Google is Making us Stupid Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Google is Making us Stupid - Essay Example How much of what we know now do we get from Google? How often have we avoided the traditional methods of doing stuff and simply looked it up? While this may seem like a means of making light work, one is compelled to think of how little people want to exert themselves since Google and similar search engines came to existence. When a student is asked to write an article about the problems encountered in their school, they may rush to Google since they have assured it is the authority on everything. While may have information on a considerable number of subjects it would never be in a better position to understand your own environment. The hypothetical student ends up writing an easy about problems faced in another place and time and it loses all semblance of personal touch. It would seem that people have simply switched off their brains and let Google do all the thinking. The fact is that it may be deficient or it may lead them to links with unreliable content does not bother most of the people today. According to the two founders of Google Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the ultimate search engine is one that understands what one wants. They go ahead to state that this can be achieved by artificial intelligence arguing out that had one a brain connected to all the information they wanted it would be the perfect information system (Carr 1). However, the writer is vehemently opposed to this and with a good reason. Imagine if all human were to replace parts, then gradually all their brains with a computer. They would be able to surf the web instantaneously, and information could flow unhindered. Business deals could be opened and closed without leaving the comfort of your living room. The others fear are not new, even Socrates, when writing was first invented was skeptical saying it would cause people to lose much of their memories (Carr 1). In case the current written works mysteriously disappear and the computer databases collapse, it is unlikely that we would salva ge much of our knowledge from our memories. Yet the scholars of the past memorized Homers work and passed them on without writing, and today anyone capable of doing that would be perceived as a genius. The world and all its citizens would be fully reliant on the internet. Indeed one would be able to chat with friends on facebook or make calls without a phone (Laza 1). Conversely, all the risks found it the internet, and there is no doubt they would have increased in intensity alongside technology as it has in retrospect. As aforementioned, if wiring of the human brain with artificial one would indeed be possible, the risks that would occur are terrifying beyond belief. For once, assuming that humans would interact with their minds, not their PCs, computer virus would not just be something that crashes your computer. It would mess with ones brain and possible part them from your senses. Terrorist would have a new avenue for plying their trade. They would do this by inflating the brai ns of leaders, and other powerful people causing them to engage in self-destructive activities. Indeed the intent as it is today is highly unsafe and not the best place to get privacy. There would be no doubt as systems for controlling this in the same way that the internet search engines like Google have administrators. As such, these people would not only have power over the system of minds but even the individual minds.

Supreme Court Essay Example for Free

Supreme Court Essay Marbury v. Madison:(1803) Judicial review In 1801, Justice William Marbury was to have received a commission from President Adams, but Secretary of State James Madison refused to issue the commission. Chief Justice Marshall stated that the Judiciary Act of 1789, which was the basis for Marburys claim, conflicted with Article III of the Constitution. Marbury did not receive the commission. This case determined that the Supreme Court and not the states would have the ultimate word on whether an issue was in violation of the Constitution. The Supreme Court judged that when the state of Georgia rescinded a land grant it was unconstitutional since it revoked the rights already granted in the contract. This was the first case to declare a state law in violation of the Constitution. . Dartmouth College v. Woodward: (1819) Contracts and State law The New Hampshire legislature amended the original charter of the college, which had been in place since 1769, to make the college more accessible to the public. The problem was that the legislature acted without consultation with the college trustee. The Supreme Court ruled that the original charter was inviolable as the charter was a contract. This decision led to a strengthening of property rights against state abridgement. McCulloch v. Maryland: (1819) Implied powers James Madison created a national bank, The state of Maryland believed this was an intrusion into states rights and attempted to tax the bank. James McCullough, who worked at the bank, refused to pay the state taxes because he believed the state had no right to tax a national bank. Marshall stated. That the bank was incompliance with the constitution and could not be subjected to state taxes. This case established the rule that states could not tax an institution of the federal government. Gibbons v. Ogden: (1824) Interstate commerce Act issue was the right to carry passengers along a canal from New York to New Jersey. The state of New York had granted Aaron Ogden the exclusive right. The federal government issued a license to Thomas Gibbons for the same route. On appeal the case went to the Supreme Court after Ogden sued Gibbons and won. The Supreme Court decided that Gibbons was right and that states cannot stop Congress regulating interstate commerce. This was a landmark case because it established federal authority over the states. This became the basis of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Cherokee Nation v. The State of Georgia: (1831) State law and Indians The Cherokee Indians had been farming the land in the western part of the state and had established their own government. The Georgians passed laws and tried to have the Cherokee government declared null and void. The Cherokee nation brought the suit to the Supreme Court on the grounds that the Cherokee nation was a foreign entity and therefore the state of Georgia had no rights. Marshall knew that if he ruled in favor of the Indians, President Jackson would not enforce the ruling. So Marshall ruled that the Cherokee nation did not constitute a foreign nation. Thus the Supreme Court had no jurisdiction over the Cherokee nation. Worcester v. Georgia: (1832) State law and Indians in Worcester v. Georgia John Marshall invalidated a Georgia law concerning entry into the Cherokee nation. In this case Worcester, a missionary, sued on the grounds that the state had no right to control any aspect of the Cherokee nation as this would fall within the powers of the federal government. This was just one more instance of the Marshall Court increasing power for the federal government over state governments. The Marshall court attempted to protect the property rights of the Indians. Unfortunately, even Marshall was unable to keep the Indians from continually being forced off their land. . Scott v. Sanford: (1857) Citizenship and Slavery Dred Scott was the slave of an army doctor. The doctor had lived in free states and in free territories, but had returned to Missouri, a slave state, before his death. Scott sued the doctors wife for his freedom on the basis that in a free state he had been free. The Supreme Court decided that Congress had no power to forbid slavery in the territories. They also said that as a slave, Scott was not a citizen and was not eligible to sue in a federal court. This decision annulled the Missouri Compromise and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The case centered on 3 issues: a) Was Dred Scott a citizen? b) Could Congress prohibit slavery in the territories? c) If a slave was property, then shouldnt Sanford be compensated? Scott and his family did win their freedom because Scotts new owner was the widows brother and a known abolitionist. This case was never about the freedom of Dred Scott but about the future expansion of slavery into the territories. Texas v. White:(1869) Legality of Confederate Government Policies After the Civil War the reconstruction government of the state of Texas brought suit to regain state-owned securities, which had been sold by the Confederate state legislators during the war. The defense claimed that since Texas had not been restored to the Union there were no grounds for a federal court case. Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase maintained that since secession was illegal, Texas had never left the Union. Chase said the Confederate government of the state had been unlawful so all acts carried out by the government were null and void. Therefore the state was entitled to recover the securities. Plessy v. Ferguson: (1896) Separate but equal Homer Plessy was arrested in Louisiana for riding in a whites-only railroad car. Plessy, who was one-eighth African American, appealed on the basis of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The court said that so long as the facilities were equal then it was legal to racially separate. This became the impetus for segregation across the south. Swift and Company v.  United States: (1905) Defining Interstate Commerce. Swift claimed to be participating in business that was intrastate and not interstate, which he added, meant the interstate commerce act did not apply to his business. The court agreed unanimously that this was not the case and Swift was trying to create a monopoly. Armed with the Sherman Antitrust Act, Oliver Wendell Holmes said the company had a current of commerce among states. Bunting v. Oregon: (1917) Government Enforcement of 10-Hour Workday. In 1913 Oregon established a 10-hour workday for all men and women in mills or manufacturing industries. Any work beyond the ten hours was payable at a rate of time -and-a-half. Bunting, who owned a factory required his workers to work a 13 hour day and did not pay overtime. The Court was split on the issue and did not want to be seen as a regulator of wages. Eventually the court decided that overtime pay did not constitute wage regulation. Schenck v. United States: (1919) Freedom of Speech during Wartime. During World War I Charles Schenck had distributed pamphlets that said the draft was illegal. He was charged under the Espionage Act (1917). Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes rejected the argument that the pamphlets were protected by the free speech clause of the Constitution. Holmes told the court that freedom of speech could be suppressed if there is a clear and present danger, and since this happened during a time of war, there was such a circumstance. Korematsu v. United States: (1944) Legality of Japanese Internment during WWII In1942, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which required the forced relocation of over 100,000 Japanese-Americans to relocation camps. The Supreme Court ruled the relocation was illegal. In1988 these people, of whom many were citizens, received compensation. tL-94l.. . Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas: (1954) Equal protection Linda brown was denied admission to a local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas. The basis for her denial was that she was black. Chief Justice Earl Warren overruled the separate but equal doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson. He stated that the public schools violated the fourteenth amendment condition of equal protection under the law. The defendants claimed that the inferior conditions in segregated schools hindered their development. After the ruling was made, the court declared that segregation must end. Gideon v. Wainwright: (1963) Representation by Counsel Gideon was accused of a breaking into a poolroom in Florida but he had no financial means to secure a defense. He requested a defense counsel but was refused and was forced to defend himself. The court returned a guilty verdict. This led to the Supreme Court ruling that all people were entitled to legal counsel regardless of their ability to pay for legal counsel. Heart of Atlanta Motel v.  United States: (1964) Interstate commerce In 1964 Congress tried to pass the Civil Rights Act based on its power to regulate interstate commerce. Congress believed it had the right to ban discrimination in public accommodation and in employment. A motel owner challenged the law on the basis, that he had a local business which should not be considered interstate commerce. The Supreme Court ruled that since the business gained most of its income from interstate commerce; thus, the business was liable to the rules of Article 1, section 8 of the Interstate Commerce Act. Wesberry v. Sanders: (1964) one man tine vote This case dealt ith the apportionment of congressional districts in Georgia. The voters of Georgias fifth congressional district, easily the largest district, believed that their representation was not as equal as that of other districts with less people. They argued that because the state legislators had failed to, realign the districts their vote was debased. The Supreme Court ruled that as much as possible districts should be comparable in terms of population. Miranda v. Arizona: (1966) Rights in custody Ernesto Miranda a man who had not completed the ninth grade was arrested at his home in Arizona and identified as a suspect ina rape-kidnapping case. When he was questioned about the crime Miranda maintained he was innocent, but after two hours of interrogation he signed a confession. At the trial the confession was admitted as evidence and the court found Miranda guilty. The police acknowledged that Miranda had not been made aware. of his rights during the process nor had he had access to legal counsel. While the Miranda confession was given with relatively little pressure it still violated the constitutional requirements that governed such procedures. Inthis case, the Warren court ruled that the accused must be made aware of his or her rights from the beginning. Roe v. Wade: (1973) Right to Privacy During the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s the number of abortions performed illegally was unbelievably high. Inits decision the Court struck down a Texas law that made it illegal to perform abortions unless the womans life was risk. Jane Roe an unmarried mother wanted to terminate her pregnancy but she did not meet the necessary requirements. The Court sided with Roe and said that a woman had a constitutional right to privacy that extended to cover a decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy. Bakke v. Board of Regents of California: . (1977) Affirmative Action In an attempt to get greater racial and ethnic diversity The University of California Medical School at Davis created a special category for minority students. This was the first constitutional test for affirmative action. Bakke, a white student, was rejected by the university and filed a lawsuit alleging discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1965. The Court said the university can use special criteria to determine which students gained acceptance so long as it did not use a quota system.

Principle of Non-maleficence Violation: Case Study

Principle of Non-maleficence Violation: Case Study Introduction Pakistan is a developing country with 184 million populations; majority of people is living in rural areas, where literacy rate is very low. The burden of Chronic liver disease (CLD) is increasing day by day due to poor compliance to preventive measures. According to Qureshi, Bile, Jooma, Alam and Afridi (2010) the burden of hepatitis B and C is increasing in general population and it is currently 7.6%. High prevalence of hepatitis B and C will result in increased incidence of CLD. Quality of life among CLD patients is very poor and the only option for them is liver transplantation. Unlike liver transplantation renal transplantation started early in 1985, currently facility is available both in public and private hospital across the country. On other hand very few liver transplantation were performed in the country despite the fact that every year 10,000 people die due to CLD (Ali, Qureshi, Jilani, Zehra 2013). The liver transplant project was initiated in 2011 at Pakistan Institut e of Medical sciences under special instruction from prime minister of Pakistan. The purpose of this project was to provide liver transplant facility in the country on affordable cost. Scenario 32 years old male having three children diagnosed with CLD, was operated liver transplantation in public sector hospital. The liver was taken from live donor 28 years old wife of the patient. On 3rd post op day the patient start severe bleeding with tachycardia and hypotension. Patient become unconscious and was rushed to operation room (OR). Meanwhile patient crashed and Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) started. After 6 hours of CPR patient cardiac activity was resumed, but still bleeding from drain and body orifices. Patient was on high inotropic support and back to back transfusion of blood and blood product to maintain hemoglobin and platelet of patient. Later on patient expired and his wife remain in hospital till her recovery Analysis of ethical issue The procedure was performed without enough resources and principle of non-maleficence was violated. The hospital management and transplant team were responsible for the malpractice. They assured the patient and his family that the hospital has cutting age technology, expert human resource and outstanding material resource comparable with other advance liver transplant center in the developed countries. But in reality the situation was worse with no training of health care staff, three bedded intensive care unit (ICU) without isolation, and small operation theater with poor infection control measures. Lack of standard laboratory without computerization increases the misfortunes of liver transplant center. In short these facilities were not sufficient for such advance level surgery which risks the life of donor as well recipient. These leads to negligence and malpractice on part of hospital management and liver transplant team which arise the question in mind that â€Å"Is this ethica l to perform liver transplant in limited human as well material resources.†? The ethical principle of justice non-maleficence and virtue of veracity are violated. Moreover, the act of hospital management and transplant team were against the theory of deontology. According to news in media initially a memorandum was signed between the hospital and Royal Free Hospital, London but later on after inspection of infrastructure and human resource they refused to perform such complicated procedure in this facility (Wasif, 2012). Although government provided 200 million PKR to build state of the art facility in capital city of Pakistan but these huge amounts were wasted and golden opportunity of liver transplant in public sector hospital was misused. Ethical principle violated in decision making to perform liver transplant My preposition is that without adequate expertise and material as well as human resource performing such intricate surgery is not justifiable and against the ethical principles. While performing their duties health care professionals must adhere to ethical principle and rules. Any breach or violation of these principles may lead to malpractice and negligence. The patient trust on health care professionals and believe that they will apply their knowledge and skills to provide benefit to patient. Similarly, according to Hippocratic pledge health care professionals will abstain their self from harmful and mischievous act (Markel, 2004). Obligation of non-maleficence not only include to avoid harm but also not to impose risk of harm (Beauchamp and Childress, 2001). In the above situation the health care workers lack proper training, skills and material resources to perform such sophisticated procedure. Moreover the professional standards were violated which determine due care in such situation and risk of harm was inflicted on patient. The hospital management and liver transplant team act negligently and harm the patient, his family and specially his wife. Hospital management and transplant team stance The health care team stance was to maximize the benefit and happiness to the society. They support their position using act utilitarianism for the greater happiness of greater number of people. According to act-utilitarianism an action is right if it produces consequences like any other action available to the agent (barns, 1971). The hospital management and transplant team argued that patient was known case of CLD with complication and no other alternative, So according to act-utilitarianism our action is justified and if successful this center will provide care to thousands CLD patients waiting for miracle in the country. Our intention was good and according to Islamic principle of ethics actions are judged according to intention. One of the saying of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him â€Å"the reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended.† (Bukhari: 1). Justification of my stance using deontology To justify my position, I will refer to famous philosopher Emanuel Kant and his theory of deontology. I According to Emanuel Kant action are not justified on basis of consequences, rather they should be judged independently of its outcome (Beauchamp and Childress, 2001). If we judge the action of hospital management and liver transplant team independently of its outcome we came to result that action was performed without enough evidence which harm the patient and against the basic principle of ethics. According to Nathaniel and Burkhardt (2008) deontology stresses that individual must fulfill their obligation and in the above scenario the obligation to do no harm and provide beneficence was violated. Furthermore one principle of Islamic ethics is certainty which mean evidence based practice (Mustafa, 2013); this principle of certainty was violated as performing liver transplantation without standard human and material resource, which is against the evidence base practice. Consequences of Acting on my Position If the hospital management started this project after appropriate training for different professionals along with good infrastructure equipped with modern equipment and according to international standards, then the consequences will be different for patient me and other staff. The patient life could be saved and new patients will be enrolled for transplantation. The other staff will remain in the center providing care to liver transplant patients. I myself will be there taking care of patient and contributing towards the betterment of community and huge money will be utilized in appropriate place according to the need of public. Recommendation On basis of above scenario and analysis, I am going to put forward some suggestions to stakeholders. First of all such sophisticated project must be plan and each and every step should be taken according to plan. The second is hiring of proper and competent professional; these professionals include doctors, nurses, technicians, laboratory, and radiology staff. Training for these professionals should be arranged in leading liver transplant center of the world. The third is that all the units including ICU, OR, laboratory, radiology and pharmacy should be under one roof preferably in separate building and equipped with contemporary instruments. Moreover these units should be connected with each other through computer and internet.

What do you understand to be the concept of entrepreneurship and why Es

What do you understand to be the concept of entrepreneurship and why has it become such an important area of focus? Q2) What do you understand to be the concept of entrepreneurship and why has it become such an important area of focus? The concept of entrepreneurship is often viewed as a function, which involves the exploitation of opportunities, which exist within a market. Such exploitation is most commonly associated with the direction and/or combination of productive inputs. Entrepreneurs usually are considered to bear risk while pursuing opportunities, and often are associated with creative and innovative actions. In addition, entrepreneurs undertake a managerial role in their activities, but routine management of an ongoing operation is not considered to be entrepreneurship. In this sense entrepreneurial activity is fleeting. An individual may perform an entrepreneurial function in creating an organization, but later is relegated to the role of managing it without performing an entrepreneurial role. In this sense, many small-business owners would not be considered to be entrepreneurs. Individuals within organizations (i.e. non-founders) can be classified as entrepreneurs since they pursue the exploitation of opportunities. Thus intrepreneurship is appropriately considered to be a form of entrepreneurship. The concept of an entrepreneur is further refined when principles and terms from a business, managerial, and personal perspective are considered. In particular, the concept of entrepreneurship from a personal perspective has been thoroughly explored in this century. Third exploration is reflected in the following three definitions of an entrepreneur: In almost all of the definitions of entrepreneurship, there is agreement that we are talking about a kind of behavior that includes: initiative taking, the organizing and reorganising of social and economic mechanisms to turn resources and situations to practical account, and the acceptance of risk or failure. To an economist, an entrepreneur is one who brings resources, labor, materials, and other assets into combinations that make their value greater than before, and also one who introduces changes, innovations, and a new order. To a psychologist, certain forces typically drive such a person: the need to obtain or attain something, to experiment, to accomplis... ... being set up for such cases, but schools, colleges and universities all see this particular area of business as very promising and have began an extensive teaching programme, such courses available include, Law and Entrepreneur, Accountancy and Entrepreneurship. Although at the moment many individuals realise the potential of owning there own business, entrepreneurship is said to be a fad and will more than likely become dated in a way, possibly within the next ten years. However, the overall concept of entrepreneurship -according to Austrian Economist Joseph Schumpeter- is innovation (www.quickmba.com) as wealth is created when such innovation results in new demand. From this viewpoint one can define the function of the entrepreneur as one of combining various input factors in an innovative manner to generate value to the customer with the hope that this value will exceed the cost of the input factors, thus generating superior returns that result in the creation of wealth and this wealth also leads on to how entrepreneurial is an important area of focus because the wealth generated helps the economy, creating jobs, a better state and a better life for all of us.

Ancient Greeks: Theatre as Competition and Ritual

Ancient Greeks: Theatre as Competition and Ritual The ancient Greeks were the inventors of what is today known as â€Å"theater. † Beginning with religious ritual celebrations and competitions, they created an art form which has been parent to the modern theater, as well as television and film. Although the origins of Greek theater are unknown, it is believed that it grew out of the dithyramb, songs and dances honoring Dionysus held at a festival called the Dionysia (Theater of Ancient Greece). Although these uninhibited songs and dances probably grew out of ritual celebrations, they eventually became more formalized and symbolic, eventually evolving into the Greek theater (The Ancient Greek Theatre Page). Theater started as ritual fertility celebrations by the â€Å"Cult of Dionysus† in Athens. These rituals altered over time and became Spring ritual with theater at the center of the celebrations (Drama 30), although it is impossible to know how the rituals separated into comedy and tragedy (Greek Theatre). A lesser festival in honour of Dionysus, The Lenea, became another theater festival/competition halfway through the fifth century BC. The rules of the Lenea were different from those of the Dionysia. In the Lenea, there were only four tragedies, two from each of two playwrights, and five comedies from five playwrights (Greek and British Theatre). According to Aristotle's Poetics, Greek tragedy came before satyr plays and comedies. Tragedy came out of the dithyrambs sung in praise of Dionysus at the Dionysia every year. By the 600's BC, the dithyramb was changed into a formalized narrative sung by a chorus (Greek Theatre). Tragedy lost its Dionysiac associations very early, and only one of the preserved plays, Bacchae by Euripides, has any Dionysiac content, namely the myth of resistance to the introduction of Dionysus's cult to Thebes, and the god's revenge upon the city (Greek Tragedy). In the 500s BC, the poet, Thespis of Attica, is credited with creating a new style in which an actor, called the protagonist, performed the characters' speeches in the narrative, using masks to distinguish between the different characters. The actor spoke and acted as if he were the character, and he interacted with the chorus, who acted as narrators and commentators. Because of this, Thespis is considered the first Greek â€Å"actor,† and his style of drama became known as â€Å"tragedy,† which means ‘goat song,' possibly referring to goats sacrificed to Dionysus before performances, or to goat-skins worn by the performers (Ancient Greek Theater) Aeschylus introduced the antagonist, and Sophocles introduced a third actor. Plays with more realism and dialogue were written by Euripedes and Aristophanes (Drama 30). Theatrical presentations had a religious element and attendance was practically compulsory. Because of this, the builders of Greek theaters had to provide enough space for large audiences . It is believed that the theatrical representations could have arisen from the substitution of an animal for a human sacrifice and, eventually, the formula of the sacrifice was enacted ritualistically without the actual sacrifice of the animal (The Greek Theatre). Plays were produced which could be seen as a formalistic representation of human sacrifice. An example of one of these representational plays is Oedipus the King by Sophocles. In the play, Oedipus becomes the embodiment of suffering and guilt, serving as a way of cleansing the spectators (The Greek Theatre). By the fifth century BC, the theater had become a major part of the culture of Athens. The most important element of the annual Dionysia celebration was the play competition between three playwrights at the Theater of Dionysus. These playwrights each submitted a trilogy of connected tragedies, along with a satyr play which dealt with the same subject matter as the trio of tragedies (Greek Theatre). The competitors were chosen by a government authority called the archon. Wealthy patrons, called choregos, financed the productions. The funding of the arts was a way of tax avoidance, so they were willing to do so. In return for funding a production, the choregos would pay no taxes that year (The Ancient Greek Theatre Page). These men paid for the production of each dramatist's series, the chorus, and other production costs. The actors were paid by the state. The directors of the plays were usually the actual playwrights (Greek and British Theatre). Once many playwrights began writing plays for multiple actors and submitting plays for the Dionysia, competitions began to be held all over Greece. Prizes were given for the best of these and they were written down and saved (Greek and British Theatre). In the competitions, there were ten judges. These judges were taken from each of the Athenian â€Å"tribes,† divisions of the people made for administrative convenience, not actual tribes. Choosing the â€Å"best new tragedy,† which was the purpose for the competition, was taken very seriously. In 449 BC an award for the best leading actor in a tragedy was introduced (Greek and British Theatre). Revivals of popular plays was not allowed in Greek theater. This was to encourage new plays to be written. In fact, a special state decree was issued to allow the Aeschylus's plays to be performed after he died. Until this, revivals had never happened. Revivals did begin to occur in the fourth century when touring companies began to perform in Attica, a rural area, and beyond (Greek Theatre). The ancient Greeks took their theater seriously. Beginning with religious ritual celebrations, the Greek theater evolved into the modern theater that we know today. Plays from those ancient competitions are known and performed all over the world. The Greeks' contribution to the cultural and artistic development of the odern theater is incalculable. Works Cited â€Å"Ancient Greek Theater. † Greek Theater. 6 Oct 2008. . â€Å"Greek and British Theatre† The British Theatre Guide. 6 Oct 2008. â€Å"Greek Theatre. † Greek Theatre. 6 Oct 2008. . â€Å"Greek Tragedy. † Greek Tragedy. 6 Oct 2008.. â€Å"The Ancient Greek Theatre Page. † The Ancient Greek Drama and Theatre History Page. 30 Sep 2008. . â€Å"Theatre of Ancient Greece. † Ancient Greece. 30 Sep 2008. . â€Å"The Greek Theatre. † The Greek Theatre. 6 Oct 2008. â€Å"The Theatre in Ancient Greece. † Ancient Greece. 6 Oct 2008. â€Å"When Did Theatre Begin? † Drama 30. 6 Oct 2008..

SAT Test Dates 2017-2018

SAT Test Dates 2017-2018 SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips When trying to plan an SAT study schedule, you must first know when exactly you'll be taking the SAT. In this article, we give you allSAT test dates, deadlines, and score release dates for the 2017-2018 testing year.We also provide you with our top four tips forhelping you choosethe best SAT test date foryour schedule. SAT Test Dates 2017-2018 Beloware allSAT test dates for 2017-18, as confirmedby the College Board.All the registration deadlines and online score release dates have been officially confirmed as well. SAT Test Dates 2017-18 (US) This testing year marks the first time there will be an August test date and no January test date.This August test date isonlyoffered in theUS. Test Date Normal Deadline Late Registration* Online Score Release August 26, 2017 July 28, 2017 August 15, 2017 September 18, 2017 October 7, 2017 September 8, 2017 September 27, 2017 October 26, 2017 November 4, 2017 October 5, 2017 October 25, 2017 November 23, 2017 December 2, 2017 November 2, 2017 November 21, 2017 December 21, 2017 March 10, 2018** February 9, 2018 February 28, 2018 March 29, 2018 May 5, 2018 April 6, 2018 April 25, 2018 May 24, 2018 June 2, 2018 May 3, 2018 May 23, 2018 July 11, 2018 *The late registration deadline is typically one week earlier if you are registering by mail. **Regular SAT only. SAT Test Dates 2017-18 (International) Starting in 2018, theMarch SAT test date will be availableoutside the US; however, this is only for the regular SAT, not the SAT Subject Tests. By contrast, the international November and June test dates will offerSAT Subject Testsonly. Test Date Registration Deadline Online Score Release October 7, 2017 September 8, 2017 October 26, 2017 November 4, 2017* October 5, 2017 November 23, 2017 December 2, 2017 November 2, 2017 December 21, 2017 March 10, 2018** February 9, 2018 March 29, 2018 May 5, 2018 April 6, 2018 May 24, 2018 June 2, 2018* May 3, 2018 July 11, 2018 *SAT Subject Tests only. **Regular SAT only. How to Choose an SAT Test Date: 4 KeyTips Familiarizing yourself with upcoming SAT test dates lets you customize yourstudy plan and choose a date that'll fit well withyour schedule. Here are four tipsto help youselect an ideal SAT test date. #1: Know Your Deadlines The most important thing to remember is to take your SAT early enough so that your scores will arrive before your college application deadlines.The most commonregular decision deadline is January 1,and the most commonearly actiondeadlines are November 1 and 15. The College Board typically sends SAT scores to schools (for your four free score reports)within 10 days after you receive your scores online.Check the Online Score Release columns in the tables above for exact score release dates. That said, some schools can take a week to process SAT scores they've received. As a rule, then, try tostick with SAT test dates that are at least five or six weeks before your application deadlines (seven or eight weeksif you think you'll need to order additional score reports). Below is a handy chart listing common application deadlines and their latest recommended and latest possible SAT test dates.The latest recommended dates are all but guaranteed to get your scores to your schools in time, whereasthe latest possible dates have a much higher risk of delivering your scores after your deadlines. As with anything, weigh your options carefully before making a decision! College App Deadline Latest Recommended SAT Date Latest Possible SAT Date* October 15 August August November 1 August October November 15 October October November 30 October November December 1 October November December 15 November November January 1 November December January 10-15 December December February 1 December December February 15 December December March 1 December December March 15 December December April 1 December March April 15 December March May 1 March March May 15 March March June 1 March May June 15 March May July 1 May June July 15 May June August 1 June June August 15 June June September 1 June June *These dates might get your scores to your schools in time or they might not! So choose wisely. Don't forget about SAT scholarship deadlines, either. If you want to get any scholarships that consider your SAT score, you’ll need to have your test scores sent outbefore your scholarship deadlines. Oftentimes, these deadlines are the same as college application deadlines. #2: Set Aside Time for Retakes Most students improve their scores when they take the SAT again, so you'll want to give yourself an opportunitytotake the test multiple times. Generally, we suggest doing the following: Take your first SAT in the fall of your junior year. Take your second SAT in the spring of your junior year. Take your third SAT in the summer/fall of your senior year (if necessary). If you can't (or didn't) take the SAT in the fall as a junior, don't sweat it- just take it as soon as you can in the spring, ideally in March. This way you'll still have several opportunities to retake the SAT in June, August, and the fall (as a senior). However, try not to choose any back-to-back SAT sessions,especially in the fall of your senior year. SATs are scheduled so closely together that you often won't even receive your scores until the late registration deadline for the following test date has already passed! You also likely won't have enough time to study effectively in-between tests, sospace out your SATs- your weary brain will thank you for it! #3:Come Up With a Solid Study Plan When selecting an SAT test date, you'll want to give yourself enough time to prepare for the exam. We generally advise studying for three to six months.But no matter how long (or how short) your time frame is before test day,you should always knowhowmany hours you must studyin order to hit your goal score. Our estimates for study hours and total point improvements on the SAT are as follows: 0-30 point improvement: 10 hours 30-70 point improvement: 20 hours 70-130 point improvement: 40 hours 130-200 point improvement: 80 hours 200-330 point improvement: 150 hours+ According to these estimates, the more points you want to score on the SAT, the more hours you'll need to dedicate to studying.For help with developing a surefirestudy plan, start with our guide on how to study for the SAT, and then take a look at these sample study plans. As with any test, make sure you're not trying to squeeze in too many study hours every day- wearing yourself down won't help you get a higher score, promise! #4: Note AnyConflicts WithTest Dates Our final tip is to check to see whether you'll have any potential conflicts on or around your desired SAT test date. For example, maybe theMarch test date is during your basketball playoffs, and you’ll be too busy to study. Or perhaps you want to avoid the May test date since you’ll be focusing on preparing for AP tests. Although it can be difficult to carve outtime during which you canfully devote yourself to the SAT, you don't want tooverwhelm yourself with too many tests or other obligations. So grab a calendar, check your schedule, andchoose theSAT test date that works best with your free time. What's Next? Want more info on SAT test dates?Check out our full guide to choosing SAT test dates, and peek ahead with our guides to2018-19 and future SAT test dates. Curious about ACT test dates, too?We offera comprehensive guide to all upcoming ACT test dates as well as an expert review of the best SAT and ACT test dates. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Critical Essay - Slavery in Beloved essays

Critical Essay - Slavery in Beloved essays Beloved, the novel by Toni Morrison isnt really about slavery, although everything each character does relates back to their past experiences in slavery. Sethe would have never have killed Beloved if Sethe hadnt been a runaway slave. Sethe killed Beloved to protect her from slavery. Denver would have never been lonely if Sethe hadnt killed Beloved. Howard and Buglar, Sethes sons would have never ran away if Sethe hadnt murdered Beloved. Baby Suggs wouldnt have died so soon if Sethe hadnt killed Beloved. Paul D wouldnt have left Sethe, if she hadnt murdered Beloved. All these things were directly related to Sethe murdering Beloved, which she did to protect The novel is about the interior lives of the characters. The novel lets you in on Baby Suggs interior life, her feelings when she became free, when she found out that her grandkids and daughter in-law had made it, but her son Halle had not. The novel lets in on how she knew that something bad was coming on the day that Sethe killed Beloved. We also saw how slavery and white people affected Baby Suggs life, her time I agree with Toni Morrisons quote about her novel Beloved . The novel isnt all about slavery. Its about the effects of slavery and the interior lives of the characters. Toni shows us the interior lives of all the characters and how they interact with each other. She shows us how the characters feel about one another and the things that go on in their lives. This novel teaches you the effects of slavery on people and their lives. ...

The Bride Of Frankenstein essays

The Bride Of Frankenstein essays Whoever said that the sequel is never as good and the original spoke too soon. James Whales The Bride of Frankenstein is far superior to Whales first Frankenstein creation. The acting is superior, the costumes and make up are more fitting, the musical score adds worlds of animation, the art direction couldnt have been better, and the overall screenplay itself brings this movie together. The Bride of Frankenstein is a great piece of film for any classic horror movie lover. The acting or performance displayed by the stars of The Bride of Frankenstein was exceptional. The acting in a film causes one to identify with the characters emotionally, to get caught up in the film, and can reveal if the actor truly had a strong grasp of who the character was and what he was supposed to portray. Karloff gives one of his best performances as the creature. He opens the movie with the familiar angry and murderous attitude displayed in Whales Mary Shellys Frankenstein. He kills, causes mayhem amongst the townspeople, and hates all that is living. This persona goes on until he seeks refuge with a blind man played by O.P. Heggie. At this pivotal point in the film, Karloff displays the creatures softer side. He begins to grow fond of the living and in turn, the audience cannot help but grow fond of him. One begins to connect with the Karloff and almost feel sorry for him. Its almost as if a bond or friendship is made with the creature. The costumes or makeup of a horror film, if done correctly, adds a greater sense of reality to the picture. They help you understand the characters better if they are appropriate and accurate to the time-period and reflect the spirit of the character. Makeup artist, Jack Pierce transformed Karloff, once again, into the hideous monster that all have grown to fear and yet love at the same time. Pierces dark and cold ...

Minimum Efficient Scale Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Minimum Efficient Scale - Essay Example The MES is hardly ever a solitary output - more likely it is a range of production levels where standard cost is minimized where the firm achieves regular returns to scale. It varies from industry to industry depending on the type of the cost structure in a particular segment of the market. When the proportion of fixed to variable costs is very elevated, there is huge potential for dropping the average cost of production. The minimum efficient scale may be expressed as a variety of production standards, but its connection with the whole market size or demand will conclude how many competitors can successfully function in the market. If the minimum efficient scale is comparatively diminutive compared to total market size many companies can survive in the same space for example computer software companies. In other industries where the minimum efficient scale is quite large due to high fixed costs, only a few major players dominate the market place for example telecom and other basic materials. There is also likely to be enormous potential to take advantage of technical economies of scale. As a consequence the MES may be a high quantity of entire market demand. There may be an opportunity merely for single business to completely exploit the economies of scale obtainable in the industry. It is presumed for a natural monopoly that the long-run average cost curve falls constantly over a very great range of output. This is illustrated in the diagram below. Companies are able to exploit the market when the range of their minimum efficiency scale is high as this applies a barrier to entry. The higher the barriers to entry, the greater the ability of established firms to raise price above the long run average costs without letting the new firms enter the market this includes foreign competition too. Although production cost barriers are faced by both local and foreign companies, the foreigners face an additional barrier of tariffs levied by the government. As the manufacturers expand their scale of production, average costs decrease to minimum efficient scale that is to the optimal point. As they expand further than that, they become incompetently large, and face increasing average costs. Hence if we assume they increased too far, and finally settled at the minimum efficient scales they have oppressed all Economies of Scale, and Diseconomies of Scale, in manufacturing. Big firms can have lesser per-unit costs due to purchasing at bulk discounts example parts, indemnity, real estate, marketing, etc. and can also bound competition by buying out competitors, setting proprietary industry values. Looking at further examples, an automobile maker can buy millions of tons of steel at one point for use in forming engine blocks and store it for an indefinite period, if this will get a superior price. On the other hand, a florist can't buy millions of tons of matured flowers to put up for sale as they will shrivel before they are sold. This results in disparate interpretations of economies of scales for diverse types of companies. The size of a business may also alter over time, as industry and marketplace circumstances change. If a dealer finds a way to produce

Memoirs of a Geisha (the book) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Memoirs of a Geisha (the book) - Essay Example Despite the destruction during the war, the country is rebuilt into a modern country under Western influence after the defeat of the Japanese empire. During this period of transformation, Siyura is also transformed, although her own transformation lags behind the changes happening in Japanese society. Siyura watches the modernization of Japan unfold through the changing home front during the war, increasing Western cultural influence, and the presence of American soldiers in a globalized world. Following the Meiji Restoration, Japan had undergone a dramatic transformation from a feudal society to an industrialized nation. Unable to protect itself from the European colonial powers, Japan was forced to abandon its agrarian society and industrialize (Swale 2009, 6). Although a great deal of focus was placed on modernizing the military, the cities in Japan changed as well to support this effort. Trains and motor vehicles were introduced to Japan in order to improve travel and the transportation of goods. Siyura even had the chance to travel by airplane (Golden 1997, 392), although the experience was not common at the time for Japanese citizens until later. Factories were built to produce manufactured goods. Being born in a small fishing village, Siyuras first introduction to the coming modern world is through her arrival in Kyoto. Arriving in the Gion quarter of Kyoto, Siyura can "hardly see the other side for all the people, bicycles, cars, and trucks" (Golden 1997, 35). The large crowded cities epitomized the entrance into the modern age. It was necessary to concentrate the populace in the cities in order to provide a workforce for the factories (Wilkinson 1962, 679). In contrast, it was necessary for people to be dispersed under the old agriculturally-based economy. The whole experience of seeing a large city for the first time was both shocking and frightening to Siyura (Golden 1997, 35). Through the process of

Perfume Brands Calvin Klein & Bvlgari Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Perfume Brands Calvin Klein & Bvlgari - Essay Example CKCC was a Unilever brand until few years back but its licensing agreement was then bought from Unilever by Coty Inc. Calvin Klein perfumes were known for its premium brand value and extremely good fragrance of all kinds. Eternity and Obsessions are the two popular perfume varieties of CK. These two are offered for both men and women. Bvlgari is the Italian luxury goods manufacturer. Like CK, Bvlgari too has wide array of luxury perfumes catering to the needs of men and women. Voile de Jasmin, Aqua, Pour Homme, Omnia and Rose Essentielle are the popular Bvlgari fragrances. All these names are well placed in the premium perfume segment. Together, CK and Bvlgari form the biggest names in the luxury fragrance industry. Main body Behind the huge success of the brands are not just the marketing activities alone. A major part of the success can be attributed to the perfumers who are in continual efforts to develop the best formula that gives the heavenly fragrance. There are basically two types of fragrances based on the skin scents. The first kind emits its own fragrance or forms the major portion of the overall smell. The second kind helps to enhance the skins own scent by giving it a better fragrance. Compared to CK, Bvlgari is more specialized in the second kind which is more unique. Another factor that differentiates both the brands is the customers that they target.

Comparison Between Energy Modeling Soft wares for Sustainable Building Article

Comparison Between Energy Modeling Soft wares for Sustainable Building Design - Article Example The importance of these building energy programs cannot be denied. These types of software provide users the real-time information of building performance like the use of energy, temperature, costs, humidity, and demand of energy. Some of the soft wares are IESVE, ECOTECT, HAP, REQUEST and ENERGYPLUS These tools have brought a lot of benefits energy modeling on your building such as ECOTECT is considered to be an entire environmental design software that has features for cost analysis, lighting, thermal, solar and interface for 3D modeling. ECOTECT has made the efficiency analysis more accurate and easy. It is based on the idea that environmental design ideology is most successfully addressed throughout the conceptual process of design. The tool provides necessary analytical and visual advice from the simple drawing model to more detailed model. The model is totally capable to handle effortless shading models to complete scaled cityscapes., ECOTECT is fine at coaching the beginner designers to design numerous significant concepts essential for competent building design. Broad assistance files and tutorials are also given with the ECOTECT. It has 3d CAD interface, which allows support of the simplest drawing design to extremely compound 3D models. It has the ability to import DXF and 3DS files. It can be run on Windows XP, 2000, 98 and 95. It can also execute on Visual PC or Mac. It permits the user to test the design ideas at the abstract phases by giving an important examination advice like whether the modeling geometry and data are used in a wrong way or which one is more important than the other. The build-in help file tends to inform the users about the errors or important tasks to do. EnergyPlus is basically a modular tool that is designed by gathering the abilities DOE-2.1 and BLAST. It is actually used as a simulation engine. It takes simple text files as input and output.

Term paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 5

Term paper - Essay Example describes the desired method of handling patient care and the type of interpersonal skills development necessary to achieve patient satisfaction and personal satisfaction in this career. This paper describes the important components of a philosophy and applies them to the field of nursing. â€Å"Nurses who are self-motivated, continue their education, and are active in professional organizations enjoy career satisfaction and provide better healthcare† (Smalley, 2005, p.59). In the nursing environment, being self-motivated is part of an internal desire to be responsive and dynamic when delivering patient care. Less-motivated nurses rely on policy and procedure to drive their decision-making, moving around the patient environment waiting for their next round of administrative instructions. Self-motivation is a very important component of having a philosophy, as the desire to provide patient care must include the ability to regulate one’s own actions. For example, a nurse is going to be exposed to different patients with different emotional needs, therefore a successful nurse must be able to respond to these needs in ways which are meaningful to the patient, culturally. It should be part of the nurse’s internal beliefs where the patient’s need s are put first and should be a paramount objective. However, a nurse with a total self-motivated philosophy might conduct additional, self-motivated research on cultural or sociological patterns of patients so that they can relate to them better at the emotional or cultural level. The self-motivated aspect of nursing philosophy can also be a career goal philosophy, where superior performance without the need for administrative intervention can lead to a better nursing reputation or better, measurable patient care. Another component which is important for a philosophy is to realize that â€Å"health is the expression of physical, psychological, spiritual, and social well-being† (ju.edu, 2009, p.1). A caregiver who only

Pros and Cons of Capital Budgeting Measures Research Paper

Pros and Cons of Capital Budgeting Measures - Research Paper Example Examples here include the payback period and the accounting rate of return. The other techniques employed in the evaluation of projects are the discounted methods of appraising capital projects. In these methods, the future expected cash flows are discounted at the organizations cost of capital to determine the projects’ to be undertaken. In this approach, only projects with positive net present value will be undertaken in order of their profitability. The idea of capital budgeting before investments are undertaken is necessitated by the need to avoid incurring losses and to maximize the returns of a firm at the lowest cost possible. The budgeting process is also necessary because of the capital constraints that companies face. Due to capital inadequacy, companies and firms will not be in a position to undertake all the projects and therefore creating the need to only undertakes the most profitable investments (Baker, 2011). Failure to undertake capital budgeting process may c ause organizations to realize heavy losses and have going concern problems. In this paper, discussion has made on the pros and cons of the methods of NPV, IRR, MIRR and discounted payback method. I would prefer the use of NPV and IRR methods of capital budgeting in instances that we have independent projects with equal sizes. The two methods can thus be used interchangeably and would be preferred because they incorporate the risk and time values in their calculations. MIRR, which is an improvement of IRR, is also preferable in cases where we have projects having irregular cash flows and therefore provides a solution to some of the short falls of IRR. Investment appraisal should therefore be keenly undertaken by qualifies personnel and all necessary weights should be integrated when determining the best method to use. It must be noted that all the methods used in capital budgeting measures have some limitations (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2010). The best that should be done is to ensure tha t such deficiency does not impair materially the decision to be made. Net Present Value The NPV of a project is the present value of all the future expected cash inflows less the present value of the future expected cash outflows (Parrino & Kidwell, 2009). In this case, the future expected cash flows are determined currently and discounted using the cost of capital of the firm. NPV takes into account only cash flows and does not use the accounting profits or items like depreciation. It is commonly used by many organizations in their investment appraisal method. Most businesses and organizations that are interested in the viability and profitability of projects have normally applied the NPV method as a way of evaluating their actions. The wide acceptance of NPV is because it is easier to understand and to interpret the results even to those without financial knowledge. NPV has various advantages. To begin with, the method considers the time value of money and therefore shoulders the effect of inflation and interest rates that are likely to adverse affect the value of money. It must be noticed that the value of 1 dollar today may not be the same as the value of the same dollar in 3 years time because of time difference. The second reason for use of this method is that it gives the criteria to use in the selection of the projects to be undertaken. The firms may undertake investments with positive NPV’s because they have a net gain as opposed to those with negative NPV’s which results into losses. The investors or firms are

Comparison Between Energy Modeling Soft wares for Sustainable Building Article

Comparison Between Energy Modeling Soft wares for Sustainable Building Design - Article Example The importance of these building energy programs cannot be denied. These types of software provide users the real-time information of building performance like the use of energy, temperature, costs, humidity, and demand of energy. Some of the soft wares are IESVE, ECOTECT, HAP, REQUEST and ENERGYPLUS These tools have brought a lot of benefits energy modeling on your building such as ECOTECT is considered to be an entire environmental design software that has features for cost analysis, lighting, thermal, solar and interface for 3D modeling. ECOTECT has made the efficiency analysis more accurate and easy. It is based on the idea that environmental design ideology is most successfully addressed throughout the conceptual process of design. The tool provides necessary analytical and visual advice from the simple drawing model to more detailed model. The model is totally capable to handle effortless shading models to complete scaled cityscapes., ECOTECT is fine at coaching the beginner designers to design numerous significant concepts essential for competent building design. Broad assistance files and tutorials are also given with the ECOTECT. It has 3d CAD interface, which allows support of the simplest drawing design to extremely compound 3D models. It has the ability to import DXF and 3DS files. It can be run on Windows XP, 2000, 98 and 95. It can also execute on Visual PC or Mac. It permits the user to test the design ideas at the abstract phases by giving an important examination advice like whether the modeling geometry and data are used in a wrong way or which one is more important than the other. The build-in help file tends to inform the users about the errors or important tasks to do. EnergyPlus is basically a modular tool that is designed by gathering the abilities DOE-2.1 and BLAST. It is actually used as a simulation engine. It takes simple text files as input and output.

Pros and Cons of Capital Budgeting Measures Research Paper

Pros and Cons of Capital Budgeting Measures - Research Paper Example Examples here include the payback period and the accounting rate of return. The other techniques employed in the evaluation of projects are the discounted methods of appraising capital projects. In these methods, the future expected cash flows are discounted at the organizations cost of capital to determine the projects’ to be undertaken. In this approach, only projects with positive net present value will be undertaken in order of their profitability. The idea of capital budgeting before investments are undertaken is necessitated by the need to avoid incurring losses and to maximize the returns of a firm at the lowest cost possible. The budgeting process is also necessary because of the capital constraints that companies face. Due to capital inadequacy, companies and firms will not be in a position to undertake all the projects and therefore creating the need to only undertakes the most profitable investments (Baker, 2011). Failure to undertake capital budgeting process may c ause organizations to realize heavy losses and have going concern problems. In this paper, discussion has made on the pros and cons of the methods of NPV, IRR, MIRR and discounted payback method. I would prefer the use of NPV and IRR methods of capital budgeting in instances that we have independent projects with equal sizes. The two methods can thus be used interchangeably and would be preferred because they incorporate the risk and time values in their calculations. MIRR, which is an improvement of IRR, is also preferable in cases where we have projects having irregular cash flows and therefore provides a solution to some of the short falls of IRR. Investment appraisal should therefore be keenly undertaken by qualifies personnel and all necessary weights should be integrated when determining the best method to use. It must be noted that all the methods used in capital budgeting measures have some limitations (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2010). The best that should be done is to ensure tha t such deficiency does not impair materially the decision to be made. Net Present Value The NPV of a project is the present value of all the future expected cash inflows less the present value of the future expected cash outflows (Parrino & Kidwell, 2009). In this case, the future expected cash flows are determined currently and discounted using the cost of capital of the firm. NPV takes into account only cash flows and does not use the accounting profits or items like depreciation. It is commonly used by many organizations in their investment appraisal method. Most businesses and organizations that are interested in the viability and profitability of projects have normally applied the NPV method as a way of evaluating their actions. The wide acceptance of NPV is because it is easier to understand and to interpret the results even to those without financial knowledge. NPV has various advantages. To begin with, the method considers the time value of money and therefore shoulders the effect of inflation and interest rates that are likely to adverse affect the value of money. It must be noticed that the value of 1 dollar today may not be the same as the value of the same dollar in 3 years time because of time difference. The second reason for use of this method is that it gives the criteria to use in the selection of the projects to be undertaken. The firms may undertake investments with positive NPV’s because they have a net gain as opposed to those with negative NPV’s which results into losses. The investors or firms are

College app Essay Example for Free

College app Essay 1. Obtain applications. Applications can be obtained online at college websites; downloadable and electronic applications are now available at most college websites. In fact, most colleges now prefer that applicants complete their online application (as opposed to the printable paper application), as it is more efficient for them and for you. Application fees may be waived by some schools if you use the electronic applications. However, if you would like to complete the application by hand, you may obtain a printable version online or by calling, writing, or emailing to request an application and information. Some applications are available in the Career Center (check with Ms. Roth). NOTE: Students are responsible for completing and mailing their college applications, essays, and processing fees to the college to which they are applying. All of your application â€Å"pieces† do not have to be mailed at the same time. As materials are received, the colleges will create â€Å"your† file. After submitting applications, you will want to follow up with each college to make sure that they have received all â€Å"pieces† of your application so that they can begin to evaluate your application. 2. Schedule a Senior Interview with your Counselor. Counselors will be meeting individually with you to discuss your post-graduation plans and to discuss how they can help you with the process and with your plans. If you are applying Early Decision or Early Action schedule a conference in SEPTEMBER. 3. Complete your Activity Sheet, Counselor Recommendation Brag Sheet and Parent Brag Sheets. Pick up the brag sheets and an example of an Activity sheet from your school counselor, Career Center or on Family Connection in the Document Library section. 4. Students must complete an Annandale High School Transcript Request and Release of Records form at least three weeks prior to the college’s application deadline in order to give our student services staff ample time to process your transcript and/or letter of recommendation. This form can be retrieved from Ms. Garman in the Office of Student Services or in the Family Connection Document Library. Once completed and signed by you and your parent, the form should be returned to Ms. Garman along with the following for each college you’re applying to: The college’s Secondary School Report Form (if required), a typed copy of your Activity Sheet, an AHS envelope address to the college’s Office of Admission and TWO stamps. If applying to more than 3 schools a $5. 00 fee is required for each additional school. Once the process is completed, your information will be mailed from our office to the colleges to which you’re applying. 5. Obtain teacher or counselor recommendations. Students should refer to each college’s application to find out how many recommendations are required, if any. Not all schools require a recommendation. For Teacher recommendations, students must give the teacher one self-addressed, stamped envelope for EACH school to which they are applying. The teacher will then mail the recommendation directly to each college. Again, Please be sure to give them at least 3 weeks notice on getting a letter of recommendation out. We recommend that Juniors ask their teachers if they’d be willing to write them a letter of recommendation for college at the end of their Junior year. For Counselor recommendations, students should fill out the Counselor Recommendation Brag Sheet and attach a typed or written Activity sheet or Resume of Activities. In addition, the student’s parent or guardian must fill out the Parent Information Sheet. Please be very detailed when filling out these forms. When finished, these forms should be given to your counselor at least three weeks prior to the college’s application deadline. Please note that your counselor will not write a letter of recommendation until these forms are received and a senior meeting has been held. 6. Register for all admissions tests†¦SAT I, SAT II, ACT, and TOEFL. Fee waivers are available for students who receive free or reduced Lunch. Please ask your school counselor for a test fee waiver. Colleges require that student test scores be sent directly to them via Collegeboard (www. collegeboard. com) or ACT (www. act. org) or TOEFL (www. toefl. org). You may send your scores free of charge to a maximum of 4 schools if they are sent within the designated window of opportunity. You will have to pay a fee for any additional scores sent. 7. Begin Scholarship searches NOW! Do not wait until you have been accepted to college to begin your search for money! A good place to start would be scholarship database in Family Connection under the â€Å"College Tab† if you don’t know where this is, see Ms. Roth in the Career Center. 8. Keep organized. Put each school’s materials in its own folder and create a check list for each application. Identify deadlines!!! Remember that application deadlines and financial aid deadlines are often times different dates. 9. Don’t succumb to Senioritis! Don’t stop working after you have been accepted; you have been accepted to a college provided you finish out your second semester satisfactorily! Colleges are not afraid to change their mind on their decision to accept you. 10. RELAX! DON’T STRESS OUT! If you are, please see your counselor or Mrs. Roth in the Career Center for help with the process.

Barriers to Dutch Infrastructural Project Planning

Barriers to Dutch Infrastructural Project Planning Interactive planning of Dutch infrastructural project A case-description of Mainport Schiphol and the A12 national expressway Interactive Planning of Sustainability 1. Introduction Since the beginning of the ‘90s, the implementation of new infrastructural projects in The Netherlands became increasingly problematic. Related environmental issues had a lot of societal attention. The Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, responsible for maintaining a high quality of mobility in the Netherlands, identified three major problems with earlier attempts to solve the infrastructural problems; little social acceptance for new projects, procedures for realizing new projects took too long, and the proposed solutions were not really original and often ‘more of the same’. For solving these problems, this Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management proposed a change from top-down decision making to a more open and interactive form of policy making for planning, developing, and implementing new infrastructure (Enthoven and de Rooij, 1996). With interactive policy making, the main goal is to make more creative and effectiv e plans, by involving all stakeholders like citizens, (local and/or national) governments and experts. For this paper, 2 cases are selected, related to a Dutch infrastructure issue and dealt with on an interactive way; Mainport Schiphol near Amsterdam and the A12 national expressway near The Hague. The first one is selected because of its elaborated description in Susskind et al. (1999), its high degree of complexness and the fact the outcomes were fairly positive, the second one is selected also because of its suitable description in Glasbergen en Driessen (2005), but with a more straight-forward problem definition and its positive outcomes. Discussing these two Dutch cases, we will focus on four critical issues, related to interactive planning and often discussed in literature: Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge. Although more critical issues can be defined, like Roles op participants, Modes of evaluation and Use of outcomes by policy makers, only these four are chosen because of the fact that these are clearly discussed in the selec ted case-descriptions and these seemed to be crucial for the success of these cases. Chapter 2 will discuss each critical issue shortly. Chapter 3 will discuss the two cases in the light of the four different critical issues, and chapter 4 will give a conclusion. To structure this research the following research question is formulated: How do the four critical issues (Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge) contribute to the rate of success of 2 infrastructural cases in The Netherlands (the Schiphol case and the A12 national expressway)? 2. Critical Issues This chapter will elaborate a bit more about what is actually meant with the four different critical issues: Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge. 2.1 Participant selection The question of which parties to involve is answered by a set of four considerations that should be taken into account when selecting the participants (De Bruijn et al., 2002). Firstly, parties with blocking power in the decision-making are important. Involving these parties in the process may keep them from using their blocking power in ways that are unforeseen. Secondly, parties with productive power should be part of the process. These parties will actually have to implement the decisions that are taken, and can influence the decision making with their control over the productive resources. Thirdly, parties that have an interest in the decision-making should be considered. These are parties that do not have substantial power in the decision making process (like blocking power or resources), but nevertheless are confronted with the outcomes of the group process and therefore can provide important information and moral considerations. Finally, this moral aspect of decision-making ca n by a reason to invite certain parties to join the process. Moral and ethical considerations can be important to embody the voice of those who are affected by the potential decision, but are not invited to the process for different reasons (De Bruin, 2002). 2.2 Power and access One of the key goals of interactive policy making is that it should reduce the influence of dominant elites and enable the less powerful groups to give input. Those parties or actors, who do not have access to formal decision-making processes or who cannot exert enough influence by the way of discussion and negotiation are more likely to initiate legal proceedings. Public’s ability to participate in decisions can be assessed according to three elements (as defined at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992): access to information, access to the decision-making process, and access to redress or change decision. These three elements will shortly be explained below. ‘Access to information’ can be seen as the first foundation of access and also one of the most passive forms of access seen from the perspective of the public. With access to information is meant the ability the public has to easily get access to forms of relevant information in which they are directly or indirectly involved, such as environmental impact assessments, reports from industries about their emissions etc. But one also can think about getting informed about potential relevant activities, which possibly can affect the public’s environment. ‘Access to the decision-making processes’ wants to give the public a more active role. Once this form of access is attained, one can even speak of a certain form of power. One must not focus on only the opportunity to provide input on specific subjects, but also the ability to influence more general decisions, such as the making of new laws or national policies. ‘Access to redress or change a certain decision’ is also related to a form of power, since the ability to change a certain decision gives a citizen the power to influence the decision-making process. This form of access can be translated into making judicial or administrative remedies accessible to the public, when officials fail to do their work in a proper manner (Mock et al., 2003). 2.3 Roles of facilitators The roles that a facilitator can play in group decision processes constitute of consistent packages of specific tasks within the group process combined with a more general ‘attitude’ towards the group members and the process. In literature, three major roles of a facilitator are commonly distinguished: a role as process architect or process manager, a mediating role and a convening role. As a process architect, the facilitator lays down the backbone of the group process. The process should be structured in such a way that all relevant insights from the participants will play a role in the process. Four core principles for designing a group process can be discriminated: openness, protection of core values, speed and substance (De Bruijn et al., 2002). These four ‘core elements of process design’ should be included and safeguarded in any process design in order to satisfy all the participants. The facilitator focuses on the process so that group members can focus on the substance and can suggest different ways of discussing problems, ensuring that all group members can freely express there comments and are free of any abuses of power or personal attack (Susskind et al., 1999). Especially in environmental issues, the interests, values and problem perceptions of different parties may often be far apart form each other. With such large contrasts of interest within the group, a facilitator often is faced with disputes and conflicts within the group process, that are hard to solve with mere changes in the structure of the process. In such case, the role of the facilitator can be very closely related with a mediating role in which the facilitator is mediating between parties, even to establish a general structure of the process. In addition, an external mediator can be asked to solve the conflicts. An external mediator is a neutral person that specializes in solving disputes between different participants in the group process, often using a variety of negotiation techniques and (psychological) methods of reframing problems and solutions (Acland, 1995). In a convening role, the facilitator has a say in which parties should be involved in the group process, and at what roles they will have. The convening role of a facilitator is sometimes not far apart from the role that a facilitator has as a process designer. Proper management of a group decisions process clearly has a very import influence on the effectiveness of that process. The facilitator can influence that process to quit a large extent. The consensus of all group members on the final decision depends for a large part on the level of agreement within the group with the approach that facilitators takes in structuring and managing the process. 2.4 Role of knowledge Knowledge is a crucial ingredient of interactive planning. However, the significance of the use of knowledge depends on one’s view. Over the years, the view on the role of knowledge has changed. The rational actor model has gradually been replaced by adaptive decision and learning strategies interacting with the environment. Before, planning would be perceived as proceeding in an orderly and linear fashion (Friend Hickling, 2005). Today some authors state that knowledge is a result of collective social processes. This implies that knowledge is a social construct, rather than an objective entity. In the new approach, linear progression of the process is seen as unrealistic. Instead, the uniqueness, ambiguity and unpredictability of real world processes are emphasized. With the recognition that planning is an interactive and communicative process, the notion of the interrelationship between expert and experiential knowledge has become more and more crucial. Interactive planning is now seen as ‘organized rituals’ where ‘deliberating participants’ listen to one another, search for new options and learn to find new ways of going on together (Khakee et al., 2000). 3. Case description For a complete description of each of the two cases, see appendix 1 and 2. This section will only discuss the previously mentioned four critical issues related to interactive policy making (Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge), related to the experiences of these two cases. 3.1 Mainport Schiphol Schiphol Airport is situated in a highly urbanized area, and deals with national, continental and intercontinental air traffic. Although its presence is causing many ‘stress’ on its environmental surroundings, the Dutch government wants it to expand, so it can act as a hub for continental and intercontinental air traffic. With this expansion there are two interests at stake: on national level an economic one (because an enlarged Schiphol would increase economic activities), and on regional level an environmental one (because a bigger Schiphol will cause an increase of nuisances of noise, pollution, and safety). These two opposite interests caused a stalemate to occur since the 1950s. In the 1980s, one of the government authorities took the initiative to change the ‘common way of working’ and activated the policy network, to address the issues (Driessen, 1999). 3.1.1 Participant selection The most important actor in this case was the Dutch Government, who made the prefigured decision to expand the airport into an international hub. All other participants had to find their ‘win-win’ outcomes within this context of developmental growth. From the beginning, various government organisations have been involved in the development of Schiphol Airport. The main players are three ministries. The ministry of Transport and Public Works is by far the most important actor, responsible for the economic development of the airport as well as the abatement of noise nuisance. Second, the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment is also involved, responsible for physical planning in The Netherlands and implementing policies regarding the rest of the environmental effects of the activities of the airline industries, namely air pollution, stench and hazard. Finally, the Ministry of Economic Affairs plays and important role, pursuing further economic development in the region of Schiphol (Driessen, 1999). Lower tiers of governments involved were the province of North Holland, responsible for environmental policy and planning for the region, and the municipalities surrounding the airport, both benefiting (by increased employment and tax-incomes) and enduring the aggravation (caused by noise, stench, air pollution, and other activities that degrade the environment) of having the airport close by. The municipality of Haarlemmermeer is a special case, because this municipality is authorized to create a land use plan for the airfield. Additionally, two enterprises play a crucial role: NV Luchthaven Schiphol (operating the airport and completely state owned) and KLM (the major Dutch carrier and partly owned by the state) (Driessen, 1999). Because the Ministry of Transport and Public Works occupied a pivotal position, being both responsible for the economic development of Schiphol and the abatement of noise nuisance, it was agreed that noise regulation would be regulated by the Aviation Act, which was under the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport and Public Works. Nevertheless, little actions were made to reduce noise nuisance, because all participants believed that technical solutions would solve all noise-problems in the near future. Because no agreement could be made between these participants on how much the airport should be allowed to grow, or how to tackle the environmental problems, the Dutch government asked the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment to make an integral plan for the Schiphol region, ensuring both economic development as well as environmental improvements. In the following process, a project group and a steering committee were established. The steering committee was comp osed out of all above-mentioned parties, while the project group contained all interest groups. Any party with interest in the case could join the project group (Driessen, 1999). Based on the case-description and related to the four considerations described in section 2.1, it must be concluded that parties with blocking and productive power were strongly involved in the interactive planning process, by joining the steering committee. Other parties with interest were also involved, by joining the project group, but their influence was relatively small. If parties were involved, based on moral considerations, does not become clear from this case-description. 3.1.2 Power and access The three different Governmental agencies (the ministry of Transport and Public Works, the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs) with jurisdictional authority over airport expansion, had accepted the mandate for airport expansion, but each with more at stake than achieving this outcome. Interagency rivalry and power played a critical part in the positions the ministries adopted and the coalitions they build during negotiations. The creation of a project group composed of all interest groups and of a steering committee of essential power brokers gave much power to the steering committee alone. From the case description, it does not become clear that the members of the steering committee, who were eventually excluded from the decision-making, were those who could not benefit in a ‘win-win’ situation, or were simply not powerful enough to block or advance progress. Nevertheless, the exclusion of interests cannot lead t o a ‘win-win’ solution and has encountered difficulties building consensus and achieving compliance (Driessen, 1999). Based on the case-description and related to the three elements described in section 2.2, it must be concluded that ‘Access to information’ does not form an obstacle. Perhaps the overload on information and the opposed and contradicting information gave bigger problems. The public was given some access to the decision-making process when they joint the project group, by commenting the ideas of the steering committee. However, the steering committee made all final decisions, so there was certainly no access to redress or change a decision. 3.1.3 Roles of facilitator After the developed deadlock between the initially participants, the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment was made primary responsible for the task of making an integral plan for the Schiphol region, ensuring both economic development as well as environmental improvements. The fact that this ministry had a strong affiliation with environmental issues raised initial suspicion among the other governmental bodies. They wondered whether this ministry would be able to take a neutral position in the ensuing discussions. However, their initial wariness soon gave way to a realistic attitude, and actively joined the process (Driessen, 1999). The Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment designed an organizational framework for the discussion whereby the coordinated approach would be given a concrete form by activating the policy network. With this, the ministry acquired a dual function in the project, because it was the convenor, chair and facilitator of the planning process, and had to secure the input of environmental interest in the decision-making (Driessen, 1999). In the initial stage, the strategy of the project leaders of the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment was to bring the various parties closer together by conducting investigations and exchanging information, assuming that this might contribute to a better understanding and more appreciation for each different standpoint. The was no need for a professional facilitator, because all information was being collected, analyzed, and disseminated in an orderly way, although a professional facilitator could have helped structuring the problem. At the end of this stage, the project leaders formulated a plan, which could not be released because of the rain of criticism it caused (Driessen, 1999). Because of this setback, the project leaders decided to recruit a professional facilitator, with the task not to increase the supply of information, but to let parties sought to digest what they had and to arrive at a decision. From the case-description, it does not become clear if this facilitator had staff support and whether he/she had analytical, problem solving skills. The approach taken by the facilitator was aimed at bringing the main bottlenecks to the fore, in order to reach agreements at least on key points. The approach was characterized by the creation of a strong interaction between the project group and the steering committee. The later reviewed the issues that the project group had pared down in size, and either approved the solutions offered by the project group or send them back to the project group for reconsideration (Driessen, 1999). After this process, the facilitator presented the choices made by the project group and the steering committee to the public. The central aim of this was, to gain social and political legitimacy; the plan was opened up to the public discussion and the reactions were taken into account in the final version. Unfortunately, the public was hardly informed about the process preceding the plan and therefore it was generally received with great suspicion. Adding to this, the public discussion did not proceeded in a coordinated fashion, but each government resorted to its own method of public discussion. At the same time of these public hearings, the facilitator had to focus on the steering committee, because each party could take criticism of the plan as a lever to reopen discussion on subjects already discussed. At the end, the facilitator wrote the final text of the plan, shaping the final agreements also including the difficult topics of a reduction of noise nuisance and hazard (Driessen , 1999). From this description of the facilitator, it becomes clear that the facilitator had both the role of process architect, and mediator. The facilitator designed the entire framework of decision-making and mediated when problems occurred. If the facilitator also had a convening role is unclear. Which stakeholders could join the steering committee was already decided before the facilitator got involved. How actually the project group was formed, stays unclear from this case-description. 3.1.4 Role of knowledge Especially in issues related to airfield, experts disagree on numerous crucial uncertainties. This makes the role of knowledge both important but not of the same tenor. Research plays a key role in these controversies. This relates to research on, for instance, the need to build a new airport or expand the existing one, it may concern the most desirable infrastructure in and around the airport, it may deal with the profitability of operation, it may investigate the economic impact of the airport, or it may consider possible negative effects on the environment. However, this research must never be judged as ‘objective’ and will always play a role in the conflict of interest, expressed in this case, in the frequency of requested ‘second opinions’ (Driessen, 1999). In the case of noise nuisance, it took long time to be acknowledged as a problem and to find a way of calculating the level of distress. In the mid-1960s, a system was developed to measure noise nuisance, but no agreement could be made on how it should be applied. For instance, there was discussion about how to determine the threshold value for maximum admissible noise nuisance. Furthermore, options differ on setting a specific norm for night flights. The disagreement revolves around the degree to which departing and arriving airplanes disturb the sleep of nearby residents, and whether such disruption is detrimental to public health. There was also uncertainty about, the rate air traffic would increase, and the degree to which technical developments in aeronautics could help reduce noise levels by changing the aircrafts design (Driessen, 1999). Therefore, as also stated in section 2.4, knowledge is very important in decision-making processes, but as these processes get more interaction with a broad scale of actors, knowledge becomes more a result of collective social processes and loses its objective entity. From this case-description, it does not become explicitly clear if the decisions were based on knowledge provided by ‘experts’ or that it was formed in an interactive learning process. Implicitly, one could state that the agreement on noise nuisances could only have been established, when such interactive knowledge development occurred. 3.2 A12 national expressway The ease of accessibility of The Hague depends to a large extent on the A12 national expressway. Its final 30 km stretch is marked by many access and exit ramps, and the intensity of traffic in this area has increased dramatically in recent decades. This is partly thanks to the enormous increase in the volume of vehicular traffic, and partly to the proliferation of new urban development locations around The Hague. Much of the traffic is ‘destination traffic’ which enters the city in the morning and leaves at night. As a result of the higher volumes, congestion became a big problem (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). 3.2.1 Participant selection The planning agency initially saw itself as the owner of the problem at stake and formulated a classical solution of road widening. This approach failed because of public resistance and of a budget problem at the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management. Because of this, the ministry stepped back, which un-deliberately created opportunities for other parties to take initiative. The government authorities of The Hague took the initiative to develop a new architecture for interaction among the different stakeholders. They organized a public dialog and a series of workshops involving local politicians and private businesses from the region, resulting in a new definition of the problem, focussing on the underutilization of existing capacity. The role of the planning agency changed from orchestrator of the infrastructure project to a partner in the wider regional consultation on issues of mobility and livability. They also made subsidies available to the business community , enabling them to work out individual, sometimes innovative, mobility plans (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). Before concluding the analysis of participant selection in this case, the fact that there were no objections to the planes made by this interactive planning-process is probably the best evidence that all relevant stakeholders were included in the process. Nevertheless, from the case-description and related to the four considerations described in section 2.1, it does not become clear how all relevant stakeholders were defined, if all parties with blocking and productive power were added to the process, or if parties with moral and ethical considerations were included. 3.2.2 Power and access This case can bee described as a restricted interactive process, because it was intended to promote the cooperation of public authorities with the private sector. Civic organizations and individual citizens were kept informed through a public relations center. The governmental authorities of The Hague decided which stakeholders were included in the process. Despite this fact, no opposition to this project did arise (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). The access to information was well looked after, in the form of the public relations center. They kept civic organizations and individual citizens informed about the plans and progress. More power was not given to the public in this case. 3.2.3 Roles of facilitator In order to link the government agencies (where the plans were developed), and the business community, a ‘godfather’ was appointed. This honour was given to the director of the public transport company in the region, and he served as a contact between the project and the private sector. He kept all relevant firms informed about the development of the project and called these firms to task with respect to their responsibilities for the region’s accessibility, by reminding them that they might be lagging behind other firms in the development of their mobility plans (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). From the case-description, it must be concluded that the government authorities of The Hague acted as a convener, initially selecting the different stakeholders. Facilitating the process and mediating in conflicts were partly done by the ‘godfather’ and partly by the government authorities of The Hague. The precise division of responsibilities does not become clear from the case-description. 3.2.4 Role of knowledge According to this case-description, it was the government agencies of The Hague who decided what knowledge was used in the decision process. The only organization consulted for information was the planning agency, also participating in the planning process (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). Although knowledge is crucial in interactive planning (see section 2.4), the role of knowledge in this case is not very big. This probably has two reasons. One is the relative simple problem at stake (congestion) and secondly the fact that all parties agreed on the content of the relevant knowledge. Nevertheless, the fact that only one party provided the relevant knowledge could potentially have caused major problems afterwards. 4. Conclusion This research started with the question: How do the four critical issues (Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge) contribute to the rate of success of 2 infrastructural cases in The Netherlands (the Schiphol case and the A12 national expressway)? How each criterion added to the success of the case is described at the end of each subsection in chapter 3. Overall, it can be concluded that the success of interactive planning depends on the care each criterion is taken care of. If one of these criteria is neglected, it will be reflected in the outcomes. If, for example, participants are forgotten, power is not distributed evenly, facilitators are not adequate, or knowledge is not as objective as possible, the process will take much longer time and the change of good end-results and thus consensus will diminish. Both cases make clear that solutions were impossible to reach in the traditional way of policy making and that interactive policy mak ing contributed to good end results. Nevertheless, in future comparable processes, more attention should be given to the four discussed critical issues, and probably to the seven mentioned in the introduction. Only than, the rate of success of these kind of processes will increase. References Acland, A.F. 1995. Resolving Disputes without going to Court. London, Century Business Books. Bruijn, H. de, E. ten Heuvelhof and R.J. in ’t Veld. 2002. Process management: Why Project Management Fails in Complex decision making Processes. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers. Driessen, P. 1999. Activating a Policy Network; The Case of Mainport Schiphol. in Susskind et al., 1999, The Consensus Building Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Reaching Agreement. Enthoven, G.M.W. and A. de Rooij. 1996. InfraLab; Impuls voor open planvorming en creativiteit.Bestuurskunde, Vol. 5, Issue 8, p. 1-8. Friend, J. and A. Hickling. 2004. Planning Under Pressure, The Strategic Choice Approach. Oxford, Buttorworth/Heinemann. Glasbergen, P. and P.J. Driessen. 2005. Interactive planning of infrastructure: the changing role of Dutch project management. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, Vol. 23, p. 263-277. Khakee A., A. Barbanente and D. Borri. 2000. Expert and experimental knowledge in planning. The Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 51, No. 7, p. 776-788. Mock, G.A., W. Vanasselt, and E. Petkova. 2003. Rights and reality: Monitoring the public’s right to participate. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, Vol. 9, p. 4-13. Suzzkind, L.S., S. McKearan and J. Thomas-Larmer. 1999. The Consensus Building Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Reaching Agreement. London, SAGE Publications. Appendix 1 – Case sheet Mainport Schiphol (Driessen, 1999) 1. Position Initiative: several governmental ministries Time period: 1980-present Level of used policy process: regional/national Phase in policy process: in process 2. Background This case is about plans to expand Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and the disputes related to it. Schiphol Airport is situated in a highly urbanized area, and deals with national, continental and intercontinental air traffic. Although its presence is causing many ‘stress’ on its environmental surroundings, the Dutch government wants it to expand, so it can act as a hub for continental and intercontinental air traffic. With this expansion there are two interests at stake: on national level an economic one (because an enlarged Schiphol Airport would increase economic activities), and on regional level an environmental one (because a bigger Schiphol Airport will caus Barriers to Dutch Infrastructural Project Planning Barriers to Dutch Infrastructural Project Planning Interactive planning of Dutch infrastructural project A case-description of Mainport Schiphol and the A12 national expressway Interactive Planning of Sustainability 1. Introduction Since the beginning of the ‘90s, the implementation of new infrastructural projects in The Netherlands became increasingly problematic. Related environmental issues had a lot of societal attention. The Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, responsible for maintaining a high quality of mobility in the Netherlands, identified three major problems with earlier attempts to solve the infrastructural problems; little social acceptance for new projects, procedures for realizing new projects took too long, and the proposed solutions were not really original and often ‘more of the same’. For solving these problems, this Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management proposed a change from top-down decision making to a more open and interactive form of policy making for planning, developing, and implementing new infrastructure (Enthoven and de Rooij, 1996). With interactive policy making, the main goal is to make more creative and effectiv e plans, by involving all stakeholders like citizens, (local and/or national) governments and experts. For this paper, 2 cases are selected, related to a Dutch infrastructure issue and dealt with on an interactive way; Mainport Schiphol near Amsterdam and the A12 national expressway near The Hague. The first one is selected because of its elaborated description in Susskind et al. (1999), its high degree of complexness and the fact the outcomes were fairly positive, the second one is selected also because of its suitable description in Glasbergen en Driessen (2005), but with a more straight-forward problem definition and its positive outcomes. Discussing these two Dutch cases, we will focus on four critical issues, related to interactive planning and often discussed in literature: Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge. Although more critical issues can be defined, like Roles op participants, Modes of evaluation and Use of outcomes by policy makers, only these four are chosen because of the fact that these are clearly discussed in the selec ted case-descriptions and these seemed to be crucial for the success of these cases. Chapter 2 will discuss each critical issue shortly. Chapter 3 will discuss the two cases in the light of the four different critical issues, and chapter 4 will give a conclusion. To structure this research the following research question is formulated: How do the four critical issues (Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge) contribute to the rate of success of 2 infrastructural cases in The Netherlands (the Schiphol case and the A12 national expressway)? 2. Critical Issues This chapter will elaborate a bit more about what is actually meant with the four different critical issues: Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge. 2.1 Participant selection The question of which parties to involve is answered by a set of four considerations that should be taken into account when selecting the participants (De Bruijn et al., 2002). Firstly, parties with blocking power in the decision-making are important. Involving these parties in the process may keep them from using their blocking power in ways that are unforeseen. Secondly, parties with productive power should be part of the process. These parties will actually have to implement the decisions that are taken, and can influence the decision making with their control over the productive resources. Thirdly, parties that have an interest in the decision-making should be considered. These are parties that do not have substantial power in the decision making process (like blocking power or resources), but nevertheless are confronted with the outcomes of the group process and therefore can provide important information and moral considerations. Finally, this moral aspect of decision-making ca n by a reason to invite certain parties to join the process. Moral and ethical considerations can be important to embody the voice of those who are affected by the potential decision, but are not invited to the process for different reasons (De Bruin, 2002). 2.2 Power and access One of the key goals of interactive policy making is that it should reduce the influence of dominant elites and enable the less powerful groups to give input. Those parties or actors, who do not have access to formal decision-making processes or who cannot exert enough influence by the way of discussion and negotiation are more likely to initiate legal proceedings. Public’s ability to participate in decisions can be assessed according to three elements (as defined at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992): access to information, access to the decision-making process, and access to redress or change decision. These three elements will shortly be explained below. ‘Access to information’ can be seen as the first foundation of access and also one of the most passive forms of access seen from the perspective of the public. With access to information is meant the ability the public has to easily get access to forms of relevant information in which they are directly or indirectly involved, such as environmental impact assessments, reports from industries about their emissions etc. But one also can think about getting informed about potential relevant activities, which possibly can affect the public’s environment. ‘Access to the decision-making processes’ wants to give the public a more active role. Once this form of access is attained, one can even speak of a certain form of power. One must not focus on only the opportunity to provide input on specific subjects, but also the ability to influence more general decisions, such as the making of new laws or national policies. ‘Access to redress or change a certain decision’ is also related to a form of power, since the ability to change a certain decision gives a citizen the power to influence the decision-making process. This form of access can be translated into making judicial or administrative remedies accessible to the public, when officials fail to do their work in a proper manner (Mock et al., 2003). 2.3 Roles of facilitators The roles that a facilitator can play in group decision processes constitute of consistent packages of specific tasks within the group process combined with a more general ‘attitude’ towards the group members and the process. In literature, three major roles of a facilitator are commonly distinguished: a role as process architect or process manager, a mediating role and a convening role. As a process architect, the facilitator lays down the backbone of the group process. The process should be structured in such a way that all relevant insights from the participants will play a role in the process. Four core principles for designing a group process can be discriminated: openness, protection of core values, speed and substance (De Bruijn et al., 2002). These four ‘core elements of process design’ should be included and safeguarded in any process design in order to satisfy all the participants. The facilitator focuses on the process so that group members can focus on the substance and can suggest different ways of discussing problems, ensuring that all group members can freely express there comments and are free of any abuses of power or personal attack (Susskind et al., 1999). Especially in environmental issues, the interests, values and problem perceptions of different parties may often be far apart form each other. With such large contrasts of interest within the group, a facilitator often is faced with disputes and conflicts within the group process, that are hard to solve with mere changes in the structure of the process. In such case, the role of the facilitator can be very closely related with a mediating role in which the facilitator is mediating between parties, even to establish a general structure of the process. In addition, an external mediator can be asked to solve the conflicts. An external mediator is a neutral person that specializes in solving disputes between different participants in the group process, often using a variety of negotiation techniques and (psychological) methods of reframing problems and solutions (Acland, 1995). In a convening role, the facilitator has a say in which parties should be involved in the group process, and at what roles they will have. The convening role of a facilitator is sometimes not far apart from the role that a facilitator has as a process designer. Proper management of a group decisions process clearly has a very import influence on the effectiveness of that process. The facilitator can influence that process to quit a large extent. The consensus of all group members on the final decision depends for a large part on the level of agreement within the group with the approach that facilitators takes in structuring and managing the process. 2.4 Role of knowledge Knowledge is a crucial ingredient of interactive planning. However, the significance of the use of knowledge depends on one’s view. Over the years, the view on the role of knowledge has changed. The rational actor model has gradually been replaced by adaptive decision and learning strategies interacting with the environment. Before, planning would be perceived as proceeding in an orderly and linear fashion (Friend Hickling, 2005). Today some authors state that knowledge is a result of collective social processes. This implies that knowledge is a social construct, rather than an objective entity. In the new approach, linear progression of the process is seen as unrealistic. Instead, the uniqueness, ambiguity and unpredictability of real world processes are emphasized. With the recognition that planning is an interactive and communicative process, the notion of the interrelationship between expert and experiential knowledge has become more and more crucial. Interactive planning is now seen as ‘organized rituals’ where ‘deliberating participants’ listen to one another, search for new options and learn to find new ways of going on together (Khakee et al., 2000). 3. Case description For a complete description of each of the two cases, see appendix 1 and 2. This section will only discuss the previously mentioned four critical issues related to interactive policy making (Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge), related to the experiences of these two cases. 3.1 Mainport Schiphol Schiphol Airport is situated in a highly urbanized area, and deals with national, continental and intercontinental air traffic. Although its presence is causing many ‘stress’ on its environmental surroundings, the Dutch government wants it to expand, so it can act as a hub for continental and intercontinental air traffic. With this expansion there are two interests at stake: on national level an economic one (because an enlarged Schiphol would increase economic activities), and on regional level an environmental one (because a bigger Schiphol will cause an increase of nuisances of noise, pollution, and safety). These two opposite interests caused a stalemate to occur since the 1950s. In the 1980s, one of the government authorities took the initiative to change the ‘common way of working’ and activated the policy network, to address the issues (Driessen, 1999). 3.1.1 Participant selection The most important actor in this case was the Dutch Government, who made the prefigured decision to expand the airport into an international hub. All other participants had to find their ‘win-win’ outcomes within this context of developmental growth. From the beginning, various government organisations have been involved in the development of Schiphol Airport. The main players are three ministries. The ministry of Transport and Public Works is by far the most important actor, responsible for the economic development of the airport as well as the abatement of noise nuisance. Second, the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment is also involved, responsible for physical planning in The Netherlands and implementing policies regarding the rest of the environmental effects of the activities of the airline industries, namely air pollution, stench and hazard. Finally, the Ministry of Economic Affairs plays and important role, pursuing further economic development in the region of Schiphol (Driessen, 1999). Lower tiers of governments involved were the province of North Holland, responsible for environmental policy and planning for the region, and the municipalities surrounding the airport, both benefiting (by increased employment and tax-incomes) and enduring the aggravation (caused by noise, stench, air pollution, and other activities that degrade the environment) of having the airport close by. The municipality of Haarlemmermeer is a special case, because this municipality is authorized to create a land use plan for the airfield. Additionally, two enterprises play a crucial role: NV Luchthaven Schiphol (operating the airport and completely state owned) and KLM (the major Dutch carrier and partly owned by the state) (Driessen, 1999). Because the Ministry of Transport and Public Works occupied a pivotal position, being both responsible for the economic development of Schiphol and the abatement of noise nuisance, it was agreed that noise regulation would be regulated by the Aviation Act, which was under the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport and Public Works. Nevertheless, little actions were made to reduce noise nuisance, because all participants believed that technical solutions would solve all noise-problems in the near future. Because no agreement could be made between these participants on how much the airport should be allowed to grow, or how to tackle the environmental problems, the Dutch government asked the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment to make an integral plan for the Schiphol region, ensuring both economic development as well as environmental improvements. In the following process, a project group and a steering committee were established. The steering committee was comp osed out of all above-mentioned parties, while the project group contained all interest groups. Any party with interest in the case could join the project group (Driessen, 1999). Based on the case-description and related to the four considerations described in section 2.1, it must be concluded that parties with blocking and productive power were strongly involved in the interactive planning process, by joining the steering committee. Other parties with interest were also involved, by joining the project group, but their influence was relatively small. If parties were involved, based on moral considerations, does not become clear from this case-description. 3.1.2 Power and access The three different Governmental agencies (the ministry of Transport and Public Works, the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs) with jurisdictional authority over airport expansion, had accepted the mandate for airport expansion, but each with more at stake than achieving this outcome. Interagency rivalry and power played a critical part in the positions the ministries adopted and the coalitions they build during negotiations. The creation of a project group composed of all interest groups and of a steering committee of essential power brokers gave much power to the steering committee alone. From the case description, it does not become clear that the members of the steering committee, who were eventually excluded from the decision-making, were those who could not benefit in a ‘win-win’ situation, or were simply not powerful enough to block or advance progress. Nevertheless, the exclusion of interests cannot lead t o a ‘win-win’ solution and has encountered difficulties building consensus and achieving compliance (Driessen, 1999). Based on the case-description and related to the three elements described in section 2.2, it must be concluded that ‘Access to information’ does not form an obstacle. Perhaps the overload on information and the opposed and contradicting information gave bigger problems. The public was given some access to the decision-making process when they joint the project group, by commenting the ideas of the steering committee. However, the steering committee made all final decisions, so there was certainly no access to redress or change a decision. 3.1.3 Roles of facilitator After the developed deadlock between the initially participants, the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment was made primary responsible for the task of making an integral plan for the Schiphol region, ensuring both economic development as well as environmental improvements. The fact that this ministry had a strong affiliation with environmental issues raised initial suspicion among the other governmental bodies. They wondered whether this ministry would be able to take a neutral position in the ensuing discussions. However, their initial wariness soon gave way to a realistic attitude, and actively joined the process (Driessen, 1999). The Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment designed an organizational framework for the discussion whereby the coordinated approach would be given a concrete form by activating the policy network. With this, the ministry acquired a dual function in the project, because it was the convenor, chair and facilitator of the planning process, and had to secure the input of environmental interest in the decision-making (Driessen, 1999). In the initial stage, the strategy of the project leaders of the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment was to bring the various parties closer together by conducting investigations and exchanging information, assuming that this might contribute to a better understanding and more appreciation for each different standpoint. The was no need for a professional facilitator, because all information was being collected, analyzed, and disseminated in an orderly way, although a professional facilitator could have helped structuring the problem. At the end of this stage, the project leaders formulated a plan, which could not be released because of the rain of criticism it caused (Driessen, 1999). Because of this setback, the project leaders decided to recruit a professional facilitator, with the task not to increase the supply of information, but to let parties sought to digest what they had and to arrive at a decision. From the case-description, it does not become clear if this facilitator had staff support and whether he/she had analytical, problem solving skills. The approach taken by the facilitator was aimed at bringing the main bottlenecks to the fore, in order to reach agreements at least on key points. The approach was characterized by the creation of a strong interaction between the project group and the steering committee. The later reviewed the issues that the project group had pared down in size, and either approved the solutions offered by the project group or send them back to the project group for reconsideration (Driessen, 1999). After this process, the facilitator presented the choices made by the project group and the steering committee to the public. The central aim of this was, to gain social and political legitimacy; the plan was opened up to the public discussion and the reactions were taken into account in the final version. Unfortunately, the public was hardly informed about the process preceding the plan and therefore it was generally received with great suspicion. Adding to this, the public discussion did not proceeded in a coordinated fashion, but each government resorted to its own method of public discussion. At the same time of these public hearings, the facilitator had to focus on the steering committee, because each party could take criticism of the plan as a lever to reopen discussion on subjects already discussed. At the end, the facilitator wrote the final text of the plan, shaping the final agreements also including the difficult topics of a reduction of noise nuisance and hazard (Driessen , 1999). From this description of the facilitator, it becomes clear that the facilitator had both the role of process architect, and mediator. The facilitator designed the entire framework of decision-making and mediated when problems occurred. If the facilitator also had a convening role is unclear. Which stakeholders could join the steering committee was already decided before the facilitator got involved. How actually the project group was formed, stays unclear from this case-description. 3.1.4 Role of knowledge Especially in issues related to airfield, experts disagree on numerous crucial uncertainties. This makes the role of knowledge both important but not of the same tenor. Research plays a key role in these controversies. This relates to research on, for instance, the need to build a new airport or expand the existing one, it may concern the most desirable infrastructure in and around the airport, it may deal with the profitability of operation, it may investigate the economic impact of the airport, or it may consider possible negative effects on the environment. However, this research must never be judged as ‘objective’ and will always play a role in the conflict of interest, expressed in this case, in the frequency of requested ‘second opinions’ (Driessen, 1999). In the case of noise nuisance, it took long time to be acknowledged as a problem and to find a way of calculating the level of distress. In the mid-1960s, a system was developed to measure noise nuisance, but no agreement could be made on how it should be applied. For instance, there was discussion about how to determine the threshold value for maximum admissible noise nuisance. Furthermore, options differ on setting a specific norm for night flights. The disagreement revolves around the degree to which departing and arriving airplanes disturb the sleep of nearby residents, and whether such disruption is detrimental to public health. There was also uncertainty about, the rate air traffic would increase, and the degree to which technical developments in aeronautics could help reduce noise levels by changing the aircrafts design (Driessen, 1999). Therefore, as also stated in section 2.4, knowledge is very important in decision-making processes, but as these processes get more interaction with a broad scale of actors, knowledge becomes more a result of collective social processes and loses its objective entity. From this case-description, it does not become explicitly clear if the decisions were based on knowledge provided by ‘experts’ or that it was formed in an interactive learning process. Implicitly, one could state that the agreement on noise nuisances could only have been established, when such interactive knowledge development occurred. 3.2 A12 national expressway The ease of accessibility of The Hague depends to a large extent on the A12 national expressway. Its final 30 km stretch is marked by many access and exit ramps, and the intensity of traffic in this area has increased dramatically in recent decades. This is partly thanks to the enormous increase in the volume of vehicular traffic, and partly to the proliferation of new urban development locations around The Hague. Much of the traffic is ‘destination traffic’ which enters the city in the morning and leaves at night. As a result of the higher volumes, congestion became a big problem (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). 3.2.1 Participant selection The planning agency initially saw itself as the owner of the problem at stake and formulated a classical solution of road widening. This approach failed because of public resistance and of a budget problem at the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management. Because of this, the ministry stepped back, which un-deliberately created opportunities for other parties to take initiative. The government authorities of The Hague took the initiative to develop a new architecture for interaction among the different stakeholders. They organized a public dialog and a series of workshops involving local politicians and private businesses from the region, resulting in a new definition of the problem, focussing on the underutilization of existing capacity. The role of the planning agency changed from orchestrator of the infrastructure project to a partner in the wider regional consultation on issues of mobility and livability. They also made subsidies available to the business community , enabling them to work out individual, sometimes innovative, mobility plans (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). Before concluding the analysis of participant selection in this case, the fact that there were no objections to the planes made by this interactive planning-process is probably the best evidence that all relevant stakeholders were included in the process. Nevertheless, from the case-description and related to the four considerations described in section 2.1, it does not become clear how all relevant stakeholders were defined, if all parties with blocking and productive power were added to the process, or if parties with moral and ethical considerations were included. 3.2.2 Power and access This case can bee described as a restricted interactive process, because it was intended to promote the cooperation of public authorities with the private sector. Civic organizations and individual citizens were kept informed through a public relations center. The governmental authorities of The Hague decided which stakeholders were included in the process. Despite this fact, no opposition to this project did arise (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). The access to information was well looked after, in the form of the public relations center. They kept civic organizations and individual citizens informed about the plans and progress. More power was not given to the public in this case. 3.2.3 Roles of facilitator In order to link the government agencies (where the plans were developed), and the business community, a ‘godfather’ was appointed. This honour was given to the director of the public transport company in the region, and he served as a contact between the project and the private sector. He kept all relevant firms informed about the development of the project and called these firms to task with respect to their responsibilities for the region’s accessibility, by reminding them that they might be lagging behind other firms in the development of their mobility plans (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). From the case-description, it must be concluded that the government authorities of The Hague acted as a convener, initially selecting the different stakeholders. Facilitating the process and mediating in conflicts were partly done by the ‘godfather’ and partly by the government authorities of The Hague. The precise division of responsibilities does not become clear from the case-description. 3.2.4 Role of knowledge According to this case-description, it was the government agencies of The Hague who decided what knowledge was used in the decision process. The only organization consulted for information was the planning agency, also participating in the planning process (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). Although knowledge is crucial in interactive planning (see section 2.4), the role of knowledge in this case is not very big. This probably has two reasons. One is the relative simple problem at stake (congestion) and secondly the fact that all parties agreed on the content of the relevant knowledge. Nevertheless, the fact that only one party provided the relevant knowledge could potentially have caused major problems afterwards. 4. Conclusion This research started with the question: How do the four critical issues (Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge) contribute to the rate of success of 2 infrastructural cases in The Netherlands (the Schiphol case and the A12 national expressway)? How each criterion added to the success of the case is described at the end of each subsection in chapter 3. Overall, it can be concluded that the success of interactive planning depends on the care each criterion is taken care of. If one of these criteria is neglected, it will be reflected in the outcomes. If, for example, participants are forgotten, power is not distributed evenly, facilitators are not adequate, or knowledge is not as objective as possible, the process will take much longer time and the change of good end-results and thus consensus will diminish. Both cases make clear that solutions were impossible to reach in the traditional way of policy making and that interactive policy mak ing contributed to good end results. Nevertheless, in future comparable processes, more attention should be given to the four discussed critical issues, and probably to the seven mentioned in the introduction. Only than, the rate of success of these kind of processes will increase. References Acland, A.F. 1995. Resolving Disputes without going to Court. London, Century Business Books. Bruijn, H. de, E. ten Heuvelhof and R.J. in ’t Veld. 2002. Process management: Why Project Management Fails in Complex decision making Processes. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers. Driessen, P. 1999. Activating a Policy Network; The Case of Mainport Schiphol. in Susskind et al., 1999, The Consensus Building Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Reaching Agreement. Enthoven, G.M.W. and A. de Rooij. 1996. InfraLab; Impuls voor open planvorming en creativiteit.Bestuurskunde, Vol. 5, Issue 8, p. 1-8. Friend, J. and A. Hickling. 2004. Planning Under Pressure, The Strategic Choice Approach. Oxford, Buttorworth/Heinemann. Glasbergen, P. and P.J. Driessen. 2005. Interactive planning of infrastructure: the changing role of Dutch project management. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, Vol. 23, p. 263-277. Khakee A., A. Barbanente and D. Borri. 2000. Expert and experimental knowledge in planning. The Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 51, No. 7, p. 776-788. Mock, G.A., W. Vanasselt, and E. Petkova. 2003. Rights and reality: Monitoring the public’s right to participate. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, Vol. 9, p. 4-13. Suzzkind, L.S., S. McKearan and J. Thomas-Larmer. 1999. The Consensus Building Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Reaching Agreement. London, SAGE Publications. Appendix 1 – Case sheet Mainport Schiphol (Driessen, 1999) 1. Position Initiative: several governmental ministries Time period: 1980-present Level of used policy process: regional/national Phase in policy process: in process 2. Background This case is about plans to expand Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and the disputes related to it. Schiphol Airport is situated in a highly urbanized area, and deals with national, continental and intercontinental air traffic. Although its presence is causing many ‘stress’ on its environmental surroundings, the Dutch government wants it to expand, so it can act as a hub for continental and intercontinental air traffic. With this expansion there are two interests at stake: on national level an economic one (because an enlarged Schiphol Airport would increase economic activities), and on regional level an environmental one (because a bigger Schiphol Airport will caus