Tea Leaves Essay Example for Free

Tea Leaves Essay Fuente 4th block 18 February 2013 Divination by Tea Leaves The divination of tea leaves began in the 17th century when tea became a very popular drink. As people began drinking their tea, they came up with tasseomancy, or tasseography, which is just a type of tea leaf divination. People prefer divination by tea leaves because it is the easiest and most accessible for everyday people. It is a form of scyring. First of all, Tea is poured into a cup without a strainer, and the inquirer contemplates their issue and then drinks all the tea. With the moisture left in the cup, they then spin the leaves three times clockwise and turn the cup upside down. Then someone reads the pattern of the tea leaves and determines the inquirers fortune, be it good or bad. Many people do not use this form of divination for it takes more psychic ability than non-psychic. You read the symbols based on standard interpretations. It’s said that the closer to the rim the leaves are, the sooner they are to happen. The rim is labeled as the future, whereas the bottom of the cup is the distant future or the outcome of your conflict. The only problem is that there are different systems of symbolic interpretations. Choosing the right type of tea leaf divination is key to becoming comfortable with the system and get accurate readings. However, divination isn’t used to make your decision for you. Divination is merely used to help inspire you in making your own decisions. The tea leaves seen can be depicted in different ways depending on how open your imagination is. As said above, there are many different ways that you can read your tea leaves. You just have to find the one that is suitable for your situation and make sure you keep an open imagination. Works Cited www. divinationbytealeaves. com www. wicca-spirituality. com .

Military and Civilians the Difference Is the Same Essay Example for Free

Military and Civilians the Difference Is the Same Essay The United States military is known for their â€Å"free† benefits to the armed forces. People say the military is like the civilian sector in terms of salary and benefits. This essay will look at two sections between military specifically using the Marine Corps for analysis and civilian sector using information for a logistician to see how similar these two groups are. The first comparison to be examined is the pay for the military. The military wages are based on a pay scale issued by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) grouped by time in grade and time in service (or their rank and how long that service member has been in). A Marine’s pay can fluctuate depending on numerous factors to include how many dependents they have, the cost of living where the Marine is stationed, and if the Marine is deployed to a combat zone. An example of this fluctuation is Marine Sergeant A of four years will make a base pay of $2,487 dollars while a Marine Sergeant B of ten years will make a base pay of $2,995. This increase in base pay is due to the Marine A being in for only four years while, Marine B is in for 10 years. This is how the pay scale is used by time in service. A pay raise in the military can come in two ways. The first way, according military.com, a pay raise is awarded as an annual pay raise issued by the House Armed Services Committee, which for the 2012 Fiscal Year was 1.6 percent. The second way a Marine can achieve a pay raise is through promotion to another grade (or rank). Using the above example in the case of the 10 year Sergeant with a base pay of 2,995 gets promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant his pay will increase from that 2,995 to $3,243. The comparison of the civilian pay is not as extensive as the military in the determination of pay. The civilian business sector determines pay or sal ary during the interview process. This means the pay an employee starts with begins early in the employment process. Government contractors give a salary range that they are willing to work for and if hired are paid within that range. The employee has the option to receive pay raises as well. The two ways a pay raise can be acquired by civilians are employee performance evaluations, and promotions. The first of the two options is achieved on an annual basis. The performance evaluation looks at how well you’ve done for the year in regards to your work performance, job knowledge, communication skills, initiative, teamwork, and many other factors. These factors are given a grade and depending on that overall score a percentage is calculated  and delegates how much a raise is deemed appropriate for the employee. The better the job performance all around, the better the raise will be. If your performance is subpar, then the raise percentage will also reflect the same. The next option for a pay raise is promotion. This is done as a reward for excellent service and the management seeing that and placing you in a higher position than you were to begin with. The terms of promotion would be discussed at the time of the position being offered. The military and civilian both show similarities in pay raises but show stark differences when it comes to each goups basic pay. The medical and educational benefits of the two groups are similar in they provide the same set of options. Medical, to include dental and vision, will begin our comparison. The military, according to military.com, provides active duty personnel with TRICARE Prime. This includes medical coverage, dental coverage and vision coverage. TRICARE Prime is accepted at military hospitals and clinics for all facets of medical, dental and vision care. In the civilian sector medical, vision, and dental are sponsored by different companies. As an example, Qinetiq North America uses Anthem as the companies medical and vision coverage while Delta Dental is used separately for its dental coverage. Education is another benefit that military and civilians partake of while employed. The military has many different types of tuition assistance that can be used by military personnel during enlistment and after discharge from active service. These education benefits include the Montgomery GI Bill and the Post 9/11 GI Bill. The military has tuition assistance that can be used while in the armed services and is provided free of charge to the service member. When the service member is discharged from the armed services, that person then has the option to use either the Montgomery GI Bill (MGB) or the Post 9/11 GI Bill. These two education benefits have duration of 36 months of use. The education benefits of a civilian in the work force can be limited. Many major companies provide some tuition assistance to their employees. Unlike the military once the employee leaves the company the education benefits end at the time of termination. The military and civilian sectors have many striking similarities. While the military is very black and white the civilian sector has room for  discussion in many of the benefits that have been examined. The militaries benefits are predetermined in terms of pay, medical and educational benefits. However, civilians have the same benefits but with more options to choose in terms of how much the employee gets compensated for working with the company and what medical care they want. Examining both groups shows that even though both groups operate differently they are in many ways the same. References 2012 Military Pay Charts. (n.d.). Military.com Benefits Resources. Retrieved from http://www.military.com/military/benefits/0,15465,2012-1pt6-Pct-Military-Pay,00.html Defense Finance and Accounting Services. (2012, January 10). Retrieved October 13, 2012, from http://www.dfas.mil/militarymembers.html TRICARE Prime Overview. (n.d.). Military.com Benefits. Retrieved October 13, 2012, from http://www.military.com/benefits/tricare/prime/tricare-prime-overview.html

Effects Of Shift Work On Employee

Effects Of Shift Work On Employee 3. Why and how might shift work impact on the health of employees? What could be done to minimise the health risks of such work? In modern life shift work becomes a necessary part of life. Shift work is an employment schedule that is not in the usual daytime hours and in which two or more groups of workers work at separate times in the 24 hrs. (Finn, 1981).According to HSE(2006) approximately 14% of people in UK doing shift work in different shifts Some institutions like hospitals, ambulance services, police department, transport industry and some industries needs continuous 24 hrs shift work. But this shift work disrupts the circadian rhythm that can lead to reduction in alertness. The diurnal rhythms control pulse rate, the cardio-pulmonary system, composition of blood, blood pressure, secretions of endocrine glands, appetite and wakening and sleep cycle. So shift work interrupts these natural processes for which the human body is normally programmed. So this can cause compromise i n health and safety of the workers. Lack of adequate sleep has produce adverse affects including nervous system related disorders, physical problems which can lead to accidents on job. Fatigue is also the most common reaction in shift workers. Shift work is the main cause of fatigueness in combination with physical, mental and emotional factors that causes exhaustion in workers. Shift work affects the general health and performance of the employees. Because of shift work employees have not follow any routine in their eating habits and they have not regular pattern to sleep and this may produce health problems (Finn, 1981). According to health and safety perspective all the working hours are not same. Night shifts are more difficult and risky. Working overtime also raises the fatigueness in a worker. This can lead to other accidents. Some workers do shift work with their own choice but mostly do because of economic necessity (ACTU Guidelines on shift work extended hours, 2000). Mostly people dont know the extra stress that night shift workers have, is because of work in late night hours. When most people are in their beds, night shift workers are getting ready to work. Night Shifts put negative impact on health of workers because these shifts affect the circadian rhythms of the human body. These circadian rhythms change all over the day and night to regulate different biological functions of body. For example our cardiac rate and the temperature of body changes throughout 24 hrs and this is lowest at 4am and it is on the peak in the mid of afternoon. The circadian rhythms reset after 24 hrs by environme ntal factors like light and darkness. Temperature of body goes up with the day light and goes down at night. Thats why body is active during daytime, whereas in the night it is meant to sleep for recovering and replacing the energy of the body. But working at night disturbs biological clocks thats why sleeping becomes difficult so workers feel fatigue. Work during night shifts imbalance these rhythms in spite of their regular timing. Because of this, workers who can do night shifts come across problems in sleep, fatigueness, gaining weight and problems related to digestive system. Some of these problems also become chronic diseases. According to study done by the Journal of the National Cancer institute (2001) depicts that the females doing night shifts have more risk of breast cancer because of exposure to light during night which interrupts the production of melatonin (Victoria,2010).A study found that the breast cancer risk is 60% more in women doing night shifts. Because the mel atonin hormone mainly produced during sleep. However several studies found rhythmic adjustments to a new work schedule sets in 4 days to 2 days. The continuous change in day, evening and night shifts diminishes the normally programmed body rhythms. According to Sparks and Cooper et al (1977) the field of occupational health psychology, overtime fatigue is an important factor in the health conditions and working hours plan. Because of excessive work in shifts raises in backbone injuries, bacterial infections, three times increase in accidents on job after 16 hrs of work these all have related to fatigue and overtime in shift work (Rosa, 1995) To minimize the health risks of shift work: According to article how lifestyle changes can reduce shift work stress published in Sleep disorders guide (2006-08) suggests that workers have to follow some useful measures to tackle the shift work correctly. Workers should not take more than 2 night shifts regularly in one week. So that their body take rest and the workers are not faces fatigueness. Workers take frequent breaks from work when they feel tired and not able to stand in same posture for a long time. Keep entertaining by talking to your fellow colleagues if worker feel difficult to work during long hours in night shifts, but always follow the safety measures. Workers have to follow proper eating habits .Afternoon shift workers take their meal in the middle of day, not in middle of their shift. Workers are advised not take heavy meals when they go for night shifts and they take light meal throughout night shift and take moderate breakfast. A heavy meal compels the workers to s leep and this may lead to accidents and even discomfort in stomach. After completing the night shift workers have to take proper rest with adequate sleep. They have to avoid heavy exercise before going to bed because metabolism of body will still elevated for many hours and this will produce difficulty in sleep. While sleeping they relaxed their mind and keep their brain free from any disturbance. If they fail to sleep then read a book or listen some music. Workers should follow healthy life style according to their shift work and they should exercise 30-40 minutes daily. With doing regular exercise his mental and physical health remains good and this will reduces the health problems. Workers have to take proper diet to maintain their physical health. Workers drink more water in night shift. They have to socialize with other coworkers to minimize disruption in social life. Workers practices to reduce the stress. They have to schedule daily events by the calendar use. Workers choose the prioritize tasks and always tackle one task at a time (Stones, 1987). 4. Critically review the evidence that multiple roles in work and non-working life lead to negative outcomes for employees and organizations. Work culture changes rapidly in present days. Previously concept of work done is to fulfil basic human needs but now this is not the fact. The basic needs are not enough, but standard of living is also an essential part for doing work. According to Blekesaune (2008) unemployed people are at major risk of breakdown in personal relationships .Males and females who lost their jobs have similar impact. According to Work life Balance Survey(Hurst and Richards 2003) there were more than 1200 employees who took part in internet survey done in the form of questionnaire and each one ,out of the ten participants worked more than 70 hrs every week, whereas he is being signed for 35-40 hrs. 98% of workers took their office work t home. 17% of them skip their lunch break.97% workers found that it is difficult to balance work and life.70% of workers took work as main stressor (Work life balance survey, 2003). Work or nonwork conflict generally noticed when work and non work roles are not compatible with one another and participation in one role made difficult in participating in another role (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985). The Spillover Model (Loscocco and Roschelle, 1991) guided well on present study related to work and non work conflict. In Spillover model, there is a positive relation given between work and non work roles to the limit of satisfaction or not satisfaction in one of the roles moves into other (Bond et al., 1998).Work and non work conflict influences the general health and mental wellbeing of workers and their families. As an example, a recent epidemiological study done in Australia establish that the parents who work regularly for long hours or back home stressed have develop more physical illness and other psychological problems(Earle,2003). According to Duxbury (2003) work and non work conflict impact on the ability of workers to bring up their families which results in lesser levels in family wellbeing and stability. Researchers found that policies which are designed to assist work and non work conflict can change workers behaviour which is good for the organization. Evidences found that the policies which are family friendly results in raises in back to work after the delivery (Squirchuk and Bourke, 1999). When we are talking about the effect of stressors on a person, few researchers analysed to divide the life of a person into separate functional fields. Like divided between the home and work place. Because in each area individual play more than one role. Like in family they have two roles spouse as well as parents and same in their workplace they follow different roles. Researchers found that in each field person suffers from stressors and strain. So if in a demanding job person becomes stressed at work place then its quite possible that he come back home in same state of mind, so this create difficulities in home atmosphere also. There are two major hypotheses proposed to explain the work -home relationship. The spillover hypotheses proposed that there are no hard boundaries between different life areas. The work and nonwork experiences will positively related to one another. So the persons, who changed, stimulate and satisfy work experiences will likewise same non work experiences. Thus stressful moments experienced in work makes person tired at work as well as when he came back home, this makes difficult to interact with the family and social life. Case studies based on early work approve this approach (Young Wilmott, 1973, Piotrokowski, 1978). According to compensatory hypotheses, in between home and work there will be negative relationship. As an example, for boarded and non stimulating work experience, a person compensates this with good experience at home or from other free activities (Wilensky, 1960, Rousseau, 1978). According to the compensatory hypotheses, a person majorly involved in work would be not involved at home or the other way around. Another immaterial approach is segmentation hypotheses which approve that work and non-work areas are essentially nondependent, separated psychologically and perform separate functions (Blood and Wolfe, 1960, Dubin, 1973). This was the primary formulation of work and home relationship but myth of separate worlds of family and work has exposed (Kanter, 1977). This model is now often dishonored. These models just gives idea that up to what extent behaviour in one area lead to same or different behaviour in other, or to which extent satisfaction or stress in one role is associated to similar feeling in other (Staines,1980). According to National Study of changing work force, 19% of fathers who are working and 38% of working mothers feel stress oftenly and very oftenly in the three month period of this study. The data shows that male and female both suffered by contrasting demands of the family and workplace to balance these two. These conflicts noticed in previous two decades, when labour work becomes more in organizations and females are equally take part in working in organizations. The increased ratio of working women splits their role in two areas. In studies of Work and family conflict mental health is always targeted. Mental illness is inability to cope with the surrounding environment and reality. These studies proved that mental health depends upon the variation of experiences in work and family (Forne, 2000). In work and family conflicts there is not any selective gender but mental problems for e.g. mood changes are more in females who are working then males (Kohn, Dohrenwend Mirotznik, 1998). In the midlife, work and family conflict and mental stress are comparatively stable. So if the worker is having mental health problems, this is not good for organization also. Worker not cooperated with co workers and the environment of work is always tensed. This will affect the production of the organization also. There is another major problem which occurs because of work and family conflict that is drinking. When a worker not balance his both roles and because of stress start drinking alcohol and become habitual then this make the situation worse. Because he could not take care of his family properly and even not concentrate on his work. Because of this he cut off from his family as well as from society and even from his co workers. He or she might become a victim of accident at work. Because of drinking problem he lost money and this also affects his financial condition. Marriage life of worker is also affected thats why now a days divorce rates are high, because of imbalance in family and work. When work and life conflict occurs care of children and elderly people becomes difficult. Sometimes person even thought about the suicidal attempt because of this worse situation. 5. Discuss and critically evaluate research that has examined the impact of bullying at work. Introduction Bullying at work is behaviour of annoying, offending or affecting negatively to a person in his work tasks (Einarsen, Hoel, Zapf Cooper 2003).According to HSE bullying at work is to ignore someone, circulating rumours, annoying somebody in front of others, giving somebody a task which is not achievable, constantly underestimating somebodys work .It is not a new behaviour but it was not much noticed till the end of twentieth century. Bullying was brought into the public arena by Andrea Adams, a journalist of UK, who wrote a book o bullying, in the year 1992.He also produced radio documentaries in which discussion was there on workplace bullying. In UK and Ireland bullying word is used whereas in Germany, Austria and Scandinavia it is called as mobbing and in US as emotional abuse. According to the study, Destructive conflict and bullying at work (Hoel Cooper, 2000) one in every ten people bullied on work within last 6months and the number increases to one in four in last five years. According to this study women are bullied more as compare to men. Managers or persons on senior post were culprit in 74.7% cases of bullying. The obvious experienced negative behaviour at work was somebody was not giving proper information, which gives negative impact to your performance or impossible targets or deadlines. Bullying was mostly associated with bad mental health and less satisfaction in organization (Hoel Cooper, 2000). Types of Bullying Bullying at work due to direct comments on employees causes harasses, humiliation and put negative impact on performance in work and this creates uncomfortable working atmosphere (Einarsen Rakness, 1997).It is found that usually bullying behaviour has two categories: personal and work related. Personal is an again and again offensive comment regarding you and your personal life. Work related is direct comments on your work task, not giving reasonable deadlines to complete tasks, non manageable load of work. According to Zapf (1999) there were five types of bullying behavior: A. Make the task more difficult. B. Stop communicating with somebody. C.Attack on anyones personal life. D. Humiliate and criticize in front of others. E. Circulate rum ours. Now a days physical bullying or sex abuse related bullying also found with women employees in workplaces. Impacts of bullying on psychological wellbeing Bullying at work put direct impact on persons psychological wellbeing. Psychological impacts are mental stress, anxiety, loss of sleep, less concentration in the given task or work, binge eating, addiction to alcohol or smoking, lack of alertness at work ,due to this sometimes accidents occurs. Psychologists noticed behavioural changes in workers, who face regular bullying at work. Worker becomes irritated, emotional, and aggressive. Some women who faced sexual bullying, later on gone into reverse personality. They become aggressive even on situations which are ignorable. They hate opposite sex either he is in his own blood relation. If a person continuously suffers from bullying he may develop Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (Bjorkqvist et al, 1994, Leyman and Gustafsson ,1996). Impacts of bullying on physical wellbeing The person who faces regular bullying for long time also found physically ill. Because of this his blood pressure becomes high so he is suffering from hypertension and it is one of the indicators for cardiac diseases. Their immunity which helps him to fight with diseases or infections gone done. So he got infections more easily. Because of anxiety his digestive system also disturbs, so problems like diarrhea/constipation, stomachache, acidity occurs. Studies shows that continuous mental stress could also be one of the reasons of skin diseases like irritation, psoriasis etc. sometimes mental stress is the main reason of migraine. Sometimes lot of frustration could change persons mind towards suicidal attempt. Impact on organisations Bullying at work place also put impact on organizations by lowering the productivity of goods. Because workers are not work properly in organizations. Due to continuous bullying some workers often took leaves from work, which also put bad impact on work. Quality of production also gone down due to the bullying, because of this profit of organization also reduces. Studies show that work efficiency of workers also lowers because of bullying at work. At times this bullying at work place led the concern organizations to the court which is also harmful for the reputation of organization. 6. Compare and contrast the effectiveness of primary and secondary/tertiary stress management strategies in improving employee wellbeing. According to Richard Lazarus (1984) the definition of stress is that Stress is a feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize (Lazarus,1984). According to Dr. Mellisa Conrad Stopplers book, Stress, Hormones and Weight gain Stress is simply a fact of nature-forces from the outside world affecting the individual. The person responds to stress accordingly as it affect the person and his environment. Stress occurs because of external and internal factors. External factors are the environment, our home, personal relations, all outer situations, challenges, difficulties and expectations of life. Internal factors which affect your power to deal stress are nutritional status of a person, level of health and fitness, emotional status and how much rest and sleep a person got (Stoppler, 2007). Management of stress For managing the level of stress, organizations tried and do efforts for mental and physical health of the workers (Cooper Cartwright, 1997). The stress prevention done at primary, secondary and tertiary levels (Murphy, 1988). Primary intervention (preventive) Todays world is the world of globalization. In this world there is lot of competition, because of that stress becomes the biggest problem in employees in the organizations. Organizations are also affected due to stress level in employees. So organizations have low productivity and pay major cost for health care. For preventing the stress in organizations, primary interventions are there to reduce the level of stress. The major concentrate of primary intervention management is to search the causes of stress and to remove the causes. Primary intervention is also known as Stress prevention intervention. The main features of primary intervention stress management are, improving communication, re-scheduling or designing the structure of the tasks, give decision making chances to workers, lowers the work load, build cohesive teams, establish genuine policies of employment, sharing the rewards and contrast resolution skills. The primary intervention tries to modify or remove the causes of stress in the organizations so that workers work in good working atmosphere (Cooper et al., 2001). According to Wall, T.D. Clegg, C.W. (1981) study of work design done at confectionary company who faced troubles of demoralization in workers, gap in relations between workers and turnover problems. Organizations given the power of decision making, break for rest and after twenty eight months, they observe there was not any change in skill or not any progress in the task given to them. Secondary intervention (Creative) Secondary intervention is mainly related with the immediate detection and management of experienced stress by raising awareness and modifies skills of stress management of the worker with training programs (Cooper and Cartwright, 1997).In the secondary intervention workers have to manage their stress, not changing or removing the stressors. The Programmes of stress management assist and channelize the workers to know the symptoms of stress in them and other coworkers and try to get out of it. In the secondary intervention development of coping skills, management of anger, counseling and cognitive behaviour therapies are used. In the secondary intervention some class sessions or training programs are also there for increasing awareness and controlling the stressful conditions like training to do muscle relaxing exercises, educational seminars etc. Training to the workers to do their work could lower stress and improve their efficiency or creativity (Bunce and West, 1996). Cognitive behaviour therapy improves the mental wellbeing to well tolerate the harsh experiences without changing and controlling them (Bond and Bunce, 2000). Tertiary intervention (Reactive) Tertiary intervention assists the workers to give treatment, compensate and rehabilitate them who are suffering from illness due to stress. This intervention usually assist workers to come out from stress occurs due to their work. The main aim of these programmes is to treat the worker who is beneficial for the organizations. This intervention includes medical intervention, treatment and ongoing counseling also. So that worker returns to their work normally. These services are provided in house counselors or foreign agencies in the form of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPS). Employee Assistance Programs give twenty four hrs telephone services. Workers are easily access these services (Cooper and Cartwright, 1997). Meditation help to reduce stress, sleeplessness, anxiety and tensions (Alexander et al.,1993).For lowering their stress level, workers concentrate more on deep breathing and muscle relaxing exercises(Mcguigen,1994). Comparison of stress prevention interventions According to Kempier and Cooper (1999) now a days for stress management the secondary and tertiary interventions are more used as compare to primary ones. It was seen that these three interventions are effective in reverse order. In case of stress at the working place the primary intervention targets on the cause of stress in work place, secondary saw the effect of stress on worker and tertiary helps workers to rehabilitation and provide treatment in case of medical sickness due to stress. Secondary and tertiary level interventions play important role in preventing stress but they are not completely successful in stress management unless the cause of stress is not removed. Another limitation of secondary and tertiary interventions is that they dont address the area to control the stressor which is important. Secondary and primary interventions are not sufficient to maintain the health of workers without removing the cause as in primary intervention (Cooper and Cartwright, 1997). Conclusion The secondary and tertiary interventions are useful in stress prevention but without the removal of cause they are not much beneficial. These interventions have favourable affect on indivual level and organizational level.

Birth of American Newspaper -- essays research papers fc

The Birth of the American Newspaper It has been said that the true newspaper must meet these qualifications: (1) it must be published at least once a week; (2) it must be produced by mechanical means (to distinguish it from handwritten "newes letters"); (3) it must be available to anyone willing to pay the price, regardless of class or special interest; (4) it must print anything of interest to a general public, as contrasted with some of the religious and business publications; (5) it must have an appeal to a public of ordinary literary skill; (6) it must be timely, or at least relatively so, in the light of technical development; and (7) it must have stability, as contrasted to the fly-by-night publications of more primitive times. -Emery and Smith, 1954 Before the printing press or printing plates hand written pamphlets were the means for communicating anything over a distance of land or sea. Documentation, for those who were literate, played major roles in politics long before today’s modern Sunday Advertisers. In 1566, the Venetian Magistracy ordered accounts of the war in Dalmatia to be read and posted in public places. Persons interested in this news paid a small coin, called a gazetta, for the privilege of obtaining it. As far back as 69 BC, news sheets known as Acta Diurna were posted in public places in Rome (Emery and Smith, 1954)." It might be said that the newsp...

Power of Persuasion in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Essa

Power of Persuasion in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass      Ã‚  Ã‚   In order to convince, one must fist charm the inner feelings of the audience. In Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, he appeals to the interest of the reader through his first hand accounts of slavery, his use of irony in these descriptions, and his balance between evasiveness and frankness.    Douglass's descriptions of the severity of slave life are filled with horrific details able to reach even the coldest hearts. The beginning of the narrative tells of how Douglass lacks one of the most celebrated identities of humans - the knowledge of ones own age. "I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant." (12) In saying this Douglass is showing how low the life of a slave is compared to other humans. The idea of slaves being seen as merely work animals is placed into the minds of the reader to set an idea for the rest of the book.    Douglass also gives accounts of the horrific treatment of slaves by the plantation owner. "He (Master) would at times seem to take great pleasure in whipping a slave. I have often been awakened at dawn by the most heart-rending shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood."(14) He mentions the tangible blood and shrieks to emphasize the pain and torture of a human being. This slave bleeds like any other person and so it is easier for a reader ... ...ed when I first met her at the door, -- a woman of the kindest heart and finest feelings."(28) Douglass even admits that it is rare to find a slave holder who is completely bad. "Bad as all slaveholders are, we seldom meet one destitute of every element of character commanding respect."(39)    In using descriptions of slave life, ironic situations, and general frankness, Douglass is appealing to the emotions of his audience. Douglass is letting people know of the terrors of slavery by touching their emotions. He gets them motivated by being interesting and then builds upon this by describing his life in simple terms that all humans can relate to.    Work cited: All references are to Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself (New York, N.Y.: W.W. Norton and Company, 1997).   

John Locke Research Paper Essay

Throughout history there have been many philosophers that impacted the world. Philosophers such as John Locke have shaped today’s society in a number of ways. John Locke was extremely influential and has had some of the most lasting impacts on the ideas still to this day. John Locke has inspired a many of people throughout his lifetime and shaped the way for philosophers and great minds of the generations to come. John Locke was an English philosopher, born on August 29 1632, in Somerset, England. He was born into a Protestant family (Faiella 24). Locke’s mother died when he was an infant and he was raised by his father John, who is said to have had an influence on Locke’s views (24). In 1652, Locke attended Christ Church College to study medicine (25). However, Locke found the ideals and theories of modern philosophers of his time more interesting than the material he studied while at Christ Church, which led to Locke never pursuing a career as a doctor (25). Lord Anthony Ashley Cooper sought out Locke’s assistance to treat a liver cyst; Cooper soon became impressed with Locke and appointed Locke to be his advisor (28). Locke then joined the Royal. Society where he met individuals with whom he discussed mortality and religion, which resulted in the creation of An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (Powell, Jim Locke: Natural Right to Life, Liberty, and Property). Locke wanted to learn more and pursued a position in which he could examine toleration, education and trade, leading to Locke and Anthony Ashley Cooper working closely together (Powell, Jim John Locke: Natural Right to Life, Liberty, and Property). Anthony Cooper was the 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, and it was in the Shaftesbury household where some of Locke’s most influential ideas came alive. Cooper assisted in forming Locke’s ideas; it was within the Shaftesbury household during 1671 that the meeting, which resulted in the making of An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, took place (25). Locke’s friendship with Cooper became complicated, causing Locke to move to Holland where he became connected with the English Rebels (Faiella 29). Eventually, Locke was placed on a list of 85 traitors who were wanted by the English government as a result of his works (29). During 1683, Locke used an alias, Dr. Van Der Linden, to sign letters being sent to his peers (Powell, Jim John Locke Natural Right to Life, Liberty and Property). Locke was offered a pardon offered by William Penn but, Locke wouldn’t accept the pardon because he believed he didn’t do anything to deserve his criminal status and he stood by his beliefs (Faiella 30). In 1686 while in Holland Locke was meeting with peers to discuss philosophical ideals and plot to overthrow King James II. Locke was later removed from the list of traitors (31). After the Glorious Revolution Locke returned to England and helped draft the Toleration Act of 1689 (31). Locke believed in many things as a philosopher, one of Locke’s most known ideals was Natural Law. Locke strongly believed in Natural Law, which stated men have natural rights which cannot be given to you by rulers (Stephens, George M. John Locke: His American and Carolinian Legacy). Locke also believed in the Social Contract, which stated that, a persons moral or political obligations should rely on an agreement in order to form a society (John Locke: His American Carolinian Legacy). Locke strongly believed that people lived in a certain State of Nature before there was society. Locke stated that the State of Nature was when people lived with no judge, no laws and no punishment for their crimes (Treatises on Government). Locke thought that laws of society existed for the common good of the population as a whole (Treatises on Government). People could not break the social contract because it would result in chaos (Treatises on Government). Locke also believed that the government existed to assist the needs of the people and if it should not fulfill its job to the people, people had the right to overthrow the government (John Locke: Natural Right to Life, Liberty and Property). Locke believed that without a majority rule the social contract wouldn’t work (John Locke: His American and Carolinian Legacy). Therefore, Locke wrote An Essay Concerning Human Understanding which was based on his beliefs and experiences (Powell, Jim. John Locke: Natural Right to Life, Liberty and Property). Locke also wrote a Letter Concerning Toleration, which discussed an idea of religious toleration for everyone except Atheists and Catholics. (John Locke: Natural Right to Life, Liberty and Property). Locke believed education is for liberty and that people learn by examples and that this is the way society should learn (John Locke: Natural Right to Life, Liberty and Property). Locke also fought for freedom of the press and opposed the renewal of the act for regulation of printing (John Locke: Natural Right to Life, Liberty and Property). Clearly, John Locke had a very big impact throughout the world, even though during his time he was viewed as a criminal for some of his ideas. Locke provoked revolutions in Europe, Latin America, and in Asia (Powell, Jim. John Locke: Natural Right to Life, Liberty and Property). John Locke influenced the Declaration of the Rights of Men, in 1789 while in France, which recognized property rights. (Stephens, George M. John Locke: His American and Carolinian Legacy). Locke also influenced Montesquieu’s beliefs regarding the separation of powers (Powell, Jim. John Locke: Natural Right to Life, Liberty and Property). Also one of Locke’s greatest influences was his assistance in inspiring the French Revolution (John Locke: Natural Right to Life, Liberty and Property). John Locke influenced the United States in a number of different ways. For example, Locke’s Second Treatise Concerning Civil Government inspired the American Revolution (Powell, Jim. John Locke: Natural Right to Life, Liberty, and Property). Also, In the Declaration of Independence it states how King George violated his contract with the colonist, which was influenced by Locke’s ideas (Stephens, George M. John Locke: His American and Carolinian Legacy). The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution discusses property rights, which was also inspired by John Locke (John Locke: His American and Carolinian Legacy). In the constitution the legislative branch has more power than a single official but has no veto power, another ideal of Locke (John Locke: His American and Carolinian Legacy). In conclusion, John Locke inspired many people throughout history with his strong beliefs and ideals. Locke was criminalized and wanted for his beliefs. Locke’s ideas have influenced not only England or the United States of America, but have resulted in a change in the world. Locke inspired people of his time, and implemented lasting ideas and changes in the government, and Locke inspired other philosophers. Philosophers similar to Locke have used Locke’s ideas as a foundation to further mold the world we live in, and shape societies. John Locke has made a lasting impact and his ideas will continue to impact the world. Works Cited Faiella, Graham. †John Locke: His Life† John Locke:Champion of Modern Democracy New York: Rosen Group, 2005. 24-31. Print. Locke, John. Two Treatises on Government. 1690. Print. Powell,Jim â€Å"Jim Locke: Natural Right to Life, Liberty, and Property† The Freeman. Foundation for Economic Education. 1 August 1996. Web. 6 October 2014. Stephens, George M. â€Å"John Locke: His American and Carolinian legacy. † John Locke Foundation. N. D. Web. 2 October 2014.

State Auditing

STATE AUDITING IN THE PHILIPPINES Reported by: MYRLA P. SEDENIO RUTH C. TACUJAN A. OBJECTIVES I. To Discuss the State Audit System 2. To Identify Issues and Limitations of Government Auditing 3. To Discuss the Measurement of Government Performance B. INTRODUCTION The Philippine Constitution emphasizes the importance of accountability in the government. Article XI simply and bluntly begins: â€Å"Public office is a public trust,† before it adds that officials and employees should serve the people with â€Å"responsibility, integrity, loyalty and efficiency.    In the government budget cycle, accountability is laid down by the need for government agencies and departments submit to submit quarterly and monthly income statements; statements of allotment, obligations and balances along with other financial reports and documents for audit – a formal process whereby the authenticity, accuracy and reliability of financial accounts or transactions are checked and approved.The re are several kinds of audit: One is Financial Auditing wherein financial transactions and accounts are checked to ensure the submitting government agency has complied with the rules and regulations, specifically the pre-agreed and government accounting system. Another type is Performance Auditing whereby one is looking at the systems of the agency to assess it has delivered on its institutional purpose and mandate by linking the budgets with results or results-based budgets. An internal audit, as the name suggests, an internal check on agency systems and processes.External Auditing involves an outside audit body being brought in to look at the agency. Pre-auditing refers to auditing by agencies before approval of transactions while post-auditing is auditing by an independent body after. The Philippine government has agencies mandated to ensure accountability and transparency on its overall operations. These agencies are: The Office of the Ombudsman, Sandiganbayan, Presidential Ant i-Graft Commission, the Civil Service Commission and primarily, for the purpose of this paper, the Commission on Audit. C. STATE AUDIT SYSTEMAuditing is the examination of information by a third party other than the preparer or user with the intention of establishing its realibility, and the reporting of the results of this examination with the expectation of increasing the usefulness of the information to the user. Commission on Audit The Commission on Audit (COA) is the constitutional commission mandated to be the supreme audit institution of the government. It has jurisdiction over national government agencies, local government units, government-owned and controlled corporations and non-government organizations receiving benefits and subsidies from the government.The Constitution identified the following functions for the Commission:   1. Examine, audit and settle all accounts pertaining to the revenue and receipts of, and expenditures or uses of funds and property owned or hel d in trust by, or pertaining to, the government; 2. Promulgate accounting and auditing rules and regulations including those for the prevention and disallowance of irregular, unnecessary, excessive, extravagant or unconscionable expenditures, or uses of government funds and properties; 3.Submit annual reports to the President and the Congress on the financial condition and operation of the government; 4. Recommend measures to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government operations; 5. Keep the general accounts of government and preserve the vouchers and supporting papers pertaining thereto; 6. Decide any case brought before it within 60 days; 7. Perform such other duties and functions as may be provided by law. COA, as the other constitutional commissions are mandated, is headed by a Chairman and two Commissioners appointed by the President and the Commission on Appointments of Congress.It also enjoys fiscal autonomy which means its appropriations must be released regularl y and automatically. The Commission also deploys resident auditors in all national government agencies, local government units and government-owned and controlled corporations pursuant to its mandate to review each agency’s financial operations in a risk-based audit approach. The Commission on Audit (COA) has developed and introduced a risk-based audit approach (RBAA) that emphasizes the need for the auditors to focus on high-risk areas that are potential breeding grounds for graft and corruption.Auditing plays an important role in public finance, the Auditing Code of the Philippines was promulgated in 1979 (P. D. 1445). As it proceeds mainly from the basic law, the Code amplifies, elaborates, specifies, and implements Under the declaration of policy in the Auditing Code, it is stated that all resources of the government shall be managed, spent and utilized in accordance with law and regulations and safeguard against loss or wastage through illegal or improper disposition, wi th a view to ensuring efficiency, economy and effectiveness in the operations of government.COA reports In order to perform its audit functions, COA produces different kinds of reports. A study by the Philippine National Budget Monitoring Project identified and explained each of these: 1. Regular Annual Audit Report of each NGA, LGU and GOCC 2. Consolidated Annual Financial Report for NGAs, LGUs and GOCCs 3. Special Audit Reports 4. Circulars and other Issuances The Annual Audit Reports contain the results of the audit conducted on the financial statements submitted by agencies, local government units and government-owned and controlled corporations to COA auditors.The results are shown in the form of audit opinions indicating how the agencies faired with their financial statements at the end of each fiscal year. The types of audit opinions are: Unqualified (U), Qualified (Q), Adverse (A) and Disclaimer (D). An Unqualified Opinion refers to the â€Å"clean opinion† or the age ncy reflected the results of the financial statements fairly, which means its operations and the financial condition in a period of time based on existing government accounting standards, and in compliance with government laws, rules and regulations.A Qualified Opinion means that an agency reflected fairly except for some specific transactions and/or accounts that have been found to be problematic, either improper, questionable or needs further explanations. Adverse opinion means that the financial statements did not fairly present its results of operations and financial condition of the agency, and are not in compliance with prescribed laws and applicable guidelines. Lastly, the Disclaimer opinion means that â€Å"there is no sufficient basis to form any opinion† for an agency does not keep or submit its records of financial accounts and transactions.An audit report has the following parts: Audit Certificate, which shows the audit opinion, the Financial Statements, Major Fin dings and Observations which explains if there are defects in the compliance of accounting and auditing rules and policies, and Recommendations to the entities. In turn, COA checks if these measures were conformed by the entity on the next year’s annual audit report. The Consolidated Annual Financial Reports on the other hand show the financial performance of the public sector in general.Each level has a volume of the consolidated financial report, one each for NGAs, LGUs and GOCCs. These are based on the audit reports of each entity. These reports contain the financial condition and highlights of agencies, local government units and government corporations. These reports also reflect the financial resources of the government, even the off-budget accounts or funds that are not subject to annual appropriations. Interestingly, these reports are the only source where one can be informed about funds that are not sourced out from appropriations.Special Audit Reports are purposely for investigation, in response to a request by interested parties or by a directive from Congress. The Commission has already undergone special audit reports on the country’s outstanding debt and special purpose funds such as the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act and procurement of the Department of Public Works and Highways. GAFMIS The Government Accountancy and Financial Management Information System (GAFMIS) is a financial database which keeps the general accounts of the government.It is spearheaded by the COA so as to implement its mandated function. Thru this, the appropriations are verified and allotment releases to agencies are ensured not to exceed the appropriations. From the Department of Budget Management (DBM), copies of Agency Budget Matrices (ABM) and Special Allotment release Orders (SARO) are submitted to GAFMIS and these make up the Registry of Appropriations and Allotments. The GAFMIS is also essential because it assists government agencies with th e Electronic New Government Accounting System (e-NGAS).It is a computerized program of the New Government Accounting System wherein budget transactions, allotments and obligations are recorded and monitored electronically. It also helps in streamlining the New Government Accounting System which provides the new accounting policies in the government. Some of the basic features of the new system are the Accrual accounting and One-fund concept. Accrual accounting recognizes the income when earned and expenses when incurred as oppose to recognizing income when cash is earned and expenses when paid.Internal control and the internal control system Internal control is defined as a process effected by an organization's structure, work and authority flows, people and management information systems which are designed to help it accomplish its goals. It is a means by which an organization's resources are directed, monitored, and measured. It plays an important role in preventing and detecting fraud and protecting the organization's resources. Internal audit is an integral part of internal control. It maintains efficiency and effectiveness in operations.It looks at the reliability of financial transactions in reports by making sure that they are in accordance with rules and regulations. Several provisions in the Philippines have signified the internal control in the government such as Section 123 of the amended Presidential Decree 1445, the Administrative Code 1987 and Government Accounting and Auditing Manual guided by worldwide standards thru the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Organization for Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI). The INTOSAI also formulated standards for the internal control systems in the public sector.It has emphasized that internal control systems shall be in line with the characteristics, values and context of the public organizations. In line with these provisions, the Government has formulated the National Government Internal Control System (NGICS) through the efforts of the DBM and resource and reference panels from various government agencies. It serves as a guide to government agencies in putting up internal control systems. It aims to strengthen accountability, safeguard assets, promote efficiency, economy and effectiveness in the operations and adhere with the policies of the organization. D.Issues and Problems of Government Auditing In her public budgeting and accounting class, the late professor Emilia Boncodin stressed some issues on COAs mandate and the accounting and auditing system of the government as follows: 1. The audit system looks only on the agencies compliance with the accounting standards and laws in the financial reports instead of finding if the agencies have properly allocated their appropriate budgets. 2. Reporting of the GOCC’s entire budget What is reported in the government budget documents regarding the GOCCs are the budgetary support to government c orporations or subsidies only.Yet, COA audits the corporate operating expenses on the entire budget of government corporations. 3. Lax in penalizing because COA is limited to recommendatory functions only Adverse/disclaimer audit opinions and recommendations by COA to government agencies do not have the corresponding penalties or sanctions if they are not acted upon and followed. An example is DPWH’s audit report where it has been given an adverse opinion for the past 18 years. 4. Pre-Audit vs. Post audit Each type of audit has its own problems.Post–audit is disadvantageous because it involves final evaluation of financial transaction – that is after the funds have already been disbursed. Pre-audit however, ironically defeats the overall essential purpose of auditing because financial transactions are assessed beforehand. In the past, COA had been operating on post audit basis since 1995-2009 when COA circular 2009-002 reinstituted the selective pre-auditing due to rising incidents and anomalous disbursements. However, Circular 2009-003 in June 16 2009 suspended some of the provisions in the earlier circular to ensure uniformity and consistency in its implementation.On COA reports The Philippine National Budget Monitoring Project has identified the following limitations that affect the importance of COA reports in ensuring accountability: 1. Timeliness COA’s deadline on the submission of reports is not parallel to the schedule of budget preparation. Audit and financial reports must be submitted by end of September while budget preparation time ends in July when the Congress’ session opens. The timings would thus work best if reversed since the reports should serve as aids in reviewing the agencies’ budgets in time for budget legislation.Given the reality, the value of COA’s reports being used as tools to determine the status of government entities in terms of financial performance and compliance with rules are n ullified. 2. Completeness Audit reports of agencies are not completed on time due to inability of personnel and time constraints. In effect, this puts problems in reviewing the budget and in making the annual financial reports. 3. Availability Although COA’s website is useful in terms of the reports posted, many reports from agencies including those from LGUs and GOCCs are currently missing. 4. Contestability of findingsThere are issues on COA’s findings on its reports. First is that the some of the past findings have not been resolved yet or the so-called â€Å"hereditary balance sheets. † An example is the disallowances that must be deducted by agencies to employees. However, these have not been resolved even if some personnel have already left the service or died. Secondly, there is the inconsistency of audit rules by resident auditors. In some agencies, the rules of past auditors and new auditors differ like deductions that were not present in the past have already been installed at the time the new auditor comes to office.The third issue is the unreasonable application of rules and regulations in auditing. Some expenses are disallowed even if it yields good results. The last issue is the inability of auditors to understand the situation of agencies’ operations. The operations have complexities that emergencies become inevitable and it is hard for them to look at the reasons for the issues in operations. 5. Feasibility of recommendations The COA’s recommendations on reports are not always being followed by agencies and these are already beyond the control of the institution. 6. Conflict of interestCOA auditors are still considered as â€Å"mere mortals† that may experience biases, influences and errors in judgment. There are often claims that some auditors are complicit in bribery and graft. On internal control and the internal control system The NGICS has identified the following limitations of internal control: H uman error, i. e. , errors in judgment such as internal auditor’s biases/conflict of interest, negligence, misunderstanding, fatigue, distraction, collusion, abuse, etc. 1. Shifts in government policies or programs 2. Resource constraints 3. Organizational changes; and 4. Management attitudeE. Measurement of Government Performance Under COA Resolution No. 2002-005 dated May 17, 2002, the Special Audit Office was renamed Management Services to expand its services to include: a. Conduct of Value-For-Money audits and related operations review activities. b. Provide management consultancy services to other government agencies in such areas as: * Organization * Strategy Formulation * Financial Feasibility * Strategic Planning * Other related areas c. Coordinate with all offices of the Commission for the purpose of establishing feedback mechanisms on implemented innovations. d.Formulate recommendations to the Chairman on the adoption of the most appropriate systems for the enhancem ent of operations. e. Perform such other functions as may be assigned. Recently, the Office is assigned to conduct Rate and Levy audits. The functions: Conduct of Value-For-Money (VFM) Audit This audit is concerned with the review of management efficiency with the end in view of eliminating waste and promoting efficient use of public funds and resources and the ascertainment of the agency’s effectiveness by determining whether desired results have been achieved and programs have accomplished their purposes and objectives.Approaches in the conduct of VFM audits Agency-based approach An audit of a particular program, project or activity of a selected agency. Government-wide and Sectoral Performance Audits Government-wide and Sectoral Performance Audits are new approaches adopted by the Commission under COA Resolution No. 98-005 dated March 3, 1998. While these types of audits were introduced in 1998, it was only in 2002 that these approaches were operationalized under the COA-U NDP AusAID Project entitled â€Å"Enhancing the Public Accountability Programme of the Philippine Commission on Audit†.Government-wide audit is the simultaneous examination of a management function or activity in a number of government agencies which is expected to provide: * basic data for comparing practices and operations between and among government agencies in the same sector or with the whole government; * collated data of practices in various government agencies that could show the magnitude or insignificance of deficiencies in the system; * audit criteria which are supported by best practices; * awareness on the part of auditors and the auditees of how their agency compares with other government agencies in terms of objectives, functions, operations, internal and administrative controls, and output; and * opportunities to the audited agency for benchmarking with other government agencies.On the other hand, the Sectoral Audit refers to an audit of programs or activitie s that are delivered by more than one government agency and is expected to provide: * an overall picture of how various segments of a program are implemented and possibly lead to the identification of areas where improvements can be introduced; * audit criteria or benchmark for future audits of government programs by various government agencies; * basis for auditors to realize that program difficulties may not lie with a single agency but possibly with the way the agencies involved in the program work together; * an arena for airing program difficulties by audited agencies; and * opportunity for making changes in the program, if necessary.