Why the Iraq War did not go according to plan

The way the Iraq War ended was not as it was planned by the United States. This is because, initially, the United States government had planned its intervention in Iraq to bring a government with multiple parties that was based on democracy. The government was to be in good terms with the Republic of Israel and it was supposed to be an enemy of Iran.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Why the Iraq War did not go according to plan specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It was also supposed to be the operational base of the United States in Middle Easy where the United States government would have great influence ensuring that its oil problems are history. As everybody in the United States now knows, among the aforementioned objectives, none was fulfilled and the enemy in the objectives is the one who profited from the intervention of the U.S. in the Iraq war. Just like in the War in Vietnam, the United States government ha d not done a good work in the assessment of the situation in Iraq before it got involved in the war. This led to a number of surprise and deadly attacks on United States troops that made them make change substantial changes to their initial plans. This led to a great problem in integrating unpredictable military action with the overall objectives of the intervention of the United States government in Iraq (Senor, 2005, p. 1). This was one of the reasons why ultimately, the objectives that the United States government had as it intervened in the situation in Iraq were not met. Instead of fighting an objective war, the U.S. military, following an increase in the number of surprise attacks started to fight the kind of fight meant to protect their lives. This led to the wastage of taxpayer money and the sacrifice of numerous lives for nothing. The plan by the United States to have achieved its objectives by June 2009 was among the things that brought curiosity to U.S citizens about the Iraq issue. Since nothing had been accomplished in the planned time, the United States military started buying time in Iraq long after June 2009. They were even being forced by Iraq military to leave after the elections but they were still adamant. They eventually left Iraq in a manner that appeared as if they had been forced to leave (Lacey, 2003, p. 1). This is a strong indication that the war was lost and it did not end like it was supposed to. Thus another reason for the turn of events at the end of the war was the lack of a well planned timeline for the operations in Iraq. It is common knowledge that the involvement of the United States in the Iraq war was a waste of resources, lives, time and reputation. This is because the main objectives set to be achieved at the end of the war were not achieved. The United States government therefore failed to get the influence it desired over the Middle East and the main enemy, Iran benefited from the war (Senor, 2005, p. 1).Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The main reason for the stated turn of events was improper planning and poor analysis of the situation in Iraq before involvement of the United States. Due to the many aspects of the Iraq War that are similar to the war in Vietnam, the United States government should ensure that it plans properly before going to war. Bibliography Lacey, Jim. (2003). Nothing went according to plan. TIME, April, http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,443808,00.html. Senor, Dan. (2005). Has America Failed in Iraq. Slate. July, https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2005/07/new-rights-are-not-easily-reversible.html. This essay on Why the Iraq War did not go according to plan was written and submitted by user Lorenzo Hicks to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

College Admission Essay †Outline and Structure

College Admission Essay – Outline and Structure Free Online Research Papers Writing an admission essay for college or university can be challenging for a number of reasons. Provided is a structure that helps to demonstrate a solid outline and flow for a four paragraph essay. Paragraph 1 (Introduction) I. Leading sentence: It took me eighteen years to realize what an extraordinary influence my mother has been on my life. II. Summary of main points: I not only came to love the excitement of learning simply for the sake of knowing something new, but I also came to understand the idea of giving back to the community in exchange for a new sense of life, love, and spirit. Paragraph 2 (First Supporting Point) I. Transition sentence: My mothers enthusiasm for learning is most apparent in travel. II. Supporting point: Her mothers enthusiasm for learning. III. Evidence: Learning through travel by using the example of a trip to Greece. Paragraph 3 (Second Supporting Point) I. Transition sentence: While I treasure the various worlds my mother has opened to me abroad, my life has been equally transformed by what she has shown me just two miles from my house. II. Supporting point: Her mothers dedication to the community. III. Evidence: Her multiple volunteer activities such as helping at the local soup kitchen. Paragraph 4 (Conclusion) I. Transition sentence: Everything that my mother has ever done has been overshadowed by the thought behind it. II. Reiteration of main points: She has enriched my life with her passion for learning, and changed it with her devotion to humanity. III. Taking it one step further: Next year, I will find a new home miles away. However, my mother will always be by my side. Research Papers on College Admission Essay - Outline and StructureMind TravelCapital PunishmentPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoTrailblazing by Eric AndersonEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeWhere Wild and West MeetThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseThe Effects of Illegal Immigration

Abortion survivors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Abortion survivors - Essay Example The feelings of guilt resulting from a failed abortion determine the likely hood of allowing the continuance of the pregnancy. The paper will address some of the issues that abortion survivors have had to go through. Life surpasses the right to becoming pregnant. Gianna Jessen failed an abortion attempt when the mother was seven and a half months pregnant. Following the failed attempt, Gianna Jessen was delivered and adopted by a caring family and is currently an activist against the abortion of unborn children (Jessen). Sarah Smith is another survivor who lost her twin brother following an abortion attempt. Both Sarah and Jessen have had a life that has directly affected the birth mothers who are haunted by the guilt for causing so much pain and grief to their children (Smith). The decision to abort Gianna was made because her mother was only seventeen years old during the pregnancy and the economic costs scared her. Sarah’s mother was also afraid of raising another child since she already had five children. The failed pregnancies resulted in two inspirational women who the world needs to inspire people by making better life decisions. The trauma associated with a failed abortion. Melissa Ohden was born following a failed saline infusion abortion. When she was born, the doctors had a notation that she was only around thirty-one weeks into her gestation. The doctors were concerned that her ability to survive was limited and if she did the quality of life she would experience would be full of uncertainties. Currently, Melisa has developed into a healthy woman who is always searching for answers on why the mother wanted to abort her. Melissa discovered that she was an abortion survivor from her adopting parents while she was fourteen and since then her life changed drastically. The psychological torture and the unanswered questions affect her in varying degrees (Ohden). Jessen expresses

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Management - Essay Example Knowledge, understanding, skills development, attitude development, synthesis, analysis, comprehension etc are some of the major elements of learning. Knowledge and understanding represents the surface level learning whereas the skills development, attitude development, synthesis, analysis and comprehension etc are the symbols of deep learning. Critical thinking is necessary for the occurrence of deep learning. According to Pavlovich, (2007), Describing the experience, analysis of the experience, creation of new meanings and understandings and actions for change are the four major dimensions of critical thinking (Pavlovich, 2007, p.284). This paper analyses the importance of these dimensions in critical thinking process. Dimensions of critical thinking â€Å"The first dimension is the manner in which experience act as the context for personal learning. Reflection begins with asking the key questions that describe experience† (Pavlovich, 2007, p.283). It is often said that expe rience is the best teacher than anything else in this world. For example, a child who suffers burns from a candle flame may never tries to touch the flame again. What he knows from this experience is that candle flame or fire is extremely dangerous and it may present painful experience. It is not necessary that he may develop deep understanding from this experience. ... At the same time, fire is a useful entity for the human bad side. Critical thinking is the only way for a person to judge the goods and evils associated with things in this world. The second dimension outlined by Pavlovich, (2007) is the mental activity that reviews experience (Pavlovich, 2007, p.283). Moon (1999) defined critical thinking as a â€Å"mental process with purpose and /or outcome in which manipulation of meaning applied is applied to relatively complicated or unstructured ideas in learning† (p.155). It is not necessary that two people who suffered the same problem may learn similar facts. For example, everybody knows that smoking is injurious to health. Plenty of people died in this world because of smoking related diseases. However, only few people stopped smoking after realizing the dangers associated with smoking. There are plenty of people who continue smoking even after realizing the dangers. This is because of the differences in the mental activities of dif ferent people. Some people are ready to learn from the experiences whereas others are reluctant to learn from experiences. Some people think on long term basis whereas others think on short term basis. Those who stopped smoking can be labeled as long term thinkers whereas those who continue smoking can be labeled as short term thinkers. Paul & Elder (2002) have mentioned that â€Å"short term thinking, which leads to quick fix solutions, is largely the rule of the day† (Paul & Elder, 2002, p.5). On the other hand, long term thinking helps a person to secure his future even if he faces some short term problems. For example, a poor manager may fire an employee who underperforms, whereas a smart manager guide the employee to improve his

Investment Strategies Employed by McDonald's Essay

Investment Strategies Employed by McDonald's - Essay Example With every organization expanding their horizons and making an imprint in various markets, the finance department had to put in an extra effort to formulate strategies to reach company’s financial target. So, this paper will focus on the American food major, McDonald’s and will discuss the major successful strategies adopted by it to deal with international finance and investment issues, then evaluate its performance overall in relation to those financial issues and finally will pick up the potential challenges it could face in the 21st century in the financial segment of its functioning.   McDonald’s, the world’s largest chain of fast-food restaurants, went through ups and downs in its 60 years of functioning, in every aspect of the organization including the financial aspects. Financial aspects, which are the lifeline of any organization, needed to be handled or solved first for the organization to succeed or even survive. In the case of McDonald’s, financial issues have not given any major troubles before 2000. After early 2000 only, McDonald’s faced financial problems and that only led to the implementation of various strategies, which turned out be successful. One of the successful strategies adopted by McDonald’s to deal with its international finance and investment issues is its â€Å"Plan to Win† strategy. Using this strategy, McDonald’s brought wholesome changes, particularly changing the financial issues to the positive side. That is, it introduced new health friendly dishes, refurbished the store’s e nvironment and also signed new celebrities to promote the product and store. â€Å"Plan to Win, a combination of customer-centric initiatives designed to deliver operational excellence and leadership marketing leveraged around five drivers of exceptional customer experiences - people, products, place, price and promotion† (biz.yahoo.com).

Impact of Carbon Fees on Mobility of Passengers

Impact of Carbon Fees on Mobility of Passengers Changes in the mobility pattern of air passengers due to the introduction of a CARBON FEE Other titles Estimating air travel demand under the implementation of an emission trading scheme Passenger air travel demand and carbon emission fee impact assessment The effect of environmental policies on consumer’s preferences for air travel How could environmental policies change air travel pattern in US? GMM estimation of a supply-and-demand model for air travel and the effects of the introduction of a carbon fee (for the journal) Incorporating a carbon trading scheme in supply-and-demand model for air travel Titlos TRB: AIR TRAVEL DEMAND IN U.S.: THE EFFECTS OF A CARBON EMISSIONS FEE Ioanna Pagoni Voula Psaraki-Kalouptsidi Aviation environmental policies aim to mitigate emissions generated from air transportation through the use of policy tools. These may include Regulatory Measures, such as aircraft emissions/noise certification standards, Technology/Operational Measures, such as improvements in engine and aircraft technology and Market-based Measures which include emissions trading, emissions charges and taxes and emissions offsetting. A wide range of market-based measures are currently implemented in aviation sector. Within these measures, a price is set on the â€Å"non-priced† emissions in order to account for the negative environmental externality of aviation. The scope is to create incentives for aviation stakeholders to implement fuel-efficient techniques to reduce aircraft emissions. The result is an extra cost to the airlines which may in-turn be reflected in the ticket price in case the airlines decide to pass-through this cost to the passengers. The most known market-based measure for aviation is the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) which was launched in 2012 and initially planned to cover every flight landing in or departing from the EU, regardless of where the operator is incorporated. After serious international opposition, mainly by American and Canadian airlines, and in expectation of a global market-based mechanism, EU proposed that only emissions from the proportion of the flight within EU territory are to be charged until 2016. In this context, several U.S. and Canadian airlines have already taken action. Delta, Air Canada and United have introduced a voluntary carbon offsetting program, where the passengers can offset the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions resulting from their travel by making charitable contributions to several environmental projects, such as forest conservation and renewable energy. Based on the United’s on-line carbon calculator, a passenger travelling from New York (JFK) to San Francisco (SFO) would pay a carbon offset cost of $12.59 to support forest conservation in California. Furthermore, major U.S. airlines, including Delta, United and American Airlines introduced a $3 surcharge per passenger for European flights so as to cope with the EU-ETS. Motivated by these actions, this paper identifies room to research the implementation of a carbon fee on U.S. airlines. Such a policy may influence many aspects of the aviation system, including ticket prices and demand. Various studies have examined the impact of environmental policies on air travel. However, most of these studies use price elasticities of demand based on previous studies. This paper contributes to the existing literature by incorporating the carbon emissions’ cost into a structural model with a discrete choice modeling for consumers’ demand and an airline supply side to investigate the impacts on airlines’ market share and their competition strategies after the introduction of a carbon fee in United States. Airlines offer differentiated products (airline-route specific) in each market (O-D city pairs) and the passengers choose to â€Å"buy† one product or take the outside option of not â€Å"buying† (not flying). In each market, p rices and product shares are determined in Bertrand-Nash equilibrium. The carbon fee is then included in the model as it is believed that it will affect costs, prices and demand. Demand specification plays a critical role when examining policy measures. We estimate a two-level Nested Logit (NL) model for air travel demand using aggregate Origin-Destination data. We incorporate a NL model, instead of a multinomial logit (MNL) in order to capture correlations among airline products and differentiate them from other travel modes (rail, car etc). This feature helps overcome the limitation of the Independence from Irrelevant Alternatives (IIA) property of MNL that may lead to incorrect elasticities and choice probabilities. For the supply side, we establish the airline’s profit function which is equal to the airline’s revenues from ticket sales minus the airline’s costs. We assume that airlines conduct differentiated Nash competition to determine ticket prices. It is noted that after the implementation of the carbon fee, the airline’s costs include the â€Å"carbon cost† which depends on the unit carbon price (per tn CO2) and the amount of emitted CO2. Overall the model is solved in two â€Å"steps†: first, we estimate the model to find the determinants of traveler’s and airline’s behavior. Several variables were included in the demand (such as ticket price, frequency, delays, airline dummies etc ) and cost equations (such as distance, number of connections etc). Other variables that have not been examined by previous papers are also included in the model and are found to be statistically significant. The model is jointly estimated by the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) to correct for bias caused by the endogenous variables of ticket price and market shares. Next, we modify the airline’s costs by introducing the carbon cost and simulate changes in the equilibrium behavior of players. To estimate the model we use publicly available data provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation. A variety of databases are merged to construct our sample for estimation: the Airline Origin and Destination Survey (DB1B), the T-100 Domestic Segment for U.S. Carriers and the On-Time Performance database. The analysis is conducted on market level (Origin-Destination city pairs) where routes provided by different airlines (unique combination of Origin-Connecting-Destination airports and airline) compete with each other. One important part of this work is the computation of CO2 emissions. The computation is done flight-by-flight using fuel burn data from ICAO Engine Exhaust Emissions Databank and EUROCONTROL’s Base of Aircraft Data. The results are presented for different markets so as to identify the impact of the various degrees of competitiveness in the marketplace (monopoly, oligopoly etc) on the examined carbon policy. The results indicate that price adjustment is a reactive measure as it is intended to eliminate the impact of the carbon fee on airline costs. Across different markets, the effects vary, depending on the size and number of firms serving the market and the prevailing ticket prices. It is also found that the implementation of a carbon fee will be effective only if the market carbon price reaches a sufficiently high level to create incentives for airlines to invest in abatement measures and thus reduce carbon emissions. Keywords: discrete choice, nested logit, generalized method of moments, carbon fee, Nash equilibrium

Foundation :: essays research papers

Foundation I believe that all children should have a strong foundation in Ethnicity because ethnicity plays a role in everyone’s life. You can’t avoid ethnicity, no matter where you go. Ethnicity is not just race, but religious beliefs and other ways of life too. That is why I believe that you can’t avoid it. Children should be introduced to this foundation early in life because the earlier they learn, the more accepting of it they’ll be. Also, by learning about ethnicity at an early age, children can create their own perspective on life as they grow older. Also, children can learn what is important to other people. If they know about the way this person lives and feels, they will be closer to that person. Ethnicity is something we take for granted too often. If you ask people what ethnicity is in their minds, they’ll say Italians, Hispanics, Germans and so forth. Yes, this is true, this is part of ethnicity, but people in the same groups(i.e. Italians) donâ⠂¬â„¢t all view a subject in similar way. Often, they have different views. To educate a child in this foundation is very important. Without it, children will view everything as the same, and if that happens, people get angry with you and have ill feelings toward you. Therefore, we must educate children thoroughly in ethnicity so that they will understand life better. The Wizard of Oz- Dorothy leaves Kansas and is taken to a mysterious land. She has to adapt to the lifestyle to survive. The Emperor’s New Clothes- the emperor views the tailors as smart. When he realizes that he’s wearing nothing, he must deal with the people of his kingdom. A Christmas Carol- Scrooge sees how the families of his employees live. He realizes that he is wealthy and should share his money with others. Reading- You can read books about other countries or people. Math- You can play a game using numbers from other languages Science- You can match scientists to the country they come from

Aggressive Skating

My favourite hobby is Aggressive Skating. When people think of skating they perhaps think of people skating along Brighton Pier. Aggressive Skating is totally different. If you have never heard of it or tried it you are in for a treat. Aggressive skating is expensive to start if you are new to the sport. Specialist shops sell everything you need, they are Roller Snakes, SS20, Transition, Skater's Paradise, H.P.S (Half Pipe Sports), UK Skates, Blue Room etc. There are lots more shops that I could name but those are the better ones. The costs of the skates vary from à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½120 to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½230. There are two different types of skates; hard boot and soft boot. The main difference is hard boot is made all out of plastic, soft boot is made from material and fabric and plastic inner boot. You can buy extras for your skates like frames and wheels. Unlike skateboarding there is not a set clothes style as such. You can buy some shirts and jumpers with some sponsors or brands on them but not a lot. The style that most skaters wear is long shirts and baggy jeans. They wear baggy jeans because they last much longer than other clothes. The basics of aggressive skating are learning to go up ramps and how to jump. The skate is much heavier than shoes so when you can jump with them on you are ready to try some tricks. There are many different styles of skating such as ‘Street'. Street is very different to other aspects of skating it is when you skate around looking for flat ledges and handrails. They can be small, tall long or even fat rails. My motto is â€Å"as long as you can reach it you can skate it†. To skate Street is illegal because you are skating on other people's property without their permission. Street skating is unsafe because the structures are untested. Street is very hard to do there is no safe way to skate street. The best you can do is wear shin guards. You should not street skate alone. It is safer to skate with friends because if you have an accident they will be there to call for help. You go out try it and find more and more sites to skate. Another style of skating is ‘Park'. Park is not illegal to skate at because it is purpose built. The one rule is that when in a skate park all injuries are your fault and the park does not accept responsibility for any injuries. There are some places to skate such as Playstation in London, Wandle Park in Croydon, Skaterham in Caterham and others. Park is safer to skate because it is structured to last a long time. You can go to Skate Parks at any time and usually they will have some low rails to practice on for beginners. Park has different ramps such as, Half-Pipes, Spine, Volcano, Mini Street course, Death Box. Competition skating is for those who are sponsored or want to be sponsored. The prize money is quite good but the extras are better. If you skate competition then you may get spotted and you could get sponsored. When you get sponsored you get free merchandise such as skates, wheels, clothes, frames, bags anything to do with skating. They want you to advertise their gear so others buy them whilst you get it all free. The social aspect of skating is basically all about friends. I started skating a year ago and I only knew three people but now I know 47 people who are my friends. Whenever the weather is good we arrange to meet each other at a particular park and we skate all day! Sometimes parents get angry because we are missing all day. Time flies when you are having fun. I remember when my friend was supposed to go home but he stayed at the park for an extra two hours and his mother came to get him. His street credibility was washed down the drain, because he was embarrassed and we never let him forget it. Each skater has a move that no one else can do. My trick is a 360 over the Volcano. This trick needs speed, height, spin and a good landing. It is very hard to do and I am the only one to land it. If you want to socialise with the best you must prove yourself worthy. If you socialise with people that are a bit better than you are then it pushes you to try harder and do more difficult tricks. There are some games that we play like trick for trick. This is when someone does a trick and you have to do the same one. Slam is another game it is when someone sets a trick or combination of tricks then you get three tries at it and if you don't do it you get a letter if you get all four letters you are out. There are three main different trick types the first one is spins. Spins are very fast and hard to land. There are different types of spins, such as late spins where you get air wait then spin near the end of your jump. Flat spin, this is when you approach the ramp at an angle and you spin at a horizontal angle then come back down and land vertical. This trick is hard to do. The most spins a skater has done is 1260. The spins I have achieved is a 720. For me this is hard but my little brother who is 13 can do a 900 and land it. The second trick type is Air this is where all the back flips and grabs come in. I can do lots of grabs but I cant back flip or front flip. Some of my friends can do somersaults. One day soon I will try a back and front flip then get into the complex stuff. The third trick is grinds and there are many different grinds I can do all the basic grinds and I can do some hard ones too. I can True Spin, Full Cab, Unnatural, Topside, Zero Spin and Ally OOP. These are different ways and types of grinds. In skating you must be safe, you should be prepared for anything. The type of protection you can buy will help you not to get injured badly but you will still get hurt. There is a very high danger level and injuries can be as minor as grazes to broken bones, but it is an adrenaline rush and you must try it.

Art Of Fly Fishing Essays - Fly Fishing, Recreational Fishing

Art Of Fly Fishing Essays - Fly Fishing, Recreational Fishing Art Of Fly Fishing There are six main elements of fly fishing; a fly rod (usually around 9 feet long), a fly reel (a round shaped real with a 1:1 relative ratio), a fly line (around 90 feet long), fly lining backing (fills up the reel and is spare line in case the fish takes a long run), a tippet to tie to the front end of the fly line so it does not scare the fish (around 9 feet of clear line), and a few flies (lures made from winding furs, feathers, glitter and various other things around a hook). Picking the right fly in itself can be made into an art. In fact interested enthusiasts often choose to tie their own flies in order to obtain the perfect fly. Aside from that, like almost any aspect of fishing, fly tying is a hobby. As I stated before fly-fishing differs greatly from lure fishing. One of the biggest differences, and adjustments to fishing style, is that it is not the sinker of the lure that provides the fisherman with the weight to cast, but rather that the fly line itself provides the angler with the weight necessary to cast. The easiest cast on a fly line to learn to cast on is a weight forward line. This means that most of the weight in the line is in the first ten or twenty five feet. This cast allows the fisherman to make short and accurate casts. This method has been proven very effective in clear water streams where you sight a desired fish to catch. Once you have obtained all the necessary equipment you need to locate a good fishing hole. (Even if you are with an experienced angler who has a favorite fishing hole it is a good idea to know how to read the river, because with time the rivers change, and if you are relying on a favorite fishing spot to always be there you may be in for a big surprise with the change of the seasons.) You have to remember that you are attempting to imitate food for a feeding fish. In order to do this you have to do two things, choose a fly, and choose a fishing spot. When choosing a fly look around in your environment to see which bugs the fish are feeding on. If you have trouble-locating insects shake a bush or a branch and note what flies out. Next you should observe your environment in order to see where the fish are feeding. If you are fishing in slow or still water it may be easy to see surfacing fish, however in faster water the ripples often make it difficult to see where the fish are seeking refuge. A good rule of thumb is to find a spot where the fish will be forced to excerpt as little energy as possible. This often means finding a rock and floating a fly right by it, or finding an eddy where the current is detoured and slowed. Now you are ready to fish! The first thing that you have to do when casting a fly rod is to get a nice firm grip on the handle. Hold the rod with fingers wrapped around the handle and thumb facing forward, like you would grip a golf club. Run about ten to fifteen feet of line out of the reel and let it fall to your feet. Make sure there is nothing for the line to get caught on or around. Now flick the line out through the rod with small flicks of your wrist so the ten or fifteen feet of line are lying out in front of you. Now raise the rod and swing it back to about one oclock, using your forearm and not your wrist. In about two seconds you should feel the line tighten behind you and the tip of your rod should bend back slightly. When you feel such resistance, push the rod forward and give a small flick of the wrist so that the rod ends up at about ten oclock. The line should speed out in front of you and lay flat on the ground. (Be careful not to hook yourself or others nearby.) You will soon find yourself performing trick casts around trees and mangroves. Remember

Three Words Improvisations

Three Words Improvisations Student actors love improvs. This one generates a lot of original thinking in a short amount of time. If you focus the thinking of student actors on three words or phrases chosen at random to guide their creation of an improvised scene, you will free them to think far more creatively than if you told them to create a scene about anything at all. Although it sounds counter-intuitive, setting limits actually frees up creativity. This exercise gives student practice in quick collaboration, decision-making, and improvising based on a small amount of pre-planning. Detailed Instructions for facilitating this Improvisation 1. Prepare a number of words on individual slips of paper. You may prepare your own, or visit this page for lists  of words that you can download,  photocopy, cut, and use with your students. 2. Place the slips of paper containing the words into a hat, which, of course may actually be a box or a bowl or any other kind of bin. 3. Tell student actors that they will work in groups of two or three people. Each group will pick three words at random and meet together to quickly decide on the characters and context of a scene that will somehow employ their three chosen words. The individual words may be spoken within the dialogue of their improv or may merely be suggested by the setting or the action. For example, a group that gets the word villain may create a scene that features a character who is a villain without actually ever including that word in their dialogue. A group that gets the word laboratory may set their scene in a science lab, but never use the word in their scene. 4. Tell students that their goal is to plan and then present a short scene that has a beginning, middle, and an end. Every member of the group must play a role in the improvised scene. 5. Remind students that some kind of conflict within a scene generally makes it more interesting to watch. Recommend that they think about a problem that the three words suggest and then plan how their characters might work to solve the problem. Whether or not the characters succeed is what keeps audiences watching. 6. Divide students into groups of two or three and let them choose three words at random. 7. Give them approximately five minutes to plan their improvisation. 8. Gather the whole group together and present each improvised scene. 9. You may choose to have each group share their words before their improvisation or you may wait until after the improv and ask the audience to guess the groups words. 10. After each presentation, ask the audience to compliment the strong aspects of the improvisation. What worked? What effective choices did the student actors make? Who demonstrated a strong use of body, voice, or concentration in the performance of the scene? 11. Then ask the student actors to critique their own work. What went well? What would you change if you were to present the improv again? What aspects of your acting tools (body, voice, Imagination) or skills (concentration, cooperation, commitment, energy) do you feel that you need to work on and improve? 12. Ask the whole groupactors and audienceto share ideas for ways to improve the improvised scene. 13. If you have the time, its great to send the same groups of student actors back to rehearse the same improvised scene and incorporate the recommendations that they agree with. Additional Resources If you havent already, you may want to review the  article  Classroom Improvisation Guildelines and share it with your students. These guidelines are also available in poster form for older and younger students.

Welfare Reform Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Welfare Reform - Research Paper Example For most of our jobless countrymen, welfare checks provide the means to continue to purchase life giving food as sustenance in their daily lives. However, the economic hardships that have befallen our local governments have forced its leaders to rethink and reform the local welfare laws in order to protect the neediest and deserving members of the state. This was done by multiple states in the guise of requiring all welfare participants to submit themselves to individual drug testing prior to their application for welfare. Although there have been some people caught as being positive for substance abuse in the past, this particular welfare reform has not been as successful as its implementing bodies hoped it would be. The failure of the drug testing law in relation to welfare privileges stem from the various complaints filed by different sectors of society against the law. These groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) claim that the local law revisions are a violati on of basic human rights and must therefore be declared null and void by the state courts. This paper aims to look into the validity of the legality of the claims by the various human rights organizations in an effort to prove the ill effectiveness of this particular law in relation to welfare reform. ... at the time explained that (1999): The Fourth Amendment guarantees that no individual in this country can be subjected to a search by the government unless there is reasonable suspicion that they have committed some crime, Welfare recipients may be poor, but that's not a crime—not yet, anyway. The ACLU believes that by requiring mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients, those wishing to avail of the government aid will have been branded by society in a negative manner before they have even been proven to have committed any offenses. The law simply has too many loop holes, in the opinion of the group, for it to become actually effective in preventing the use of tax payer dollars by drug addicts who happen to be a member of our society. In Michigan, they believed that this law would have been an effective deterrent towards drug abuse even though (1999): ... evidence from a 1996 federal study showing that "the percentage of welfare recipients using, abusing, or dependent on alcohol or drugs [is] relatively small and consistent with the general U.S. population and those not receiving welfare benefits... Due to the existing inconsistencies in the law, its implementation, and questionable effectiveness in deterring welfare recipients from participating in illegal drug activities, the law was eventually halted and has not been implemented since. Let us be clear though that this law has not become as widespread in implementation as the government had first hoped. This is because the 1996 Welfare Reform Act did not make it a mandatory prerequisite to receiving government aid. The ACLU claims that (ACLU, 2008): Before the Michigan policy was halted, only 10% of recipients tested positive for illicit drugs. Only 3% tested positive for hard drugs, such as cocaine and

The Role of Corporate Governance Mechanism of Independent Directors Essay

The Role of Corporate Governance Mechanism of Independent Directors - Essay Example The mechanism suggests that the Board of Directors should comprise of an equal numbers of executive and non-executive (independent) directors. Executive directors are responsible for the management of the company’s operations whereas the non-executive directors, which are appointed by the shareholders, are responsible for the supervision of the executive directors’ performance as a whole. Under the framework, the independent directors are responsible for setting up board committees, which govern the performance of the board. These committees include audit committee, remuneration committee and nomination committee. The audit committee supervises the reporting of the financial statements between the management and the shareholders of the company, remuneration committee is responsible for devising remuneration packages for the executive directors of the board after considering their performance and the nomination committee is responsible for nominating directors that can b ecome the part of the board after elected by the board of directors. This whole framework is then observed in the real life examples of various organizations in UK, so as to see how effectively the mechanism has been applied and how well it is performing in achieving the main purpose of the framework. The Role of Corporate Governance Mechanism of Independent Directors According to the Cadbury report (1992), Corporate Governance has been defined as ‘the system by which companies are directed and controlled (P 15, paragraph 2.5).’ The system states that the board of directors is assigned the responsibility of governing the companies on the behalf of the shareholders, whereas the shareholders are in charge of appointing a board of directors along with auditors, so that they can be satisfied that a suitable system of governance is in place. In this paper the mechanism of independent directors, defined by the Corporate Governance, will be discussed to see how this mechanism works for the effective execution of governance. The concept of independent directors was originally acquired from the Anglo-American model of Corporate Governance, where there was a unified structure of board of directors. The main reason behind the concept was to apply checks and controls where there was a separation between ownership and control of the organization (Ali and Gregoriou, 2006). Recent progress in economic theory suggests that the appointed board of directors play a vital part in the effective governance of a corporation. With the authority to hire, fire and compensate the senior management of the company, the board of directors ensures that the problems relating to the conflicts of interest among the shareholders and the management are resolved and controlled. This contributes to economizing the transaction costs (also called the agency costs) that arises as a result of the separation of ownership and control, thus facilitating the existence of an organization as an open corporation (Baysinger and Butler, 1985). The basic agency problems that arise as a consequence of the separation of control and ownership include; managers acting in order to serve their personal interests, non-transparency of financial performance between the managers and the shareholders in ord er to portray a better picture of the company’s performance by keeping the shareholders in the dark and the management’s motivation to focus on short term performance and manipulation of the financial performance in order to secure incentives (Rezaee, 2007). In order to overcome these issues corporate governance defined a framework of board of directors to introduce independent direc