental Principles on Rights at Work and theà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨Rio Principles on Environment and Development. The UNGC is based on beliefs that have been universally recognized byà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨governments, thus spelling out the goals of the whole international community. The UNGC partners with members of the corporate world and the civil society to reduce the gap betweenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨dreams and reality It aims to become an agency for the promotion of social customs. Thus, UNGC is another measure to the growing number of responses to globalizationsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨challenges that also partner with the private sector. The Challenge The UNGC is based on an ideology of the benefits of open markets. Various high-ranking UN officials describe the UN Global Compact as the only remotely viable means of hauling billions of people out of utter poverty. The term open markets sounds nice, but in the real world they translate into the skewed rules created by the WTO that benefit the developed nations at the expense of developing countries, poor farmers, consumers and the environment. It is apparent that most of the UN officials along with the corporate and government officials believe that globalization is principally beneficial and all it needs is just a bit of tinkering here and there. An editorial in the Washington Post on the UN Global Compact read that globalization only needs a softener to dull its sharp edges and increase the allocation of its benefits. In his speech to corporate leaders in 1999 at Davos, Switzerland, the Secretary General of UN Mr. Kofi Annan warned of a threatening backlash against globalization, he advocated that recognition of human and labor rights, and environmental principles are absolutely essential to avoid any threats to the open global market, and especially the multilateral trading regime. Mr. Annan by proclaiming that globalization must be protected by putting a more human face on it, and by declaring that social values need to be advanced as part and parcel of the globalization process, has clearly taken sides with the corporate agenda at a time when this agenda itself is increasingly under scrutiny. In order to keep it simple and attractive for companies, the ten principles of the UNDC are basically one-liners. They are just an example of the minimalist code of corporate conduct. The ten principles do not provide adequate guidance to corporations about the conduct that is expected from them and their responsibilities. Most of the UN Global Compacts ten principles cannot be defined with the precision that is required for creating a practical code of conduct. The ambiguity of the ten principles is in essence counter-productive from the perspective of both the sincere as well as the insincere corporate citizens. The language with which the principles are defined is so general that insincere corporations can easily side step or conform to the principles without doing anything to promote human rights or labor standards. The Secretary General of UN along with various agency heads have displayed very poor judgment by letting numerous known and proven human rights, labor rights and environmental violators to sign up with the UNGC. Specific partners of the Compact include companies like Shell (Oil major), Nike (Human rights violator), Rio Tinto, BP (Oil Major), Novartis, Aracruz, Daimler Chrysler, BASF, Bayer and DuPont (environment troubles). In a few of these cases, the choices are blatantly violating UNs own guidelines that read, Companies which violate human rights are not eligible for partnership.Many other companies are part of the compact that are not accused explicitly of such clear violations, but they are giants of industries like oil and petroleum, genetical engineering and heavy chemicals. People broadly oppose the impact of these companies on the community, the workers and the environment. Additionally, the International Chamber of Commerce, which mostly represents big businesses, has been a major force for the corporate side of the UN Global Compact. The International Chamber of Commerce more than often lobbies for diminishing the impact of international agreements that governs their members behavior-accords that are often brokered by the UN. One often sees Public-private partnerships being used for specific projects with definite goals. The UNs is however is using this term much more generally. One would normally assume that a partnership is created only when all the partners have the same goals. Its tough to understand why UN is partnering with corporations that have completely different goals. Modern corporations acknowledge that there are various other stakeholders than their shareholders, but in concrete terms they are only accountable to their shareholders, on the other hand the UN is based on a promise to promote ethical principles and is accountable to the people. Sometimes the UN and corporate agenda concur; but most of the times they are at odds. The Director of UNICEF Carol Bellamy once said that it was dangerous to assume that the goals of the private sector were somehow synonymous with those of the UN, because they most emphatically were not. It is quite obvious to everyone that its not possible to forge a partnership with an institution whose interests are antithetical to yours own. It is not possible for the UN to simultaneously regulate as well as partner with the same corporations. Its not that The UN can avoid all interactions with corporations; it has to interact with then when it needs to buy goods and services or to hold the corporations accountable, but UN should take care not to partner with them except when the organizations share its goals. Every company wants to project certain values and a certain image. Disney wants to represent wholesome family entertainment. McDonalds advertises itself as fast, friendly food. Nike is associated with the joy of sports and Shell, Chevron and BP and other oil companies promote their own commitment to environmental stewardship. But, to many people, Nike also means sweatshops in poor Asian countries, McDonalds often signifies unhealthy junk food that causes obesity and, Disney means sweatshops and promotion of stereotypes, Shell is linked with various human rights violations and environment destruction, and the whole oil industry is notorious for global warming, greed and abuse of its power. When Kofi Annan joins the CEOs of such companies on the main stage, or whenever a UN agency partners with such corporations in a joint venture, the message that is sent out to the public is very disturbing. As it is described in the UNDP guidelines, whenever a UN agency is engaged in a public relations activity within the framework of a corporate relationship, a mutual image transfer inevitably takes place. The image transfer that takes place tarnishes the pure UNs image, and gives the chance to big corporations to bluewash their bad image by associating themselves with the UN. When pharmaceutical majors like Novartis and Aventis are seen by the public as a part of the UN Global Compact, the public gets an impression that the UN has officially endorsed their products despite the enormous controversy surrounding these companies. The UN represents values such as world peace, security, human rights, environment consciousness and global well being. These values should remain distinct from the commercial values of companies. Once the image of UN is tarnished with corporate logos, the compromising of its noble values may follow. The most crucial aspect relating to the Global Compact is accountability. The reluctance of U.S. based companies to enlist with the Global Compact focuses on the issue of accountability. In todays environment of increasing skepticism about the true motives of the corporations, the legitimacy of the UN Global compact comes into question if it operates without a traditional accountability structure. The Global Compact does not have a monitoring or an enforcement mechanism. This means that the companies that enlist with the Compact get a chance to declare their commitment to UN principles without making any promise to follow up on them. The corporate partners of the UNGC have made it explicit that such a lax arrangement is precondition for their participation. Maria Livianos Cattui, the secretary-general of the ICC recently said that businesses would not agree to any suggestion that involves external assessment of their performance, whether it is by any special interest groups or by any UN agencies. The Global Compact is not a qualification the corporations have to meet; it is merely a joint commitment to shared social values. It is imperative that the Global Compact does not become a tool by which the governments burden business with prescriptive regulations. The critics on the Global Compact fall into two major categories and both need to be addressed. Most scholars researching on codes of conduct regard the Global Compact as just another code of conduct without any accountability, its merely a public relations document. The question that arises is that how can the public know that a business that claims to be following the principles prescribed under the Global Compact is actually doing so? These scholars argue that an independent monitoring group that translates general principles into operating standards with quantifiable and objective measures is the only way to insure that the companies are held accountable. A much more fundamental criticism arises from the Non Governmental Organizations and other organizations that are critical of economic globalization. Their view is that the Global Compact is a cover-up story that provides legitimacy to an idea, which has yet to prove itself. They argue for the creation of a mandatory legal framework that guarantees that the companies are held accountable even to the least advantaged in the global economy. Another difficulty with the accountability issue is the ambiguous nature of the Global Compacts principles on human rights. Is it possible to reach a consensus that genuinely captures the expectations of society? Most of the companies are in broad agreement with the Global Compacts principles relating to human rights, but there is a fear amongst them that enlisting with the Compact would create societal expectations that these companies are obligated to correct human rights abuses. Where and how can a line be drawn on the responsibilities of companies in the area of human rights? Few MNCs have come to understand that it is imperative for them to become proactive and live up to the expectations of society in a global economy, but these companies also understand that these expectations in the area of human rights are often unclear. In the litigious business environment of the United States, companies display reluctance in signing the Compact without having a clear idea of what their re sponsibilities are and what is their accountability. The Global Compact is not a state focused corporate citizenship program, but in spite of that nations are amongst the key stakeholders from which the Global Compact requires support. Blackett suggests that it might be necessary to highlight the role of governments in successfully implementing the Compact principles. But till now the UN has failed to work out a proper role of governments in ensuring that the participant of the Compact live up to their commitments. On the contrary, the Shanghai Declaration has suggested that businesses could use UNGC to set demands and exert undue influence over governments. If this go too far and the businesses start dictating the business of the Global Compact Office and international law generally, then even this partnership might face a crisis of legitimacy among states and other stakeholders.

Lord of the Flies: Human Nature :: Character Analysis

I believe that human nature shows what type of person we are. Human nature guides us as individuals to do the right thing. We learn by our surroundings and it plays on our society and the nature of us as humans. This question had me ponder the question whether or not humans can be born evil? The book just made me think of all the times I have grown up and seen some bad incidents that are part of life. Someone close to me has made an abundance of bad choices in his life and when I was younger, he was the one I always looked up to as a â€Å"brotherly figure† but also as a best friend. He was the one that saved my life when I was younger. He was also somebody that I could trust with my life, but then I ask myself how he became such a bad person because he started hanging with the wrong crowd. He ended up pushing me aside to be with his so-called friends at the time. I think his true nature was starting to show through. He was not the brotherly figure I used to know when I was just a child; he had changed from a brotherly figure I used to know and have so much admiration for, but now he is someone that I do not like being around. I wonder if environmental surroundings had shaped both him and me, and to what extent this influence had on the both of us. He and I had changed very much since we were both children, now he is getting ready to turn 25 and I am 19. I believe our human nature makes us the type of people we are today. In Lord of the Flies, I realized no matter how good of person you are your true nature always comes through. For example, in the story you see how evil Roger can be while on the other side you see how good Ralph is. I think that is where I saw the symbolism between all the characters and each character has their own characteristics from our true human nature. I have seen that each character in the story had their shown their true nature. Roger’s character in the story is someone that has a true nature of being evil, but if you look at Simon’s point of view, you would see how he represented the good side of human nature.

Indian Literature Essay

Indian Literature, writings in the languages and literary traditions of the Indian subcontinent. The subcontinent consists of three countries: India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The political division of the area into three nations took place in the 20th century; before that, the entire region was generally referred to as India. For centuries Indian society has been characterized by diversity—the people of modern India speak 18 major languages and many other minor languages and dialects; Urdu is the principal language of Pakistan, and Urdu and Bengali are used in Bangladesh. The people of the subcontinent also practice all the world’s major religions. Throughout its history, India has absorbed and transformed the cultures of the peoples who have moved through the region. As a result, the Indian literary tradition is one of the world’s oldest and richest. Religion has long exercised a strong influence on Indian writing. The major religions of the area have been Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Islam. Throughout the history of Indian literature, certain religious doctrines have formed common threads. One such doctrine is karma—the chain of good and bad actions and their inevitable consequences, which result in the repeated birth and death of the soul. The mythology of the dominant Hindu religion portrays the deities Vishnu, Shiva, the Goddess (Devi), and others. This mythology has influenced Indian texts, from ancient epics in the Sanskrit language to medieval poems in the various languages of different regions to modern works in English. The Vedas, which are Hindu sacred texts, are the earliest examples of Indian literature. The Vedas were composed between about 1500 bc and 1000 bc in Old Sanskrit, also called Vedic Sanskrit. This language belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family. Indo-Aryan languages dominated northern India in ancient times, and Sanskrit became the major language of Indian religious and philosophical writing and classical literature. It also served as a common language with which scholars from different regions could communicate. No longer spoken widely, it is maintained as a literary language in modern India, meaning that people still use it for written works. The emergence of the popular religions Buddhism and Jainism in the 6th century bc gave rise to literature in Pali and in the several dialects of Sanskrit known as Prakrit (meaning â€Å"natural language†). Meanwhile, Tamil, a Dravidian language, emerged as the most important language in the south. A recorded literature in Tamil dates from the 1st century ad. Rich literary traditions have emerged in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam, which are modern languages that developed from Old Tamil and its dialects. Between the 10th and 18th centuries, the medieval dialects of the earlier languages evolved into the modern languages of India. Eighteen of these languages now have official status in India, as does English. As the different tongues evolved, a distinctive literature with particular styles and themes developed in each tongue. At the same time, Indian literature was influenced by the Persian language and its literature, which various Muslim conquerors brought to the Indian subcontinent. Muslims also introduced Islam to India, and Islamic philosophy and traditions affected Indian literature. After the British became active in India in the 1700s, English language and writing had a significant impact on Indian literature. Oral traditions have always been important in Indian literature. Many storytellers present traditional Indian texts by reciting them, often with improvisation. Others use song, dance, or drama to tell tales. In both its oral and written forms, Indian literature has produced great works that have influenced national and regional literary traditions in other parts of the world.

Free Essays on Lord Of The Flies Book Vs Film

Lord of the Flies Essay Did Brooks’ film accurately convey the original meaning of Golding's novel? William Golding, a remarkably talented writer, created this intriguing timeless classic, Lord of the Flies. The novel’s unique and mysterious style generated a torrent of interest. Even today, more than 30 years later, exhausting analysis’ of his novel are being attempted. I found this novel to be extraordinary. It is overflowing with subtle yet profound meaning and truths about humans. It is detailed, and contains intricately and strongly developed characters and relationships. The symbolism in the story is fascinating and extensive. This is why this novel is such a challenge to condense into a 90 minute film. One of the most important themes in the novel is evil, and the manifestation of fear and monsters as a result of the young boy’s inevitable evil within. The boys on the island are severed from civilization and they’re terrified, thus they fabricate a monster, a â€Å"beastie,† to justify their fears. In the novel an insightful suggestion is made by Simon, â€Å" ‘What I mean is... Maybe it’s only us.’... Simon became inarticulate in his efforts to express mankind’s essential illness.† (p.89) The theme of inner-evil becomes more evident as it is further developed in the novel. Simon has a â€Å"conversation† with The Lord of the Flies (the pig’s head) that is key to the story; the truth about the boys emerges. â€Å"There isn’t anyone to help you. Only me. And I’m the Beast... Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!... You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? C lose, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are the way they are?’† (p.142) However in the film, the theme of a manifestation of evil isn’t clear, and the Lord of the Flies scene was left out. For me the most interesting and thought provoking character in the novel is Simon. In... Free Essays on Lord Of The Flies Book Vs Film Free Essays on Lord Of The Flies Book Vs Film Lord of the Flies Essay Did Brooks’ film accurately convey the original meaning of Golding's novel? William Golding, a remarkably talented writer, created this intriguing timeless classic, Lord of the Flies. The novel’s unique and mysterious style generated a torrent of interest. Even today, more than 30 years later, exhausting analysis’ of his novel are being attempted. I found this novel to be extraordinary. It is overflowing with subtle yet profound meaning and truths about humans. It is detailed, and contains intricately and strongly developed characters and relationships. The symbolism in the story is fascinating and extensive. This is why this novel is such a challenge to condense into a 90 minute film. One of the most important themes in the novel is evil, and the manifestation of fear and monsters as a result of the young boy’s inevitable evil within. The boys on the island are severed from civilization and they’re terrified, thus they fabricate a monster, a â€Å"beastie,† to justify their fears. In the novel an insightful suggestion is made by Simon, â€Å" ‘What I mean is... Maybe it’s only us.’... Simon became inarticulate in his efforts to express mankind’s essential illness.† (p.89) The theme of inner-evil becomes more evident as it is further developed in the novel. Simon has a â€Å"conversation† with The Lord of the Flies (the pig’s head) that is key to the story; the truth about the boys emerges. â€Å"There isn’t anyone to help you. Only me. And I’m the Beast... Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!... You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? C lose, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are the way they are?’† (p.142) However in the film, the theme of a manifestation of evil isn’t clear, and the Lord of the Flies scene was left out. For me the most interesting and thought provoking character in the novel is Simon. In...

The Development of Social Security in America Essays

The Development of Social Security in America Essays The Development of Social Security in America Essay The Development of Social Security in America Essay (PROG-WI); 10. Rep. John Dingell, Sr. D-MI); 11. Sen. Augustine Lonergan (D-CT); 12. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins; 13. Rep. Frank Crowther (R-NY); 14. Sen. William H. King (D-UT); 15. Rep. David J. Lewis (D-MD); 16. Sen. Byron Patton â€Å"Pat† Harrison (D-MS); 17. Sen. Joseph Guffey (D-PA); 18. Sen. Edward Costigan (D-CO); 19. Rep. Samuel B. Hill (D-WA); 20. Rep. Fred Vinson (D-KY); and 21. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. SSA History Museum Archives. 6 socialsecurity. gov/policy the original program. Coverage under the program was by occupational category, with most covered workers employed in â€Å"commerce and industry. Among the excluded groups were the self-employed, government employees, persons already age 65, the military, professionals (doctors, lawyers, etc. ), employees of nonprofit organizations, and agricultural and domestic workers. 18 Financing was to be generated from a payroll tax imposed equ ally on employers and employees (with no government contribution). The tax rate was initially set at 1 percent on each party, with scheduled increases every 3 years, to an eventual rate of 3 percent each by 1949. Payroll taxes were to begin in January 1937, and the first benefits were to be payable for January 1942. The wage base (the amount of earnings subject to the tax) was set at $3,000. This level was sufficient to include 92 percent of all wages paid to the covered groups. Stated another way, about 97 percent of all covered workers had their entire earnings subject to the tax (SSA 2010). 19 The First Social Security Payments The Social Security Act of 1935 set the start payroll taxes in 1937 and the start of monthly benefits in 1942. This was a kind of â€Å"vesting period,† in which a minimum amount of work would be required to qualify for monthly benefits. This period also allowed time to build some level of reserves in the program’s account before payments began flowing to beneficiaries. The vesting period arrangement presented a conundrum: How should the program treat those workers who turn age 65 during this period, or who die before January 1942? These individuals would have contributed something to the system, and it was thought that they should receive some return for their contributions. Thus, the original program paid two types of one-time, lump-sum benefits in the 1937–1939 period. A person attaining age 65 during this time would be entitled to a one-time payment equal to 3. 5 percent of his or her covered earnings; and the estate of a deceased worker would receive a â€Å"death benefit† computed in the same way. Because the payroll tax in these years was only 1 percent for workers, this would mean a substantial â€Å"return† on their payroll taxes. The first person to take advantage of these benefits- and thus the first Social Security payment ever made- was a Cleveland, Ohio streetcar motorman named Ernest Ackerman. Ackerman worked one day under Social Security- January 1, 1937. His wage for that day was $5. He dutifully paid his payroll tax of one nickel and he received a one-time check from Social Security for 17 cents. 22 In the 1937–1939 period, more than 441,000 people received Social Security benefits totaling over $25 million (see Table 3). Of the total monies paid to beneficiaries during this period, 39 percent was for so-called â€Å"life cases† (like Ackerman), and 61 percent went for â€Å"death benefits. † The Amendments of 1939 Even before monthly benefits were due to start in 1942, the Social Security Act of 1935 was changed in quite fundamental ways by major legislative amendments in 1939. This legislation emerged from the work of an advisory council jointly formed in 1938 by the Senate Finance Committee and the Social Security Board. Conservative members of the Finance Committee (especially Arthur Vandenberg, R-MI) wanted to use the council to revisit the debate over the reserve, while the Social Security Board (especially Arthur Building on the Cornerstone The Social Security system with which we are familiar today is far different from the one created in 1935. In each of the three major policymaking areas (coverage, benefits, and financing), the program has undergone a slow but dramatic evolution. Coverage was initially very limited. Only slightly more than half the workers in the economy were participants in the program under the 1935 law. Today we could describe Social Security’s coverage as nearly universal, with about 93 percent of all workers participating in the program. Benefits were initially paid only to retirees and only to the individual worker, himself or herself. There were no other types of benefits and no benefits for dependent family members. Benefits were also far from generous. Financing has always been an issue. Although some aspects of this matter were decisively settled in 1935, others have continued to be sources of ongoing policy contention and political debate. Social Security has evolved over the past 75 years principally through the form of a dozen or so major legislative enactments. In broad terms, the period from 1935 through 1972 is the expansionary period for the program, and the period since 1972 has been a period of policy retrenchment. 20 The major Social Security legislation is highlighted in Table 2. 21 Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 70, No. 3, 2010 7 Table 2. Major Social Security legislation Law The Social Security Act The 1939 amendments The 1950 amendments Date enacted August 14, 1935 August 10, 1939 August 28, 1950 Major features Established individual retirement benefits. Added dependents and survivors benefits and made benefits more generous for early participants. Financing at issue. Adjusted, on a major scale, coverage and financing. Increased benefits for the first time. Provided for gratuitous wage credits for military service. Raised benefits; liberalized retirement test and expanded gratuitous wage credits for military service. Extended coverage. Disability â€Å"freeze. † Added cash disability benefits at age 50. Early retirement for women. Added benefits for dependents of disabled beneficiaries. Disability benefits at any age. Established early retirement for men. Liberalized eligibility requirements for other categories. Added disabled widow(er)s benefits. Added automatic annual cost-of-living adjustments. Raised taxes and scaled back benefits. Long-range solvency at issue. Tightened disability eligibility rules. Eliminated student benefits after high school. Legislation in 1952 Legislation in 1954 The 1956 amendments The 1958 amendments The 1960 amendments The 1961 amendments The 1967 amendments The 1972 Debt-Ceiling Bill The 1977 amendments The 1980 amendments Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 The 1983 amendments Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 Senior Citizens Freedom to Work Act of 2000 July 18, 1952 September 1, 1954 August 1, 1956 August 28, 1958 September 13, 1960 June 30, 1961 January 2, 1968 July 1, 1972 December 20, 1977 June 9, 1980 August 13, 1981 April 20, 1983 August 10, 1993 Raised taxes and scaled back benefits. Long-range and short-range solvency at issue. Raised taxable portion of Social Security benefits from 50 percent to 85 percent. Eliminated the retirement earnings test for those at the full retirement age. April 7, 2000 SOURCE: Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report RL30920, Major Decisions in the House and Senate on Social Security, 1935–2009. Altmeyer, its chairman) wanted to use the council to promote expansion of the benefits beyond the basic individual retirement program codified in the 1935 act. In the end, both groups got some of what they wanted. The legislation advanced the start of monthly benefits from 1942 to 1940; it added dependents benefits; and it replaced the system of one-time death payments with regular monthly survivors benefits. Advancing the start of monthly benefits from 1942 to 1940 meant that the first Social Security monthly benefit would be paid in January 1940. By chance, the first person to become a monthly Social Security 8 beneficiary was a retired legal secretary from Ludlow, Vermont- Ida May Fuller. Fuller retired in November 1939 at age 65 and received the first-ever monthly Social Security benefit on January 31, 1940. Her monthly check was for $22. 4. The amendments of 1939 provided benefits for wives and widows (but no corresponding benefits for men) and also for dependent children. The wife of a retired worker and each minor child could receive a benefit equal to half the covered worker’s benefit, and widows could receive 75 percent of the worker’s benefit (all for no additional payr oll taxes). 23 socialsecurity. gov/policy Table 3. Number of Social Security beneficiaries and payment amounts, 1937–1939 Year 1937 1938 1939 Total Beneficiaries 53,236 213,670 174,839 441,745 Payments ($ in millions) 1,278,000 10,478,000 13,896,000 25,652,000 SOURCE: SSA (1940, Table 5, p. 47 and Table 15, p. 34). A smaller, but important, change was also introduced in 1939. Under the 1935 law, benefits were computed based on the total cumulative wages a worker had under covered employment. Thus, a long-time covered worker would receive a higher monthly benefit than one who worked less time under the program- even if they both had the same level of wages. So, for example, if â€Å"worker A† worked 20 years under Social Security and earned $20,000 a year and â€Å"worker B† worked 30 years at $20,000 a year, worker B would receive a higher benefit because his or her cumulative wages would be greater than that of the other worker- even though they were both earning $20,000 a year. 24 As part of the refinancing in the amendments of 1939, benefits were shifted from this cumulative basis to that of average monthly wages. One effect of this change would be that everyone who had the same average monthly wage would receive the same benefit amount, regardless of how many years they were covered under Social Security. The intent here was to make benefits more adequate by insuring that persons with the same earnings level would receive the same benefit. (Keep in mind that in these early years, the benefits were still viewed as replacement of income lost because of cessation of work. So the idea is that persons earning at a given level need the same level of income replacement, regardless of how long they have been covered by the program. ) However, to maintain some equity for long-time program participants, a 1 percent increment was added to the benefit formula for each year of program participation. Thus, a longtime participant would still receive a higher monthly benefit than a short-time one, even if they both earned the same average wages. (Here again, we see the attempt to balance adequacy and equity. ) The 1939 legislation also introduced the first modification of the retirement test. Under this relaxed provision, a retirement benefit was payable for any month in which the beneficiary earned less than $15 (any earnings over this limit produced a zero benefit for that month). This was the beginning of a gradual erosion of the requirement that a beneficiary be fully retired to receive a retirement benefit, a process that would culminate in the elimination of the retirement earnings test (RET) in 2000 for those at or above the full retirement age (FRA). The 1940s: A Decade of Start/Stop Tax Policy The decade of the 1940s was in most respects a quiescent period for Social Security policymaking: No new categories of benefits were added, no significant 9 This was a major expansion of the program. Indeed, one might well say that this was the â€Å"second start† of Social Security in America. The 1939 legislation changed the basic nature of the program from that of a retirement program for an individual worker, to a family-based social insurance system (based on the then-current model of the family, in which the man was the breadwinner with a nonworking wife who cared for the minor children). The 1939 law also made benefits to early program participants significantly higher than under the original law, although benefits were lowered for later participants. And it made benefits for married couples higher than those for single workers, by virtue of the addition of dependents benefits. In addition, benefits for single workers were lowered somewhat from their 1935 values. Thus, early program participants and married couples benefited from the changes in 1939, while single persons and later participants had their benefits reduced. This combination of policy changes was a principal way in which the actuarial balance of the system was to be maintained. These policies considerably increased the cost of the program in the near term. This pleased the opponents of the large reserve because it immediately reduced the size of the reserve. It was claimed that in the long run the changes were revenue neutral, and thus it is unclear what real change the amendments made in the long-range financing of the system. However, this claim for revenue neutrality was not well documented at the time, and it has now come under considerable doubt (DeWitt 2007). The 1939 legislation also introduced the trust fund for the first time as a formal legal device to serve as the asset repository for Social Security surpluses. (Under the 1935 law, Social Security’s funds were more literally a bookkeeping entry in the Treasury Department’s general accounts. ) Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 0, No. 3, 2010 expansions of coverage occurred, the value of benefits was not increased (there were no cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) in these early days), and the tax rates were not raised during the entire decade. 25 This last nonevent (no tax rate increase) was, however, a significant anomaly. The 1935 law set a schedule of tax increases beginning in 1939. Tax rates were scheduled to rise four times between 1935 and 1950. These periodic increases were necessary in order to meet President Roosevelt’s demand that the system be self-supporting, and they were the basis on which the actuarial estimates were derived. However, as part of the trade-offs in the amendments of 1939, the first rate increase (in 1940) was cancelled. Then with the coming of World War II, the program’s finances were dramatically altered. With virtually full employment in the wartime economy, more payroll taxes began flowing into the system than the actuaries originally anticipated, and retirement claims dropped significantly. The net result was that the trust fund began running a higher balance than was previously projected. This led to the Congress enacting a series of tax rate â€Å"freezes,† which voided the tax schedule in the law. Each time a new tax rate approached, the Congress would void the increase with the expectation that the normal schedule would resume at the next step in the schedule- but this expectation was never met. In all, eight separate legislative acts froze taxes at their 1935 level all the way to 1950 (see Table 4). The Table 4. Projected versus actual Social Security tax rates (employee and employer rates combined), 1937–1950 Year 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 SOURCE: Authors compilation. esult of these rate freezes was unclear at the time (the Congress focused only on the short-run consequences), but it is probable that the effect of these taxing policies produced the first long-range actuarial deficits in the program (DeWitt 2007). The Amendments of 1950 There were three particular features of the program before 1950 that were the source of discontent among advocates and beneficiaries: (1) the program had no provision for periodic benefit inc reases, (2) benefit levels overall were quite low, and (3) the program only covered about half the workers in the economy. There was also continuing debate over the size and role of the trust fund and the long-range status of the program’s finances. The low level of benefits was of particular concern. Even by 1950, the average state old-age welfare benefit was higher than the average Social Security retirement benefit, and the number of persons receiving welfaretype, old-age benefits was greater than the number receiving Social Security retirement benefits. (The average Social Security retirement benefit at the end of 1947 was only $25 per month for a single person (DeWitt, Beland, and Berkowitz (2008, 162). Moreover, because the law made no provision for any kind of benefit increases, whatever amount beneficiaries were awarded in their first monthly payment was the benefit they could expect for the rest of their lives. So, for example, Ida May Fuller (discussed earlier) lived to be 100 years old and thus collected checks for 35 years. Imagine, then, the effect of 35 years of inflation on the purc hasing power of her $22. 54 benefit. The 1950 legislation (like the 1939 legislation) emerged out of the recommendations of an advisory council. 6 The most dramatic provision in the new law raised the level of Social Security benefits for all beneficiaries an average of 77 percent. Although this was not, strictly speaking, a COLA (but rather an effort to raise the overall level of benefits), it did establish a precedent for the idea that benefits should be raised periodically. However, the precedent also meant that benefits were not raised automatically, but only when a special act of Congress was undertaken to do so. Thus, for many years afterwards, benefit increases would remain spotty, until automatic COLAs began in 1975. The match between the pre-1975 benefit increases and the actual rate of inflation was far from perfect. In some years, benefits were increased more than socialsecurity. gov/policy 1935 law 2. 0 2. 0 2. 0 3. 0 3. 0 3. 0 4. 0 4. 0 4. 0 5. 0 5. 0 5. 0 6. 0 6. 0 Actual rates 2. 0 2. 0 2. 0 2. 0 2. 0 2. 0 2. 0 2. 0 2. 0 2. 0 2. 0 2. 0 2. 0 3. 0 10 inflation, and in other years they were increased less, or not at all. This mismatch was particularly large in the run-up to automatic COLAs in the early 1970s. In 1972, for example, benefits were increased by 20 percent, while inflation had only risen by 1. 3 percent from the year before. Cumulatively, during this period, benefits increased 391 percent, while inflation only increased 252 percent from 1940 through 1974 (see Table 5). The question of the program’s coverage of occupational categories was also of central concern in the 1950 legislation. Up to this point, coverage had not changed significantly since 1935, and at least two-fifths of the workers in the economy were still excluded from the program. The Social Security Advisory Council explicitly recommended that the Congress adopt the goal of universal coverage, stating â€Å"The basic protection afforded by the contributory social insurance system under the Social Security Act should be available to all who are dependent on income from work. †27 The Congress adopted a large part of the council’s recommendation, bringing 10 million additional workers under coverage. The main groups brought under coverage were most self-employed workers and domestic and agricultural workers. Employees of state and local governments were given the option of voluntary coverage, as were employees of nonprofit institutions (subject to certain conditions). The coverage rules, however, were complex and marked the beginning of a policymaking process for coverage that involved complicated special rules for various occupational groups. 28 Nevertheless, we could say that in the amendments of 1950, the program was put on a glide path toward universal coverage (see Chart 2). The 1950 legislation also addressed the issue of the program’s financing. Tax rates were increased for the first time, and the program’s long-range solvency was assessed; the financing was set such that the program could be certified by the actuaries as being in long-range actuarial balance. 29 This part of the legislation effectively ended the debate over the role of the reserve, and it established the precedent that major changes to the program must be assessed for their long-range impact on program financing (DeWitt 2007). The role of the 1 percent â€Å"increment† introduced in 1939 was to insure that long-time program participants would receive proportionately higher benefits than Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 0, No. 3, 2010 Table 5. Social Security benefit increases compared with inflation, 1940–1974 (in percent) Calendar year 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1940–1974b Increase in benefits Base year None None None None None None None None None 77. 0 None 12. 5 None 13. 0 None None None None 7. 0 None None None None None 7. 0 None None 13. 0 None 15. 0 10. 0 20. 0 None 11. 0 391. 0 Actual increase in inflationa 5 11 6 2 2 8 14 8 -1 1 8 2 1 1 0 1 3 3 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 3 3 4 5 6 4 3 6 11 252 SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Calculations by the author. NOTE: . . . = not applicable. a. Based on Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, nonseasonally adjusted annual averages. b. Cumulative averages. workers who just barely met the coverage requirements. However, as part of the financing adjustments of 1950, the increment was eliminated to pay for a portion of the increase in benefit levels. (That is, future 11 Chart 2. Growth in Social Security coverage, selected years 1935–2007 100 Percent of civilian workers 90 80 70 60 50 40 1935 1939 1940 1944 1945 1949 1950 1955 960 1965 Year 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2007 SOURCE: House Ways and Means Committee 2008 Green Book, Table 1-46, p. 1–106. benefits were lowered for long-time participants so that benefits could be increased immediately. ) Up to this time, members of the military were not covered by Social Security and therefore did not pay Social Security taxes (and could not earn credits toward an eventual It may be no exaggeration Perhaps the most significant benefit). The 1950 law introduced to say that the 1950 change in 1952 was one that did the principle of gratuitous wage Amendments really saved the not happen. Much of the debate credits for military service- which concept of contributory social was treated as covered work, even over the legislation concerned a insurance in this country. proposal for a â€Å"disability freeze. † though no payroll taxes were The idea here is to eliminate from assessed to finance the credits. The Robert M. Ball the computation of a worker’s combination of these changes was benefit any years in which the so significant that the 1950 law has worker had little or no earnings because e or she traditionally been known within Social Security policy was disabled. Including years of little or no earnings as the â€Å"new start† to the program. 30 effectively lowers any eventual retirement ben1952 and 1954: Small Policy Adjustments efits, or, in certain cases, prevents the worker from and Steady Program Growth achieving insured status at all. The â€Å"freeze† was thus designed to prevent these adverse impacts on The amendments of 1952 rais ed benefits by 12. 5 perretirement benefits. Because federal involvement in cent, surprisingly soon after the major boost of 1950. ny aspect of disability policy was strongly opposed They also raised the â€Å"earnings test† limits by 50 perby key interest groups, the Congress ultimately cent and expanded the gratuitous wage credits for enacted an unusual statute that created a freeze, but military service. which had an expiration date before its effective The 1954 amendments produced a major expandate. Even so, it was an acknowledgment- at least in sion of coverage- bringing an additional 10 million principle- of the policy logic of a disability freeze, 12 socialsecurity. gov/policy workers into the system. This law extended coverage to most remaining uncovered farm workers, selfemployed professionals, and state and local government employees (on a voluntary group basis). Benefits were also increased an additional 13 percent. which would subsequently be enacted 2 years later in the amendments of 1954. Disability- unlike the attainment of retirement age or the death of a wage-earner- inevitably involves some degree of judgment in assessing eligibility. It is difficult to determine whether someone is too disabled to work, and hence it is possible that unqualified individuals might become eligible for these benefits. This problem of the inherent difficulty in making a disability determination was part of a concern about whether the costs of such coverage can be meaningfully predicted and controlled. Concerns over the potential costs of disability coverage slowed the addition of these benefits in Social Security. 31 What is most significant about the disability freeze- from an administrative perspective- is that it required the same process for making a disability determination as would be required for determining eligibility for cash disability benefits. Thus, the entire ureaucratic apparatus and the basic policy structure of a disability program were all put in place starting in 1954, even though we think of disability benefits as having arrived in 1956. The Coming of Disability Benefits The freeze legislation of 1954 paved the way for the introduction of cash benefits in 1956 (and provided some degree of reassurance that the administrative challenges of a disability program were manageable). Ev en so, there was significant disagreement regarding disability benefits and whether they should be added to the program. The legislation was in fact adopted by what was, in effect, a single vote in the Congress (DeWitt, Beland, and Berkowitz 2008, 14–15). The initial disability program was limited in scope (reflecting the worries about costs). It paid benefits only to those insured workers aged 50–64 and offered nothing for the dependents of those workers. And the law introduced a special type of insured-status rule for disability: fully insured, with 20 out of the last 40 quarters worked, and currently insured, with 6 out of the last 13 quarters worked). 32 There was a 6-month waiting period before benefits could be paid, and there was no retroactivity. To fully fund the new benefits, tax rates were raised a combined 0. 5 percentage points, and a separate disability trust fund was created. Disability benefits were liberalized in 1958 by extending them to the dependents of a disabled worker, eliminating the currently insured rule, and Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 70, No. 3, 2010 permitting up to 12 months of retroactivity with an application. These benefits were liberalized again in 1960 by extending the primary benefit to disabled workers of any age. This quick liberalization was due to the disability program not being as problematic as some had expected. In addition to creating the disability program, the 1956 legislation contained additional policy changes. Coverage was expanded to members of the military, to previously excluded self-employed professionals, and, optionally, to police and firefighters in state or local retirement systems. Early retirement at age 62 was made available to women (but not men); special rules were adopted permitting women to become insured with fewer quarters of coverage than men, allowing women to average their earnings over a shorter period than men in order to increase their benefit amount. The 1960s: Small Policy Adjustments and Steady Program Growth In addition to the disability liberalization, in 1960 the children’s survivor benefit was raised from 50 percent to 75 percent of the workers primary insurance amount. In 1961, men were granted the option of early retirement, insured status and RET rules were relaxed, and the minimum benefit was increased by 21 percent. The amendments of 1965 (which created the Medicare program) also liberalized the definition of disability by changing the original definition from â€Å"of long continued and indefinite duration† to â€Å"12 months or longer or expected to result in death. This legislation also lowered the eligibility age for widows from 62 to 60, extended children’s benefits to age 21 if a fulltime student, provided benefits to divorced wives and widows if they had been married at least 20 years, and reduced the insured-status requirements for persons attaining age 72 before 1969. Legislation in 1966 granted eligibility to the special age-72 class, even if they had never contributed to Social Security. (These were known as â€Å"Prouty benefits,† named after the Senator who introduced the provision, Winston Lewis Prouty, R-VT. The 1967 amendments provided disabled widows and disabled (dependent) widowers benefits at age 50. On one hand, the definition of disability was tightened to stipulate that disability meant the inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity existing in the national economy, and not just in the local area. (This was consistent with original congressional 13 intent, which had been broadened by court decisions. ) On the other hand, the insured-status requirement for disabled workers aged 31 or younger was relaxed. Additional gratuitous wage credits were granted to the military, and ministers were brought into coverage, unless they opted out on grounds of conscience or religious principles. Financing During the 1950s and 1960s From the end of World War II up until the early 1970s, overall wages in the economy tended to increase about 2 percent per year above prices. This natural wage growth meant that, other things being equal, the Social Security system would see additional income because of these higher wage levels. However, the actuarial estimates used in Social Security were based on an assumption of static wage and price levels because there were no automatic adjustments in the program for either benefit increases that were due to inflation or increases in the wage base as a result of economic growth. Because both benefit increases and changes in the wage base were the result of irregular congressional actions, the actuaries used current law as the basis for their projections. But, because wages did in fact grow faster than prices- and because price adjustments were irregular- from time to time the Congress would find itself in the happy position of having more money in the program than had been projected in previous actuarial estimates. Thus, it became possible to increase benefits without fully commensurate increases in tax rates or the wage base. (These increases were sometimes coupled with expansions of coverage, which paid part of the costs associated with the benefit increases. ) This process was employed several times during the two-decade period from 1950 through 1960, as shown in Table 6. The Amendments of 1972: The Last Major Expansion There were two major bills enacted in 1972, which together, greatly expanded the program; this legislation marked the approximate end of the expansionary period in Social Security policymaking. The first was a simple bill to raise the limit on the national debt. In the Senate, a rider was attached to the debt-limit bill creating the automatic annual COLA procedure beginning in 1975. This was a huge policy change that was adopted in a surprisingly casual manner, although it had been debated for several years, and 14 Table 6. Benefit increases compared with tax rates and the wage base, selected years 1952–1972 Year 1952 1954 1959 1965 1968 1970 1971 1972 Benefit increases (%) 12. 50 13. 00 7. 00 7. 00 13. 00 15. 00 10. 00 20. 00 Tax ratea (%) Unchanged + 0. 5 (each) + 0. 25 (each) Unchangedb -0. 10 Unchanged 0. 40 Unchanged Wage base ($) Unchanged Unchanged + 600 (annual) Unchangedb + 1,200 (annual) Unchanged Unchanged + 1,200 (annual) SOURCE: SSA (2010, Table 2. A3, pp. 2. 4–2. 5). a. Does not include Medicare or self-employment tax rates. b. Rate was unchanged in 1965, but was increased 0. percent in 1966, and the wage base was raised $1,800 as part of same legislation. the Nixon administration was in support of the idea (DeWitt, Beland, and Berkowitz (2008, 267–281). The fact that Social Security benefits are raised whenever there is price inflation in the economy is a major aspect of their value and is a significant contributor to overall program costs. Not only was an â€Å"auto matic† mechanism introduced to raise benefits along with prices, but the wage base and the annual exempt amounts under the RET were also put on an automatic basis, tied to the rise in average wages (also beginning in 1975). Subsequent legislation in late 1972 provided additional expansions of the program, which included introducing delayed retirement credits to raise the benefits of workers who postponed filing for Social Security, a new special minimum benefit for workers with low lifetime earnings, benefits for dependent grandchildren, benefits to widowers at age 60, Medicare coverage after 2 years of receiving disability benefits, a reduced disability waiting period from 6 to 5 months, and disability benefits for children disabled before attaining age 22. The legislation also created the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. ) The 1977 Amendments: The Beginning of Retrenchment By the mid-1970s, there were serious financing problems evident in the Social Security program. This was due principally to the adverse economic conditions of the mid-1970s (â€Å"stagflation†). The Social Security actuaries reported in 1973 that for the first time, the socialsecurity. gov/policy program was no lo nger in long-range actuarial balance, and there were difficulties projected in the near term as well. In fact, during the 1975–1981 period, the program was in annual deficit, and assets of the trust funds had to be redeemed to make up the shortfalls. 33 The projected long-range deficits would continue for a decade (until the major legislation of 1983). 34 Moreover, a major flaw was present in the 1972 legislation that created the â€Å"automatics† for price and wage adjustments. This technical flaw had the effect of greatly inflating benefits far beyond the intent of Congress and the traditional expected rates of income replacement. This too had to be addressed in the 1977 legislation. The 1977 amendments were principally targeted toward the issue of program financing. To correct the indexing error, the adjustments for prices and wages were â€Å"decoupled† (DeWitt, Beland, and Berkowitz 2008, 285–287 and 298–323). The practical effect of decoupling was to lower benefits, and the change was applied only to new beneficiaries. To further soften the impact of this reduction, the Congress devised a 5-year phase-in period, during which time benefits were gradually reduced such that they would be at the proper level for those beneficiaries retiring 5 years from the effective date of the decoupling. This attempt at â€Å"softening the blow† backfired as those in the phase-down group saw themselves as victims of an unfair â€Å"notch† in benefits. 35 In addition to the decoupling, the 1977 legislation further addressed the financing issue with a combination of tax increases and benefit reductions. On the revenue side, the law set up a schedule of rate increases such that by 1990, the tax rate would be 6. 2 percent (this is still the current rate). Also the wage base was increased in an ad hoc manner beyond the increases authorized in the 1972 law (a total increase of $12,000 in three steps). The automatic provision would then start again from this higher wage base. On the benefit side, there were three additional provisions reducing benefits: (1) the initial minimum benefit was frozen at $122 per month, (2) benefits for spouses and surviving spouses were offset by an amount related to any government pension that spouses received based on their own work not covered by Social Security (the Government Pension Offset), and (3) the RET was shifted from a monthly to an annual basis. Also on the benefit side, there were three provisions increasing benefits: (1) the exempt amount under the RET was increased in an ad hoc adjustment by raising it for 5 years for those retirees aged 65 or older, (2) the duration of marriage requirement for divorced and surviving divorced spouses was cut in half- from 20 years to 10, and (3) the value of delayed retirement credits was increased. The net savings from these changes (expressed as a percent of payroll)36 follow: Decoupling: + 4. 79 percent of payroll Additional benefit changes: + 0. 8 percent of payroll Tax changes: + 1. 78 percent of payroll In other words, 26 percent of the savings came from tax increases and 74 percent from benefit cuts. The impact on overall financing was to reduce the longrange deficit from 8. 20 percent of payroll to 1. 46 percent of payroll (SSA 1977). The amendments were said to have restored solvency to the program for the next 50 years, rather than the full 75 years that had traditionally bee n used as the projection period. Clearly, the long-term financing issues had not been fully resolved by the 1977 legislation. The Disability Legislation of the 1980s The Disability Insurance program came under renewed scrutiny during the first half of the 1980s. Throughout the 1970s, disability incidence rates were steadily rising. This led to concern in the Congress and in the Carter administration that disability costs were soaring out of control. Around the same time, the General Accounting Office (GAO 1978) conducted a very small study of disabled SSI recipients and found that perhaps as many as 24 percent were no longer disabled. An internal study by the Social Security Administration (SSA 1981) found that about 18 percent of the expenditures for the Social Security disability program was being paid to beneficiaries who were no longer disabled (DeWitt, Beland, and Berkowitz 2008, 369–374). 37 Thus, in 1980, major disability legislation was enacted in an effort to control costs in the program, to review those already receiving benefits, and to remove those who no longer qualified as disabled. The legislation mandated that the reviews begin by January 1982, and it projected savings from the reviews of about $10 million over 5 years. A follow-up study by GAO (1981) sampled Social Security disability beneficiaries and suggested that as many as 20 percent were no longer disabled, costing the program $2 billion a year. 15 Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 70, No. 3, 2010 Upon taking office in early 1981, the Reagan administration decided to accelerate the review process, as this was now projected to be a significant source of budget savings. The reviews began in July 1981 and rather quickly ran into serious political controversy and to public outcries in opposition to the reviews. 38 Among other problems, the reviews required only an examination of existing medical records, not face-to-face contact with the beneficiary. This led to isolated instances of obviously disabled individuals having their benefits stopped- incidents that were given wide publicity in the media. Also, the initial round of reviews was targeted to those classes of beneficiaries most likely to have recovered. This seemingly sensible idea led to much higher initial cessation rates than Congress or the public expected, which led in turn to charges that SSA was engaging in a wholesale â€Å"purge† of disability beneficiaries. 39 SSA also adopted a number of policy positions in the reviews that proved highly problematic. For example, cessations were processed without requiring proof of medical improvement. 40 Also, when faced with multiple nonsevere impairments, SSA did not consider the combined effect of the impairments. 41 Massive litigation ensued in the federal courts, virtually swamping the court system. 2 These lawsuits led to decisions overturning various SSA policies, which prompted the agency to adopt a very controversial practice of issuing formal rulings of â€Å"nonacquiescence† with certain court decisions. 43 Because of their opposition to SSA’s policies, the governors of nine states (comprising 28 percent of the national workload) issued executive orders st opping their state agencies from processing any disability review cases. 44 The controversies around the disability reviews became so great that the Congress enacted the Disability Benefits Reform Act of 1984 to restrain the activities set in motion by the 1980 legislation. Key provisions of the act, as highlighted in Collins and Erfle (1985), follow: A finding of medical improvement (or other related changes) was necessary to cease disability benefits; The combined effect of multiple nonsevere impairments must be considered in disability determinations; SSA was required to promulgate new mental impairment rules, reopen all cases of prior cessations involving mental impairments, and reevaluate them under the revised rules; SSA was given explicit authority to federalize any state agency making Social Security disability decisions that refused to comply with federal regulations; and A â€Å"sense of Congress† was expressed stating that nonacquiescence was an invalid legal posture, and if SSA elected to continue this practice, then it was obligated to seek a definitive U. S. Supreme Court review of the constitutionality of the procedure. (SSA dropped the practice. This legislation established the current policy context under which the disability program continues to operate. The Amendments of 1983: The Modern Form of the Program As mentioned, the Social Security program was running annual deficits beginning in 1975, and the assets of the trust funds were being drawn down to make up the shortfalls. Moreover, the stress on the program’s financing worsened considerably, even after the financing changes of 1977 that improved the long-term position of Social Security. But the short term continued to be problematic. Indeed, the amendments of 1983 were signed into law in April, at which time the trust funds were projected to be entirely depleted in August. Thus, trust fund exhaustion and the attendant benefit â€Å"default† were only 4 months away. 45 Initially, the 1977 effort seemed successful. The 1978 and 1979 Annual Reports of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance Trust Funds indicated a

Classical criminology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Classical criminology - Essay Example Treadwell (2006) suggests that Cesare Lombroso can be named as the founding father of modern criminology. Lombroso also established the Italian School of Positivist Criminology. He utterly opposed the classical approach, which stood behind the idea that crime was an intrinsic characteristic of the human nature (Treadwell, 2006). Lombroso introduced the positivist movement in the end of 19th century, offering a more scientific modus operandi to criminology. Walklate (2005) elaborates that positivism introduced empirically researching crime and trying to understand it from its social perspective. Many theories have surfaced around the late 19th century such a approaching crime scientifically and researching the social background of the perpetrators (Walklate, 2005). Thanks to Lombrosos contribution, theories linking crime to psychological defects and social aspects started to be attributed to crimes. Biological theories also triggered the idea of the â€Å"born criminal†. Nowadays Positivism has evolved into the search of objective criminal fact. Wilcox and Cullen (2010) pose that positivism in criminology can be divided into three types: Biological (the period of Lombroso), Psychological (the period of Freud) and Social (the works of Durkheim and Park). The methods applied in positivism employ empirical, scientific data. The purpose of social research in positivism is to get hold of objective facts. In this train of thoughts positivism is subjective, because it is focused on finding out the meaning behind the criminal actions. Hagan (2010) describes three basic assumptions: measurement – which is related to the quantification of the collected data, objectivity – which demonstrates neutrality and causality, which determines what caused and led to the crime. Before Positivism sprang into life, criminology was applying different methodology – that of the classical school. Taylor et al (1973), explain that

Homeland Security Analysis Speech or Presentation

Homeland Security Analysis - Speech or Presentation Example   The second amendment advocates for a well regulated Militia. It further declares that the right of the militia to own fire arms should not be infringed. It may be indisputable that gun ownership makes a nation safe.   However, the access of the fire arms by criminals may however be uncontrollable.   It is also questionable if the presence of a gun may cause unnecessary harm such as an ordinary argument escalating into a shooting. There are legal issues legal issues/laws that highly conflict with the policy. ii). Background Currently, the Homeland Security is one of the largest federal agencies in the United States of America. The second amendment in the US constitution states that a well regulated militia, is necessary for the security of a free nation and that the citizens have the right to own firearms. Quite often, conflict arises about how the second amendment should be interpreted. Other issues also emerge from a possibility that fire arm ownership causes increased. Ther e is difficulty in establishing a balance between ethical issues, individual's right of self-defense and national security. Each State in the US has fire arm laws clearly stated in their constitution. Most of the States have provisions for the right of an individual to own a firearm. The right to own firearms has been derived directly from the second amendment of the Unites States of America Constitution (William 1994). Most of the State constitutions give reasons for why an individual should be allowed to own firearms. Some these reasons are: a) Self-defense. Twenty four states give this as a valid reason for the use of arms b) State-defense Twenty eight states give this a proper purpose for gun use by individuals. c) Home/Property defense Ten states cite home/property defense as a reason for gun ownership. d) Family defense Five states advocate for this as a reason for gun ownership. e) Hunting and Recreation. Six states give this as another reason for fire arm ownership. The stat e constitutions do not permit confiscation of fire arms except for those used in crimes. iii). Discussion/analysis There is now written limit as to how many guns an individual can own. How many fire arms an individual can own is therefore an individual’s own business. For the sake of security, it is best that every home has access to a gun. Conflict arises from the need to have the public free of guns and the need to allow the public own guns. One can justify each position with the same point. Having guns with the people increases violent crimes and cases of murders by gunshots. On the other hand, ownership of guns increases safety within the public through reduced crimes as people are able to defend themselves. A number of legal issues do arise from the clause on gun/ firearm ownership cited in the second amendment of the constitution of the US. These legal issues are discussed below. a) Right to self defense All state constitutions allow gun ownership for reasons of self de fense. Other than these, recreation activities such as target shooting and hunting are also reasons for firearm ownership. Allowing gun ownership is thus a fundamental step in ensuring personal safety among the citizens. Though there are cases of death reported as a result of gun use in self defense, they are significantly lower to cases of life saving as a result of gun use for self defense. The gun ownership clause thus aids in increased safety among the