Securi Research Articles

The Social Security System in Singapore: Comment

The social security system in a country may be viewed as being directly related to its level of industrialization (Rimlinger 1971). The process of industrialization and resulting urbanization leads to a gradual breakdown in traditional extended family relationships. This implies that an increasing proportion of the labour force becomes entirely dependent on wages. Workers thus become exposed to the risk of cessation of earnings because of sickness, unemployment, or old age and face the need for social security protection.1 Social security measures are aimed at reduc ing insecurity among workers and their families and provide for the less fortunate, thus contri buting to harmonious social development in a country. Though the objective of social secu rity remains the same in all countries, whether developed or developing, the approach to so cial security differs among nations. In many countries, the state or the government takes full responsibility for providing benefits to the distressed against insecurity. In certain coun tries, the state plays a limited role in directly providing social security benefits, but formu lates various measures which allow the labour

The Social Security System in Indonesia: Comment

The development of the social security system in Indonesia is closely related to the economic development of the country. In the unstable, chaotic, and low economic development prior ity of the Old Order regime, social secur ity seems to have been neglected in favour of other more pressing problems of the 1950s and 1960s, such as government restructuring and other political necessities. However, with rapid economic growth and industrialization under the New Order government in the 1970s, the need to develop a modern social security sys tem is being felt. It is not surprising that a partial and prob lem-oriented approach was used in the past in formulating the income maintenance strategy in Indonesia. As correctly observed by the International Labour Organization (ILO):1

Family Financial Satisfaction: The Impact of Reference Points

The Deacon‐Firebaugh model of family resource management provided the con ceptual framework for this study, which was designed to assess the direct effect of selected inputs on a composite measure of financial satisfaction. This measure reflected satisfaction with consumption level, family wealth, and financial secu rity. The inputs included family income, net worth, and the number of earners in the household (resources); the household's debt‐to‐income ratio and child‐ rearing commitments (demands); perceived change in financial condition over time; and a measure of financial aspirations. It was hypothesized that these last two variables would exert a significant direct impact on financial satisfaction. The data analyzed in this study were collected in two communities in each of three states. The responses from husbands and wives were analyzed separately, using multiple regression analyses. The results supported the hypothesis that the “ref erence point” variables (i.e., perceived change in financial condition and aspira tions for the future) exerted a significant direct impact on financial satisfaction. The full regression models, including eight inputs, accounted for between 30 and 40 percent of the variation in financial satisfaction. The results suggest that future research should further explore both the direct and the indirect influence of past financial experience and aspirations on family financial management and financial satisfaction.

Casenote: United States v. Lee, a Second Look

What happens when an individual's religious obligation directly clashes with his civic duty? Can his right to free exercise of his religion be lawfully abridged in favor of laws that conflict with his religious beliefs? The United States Supreme Court has addressed these ques tions on several occasions. More recently in United States v. Lee,1 Court held that the state may justify a limitation on reli gious liberty by showing that it is essential to accomplish an overriding governmental interest. The Warren E. Burger court used balancing test developed by previous courts2 in arriving at its conclusion that followers of Old Order Amish are sub ject to taxation under Social Security Act unless specifically exempted by an act of Congress.3 A closer analysis, however, of claim of an overriding governmental interest shows that Court, in Lee, has failed to meet constitutional standard it formulated and applied. In Lee, an Old Order Amish farmer and carpenter failed to withhold Social Security tax from his employees or to pay employer's share of tax because he believed, as other mem bers of his church do, that payment of such a tax and receipt of Social Security benefits would violate Amish faith. The Old Order Amish believe that there is a Bible-based obligation to look to God for their care and a duty to provide assistance to their fellow members. To look to others or to government to provide such assistance, as contemplated under Social Secu rity system, is a sin. The appellee, Edwin Lee, sued in a federal

Formation des classes, luttes populaires et discours religieux au Nicaragua

The article describes in the first part the constitution of the social classes in Nicaragua. In the first periode, after Indepen dence till the 1850ies, the major groups were constituted by a class of owners of cattle (ganaderos) and another one of peasants. Cof fee plantation introduced Nicaragua into the world capitalist eco nomic structure, but this became more acute still after the intro duction of cotton in the 1950ies. The international importance of the region has been underlined by the frequent interventions of the USA in the country, considered as a part of its zone of secu rity. The US marines left Nicaragua only after the organization of the Guarda Nacional, headed by Somoza. After 45 years of dicta torship, the regime was overthrown by a coalition of popular for ces, organized by the Sandinist Front and a part of the bourgeoisie (conservative and liberal).

A novel approach to the problem of health care in jails

The 150,000 people confined in ja i l s in the Uni ted S ta tes 1 have un ique hea l th problems and a s igni f icant ly h ighe r percentage of medical d isease t han the genera l populat ion. 2 Thei r access to medical care is f requent ly de te rmined by the ja i ler , who m a y be more concerned about securi ty and cost t han medical care. Typica l ly , i n m a t e s come from the s ame u n d e r e d u c a t e d , poor, e t h n i c minor i t ies t ha t have genera l ly been left out of the t r ad i t iona l medical care system in the Uni ted States. I The median l eng th of s tay in j a i l s is seven days ~ m a k i n g cont inu ing care difficult. In ru ra l areas , which m a y a l r e a d y have a shor tage of medical faci l i t ies , the provision of medical care in ja i l s to a t r ans i en t and social ly undes i rab le segment of the popula t ion is often given a low priori ty. In the l a rge r munic ipa l ja i ls , there may be a phys ic ian ava i lab le to conduct da i ly sick call and to supervise hea l th care du r ing week day business hours. I t is unusua l for even the best equipped and most h u m a n e ja i l s to have a phys ic ian ava i lab le for more than 30 hours per week. 2 In sma l l e r ja i l s , there is gene ra l ly no medical care ava i lab le on the premises and the sick i nma te may be escorted to a local physician's office or to a hospi ta l emergency depar tment . 2 Since the inmate cannot gene ra l ly seek out medical care on his own, he is a t the mercy of the ja i ler . Therefore, the i nma te may be denied access to medical t r ea tment . There exist , however, compel l ing legal and moral a rgumen t s for the provision of hea l th care in jai ls . I t m a y be cost effective to screen for tuberculosis , venerea l disease and hepa t i t i s wi th in the inma te populat ion because of the high prevalence of these conditions. 3 The proscr ipt ion of cruel and unusua l pun i shment in the Uni ted S ta tes Const i tut ion has been in te rp re ted b y the Supreme Court as a gua ran tee of basic hea l t h care for inmates . 4 Fede ra l J u d g e F r a n k Johnson ordered the federa l

Socio-Economic Aspects of Laryngectomized Patients

On the basis of 795 responses to a questionnaire, socio-economic aspects of laryngectomized patients were investigated chiefly in relation to the pre-operative occupations. The pre-operative occupations were classified into 14 groups: technical profession (TEC), teaching and religious work (TEA), medical and co-medical profession (MED), art (ART), management and administration (MAN), office work (OFF), sales (SAL), agriculture, forestry, fishery, mining and quarrying (AGR), transportation and electric communication (TRA), hand work and machine operation (HAN), security (SEC), service (SER), others (OTH), and no occupation (NON). The results were summarized as follows: (1) The occupations which required frequent vocal use were TEA, SAL, SER and MAN. (2) Regardless of the preoperative occupation, many persons used their voice less frequently after laryngectomy. This tendency was particularly significant for TEA, SER, SAL, OFF, MAN and SEC. (3) The rate of success in learning to speak was high for TEC, MAN, TRA, SER and SAL, whereas it was low for NON and OTH. (4) Post-operative inconvenience and/or problems were particularly great for ART, SEC, TEA and SER. (5) Post-operative decrease in income was frequent in persons of ART, TEA, SER and OTH. (6) Many persons, especially those in the ART, OFF, OTH and TRA groups were not able to continue in their preoperative occupation.

Report of Study Group D: minimal competencies in mathematics

One of the most urgent practical problems facing mathematics education today is the challenge to define minimum levels of competence in mathematics and to devise teaching strategies that ensure student achievement of that competence. The phrase “minimum competence” has many meanings. For parents and employers of school graduates, dismayed by an apparent recent decline in student mathematical achievement, “minimum competence” often implies the arithmetic skills essential for survival in daily life and occupation in business or skilled trades. Teachers, confused by urgings of curriculum innovators and the criticism of skeptics. seek the secu rity of widely accepted standards for mathematical performance at various levels of schooling. College and university mathematics faculty also hope to improve the performance of entering students by specifying minimum levels of secondary school preparation.

Evaluation of College Students

The purposes of college education can be divided into four areas: (1) impr vement in skills, kn wledge, and attitudes; (2) acquirement of depth in one or more disciplines; (3) integration of the various disciplines to meet the individual's needs; and (4) establishment of some discipline in thought processes. The college usually establishes a grading system based on only (1) and (2) above and little attention is paid to the relevance of the evaluation system to the college objectives. The individ ual student is given a percentage score, a letter grade and/or point score. He is regarded as having satisfactory standing if his average can be represented by a certain percentage, letter grade, and/or point score. The point score system gives a false sense of secur ity to the instructor. Analysis shows that it has doubt ful mathematical value. We say that an A carries 4 points for each credit hour, a B carries 3 points, a C carries 2, a D carries 1. We give 12 points for an A in a 3 credit course, etc. But we are not satisfied merely to total the points. We then divide the total number of points by the total number of credit hours taken and achieve some such number as 2.7. This number does not belong to our original number system of: 4,3,2,1,0. At this point, we have to acknowledge that we have changed our number system. We are now really confused. Many instructors do not know how to interpret the new system. If they do know how to interpret it, they see that we have gone around in a circle from 100 parts as a percentage to 5 letter grades, then again to a system of 50 parts if the interpretation below is used.

The President Needs New Kinds of Power

The President needs to increase the variety and quality rather than the quantity of his power. The problem is of the utmost importance in a political system that is under- productive and beset with social needs. The production of better social policy requires presidential commitment and skill as a value creator, exploitation of the new political move ments of environmentalism and consumerism, support of "left out" interest groups of rising strength, a modernized Congress, and improved administrative techniques, including "participa tory reform." Although protracted wars damage social policy, the United States ought not revert to isolationism because freedom, to which social policy contributes, cannot persist at home without freedom abroad. Rather than encroach upon the President's constitutional powers concerning national secu rity, we should seek to improve presidential decision-making processes in foreign affairs.

Notes on Cicero, In Pisonem

The following notes on the In Pisonem are largely based on the commentary of R. G. M. Nisbet (Oxford, 1961) (‘N’). The references to the speech are by section and line of his text, and where my note is based on one of his I add a reference to the page of his commentary.1. 20 (p. 58) voltus …, qui sermo quidam tacitus mentis est: ‘thoughts are usually revealed by the face.’ Add to Otto's, Seyffert-Muller's, and N.'s examples: Curtius 8. 6. 22 ‘voltus haud sane securi animi index’, Juv. 9. 18 ff.

1 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

ACCORDING to the charter signed by 50 nations on June 26, 1945, the United Nations was organized to maintain international peace and secur ity, to develop friendly relations among nations, to promote cooperation in solving social and economic problems, and, in general, to encourage world unity. The problem of securing agreement among one hundred nations or more, with many differing values and traditions, is indeed great. However, the Atlantic Community is a unique step toward this goal. Twenty neighboring states, sharing (in differing degrees) a common civiliza tion and heritage, are developing, in Europe and North America, what the United Nations is promoting in terms of the entire world.

Educational Implications of Personnel Inventory of Supervisors, head Nurses and Staff Nurses in Selected Hospitals

PSYCHOLOGISTS have established that there are many motivating factors in human life. These have been categorized by Dr. Herbert A. Carroll (3) as, 1) the need for emotional secur ity; 2) the need for achievement or mastery; 3) the need for recognition or status; and 4) the need for physical satisfaction. It is logical to assume that in his vocational pursuits the work er's psychological needs operate to create satis factions or dissatisfactions with his employment. An examination of workers' complaints in bus i ness and industry supports this assumption. Science Research Associates (23) reports that workers' chief complainsts may be categor ized into:

We Could Have Plenty of Good Teachers

Mr. Armstrong, Chief for Teacher Edu cation, Office of Education, Federal Secu rity Agency, suggests a fresh approach to one of our rraost troublesome problems.

BURNS, EVELINE M. Toward Social Se curity : An Explanation of the Social Security Act and a Survey of the Larger Issues. Pp. xiii, 269. New York: Whit tlesey House—McGraw—Hill Book Co., 1936. $2.00

BURNS, EVELINE M. Toward Social Se curity : An Explanation of the Social Security Act and a Survey of the Larger Issues. Pp. xiii, 269. New York: Whit tlesey House—McGraw—Hill Book Co., 1936. $2.00