U.S. US.S.R in Serbia free essay sample

Examines Soviet American influences in the Kosovo Province of Serbia after disintegration of Yugoslavia. History, ethnic factions, politics, nationalism, human rights. This research examines Soviet and American influences on events in Kosovo Province, Serbia subsequent to the disintegration of Yugoslavia. As the Former Soviet Union (FSU) itself disintegrated in the winter of 1991-1992, successor states to the FSU, particularly Russia and Ukraine, also have influenced outcomes in Kosovo, and these influences are addressed in this research when appropriate. Kosovo is a rugged area four-fifths the size of Connecticut. The regions population of almost two million is 90 percent ethnic Albanian, and an additional one million ethnic Albania

Advanced Management Accounting Assignment Essays

Advanced Management Accounting Assignment Essays Advanced Management Accounting Assignment Essay Advanced Management Accounting Assignment Essay A budget according to Dry (2008) can be defined as a financial plan for implementing the various decisions that management has made or a quantitative expression of planned activities. In addition, a budget is an estimate of costs, revenues, and resources over a specified period, reflecting a reading of future financial conditions and goals. It an organization, it is one of the most important administrative tools, as it serves as a plan of action for achieving quantified objectives and is a device for coping with foreseeable adverse situations. Budgeting is important in an organization because it helps in setting standards of performance, it plays a critical role in strategic planning and it provides a tool to measure organization results. Budgets usually represent a detailed analysis Of how a company expects to spend money in future time periods. Many companies create budgets on an annual basis so they can carefully outline the expected needs of each department in the business. Losing an annual budget process also limits the amount of time companies spend creating and managing capital resources. On the other hand, there may be a general fear and countermanding about the purpose of the budgetary process and control, as it often regarded as time-consuming, unproductive, ineffective and meaningless rather than it being recognized as a tool for management, in all levels in an organization structure. Managers should be engaged in a detailed planned campaign on education and understanding the importance of budgeting as well as to encourage change from what has become an acceptable culture of imprudence towards budget preparation and suggest ways to make the budgetary process and the information become efficient, effective and meaningful. Total involvement of all managerial levels in budgeting is very important. It is even more necessary to get the participation in budgeting especially at the lowest or supervisory level. Thus, budgeting is no longer seen as the sole responsibility of the chief executive officer, budget officer or as that of the top executive in the company. Rather, all levels of the company will participate in the budgeting process and make commitments to achieving the goals set by the budget. The principal advantage which may accrue from full participation arises mainly from a higher level of motivation. Allowing a person to take an active part in planning and control should result in better co-operation. According to Horseman et al (1999), there are three major benefits of budgeting that states that budgeting compels managers to think ahead by formalizing their responsibilities for planning. It will also provides definite expectations that are the best framework for judging subsequent performance and budgeting aids managers in coordinating their efforts, so that the objectives if the organization as a whole match the objectives. It will also clearly defines areas of responsibility which will require managers of edged centers to take responsibility to achieve the budget target for the operations under their personal control and it should provide a basis of performance appraisal. Budgeting has long been recognized as the accepted procedure for profit planning and many of the most successful companies have applied this procedure. However, the budget practice has been labeled fragmented, conservative, wasteful and ineffective by critics of the budgeting process. Some view holds that budgets are primarily concerned with the allocation of cash to specific activities, and the expected outcome of business orientations and that they do not deal with more subjective issues, such as the quality of products or services provided to customers. These other issues can be stated as part of the budget, but this is not typically done. Also, when a company creates an annual budget, the senior management team may decide that the focus of the organization for the next year will be entirely on meeting the targets outlined in the budget. This can be a problem if the market shifts in a different direction sometime during the budget year. In this case, the company should shift along with the market, rather than adhering to the budget. Furthermore, an experienced manager may attempt to introduce budgetary slack, which involves deliberately reducing revenue estimates and increasing expense estimates, so that he can easily achieve favorable variances against the budget. This can be a serious problem, and requires considerable oversight to spot and eliminate. This concept and critic of budgeting has cast serious doubts on the need for a detailed and rigorously-enforced budgeting system, especially one that integrates the budget model with bonus plans. Nonetheless, the decision to install a budget is up to the management of the company. Management may opt to include a budget justification which is a narrative explanation Of each of the components of the budget, which justifies the cost in terms of the Budgeting has long been recognized as the accepted procedure for profit planning and many of the most successful companies have applied this procedure. However, the budget practice has been labeled fragmented, conservative, wasteful and ineffective by critics of the budgeting process. Some view holds that budgets are primarily concerned with the allocation of cash to specific activities, and the expected outcome of business transactions and that they o not deal with more subjective issues, such as the quality of products or services provided to customers. These other issues can be stated as part of the budget, but this is not typically done. Also, when a company creates an annual budget, the senior management team may decide that the focus of the organization for the next year will be entirely on meeting the targets outlined in the budget. This can be a problem if the market shifts in a different direction sometime during the budget year. In this case, the company should shift along with the market, rather than adhering to the budget. Furthermore, an experienced manager may attempt to introduce budgetary slack, which involves deliberately reducing revenue estimates and increasing expense estimates, so that he can easily achieve favorable variances against the budget. This can be a serious problem, and objectifications which is a narrative explanation of each of the components of the budget, which justifies the cost in terms of the proposed work. The explanations should focus on how each budget item is required to achieve the aims of the project and how the estimated costs in the budget is submitted, all items in the budget should be justified. Reposed work. The explanations should focus on how each budget item is required to achieve the aims of the project and how the estimated costs in the budget is submitted, all items in the budget should be justified. However, even though budgeting will be beneficial to the organization, it also has limitations in its preparation. The budget can be seen as pressure devices imposed by management resulting in bad labor relations and inaccurate accounting record keeping. There may be existence of departmental conflicts that may arise due to the allocation of resources and various department may be lamed when the target set have not be achieved. The company will have difficult to reconcile against the companys goals and individual goals and managers may overestimate costs so that they will not be blamed in the future should they overspend on the expenses and revenues. In most large organizations they will ensure that various type of budget are prepared to keep track of all expenses and incomes for the businesses. It will also help managers and account for a construct their annual report. The ability to budget effectively is an important element in order for an organization becoming successful. There are several types of budgets used in the business may take any of these names; master budget, an operational budget , general cash flow budget, capital budget , and financial budget which will be defined below (Hormone et al 1999). Master Budget: This type of budget is comprehensive estimation on how management expects to conduct all aspects of business that will cover the budgetary period for a period of one year. It will summarize the estimated activity by cash budget, budgeted income statement and balance sheet. It includes interrelated budgets from various departments which managers will use as a subset budget to plan and et performance objectives. This type of budget will used in large organization to ensure managers are kept on the same level. Operational Budget: An operational budget is the most common type of budget used. It forecasts and tries to closely predict yearly revenue and expense for the business. The budget can be updated with actual figures on a monthly basis and then you can revise your figures for the year, if needed. Cash Plow Budget: A cash flow budget details the amount of cash that will be collect and pay out. This is generally tallied on a monthly basis, but some businesses tabulate this weekly. In this budget, you track your sales and other receivables from income sources and contrast those against how much you will pay to suppliers and expenses. When there is a positive cash flow, it indicates that the business is growing. Capital Budget: The capital budget helps you to figure out how much money you will need to put in place for new equipment or procedures to launch new products or increase production or services. This budget estimates the value of capita purchases you need for your business to grow and increases revenues. Financial Budget: The financial budget will explain how the business will receives and spend the money achieved on a corporate scale from their capital expenditure. They will need to manage their assets which will have significant effect of the financial health on the company. However, managers will use this budget to help with leverage financing and value the company for mergers and public offering Of stocks. Budgets serve a variety of functions which includes planning, evaluating performance, coordinating activities, communicating, motivating and authorizing actions. A properly used budget can provide a benchmark or comparison point that alerts management to the first indication that their financial goals are unattainable. Four elements must be present in order for a budget to provide this type of information and control. Firstly the budget must be well envisioned, and prepared or approved by management, whilst secondly the budget must be broken down into periods corresponding to that periods financial statements. Thirdly throughout the year the financial statements must be prepared on a timely basis and a comparison made to the budget and fourthly management must be prepared to take action where ever the comparison with the budget indicates a significant deviation. The budget process plays an important role in the planning, decision-making ND controls within the organization. Therefore, it is essential for the company to improve the budgeting process in order to have a better understanding of the strategic goals, garner more coordinated support for those goals, and to improve the ability of the company to respond quickly to competition. There are several ways to improve the budget process. These are as follows: Link budget developments to corporate strategy Design procedures that allocate resources strategically. Tie incentives to performance measures other than meeting budget targets. Link cost management efforts to budgeting. Reduce budget complexity and cycle time Develop budgets that accommodate change The budget expresses how resources will be allocated and what measures will be used to evaluate progress, the budget development is more effective when linked to overall corporate strategy. Linking the two gives all managers and employees a clearer understanding of strategic goals. This understanding in turn, leads to greater support for goals, better coordination of tactics, and, ultimately, to stronger accompanied performance. To create this link, companies must communication their strategies to employees. Top management must take the lead in developing and communicating strategic goals. However, to develop those goals, top management needs information about customers, competitors, economic and technological change information that must come from customer-contact and support units. Companies that establish effective channels for communication find it easier to set challenging yet achievable strategic goals. Setting goals before budgeting begins makes it easier for budget developers at all levels. When this happens, budget developers create from the start budgets that support strategic goals and that, therefore, need fewer revisions. Budget development then becomes not only faster and less costly but also far less frustrating. Many companies still evaluate managers primarily on how closely they hit budget targets. While this may seem logical, in reality this type of one- dimensional evaluation tempts managers to win by playing games with budget targets. Such game playing isnt always in the companys best interest. For many companies, meeting budget targets is secondary to other performance measures. Such companies use a balanced set of performance measures to chart progress toward strategic goals, and use the same assure in their incentive programs. This reinforces the importance of key strategies and communicates what results will be rewarded. At many companies, business unit managers are involved in identifying the measures that are most relevant for their operations. Typically, some measures are financial, while others track progress in other efforts. For example, an appropriate nonofficial measure for one business unit may be product defect rate; for another, speed to market for new products. Once the measures are identified, higher-level management clarifies what targets each manager is expected to meet. Managers and employees receive training on the companys incentive program so that they understand the reason behind the rewards. By linking cost management efforts to budgeting, companies improve the quality of information available for managers to use in developing their budgets. Accurate cost information is fundamental to budgeting. Companies that use accurate cost management techniques and provide budget developers with ready access to cost information improve both the accuracy and the speed of their budget process. Companies strive to reduce budget complexity and streamline budgeting procedures. Such streamlining allows management to collect budget information, make allocation decisions, and communicate final targets in less time, at lower cost, and with less disruption to the companys core activities. By controlling the number of budgets that are needed and by standardizing budgeting methods, companies take important steps toward streamlining budgeting. Another key step is to minimize the amount of detail included in the reports used to develop budgets. Also, in their effort to streamline budgeting, leading companies use information technology to automate budgeting and facilitate workflow. These companies make sure that budget developers are thoroughly trained in new technologies. This training, together with ongoing monitoring of information needs accompanied, helps best practice companies deliver the right information to managers, on time and at the right cost. By developing budgets that accommodate change, companies can respond to competitive threats or opportunities more quickly and with greater precision. They can use resources efficiently to take advantage of the most promising opportunities. Furthermore, knowing that budgets have some flexibility frees budget developers from the need to pad budgets to over a wide variety of possible developments. This leads to leaner, more realistic budgets. Companies typically review budgets quarterly, monthly, or even weekly. By including in these reviews reports on changes in business conditions, companies alert managers that new tactics may be called for, if they are to meet their targets for the year. While it is important that budgets not be revised to cover up for poor performance or poor planning, best practice companies choose to revise budgets rather than adhere to budgets that do not reflect current conditions. Some companies rely on rolling or continuous forecasts rather than on traditional annual budgets. The chief difference between such forecasts and traditional budgets is that the forecast is updated with actual results as the company moves through the year. Figures for three or more subsequent quarters are projected in decreasing degree of detail. One way in which companies build flexibility into budgets is to prioritize according to strategic importance action plans that were rejected due to resource limitations. By doing this, they can act swiftly and decisively if additional resources become available. Another way in which companies evolve budgets that accommodate change is to require managers to create scenarios based on a variety of assumptions about business conditions. The affordability of powerful information technology allows for the creation of many what if scenarios. This practice makes it possible for companies to respond more quickly and effectively if actual conditions follow the pattern of a particular scenario. Companies also build flexibility into budgets by setting aside funds at the business-unit level to take advantage of competitive opportunities. Some companies even establish separate subsidiaries to look onto promising products or technologies. It is imperative that the budget be viewed as an essential tool to help companies to formulate better strategies for achieving its goals and objectives. The strategic planning is the long term plan of an organization and the budget is the short-term plan that contains more detail regarding the business operations. The budget is viewed as the blueprint or plan for the entire business which is prepared for the future period which it is designed by estimating and forecasting future trends in the market. The budget is used to evaluate the actual performance of a company r a section of the company with desirable performance which is based on a budget. It also provides information to the shareholders or investors so they may determine whether the business is a potential investment. Therefore, an excellent budget process should have the ability to convert objectives and desirable goods or future estimated outcomes into data. The budget should also be viewed as one way of positively influencing the behavior of managers within the organization as there are very few, if any decision and actions that managers can take which do not have some financial effect and which will nor abstinently be reflected in a comparison between budgeted and actual result. The nature of budgets is probably the most important advantage that a budgeting process has over most other systems in a typical organization. The ability to budget effectively is a very important part of being successful organization. This will been done through the exercise of preparing a budget which enables managers to promote planning, obtain directions, to make reasonable forecasts which will be serve as a monitoring tool which will predict financial support, promote communication and coordination, titivates and serves as a tool for evaluation and performance and ultimately determine how well the groups mission statement will be accomplished. In piloting the affairs of the organization a budget can be an extremely important and effective tool for management. However, to prepare a meaningful budget the organization must know where it is heading, its goals and objectives. As priorities change people should be involved in the budget preparation and approval process to ensure the resulting budget is fully supported as a budget is a tool of management, not a substitute for management.

National Guard Recruiting and Retention Support Essay

National Guard Recruiting and Retention Support - Essay Example In the event of federal control of the federal authority, the National Guard is used to supplement the regular Army. This supplementation involves the bolstering of the regular army forces with additional combat units. This paper discusses the National Guard Recruiting and retention support. Origin The National Guard in the United States is the oldest unit of the Armed forces. In addition, the National Guard is one of the longest enduring institutions nationally. This year, the National Guard celebrated its 376th birthday on December 13. The origin of the National army dates back to the earliest North American English Colonies. Since the colonies were responsible for their own defense, they relied on the traditions of English Military and organized militias consisting of able-bodied male citizens. Through this militia, the colonists managed to defend citizens from foreign invaders and Indian attacks. In addition, the militia assisted in winning the war on revolution. After independen ce, the United States’ constitution authors gave power to the congress to allow for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia. However, the recruitment and training of the militia was the role of state. Until now, the national militia is a state-federal force (Nationalguard.mil, para2). The size of the regular army has remained small throughout the 19th century. ... After the Second World War, the National Guard Aviation units became Air National Guard Units. The Air National Guard unit is the latest Reserve component. During Berlin Crisis, the Air National Guard sends soldiers to fight Korea and reinforce NATO. Since then, the federal role of National Guard has changed. This role is currently characterized by call up to crisis response in Kosovo, Bosnia and Haiti. In the 2001 September 11 attacks, both state and federal authorities called upon guard members to offer national security and combat terrorism activities outside the nation. In the year 2005, 50000 guard members were deployed in Gulf States during the Hurricane Katrina event. For the states, the National Guard provides units that are trained and well armed to offer protection of property and life. In addition, National Guard continually provides defense to the United States and other interests throughout the globe. The National Guard is divided into subordinate units stationed in each of the 50 states, the District of Colombia and 3 territories. In each unit, the head of operations is the respective governor (Doubler 13). Functions of the National Guard The role of the National Guard includes responding to domestic disasters and emergencies. In order to get involved into active duty during such disasters, the state governors or territories commanding generals call the National Guard. Most common emergencies and disasters include those caused by earthquakes, hurricanes and floods. Members of the National Guard can become temporary or permanent members of the armed forces. Such appointments occur at the consent of the state governors while the National Guard members can remain active or inactive at the service of the nation. Army National

Direct Manipulation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Direct Manipulation - Assignment Example Video game is one of the best applications where the techniques of direct manipulation are very successful. At the present, the use of video games is increasing because of its entertainment and easy to recognize operations. In fact, people are able to build a variety of skills by playing video games. Additionally, the physical gestures of video games are straightforward and mistakes can be easily corrected depending on their severity; therefore error messages are needless. Similarly, these standards can also be implemented to office automation and personal computing and other arrangements (Huang, Miwa, & Cayabyab, 2013; Hundhausen, Farley, & Brown, 2009). The research has shown that the principles of direct manipulation can be used in video game controls for example game users always want to use games that are easy to use, system with better availability of feedback and much easier to learn than use. In addition, the principles of direct manipulation can also be employed for differing ones that lead to certainty as well as sense of control that system user needs much more. Moreover, another example of principles of direct manipulation is to have simple and intuitive action specification in video games (Sanderson, 1998; Shneiderman, Direct Manipulation A Step Beyond Programming Languages, 1983; Shneiderman, Direct Manipulation for Comprehensible, Predictable and Controllable User Interfaces, 1997). Interface design is believed to be one of the most difficult aspects of game development for that reason that it requires transferring huge data and instructions to the player as well as there is small screen space which has to be utilized for completing all these tasks that to do it. Hence, when the interface is less effectively designed, a good game idea can be minimized to an annoying user experience (Dev Mag, 2011). It is an admitted fact that with the passage of time and advancement of technology the real life applications are becoming easy to

Industrial Revolution and Social Security

Industrial Revolution and Social Security Strengthen Social Security Up until the Industrial Revolution, economic security for most people was maintained by working until old age and then being taken care of by ones’ children and family members. This type of economic uncertainty drastically changed when President Roosevelt pushed for and signed into law the Social Security Act of 1935. During the ceremony for Social Security Act’s signing, President Roosevelt stated that it is â€Å"a law that will take care of human needs and at the same time provide for the United States an economic structure of vastly greater soundness† (Roosevelt, 1935). Roosevelt also states in his speech that while the program is not a safeguard against all economic problems in our future, we do need it to protect our citizens who are or would be unable to work. Since President Roosevelt passed the Social Security Act, there has been much debate in reforming Social Security with many seeking privatization of the program. This paper aims to show why we should not privatize Social Security but, rather, search for alternative means to strengthen it. We need to strengthen Social Security because it has and still protects future benefits against inflation, has proven to reduce poverty for our elderly, and is efficiently and soundly administered. Social Security appears quite similar to an employer-sponsored pension plan on the surface, but they are inherently different. The program calls for individuals to put part of their income aside in the form of a payroll tax while working in which they would receive monthly payments upon retirement. Balancing equity and adequacy is the primary benefit of Social Security. Equity allows people to receive more of what they put into Social Security. Hence, people with higher incomes would also put more into the program and also receive more benefits upon retirement. The Social Security plan, under the system of adequacy, dismisses periods of low income such as when a worker becomes disabled or unemployed. Instead, it uses an increased ratio of income for the poor than the wealthy. In addition, Social Security benefits are indexed against uncertainties regarding length of life and inflation and has proven to be America’s most beneficial program against poverty (Goda, 2011, pg.1). If we privatize Social Security, we would surely erode the basis of ensuring a sufficient base income for people whove struggled their whole lives. Low-income workers would not be able to make enough money to invest into their accounts in order to maintain their standard living for when they choose to retire (Heiger, 1997). Also at a larger risk to poverty during their old age are the people in the middle-class. They would not get equal returns because of the inherent nature of the financial markets, and those who receive negative returns would not be able to survive from other sources (Heiger, 1997). The financial markets fluctuate up and down, and some people would retire with meager returns during long economic downturns such as the Great Recession of 2009. For those who live to be very old, some well into their 80’s and 90’s, they would just outlive their investments. For example, if they dumped their savings into investment vehicles such as annuities during their r etirement, those investments would be greatly reduced by inflation the longer they live. Before Social Security, the highest rates of poverty were in the elderly age group. People dont realize these days that the program had reduced the poverty of elderly Americans from 35 percent to about 10 percent (National, 2012). This percentage falls under the 12 percent value of the American population (Poverty, 2013). Social Security provides for the potentially destitute millions of American elderly, who are no longer able to work and in retirement, the financial stability they need to sustain their lives. Since the elderly do not have to depend on their working children, Social Security also provides an indirect benefit to their off springs. There are two other benefits in which Social Security provides to people under age 65. The first benefit is income during long-term disability and income for a worker’s dependents who die before their retirement (ProCon.org, 2014). This type of benefit also doesn’t carry the stigma of similar programs such as welfare. For middle-class workers that have employer-sponsored retirement programs, Social Security was never meant be a singular source of income during retirement. Social Security’s value is clear when looking at it as a means of income of a retirement investment group. The benefits from Social Security maintain their worth since they are adjusted for the annual cost-of-living while other types of investment assets get eaten away and used up as a person becomes older into retirement. In addition, workers will come to acquire greater individual risks as companies continue to move away from pensions towards 401(k) plans and other types of programs with unreliable payouts (Cammack, 2012). Against that backdrop, the Social Security program carries much more protection against the sway of the economic markets. To denationalize Social Security would be to allow Americans the choice to withhold a small percentage of their pay as an investing into individual accounts, keyword being choice. So what is wrong with giving workers the choice to opt-in or not? This type of reform brings with it steep reductions for the younger workers who elect to stay in the program (Heiger, 1997). Wealthy individuals and workers who have higher incomes would not want to participate in the program but rather â€Å"choose the market-based system† (Heiger, 1997). While it may appear to be a choice, privatizing Social Security would make it such a bad investment for high-income people. They would just all bail out, so they don’t have to invest their earnings to balance the pool for the low-income workers’ retirement pensions (Heiger, 1997). In essence, without universal participation, the financially less-well off would be left to fend for themselves† (Heiger, 1997). There would be a gaping hole of future benefits for low income funders who choose to remain in the program, and this would completely defeat the purpose of the program and eventually dissolve it. The participation of individuals from all income brackets is the reason Social Security works and is sustainable. The program will be similar to welfare if the wealthy and high-income individuals choose to not participate. The participation of individuals from all age groups is another reason Social Security (Rose, 1990). For years now, the retirees of the program were paid by the taxes from workers which is the entire the basis of Social Security. Those workers would, in turn, be paid by the taxes in the next generation of workers for their Social Security retirement benefits. However, in 1983, an increase in age limit for benefits eligibility in addition to payroll taxes being increased were amended to the Social Security Act (Social, 2014). The tax increase brought in surplus money, more than the amount needed to maintain the Social Security benefits at the time. The purpose of the increase â€Å"was to have the Boomers prepay part of their old age benefits† (Johnston, 2012 , pp. 10). The extra money generated from the increased taxes were also used to â€Å"pay off federal debt† and purchase Treasury bonds (Johnston, 2012, pp 10). Essential, the government was lending itself money. This act generated controversy among proponents of Social Security privatization yet it is the same as workers using the money to buy the bonds themselves. The government is required to pay back what it owes and in this case, â€Å"Social Security is virtually risk-free because it is backed by the full faith and credit of the government† (Heiger, 1997). In the end, this principally articulates that the program’s future recipients need the taxes of the workers who come after them to keep the Social Security benefits ongoing. Since its inception, many people such as former Kansas Governor Alf Landon had outspoken views against Social Security (Landon, 1936). Landon and critics of Social Security have argued that the program is a fraud and that the overhead costs are too high to sustain the program. However, the program itself has only seen reductions in administrative expenses year after year and as of 2013 accounted for only 0.7% of the fund’s total expenditures (Kunkel, 2013). This percentage is still below the costs of the average 401(k) fees of 0.72% per year, with highs close to 2% per year, charged by plan administrators (Deloitte, 2009). With such a low overhead cost over private plan administration, the government clearly shows how efficiently it administers the Social Security program. Social Security has definitely provided Americans protection against destitution with adequate supplemental income and allowed people who have worked their entire lives to maintain their standard of living during retirement. While Social Security has undergone many reforms and continues to need improvement, privatization is not the key. In its proven history of increasing efficient, decreasing the poverty of our elderly, and hedging benefits against inflation, Social Security must continue to be strengthened with centralized government policies and administration. To privatize Social Security, to fundamentally take it away from the whole of our nation’s people, would be unconstitutional. Works Cited Cammack, R. (2012, January 5). From defined benefit to defined contribution: a systematic approach to transitioning retirement plans. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/benefits/articles/pages/transitioningplans.aspx Deloitte. (2009). Inside the Structure of Defined Contribution / 401(k) Plan Fees: A Study Assessing the Mechanics of What Drives the All-In Fee. Defined Contribution/401(k) Fee Study. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://www.ici.org/pdf/rpt_09_dc_401k_fee_study.pdf Goda, G. S., Shoven, J. B., Slavov, S. N. (2011). HOW WELL ARE SOCIAL SECURITY RECIPIENTS PROTECTED FROM INFLATION?National Tax Journal,64(2), 429-449. Retrieved October 1, 2014 from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/871907293?accountid=3783 Heiger, M., Shipman, W. (1997, July 22). Common objections to a market-based social security system: A response. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://www.cato.org/pubs/ssps/ssp10.html Johnston, D. C. (2012, May 12). Social Security is not going broke. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://blogs.reuters.com/david-cay-johnston/2012/05/04/social-security-is-not-going-broke/ Works Cited Kennedy, D. M. (2010). A NEW DEAL COMPROMISED.American Heritage,60(2), 26-28. Kunkel, S. (2013, January 28). Social Security Administrative Expenses. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/admin.html Landon, A. M. (1936). I Will Not Promise the Moon: ECONOMIC SECURITY, ADMINISTRATION BILL, REPUBLICAN PROPOSAL.Vital Speeches Of The Day,3(1), 26. Poverty. (2013). InThe encyclopedia of elder care: The comprehensive resource on geriatric health and social care. Retrieved October 1, 2014 from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?qurl=http://search.credoreference.com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/content/entry/spenelderc/poverty/0 ProCon.org, Social Security. (2013, September 12). Privatizing Social Security Pros and Cons [Press release]. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://socialsecurity.procon.org/#Background Roosevelt, F. D. (Writer). (1935, August 14). FDR Social Security Act Speech [Television broadcast]. In FDR Social Security Act Speech. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from https://archive.org/details/fdrbig Rose, N. E. (1989). Work relief in the 1930s and the origins of the social security act.Social Service Review,63(1), 63. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1290931445?accountid=3783 Works Cited Social Security (United States). (2014, October 1). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 10:28, October 1, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Social_Security_(United_States)oldid=629217299

How to Read Literature like a Professor Notes

Conventions In stones: Types of characters Plot rhythms Chapter structures Point-of-view limitations Chapter 1: Every Trip is a Quest (Except When It's Not) The reason for a quest Is always self-knowledge The stated reason is never the actual reason to go on a quest, the real reason for a quest is self-knowledge. Most of the time, when a piece of literature involves someone going somewhere and doing something, it is a quest. Chapter 2: Nice to Eat You: Acts of Communion Whenever people eat or drink together, it's communionSharing a meal Is a very personal thing (you wouldn't have a meal someone you hated). Food Is a universal thing that we as humans share. In Cathedral a man who hated people with disabilities bonded to a man who was blind over food. Chapter 5: Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before? There is no such thing as a wholly original work of literature All authors pull inspiration from previous works. In Going After Cacciatore, Tim O'Brien pulls inspiration from Lewis Carol's Ali ce In Wonderland when he has his character saying that they have to fall up to get out, onto Vetting tunnel.Authors also use historical Inspiration. O'Brien models the main character's lover interest after Showcases (a brown-skinned young women guiding a group of mostly white men, speaking a language they don't know, knowing where to go, where to find food, and taking them west) There is only one story. Chapter 9: It's All Greek to Me Myth Is the body of story that matters Greek and Roman myths are so Ingrained Into our consciousness that we don't realize how apparent they are. Like in William Carols Williams painting Landscape with Fall of Cirrus.Without the legs sticking out of the water in that making the painting that much less popular. Chapter 12: Is That A Symbol If it's not symbolism, it's allegory Symbols are personal things We want It to mean one thing, but Is Impossible because then the novel ceases to be what it is, â€Å"a network of meanings and signification. † Meaning doesn't lie of the surface of the novel. Authors may have the same object mean a variety of things. Pay attention to how you feel about the text. It probably means something. Interlude: Does He Mean That?

Language as a Powerful Mind Control Weapon Essay

Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) is a classic dystopian novel by English author George Orwell. Akin to the latter’s earlier work, Animal Farm (1945), Nineteen Eighty-Four is a cautionary tale about the dangers of totalitarianism. The novel’s main character, Winston Smith, is a civil servant tasked with disseminating government propaganda through the forging of records and political literature. Disillusioned with such a mechanistic existence, Smith begins an uprising against the regime – a move which later resulted in his incarceration and torture. The esteem of Nineteen Eighty-Four can be attributed mainly to its frank and vivid portrayal of the perpetuation of the status quo at the expense of individual rights (Gearon 65). Many of the novel’s terminologies and ideas, such as â€Å"doublethink,† â€Å"Orwellian,† â€Å"Newspeak† and â€Å"Big Brother,† eventually acquired secure places in the English language (Trahair 289). At present, some thinkers even use these expressions and concepts to criticize repressive government policies. The term â€Å"Orwellian,† for instance, is currently an idiom that refers to any form of normalcy that closely resembles the Party (Cameron 151). One of Orwell’s major arguments in the novel is that language is the totalitarian government’s most powerful weapon of mind control. Through the usage of deceptive language and propaganda, as well as the modification of language, the Party was able to manipulate the thoughts and beliefs of the citizens of Oceania. Newspeak was the Party’s primary means of misleading the citizens of Oceania (Thomas, Singh, Peccei, Jones and Wareing 39). It was a corrupted form of Standard English (known in the novel as Oldspeak) that reflected the principles of Ingsoc. â€Å"Undesirable† words were eliminated from the lingua franca, while those that were retained were stripped of â€Å"unorthodox† denotations (Ji 1). Consequently, it became impossible to develop other modes of thought in Newspeak (Orwell 144). Newspeak was more than just a language – it was the â€Å"(embodiment) of the totalitarian (mindset) of the Party members† (Gerovitch 12). To accommodate alternate views would increase the possibility of encountering â€Å"heretical† thoughts (Gerovitch 13). It is no longer surprising, therefore, if the Party required all inhabitants of Oceania to use Newspeak – doing so was a very convenient way of indoctrinating them with Ingsoc beliefs. The immense power of language to control the mind is not a fictional phenomenon. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis (n. d. ) argued that language determined how human beings perceived their environment (Thomas, Singh, Peccei, Jones and Wareing 39). This assumption is composed of two parts – linguistic relativity and linguistic determinism. Linguistic relativity theorized that the languages of different cultures do not necessarily have equivalent systems of representation. Linguistic determinism, meanwhile, asserted that a language not only reflected certain aspects of reality but also influenced the speaker’s thought process (Thomas, Singh, Peccei, Jones and Wareing 25). It would be fair to say that the premise behind the development and usage of Newspeak was based on the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. In the novel’s appendix, it is revealed that Ingsoc was originally known as English Socialism (Orwell 143). But during the time of English Socialism, people spoke Standard English. Consequently, they were exposed to radical ideas that inspired them to turn against the Party (Ji 1). In retaliation, the Party silenced them through punishment and terror (Ji 1). The Party eventually viewed the period of English Socialism as one that was characterized with violence and lawlessness. Standard English, meanwhile, was regarded as a relic of an anarchic past that must be discarded at all costs. The Party even set a year in which they expected Standard English to be already nonexistent – 2050 (Orwell 143). In the appendix of the novel, Orwell wrote the Party’s ultimate dream – a society wherein everyone accepted the official ideology even without the threat of punishment and terror (Ji 1). This was only possible, however, if they had no access to subversive ideas. It must be noted that in the context of the novel, Standard English was regarded as the source of dissident concepts. The Party therefore realized that Standard English must be replaced with a singular and specially contrived language – Newspeak. When people spoke, heard, read and wrote only in Newspeak, they could be kept under control even without outright state persecution (Ji 1). Newspeak was the official language of Oceania and had been devised to meet the ideological needs of Ingsoc, or English Socialism. In the year 1984 there was not as yet anyone who used Newspeak as his sole means of communication, either in speech or writing. The leading articles in The Times were written in it, but this was a tour de force which could only be carried out by a specialist. It was expected that Newspeak would have finally superseded Oldspeak (or Standard English, as we should call it) by about the year 2050. (143) The purpose of Newspeak was not only to provide a medium of expression for the (worldview) and mental habits proper to the devotees of Ingsoc, but to make all other modes of thought impossible. It was intended that when Newspeak had been adopted once and for all and Oldspeak forgotten, a heretical thought – that is, a thought diverging from the principles of Ingsoc – should be literally unthinkable, at least so far as thought is dependent on words. Its vocabulary was so constructed as to give exact and often very subtle expression to every meaning that a Party member could properly wish to express, while excluding all other meanings and also the possibility of arriving at them by indirect methods. This was done partly by the invention of new words, but chiefly by eliminating undesirable words and by stripping such words as remained of unorthodox meanings, and so far as possible of all secondary meanings whatever. To give a single example. The word free still existed in Newspeak, but it could only be used in such statements as â€Å"This dog is free from lice† or â€Å"This field is free from weeds. † It could not be used in its old sense of â€Å"politically free† or â€Å"intellectually free† since political and intellectual freedom no longer existed even as concepts, and were therefore of necessity nameless. (144) A person growing up with Newspeak as his sole language would no more know that equal had once had the secondary meaning of â€Å"politically equal,† or that free had once meant â€Å"intellectually free,† than for instance, a person who had never heard of chess would be aware of the secondary meanings attaching to queen and rook. There would be many crimes and errors which it would be beyond his power to commit, simply because they were nameless and therefore unimaginable. (148-149) This ambition, however, was not without serious consequences. The individual rights of the people of Oceania were severely violated. They constantly lived in fear of government reprisal – landscapes across London were bombarded with posters of â€Å"Big Brother† with the caption â€Å"Big Brother is Watching You† (Orwell 1). Two-way television sets – telescreens – were installed in all homes and public establishments in order to monitor the populace for any sign of subversive activity (thoughtcrime). Worse, the Party encouraged everyone to spy on one another. Even children were ordered to report their parents to the authorities (Thought Police) if they caught them committing a thoughtcrime. Winston Smith was among those who paid the ultimate price. Upon his arrest, he was taken to the Ministry of Love, where he was subjected to electroshock torture. Winston was afterwards taken to the infamous Room 101, where a prisoner was tortured by being exposed to his or her greatest fear. Winston’s primal fear was rats – he was therefore tortured by having a wire cage full of starving rats brought near to his face. Petrified, Winston finally accepts Party ideology and was later released as a brainwashed individual. Sadly, it is obvious that Orwell’s warning in Nineteen Eighty-Four went unheeded. At present, there are still so many societies wherein people are stripped of their basic rights and liberties. What is more saddening is that some of the parties who are guilty of this wrongdoing are actually claiming that they are staunch advocates of freedom, justice and equality. They use elaborate propaganda to proclaim their â€Å"advocacy† while acting in a completely opposite manner. The Party used language in order to keep the people of Oceania silent, ignorant and oppressed. In doing so, the former proved that evil prospers where good is silent. Orwell, on the other hand, used words in order to expose and fight this atrocity. In doing so, he proved that the pen is mightier than the sword. Works Cited Cameron, Deborah. Verbal Hygiene. New York: Routledge, 1995. Gearon, Liam. Freedom of Expression and Human Rights: Historical, Literary and Political Contexts. Eastbourne: Sussex Academic Press, 2006. Gerovitch, Slava. From Newspeak to Cyberspeak: A History of Soviet Cybernetics. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2004. Ji, Fengyuan. Linguistic Engineering: Language and Politics in Mao’s China. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2004. Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. n. p. : n. d. Thomas, Linda, Ishtla Singh, Jean Stilwell Peccei, Jason Jones, and Shan Wareing. Language, Society and Power: An Introduction. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2004. Trahair, R. C. S. Utopia and Utopians: A Historical Dictionary. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999.