Rights Under the Employment Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Rights Under the Employment Law - Case Study Example In addition to a decrease in sales work on the road, Andy was told he must take a course in electronics in order to make after-sales repairs. His hours were increased: he would no longer have a half day on Fridays and would be on call one weekend in six. Andy wants to know if he must agree to the changes made by his employer. He has been with the company for two and a half years. Several issues have been presented here, but it would be necessary to know what Andy's terms of employment were when he took this job. Because of the length of his employment, he does have specific options. Will these changes affect his salary Is he on commission only What financial losses will he incur with these changes Will the company pay for his electronics course Is he willing to increase his knowledge in the area of electronics The answers to these questions will begin to determine whether the changes would be mandatory or might be adjusted in Andy's favor. As soon as an employee accepts a job offer, he is considered under contract, even if he has no written contract (Advice Leaflet 2005; "Contracts of employment," DTI, 2005). Terms of employment, however, can be changed by mutual agreement. The terms under a contract of employment that might be affected by changes in Andy's case are pay, hours of work, fringe benefits, and job duties and responsibilities ("Changes to employment contracts," 2004). Andy and his employer might be able to agree on a compromise. If there is a written statement in the form of an employee handbook that describes his duties and responsibilities as they existed when he was hired, it might help Andy's case (Rights at work, 2005). When an employer makes any changes to Andy's duties and responsibilities, the employer must give him a written statement, not just verbal, within a month, stating planned changes to his original duties (Advice Leaflet 2004). In the case where Secure It gives Andy no option but to accept the changes, he can object and end his employment which is called "constructive dismissal". He would then have the right to make an employment tribunal complaint which would give him the same rights as if his employer had dismissed him (Contracts of Employment 2005, DTI, sec. 8). This would not have to be done if Andy was willing to accept some changes and make an effort to reach a compromise with his employer. Breach of Contract Since Andy does not expect any compromise from his employer, he would like to know what his next step should be. He says he thinks his employer wants him to leave the firm. Andy said he was told by his employer that he had better be good at electronics because his sales figures showed what a rubbish salesman he was. Andy would prefer to leave the company and wants to set up a rival security firm with his friend Lou. He wants to know if he can do that since there is no actual written contract. Advice Andy should understand that he can start planning a rival company, but until his issues with the company are resolved, he cannot do anything about it. As noted before, he is under contract even if it is not in writing. The question here would be does he want to leave, or would it be possible for him to accept changes through mutual

Strategy and Innovation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strategy and Innovation - Research Paper Example The McDonald’s vision, mission as well as the objectives are strategic and focus people customers and employees, price, products, promotion, and place. The corporation’s values are; offering quality customer service, commitment to people, and balance between the interests of the owners, suppliers, and employees, upholding ethics, community service, and continued growth as well as improvements. Her vision revolves around becoming the world’s leading restaurant in quick service. This is through offering the best service, value, and cleanliness with an aim of satisfying her customers. The corporation’s main aim or better still objective is along with serving food industry responsibly, to be responsible as regards the caring for a sustainable future for all. These are aligned with the community, employment, environmental care, food chain responsibility and ascertaining nutritional well-being to all. By targeting the community, the corporation is engaged in com munity service and charitable organization. On the employment portfolio, the company aims at continuously expanding through which more opportunities for employment will be available, both locally as well as through online participation. By adopting energy friendly systems in her corporations, the McDonald’s seeks to maximize on energy usage for sustainability. It also upholds innovation and adoption of quality energy practices in sharing. The corporation aims at continuously designing and developing new food recipes which are healthy for her clients. It also aims at expanding advocacy on good nutrition habits through campaigns. Furthermore, in maintaining sustainable supply chains, the corporation ensures proper relations with the supply chain as well as the constituent parties (McDonald’s, 2009, 1-6). The annual report on investors for the year 2010 reveals a fabulous performance of the company despite the many challenges she faced just like all other firms and especially those in a like industry of the fast foods. By managing deeper insights for customers and proper alignment of McDonald’s business strategies, the CEO says that a 5% rise in comparable sales was realized, 9% growth in operating income and the company’s overall market share around the globe increased. By upholding proper prioritization for the relevance of the firm’s brand and focusing sharply on the customers, the firm managed to keep on top in the year. However, as the CEO puts it, it was the same focus that was to be employed for the following year,

The Great Gatsby: An Analysis

The Great Gatsby: An Analysis In the 1920s many Americans began using credit, and buying and becoming very materialistic, and losing their spirit and identity. In F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby the characters are all engulfed in the world of materialism, and believe that that is what makes them happy. Materialism is defined as the devotion to material wealth and possessions at the cost of spiritual or intellectual principles. Spirituality is sensitivity or attachment to religious values. And identity is the set of characteristics that somebody recognizes as belonging uniquely to himself or herself and constituting his or her individual personality for life. Three characters that exemplify these traits are Daisy, Tom, and Gatsby. In this novel, materialism, spirituality, and identity changes or reinforces these three characters. Daisy Buchanan is an example of materialism vs. spirituality because of what we know about her from her younger days. She was a young lady that was in love with Gatsby, but didnt marry him because â€Å"‘†¦I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me† (137). Materialism affected Daisy and when she married Tom she wanted only the best things, but realized that she wasnt happy because money cant buy you happiness. After seeing Gatsby for the first time in over five years, it seems like Daisy has become that young lady she was before she met and married Tom. For a second she forgot all of her materialistic things and was looking up into the sky and GOD, saying â€Å"‘†¦Id like to just get one of those pink clouds and put you in it and push you around.†(99). Now we see her spiritual side and see that Gatsby could have possible reinforced her identity. Tom Buchanan is a character that shows a strong bond with materialism. He is an example of old money, and because he is so wealthy he decides that he can break all the rules and do whatever he pleases, like cheating on his wife. â€Å"‘Why - she said hesitantly, ‘Toms got some woman in New York.† (19). Materialism has gotten to Toms head and he believes just because he has so much wealth he can buy happiness with anything that he pleases. The last character, Gatsby, shows both materialism and spirituality. Gatsby is an example of materialism because of Daisy. All his wealth and status was only for Daisy, because he hoped that one day he would see her and amaze her. His house is an example of this dream because its a synthetic place and was only built for Daisy. â€Å"‘My house looks well doesnt it? he demanded. ‘See how the whole front of it catches the light.† (95) He realizes that Daisy didnt wait to marry him because he was poor, and he made it his life goal to become wealthy and maybe someday impress Daisy. In conclusion, these three characters in the novel show materialism, spirituality, and identity and how they changed or reinforced. Oroonoko Novel by Aphra Behn | Analysis Oroonoko Novel by Aphra Behn | Analysis In the theater things are always seen from somewhere. Here we have the geometrical foundation of representation: a fetishist subject is required to cut out the tableau. Aphra Behn, born on July 10, 1640 and died on April 16, 1689, was one of the main playwrights, poets, and fictionists of Restoration era. She was, as inserted in The Age of Milton, The first recognized professional woman writer in English, Behn was popular during her career, and her plays and poems represented the Restoration ideals of political expediency and sexual frankness (25). Behn was a well-educated person and access to high-ranking officials in the court of Charles II, may access a higher-class status, and is one of pioneer women who earn her live through authorship and her works were under a great influence of William Shakespeare. Her first play was a successful tragicomedy in the name of The Forced Marriage (1670), following with The Dutch Lover (1673) which was not received well; Abdelazar (1676) and The Rover (1677) was the other appreciated plays by Behn, which were performed before Charles II. A poem on Several Occasions (1684) was a poem by her that investigates the s exual relationship between men and women in pastoral setting. Her later works were Oroonoko (1688) and The Widow Ranter (1689) which emphasized on political pragmatism. Behn depicts the correlation between racial and gender oppression, female subjectivity, and female political and sexual agency in her writings and her consideration of gender and frank expression of sexuality made her as a target for male authors critiques. In her book A Room of Ones Own, Virginia Woolf praises her and says All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds. The reading of Oroonoko that follows concentrates on white female narrator (author-narrator). This novel is produces at the end of Behns life as a short realistic fiction which is a story of a noble prince, Oroonoko, who had been enslave, brought to Britain, revolted against British and prefered to die rather than bear the name of slave and his fatal horrible death. Written by a white female author and using a white female narrative voice, Oroonoko can be a story based on Behns experience as a young woman living in Surinam. What is different, most interestingly, in Oroonoko, is the narrative position. All descriptions on Oroonoko land, appearance, feelings, thoughts, events in his life, both in his native land and in Britain, and his revolution is narrated through a female word and world, the female author. Behn is considered to had a travel to Surinam between 1663-1664 with her family and as Alan Hager mentions in his book The Age of Milton Her presence in the West Indies and her espionage in Antwerp for the Crown have been documented. When Lord Willoughby was granted royal permission to explore Surinam in 1663, Behn may have traveled there with her father, the Lieutenant-General of the islands. Apparently he died on the voyage, but Behn stayed in the colony.( Hager,56) Therefore, as documented her traveling to West Indies, there is a possibility that whatever she, the author-narrator, explains and depicts in Oroonoko, especially her detailed knowledge of Surinam, is her own experience while abroad and should be considered as truth. Behn establishes her authenticity within the opening of the story and reminds her readers her position as a narrator as she wrote herself in Oroonoko that I was myself an eye-witness to a great part of what you will find here set down(2). Since this story is a memoire of Behns travelling to Surinam in past, probably she forgot some eaters and her memoir mixed with true events in Surinam so how much of this novel is fact and how much is true remains in shadow. No longer does the novel originate from a first-person recounting of the self, but, as Ferdous Azim said in his book The Colonial Rise of The Novel, from a first-person account of someone elses life(35-36). According to Elin Diamonds statements in the book Unmaking Mimesis that In the Western theater (Gr. theatron or seeing place), pleasure is never far from the market and its mystifications. The spectator sees what is not there- an illusion, a sign of an absent original-and fails to see what is there-a constructed series of images so polished and coherent that the ideological and human labor of their making is hidden from view.(Diamon, 56) Pursuant to Diamonds words, theater is not supposed to perform reality on the stage but an allusion, showing the presence of absent to its audiences. This paper intends to see whether the narrator is a reliable and authentic narrator and analysis to what extent this female white narrator can be reliable and considered her words as truth in this story; and examine if an author is contaminated by its dominated ideology of power in society or can be remain out of her white powerful world. Furthermore, it has a purpose to see what is shown in this story is real or only an illusion like theater as Diamond said. It should be kept in mind that the narrator is a woman, white, Britain, and author; a white female Britain author. This story presents in a mixture of first-person and third-person narrators which can be regarded as the memoires of a traveler narrative; narrated by an English white woman who travelled to colony in Surinam in past. At the opening of the story, first-person narrator, a female British colony, gives us a detailed account of Surinam, the native land of the prince Oroonoko and its peoples way of life as a prelapsarian world The beads they weave into aprons about a quarter of an ell long, and of the same breadth; working them very prettily in flowers of several colors; which apron they wear just before em, as Adam and Eve did the fig-leaves; the men wearing a long stripe of linen, which they deal with us for. This adornment, with their long black hair, and the face painted in little specks or flowers here and there, makes em a wonderful figure to behold. Some of the beauties, which indeed are finely shaped, as almost all are, and who have pretty features, are charming and novel; for they have all that is called beauty,'(Behn, 1-2) and then the narrator shifts to the third-person narrator and shows us the local life of Oroonoko who is enslaves and carries to Britain colony of Surinam and once more the first-person narrator appears when she meets Oroonoko. Narrator is a feminine, Alpha Behn, who sometimes observes Oroonoko passionately, explain him as an ideal man. When the narrator is describing the prince Oroonokos appearance for reader, It seems that her gender defines her description and Oroonoko is pictured by a woman as an ideal man; an ideal man from a womans perspective. The gender of this female narrator limits her fair depiction of Oroonoko since this man is beyond all report I found of him and maybe her fascination toward the appearance and manner of the prince Oroonoko makes an obstacle and prevents her from seeing the true character of him; anything in this man is as perfect as a Greeks gods. But though I had heard so much of him, I was as greatly surprised when I saw him as if I had heard nothing of him; so beyond all report I found him. He came into the room, and addressed himself to me and some other women with the best grace in the world. He was pretty tall, but of a shape the most exact that can be fancied: the most famous statuary could not form the figure of a man more admirably turned from head to foot. His face was not of that brown rusty black which most of that nation are, but of perfect ebony, or polished jet. . there could be nothing in nature more beautiful, agreeable, and handsome. There was no one grace wanting that bears the standard of true beauty.Nor did the perfections of his mind come short of those of his person.This prince, such as I have described him, whose soul and body were so admirably adorned, as capable of love as twas possible for a brave and gallant man to be; and in saying that, I have named the highest degree of love: for sure great souls are most capable of that passion.(Behn, 6-7) The first-person narrator seems to see her ideal man in prince Oroonoko and elevate her with white man. He is the man who addresses women in the best grace and no statuary can made a man as admirable as Oronnoko is; even she describes her face not as dark brown as other negroes, he is something special in their land. Firdous Azim wrote, It is in this context that Oroonoko is introduced. Seventeen years old and grandson of the King, he is at once simultaneously differentiated and brought on centre-stage. Immediately, Oroonokos physical beauty is described in great detail (48). On the other hand, her explanation of Imoinda only emphasis on her outward beauty and he presence is never shown in the story. Imoinda is pictured through old conventions of a woman as This old dead hero had one only daughter left of his race, a beauty, that to describe her truly, one need say only, she was female to the noble male; the beautiful black Venus to our young Mars; I have seen a hundred white men sighing after her, and making a thousand vows at her feet, all in vain (Behn, 7). Even when Oroonoko suggest her to be killed by him because of being in dangerous of the whites savagery in his absent, she accepts it immediately without any objection at least for her child and she scarifies both herself and her unborn child for him. She is an example of a complete respect woman for her husband; the ideal woman for a husband. Seemingly, the author-narrator, first-person narrator, intends to make a god and goddess out of Oroonoko and Imoinda and maybe she, herself, fall in love with him since in the other part, she said that she is the great mistress of the narrator as wrote in her book So that obliging him to love us very well, we had all the liberty of speech with him, especially myself, whom he called his Great Mistress; and indeed my word would go a great way with him(34). None of these characters have voices through the story and whatever is understood passed through narrators lenses and interpretation. the man is under the purview of the narrative gaze, according to Ferdous Azim in his book The Colonial Rise of The Novel, is being objectified and rendered visible through the machinations of the dominant European females voice, and being brought under the gaze of a European audience ( 49). All the portray of Oroonoko, as a black character, is in conflict with white European. It is obvious that she, as a woman, draws this prince through a constructed series of images which are so polished and coherent according to her wishes; as her ideal man. As Elin Diamond said, what she shows her readers about the Oroonoko does not exist in reality but is an illusion. Regarding the female narrator as a English settler of Surinam, she is the teller of a true history and should be unbiased and authentic in telling the truth on history of these black natives since I was myself an eye-witness to a great part of what you will find here set down(2). Although the female narrator told the prince Oroonoko that she will save him and will not let anyone torture him or behaves as a slave , she could not help him at all and Oroonoko die in a horribly way. Although she maintains her authority to save Oroonoko, she is unable to do so since there is a contradiction between the narrators assumed social position and her actual powerless as a character within the framework of power. At first, she resists against the British world but later on she failed to save him because it is revealed that she herself is a victim of ideological power of white world and takes their side. She is absent when the white are torturing and dismembering Oroonoko and like other whites the female narrator is afraid that Oroonoko cut her throat one day so she behaves like others toward the Oroonoko, which she once described as the best and graceful man in the world, and agrees with what they do in silent. Ferdous Azim continues that Aphra Behn, or the authorial voice, is unable to follow Oroonoko in his rebellion, and the text can only portray the disintegration and dismemberment of the Black subject, instead of examining the causes of his rebellion( 44), the narrator resistance fails and she does not follow the destination of prince Oroonoko and later on support what she once rejected; she submits to her inside world and narrates according to the dominant world of whites. This female perspective tried to stay out of white boundaries, saves the Oroonoko, and lets him live like a prince not a slave but she cannot perform what she wanted to do totally. As Joel Pfister declared in his essay Hawthorne as Cultural Theorist that the authors themselves are not only a part of discourse but also a way of performance of power through them so this female narrator cannot escape this discourse of power. This resistant narrator, according to Michel Foucault, is a part of power and this resistance is never in a position of exteriority in relation to power. She has to narrate her world of story within the omnipresent power, there is no way to move away from it, and she finally behaves toward the prince Oroonoko as the others. Author is the representation of the discourse of power. Narrator is surrounded by the dominant world of hers and can not steps out of this territory and whatever she did to keep the prince Oroonoko alive was in vain since she was controlled by the world oh the white she lives in. Although she can be titled as a traveler narrator and she is supposed to tell the reality of native land and reports her readers the true history of this land, she is incapable of performing what she is presumed because she herself is a prison of white world and their dominant superiority over black people. Her dominant world shadows on her thoughts, felling, and words and she has to live within this world and all narrator says is what is dictated to her unconsciously and she cannot stop it.

The Presidency Of Andrew Jackson Essay -- essays research papers

The Presidency of Andrew Jackson In this paper I'll go over his presidency, focusing on both the highs and the lows of his two terms in office, from 1829-1837. The issues that I'll focus on are states’ rights, the tariff, the spoils system, Indian removal and banking policies; these controversies brought forth strong rivalry over his years of president. He was known for his iron will and severe personality, and strong use of the powers of his office that made his years of presidency to be known as the "Age of Jackson." Jackson served as delegate to Tennessee in the 1796 Constitutional convention and a congressman for a year (from 1796-97). He was elected senator in 1797, but financial problems forced him to resign and return to Tennessee in less than a year. Later he served as a Tennessee superior court judge for six years starting in 1798. In 1804 he retired from the bench and moved to Nashville and devoted time to business ventures and his plantation. In 1814 Jackson was a Major General in the Tennessee Militia, here he was ordered to march against the Creek Indians, who were pro-British in the war of 1812. Eventually he forced all Indians out of the area. His victory's impressed some people in Washington and Jackson was put in command of the defense of New Orleans. This show of American strength made Americans feel proud after a war filled with military defeats. Jackson was given the nickname "Old Hickory", and was treated as a national hero. In 1822 the Tennessee Legislature nominated him for president and the following year he was elected the U.S. senate. He also nearly won the presidential campaign of 1824. However as a result of the "corrupt bargain" with Henry Clay, he ended up losing. In 1828 Andrew Jackson became the seventh President to the United States. Instead of the normal cabinet made up by the president, he relied more on an informal group of newspaper writers and northern politicians who had worked for his election. I believe that this made him more in contact with the people of the United States, and with the public opinion and feelings toward national issues. President Jackson developed the system of "rotation in office." This was used to protect the American people from a development of a old political group by removing ... ...xas takeover to Martin Van Buren. Jackson was a powerful voice in the Democratic party even after retired. He died on June 8, 1845 on his plantation, the Hermitage, in Nashville Tennessee. Andrew Jackson was the first "peoples president." This comes from his youth in a frontier territory and his "people qualities" which helped him to be more touch with the people of the United States, and therefore the people of the United States took a more active role in the Government. He even went so far as to call himself the elected representative of all American people. I think that Jackson's strengthening of the powers of the presidency are the biggest influence to this day. He used the power of the veto 12 times (more times than all of his successors combined). I only wish that their was a candidate like that running for election in '04. When you gave this project, I though Jackson was a mean tempered Indian fighter who trashed the White House and found his way to office because he took over Florida and defended New Orleans Successfully. But I grew to learn that he was really a great president and did a lot for the presidency of the United States of America.

Health Insurance and Medicare Essay

I. Introduction The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was signed into law on March 23, 2010 by President Barack Obama. Along with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (HCERA), it represents the momentous transformation of the U.S. health care system. Its main goal is to decrease the amount of uninsured citizens as well as to reduce the overall costs of health care. It is a vastly complex reform that will affect many people in aspects of their health care, costs, and the country. There are many opinions about how this reform will affect the nation, some saying it will make us better off, others saying we will be worse off, and those who do not think it will make a difference. But regardless of these opinions, what the majority does agree on is that these laws may be difficult to understand and that many are not even aware of these changes. There are many problems that the health care industry is facing. The cost of health care may arguably be the most important factor that people are concerned about. Many think that health care policies and premiums are too expensive. Coupled with the fact that our population is aging, meaning that there will be more elder people with more health problems, health care costs are rapidly growing and take up a huge chunk of the federal budget. There are also many loopholes within the current health care system. Individuals who are looking to buy insurance can be denied based on their pre-existing conditions. Some insurance policies even have a lifetime limit on benefits. What all these examples basically sum up is that the people who are in need of health care the most are those who are also the most unlikely to be insured, or are under insured. In an attempt to address these issues, the PPACA and Reconciliation Act were established. The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act was enacted to amend the PPACA. It is divided into two titles, one addressing the health reform and the other addressing student loan reform. It makes changes to some parts of the PPACA. That is why many people commonly refer to the overall health reform as just the PPACA. The most noted change this brings  is that it requires almost all citizens to have health care insurance, or to pay a penalty. Some examples and cases regarding this issue will be discussed later on. The PPACA also considerably expands public insurance as well as funds private insurance coverage. It will close loopholes such as setting life time limits as well as making it illegal to reject coverage for those with pre-existing conditions. In terms of affordability, the PPACA will expand Medicaid to cover low-income families and individuals across the nation. It also aims to cut down and reconstruct Medicare spending, which will be the main focus of this paper. II. The Impacts of the PPACA and HCERA on Medicare and Health Physicians The PPACA is made up of 10 titles. I will be discussing selected provisions in Titles II, III, IV, and V regarding Medicare. These include program modifications and payment to Medicare’s fee-for-service program, the Medicare Advantage, prescription drug programs, Medicare’s payment process, changes to address, waste, fraud, and abuse, and other miscellaneous Medicare changes. As for the HCERA, the first title has provisions detailing health care and revenues. Subtitle B of Title I involves provisions that change provisions PPACA relevant to those listed above (Medicare Advantage, fee-for-service, and prescription drug programs). Subtitle D has provisions regarding decreasing fraud, abuse, and waste in Medicare. Subtitle E discuses revenue related provisions such as a provision that changes Medicare tax provision in PPACA. A. Impacts on Medicare According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the provisions in PPACA as amended by the HCERA will reduce direct spending by an estimated $390 billion (CRS, 2010). The provisions that are predicted to produce the largest savings include the following: (1) developing an Independent Payment Advisory Board to create changes in Medicare payment rates is presumed to save about $16 billion (2) decreasing Medicare payments to hospitals that aid a vast number of low-income patients, is expected to reduce expenditures by an estimated $22 billion (3) permanent deductions to Medicare’s fee-for-service payment rates (4) changing the high-income adjustment for Part B premiums, and (5) making maximum payment rates in Medicare Advantage closer to spending in fee-for-service Medicare. However, it is critical to  note that these are just estimates. Medicare is made up of four parts that are each accountable for paying for various benefits, dependent on different eligibility criteria. Under traditional Medicare, Part A and Part B services are usually paid by a fee-for-service basis (services supplied to a patient is reimbursed through a separate payment). Part A supplies coverage for skilled nursing facility (SNF) services, inpatient hospital services, hospice care, and home health care, which are subject to some limitations. Provisions that reduce Part A spending make up a large part of the savings related to this legislation through either payment changes or constraining payment updates. PPACA will alter Medicare’s payment updates to Part A hospitals to account for cost savings, which will significantly reduce Medicare spending in the next 10 years. Under PPACA (Title III Subtitle A Section 3001), beginning for discharges on October 1, 2012 hospitals will acquire value-based incentive payments from Medicare. The first year of the value based purchasing (VBP) program will aim at collecting data and assessing performance. Starting in 2013, adjustments to hospital payments will be made based on performance by the VBP program. There will also be VBP standards established (i.e. levels of improvement and accomplishments), as well as a method for assessing how hospitals perform. Hospitals with the highest score will obtain the biggest VBP payments. Those that meet or go beyond the standards are able to receive an increased DRG payment for each discharge within the year. However, to provide for these VBP incentive payments the DRG payments will be reduced by a certain percentage: 1.0% in 2013; 1.25% in 2014; 1.5% in 2015; 1.75% in 2016; and 2.0% in 2017. An alternate choice to receive covered benefits would be Medicare Advantage (MA). Private health plans are paid a per person amount to supply all Medicare-covered benefits to those who enroll in the plan under MA. The payments made to MA plans are decided by comparing the maximum amount Medicare will pay for benefits with a plan’s cost of providing those required benefits. If the plan’s cost is below the maximum, then it is paid  the cost plus a rebate equal to 75% of the difference to the maximum. But if the plan’s cost is above the maximum, then it is paid and must also charge the enrollee the difference between the cost and the maximum. PPACA modifies how the maximum payment is decided. Beginning in 2012, it will implement benchmarks (maximum amount Medicare will pay for benefits) calculated as a percentage of per capita FFS Medicare spending. It will also increase benchmarks depending on the quality of the plan. Those with a high quality rating will get an increase in their benchmark while new plans or those with lesser enrollments may also qualify to get an increase. PPACA will also vary the plan rebates based on quality with new rebates set from 50% to 70%. In regards to changes affecting Medicare’s prescription drug benefits, the health reform makes a few changes to the Medicare Part D program. PPACA increases the premiums held by higher income enrollees. The income standards are set to be at the same manner and level as that in Part B. Beginning in 2011, those enrolled in Part D will have a 50% discount for drugs during the coverage gap. In extension, HCERA will supply a rebate of $250 to those who enter the gap in 2010. Hopefully this phases out the â€Å"donut hole† (coverage gap) by slowly lessening the cost-sharing and coverage gap for generic and brand name drugs. Medicare’s finances are operated through two trust funds, the Hospital Insurance (HI) and the Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) trust fund. The main provider of income to the HI fund, which pays for Medicare Part A, is the payroll taxes paid by employers and employees. Medicare Part B and D are funded by general revenues and monthly premiums. In addition to all the previous provisions addressing Medicare’s financial issues, there is another precautionary step being taken. The PPACA has a provision to establish an Independent Payment Advisory Board with the goal of decreasing Medicare spending. B. Impacts on Physicians The PPACA and HCERA make various changes to the Medicare program, which in turn affects physicians and how they practice. Some of these provisions have clear consequences, such as immediately changing physician reimbursement, while others have indirect influences on how physicians may practice in the  future by modifying the incentives to improve the delivery and quality of care. PPACA broadens the Medicare Physician Quality and Reporting Initiative (PQRI) incentive payments though 2014 and administers a penalty for those who fail to report quality measures starting in 2015. It also supplies for a further bonus to physicians who meet the requirements of an assessment program, such as the Maintenance of Certification Program, while penalizes the physicians who fail to meet those standards in the future. Under Section 3002 of Title III, Medicare claims data will be used to provide reports to physicians that measure resources used to provide care for Medicare beneficiaries. Under Section 3007 of Title III, the Secretary of HHS is obliged to create and administer a separate payment modifier to the Medicare physician fee schedule. This payment should be based on the relative cost and quality of the care provided by physicians. The quality of care should be assessed based on risk-adjusted measure of quality determined by the Secretary. Costs are also assessed based on measures determined by the Secretary. Risk factors such as ethnicity, demographic, socioeconomic characteristics, and health status should be taken into account. By January 1, 2012 these explicit measures of cost and quality, along with implementation dates of the adjusted payments should be published. III. Regulations & Implementation With such significant changes and provisions being made, there should be a way to keep track of how each is being regulated and implemented. I will discuss the regulations, time limits, and effective dates on how each are being done so by year. The first changes of 2010 start with Medicare provider rates. This includes reductions in the annual market basket updates for hospital services. Currently, there have been productivity adjustments added to market basket update in 2012. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have issued these updates for varying provider types starting in August 2010. The  implementation of the Medicare Beneficiary drug rebate, which supplies a $250 rebate to those in the Part D coverage gap, started January 1, 2010. In May 2010, the CMS published a brochure containing information about the coverage gap in Medicare Part D. As of March 22, 2011, about 3.8 million people have received the $250 rebate (HHS, 2011). As for closing the Medicare drug coverage gap, on December 17, 2010 CMS sent a letter to pharmaceutical companies addressing guidelines to the Medicare Coverage Gap Discount Program. This program became effective on January 1, 2011. Moving onto provisions implemented in 2011, Medicare payments for primary care will provide a 10% bonus payment for services. It will also provide the same bonus to general surgeons working in areas with a shortage of health professionals. This is being implemented starting in January 1, 2011 through December 2015. As for the MA payment changes, they will restructure payment to private plans and prohibit higher cost-sharing requirements. This has been in effect since January 1, 2011. The CMS issued a notice to MA plans in April 2010 addressing the freeze in 2011 payment rates at 2010 levels. A Medicare Independent Payment Advisory Board made up of 15 individuals to arrange proposals and recommendations to decrease the per capita rate of growth in spending if it exceeds targeted rates was planned to be established. On October 1, 2011, funding was made available and the first proposals are due January 15, 2014. In 2012, the second part of the MA plan payments, which reduce rebates paid and provide bonuses to high quality plans, went into effect on January 1, 2012. On February 28, 2012 the CMS sent out a letter to MA plans addressing the payment rates for 2012. Fraud and abuse prevention was also implemented on January 1, 2012. It establishes procedures for screening and reporting those who participate in Medicare. On March 23, 2011 CMS issued a notice addressing the fee that providers would have to pay to fund the screenings. Later on in the year, on October 1, 2012 Medicare value based purchasing was put into effect. This creates a program to pay hospitals based on their quality of performance. This coming year in 2013, there will be a few provisions to come into effect  starting off the new year. On January 1, 2013 the Medicare tax increase (increases the Medicare Part A tax rate on wages by 0.9% on incomes of $200,000), Medicare bundle payment pilot program (program to create and assess payments for certain services), and the latter part of the prescription drug coverage gap (reducing coinsurance) will be put into effect. As for 2014, the last of the Medicare provisions will be implemented. The Medicare Advantage plan loss ratios are mandated to be no less than 85%; this will begin at the start of the year on January 1, 2014. The second implementation for that year will be Medicare payments for hospital-acquired infections; it will decrease payments to those hospitals for their hospital-aquired conditions by 1% and this process will continue onto 2015. IV. Cases Challenging PPACA When the PPACA and HCERA were signed into law, many people opposed and sued claiming that the reform was unconstitutional for a number of reasons. The most controversial was the mandate that require most citizens to obtain health insurance coverage, and if failing to do so would have to pay a penalty in the form of an individual tax. Another debated provision was the expansion of the Medicaid program to cover even more individuals, such as those with low income. All of these separate cases were then merged into a single case, The National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, 567 U.S. (2012). When ruled, it was a momentous Supreme Court decision in which the Court maintained Congress’s authority to enact the provisions of the Affordable Care Act and the Reconciliation Act. In December 2011, it was announced that there would be a 6 hour oral argumentation heard by the Court over a time span of three days beginning on March 26, 2012 and ending on March 28, 2012 discussing varying debatable topics of these provisions. By a vote of 5 to 4, the Court maintained the Individual Mandate aspect of the PPACA as a binding exercise of Congress’s authority to lay and collect taxes. The critical characterization of this financial penalty as a tax is what passed the mandate as constitutional. Preceding this landmark case there were many previous hearings held, all  having similar conflicting opinions. The Eleventh Circuit was also dealing with arguments in relative cases challenging PPACA. While it was assumed that the Fourth Circuit, which had heard oral arguments before the Eleventh Circuit, would issue a decision on PPACA first, the Eleventh Circuit was actually the second to issue its opinion, on August 12, 2011. In Florida ex rel. Bondi v. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (2011) the plaintiffs of the case were two private individuals, the National Federation of Independent Business, and 26 individual states. The Eleventh Circuit then published a 300-plus page opinion finding by a 2:1 majority that the Individual Mandate (requiring health insurance coverage) is unconstitutional, and thus created a split of authority between the two Circuits. The Eleventh Circuit heard this appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, which saw the Individual Mandate to be an unconstitutional exercise of Congress’s authority. The district court also found that the Individual Mandate was not applicable to the rest of the PPACA, meaning that the whole act was invalid. The plaintiffs in the district court case also debated that the PPACA’s expansion of Medicaid was unconstitutional, but the district court granted the government judgment on that issue and the Eleventh Circuit agreed to that court’s decision. These two cases show how divided opinions can be and how difficult it was and is to pass a health reform law. Opinions are still divided, concerning many aspects such as the Medicaid expansion, the Commerce Clause, and the Necessary and Proper Clause. On the issue of Medicaid expansion, no one, single opinion had the support of the majority of the Justices. Also, on the issue of if the Individual Mandate was within the authority of Congress under the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause, again there was no single opinion that was supported by the majority of the Court. Despite all these controversies, and even though the act has passed, there are still those who are continuing to pursue litigation in order to repeal and defeat the PPACA. V. Conclusion Medicare spending has been increasing much more rapidly compared to the general economy, and this definitely raises concerns about Medicare’s  long-term sustainability. The provisions in the Affordable Care Act and the Reconciliation Act were established to decrease Medicare program costs by about $390 billion over the following 10 years through modifications in payments to various providers, by leveling payment rates between fee-for-service Medicare and Medicare Advantage, and by boosting efficiencies of how health services are delivered and paid for. Overall, the PPACA and HCERA are momentous pieces of legislation that will restructure the future of the U.S. health care system. It is still unclear of how well these provisions have been implemented, with some still having yet to be so. The main concern is probably how well costs will be contained or reduced. With all of these new taxes, hopefully the reform will actually reduce the federal deficit over the next ten years that these provisions are being implemented. There is still much work to be done within the next few years, to see how this reform works out. Many people are glad that it has passed and support this reform as well as encourage it to be expanded, while others oppose the reform arguing that it creates too much government involvement in the issue. But since it has passed and is enacted in the present, people should make use of what is being provided. Some are not even aware of the changes in the health care industry and are oblivious to how they are being affected. That is why it is important to stay informed and make decisions, after all this is what directly affects your future. References CRS Analysis of CBO (March 20, 2010). Estimates of the effects of PPACA and the Reconciliation Act combined. Congressional Budget Office. Retrieved October 31, 2012 from: http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/113xx/doc11379/AmendReconProp.pdf Barrett, Paul M. (June 28, 2012). Supreme Court Supports Obamacare, Bolsters Obama. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved November 3, 2012 from: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-28/supreme-court-supports-obamacare-and-bolsters-obama Congressional Budget Office (March 2009). An Analysis of Health Insurance Premiums Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Letter to the Honorable Evan Bayh. Congressional Budget Office, Washington, DC. Retrieved November 3, 2012 from: http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=10781. Kaizer, J. (2010). Implementation Timeline. Health Reform Source. Retrieved November 5, 2012 from: http://healthreform.kff.org/timeline.aspx Hilgers, David W. (February 2012) Physicians post-PPACA: not going bust at the healthcare buffet. The Health Lawyer, Vol. 24. Retrieved November 4, 2012 from: http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/health_lawyer/health_mo_premium_hl_healthlawyer_v24_2403 Pozgar, George D. (2009). Legal essentials of health care administration. Missisauga, Ontario: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Michael Brown. National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, Secretary of Health & Human Services 567 U.S. (2012) No. 11-393 Argued March 26-28, 2012 – Decided June 28, 2012 Florida ex rel. Bondi v. U.S. Department of Health a& Human Services, 780 F.Supp. 2d. 1256 (N.D. Fla. 2011), order clarified by 780 F.Supp. 2d. 1307. (N.D. Fla. 2011).

Kite Runner Racism Essay

Racism plays important roles in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. The author uses racism to describe the characters and the culture represented in the stories. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini uses prejudice as a tool to tell this story of betrayal and redemption. He pursues his story with prejudice and racism in Afghanistan as well as in the United States. While the author uses individual characters to tell the story, he portrays the general attitudes and history associated with the characters’ Hazara and Pashtun ethnic origins and the conflicts that arise in Afghanistan. Throughout history and even while the story was taking place in the 70’s the US of A was going through their tough times with racism and prejudice thoughts and acts towards other ethnical groups such as the blacks, Asians and Latino’s. Although during this present era these racist acts and thoughts have been cut down and have been limited to just some states in the south as where in Afghanistan these prejudice acts still exist. Ali and Hassan represent the marginalized group in this story. They are considered by the ruling class to be of lesser value due to their ethnic origin, religious beliefs, appearance and social standing. The author gives us a glance of this when Amir reads about the harassment of, and attempted uprising of the Hazara, and how Amir’s people, the Pashtuns had: â€Å"†¦quelled them with unspeakable violence†. The disregard that people have for the Hazara is reinforced when Amir asks his teacher about what he has read and he responds by saying, â€Å"That’s one thing Shi’a people do well, passing themselves as martyrs†. Assef shows how internalized this hostility is when he says to Amir and Hassan, â€Å"Afghanistan is the land of the Pashtuns. It always has been, always will be. We are the true Afghans, the pure Afghans, not this Flat-Nose here†.

Top Drives Essays - Petroleum Engineering, Petroleum Geology

Top Drives Essays - Petroleum Engineering, Petroleum Geology Top Drives April 2, 2013 Lance Lee Top Drives The Top Drive Drilling System is recognized as one of the most significant advancements in drilling technology since the introduction of the rotary table. When comparing them to regular drilling rigs, Top Drive Systems consistently drill faster and safer, with less chance of drill pipes being stuck. Top Drives also allow operators to reach areas and types of formations that would not be accessible with conventional rotary drilling. Horizontal drilling and extended reach have brought about drastic increases in production rates, and these wells can only be drilled with Top Drives. Along with improved well control and better hole conditioning, these benefits contribute to the unquestionable financial justification for the Top Drive. In 1981, Duke Zinkgraf of Sedco (now Transocean) sought out a way to drill from the top down from the drillstring and adding complete strand of pipe, which would end the need for the kelly drilling process. He searched for a company that was willing to embrace and develop his new concept. Duke found a partner with Varco (now National Oilwell Varco). George Boyadjieff, Varco?s president, assembled a team of engineers and dedicated it solely to this project. Their initial prototypes were first installed in the Middle East, they then made their way to the U.S. At first, the road to acceptance was bumpy. Many companies did not want the hassle of integrating the top drive drilling systems into the existing drilling processes. Once alterations were made to the top drives to make them easier to incorporate and more reliable, companies took notice. Once the industry began to realize the practical drilling capabilities of the top drive methods, new and radical well programs were being designe d around them. More and more advances in top drive equipment and operation are rapidly changing the way drilling is done. More than 60 percent of all drilling rigs are now incorporating top drives. The main reasons are increased safety and efficiency. A Top Drive is a motor that is suspended from the derrick, or mast, of the rig. This motor can be either electrical or hydraulic. These motors produce at least 1,000 horsepower. It is connected to a short section of pipe called the quill. From there, the quill is either screwed into a saver sub or the drillstring itself. Because the Top Drive is suspended, it is free to move up and down the derrick. Top Drives average around 15 feet in length and about 4 feet in width, which make it convenient to transfer due to its slender build. The average weight is somewhere around 10,000 lbs. A Top Drive has many advantages. It is capable of drilling with three joints stands, instead of just one pipe at a time. Top Drives typically decrease the frequency of stuck pipe, which contributes to cost savings. They also allow for quicker pump engagement and disengagement or the rotary while removing or restringing the pipe. Top Drives are also preferable for challenging extended reach and directional wells. A major advantage is safety related. Top Drives reduce risks and increase safety during the drilling process because they remove much of the manual labor that was previously required to drill wells. They are often completely automated, offering rotational control and maximum torque, as well as control over the weight on the bit. Top Drives have only a few disadvantages. The initial cost of installation and purchase are high. This initial cost would eventually be offset by increase production though. Also, the weight of the Top Drive is top heavy and the rig will have to be adjusted to counteract it. While initial costs and installation are high, the advantages greatly outweigh the disadvantages. To utilize Top Drives, the Top Drive must be appropriately sized to fit into the rigs which do this work. Their load rating and torque capacities must fit the characteristics of the wells to be drilled. Either the rig must have the additional power available for the Top Drive or a separate power unit must be supplied. Finally the contractual terms necessary to obtain the top drive must match the business needs of the end user Top Drives can be used in all environments and on all types of rigs, from truck-mounted

Character Portrait Scout Essays

Character Portrait Scout Essays Character Portrait Scout Essay Character Portrait Scout Essay Character Portrait Scout Jean Louise Finch, also known as Scout, is one of the main characters in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, this story is seen through her perspective. Scout is an innocent, ignorant, young girl who lives with her father, Tactics and brother Gem in Alabama, Macomb County. Scout is quite special amongst her town; from her personal qualities; tomboyish behavior due to the parenting style of Tactics, and her social position from her being the daughter of a respected lawyer and that her familys living standards are better off than many in the town. Scout is an intelligent girl who as learnt to read and write before she even started going to school, she was protected from hypocrisy and social pressure due to the nurturing of her father. Due to her innocence and ignorance to the racism and hatred in her community to black people, her first contact to racial prejudice was confronting and led her to question her understanding of her own conscience, learning that human has capacity to hold evil, but an even greater capacity for good and when Judging others with sympathy and understanding evil mitigates. Scout is an innocent five year old girl who is shielded from the malicious world. Through the nurturing of Tactics Finch, Scout has her mind, conscience and individuality molded without the influence of hypocrisy and racism in their community. Living in a racially prejudice society, Macomb, where black people are considered worthless and dangerous, Attics protection and teachings has provided minimal exposure to the evils of the world. Scouts first interaction with the evils of their world in the form of racism causes her to grow and understand more about the moral nature of humans. In the first 11 chapters of the novel (Part One), the Finch family lives an ordinary life where they lives happily as a family. This is shown through the play times between Scout, Gem and Dill and the holiday with the Finch family has to their cousins house. However, there are still notions of racism and prejudice even due to school and the rumors in the neighborhood, like the prejudice play the children made up about Boo Raddled the man that they feared most. But it was when Tactics chose to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white women, which disrupted the happy innocent world of the Finch family. The townspeople were enraged that Tactics would willing help a black man, and they didnt restrain these feeling to Just Tactics but to Gem and Scout too. Inform fathers no better than the naggers and trash he works for! (Chapter 11, peg. 113). This quote is said by Mrs.. Dubos to Gem and Scout, this curse is an example of the attacks that Scout received during that time which caused her to fight with other kids at school because of their comments about her father. Because of Scouts tomboyish behavior she isnt afraid of fighting even boys, leading to Tactics forbidding her to fight other people because of their comments about him. Through the gradual understandings of Attics lessons of moral conscience and sympathy, Scout builds the ability to view the world from others perspective and sympathize them. There wasnt much else left for us to learn, except possibly algebra (Chapter she has learnt and she acknowledges that she has learnt something. Ignorance and prejudice can develop to sympathy. The Judgment of Boo Raddled by Scout has been prejudiced by the rumors in her neighborhood, causing her to image him as being a mysterious monster. Scout is an intelligent girl who learnt to read before she started school, however, she is ignorant to the racism that exists in her community. Scout has faith in the goodness of her community, but, it is tested with the hatred and prejudice progresses with the trial of Tom Robinson. Even with the whole community acting out prejudice, Scout herself has her own prejudice ethics, her fear of Boo Raddled. Her fear of Boo Raddled combined with the horrible rumors about him causes Scout to image Boo as a dangerous monster who hides in his house only to creep around the streets peeking into others houses. This fear caused Scout, Gem and Dill to make a play about Boo Raddled, parodying him based on prejudice and rumors. Thanks to Attics wisdom, Scout learns that humanity has a great aptitude for evil, but it also has a great aptitude for good, and that evil can be mitigated when she approaches others with sympathy and compassion. Scouts develops into a person capable of understanding this outlook indicates that, whatever evil she encounters, she has the ability to retain her conscience and appreciate the good qualities in people while accepting the bad qualities. One the important lessons that Tactics wanted Gem and Scout to remember was sympathies and empathic others. Mimi never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Chapter 31, peg. 308). Attics teaching of standing in the shoes of others and walking around in them is telling his children to look at someone from their perspective. Understanding what it is like to be that person and to feel and experience what their frame of mind would be, while retaining your moral conscience without becoming cynical. At the beginn ing of the novel Scout struggles to apply Attics lessons into her life, but she demonstrates her development through the many incidents she has endured, she succeeds to comprehend in Boo Raddled perspective. l turned to go home. Street lights winked down the street all the way to town. I had never seen our neighborhood from this angle. There were Miss Medias, Miss Stephanie there was our house. I could see the porch swing Miss Earaches house was beyond us, visible, I could even see Mrs.. Doubles. (Chapter 31, peg. 307) The quote above, proves that Scout has finally put Attics lessons into practice, to live with sympathy and understanding towards others. Through this act, Scouts perception on Boo Raddled changed completely, she sees Boo Raddled as a human being and realizes that Boo sees whatever she sees. Her newfound ability to observe the world from different perspectives has ensured that she will not be Jaded.

Applications For Integrated Circuits Information Technology Essay

Applications For Integrated Circuits Information Technology Essay An integrated circuit is the name for collections of electronic components imbedded onto a single piece of silicon. Silicon is the base for most transistors, diodes and other semiconductors. It can also be used as a resistor, capacitor and coil. Each IC is designed to carry out certain tasks and the circuit is designed accordingly. The circuit is then printed or etched onto the silicon substrate and then into a plastic or ceramic enclosure. Applications Applications for integrated circuits are as varied as the imagination of the designers. Within limits, anything that can be designed and built with discrete components can be put into an IC. Audio amplifier, video processors, logic, memory, switches, radio frequency encoders and decoders are just a few examples. The range of IC applications is vast and growing daily. One of the major applications is computing. Computers that once had thousands of transistors have been reduced to a handful of ICs. The early computers that were the siz e of a building are now outperformed in almost every way by laptops and even handheld computers because of the use if ICs As ICs are developed, the design costs and production costs of equipment are reducing. Reliability increases as large parts of the final product are enclosed in single packages, reducing assembly errors, connection problems and size of circuit boards. It is now rare to see any electronic equipment that does not have at least one IC. Indeed, some have only one IC and require no other components of any kind. The real answer to the question is to look around. Wherever electronics are used, there is probably an IC inside Many integrated circuits can be found in almost every  electronic device. They function as timers, amplifiers, logic units, counters, calculators, temperature sensors, and radio receivers. Integrated circuit of  Atmel  Diopsis 740System on Chip  showing memory blocks, logic and input/output pads around the periphery Microchips (EPROM  memor y) with a transparent window, showing the integrated circuit inside. Note the fine silver-colored wires that connect the integrated circuit to the pins of the package. The window allows the memory contents of the chip to be erased, by exposure to strong  ultraviolet light  in an eraser device. In  electronics, an  integrated circuit  (also known as  IC,  chip, or  microchip) is a miniaturized  electronic circuit  (consisting mainly of  semiconductor devices, as well as  passive components) that has been manufactured in the surface of a thin  substrate  of  semiconductor  material. Integrated circuits are used in almost all electronic equipment in use today and have revolutionized the world of electronics.  Computers,  cellular phones, and other  digital  appliances  are now inextricable parts of the structure of modern societies, made possible by the low cost of production of integrated circuits. A  hybrid integrated circuit  is a miniat urized electronic circuit constructed of individual semiconductor devices, as well as passive components, bonded to a substrate or circuit board. A monolithic integrated circuit is made of devices manufactured by diffusion of trace elements into a single piece of semiconductor substrate, a chip.

Judicial Review in the UK and the USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Judicial Review in the UK and the USA - Essay Example Judicial review was exercised even before that Constitutional Convention in several states. This is seen in respect of the fact that at least seven of 13 states had experienced the invalidation of their statutes on the grounds that that they violated the higher law or the constitution in one way or another. Hayburn's Case (1792) is one case that saw judicial review in practice as the court held the decision of Congress regarding pension applications unconstitutional. Hylton v. United States (1796) as decided by the US Supreme Court also saw Congress challenged in a matter relating to direct taxes. The Judiciary Act (Section 13) that establishes the US judicial courts gives the Supreme Court the authority to "to issue writs of mandamus, in cases warranted by the principles and usages of law, to any courts appointed, or persons holding office, under the authority of the United States" .Components of Judicial ReviewFor a higher law to be applied effectively, the ruler having constraint in making decisions, there needs to be a set of procedures through which the regulations can be translated into practical actions.   The procedures afore mentioned encompass the codification of the law in a manner that is legally cognizable in terms of language used, reliance on a competent institution to make interpretations of the regulations as well as the existence of a social agreement that the rulings made by the institution that interprets the regulations are supreme and must therefore be upheld. In simple terms judicial review demands three basic elements to be functional in the modern world; the existence of written law or a constitution, the existence of a competent institution (court) to interpret the law and finally respect for the ruling in respect of its

Are there any objective values Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Are there any objective values - Essay Example They are reflected in the form of theories and moral rules. Many philosophers including atheists reject the possibility of creating ethical system basing on the physical forces and natural processes. They state that ethical rules and principles appeared naturally from the practical needs of people: marriage, wars, conflicts, etc. In the early stage of its evolution ethics represented the area of practical reasons, and only long-time experience led to the formation of theoretical ethics. However, the principles, which were formed in the process of social experience, were not set as unchanged like the God’s commandments. Consequently, they could be transformed, forgotten or changed for the new principles, which reflect the constantly collected by the human experience in the spheres of science, technology and psychology (Kelly, 2006). The conclusion can be made that the values can be objective. Ethical values are not merely culturally contingent, but acquired during the process of acquiring experience, thus they are totally

Relation between Race and Social Inequality in the United States Assignment

Relation between Race and Social Inequality in the United States - Assignment Example The original grouping of people into races was valid as a taxonomy concept. There were different races such as Negroid, Caucasians, Asiatic, Polynesians, Xanthochroi and so on (Lewis, 1990). The term Ethnicity refers to the imaginary, informal and formal groupings that are made to club people with certain common features such as geographic location, language, religion and so on. Accordingly, we have people from different ethnicities such as Arabs, Jews, Whites, Hispanic, African Americans, Asians and so on. An ethnic group may have people from different races, religions and physical features (Omni, 1986). The terms race and ethnicity by themselves are innocuous and can be regarded as medical and sociological terms. However, unfortunately, dominant whites in USA started using these terms in a derogatory and insulting manner in the early 17th century, leading to the beginning of social inequalities. The white settlers of USA began treating the native Indians as mentally and socially inferior who were not worthy of being considered as human. This was a deliberate attempt to grab the lands of the native Indians by branding them as worthless and socially inferior to the whites. Later when the plantations came up, Africans were brought into the country as slaves. The dominant whites then usurped the rights of their slaves, calling them racially inferior beings that were fit to work only as slaves. Social inequality is more archaic since it allows the dominant race members to practice discrimination against people of their own race and ethnicity. Therefore, it can be expected that a rich wh ite would discriminate against a poor white, but not with as much severity as he would discriminate against a poor African American (Oliver, 1997). The proliferation of race and ethnicity has unfortunately given rise to racism, racial stereotyping and other ills. African Americans or blacks are regarded as

Business Research Methods Part 3 Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Business Research Methods Part 3 - Term Paper Example Another potential challenge lies in data collection and analysis. Sometimes the data might be outdated or the researcher may not be able to collect comprehensive data to carry out research. Another challenge is to prioritize and filter information from the data – both qualitative and quantitative. The researcher needs to abandon redundant information and include only those which are relevant to his or her research (Sittig et al, 2008). There may be several methods which a researcher may employ in order to reduce the challenges and increase the authenticity of data used in research. Here the researcher has conducted both qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze the healthcare dilemma in American households. One of them is to involve iterative methods and the refinement and development of analogies, typologies and other methods to analyze data (Fitzpatrick & Boulton 1996). This is extremely important especially when qualitative methods of data collection are employed. The researcher may be biased or the participants may be biased in providing their observations and answers. Hence, conducting iteration is one way to reduce such bias in data analysis. Another way to authenticate and validate the data collected in research is to properly prioritize and sort out the data.

Individual Behavior in Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Individual Behavior in Organizations - Essay Example It explains why a person likes or dislikes a given entity from his/her perspective. Behavioral component explains the way a person would act or is expected to act in the case he/she comes across a certain situation or object. (Kreitner and Kinicki, 2012; Hogg and Vaughan, 2005) Attitudes give rise to an evaluative tendency on the individual’s part to like, ignore, or dislike the different entities he/she might come across in his/her lifetime. Hence, one’s attitudes often become crucial in deciding his/her propensity to execute his/her job role or the responsibilities delegated to him/her. In this way, employees’ attitudes significantly influence the workplace productivity. If the overall alignment of all the attitude components of an employee are oriented positively with respect to his/her job and/or responsibilities, he/she would understand his objectives more clearly and would further caste sincere focus toward achieving them with much ease and liking. (Kreitner and Kinicki, 2012; Eagly and Chaiken, 1993) First, need fulfillment, which entails the satisfaction of an employee’s spiritual, material, and intellectual needs, can be a prime causal in creating job satisfaction. Second, discrepancies are the cause that describes the extent of the employee’s satisfaction levels with his/her need fulfillments. Discrepancies are likely to vary person to person. Third, value attainment is intricately related to the corporate, social and family responsibilities of the employee as an individual who seeks to fulfill the requirements and expectations of others beyond his/her personal or professional pursuits. Fourth, the employee is most likely to be satisfied with is job if he/she is paid or benefited in other ways fairly enough in exchange of his/her labor. Fifth, a person’s personal traits determines how much he/she is suited for the job

Relation between Race and Social Inequality in the United States Assignment

Relation between Race and Social Inequality in the United States - Assignment Example The original grouping of people into races was valid as a taxonomy concept. There were different races such as Negroid, Caucasians, Asiatic, Polynesians, Xanthochroi and so on (Lewis, 1990). The term Ethnicity refers to the imaginary, informal and formal groupings that are made to club people with certain common features such as geographic location, language, religion and so on. Accordingly, we have people from different ethnicities such as Arabs, Jews, Whites, Hispanic, African Americans, Asians and so on. An ethnic group may have people from different races, religions and physical features (Omni, 1986). The terms race and ethnicity by themselves are innocuous and can be regarded as medical and sociological terms. However, unfortunately, dominant whites in USA started using these terms in a derogatory and insulting manner in the early 17th century, leading to the beginning of social inequalities. The white settlers of USA began treating the native Indians as mentally and socially inferior who were not worthy of being considered as human. This was a deliberate attempt to grab the lands of the native Indians by branding them as worthless and socially inferior to the whites. Later when the plantations came up, Africans were brought into the country as slaves. The dominant whites then usurped the rights of their slaves, calling them racially inferior beings that were fit to work only as slaves. Social inequality is more archaic since it allows the dominant race members to practice discrimination against people of their own race and ethnicity. Therefore, it can be expected that a rich wh ite would discriminate against a poor white, but not with as much severity as he would discriminate against a poor African American (Oliver, 1997). The proliferation of race and ethnicity has unfortunately given rise to racism, racial stereotyping and other ills. African Americans or blacks are regarded as

Individual Behavior in Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Individual Behavior in Organizations - Essay Example It explains why a person likes or dislikes a given entity from his/her perspective. Behavioral component explains the way a person would act or is expected to act in the case he/she comes across a certain situation or object. (Kreitner and Kinicki, 2012; Hogg and Vaughan, 2005) Attitudes give rise to an evaluative tendency on the individual’s part to like, ignore, or dislike the different entities he/she might come across in his/her lifetime. Hence, one’s attitudes often become crucial in deciding his/her propensity to execute his/her job role or the responsibilities delegated to him/her. In this way, employees’ attitudes significantly influence the workplace productivity. If the overall alignment of all the attitude components of an employee are oriented positively with respect to his/her job and/or responsibilities, he/she would understand his objectives more clearly and would further caste sincere focus toward achieving them with much ease and liking. (Kreitner and Kinicki, 2012; Eagly and Chaiken, 1993) First, need fulfillment, which entails the satisfaction of an employee’s spiritual, material, and intellectual needs, can be a prime causal in creating job satisfaction. Second, discrepancies are the cause that describes the extent of the employee’s satisfaction levels with his/her need fulfillments. Discrepancies are likely to vary person to person. Third, value attainment is intricately related to the corporate, social and family responsibilities of the employee as an individual who seeks to fulfill the requirements and expectations of others beyond his/her personal or professional pursuits. Fourth, the employee is most likely to be satisfied with is job if he/she is paid or benefited in other ways fairly enough in exchange of his/her labor. Fifth, a person’s personal traits determines how much he/she is suited for the job

One Night Stands and Regret Essay Example for Free

One Night Stands and Regret Essay Sex is considered a taboo up until we become college students. We have people whom want to remain chaste until marriage, we have people whom want to have experimental encounters with as many people as they can in college, and then there are people whom would only consider having sexual relations with their significant other. College parties are wild and it is guaranteed that at least 5 couples will end up hooking up at the end of the night. Most hook ups becomes one-night stands. If we were to ask those individuals if they regret their past encounters many would say yes because drugs or alcohol were involved. Drugs and and alcohol play an important role in sex. It is more likely for an intoxicated person to engage in sexual encounters than a sober person. In the magazine Psychology Today, there is an article called â€Å"If I Could do it All Over Again† that talks about the half-life of sex. In this article we are informed with statistics of men and women whom admit as to why they regret their past encounters. The article also explains scenarios of cases where sexual encounters break relationships and marriages. The biggest questioned raised by Matt Huston in his article is â€Å"When it comes to sexual misadventures, why do we feel so wrong about that which, in the heat of the moment, felt so right?† (Huston 39). Huston suggests that people feel thrill when having encounters rather than casual sex. What is there to regret of sex? Women who lose their virginity in a sexual encounter regret it because they feel like they lost their pureness to the wrong man. Women also regret having sexual encounters because they feel like they moved too fast to jump into sex. Men have other type of regrets. There are men who regret no jumping into bed and having sex with a random person. There are men who regret not being more sexually active in their youth. On a survey done to men and women, 55% of men regret not having sexual encounters. 48% of men regret not being sexually active at a young age. 43% of women regret moving too fast and jumping into sex. 41% of women regret  losing their virginity to the wrong person. Both men and women regret things differently. Women regret most of their past sexual encounters while men regret not having more sexual encounters. A very interesting study done in the Journal of Sex research, finds that regardless of sex, both genders that engage in sex with relative strangers may actually be more anxious and depressed. Another impactful statistic is that more than 70% of â€Å"college students who’d had a one-night stand had also experienced sexual regret† (39). This magazine article is very informative. It really doesn’t persuade people not to have sexual encounters; it just informs us about the people who regret sexual encounters. The magazine’s job is to inform us of a topic that really isn’t talked about on a daily basis. One can say that this magazine is sending out a subliminal message, which is to think before we engage in sexual encounters. The magazine believes that this generation has changed the idea of sex and has created a new a separate type of sex called sexual encounters. It also shows how many of these people show regret for past encounters. While shopping at Target I looked around and saw the books and magazines sections. I decided to buy a National Geographic magazine. The cover had an interesting hook; it basically said that Aliens weren’t far from earth. I bought the magazine and read the article, however, it didnt finish the article when I decided to return the magazine to the store. The article was very boring, the language wasnt clear to understand, and the text became boring the further I read. I went back to Target and looked around for another magazine and I decided to look at Psychology Today. My initial article to write my essay was on â€Å"Daydreams† and how those fantasies affect our futures. As I flipped through the magazine I came across the topic of sex. I read the title and I felt a relation to that topic. We’re college students and we know people whom participate in sexual encounters. Sexual encounters are something that is incredibly popular in college and especially at parties and clubs. It is interesting to know how both men and women feel after sexual encounters. Before I read this article I had no opinion on sexual encounters. I have a few friends whom participate in this type of acts. I always tell them to use protection and avoid stupid mistakes. I dont judge people, everyone makes mistakes and many of us keep making mistakes. After I read this article it hit me. I used to believe that when someone engages in sexual encounters they aren’t sensitive and dont have emotional feelings. But this magazine proved me wrong. Men and women do feel regret; their regret differs but they still feel regret based on a sexual encounter. I dont regret reading this article because it really caught my attention. I scanned the article and emailed it to some of my friends. I was really amazed with the research that explained that most of the people who participate in sexual encounters are anxious and depressed. It is rude to ask personal questions to people but I’d be very interested in knowing if they are anxious or depressed. If I ever feel the necessity of participating in a sexual encounter I will think back to this article and analyze the moment. Drugs and alcohol are not our friends and intoxication can make us do things we wouldnt do when sober. I would also think of the statistics of people whom regret the sexual encounters. This article has made me realize that there is a negative effect on sexual encounters, there is more to than just sex. Sex involves feelings. I think that every college student should read this article. Many people could prevent feeling regretful if they read an interesting article like this one. Works Cited Huston, Matt. If I Could Do It All Over Again. Psychology Today 1 Mar. 2014: 37-39. Print.

Kants Categorical Imperative: Summary and Analysis

Kants Categorical Imperative: Summary and Analysis Explain and discuss Kants categorical imperative. How appropriate are his views in todays criminal justice field? What is an imperative? An imperative is a command like, pay your expenses! or dont execute animals! A Hypothetical Imperative summon is based, restrictively, on the presence of a yearning, for example, On the off chance that you want to be a Doctor, you should think about science in school. If you would prefer not to go to medical school, then this order would not have any significant bearing due to the lack of craving. Kants Categorical Imperative is a command that is unequivocal, for example, Dont cheat on taxes. Even on the off chance that you are longing to cheat, and this would be to your advantage to cheat, you may not do so. Ethical morality has an association with the categorical imperative since morality is to such an extent that you are summoned by it, and is to such an extent that you cant quit it or claim that it doesnt have any significant bearing to you. There are no uncertainties in good activity, as indicated by Kant. Morality works as indicated by a categorical imper ative since we should act in a given way in light of the fact that the rationale is admirable, not on the grounds that we have assumed that we can accomplish certain goals accordingly. Immanuel Kant believed that certain types of actions (murder, theft and lying) were prohibited, even if the action brought happiness rather than its alternative. As a follower of Kant, there are two questions that must be asked before we act: Can I rationally expect that everyone act as I propose to act? If no, then the action is not performed.   And, does my action respect the goals of human beings rather than my own purpose? Again, if not, then the action is not performed.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kants morals appear the premise of the possibility that we each have rights to flexibility, rationality and moral based attitudes. Since these rights are our own, we can make free, sound and decent decisions. Kant fights to state that individuals have a free will and ability to reason. Kants thinking is smart, in that he trusted that if someone happened to act ethically, then it is first fundamental to be allowed to pick between the good and the improper. In todays criminal justice system, Kant can exhibit sound hypothesis which is utilized by many, just as it was for a scholar of the 1900s. Kant stresses the inability to achieve ones own ends with certainty: I may take an act to promote some end, but nature, circumstances, and other people may conspire against me (Minkler, 1999). I read this as the atmosphere that our law enforcement are experiencing every day. Decisions are being made in the streets that appear to promote profiling or racism when, in fact, they are activities that are protecting our society. His hypotheses would, by many, be named as straightforward sound judgment in todays law enforcement world with the categorical imperative offering clear, insightful guidelines for the individuals who wish to put a supporting hypothesis to their everyday decision making regarding crime protection and prevention. Society can depend upon our law enforcement to remain rationale to manage their activities in crime prevention reasonab ly, however discernment is not because of logical behavior. Kant makes clear that the fact that we can think implies freedom. That we can think proves as a practical matter that we are free. Asking anything more goes beyond the bounds of what can be proved (Weiss, 1992). In todays criminal society a great example of Kants philosophy in action would be the Jeffrey Dahmer case. This solution answers the problem of Jeffrey Dahmer. The defense was attempting to prove Mr. Dahmer was intentionally performing gross acts that were created from his childhood. This theory is proven irrelevant. These occurrences as a youth are exclusive in their ability to cause mental issues. All mental and physical events have a cause. However, we must understand that Mr. Dahmers intentions are a mental act and assume it is free. To prove it was caused is a mistake. It depends on how it is looked at. The implications in the Dahmer case are this; If he is considered insane, he will be placed in a mental hospi tal rather than prison, and could be released after a year. His attorneys felt that this was a just decision because he was not an evil man, just sick. Kant states that nothing indicates you must be well to be guilty; it says you must have the intentions to do what you did. Is an intention a free action or caused by a condition is unanswerable and should not be a question asked in a court of law. By all accounts to include legally and practically, he is a guilty person. That is determined to be enough in the philosophy realm and should be enough in the court of society. References Minkler, L. (1999). The Problem with Utility: Toward a Non-Consequentialist/Utility Theory Synthesis. Review Of Social Economy, 57(1), 4-24. Weiss, M. D. (1992, Feb 11). Immanuel kant on the dahmer case. Wall Street Journal Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/docview/398293483?accountid=8289

Breakfast of Champions Essay -- Essays Papers

Breakfast of Champions When one hears the phrase â€Å"Breakfast of Champions,† he envisions a grinning picture of Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan slam dunking, or Dale Earnhardt in a racecar on a box of Wheaties, a popular breakfast cereal. A few avid Saturday Night Live fans might recall a skit performed by James Belushi. In the skit, Belushi’s â€Å"Breakfast of Champions† was beer, cigarettes, and donuts. Neither of these examples are the subject of Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions or Good Bye Blue Morning. A â€Å"Breakfast of Champions† is actually a martini. Breakfast of Champions is a work of fiction with semi-autobiographical allusions. The main characters of the book are Kilgore Trout, Dwayne Hoover, and Philboyd Sludge. Kilgore Trout installs aluminum combination storm windows and screens and writes science fiction novels and short stories. He has no ambition to be a famous writer, so he sends his works to pornographic magazine companies to be published. The names and characters of his works are often changed in the process, and he is rarely paid for his efforts. Dwayne Hoover owns a successful Pontiac dealership. He slowly loses his sanity as the plot unfolds. Philboyd Sludge creates these characters and appears in the story to watch the characters as the story progresses. Breakfast of Champions depicts the story of Kilgore’s travel to Midland City to speak at a festival of arts. Kilgore, at first, rejects the invitation, but he decides to go because h... Breakfast of Champions Essay -- Essays Papers Breakfast of Champions When one hears the phrase â€Å"Breakfast of Champions,† he envisions a grinning picture of Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan slam dunking, or Dale Earnhardt in a racecar on a box of Wheaties, a popular breakfast cereal. A few avid Saturday Night Live fans might recall a skit performed by James Belushi. In the skit, Belushi’s â€Å"Breakfast of Champions† was beer, cigarettes, and donuts. Neither of these examples are the subject of Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions or Good Bye Blue Morning. A â€Å"Breakfast of Champions† is actually a martini. Breakfast of Champions is a work of fiction with semi-autobiographical allusions. The main characters of the book are Kilgore Trout, Dwayne Hoover, and Philboyd Sludge. Kilgore Trout installs aluminum combination storm windows and screens and writes science fiction novels and short stories. He has no ambition to be a famous writer, so he sends his works to pornographic magazine companies to be published. The names and characters of his works are often changed in the process, and he is rarely paid for his efforts. Dwayne Hoover owns a successful Pontiac dealership. He slowly loses his sanity as the plot unfolds. Philboyd Sludge creates these characters and appears in the story to watch the characters as the story progresses. Breakfast of Champions depicts the story of Kilgore’s travel to Midland City to speak at a festival of arts. Kilgore, at first, rejects the invitation, but he decides to go because h...

Sri Lanka - Light at the End of the Tunnel? Essay -- Politics Governme

Sri Lanka - Light at the End of the Tunnel? The Sunday, March 3, 2002 issue of â€Å"The New York Times† featured an article by Barbara Crossette, â€Å"The War on Terror Points a Country Toward Peace. The second sentence of this article stated: "A week ago, the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, one of Asia's most ruthless and totalitarian rebel movements, agreed to a firm cease-fire, with the promise of peace talks to come".[1] But are the LTTE planning on keeping their promises this time? Is Sri Lanka's 20 year old struggle finally coming to its end? Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? The history of the conflict extends into colonial times, when Sri Lanka was a formal colony of Great Britain. Even then â€Å"politics were already split along rigid ethnic lines†¦Ã¢â‚¬ [2] Sri Lanka is populated by two ethnic groups, the Tamils and the Sinhalese. The Tamils constitute only 15% of the total population in Sri Lanka. But, according to Stuart Bell from National Post, the Sinhalese still feel as a â€Å"minority within the wider region†[3], because of Sri Lanka’s geographic position, only 30 kilometers off the coast of India’s Tamil Nadu. Another factor to be taken into consideration is that Sri Lanka is the only place in the world that the Sinhalese culture exists in. There is no question that the Sinhalese feel even more threatened because of that. Additional differences adding oil to the fire between the two groups are: language (Tamil vs. Sinhala); religion (mostly Hindu vs. Buddhist); history interpretations; moral superiority claims; question of the original inhibition of the island. The post-colonial government took the path of an extreme pro-Sinhalese mood, after coming into power on Februa... ...n the weapons inflow. The LTTE have also been loosing their legitimacy among their supporters. Secondly, the country itself, seems to also have grown extremely weary of the constant human and economic sacrifices. Both sides, it seems, can’t go on, and are very ready to compromise. And thirdly, the growing global no-tolerance atmosphere itself, as mentioned earlier, is playing an important role in taming the tigers this time. As â€Å"The Hindu† asserts: â€Å"†¦the post-September 11 world might prove an increasingly tough place even for groups that fight their battles within a defined geographical territory in remote corners of the globe, like the LTTE, to use terror as a strategy.†[19] I think, that the combination of these three factors might result to be just the right mix to, finally, put an end to a 20-year long war in Sri Lanka. And the country will see the light.

Reflection Paper on Revitalizing the Federal Government for the 21st Century

A Reflection Paper on Revitalizing the Federal Government for the 21st Century This is a reflection paper on the recommendations proposed in the Revitalizing the Federal Government for the 21st century report by the National Commission on the Public Service (Volcker Commission). The Volcker commission, comprised of members from the three major political parties, recognizes the importance of disciplined policy direction, operational flexibility, and clear and high performance standards as guiding objectives (The National Commission on the Public Service [NCPS], 2003) for an organizational restructuring within the federal government to meet the challenges of the 21st century. This author agrees with the commission in that no such undertaken has occurred since the Hoover Commission some 50 years ago. It articulates in my view a comprehensive plan to reclaim the dignity once associated with public service, and if effectively utilized could re-establish trust between the American public and its government. The decline in confidence shared by many Americans in the capability of federal personnel to carry out the tasks of public service must be addressed. The National Commission on the Public Service (Volcker Commission) recognized this need and published a 2003 report on the public service sector titled Urgent Business for America: Revitalizing the Federal Government for the 21st Century. The report, a collective collaboration between veteran government employees, drew upon their knowledge and the expertise of outside sources from every political affiliation to address challenges that plague the civil service sector in the 21st century. The members of the commission focused on seven key areas which are: the relationship between the government and the American public, organizational disorder, one size fits all management, vanishing talent, personnel systems, and labor-management conflict (NCPS, 2003). This author considers trust as the main component of any relationship and agrees with the commission that the distrust between the American people and the government is contributing to the decay of public service. The commission realized that that the policy changes need to combat the problems associated with public service in the 21st century will take a collaborative effort between the citizens of American and government. I agree with the commission that there is no â€Å"quick fix† that the government shares the blame for the negative perception, and must make every effort possible to regain that trust by sufficiently improving its performance. The organizational structure within the civil service sector was another focal point in the commissions’ report. The members recommended that â€Å"the federal government should be reorganized into a limited number of mission-related executive departments† (NCPS, 2003, p. 14). The commission points out that most public servants are perplexed as to the application and significance of their agency’s undertaking and more often than not departments share responsibilities that could be combined to form one cohesive unit. For example, I found it very disturbing that as many as 12 different agencies share the responsibility of administering over 35 food safety laws (NCPS, 2003). The disarray with organizational structure also presents the problem of effectively managing the mission of these individual agencies. The commission notes that nine agencies operate 27 teen pregnancy programs come back to. It is my opinion that the solution given by the commission to group related missions under the same organizational structure would enhance employees’ sense of purpose and loyalty, provide opportunities for advancement and reduce waste of limited resources (NCPS, 2003). One size doe not fit all; this entire â€Å"cookie cutter† approach to agency structure and management practices is no longer viable. The needs of the American public are far more complex and vary significantly than those confronted by civil service reformers of the past. Because the tasks performed by public servants range so greatly it is no longer feasible to assume that a single approach to management will be effective in every instance. The commission members make a valid point in that â€Å"excellent performance requires organizational leadership and culture that fit the mission, not just a single theory of administration† (NCPS, 2003, p. 8). The future of attracting and retaining highly qualified workers in the public service profession appears bleak. The prestige and sense of accomplishment once considered attributes or incentives of public sector employment is on a sharp decline amongst American citizens. This can be attributed to many factors such as inadequate work conditions, differential in public versus private sector salaries, personal safety, and the opportunity for advancement. The two I found most interesting were the requirements for disclosure of personal information and the application process. Ethics regulations are enacted by Congress to ensure the integrity of federal employees. It is a given than more that 250,000 federal employees must make yearly disclosure of the full details of their personal finances (NCPS, 2003). While I agree that such laws are necessary; I also think the process can be modified as not to encompass so many employees. As the commission states Congress needs â€Å"to make federal ethics rules cleaner, simpler, and more directly related to the goals they are intended to achieve† (NCPS, 2003, p. 22). The application process within the civil service sector is another deterrent that I agree with the commission on could be streamlined to expedite the procedure. Those applying for public sector employment find this process tedious and much more complicated than that of the private sector and typically get faster responses private employers. Personnel management systems in public service were originally designed to promote equity among the workforce. The truth of the matter is â€Å"equal pay for equal work† is no longer realistic. This concept is antiquated because of the sophisticated high level tasks performed by some government agencies. The recommendation of the commission is to eradicate the General Schedule classification system. This system has become too cumbersome to administer; to guarantee equity in compensation this system will always require constant tinkering to define â€Å"equal work† so that it can ensure â€Å"equal pay† (NCPS, 2003). What the commission has suggested, and what I agree with, is a broadband system under which the current 15 pay grades are consolidate into six to eight broad bands with wider salary ranges (NCPS, 2003). This would give managers the flexibility to compensate based on capability and performance, and design personnel systems that best sustains the mission of the organization. The Commission notes that there are three very distinct factors that determine pay for the overwhelming majority of federal workers: how an individual job fits into the General Schedule classification system, geographical location of the job, and the employee’s time in service (NCPS, 2003). I was disturbed by the fact that the quality of the work performed was frequently disregarded as a standard. It has to frustrating for workers who provide a high quality of service to be judged on the same merits as those of poor performers. The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 was enacted to reward bonuses, merit pay and performance commendations to high performing civil servants (NCPS, 2003). This is rarely the case because of insufficient funds or an evaluation system that acts more as a rubber stamp than an effective means of evaluation. Managers routinely were allocating funds as a means to compensate equitably across the board, and not as inducements or rewards for top achievers. This is an area of reform which much attention should be given. It is irrational to believe that high performing employees do not â€Å"pick up the slack† for poor performers. It has been my experience that management comes to rely on this (as long as the work is getting done) instead of dealing with poor performers appropriately. This attitude does nothing but destroy the morale of the unit as a whole. The last area of concentration by the Volcker Commission was the conflict between labor and management. The commission believes, as do I, that it is entirely possible to modernize the public sector without jeopardizing the fundamentals of the merit system (NCPS, 2003). I agree that political affiliation should not be a factor for determining employment within the civil service sector, and that individuals employed by this sector should not be subject to arbitrary discipline or dismissal based on political affliction. I also agree that labor- management collaboration can coexist within the federal government. Numerous recommendations made to the president and Congress. What I found surprising about the report is that the commission instead of focusing exclusively on changes to the public service sector; devoted much attention to a restructuring of the executive branch of government. Moreover, it calls for â€Å"The House and Senate to realign their committee oversight to match the mission driven reorganization of the executive branch† (NCPS, 2003, p. 17); which is no small feat given the current political climate. The commission also made several other controversial proposals, for example, the President and Congress should work together to drastically decrease the number of executive branch positions (NCPS, 2003). In calling for an â€Å"immediate and significant† increase in judicial, executive, and legislative salaries, the commission also recognizes the long-standing reluctance of members of Congress to vote for a pay increase for themselves (NCPS, 2003). The report calls upon Congress to break the statutory link between their salaries and those of judges and senior political appointees (NCPS, 2003). While I found the report be very cohesive and comprehensive, a nd a blueprint for a more efficient government and better quality of civil service employees; I also felt several issues were not adequately addressed. Although, the repot does present sufficient advice as to restructuring organizational and management systems within the federal government â€Å"it fails to address the core problems affecting the delivery of public services. Primarily too often federal agencies simply don't have the resources they need to meet mission requirements; an emphasis on pay compression for top ranking government positions overlooks the impact of pay disparities on front-line workers; and much more needs to be done to address the negative impact of contracting out (Palguta, 2003). While the commission's report appropriately focuses on â€Å"leadership in government† as a primary area of concern, it tends to define leadership too narrowly as those individuals at the top of the organization. First-line supervisors and mid-level managers are a vital component of the leadership team. Finally, while agreeing that greater management flexibility is needed, there must also be balanced with reasonable safeguards to ensure the basic merit principles are maintained (Palguta, 2003). References The National Commission on the Public Service. (2003). Urgent business for America: evitalizing the federal government for the 21st century. Retrieved from http://docs. google. com/viewer? a=v&q=cache:KSnwxENfsmQJ:www. brookings. e du/gs/cps/volcker/reportfinal. pdf+urgent+business+for+america:+revitalizing+the +federal+government+for+the+21st+century Palguta, John M. â€Å"Revitalizing the Federal Government for the 21st Century: Presenting differing perspectives on the rep ort of the National Commission on the Public Service (Volcker II). (Opinion Roundtable: Volcker II). † The Public Manager 32. 1 (2003): 7+. Academic OneFile. Web. 6 Feb. 2011.