Government Merit Systems

Elimination of Merit Systems For many reasons, merit based civil service systems have come under assault and yet at the same time have been hailed. Merit systems do however attempt and achieve many important objectives including ensuring that an effective workforce is attracted and maintained by providing protections against arbitrary termination and by attempting to avert politically influenced hiring and promotions. Notwithstanding, the way merit systems go about attracting a workforce and the varied protections against termination are the cause of antipathy. Many would agree that a better civil service system is needed. This better civil service system should reward good service and punish bad or mediocre service with dismissal or no promotion. Equally important, this new system has to have a process to hire quality employees quickly. However, this better system needs to have all the mechanisms that are in the current merit systems to protect against corruption. This paper argues in favor of eliminating both merit system protections and merit in hiring and promotions, while at the same time evaluating the various arguments against merit systems. In public administration literature, it is argued that in order for the bureaucracy to be both efficient and effective, it has to be staffed by tenured bureaucrats who feel relatively secure in their positions and receive adequate compensation. The bureaucracy attains its power from the experience of its workforce. Indeed, the bureaucracy is made up of â€Å"seasoned and knowledgeable ‘old hands'† who have molded relations with organizations and government itself (Kaufman 2001, 8-42). Therefore, if returning to a spoils system results in arbitrary terminations the bureaucracy would be robbed of the most experienced administrators who bestow effectiveness within an agency. An important point regarding the removal of protections against arbitrary terminations is made by Charles T. Goodsell who argues that removing protections causes an â€Å"Am I Next? † mindset to occur where employees agonize over the threat of termination and which in itself can result in diminished effectiveness (1998, 653-660). In a related way to the â€Å"Am I Next? † syndrome is a breakdown of the â€Å"politics administration dichotomy† where administrators fearing termination would only perform those duties to please the administration (Durant 1998, 643-653). Accordingly, a break down in the â€Å"politics administration dichotomy† would seem to some to signal an increase in corruption and overall unethical behavior. Corruption is one of the big factors for the creation and continuance of a merit system. Those opposed to removing merit factors cite the abuses that occurred in the nineteenth century prior to the Pendleton Act. Also, tenured civil servants are necessary to assure that political appointees obey the law† (Maranto 1998, 623-643). Speaking about this was a Washington journalist, who argued that it was tenured civil servants of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation who blew the whistle during the Watergate scandal and for this purpose tenured civil servant are needed to serve alongside appointees (Maranto 1998, 623-643). However, Robert Maranto who is a proponent of a alternative systems, points out several occurrences where tenured civil servants and political appointees worked together, such as in the Department of Housing and Urban Development scandals during the Regan administration. Specifically, Maranto argues that when any organization, private or public is under investigation â€Å"it reacts by closing ranks to outsiders and shunning suspected whistle-blowers† (1998, 623-643). Using this rationale, it could appear that having no tenure protections is the same as having tenure protections with regard to whistle-blowing. Maranto furthers the argument of corruption stating that â€Å"regular rotation of some political officials as ‘in-and-outers' helps uncover scandals because incoming appointees are not tied to existing corrupt practices, can claim credit for ending them, are not as protective of organization reputation, and have sufficient political pull outside the organization to weather attacks of those within† (1998, 623-643). Indeed, as pointed out by Maranto, the scandals of Andrew Jackson's administration had actually begun under the previous administration and were uncovered by Jackson appointees. Another argument offered by Murray was that to cite the difficulties presidents Clinton, Bush (1st), Regan and Carter had in filling executive branch positions that required presidential appointments. His argument is that if an administration is unable to fill important political positions than it is doubtful an administration â€Å"will put much urgency in finding a nominee for positions currently filled by career bureaucrats† (1998, 70-677). His argument was meant to conclude that if there is a weak administration many positions will go unfilled and result in diminished effectiveness. Nonetheless, his argument against a spoils system citing a weak presidency is apt in arguing that there will not be a massive partisan termination following elections. Moreover, there have been several Supreme Court rul ings which prohibit hiring, promotion, termination and even the awarding of contracts based on politics. Eisenhart distinguishes between five categories of public sector employees: 1)full-time permanent employees protected by some form of civil service system; 2) at-will employees who can be fired at anytime for any reason so long as the reason is not illegal; 3) contractual employees; 4) temporary employees; and 5) independent contractors (Eisenhart 1998, 58-69). These five categories of employees within the public sector are covered by Supreme Court rulings. In 1976, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in Elrod v. Bums (427 U. S. 347) that it was unconstitutional for the newly elected Democratic Sheriff of Cook County to dismiss all employees who were hired under the previous Republican administration whose positions were not in policymaking areas where political loyalty would be required. Another ruling by the U. S. Supreme Court was in 1990, Rutan v. The Republican Party of Illinois (497 U. S. 62). The U. S. Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for the Republican governor of Illinois to require applicants for hire, promotion, transfer and recall from layoff to obtain recognition from the Republican Party of Illinois prior to service. In 1996, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Rutan decision applied to temporary employees as well. For several reasons it is unlikely an administration would commence large scale terminations after each new election. Even with a return to a spoils system an administration would not introduce massive terminations of productive workers for several reasons. First, as Kernell and McDonald argue, â€Å"the new breed of office-holding politicians who entered Congress at the end of the nineteenth century saw greater electoral payoffs from providing direct services to their constituencies than from subsidizing local party organizations. Thus they eschewed patronage for the merit system† (Ruhil and Camoes 2003, 27-43). This reflects twenty-first century American society more than it did in the nineteenth century. Also, the expensiveness of mass terminations would prevent government from mass terminations of productive employees. As argued by Kellough and Osuna â€Å"turnover also holds the potential for enormous organizational costs, including the direct costs of hiring and training new employees as well as significant in direct costs associated with lower productivity levels from newer employees and opportunity costs from situations requiring more experienced workers to provide task assistance to new colleagues (Kellough and Osuna 1995, 58-68). Indeed, research by the Saratoga Institute proposed that the replacement cost of an employee is between one and two times the individual’s salary. In another study by the Keener-Tregoe Business Issues Research Group it was estimated that it costs approximately $134,000 to replace a human resource manager in the automotive industry (Selden & Moynihan 2000, 63-74). For this reason it is just unlikely that government would commence with large scale terminations as those who are against the spoils systems contend. Equally important it is extremely expensive to run a merit system and as a result a lot of poorer states and local governments just cannot continue with the expansive hiring, promotion and discharge protocols. For instance, in a local government in the state of Michigan written test were administered to six hundred applicants for just a few vacancies, and followed up with oral examinations for all those found qualified by the written exam. It is argued that such a process is â€Å"neither practical nor an efficient use of limited government resources† (Leidlein 1993, 391-392). As a result a lot of states and local governments have tweaked their own merit systems resulting in abandonment of some merit principles or abandoning the principles all together. This situation is exemplified by Jay M. Shafritz, who argues that there is a â€Å"nether world of public personnel administration† which often exists to circumvent the maze of merit systems (1974, 486-492). For instance, in both the city of New Haven, Connecticut and the state of Idaho the personnel systems there were so time consuming they begun hiring temporaries in an effort to speed the process (Jorgensen et al. 1996, 5-20). Moreover, in Florida, Georgia and Virginia merit principles have been removed and have resulted in efficient government activities. For example, in the state of Georgia, merit protections have been removed entirely for state civil servants hired after June 30, 1996; employees hired prior to July 1, 1996 are still covered by the traditional merit system protections. In the state of Florida, merit protections were removed for all state civil servants on May 14, 2001. The result is in both Georgia and Florida, â€Å"civil servants can be hired, promoted, disciplined and fired quickly and with relative impunity; they [civil servants] accrue no seniority and therefore have no bumping rights whatsoever† (Walters 2003, 34-80). Nonetheless, in regards to Florida’s new civil service system, Mark Neimeiser, from Council 79 for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees which represents most of the state’s rank-and-file employees states that: It [Florida’s new system] exposes state workers who enforce regulations and license businesses and professionals to the risk of retribution for pursuing cases against politically well-connected Floridians. Second, it leaves higher-salaried senior staff exposed to the whims of departmental budget cutters who, like a sports-team owner trying to meet a salary cap, might be tempted to off-load more senior, high-paid staff just to save money, regardless of what it means by way of institutional brain drain or employee morale (Walters 2003, 34-80). However, according to Walters it seems that their concerns are valid. He details how there are several former employees who blew the whistle and were terminated for political reasons, either because they took regulatory action against an ally of the governor or because they were Democrats. Notwithstanding, Walters does point out that â€Å"Depending on one's view of the spoils system and what it ought to deliver to whom, such stories are either shocking or just par for the political course and no different than stories that filter out of Albany, Springfield or Sacramento whenever there's a change of party, regardless of the civil service rules† (Walters 2003, 34-80). Nevertheless, Walters does point out that there is ample evidence showing that there was widespread removal of long time employees in various Florida agencies. Yet, he does note that most of the laid-off employees were given the option of taking other jobs in government. According to AFSCME, the jobs offered typically represented demotions in both rank and pay. For example, a group of employees in the Department of Business and Professional Regulation were terminated, then allowed to reapply for jobs paying 25 percent less (Walters 2003, 34-80). As pointed out previously, one of the necessary factors for retaining workers is relative job security. And as such if termination protections are removed, it is believed a large turnover in the bureaucracy would occur (Godsell 1998, 653-660). However, a study on turnover in state government which specifically studied the environmental, organizational, and individual factors for turnover found that one determinant that prevented large turnovers was pay increases and promotions (Selden & Moynihan 2000, 63-74). Charles W. Gossett conducted a survey in the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice testing hypotheses on organizational loyalty, job mobility, and performance responsiveness between the workers covered by those hired after June 30, 1996 who has no civil service protections and those hired prior to July 1, 1996 whom still are covered by civil service protections (2003, 267-278). Some of Gossett's findings were that there were no substantial differences between the protected and un-protected civil servants in voluntary turnover and concern for the agency. However, Gossett's research did determine that un-protected workers are more willing to seek promotion within the agency and view themselves as needing to be more responsive to management because they feel they can be disciplined for any minor infractions (2003, 277). The purpose of this essay was to argue against and examine the arguments against eliminating merit systems. Given the importance of achieving an efficient and effective public workforce, it is essential to know whether eliminating merit protections and procedures will result into a more efficient and effective workforce. From the literature, it appears that the elimination of merit systems pose no horrific menace. Most of the arguments against removing merit factors, center on effectiveness and efficiency. The opponents argue that the removal of merit factors will result in hiring, promotion and termination based on political considerations. However, there are numerous federal laws, state laws and court decisions to protect every possible category of employee employed by government. Also, as evidenced in Georgia, non-protected workers tend to be more responsive to management which is good because it increases the effectiveness of executive leadership. For this purpose, chief executives are able to deliver on their promises. Getting rid of merit principles also allows government to hire qualified individuals quickly and cost effectively. Works Cited Durant, Robert F. 1998. Rethinking the unthinkable: A cautionary note. Administration & Society 29 (January): 643-653. Gossett, Charles W. 2003. The changing face of Georgia's merit system: results from an employee attitude survey in the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice. Public Personnel Management 32 (Summer): 267-278. Hamilton, David K. 1999. The continuing judicial assault on patronage. Public Administration Review 59. (January): 54-62. Jorgensen, Lorna, Kelli Patton and W. David. 1996. Underground merit systems and the balance between service and compliance. Review of Public Personnel Administration 16 (Spring): 5-20. Kaufman, Herbert. 2001. Major players: Bureaucracies in American government. Public Administration Review 61. (January/February): 18-42. Leidlein, James E. 1993. In search of merit. Public Administration review 53 (July/August): 391-392. Maranto, Robert. 1998. Thinking the unthinkable in public administration: A case for spoils in the federal bureaucracy. Administration & Society 29 (January): 623-633. Ruhil, Anirudh V. S. and Pedro J. Camoes. 2003. What lies beneath: The political roots of state merit systems. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 13. (January): 27-43. Selden, Sally Coleman and Donald P. Moynihan. 2003. A model of voluntary turnover in state government. Review of Public Personnel 20 (Spring) 63-74. Walters, Jonathan. 2003. Civil service tsunami. Governing 16 (May): 34-40. ________. 1997a. Who needs civil service. Governing 10 (August): 17-21. West, William E. and Robert F. Durant. 2000. Merit, management, and neutral competence: Lessons from the U. S. Merit Systems Protection Board, FY 1988-FY 1997. Public Administration Review 60 (March/April): 111-122. Cross-agency comparisons of quit rates in the Federal Service: Another look at the evidence Author: Kellough, J Edward; Osuna, Will Source: Review of Public Personnel Administration v15n4, (Fall 1995): p. 58-68 (Length: 11 pages) ISSN: 0734-371X Number: 01152472 Copyright: Copyright Institute of Public Affairs 1995 Shafritz, J. (1974). â€Å"The Cancer Eroding Public Personnel Professionalism. † Public Personnel Management 3, 3 : 486-492

Forms of Disciplining a Child

Child discipline is an issue which has raised a lot of concern in the recent past. Differentiating child discipline and child abuse is becoming more difficult with different sectors and individuals differing in this area. However, despite the different views which have been put forward regarding children discipline, instituting discipline in children is vital since it help in developing a sense of self control, respect and also accountability. While the means of instituting discipline are varied, no single method is effective in itself.Also, different children require different approaches of instituting discipline and as such parents should seek the best method which suits their kids. However, while instituting discipline in kids is vital, it may also lead to devastating effects on the entire life of the children and thus parents should be careful of the methods they use in ensuring that their kids are disciplined. Excessive use of force while disciplining kids may result to child ab use and this should be avoided. IntroductionChild discipline refers to the art of systematically giving instructions to the children to help them relate well with their friends and family, behave in a more agreeable manner and granting a child freedom of learning from his or her mistakes by the consequences of his or her decisions. Child discipline involves helping a child develop self discipline, a sense of accountability and also respect towards other people. Discipline should be separated from task performance. By the fact that a child can perform his or her tasks well should not be taken to mean that he or she is disciplined.Discipline has more to do with the behavior a child exhibits in certain situations rather than the ability to perform tasks. Heated debates have been rising as to whether instituting discipline is a form of child abuse and whether parents have the authority to discipline their kids as they may deem fit or necessary. While discipline is necessary for all chil dren, it should be instituted in a manner that is beneficial to the children. Parents have no explicit authority to discipline their children using excessive force or crude disciplinary measures (Lenton, 1990).The research paper will evaluate the importance of spanking and privileges removal as forms of disciplinary measures. Child discipline As noted earlier, discipline involves helping and guiding the children to develop and exercise self control. However, most people are opposed to the idea that discipline is the key development factor of responsible persons in the future. Some of the children with good disciplinary backgrounds do not live to the standards they are taught in their early stages. Despite this argument, setting limits for the children and correcting any misbehavior is vital in developing a responsible person even in the future.Most of the grown ups today attribute their discipline to the stringent measures which were taken on them when they were young. As such, chil d discipline is vital in ensuring that children grow to be responsible persons in their adult life. Moreover, vices and virtues are learnt and failing to discipline a child would lead to vices being enhanced in them. Discipline helps in development of healthy practices and virtues in the future. Instituting discipline is also very vital since it helps learn to develop health relationships with his or her family and friends.How to deal with different temperaments is an aspect which is learnt and is thus not inborn. Accepting other people’s ideas and way of performing tasks requires deliberate effort which children lack and if not guided, they tend to be disrespectful. Children also believe that they must always have their ideas accepted and followed always. To remove such mentality, removing some privileges when a child does not do as expected is vital. Discipline is thus vital in ensuring thus such important values are learnt and adhered to.Training a child to be disciplined thus helps him or her to learn how to deal with different kinds of personalities and situations. Most of the undisciplined adults in the society are as a result of lack of disciplinary measures while they were children (Telep, 1999). Discipline involves encouraging children by instructing and guiding them to appreciate themselves and influencing the way they regard themselves. Developing a person’s self esteem is essential in ensuring and enhancing the productivity and in determining successfulness of an individual. The future of the children is based on the kind of guidance they receive from their parents.Discipline unlike the highly held believe is does not always negative. It can be instituted in a manner to enhance important characteristics. Commenting about a positive behavior about a child within his or her presence is one way of enhancing a behavior. When children are not disciplined well, they face challenges of self esteem as their behavior is often challenged by the society thus lowering their self esteem. Such individuals have problems while dealing with other people and tend to be insecure about their capabilities as well as those of other people.Positive discipline is thus essential in improving the self esteem of a child and thus should be instituted. However, such credit should not be exaggerated to reduce the effects of overconfidence which may arise (Utay & Utay, 2005). The question of whether child discipline is a form of child abuse has been raising many debates of late. While most people agree that disciplining children is not a form of child abuse, some strongly feel that it is child abuse. Whether discipline is child abuse or not depends on the circumstance surrounding a certain case and the mode of disciplining a child is subjected to by his parents or guardians.Moderate disciplinary actions may not amount to child abuse but extreme physical and psychological abuse may amount to child abuse. Spanking has been on the spot with most people arguing that this amount to a form of child abuse. However, it has its own advantages in instituting discipline (Gootman, n. d). Child abuse occurs when the force exerted when disciplining a child becomes too much. This is however ambiguous as how much force may amount to abuse depends on an individual’s view.Discipline is however different from child abuse in that while discipline is meant to enhance positive behavior, child abuse leads to bodily harm and mental torture. In today’s world, most parents have branded discipline as abuse and that is why most of the children are arrested and are serving in the juvenile jails. Spanking for example has received negative publicity and even children are suing their parents for abuse. Spanking has been one of the most effective disciplinary measures in the past and has helped shape most of the lives of prominent persons.Children fear to be spanked and thus any behavior which may lead to such disciplinary acts are avoide d. Spanking only becomes abuse when it is done in a manner deemed to be harmful to the child’s health and mental state or capability. However, the child should be made to understand the reason behind the punishment prior to its administration. A parent cannot claim to have been disciplining his or her child by injuring him or her. Despite the thin line between abuse and discipline, â€Å"effective† discipline does not amount to child abuse.Disciplining children should not be viewed as punishing them or abusing them unless the effects of such actions are detrimental to the health and future development of a child. Discipline should be instituted on all children to help correct bad behaviors and to help shape their character (Telep, 1999). Discipline as mentioned above may amount to abuse if not carefully handled. However, parents can ensure discipline in their children without actually abusing them. One way to ensure that discipline does not amount to abuse is by using first setting limits for the children on what they can and what they cannot do.Disciplinary measures to be taken should be enlisted thus ensuring the child understands the consequences of his or her behavior. Disciplinary measures which do not amount to abuse include acts like denying the child some rights after doing something wrong. A child may be denied a chance to go and play with other children if he or she does not do his homework. This is a form of disciplinary measure which does not raise issues of abuse (Lenton, 1990). Discipline may also be instituted using more positive means like encouraging a child to behave in a particular manner by rewarding or appreciating him or her.Discipline unlike many parents believes should not always constitute the negative side. Discipline may also be attained through reinforcement of some good behavior. Also by discussing issues with the children may also help institute a sense of responsibility in them. Issuing orders and scolding to childr en passes the message that children are unable to think for themselves and this may lead to low self esteem. Instead, parents should encourage dialogue (Keep Kids Healthy, 2001). Despite the arguments that parents should not discipline their children as they may deem fit, this may apply is some instances.Parents know their children better than anybody else and so they understand the different temperaments exhibited by these children. Different children require different forms of disciplinary action and thus the parent is the best person to decide what form of action is best for his children. Also children respect more what they are told by their parents and any deterrent act to reinforce discipline is bound to be taken seriously by the children. Most of the adults today remember tough measure being taken by their parents to institute discipline which helped in shaping their future lives.Though measures taken by parents may at times seem harsh, they bear better fruits in the future a nd thus parents should have autonomy while instituting discipline on their children (Lenton, 1990). Conclusion Discipline is vital for any child as it helps raise a responsible person in the future and should be instituted by the parents. The question of discipline raises a lot of controversy regarding what constitutes sufficient disciplinary measures and what may amount to child abuse. Parents also face problems in deciding the best way to ensure discipline in their children without affecting their development or mental stability.While spanking was an effective method in the past, it is being ruled out especially by psychological experts arguing that it is not effective in ensuring discipline. More non-physical methods of instituting a sense of responsibility are being advocated today with dialogue and appreciation being highly preferred. However, one method may not be appropriate for all children. A parent should combine different methods and evaluate which one works for his child ren. Scolding, use of abusive language and physical torture should not be used for ensuring discipline as they affects the ego and self esteem of the children in the long run. Reference: Gootman, M. E. (n. d): How to Teach Your Children Discipline. Retrieved on 19th February 2009 from, http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/discipline.3.19.html. Lenton, R. L. (1990): Techniques of Child Discipline and Abuse by Parents. Journal article of Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, Vol. 27 Telep, V. (1999): Discipline for Young Children. Retrieved on 19th February 2009 from, http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/family/350-110/350-110.html. Utay, J. & Utay, C. (2005): Improving Social Skills: A Training Presentation to Parents. Journal article of Education, Vol. 126

Abortion: Pros, Cons and Propaganda

Abortion: Pros, Cons and Propaganda Abortion is a very controversial matter in our society. In the United States it is legal to abort a baby up until the day of birth. An abortion is the ending of pregnancy before birth which results in the death of an embryo or a fetus. Many people consider abortion as cruel as murder. Although some might say abortion is justifiable, others believe that no one but God has the right to take someone’s life. However, supporters of abortion do not consider an unborn child a person who must be protected. With an issue like abortion, there is a difficulty in determining if it is right or wrong. There are many sides and arguments to this matter and the media often portrays a very negative side to the choice of abortion. The media tends to be biased and against the issue of abortion. I believe that the media is very influential on our society today. In 1973, there was a U. S Supreme Court Case known as Roe versus Wade. This case legalized abortion in The United States. They ruled that babies are not legal â€Å"persons† and from that point on, babies have had no rights or protection under The Constitution of The United States of America. By extension, a woman has a right to make decisions that involve her body and the government should not try to enforce any type of regulation on a woman’s reproductive system. The government should not impose on the wishes of what a woman wants just as the media should not impose or show bias towards the issue. The abortion issue seems to be a very clear and consistent bias. Billboards, magazine ads, and television commercials have all portrayed images of innocent babies staring, with boldfaced words around them saying things like â€Å"With your tax dollars used for abortion †¦ how many more children will be lost? Another bias ad propaganda is a cartoon image with a woman in her third trimester saying â€Å"How dare you challenge my right to kill this thing? No one can stop me from doing whatever I want with my body! † Under this illustration are the words â€Å"Liberal compassion at 36 weeks. † These uses of ad hominems are clearly showing the negative wa y people view the controversial topic of abortion. Even go as far as to â€Å"stereotype† those for abortion as â€Å"Liberalist†, showing a fallacy based on something completely irrelevant. Popular teen television programs such as MTV have shown videos featuring a rapper/singer as a spirit of what appears as a baby-to-be following a woman into an abortion clinic and begging her to let him live. There is an abundance of imagery in the video to make an abortion look as violent and terrifying as possible. So teens seeing this are definitely going to assume the worst about abortions and also think that going through with a pregnancy is the only justifiable thing to do because the video not only makes this seem completely terrifying, but also because the baby would have grown up to be something great, famous. So of course it is very hard to not think about what the child would-have-been. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy states that there are â€Å"750,000 teen pregnancies annually. Only seven percent of abortions are because of rape, incest, and possible health concerns to the mother or baby. The other ninety-three percent of people who choose abortion do it for social, personal, and economic reasons. Pregnancy happens every day, planned or unplanned. Unplanned and unwanted pregnancies make abortion a sufficient option for what is basically another way out of a less than ideal situation for some people. Although women have a hard time choosing abortion as an option for unwanted pregnancies, they have been making the choice for a long time. The MTV video ad mentioned above also depicts a situation of a man criticizing a woman about her choice until she gives in and makes the choice and chooses what he wants (abortion). This anti-abortion propaganda depicts women to be unable and incapable of following their desires because of a man’s control, belittling women. Women are hardly just people who listen to what is suggested by a man instead of going with their desires and intuitions. The woman, who would be going through the actual â€Å"labor† of continuing a pregnancy, and delivering a baby, bringing it up, parenting it well, in addition to other obligations she has to do in her daily life are all things they have to consider. This alternative should be the woman’s decision, after given thought of course. It should not be a result of the man’s decision for her. The positives that come from the option of abortion are plentiful for women seeking an alternative. Women that do not choose to have sexual encounters, but yet have it forced upon them, rape victims, have a way out of an extremely terrifying situation. Pregnant women with potentially fatal or other health concerns can consider abortion to be their â€Å"lifesaver† of sorts. If there was ever an attempt to ban abortions, the percentage of illegal and dangerous procedures of aborting a pregnancy would go up, therefore causing the cost of the procedure to increase because of accountability. A babies’ life solely depends on its’ mother and a mother needs to be healthy and capable to take on motherhood. It should ultimately be her choice. â€Å"Pro-Choice† supporters, which are supporters of abortion, see a woman's right to choose as central to all of the controversy and believe women's rights are being jeopardized when the right to an abortion is taken away. Of course the people against abortion, people that are for â€Å"Pro-Life†, feel that an unborn baby is more than just potential life: they feel that an unborn baby is meaningful human life. They side with the theory that no person should have the right to decide if another human life is allowed to live or die. Abortion is clearly immoral to them. Pro-Life propaganda refers to Planned Parenthood, a healthcare clinic that offers abortion procedures, as an â€Å"abortion mill† and a â€Å"killing chamber. † The Center for Disease Control has statistics showing approximately 1,313,000 abortions in the United States alone. Abortions can cause severe side effects. Many complications can occur and these include vomiting, infections, severe bleeding, nausea, hemorrhages, and ironically death. These are very serious risks that show the obvious distaste of this controversial issue. The banning of abortion would save the lives of thousands of unborn babies each year and would cut out the chances of women who are undergoing this risky procedure from the possibilities of such severe side effects. The media uses propaganda and other fallacies to cloud ones’ judgment(s) and make people believe things that might not necessarily be true. Propaganda makes things that seem one way look completely different or make things sound more drastic than they really are. Rhetorical appeals, slanting words and propaganda affect everyone in the world today. These logical fallacies are often times absurd. For example, a billboard shows a baby and next to it in huge bolded letters, are the words â€Å"Endangered Species. † These techniques are often drastic and dramatic, however, the majority of the time, they definitely get their point across. Whether someone thinks abortion is right or wrong, it will always be around. Legal or illegal it will continue to happen. The media will continue to downgrade abortions and the people that believe in them. It is obvious that there are few people in this world that are for this issue but it is not right to place judgement on someone ithout knowing their situation, and even then, who is anyone to judge what someone else believes is in their best interest? I would say absolutely no one has that right. While the issue of abortion is so controversial, it makes it nearly impossible to talk about and possibly see the â€Å"positives† that come from it, rather than just questioning it. People will have their opinions, primarily on the basi s of their morals or ethnically, that is how they will look at this issue. The majority will have an unwillingness to change their view(s). On the hopeful side, it is possible that because society and the media portray abortion so negatively, adoption rates will increase and fewer lives are left unharmed to the decision of abortion. Works Cited â€Å"Abortion in the United States: Statistics and Trends. † www. nrlc. org. 4 October 2010. Blackmun, Harry. â€Å"Roe. vs. Wade. † www. oyex. org. 2 October 2010. Cornswald, Alexander. â€Å"Liberal Compassion at 36 weeks. † 27 March 2009. www. cornswalled. com. 2 October 2010. â€Å"News and Politics. †www. sodahead. com. 4 October 2010. Wetcher, Beth. â€Å"Knowledge Is Empowering. † www. knowledgeisempowering. com. 1 October 2010.

Should You Submit Your SAT/ACT Scores?

College applications are rarely straightforward, and as the process evolves over time, aspects that used to be fairly standard are becoming less so. This is especially true of standardized tests. While some colleges still place a great deal of weight on SAT or ACT scores, sometimes even using them as an initial screening tool, other colleges no longer require them at all. This leaves some college applicants wondering when and if they should submit their SAT or ACT scores. In this post, we’ll discuss how to decide when to submit your scores and when to withhold them. If you’re planning to apply to college this season, don’t send those score reports without reading this post first. Testing policies are different at each school. Some colleges require that you submit every score from every test you’ve taken. Some want to see only your highest section scores. Other colleges want to see only your highest composite score. It can all get a little confusing when you’re trying to apply to seven or eight different schools. Luckily, checking the score policy at each college is usually fairly straightforward. For one, when you log onto the CollegeBoard’s Score Report page and begin to select the schools you’d like to send your scores to, the form will automatically suggest which scores to send based on that specific school’s testing policy. This is a great tool, but it’s no substitute for doing your own research. The admissions page for each college generally lists its testing policy in an obvious place. If you can’t find it, check the FAQ page or contact the office of admissions directly. Â   The bottom line is that you need to understand the specific testing policy at every school you apply to in order to make an informed decision. Before you send any score reports, research the testing policy at each school on your list and come up with a score report plan for each school individually. Our students see an average increase of 250 points on their SAT scores. At , we recommend choosing only one standardized test and sticking with it. This means that if you choose the ACT, you should focus exclusively on the ACT, and the same vice versa if you choose the SAT. We know, though, that sometimes students choose to take both tests. In this case, you might have a trickier time deciding which score to submit, or wondering if you should submit them both. Â   You should only submit both scores if both are exceptionally impressive. Submitting both scores still won’t necessarily set you apart from someone who submits only one equally as impressive score, but at least it can’t hurt. If you’re not sure how impressive your scores are, you should look up how they compare to the test scores of last year’s admitted students. You can generally find this information through a simple web query. Your scores are considered impressive if they place comfortably above the 75th percentile of admitted students. Â   If your scores on the ACT and SAT are not equally impressive, do not submit both. Instead, only submit the scores that place you higher amongst other admitted students. Again, use the information available from a web query to see how last year’s admitted students faired. Then, select the scores that place you closer to the top. For example, if your SAT scores place you at the 75th percentile of admitted students, but your ACT scores place you at the 50th percentile, stick with your SAT scores. Even though your ACT scores are comfortably within the acceptable range, they aren’t as impressive as your SAT scores, and submitting them could take away from the good impression left by your SATs. Test optional schools are one of the scenarios that elicit the most questions about submitting test scores. While testing policies used to be fairly black and white, test optional schools definitely leave a gray area. In general, when a college application lists smoothing as optional, you should considered it required unless it will ultimately be a big strike against you. Basically, this means that you should still submit your best SAT or ACT score to a test optional school, unless it is poor enough to really count against you. You can determine this by checking the scores of admitted students from last year. If your score places you below the 25th percentile, think twice about submitting it. It might be best to discuss your options with your guidance counselor or eliciting advice from ’s Applications Guidance service. Here, you will be paired with a personal admissions specialist from a top a college who can provide step-by-step guidance through the entire application process, including selecting which, if any, scores to submit. To learn more about test optional schools, check out our post What Test-Optional Means for College Admissions . Of course, your best offense is always a good defense, so we suggest avoiding any questions about submitting test scores by maximizing your SAT or ACT performance from the get go. If you achieve a score you’re proud to submit, you won’t have to worry about it. For advice about preparing for standardized tests, check out these important posts: For more help preparing for your standardized tests, consider the benefits of ’s full service, customized SAT Tutoring Program , where the brightest and most qualified tutors in the industry guide students to an average score increase of 140 points.

Operational Auditing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Operational Auditing - Essay Example An operational audit is a review of any part of an organization's operating procedures and methods for the purpose of evaluating efficiency and effectiveness. At the completion of an operational audit, management normally expects recommendations for improving operations. An example of an operational audit is evaluating the efficiency and accuracy of processing payroll transactions in a newly installed computer system. Another example, where most accountants would feel less qualified, is evaluating the efficiency, accuracy, and customer satisfaction in processing the distribution of letters and packages by a company such as federal express. Because of the many different areas in which operational effectiveness can be evaluated, it is impossible to characterize the conduct of a typical operational audit. In one organization, the auditor might evaluate the relevancy and sufficiency of the information flow in processing sales. In operational auditing, the reviews are not limited to accounting. They can include the evaluation of organization structure, computer operations, production methods, marketing, and any other area in which the auditor qualified.1 The conduct of an operational audit and the reported results are less easily defined than for either of the other two types of audit.effeciency and effectivene... In addition, establishing criteria for evaluating the information in an operational audit is an extremely subjective matter. In this sense, operational auditing is more like management consulting than what is generally regarded as auditing. Operational Auditing is a non-financial audit that involves a systematic process of evaluating an organization's (or part of an organization's) effectiveness, efficiency, and economy of operations under management's control, and reporting to appropriate persons the results of the evaluation along with recommendations for improvement. Operational auditing focuses on management goals, initiatives and strategic plans to generate innovative solutions for the challenges that face the units and their managers. The process verifies the existence and effectiveness of management controls that are meant to ensure that the unit meets its operating objectives. The scope of the audit is expanded beyond the verification of financial controls or compliance with policies. Operational auditing looks for the existence of management controls (such as leadership, employee empowerment, teamwork, risk assessment, information, communication, resource allocation, productivity measurement, etc.) that support the financial controls in attaining goals set by the units. Desired results of operational audits include discovering innovative solutions, promoting creativity and new ideas, and recommending operational improvements. Effectiveness: Before an operational audit for effectiveness can be performed, there must be specific criteria for what is meant by effectiveness. Effectiveness is the degree to which the organization's objectives are accomplished. An example of an

Changing the Scene of the Society Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Changing the Scene of the Society - Assignment Example The consequences of the cultural practice are that women will remain in their current position if they do not get empowered and strive to get equal positions with men. The consequence of the strife to be equal with men is that the female gender will be endangered. With the current trend where women strive to be equal with men, the role of the woman will be erased. Women are required to be submissive and do tasks that are considered to be feminine. This is no longer the case as women are now striving to do tasks that have been a preserve of only men. This is changing the scene of the society. There is a new definition of the terms female and male. Â  The definition of women is changing and no longer based on the biological differences. This is because of education and financial empowerment. Women have been known to be gentle in their undertakings and less aggressive when compared with men. This is changing and women are now seen to be aggressive and taking challenges that are considered manly. The struggle for many American women to be equal to men has been evident. Although women are fragile, they are seen to want to fight for battles that are fit for men. The woman gender is fast changing and is being erased by the struggle to gain equality. Women are now working and men are the ones being left at home to take care of domestic affairs. This is the norm as the career woman strives to achieve her ambitions. They no longer value the family values that have been sought and valued from time immemorial. Â  There are relationships that exist between Beauvoir’s truths and those of the readings that we had in class.

Ethics of Solar Laboratory,Hydro Power Laboratory and Wind Power Assignment

Ethics of Solar Laboratory,Hydro Power Laboratory and Wind Power Laboratory - Assignment Example In this regard, the general public and other concerned stakeholders are on a high alert on issues ascribed to ethic on the energy production sector. This discussion will focus on the three forms of energy generation, basically explicating ethical considerations on their production. In as much as there are few ethical issues raised in the field of solar energy production, one of the most evident ethical concerns in this field since the early 1990’s is the cost of production. According to the National Academy of Engineering, production of solar energy is relatively higher, especially when produced on a large scale (Durant, 2012). The high cost of production of this form of energy arises from the fact that the materials used to manufacture solar panels are quite expensive for instance: The National Academy of Engineering noted that most solar panels are manufactured using silicon as a photovoltaic material; silicon is quite expensive thus creating the need for another cheaper alternative photovoltaic material. In this regard, the Academy proposed a number of ways: The first strategy to lower the cost of solar energy generation is to use Cadmium Telluride as a photovoltaic material; this material is relatively cheaper than silicon (Durant, 2012). Moreover, the production of solar energy could also be made cheaper through encouraging mass production of solar energy. The other ethical issue ascribed to the production of solar energy is its impact of environment; environmentalists have asserted that solar energy is one of the best sources renewable energy owing to the fact that it does not pose any environmental threat that could affect nature and human life (Durant, 2012). Perhaps this is one of the reasons this kind of energy is currently gaining global recognition. There are various benefits associated with the use of wind power. One of these benefits is the fact that wind power is renewable and does not have significant negative impact on the