Social Security Essays -- essays research papers

Title of Paper : Social Security Social security, created in 1935, is the most costly item in the federal budget. The program provides old age, survivors’ and disability insurance to a healthy portion of Americans. Workers and their employers fund the system by each paying payroll taxes. The Internal Revenue Service collects the taxes and deposits the money in government-administrated accounts known as the Old Age and Survivors and Disability Insurance Trust Funds(OASDI). The payroll tax revenues are used to pay benefits to those people currently collecting Social Security pensions. Social Security taxes also pay for Medicare, the national health program for the elderly. The huge problem with the current situation facing Social Security is the increasing deduction of workers in the work force paying for workers retired. â€Å"Due to the large number of aging baby boomers, American 65 and older are the fastest-growing segment of the population. The population growth of Americans age 65 and older is 112% in the years between 1995 and 2040. The population growth in age 20-64 is 24%. The population growth in ages under 20, is 5%.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What these numbers essentially represent is a cause problem with age differences in the future. Soon, less workers will be in the job force trying to supply more retirees with Social Security. Currently, many ideas have been juggled around trying to find a sound and reasonable way to resolve this problem. Granted, the problem will not happen overnight, but rather over a long arduous duration of time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The question first arises, â€Å"Can the existing system survive without major reforms?† The early designers of Social Security and many Democrats are baffled at the recent proposals to change Social Security. Most believe that Social Security is still able to provide a safety net for retirees and their survivors if minor adjustments are made. â€Å"Occasionally raising payroll taxes or recalculating the way benefits are paid out.† Some Democrats look at major reform as a way of pitting war between generations. They stand on common beliefs that Social Security has worked for over 60 years by providing a steady stream of monthly payments that beneficiaries can rely on. Also, it has helped lift millions of seniors out of poverty. Democrats also criticize the Grand Old Party for â€Å"playing†... ...vatization of personal savings would be advantageous to the nation’s economy, delivering bigger pensions to workers and helping the economy grow faster. Some believe the emphasis on personal savings would give the added feature of encouraging more individual responsibility at a time when the nation prepares for a surge in its elderly population. Privatization would differ from Social Security in two important ways. First, the amount a worker receives at retirement depends solely on how much one contributes to savings and how well the investments perform. In simplified notation, those who set aside more and invest wisely enjoy more comfortable retirements. Secondly, pensions are paid out of an individual’s accumulated savings instead of financed by taxes on active workers. For example, Chile for a little less than two decades has replaced it’s system which was much like Social Security with a system incorporated around the idea of privately invested accounts. The results are astounding. The plan is relatively elementary because it focuses on workers placing 10 percent of their monthly income into a savings account. With this, government leaders boosted the national savings rate Social Security Essays -- essays research papers Title of Paper : Social Security Social security, created in 1935, is the most costly item in the federal budget. The program provides old age, survivors’ and disability insurance to a healthy portion of Americans. Workers and their employers fund the system by each paying payroll taxes. The Internal Revenue Service collects the taxes and deposits the money in government-administrated accounts known as the Old Age and Survivors and Disability Insurance Trust Funds(OASDI). The payroll tax revenues are used to pay benefits to those people currently collecting Social Security pensions. Social Security taxes also pay for Medicare, the national health program for the elderly. The huge problem with the current situation facing Social Security is the increasing deduction of workers in the work force paying for workers retired. â€Å"Due to the large number of aging baby boomers, American 65 and older are the fastest-growing segment of the population. The population growth of Americans age 65 and older is 112% in the years between 1995 and 2040. The population growth in age 20-64 is 24%. The population growth in ages under 20, is 5%.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What these numbers essentially represent is a cause problem with age differences in the future. Soon, less workers will be in the job force trying to supply more retirees with Social Security. Currently, many ideas have been juggled around trying to find a sound and reasonable way to resolve this problem. Granted, the problem will not happen overnight, but rather over a long arduous duration of time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The question first arises, â€Å"Can the existing system survive without major reforms?† The early designers of Social Security and many Democrats are baffled at the recent proposals to change Social Security. Most believe that Social Security is still able to provide a safety net for retirees and their survivors if minor adjustments are made. â€Å"Occasionally raising payroll taxes or recalculating the way benefits are paid out.† Some Democrats look at major reform as a way of pitting war between generations. They stand on common beliefs that Social Security has worked for over 60 years by providing a steady stream of monthly payments that beneficiaries can rely on. Also, it has helped lift millions of seniors out of poverty. Democrats also criticize the Grand Old Party for â€Å"playing†... ...vatization of personal savings would be advantageous to the nation’s economy, delivering bigger pensions to workers and helping the economy grow faster. Some believe the emphasis on personal savings would give the added feature of encouraging more individual responsibility at a time when the nation prepares for a surge in its elderly population. Privatization would differ from Social Security in two important ways. First, the amount a worker receives at retirement depends solely on how much one contributes to savings and how well the investments perform. In simplified notation, those who set aside more and invest wisely enjoy more comfortable retirements. Secondly, pensions are paid out of an individual’s accumulated savings instead of financed by taxes on active workers. For example, Chile for a little less than two decades has replaced it’s system which was much like Social Security with a system incorporated around the idea of privately invested accounts. The results are astounding. The plan is relatively elementary because it focuses on workers placing 10 percent of their monthly income into a savings account. With this, government leaders boosted the national savings rate

In Cold Blood Literary Analysis Essay

In Cold Blood, written by Truman Capote, is a book that encloses the true story of a family, the Clutters, whose lives were brutally ended by the barrel of a 12-gauge shotgun. The killers were 2 men, each with 2 different backgrounds and personalities, each with his own reasons to take part in such a harrowing deed. Capote illustrates the events leading up to the murder in sharp detail and describes its aftermath with such a perspective that one feels that he is right there with the culprits, whose names are Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. They had very critical roles in the murder and how they themselves were caught, and in many ways they were foils for one another. Through Capote’s extensive descriptions of Dick and Perry, and his use of dialogue, imagery, and point-of-view, he makes their individual roles in the story evident and makes clear the fact that they counterbalance each other, with their opposite personalities playing major parts in the Clutter murder case. Dick and Perry’s upbringings were vastly contrasting, and their effects were evident as the men grew and developed. Capote illustrates Perry’s childhood with explicit detail and does not hold back. Perry’s upbringing was marred with violence, tragedy, and misdirection. His mother and father were divorced, and constantly had issues with each other. His mother became an alcoholic, and eventually died upon choking on her own vomit(106). He lived in, by all means, a broken home. His entire family, save for one sister, had suffered in some sort of way. Perry gives the gist of his family’s status with saying, â€Å"Jimmy a suicide. Fern out the window. My mother dead. Been dead eight years. Everybody gone but dad and Barbara. ‘† (Capote 134). Perry’s sister Fern had fallen out of a hotel window to her Khan 2 death, with police finding a bottle of alcohol in her possession. Perry’s other brother shot himself, and Perry’s father walked out of his children’s lives when they were all quite young. Not long after that, Perry was put in an orphanage run by nuns. They would whip him constantly for wetting his bed (Capote 93), which was due to Perry having a weak liver (Capote 210). Because of his experience in the orphanage, Perry gave up on God and religion. When he was still a teenager, he joined the US Army and fought in the Korean War. After he came home, he got into a grisly motorcycle accident, mangling both his legs and stunting his growth. When he recovered, he went to go work with his father up in Alaska, which, after several years, ended in an argument from a biscuit, Perry’s father aiming a gun at him, and all of Perry’s possessions being thrown out of the house. So Perry decided to leave. â€Å"I picked up my guitar and started on down the highway† (136). Through all of his early life, it is evident that Perry had to deal with terrible tragedies, a lack of parenthood, and the fact that he never truly had a true home. He never fully learned compassion, mercy, respect, or the value of human life. None of these values were ever shown to him, nor was he ever required to show them to anyone, and in addition, it made him resent many people in his life. As Dr. Jones, a psychiatrist who studied Perry, concluded: â€Å"His childhood,†¦. was marked by brutality and lack of concern on the part of both parents. He seems to have grown up without direction, without love, and without ever having absorbed any fixed sense of moral values†(297) Perry’s upbringing played a major role in carrying out the murder of the Clutter family, and contrasted sharply with Dick’s early life. Dick Hickock’s upbringing was more structured and fortunate, the opposite of Perry’s. His parents had been there to support him, and he did well in school. When asked about his son’s school life, his father responded by exclaiming,†Basketball! Baseball! Football! Dick was always the star player. A pretty good student, too, with A marks in several subjects† (Capote 158). Dick had a fruitful education, and was even offered a scholarship, to which Dick simply says, â€Å"†¦ but I never attended any of them† (Capote 278). After high school, Dick took several small-time jobs, including working at a Khan 3 motor company, â€Å"when I [Dick] had an automobile wreck with a company car. I was in the hospital several days with extensive head injuries† (Capote 278). The car accident caused his face to be slightly maligned, and, as concluded by Dr. Jones, caused residual brain damage and instability in his personality (Capote 286). Dick’s father also confirmed that Dick had changed after the crash, expressing that â€Å"He just wasn’t the same boy† (Capote 255). After experiencing the crash, many parts of Dick’s life began to go downhill. His marital life twisted woefully, and when all was said and done, he had gone through 2 marriages. He did not have a steady job anymore, and he began to commit petty crimes, such as writing bad checks and stealing. The latter resulted in him being in jail, where he had met Perry, who was behind bars for burglary as well, among other charges. Dick and Perry had both agreed to kill the Clutters, however when the time came, Dick showed signs of doubt and lingered, while Perry had almost no hesitation. This seems to point back to each man’s past, where Perry, who had a rougher childhood, did not seem to think twice about killing the family. His scarred adolescence points to a more cold-hearted, bitter, and lonely person, while Dick’s more favorable youth showed signs of mercy and conscience. Perry and Dick’s relations with other people shaped their own respective character and personalities, including their tendencies towards other people. Dick is a self-assured, commanding and charismatic person who seems to think of himself as quite masculine. He’s had a few girlfriends, and more than one wife as well (Capote 277 – 279). He was a distinct athlete in high school, and was by no means anti-social. He is a very smooth-talker, and does not have any trouble using people to his advantage (Capote 97). His ease with people as well as the large amount of people he had befriended made him more sympathetic towards the Clutters, and, if anything, made him more understanding towards other people. Perry, to contrast, did not have the self-assurance or confidence Dick had. Since he was a child, he essentially had no one, as his family was essentially gone, and he moved from place to place. He had been abused by the nuns as a child (Capote 25), had essentially no friends throughout Khan 4 his short time at school, and was bullied often, in which cases he references the â€Å"Big Yellow Bird† carrying him away form his oppressors (Capote 265). Perry himself once expressed, â€Å"My friends are few; those who really know me fewer still† (Capote 225). He has relations with a small amount of people, and among the people who he’s ever interacted with, Perry has ended up resenting a great many of them. With so much dislike for such a large number of people, Perry has a distinctly negative view of people and society in general. This leads to him essentially having no mercy for the Clutters, rather treating it like it had to be done, and that there was nothing he could do about the murders. Additionally, Perry had been a lonesome individual for most of his life, so as he travels with Dick, he becomes quite attached to him, even after their relationship sours a bit. This seems to point itself out when Perry mentions, in a potential escape plan, â€Å"What about Hickock? All preparations must include him† (Capote 265). If Perry was planning to escape, adding another individual to worry about and the risk of getting caught is much higher. Yet Perry is too attached to simply let Dick go, but Dick in on another floor regretting that he didn’t kill Perry when he had the chance. Both Dick and Perry’s relationships with other people reflect in their personalities and attitudes towards contemporary society. Perry’s passive, dainty nature and Dick’s reckless, aggressive, asserting nature serve to offset each other’s behavior to an extent. Perry does not try to assert himself, but rather conforms to what other people, who he deems ‘larger’ than him, tell him. He is the one to worry about everything, as shown when he is concerned about wearing stockings so that no one will recognize them (Capote 37), if a torn glove is a bad omen (Capote 65), and in addition to the countless times afterward that he’d talked about the authorities tracing the crime back to them, that somehow they did have a witness (Capote 109). Dick is the more daring individual. He frequently acts upon a notion and carefully considers the consequences AFTER the deed has been done. He does tend to be reckless sometimes, as he became when he was writing bad checks, and used his real name in the same city he committed the murder of the Clutters in (Capote 213). With Dick nudging Perry on in whatever scheme they were Khan 5 plotting, and with Perry holding Dick back and thinking it through, they seemed to get both a bold plan along with attention to detail. In the book, Capote gracefully shows how Perry’s actions and tendencies function and respond with Dick’s personality and habits, making it clear that they are foils for one another. Works Cited Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood. Boston, MA: G. K. Hall, 1993. Print.

In the News: Pricing of Milk

This year so far milk sales have decreased and dairy farmers are stuck with large amounts of inventory that they can't do anything with. This called for them to lower the price of the milk to under three dollars a gallon in hopes that people would buy more milk. The content of this article is relevant to the class because it covers supply and demand. In addition to this it also covers business strategy. Ultimately dairy farmers were making a lot more money in 2014 because there was a very high demand for milk.When milk ales decreased the dairy farmers were left with inventory that they could not do anything with. At this point they had to make a decision to try to save some of the inventory they had left over. In regards to food products It's a little different compared to items that do not have a sell by date. Milk expires after a certain day and it can no longer be sold. For this reason the dairy farmers and retailers were forced to cut costs to try and get more people to but more milk. This could ultimately fix their overstock problem.By lowering he cost they were hoping that people would buy more milk. If people purchase more milk it can potentially help them get rid of left over inventory. This can also be bad for dairy producers because it they are losing money on every gallon of milk they sell. If they purchased more heavy machinery and hired more workers they may have to lay people off due to plummeting costs.

Stadia and Aquaria

Stadia and Aquaria Stadia and Aquaria Stadia and Aquaria By Maeve Maddox Every so often I receive a comment like this one: Why do you and your countrymen insist on changing the English language? The plural of aquarium is aquaria, stadium is stadia, etc. etc. I like to believe that such comments are meant playfully, to get a rise out of the American. For one thing, the commenter must know that the English language was changing long before there were Americans to speak it. King James I, for whom the first permanent settlement in Virginia was named, would not have understood the English spoken by his predecessor King Alfred. And Queen Elizabeth II does not speak or write the same English that was spoken by King James I. Today’s standard British English and standard American English are different dialects. Considering that both diverged from a form of English spoken 400 years ago in England, they remain remarkably similar. As for the plural of nouns in -um, stadiums and aquariums have become the normal plurals in British periodicals as well as in American. Both dialects do retain the plural stadia in the context of Roman history. The plural aquaria may still be common among British speakers, but in the US, the Latinate plural is more likely to be used by scientists and serious aquarists than by non-specialists. The style guide for The Guardian and The Observer states this policy: Latinate -um neuter endings that are a part of the language (eg stadium) take an -s plural. Note: This style guide does not use periods with e.g., a fact that seems odd to an American: eg no full points. The Guardian/Observer guide has separate entries for the following -um nouns: addendum, plural addendums aquarium, plural aquariums memorandum, plural memorandums, not memoranda referendum, plural referendums, not referenda It also addresses the datum/data debate: data takes a singular verb (like agenda), though strictly a plural; no one ever uses â€Å"agendum† or â€Å"datum.† The Associated Press Stylebook specifies stadiums as the plural of stadium. The Chicago Manual of Style advises writers to consult a dictionary for â€Å"certain words of Latin or Greek origin such as crocus, datum, or alumna.† Here are some of the plural choices given in Merriam-Webster Unabridged: aquarium plural aquariums or aquaria compendium plural compendiums or compendia crematorium plural crematoria or crematoriums encomium plural encomiums or encomia momentum plural momenta or momentums stadium plural stadia in the context of ancient Rome; otherwise, stadiums maximum plural maximums or maxima memorandum plural memorandums or memoranda When in doubt, look up the plural of Latinate -um words in a dictionary that targets your standard dialect of English. When a choice is offered, consider the context in which the word is to be used. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Program vs. ProgrammeDo you "orient" yourself, or "orientate" yourself?50 Tips on How to Write Good

How to Start a New Semester Strongly

How to Start a New Semester Strongly Knowing how to start a semester strongly can be one of the most important skills to learn during your time in college. After all, the choices you make during the first few weeks (and even days) of a new semester can have long-lasting effects. So just where should you focus your efforts? New Semester Basics Get a time management system. Managing your time just may be your biggest challenge while in college. Find something that works for you and use it from day one. (Not sure where to start? Learn tips for managing your time in college.)Take a reasonable course load. Taking 20 units (or more!) this semester may sound great in theory, but it most likely will come back to haunt you in the long run. Sure, it may seem like a good way to improve your transcript, but the lower grades you might get because your course load is too heavy is a sure way to bring your transcript down, not up. If you absolutely must carry a heavy course load for some reason, however, make sure that youve cut down on your other commitments so that you dont put too many unreasonable expectations on yourself.Have your books purchased or at least on their way. Not having your books the first week of class can put you behind everyone else before you even had the chance to start. Even if you have to go to the library for the first week or two to get the reading done, make sure youre doing what you can to stay on top of your homework until your books arrive. Have some but not too much co-curricular involvement. You dont want to be so over-involved that you barely have time to eat and sleep, but you most likely do need to be involved in something other than your classes all day long. Join a club, get an on-campus job, volunteer somewhere, play on an intramural team: just do something to keep your brain (and personal life!) balanced.Get your finances in order. You may be rocking your classes, but if your financial situation is a mess, you wont be able to finish the semester. Make sure your finances are in order when you start a new semester and that theyll still be that way as you head toward finals week.Have your life logistics worked out. These are different for every college student, but having the basics like your housing/roommate situation, your food/dining options, and your transportation worked out in advance is critical to making it through the semester in a stress-free way.Set up healthy outlets for fun and to relieve stress. You dont need to have a Ph.D. to know that college is stressful. Have things already in place like good groups of friends, exercise plans, hobbies, and smart ways to avoid pitfalls (like knowing how to avoid test anxiety) that will allow you to mentally check out and relax when things get intense. Get information on where to go for help you know, just in case. When, and if, you find yourself juggling more than you can handle, trying to find help while under that kind of stress is nearly impossible. Learn where to go for help before your semester begins so that, just in case things get a little rough, your small speed bump doesnt turn into a major disaster zone.

Application of electrical resistivity

Application of electrical resistivity Introduction Electrical resistivity imaging is a widely used tool in near surface geophysical surveys for investigation of various geological, environmental and engineering problems including landslide. In addition, a 2-D synthetic resistivity modelling study was carried out to understand the response of the resistivity method to a landslide problem before the field surveys (Drahor,MahmutG et al, 2006). The relevance of electrical surveys is to identify the subsurface resistivity distribution by making measurements on the ground surface. The true resistivity of the subsurface can be quantified from these measurements (Singh et al 2006). The ground resistivity is related to various geological parameters such as the mineral and fluid content, porosity and degree of water saturation in the rock. Electrical resistivity surveys have been used for many decades in hydrogeological, mining and geotechnical investigations. More recently, it has been used for environmental surveys. The resisti vity measurements are normally made by injecting current into the ground through two current electrodes (C1 and C2), and measuring the resulting voltage difference at two potential electrodes (P1 and P2). From the current (I) and voltage (V) values, an apparent resistivity (pa) value is calculated. pa = k V / I where k is the geometric factor which depends on the arrangement of the four electrodes. Resistivity meters normally give a resistance value, R = V/I, so in practice the apparent resistivity value is calculated by pa = k R The calculated resistivity value is not the true resistivity of the subsurface, but an â€Å"apparent† value which is the resistivity of a homogeneous ground which will give the same resistance value for the same electrode arrangement. The relationship between the â€Å"apparent† resistivity and the â€Å"true† resistivity is a complex relationship. An according to Singh et al (2006), an inversion of the measured apparent resistivity va lues using a computer program must be carried out to determine the true subsurface resistivity. Problem statement Landslide – Jalan Baru Gap ,Fraser Hill A recent problem faced in Malaysia is landslides on hill slopes. This harmful situation always occurred in highland area during wet season. One landslide occurred in km 90,FT055,Kuala Lumpur/Kuala Lipis (Gap Road/Tranum),Fraser Hill starting December 16 2007 until almost recently. This road is the only one that is connecting Kuala Kubu Baru or Fraser Hill to Raub. In recent tragedy on April 5 2008 at 9 pm,sliding of some boulders onto one old bridge in km 38.4,FT055,Kuala Kubu Road-Raub ,Fraser Hill ,Raub district, Pahang had occurred. The landslides are often triggered by water accumulation within part of the slope which leads to weakening of a section of the slope. Thus, it is important to accurately map the zone of ground water accumulation. Landslide is one of natural hazards that are often occur all over the world. In t ropical climate such as Malaysia, the phenomenon is common especially in hilly areas during monsoon season. According to the report by Jamaludin et al, 2006, serious natural landslides in this country normally occur in monsoon seasons where intense precipitation is the main triggering factor. Early indication of the slope stability prone area such as the landslide hazard maps may help planners and developers to choose favorable locations for locating development schemes. Careful engineering and geologic study could then follow before such specific project could be implemented.

Strategic Decision Making Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strategic Decision Making - Case Study Example There is no better appropriate timing and place other than this kind of TV appearance. Customers eagerly await such announcements when policy changes take place on the aftermath of old guard changing at the helm. The strategic significance of this decision lies in the fact that the new CEO has recognized the relevance and the importance of the TV as a medium of communication to target potential customers who otherwise would be clueless as to the future strategy of CH. Secondly CH has been going through a turbulent period. Thus the TV interview was well timed and is seen as a strategic shift in policy thrust away from what was hitherto practiced under Mr. Khan. Such a strategic initiative with a great zing in it would essentially mean a shift in the corporate strategy and a reorientation in policy in keeping with the vision of the new leadership. Thus on a closer approximation Mr. Kahn had adopted Rational Decision Making Model (RDMM) as his first choice in the process of changing the strategic environment at CH. This is obvious when one looks at the fact that Mr. Kahn had been influenced by a desire to achieve some critical corporate goals though his entrepreneurial leadership style might have acted as a dampener on the subsequent outcomes. There is no gainsaying the fact that RDMM has a number of variants and Mr. Kahn chose to focus on the bounded rationality principle as enunciated by Simon (2000).During Mr. Khan's time the company received ven ture capital support and even got listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). These positive developments are essentially associated with the RDMM and therefore it must be noted that his philosophy of managing the hundreds of workforce at CH was essentially based on the staff motivating and innovative management strategies (Hatch, & Schultz, 2008). Thus RDMM was an integral part of the company's overall organizational and management culture. However it must be noted that bounded rationality principle as opposed to the concept of rationality optimization would have predominated at CH despite Mr. Kahn's apparent reluctance to delegate responsibility to the lower layers in the hierarchy.A random analysis would show that Mr. Kahn also applied some intuitive decision making principles though their significance in the context of management at CH cannot be determined now except to identify some traces of organizational culture based on a family-centric system of values and morals. The strat egic management related outcomes of this approach of Mr. Kahn can be seen against the now evolving backdrop of a much vigorous normative work environment under Mr. Bamford. While much of it is purely determined by a great desire to overcome limits associated with irrational human behavior the corresponding level of work efficiency at CH can be attributed to the current leadership style of Mr. Bamford.This has been made public through his interview and its morale-boosting impact on the workforce is quite obvious though only the time will tell as to when and how the workforce would become fully motivated to achieve corporate goals as defined by the strategy. In the first place Simon's bounded rationality model is probably the most preferred by decision makers though Mr. Bamford has adopted much of it to leverage