Argumentative Paper

American dollars into the Iraqi infrastructure. 1) Military and police force trained at the hands of American taxpayer dollars. (2) Facilities that have been built by American's and gone to waste. (3) Global understanding of foreign aid. (4) Iraq's capabilities of taking care of their own financial aid. (5)Statistics in regards to dollars spent on what projects to Iraq become a better nation. IV. America's public school system. A. Budget cuts to the educational budget. B. Classroom growth. C. Educational cut back programs. (1) City of Phoenix cut backs. 2) Educational Job market flooded with teachers and no positions available. 3) Interview with Kerry. Help V. American's need to tighten the purse strings and take care of the issues at home. Too Much Foreign Aid in America's Budget The act of charity is something that most people are raised on; if a person has been blessed with wealth, it is always good to help those less fortunate. However, there comes a time when too much is too muc h. The United States, among other countries, developed the practice of foreign aid after World War II.It was designed to help those countries in desperate need of temporary help when they could not manage on their own. Foreign aid is something that has been in effect over the last few decades and some say has been used to excess and argue the point that if our own country is in debt and suffering, how can there be so much money spent on foreign aid. Others say that we are prosperous and should help those that need it no matter what. Whichever side of the argument is brought up, there are certain facts that do not change.The United States has spent too much money taking care of other countries financial disasters despite the trouble within its own borders. The United States of America has long been considered one of the most remediable countries in the world leading the pack of economic growth, democracy, innovation and financial dominance. However, lately it seems that the United St ates is in as much financial strain as the other countries it helps regularly. American's are experiencing the pinch of billions in budget cuts on education programs, eliminating teaching positions and higher taxes to fund a war with Iraq.Even through all of these financial hardships, the United States still manages to give billions of dollars in financial aid despite the economic crisis of their own. A country that receives a large portion of American foreign aid is Haiti. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world and is one of the countries that recently, receives the most financial aid world wide. In mid-January of this year, Haiti experienced a devastating earthquake that destroyed most of the county. Hundreds of thousands of people were left without homes, clean drinking water or electricity, with debris and rubble making it unsafe territory.Bret Stephens, a Journalist for the DOD Jones & Company, uncovered news from the World Bank and exactly how much additional aid w as going to be allotted to Haiti for relief efforts. Stephens article states: The World Bank–now about to throw another $100 million on Haiti–on what it achieved in the country between 1986 and 2002: The outcome of World Bank assistance programs is rated unsatisfactory (if not highly so), the institutional development impact, negligible, and the sustainability of the few benefits that have accrued, unlikely.Stephens goes on to quote that the Bank noted, â€Å"Haiti has dysfunctional budgetary, financial or procurement systems, making financial and aid management impossible. The Bank makes the claim that the Haitian government does not take ownership and initiative for formulating and implementing assistance programs. A breakdown of foreign aid by country, provided by Guardian, a United Kingdom based awareness blob, shows a grand total of 3. 5 billion dollars already donated and another 1. 1 billion dollars pledged to help with this disaster (Guardian).America, leading as the highest donor, among other countries such as United Kingdom, Japan and Canada. Many countries making absolutely no contribution whatsoever during this time. American's are going broke and continue to keep giving. In fact, the United States has only been debt free for two years, 1834 and 1835, according to Marie Clammiest. Clammiest states in another article that, â€Å"†¦ The federal governments $14 trillion debt as an emergency that demands big cuts in domestic programs†¦ The majority of this debt is said to have come from the war in Iraq, heavily financed by borrowing from China to fund the war. Lira Logan reported, â€Å"The problem for America is that its greatness has always been rooted in its economic dominance and that debt has forced the U. S. To keep borrowing from foreign countries. † According to statistical ATA provided by the Bureau of the Public Debt , in 1991, the national debt for the United States was under $3 Trillion, even though a large amount, it was still within the realm of being paid off.However now in 2011, the debt recently went over the $14 trillion mark, a number that is in no way obtainable (Madame). Logan also quoted Aaron David Miller of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, saying, â€Å"Can the world's greatest power remain the world's greatest power and also be the world's greatest borrower? I don't think so. † Over the past four years fighting the war n Iraq, the United States has spent $500 billion dollars on Just the war alone (Skeletal).In addition to the funding of occupying this country, the United States has spent over $50 billion in reconstruction costs, that unfortunately, most say will be wasted dollars due to Iraq's incompetence and capabilities to utilize the reconstructions. As a country, the United States has invested hundreds of billions of dollars on equipment, buildings, infrastructure, electricity and water facilities in third world countries. In an article rec ently published by USA Today written by Matt Kelley, mints out that, â€Å"The United States has spent $44. Billion in taxpayer funds on rebuilding Iraq, about half of it to train, equip and support Iraq's military and police forces. † Kelley also quotes Rusty Barber, the head of the Iraq program United States Institute of Peace, â€Å"There has been some significant progress, but there's a long way to go before Iraq can really be a stable, secure country that's able to provide for its people's basic needs. † Iraq is a country that has undergone massive abuse over the past 10 plus years, with no end in sight, and has been rebuilt about ten times over.The amount of money that America has spent in rebuilding Iraq, by all means a country that has minimal interest in being rebuilt, is atrocious. American tax payer dollars are being spent to fund many projects in Iraq, such as schools, hospitals and prisons, instead of spending those same dollars on the same problems at hom e. According to Timothy Williams, many of these facilities have remained empty after completion because there were not enough Iraqis trained to operate them. Williams goes on to state that â€Å"†¦ 4 million maternity hospital built by the Americans is open, but the staff members cannot operate much of its equipment†¦.. Sinai Hospital in Baghdad, which had been the American military's largest medical center in the country, has been closed because the Health Ministry lacks the staff and equipment to reopen it, though the American military said it left $7. 9 million in equipment behind†¦ † He also states that there was a $165 million children's hospital that was delayed by more than four years and $115 million over budget (Williams). When a country is in desperate need of help, it is up to others to step up and give aid.When that aid is given, it is under the understanding that the money is going to e used to go towards the rebuild of the crisis. However, what ha ppens when the country receiving large portions of aid do not need that aid? For example, according to James Gland and Campbell Robertson's article in August of 2008, by the end of 2009, the Iraqi government ended up with a surplus of almost $80 million dollars. The article stated that, â€Å"The United States has spent $23. 2 billion in the critical areas of security, oil, electricity and water since the 2003 invasion, but from 2005 through April of 2008, Iraq has spend Just $3. Billion on similar services. † Another report room the Government Accountability Office estimates Iraqi oil revenue from 2005 through the end of this year [2008] will amount to at least $156 billion dollars. † So what this is stating is that the Iraqi government is not only holding their oil money in a United States bank collecting somewhere in the range of $400,000 in interest, but for some reason they are collecting foreign aid when they are capable of funding and fixing their own problems.Ca rl Levin, a chairman of the Senate Armed Services was quoted saying, â€Å"The Iraqi government now has tens of billions of dollars at its espousal to fund large-scale reconstruction projects. It is inexcusable for U. S. Taxpayers to continue to foot the bill for projects the Iraqis are fully capable of funding themselves We should not be paying for Iraqi projects, while Iraqi oil revenues continue to pile up in the bank. † Very well said and a statement many American citizens support full hardheartedly.However, we are still sending foreign aid to Iraq, building Iraqi schools, hospitals, prisons, and fortifying their country's security but it does not look like the money is going to stop going into Iraq. If the United States spends 165 million dollars on one hospital, one can only imagine the cost of rebuilding schools during war time; as well as imagine how many of those schools were destroyed intentionally and unintentionally during or after their construction because of sa id war. America's public school system drastically needs help and no one is coming up with any solutions but budget cuts.The American public school system is already the victim of systematic budget cuts are now getting ready for another huge blow to their financial status; one some say that is going to cripple our youth's outlooks on a better education. † Education Weekly reported that â€Å"the spending bill that President Barack Obama signed into law March 2 severed current fiscal-year funding for several literacy programs at the Education Department as a part of a government- wide reduction of $4 billion† (Rose). For an example, Arizona has taken hard drastic cuts recently.Classroom sizes have grown from 24 children per teacher to roughly 30 plus children per classroom. After school and during school education enhancement studies to help children who fall below the average or have special learning needs eve all but been eliminated. In previous years, children who may not have passed a subject were allowed the opportunity to attend intercession, a program during the school breaks where they attend class for a few hours a day over a two week time frame intended to get them back on track.Unfortunately, as of the 2009-2010 school year, Circle Cross Ranch, a local elementary in San Tan Valley Arizona, now requires parents pay $25 per class session if a child fails at any point in time the classes are mandatory. In Phoenix, they are experiencing even more of an unnecessary set back. The city as had a drastic decline in their hiring for the 2010-2011 school year. Roughly 7,400 public-school teaching positions have been eliminated across the state because of budget cuts proposed by the Legislature, according to Arizona Educators Association spokesman John Heartfelt (Quinn).With the amount of children that are still enrolling and moving into the Phoenix area, this only bodes ill for the amount of attention each child will receive. Education is important to the growth of any society and if that keeps getting hit time and time again with no solutions on how to fix that budget crisis, things will only get worse. The amount of educational Jobs are decreasing but the amount of applicants only increase. The educational Job market is being flooded with teachers that have experienced the layoffs and cut backs, while schools hiring, go for the more seasoned experienced teachers.Internships have been eliminated across the board for new teachers because the Jobs Just are not readily available eliminating many of the opportunities for young teachers. Kerry, a 4th grade teacher for xx Elementary in xx, has felt the pinch of educational budget cuts along with thousands of other teachers. XX teaches a very owe-income community with children that speak more Spanish than English and she struggles some days to provide the best educational experience she can. â€Å"The school just can't afford what we need and its sad.I have children that come to s chool almost every day hungry because they don't have proper meals at home. They come to school with no supplies because their parents can't afford them. As a teacher, how can I sit by and watch my students go with out the fundamental things that they need to get an education? † XX stated that she spends over $500 every year on school supplies that she does not get reimbursed for, â€Å"l have to do it. If I don't, no one will and these children don't deserve to suffer because of our budget cuts.How can they learn if they have no paper to write on or a pencil to write with? † When asked about the financial crisis the schools are experiencing, she replied, â€Å"Its sad and disturbing at the same time. How can I teach properly without the books and tools required to teach!? I know this sounds selfish, but doesn't they saying go, you need to help yourself before you can help others? If we [Americans] keep giving everything away, there's not going to be anything left for us to help ourselves. We could have so much more for our own kids! America's future are its children, those children are not educated properly, who's fault is that going to be? No matter who's fault it is, the problem needs to be corrected sooner rather than later. The United States has received a hazardous blows over the past few years with several crippling hurricanes, oil spills and a continued economic and financial crisis. The United States is falling further and further into debt with the war in Iraq and an economic crisis that has America considered ‘rich nations' among one of the poorest (Belittler).If the United States cut back some of the foreign aid given to the same countries regularly, then those countries receiving the public assistance will have no choice but to learn how to support themselves. By continuing to give aid and support them without teaching them how to figure out how to do it for themselves, the problem only gets worse. It Just seems that the United States is giving a lot of more hand outs while its own citizens are suffering. When that happens, that is when its time to close the purse strings to take care of American's with American tax dollars. Argumentative Paper The United States has spent too much money on other countries financial disasters despite America's own economic crisis. L. American foreign aid. A. Why foreign aid was implemented and how it was meant to be used. B. America and its status. C. Budget cuts. II. American foreign aid to Haiti. A. Wait's reliance on financial aid. B. Statistical data on the amounts of aid Haiti has received. II. America and its debt. A. 1991 debt verses 2011 debt. B. The war on Iraq and its cost to national debt. C.American dollars into the Iraqi infrastructure. 1) Military and police force trained at the hands of American taxpayer dollars. (2) Facilities that have been built by American's and gone to waste. (3) Global understanding of foreign aid. (4) Iraq's capabilities of taking care of their own financial aid. (5)Statistics in regards to dollars spent on what projects to Iraq become a better nation. IV. America's public school system. A. Budget cuts to the educational budget. B. Classroom growth. C. Educational cut back programs. (1) City of Phoenix cut backs. 2) Educational Job market flooded with teachers and no positions available. 3) Interview with Kerry. Help V. American's need to tighten the purse strings and take care of the issues at home. Too Much Foreign Aid in America's Budget The act of charity is something that most people are raised on; if a person has been blessed with wealth, it is always good to help those less fortunate. However, there comes a time when too much is too much. The United States, among other countries, developed the practice of foreign aid after World War II.It was designed to help those countries in desperate need of temporary help when they could not manage on their own. Foreign aid is something that has been in effect over the last few decades and some say has been used to excess and argue the point that if our own country is in debt and suffering, how can there be so much money spent on foreign aid. Others say that we are prosperous and shoul d help those that need it no matter what. Whichever side of the argument is brought up, there are certain facts that do not change.The United States has spent too much money taking care of other countries financial disasters despite the trouble within its own borders. The United States of America has long been considered one of the most remediable countries in the world leading the pack of economic growth, democracy, innovation and financial dominance. However, lately it seems that the United States is in as much financial strain as the other countries it helps regularly. American's are experiencing the pinch of billions in budget cuts on education programs, eliminating teaching positions and higher taxes to fund a war with Iraq.Even through all of these financial hardships, the United States still manages to give billions of dollars in financial aid despite the economic crisis of their own. A country that receives a large portion of American foreign aid is Haiti. Haiti is one of th e poorest countries in the world and is one of the countries that recently, receives the most financial aid world wide. In mid-January of this year, Haiti experienced a devastating earthquake that destroyed most of the county. Hundreds of thousands of people were left without homes, clean drinking water or electricity, with debris and rubble making it unsafe territory.Bret Stephens, a Journalist for the DOD Jones & Company, uncovered news from the World Bank and exactly how much additional aid was going to be allotted to Haiti for relief efforts. Stephens article states: The World Bank–now about to throw another $100 million on Haiti–on what it achieved in the country between 1986 and 2002: The outcome of World Bank assistance programs is rated unsatisfactory (if not highly so), the institutional development impact, negligible, and the sustainability of the few benefits that have accrued, unlikely.Stephens goes on to quote that the Bank noted, â€Å"Haiti has dysfunct ional budgetary, financial or procurement systems, making financial and aid management impossible. The Bank makes the claim that the Haitian government does not take ownership and initiative for formulating and implementing assistance programs. A breakdown of foreign aid by country, provided by Guardian, a United Kingdom based awareness blob, shows a grand total of 3. 5 billion dollars already donated and another 1. 1 billion dollars pledged to help with this disaster (Guardian).America, leading as the highest donor, among other countries such as United Kingdom, Japan and Canada. Many countries making absolutely no contribution whatsoever during this time. American's are going broke and continue to keep giving. In fact, the United States has only been debt free for two years, 1834 and 1835, according to Marie Clammiest. Clammiest states in another article that, â€Å"†¦ The federal governments $14 trillion debt as an emergency that demands big cuts in domestic programs†¦ The majority of this debt is said to have come from the war in Iraq, heavily financed by borrowing from China to fund the war. Lira Logan reported, â€Å"The problem for America is that its greatness has always been rooted in its economic dominance and that debt has forced the U. S. To keep borrowing from foreign countries. † According to statistical ATA provided by the Bureau of the Public Debt , in 1991, the national debt for the United States was under $3 Trillion, even though a large amount, it was still within the realm of being paid off.However now in 2011, the debt recently went over the $14 trillion mark, a number that is in no way obtainable (Madame). Logan also quoted Aaron David Miller of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, saying, â€Å"Can the world's greatest power remain the world's greatest power and also be the world's greatest borrower? I don't think so. † Over the past four years fighting the war n Iraq, the United States has spent $500 billion dollars on Just the war alone (Skeletal).In addition to the funding of occupying this country, the United States has spent over $50 billion in reconstruction costs, that unfortunately, most say will be wasted dollars due to Iraq's incompetence and capabilities to utilize the reconstructions. As a country, the United States has invested hundreds of billions of dollars on equipment, buildings, infrastructure, electricity and water facilities in third world countries. In an article recently published by USA Today written by Matt Kelley, mints out that, â€Å"The United States has spent $44. Billion in taxpayer funds on rebuilding Iraq, about half of it to train, equip and support Iraq's military and police forces. † Kelley also quotes Rusty Barber, the head of the Iraq program United States Institute of Peace, â€Å"There has been some significant progress, but there's a long way to go before Iraq can really be a stable, secure country that's able to provide for it s people's basic needs. † Iraq is a country that has undergone massive abuse over the past 10 plus years, with no end in sight, and has been rebuilt about ten times over.The amount of money that America has spent in rebuilding Iraq, by all means a country that has minimal interest in being rebuilt, is atrocious. American tax payer dollars are being spent to fund many projects in Iraq, such as schools, hospitals and prisons, instead of spending those same dollars on the same problems at home. According to Timothy Williams, many of these facilities have remained empty after completion because there were not enough Iraqis trained to operate them. Williams goes on to state that â€Å"†¦ 4 million maternity hospital built by the Americans is open, but the staff members cannot operate much of its equipment†¦.. Sinai Hospital in Baghdad, which had been the American military's largest medical center in the country, has been closed because the Health Ministry lacks the staff and equipment to reopen it, though the American military said it left $7. 9 million in equipment behind†¦ † He also states that there was a $165 million children's hospital that was delayed by more than four years and $115 million over budget (Williams). When a country is in desperate need of help, it is up to others to step up and give aid.When that aid is given, it is under the understanding that the money is going to e used to go towards the rebuild of the crisis. However, what happens when the country receiving large portions of aid do not need that aid? For example, according to James Gland and Campbell Robertson's article in August of 2008, by the end of 2009, the Iraqi government ended up with a surplus of almost $80 million dollars. The article stated that, â€Å"The United States has spent $23. 2 billion in the critical areas of security, oil, electricity and water since the 2003 invasion, but from 2005 through April of 2008, Iraq has spend Just $3. Billion on similar services. † Another report room the Government Accountability Office estimates Iraqi oil revenue from 2005 through the end of this year [2008] will amount to at least $156 billion dollars. † So what this is stating is that the Iraqi government is not only holding their oil money in a United States bank collecting somewhere in the range of $400,000 in interest, but for some reason they are collecting foreign aid when they are capable of funding and fixing their own problems.Carl Levin, a chairman of the Senate Armed Services was quoted saying, â€Å"The Iraqi government now has tens of billions of dollars at its espousal to fund large-scale reconstruction projects. It is inexcusable for U. S. Taxpayers to continue to foot the bill for projects the Iraqis are fully capable of funding themselves We should not be paying for Iraqi projects, while Iraqi oil revenues continue to pile up in the bank. † Very well said and a statement many American citizens support full hardheartedly.However, we are still sending foreign aid to Iraq, building Iraqi schools, hospitals, prisons, and fortifying their country's security but it does not look like the money is going to stop going into Iraq. If the United States spends 165 million dollars on one hospital, one can only imagine the cost of rebuilding schools during war time; as well as imagine how many of those schools were destroyed intentionally and unintentionally during or after their construction because of said war. America's public school system drastically needs help and no one is coming up with any solutions but budget cuts.The American public school system is already the victim of systematic budget cuts are now getting ready for another huge blow to their financial status; one some say that is going to cripple our youth's outlooks on a better education. † Education Weekly reported that â€Å"the spending bill that President Barack Obama signed into law March 2 severed current fiscal-ye ar funding for several literacy programs at the Education Department as a part of a government- wide reduction of $4 billion† (Rose). For an example, Arizona has taken hard drastic cuts recently.Classroom sizes have grown from 24 children per teacher to roughly 30 plus children per classroom. After school and during school education enhancement studies to help children who fall below the average or have special learning needs eave all but been eliminated. In previous years, children who may not have passed a subject were allowed the opportunity to attend intercession, a program during the school breaks where they attend class for a few hours a day over a two week time frame intended to get them back on track.Unfortunately, as of the 2009-2010 school year, Circle Cross Ranch, a local elementary in San Tan Valley Arizona, now requires parents pay $25 per class session if a child fails at any point in time the classes are mandatory. In Phoenix, they are experiencing even more of an unnecessary set back. The city as had a drastic decline in their hiring for the 2010-2011 school year. Roughly 7,400 public-school teaching positions have been eliminated across the state because of budget cuts proposed by the Legislature, according to Arizona Educators Association spokesman John Heartfelt (Quinn).With the amount of children that are still enrolling and moving into the Phoenix area, this only bodes ill for the amount of attention each child will receive. Education is important to the growth of any society and if that keeps getting hit time and time again with no solutions on how to fix that budget crisis, things will only get worse. The amount of educational Jobs are decreasing but the amount of applicants only increase. The educational Job market is being flooded with teachers that have experienced the layoffs and cut backs, while schools hiring, go for the more seasoned experienced teachers.Internships have been eliminated across the board for new teachers beca use the Jobs Just are not readily available eliminating many of the opportunities for young teachers. Kerry, a 4th grade teacher for xx Elementary in xx, has felt the pinch of educational budget cuts along with thousands of other teachers. XX teaches a very owe-income community with children that speak more Spanish than English and she struggles some days to provide the best educational experience she can. â€Å"The school just cant afford what we need and its sad.I have children that come to school almost every day hungry because they don't have proper meals at home. They come to school with no supplies because their parents can't afford them. As a teacher, how can I sit by and watch my students go with out the fundamental things that they need to get an education? † XX stated that she spends over $500 every year on school supplies that she does not get reimbursed for, â€Å"l have to do it. If I don't, no one will and these children don't deserve to suffer because of our b udget cuts.How can they learn if they have no paper to write on or a pencil to write with? † When asked about the financial crisis the schools are experiencing, she replied, â€Å"Its sad and disturbing at the same time. How can I teach properly without the books and tools required to teach!? I know this sounds selfish, but doesn't they saying go, you need to help yourself before you can help others? If we [Americans] keep giving everything away, there's not going to be anything left for us to help ourselves. We could have so much more for our own kids! America's future are its children, those children are not educated properly, who's fault is that going to be? No matter who's fault it is, the problem needs to be corrected sooner rather than later. The United States has received a hazardous blows over the past few years with several crippling hurricanes, oil spills and a continued economic and financial crisis. The United States is falling further and further into debt with t he war in Iraq and an economic crisis that has America considered ‘rich nations' among one of the poorest (Belittler).If the United States cut back some of the foreign aid given to the same countries regularly, then those countries receiving the public assistance will have no choice but to learn how to support themselves. By continuing to give aid and support them without teaching them how to figure out how to do it for themselves, the problem only gets worse. It Just seems that the United States is giving a lot of more hand outs while its own citizens are suffering. When that happens, that is when its time to close the purse strings to take care of American's with American tax dollars. Argumentative Paper The United States has spent too much money on other countries financial disasters despite America's own economic crisis. L. American foreign aid. A. Why foreign aid was implemented and how it was meant to be used. B. America and its status. C. Budget cuts. II. American foreign aid to Haiti. A. Wait's reliance on financial aid. B. Statistical data on the amounts of aid Haiti has received. II. America and its debt. A. 1991 debt verses 2011 debt. B. The war on Iraq and its cost to national debt. C.American dollars into the Iraqi infrastructure. 1) Military and police force trained at the hands of American taxpayer dollars. (2) Facilities that have been built by American's and gone to waste. (3) Global understanding of foreign aid. (4) Iraq's capabilities of taking care of their own financial aid. (5)Statistics in regards to dollars spent on what projects to Iraq become a better nation. IV. America's public school system. A. Budget cuts to the educational budget. B. Classroom growth. C. Educational cut back programs. (1) City of Phoenix cut backs. 2) Educational Job market flooded with teachers and no positions available. 3) Interview with Kerry. Help V. American's need to tighten the purse strings and take care of the issues at home. Too Much Foreign Aid in America's Budget The act of charity is something that most people are raised on; if a person has been blessed with wealth, it is always good to help those less fortunate. However, there comes a time when too much is too much. The United States, among other countries, developed the practice of foreign aid after World War II.It was designed to help those countries in desperate need of temporary help when they could not manage on their own. Foreign aid is something that has been in effect over the last few decades and some say has been used to excess and argue the point that if our own country is in debt and suffering, how can there be so much money spent on foreign aid. Others say that we are prosperous and shoul d help those that need it no matter what. Whichever side of the argument is brought up, there are certain facts that do not change.The United States has spent too much money taking care of other countries financial disasters despite the trouble within its own borders. The United States of America has long been considered one of the most remediable countries in the world leading the pack of economic growth, democracy, innovation and financial dominance. However, lately it seems that the United States is in as much financial strain as the other countries it helps regularly. American's are experiencing the pinch of billions in budget cuts on education programs, eliminating teaching positions and higher taxes to fund a war with Iraq.Even through all of these financial hardships, the United States still manages to give billions of dollars in financial aid despite the economic crisis of their own. A country that receives a large portion of American foreign aid is Haiti. Haiti is one of th e poorest countries in the world and is one of the countries that recently, receives the most financial aid world wide. In mid-January of this year, Haiti experienced a devastating earthquake that destroyed most of the county. Hundreds of thousands of people were left without homes, clean drinking water or electricity, with debris and rubble making it unsafe territory.Bret Stephens, a Journalist for the DOD Jones & Company, uncovered news from the World Bank and exactly how much additional aid was going to be allotted to Haiti for relief efforts. Stephens article states: The World Bank–now about to throw another $100 million on Haiti–on what it achieved in the country between 1986 and 2002: The outcome of World Bank assistance programs is rated unsatisfactory (if not highly so), the institutional development impact, negligible, and the sustainability of the few benefits that have accrued, unlikely.Stephens goes on to quote that the Bank noted, â€Å"Haiti has dysfunct ional budgetary, financial or procurement systems, making financial and aid management impossible. The Bank makes the claim that the Haitian government does not take ownership and initiative for formulating and implementing assistance programs. A breakdown of foreign aid by country, provided by Guardian, a United Kingdom based awareness blob, shows a grand total of 3. 5 billion dollars already donated and another 1. 1 billion dollars pledged to help with this disaster (Guardian).America, leading as the highest donor, among other countries such as United Kingdom, Japan and Canada. Many countries making absolutely no contribution whatsoever during this time. American's are going broke and continue to keep giving. In fact, the United States has only been debt free for two years, 1834 and 1835, according to Marie Clammiest. Clammiest states in another article that, â€Å"†¦ The federal governments $14 trillion debt as an emergency that demands big cuts in domestic programs†¦ The majority of this debt is said to have come from the war in Iraq, heavily financed by borrowing from China to fund the war. Lira Logan reported, â€Å"The problem for America is that its greatness has always been rooted in its economic dominance and that debt has forced the U. S. To keep borrowing from foreign countries. † According to statistical ATA provided by the Bureau of the Public Debt , in 1991, the national debt for the United States was under $3 Trillion, even though a large amount, it was still within the realm of being paid off.However now in 2011, the debt recently went over the $14 trillion mark, a number that is in no way obtainable (Madame). Logan also quoted Aaron David Miller of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, saying, â€Å"Can the world's greatest power remain the world's greatest power and also be the world's greatest borrower? I don't think so. † Over the past four years fighting the war n Iraq, the United States has spent $500 billion dollars on Just the war alone (Skeletal).In addition to the funding of occupying this country, the United States has spent over $50 billion in reconstruction costs, that unfortunately, most say will be wasted dollars due to Iraq's incompetence and capabilities to utilize the reconstructions. As a country, the United States has invested hundreds of billions of dollars on equipment, buildings, infrastructure, electricity and water facilities in third world countries. In an article recently published by USA Today written by Matt Kelley, mints out that, â€Å"The United States has spent $44. Billion in taxpayer funds on rebuilding Iraq, about half of it to train, equip and support Iraq's military and police forces. † Kelley also quotes Rusty Barber, the head of the Iraq program United States Institute of Peace, â€Å"There has been some significant progress, but there's a long way to go before Iraq can really be a stable, secure country that's able to provide for it s people's basic needs. † Iraq is a country that has undergone massive abuse over the past 10 plus years, with no end in sight, and has been rebuilt about ten times over.The amount of money that America has spent in rebuilding Iraq, by all means a country that has minimal interest in being rebuilt, is atrocious. American tax payer dollars are being spent to fund many projects in Iraq, such as schools, hospitals and prisons, instead of spending those same dollars on the same problems at home. According to Timothy Williams, many of these facilities have remained empty after completion because there were not enough Iraqis trained to operate them. Williams goes on to state that â€Å"†¦ 4 million maternity hospital built by the Americans is open, but the staff members cannot operate much of its equipment†¦.. Sinai Hospital in Baghdad, which had been the American military's largest medical center in the country, has been closed because the Health Ministry lacks the staff and equipment to reopen it, though the American military said it left $7. 9 million in equipment behind†¦ † He also states that there was a $165 million children's hospital that was delayed by more than four years and $115 million over budget (Williams). When a country is in desperate need of help, it is up to others to step up and give aid.When that aid is given, it is under the understanding that the money is going to e used to go towards the rebuild of the crisis. However, what happens when the country receiving large portions of aid do not need that aid? For example, according to James Gland and Campbell Robertson's article in August of 2008, by the end of 2009, the Iraqi government ended up with a surplus of almost $80 million dollars. The article stated that, â€Å"The United States has spent $23. 2 billion in the critical areas of security, oil, electricity and water since the 2003 invasion, but from 2005 through April of 2008, Iraq has spend Just $3. Billion on similar services. † Another report room the Government Accountability Office estimates Iraqi oil revenue from 2005 through the end of this year [2008] will amount to at least $156 billion dollars. † So what this is stating is that the Iraqi government is not only holding their oil money in a United States bank collecting somewhere in the range of $400,000 in interest, but for some reason they are collecting foreign aid when they are capable of funding and fixing their own problems.Carl Levin, a chairman of the Senate Armed Services was quoted saying, â€Å"The Iraqi government now has tens of billions of dollars at its espousal to fund large-scale reconstruction projects. It is inexcusable for U. S. Taxpayers to continue to foot the bill for projects the Iraqis are fully capable of funding themselves We should not be paying for Iraqi projects, while Iraqi oil revenues continue to pile up in the bank. † Very well said and a statement many American citizens support full hardheartedly.However, we are still sending foreign aid to Iraq, building Iraqi schools, hospitals, prisons, and fortifying their country's security but it does not look like the money is going to stop going into Iraq. If the United States spends 165 million dollars on one hospital, one can only imagine the cost of rebuilding schools during war time; as well as imagine how many of those schools were destroyed intentionally and unintentionally during or after their construction because of said war. America's public school system drastically needs help and no one is coming up with any solutions but budget cuts.The American public school system is already the victim of systematic budget cuts are now getting ready for another huge blow to their financial status; one some say that is going to cripple our youth's outlooks on a better education. † Education Weekly reported that â€Å"the spending bill that President Barack Obama signed into law March 2 severed current fiscal-ye ar funding for several literacy programs at the Education Department as a part of a government- wide reduction of $4 billion† (Rose). For an example, Arizona has taken hard drastic cuts recently.Classroom sizes have grown from 24 children per teacher to roughly 30 plus children per classroom. After school and during school education enhancement studies to help children who fall below the average or have special learning needs eave all but been eliminated. In previous years, children who may not have passed a subject were allowed the opportunity to attend intercession, a program during the school breaks where they attend class for a few hours a day over a two week time frame intended to get them back on track.Unfortunately, as of the 2009-2010 school year, Circle Cross Ranch, a local elementary in San Tan Valley Arizona, now requires parents pay $25 per class session if a child fails at any point in time the classes are mandatory. In Phoenix, they are experiencing even more of an unnecessary set back. The city as had a drastic decline in their hiring for the 2010-2011 school year. Roughly 7,400 public-school teaching positions have been eliminated across the state because of budget cuts proposed by the Legislature, according to Arizona Educators Association spokesman John Heartfelt (Quinn).With the amount of children that are still enrolling and moving into the Phoenix area, this only bodes ill for the amount of attention each child will receive. Education is important to the growth of any society and if that keeps getting hit time and time again with no solutions on how to fix that budget crisis, things will only get worse. The amount of educational Jobs are decreasing but the amount of applicants only increase. The educational Job market is being flooded with teachers that have experienced the layoffs and cut backs, while schools hiring, go for the more seasoned experienced teachers.Internships have been eliminated across the board for new teachers beca use the Jobs Just are not readily available eliminating many of the opportunities for young teachers. Kerry, a 4th grade teacher for xx Elementary in xx, has felt the pinch of educational budget cuts along with thousands of other teachers. XX teaches a very owe-income community with children that speak more Spanish than English and she struggles some days to provide the best educational experience she can. â€Å"The school just cant afford what we need and its sad.I have children that come to school almost every day hungry because they don't have proper meals at home. They come to school with no supplies because their parents can't afford them. As a teacher, how can I sit by and watch my students go with out the fundamental things that they need to get an education? † XX stated that she spends over $500 every year on school supplies that she does not get reimbursed for, â€Å"l have to do it. If I don't, no one will and these children don't deserve to suffer because of our b udget cuts.How can they learn if they have no paper to write on or a pencil to write with? † When asked about the financial crisis the schools are experiencing, she replied, â€Å"Its sad and disturbing at the same time. How can I teach properly without the books and tools required to teach!? I know this sounds selfish, but doesn't they saying go, you need to help yourself before you can help others? If we [Americans] keep giving everything away, there's not going to be anything left for us to help ourselves. We could have so much more for our own kids! America's future are its children, those children are not educated properly, who's fault is that going to be? No matter who's fault it is, the problem needs to be corrected sooner rather than later. The United States has received a hazardous blows over the past few years with several crippling hurricanes, oil spills and a continued economic and financial crisis. The United States is falling further and further into debt with t he war in Iraq and an economic crisis that has America considered ‘rich nations' among one of the poorest (Belittler).If the United States cut back some of the foreign aid given to the same countries regularly, then those countries receiving the public assistance will have no choice but to learn how to support themselves. By continuing to give aid and support them without teaching them how to figure out how to do it for themselves, the problem only gets worse. It Just seems that the United States is giving a lot of more hand outs while its own citizens are suffering. When that happens, that is when its time to close the purse strings to take care of American's with American tax dollars.

Things Fall Apart Tragic Hero

The role of a tragic hero within a story line is essential in a dramatic film or written work. The hero has the standards of becoming a great character that can take charge of the story through courageous action and bold dialogue. However, since the character is deemed a â€Å"tragic† hero, his flaws will ultimately be his downfall, usually leading to the characters own demise. Nowhere is this ideal of a tragic hero more relevant that in Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart. The story is set in late nineteenth-century in a small village in Nigeria. The tragic hero in this case is a young man named Okonkwo.He is a dynamic growing character but is doomed from the beginning of the story with two major flaws that in the end will destroy his character. Okonkwo cannot physically display any of his emotions because he thinks it is a sure sign of weakness. His second flaw is that if and when he does show any emotion, it is an uncontrollable rage. Both of these flaws will get Okonkwo into trouble that he cannot handle. Okonkwo has been taught from a very young age that showing his emotions is a feminine characteristic, a sign of weakness within his culture.This is brought about because when Okonkwo was a child his father was not very involved with the community or with the elder counsel. The community is the most important aspect of everyday life for Okonkwo’s people. The village does not have a centralized government, but it is does have democratic ruling through the elder males (Ohadike xxii). Since Okonkwo’s father was lazy and drank too much, he did not receive any respect from the majority of the community. Okonkwo did not want this for himself so he always displayed a tough exterior so that he could have respect. This characteristic is clearly shown throughout the story.One such example is when Okonkwo becomes very fond of a boy that is in his care. Even though he likes the boy, Ikemefuna, he still treated him â€Å"as he treated ev eryone else – with a heavy hand† (Achebe 20). Even to a person who was considered part of his own family, he could not show the emotion of affection or graceful attention. In addition to not being able to show any true emotions, Okonkwo has trouble controlling his temper. His anger and rough treatment of everyone around him, particularly his wives, once again springs from the fact that his father was segregated from the community.Also, his short-temper towards his wives may have been fueled by the fact that women were beneath men within the village’s social ranking. Okonkwo thinks that the only way he can gain the village’s respect is through being bold and strong. It was also very important to show strength during this time of need because there was much change going on in the community itself with the coming of the white man and new traditions. He must absolutely display only anger and strength â€Å"when the institutions he had fought so hard to sustai n collapse in the face of European colonialism† (Gikandi x).The most infamous scene of Okonkwo’s irrational anger and lack of respect is when he beats his wife for not preparing the meal for their children during the Week of Peace (Achebe 21). This is just a single case of Okonkwo beating one of his wives, but the village punishes him more severely because it is during their Week of Peace in which everyone should be nice and kind to their neighbor. The village was shocked because no one ever breaks the rules of that week. â€Å"Even the oldest men could only remember one or two other occasions somewhere in the dim past† (Achebe 22).Another instance where Okonkwo’s disorderly behavior takes control of his actions is when he kills the boy he was fond of, Ikemefuna. Okonkwo’s clansmen are attacking the boy, so Ikemefuna runs to seek help from Okonkwo. However, since Okonkwo â€Å"does not want to look weak in front of his fellow tribesmen, [he] cuts t he boy down† (Ward 1). He lets his rage and pride take over and kills the boy whom he considered his own son. The characteristics of a tragic hero are clearly visible within Okonkwo. If his ideals were prevalent in someone during this day and age in the United States, it would be quite interesting.It is almost shocking to say, but someone with those characteristics would be very successful in the competitive and fast-pace market of the United States. They could take charge of their business career as well as not buckling under pressure due to the lack of physical emotions. Okonkwo’s manners are instinctual in most humans, no matter how primitive or modern. Wall Street brokers and fast-talking businessmen can be compared to primitive African men whose attitudes have â€Å"been masculine-based even before the advent of the white man† (Mezu 1).In a country based on the powerful business ethic of â€Å"only the strong survive,† there is no doubt Okonkwo could make it far. It can be easily concluded that Okonkwo’s flaws were the leading means of his character’s destruction. His lack of emotions and uncontainable anger were definite components for the deterioration of his character. However, the meaning in Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart would have been lost without Okonkwo as the dominant character. The tragic hero is still and always will be the stable character of any deeply meaningful epic novel or movie.

The Secret of Finding Meaning in Life

The Secret of Finding Meaning in Life Life is truly too short, this phrase really bothered me because it made me think of how I could make my life meaningful and with sense; something that is living life to the fullest and touching the life of others by serving them because in serving you will know what really life is Just like Jesus who came to earth not to be serve but to serve. But how we could make our life living with significance and meaning?This question is so stunning especially when we realized that we are at the wrong path since we are living here on earth. Is there such thing as secret of finding meaning in life? That might some what answers me base on certain articles that I Just read and as well as the video that amazed me while viewing. This first article defines life and it's meaning which is â€Å"Meaning in Life [live the life that you want]† by Albert S. Wang, written on November 19, 1997.This article, questions you if you are really contented and happy of wh at you have and if this is really the life that you wanted. It is said in here that to be able to live a life that you want and to put a meaning on it; you must first know yourself from within because this makes you know of who you are, second is know where you want o go for it gives you direction in finding your happiness. These things are beginning of having a meaningful life.To find the meaning of your life, you must find it with action not Just by waiting for it to come and you can also find this meaning in life not just in distant place but mostly it is found near you. Putting a meaning in your life is all about the choices and decisions that you made on where you want to go. Just live your will and you'll see that each day you will grow in having a meaningful life. The second article that touches me is entitled â€Å"So What Will Matter? † sent by Leandro G. Cruz and shared by Joe Gatuslao of Bacolod City, Philippines. Its original title is A Life That Matters.This arti cle is so inspiring because it stresses that all that you have got starting from yourself Just like beauty, fame, wealth and all other things that you have are Just in vain because these things are not forever yours, these are just passing things and you cannot bring these things when you leave earth but what really matters are the thing that you made that others will remember you of your goodness, the things that you gave not Just in material aspects but in all, living your ife with significance, teaching others and set yourself as an example to them.All of these things are living a life that matters. This third article has an unknown author which entitles â€Å"A Purpose†. The article speaks that all of us who are created by God has a unique and significant purpose. Each of us is given a chance to find our designated purposes but you must wait when the right time comes because nas set it tor you at a time when you are equipped and ready. Most of the time you'll experience t he roughness of life but don't be dismayed because there is always a helping hand that will take care of you, which isGod who never leaves you. Just stay at the right path and do good deeds for in the end you will find your own way to the pearly white gate. The next article is the one that I liked most which is â€Å"The Journey of Our Life† shared again by Joe Gatuslao from Bacolod City, Philippines. This article actually tells a story about the Emperor who owned a huge land and he told his horseman that if he could ride on his horse and cover as much land area as he likes, then the Emperor would give him the area of land he has covered.The horseman did not stop riding and whipping the horse because he wanted to cover as much area as possible. Came to a point when he had covered a substantial area and he was exhausted and was dying. Then he asked himself, â€Å"Why did I push myself so hard to cover so much land area? Now I am dying and I only need a very small area to bury myself. † This story is really similar with the Journey of our life because most of us are always striving for richness, properties, possessions, power etc.So we work harder and harder until we come to realized that all of these things are not necessary for living a happy and meaningful life; we must balance our way of living so that we could not missed omething in life that might happen once. The next thing that I am going to share is all about the video clip that I watched; it's about an old woman at the age of 47 and her name is Susan Boyle who joined in a certain show that searches for extraordinary talents namely Britain's Got Talent.During her performance, a big shock was made by Susan because at the beginning when she first introduced herself, everybody was against her like they are judging Susan of Joining the show where she looks like so ordinary and nothing to show up but when she start on singing all where stunned by her angelic voice and hey gave her a standing ov ation but most importantly the three big yes from the strict Juries. This gives us an insight that we must not Judge the person's appearance because you'll never know what's the biggest surprise that comes from within.God created us with equal gifts and we must use this as an inspiration to others. This last article is a prayer entitled as â€Å"Mere Possessions†. It's all about the prayer of a woman who asked a help from the Lord, asking that she might not put much stock in possessions because things don't last and you cannot bring all of these things when you leave earth. That we come into the world with nothing, we leave with nothing.Having a meaningful life is about your choices and decisions that were made; Just make sure you have chosen the right path because if you do then you'll end walking along the pearly white gate and that is the fulfillment of having a meaningful life. There is really no such thing as a secret of finding a meaning in life; it's Just you who will make it meaningful by doing what is right and Just; live happy and be happy all the time because life is Just too short, you might missed something so let's make the most of it.

Zoology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Zoology - Essay Example This includes a study of not only a whole organism, but also the molecular of the organism, its life cycle, its behavior, classification, distribution as well as population studies. Although humans are also under the classification of animals, their study goes beyond zoology. This is because they are unique and can be defined beyond zoological terms to spiritual, moral, social, and psychological. Since zoology covers a wide field, it is divided into a variety of sub-disciplines. There is, however, not any professional civilization that can cover the entire disciplines of zoology. For this reason, societies are found in terms of the diverse taxons such as mammals, snakes, birds, fish, and wildlife, among others. This paper shall provide a summary of a New York Times article and show its similarities and differences from an actual science paper. Skulls Engineered for Hard Knocks is a New York Times article that describes a Sulawesi wild pig’s skull. According to the article, the braincase of a Sulawesi wild pig skull is usually firmly built and well engineered. Alan Dudley is a scientist from Coventry who has carried out an intense study of animal skulls. He has worked on a variety of these from the great hippopotamus skull to the most delicate and tiniest tissue-like wren skull. His collection has been found to be the most comprehensive and finest ever known to scientists. Many skulls of a variety of creatures such as woodpecker and the ram that do violent things using their heads are also included in his work. These two creatures have been found to have dense skulls, more so in the area referred to as the braincase. In addition to this, their braincases are smooth from inside.

Giovanni Carestini Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Giovanni Carestini - Research Paper Example In the period of late baroque, newly introduced genres and techniques were enhanced and expanded: the range of musical instruments was expanded, music forms evolved owing to efforts of composers, vocal techniques were developed. Such prominent composers like Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Bach, Telemann, Corelli and many others created the precious music legacy of the epoch. Among them, there was the most famous court composer of German origin, George Friedrich Handel, who granted special attention to vocal genres in his works. Having composed the first oratorio in 1708 , Handel became engaged in working with vocal genres for the rest of his life. Vocal techniques and styles, in their turn, became more exquisite and complex in Baroque era, and – as Pleasants wrote, 1720’s – 1740’s signified the first golden age of singing in the 18th century . Particularly, a variety of male and female singers performing in the period of late Baroque demonstrated magnificent ornament ation and impressing vocal range. Moreover, Baroque traditions introduced homophony – a type of polyphony, emphasizing a leading voice with help of accompanying ones – and unobtrusiveness of accompaniment. As composers became interested in making voice the central figure in certain genres, the new form of musical thinking emerged: the vocal part should be supported and complemented in a subtle way, which would point it out and lay emphasis on the verbal message it conveyed. Thus, the composers attached much importance to composition of vocal parts.

Identify strategic success factors for Infosys Tech Consulting & how Essay

Identify strategic success factors for Infosys Tech Consulting & how these conform to B2B marketing theories or concepts - Essay Example As such, the company is focused on empowering its clients to become more competitive and profitable. However, it is worth noting that the company has risen to command great success in the global market within the IT and consulting industry. This paper therefore is focused on evaluating on the strategic factors that have to the great success that the company enjoys. Special attention will be focused on the company’s business model, products/service branding, business relations, business segmentation as well as business internal organization (Mantrala, Sridhar and Xiaodan 2012, P. 169-174). The practices of maintaining adopted effective technological advancement in the current generation does not warrant success in business operations. On the contrary, the capacity for a trading company to keep in pace with the evolving and new developments in technology and IT services would be considered prerequisite to success in trade within the 21st century. The Infosys Tech Consulting has adopted this policy where it has adopted business perspective of operations as against the perspective of technical solution. The company prides in capacity to deliver results and the success is built on key priorities, which are technology, customer value, commitment, industrial alliance as well as technical expertise among others. Technology is viewed as an enabler as against the driver in the operations of the company. The company gives priority to understanding the clients’ needs and thus prioritizes in adding value to the client’s businesses. The company adopts robust methodologies as are most suitable in suiting client cultures as well as requirements. Besides, the company runs under a commitment to developing and maintaining long-term relations with the clients. Moreover, the company enjoys long term experience in the industry hence has outstanding technical expertise to design and formulate effective solutions suitable to the needs of their clients. The company

Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Analysis - Assignment Example These questions represent 16% of the total question set. These questions may therefore need to be replaced by other questions which may be considered of optimal difficulty. Those having an optimal level of difficulty would have a difficulty index (P-value) of 0.50 0r 50% and those which were considered to0 easy would have a P- value of between 90 and 100 %. These are: From the information above and the Bar Graph in the Appendix it is clear to see that the easy questions are concentrated from the 1st to the 14th question, with the highest percentage (38%) coming from Chapter 15. A total of eight (8) questions were taken from this chapter. In applying the difficulty index five (5) questions fell below the optimum P- value of 0.50. These are considered fairly difficult and the percentage of candidates who answered them correctly ranged from 31 to 46%. The quiz items were as follows. This represents 10% of the total test items. Here Chapter 15 is featured once again. This additional information implies that 50% of the questions taken from that chapter may not be appropriate. I say may because there are various reasons why they may be allowed to remain. Low P-values normally suggest difficult items. It could mean that the question confused some candidates or that the contents related to those test items may need to be re-taught. The percentages noted above are considered above the P-value that would require the content to be re-taught. Further analysis could be carried out on items on the quiz that may be discriminatory. High values would be suggestive of discrimination (R). When a test item has a high R value it suggests that the candidates who received high test scores got the item correct while those with low scores in the quiz got the item incorrect. The Bar Graph and Pie Chart in the Appendix gives a graphical illustration of the results of the

Criminal Justice (Probation & Parole) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Criminal Justice (Probation & Parole) - Essay Example However, prison authorities over the years have continued to utilize this labor to their advantage by selling work force to privately owned manufacturing companies, a fact that has attracted a lot of criticism in the past. This is done through contracting and leasing. The contract system of exploiting convict labor for example involved the entering into a deal by prison authorities, with private industries such as garment manufacturers who paid money to the state so that they can be allowed to use prisoners as their laborers (Lichtenstein, 2000). It was considered to be an unfair process especially since these prisoners were subjected to normal or even worse working conditions than workers outside prisons, but were hardly compensated for their efforts. Prison facilities were used as premises for conducting these activities meaning that contactors had to supply the prisons with necessary raw materials and equipment as well as supervisors to oversee the production processes. The convict lease system on the other hand involved letting prisoners out of the prisons during the day to go and work for private companies, and then return them to their cells in the evening (Lichtenstein, 2000). Some of the companies that participated in this arrangement included and not limited to miners, rail and road constructors and large scale farmers among others. As with the contract system, convicts in this system worked for free leaving the state and the businesses to enjoy the fruits of their labor. This form of arrangement came to being mainly after the liberation and banishing of slave trade, which left companies with a huge deficit in their work force. In the US for example, it is believed that this system started in Texas at around the year 1883 but after constant criticism, especially due to the inhumane treatment of convict laborers by their masters, it was abolished in the

Psychological Implications of Customer Participation in Co-Production Essay

Psychological Implications of Customer Participation in Co-Production - Essay Example The research was designed to determine where the customer places blame for a negative outcome, or who they assign credit to for a positive outcome. The research in intended for any firm that distributes or produces goods and services where the customer participates in co-production. The research was conducted using undergraduate students in a controlled research study. It was conducted in two phases, which examined the customer's self-serving bias, or the degree that they took responsibility for a positive or negative outcome. The first phase examined the impact that the self-serving bias has on customer satisfaction, and the second phase examined methods to reduce the self-serving bias. It has been traditionally thought that the lowered price of a self-serve product and customer participation, such as with self-serve gasoline, would bring about greater satisfaction based on economics. However, there is also a level of psychological satisfaction with the firm that is based on the outcome of the transaction and the customer participation. The research found that if the outcome is positive, the customer has less satisfaction with the firm when they participate in the production. This indicates that the customer takes partial credit for the positive outcome.

RELATIONS IN CONTEMPORARY BRITAIN Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

RELATIONS IN CONTEMPORARY BRITAIN - Essay Example For any Organization, be it profit or non-profit making, to achieve its intended mission, a lot of work needs to be done to sustain a comfortable employee-employer relationship. No one should take this matter lightly because through this link, Suggestions, demands and expectations are passed and their replies channeled. Problems would most likely arise if employees of a particular company go up in arms over certain working conditions, delayed salaries and wages and inevitably, be an issue for the management such as strikes that just occur under their noses (Rose, 2004, pp 30 - 35). Sometimes organizations build their goodwill for years and they can not allow anything or anyone to just wreck it all. In the wake of creating, an employee relation, Workers Unions, Trade Movements and Welfare Societies advises them on the importance of joining them. These are activists who work closely with government to cater for the needs of the country's employees. Their mandatory goal being to pressurize for good reforms on laws, regulations and the constitution that governs them. (Euro found, 2008). In Britain, unions keep on pushing for better deals basing their argument on the current economic trend. It would therefore, be without these unions, very hard for people to come out and ask the government for considerations. The whole union concept is to apply civilized ways in addressing matters that arise every now and then. It involves pushing diplomatically, rather than having employees take to the streets, demanding recognition, as key players in the daily development of different sectors that lead to the total country's economic growth. These Unions also endorse sanctions to employers who appear to be treating their employees unfairly. They educate Companies and Organizations on the ethical point of their relation. Do others good the same way you expect to be done unto. The role that unions play in Britain is not to be ignored. (Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR, 2008).The strategies and efforts by these Unions can in fact be rated as militant. I say so, becaus e their activities involve; revolutionary, support and activism. Playing as the watchdogs, it also ensures not only that changes are done but are adhered to the latter. Their efforts can be termed as peaceful and radical, though at times aggressive. It is due to this characteristic that employees in Britain find it important to part of at least a union. They term their working style as assertive since most of their rights are put to check by the authority in concern. There are allocations regarding the number of welfare societies one can join. Of course there is no limitation to only a single one. (Salamon, 2000, pp5, pp8-12). Firms that deal with Human Resource management appropriately will witness the good it has done to them. People want to be associated with unions that are clearly instituted to avoid misunderstanding .At this point, it is indistinguishable to acknowledge that a good number of Britain's Unions have proved their worth, they are worthy. With their protocols comprehensively tabulated, it leaves no doubt; they are the correct handlers of matter concerning employees. Though there is still a long way to go, the efforts already

Information Security Physical Security models Essay

Information Security Physical Security models - Essay Example It achieves this by describing steps followed to achieve security goals of an institution. Security models are great tools in evaluating the security in place. Gregory (2010) outlines information various security models that have been developed such as the following: The Bell-LaPadula model is evidently a notable achievement in computer security. Several other models followed suit, with either improvements on their predecessors or variations. The Harrison-Ruzzo-Ullman (HRU) is an example of a general model in comparison to the Bell-LaPadula model which captured confidentiality aspects of access control. There emerged other models such as Chinese Wall model, the Biba and Clark-Wilson models that were more integrity based as well as the Information flow and non-interference models that centered on perfection. All these models were developed to safeguard information and information systems from leakages, unauthorized access and rights violation. However, the above models are more software based rather than physical. Threats to physical security involve disruption of services, theft, malicious physical damage, unlawful leakage and loss of system reliability. In any case, however, similar to general information security, physical security calls for a layered defense model. A layered security model will emanate from the perimeter and zero in on the asset; in this case, information. Layered security models will serve to achieve: deterrence, delaying, detection, assessment and response in a bid to fulfill the security objective. A physical security model must, therefore, be able to address the above threats efficiently and comprehensively. According to the US Army Field Manual 3-19.30 (2001, January 8) physical security is that part of physical measures designed to ensure the safety of personnel; to thwart unlawful access to equipment, the installations

Competence in the Work Environment Essay Example for Free

Competence in the Work Environment Essay 2.1Compare the strengths and weaknesses of assessment methods. Assessment can take place in a variety of settings, such as classrooms, lecture rooms, workplaces (or in a simulation of workplace conditions), community and training establishments or examination halls. No matter where it takes place or what form it takes, assessment always involves observation, evaluation, or questioning or a combination of some or all of the three. There are many different methods of assessment, a few regularly used are:-observation, evaluation or questioning. Whether they are used formatively or summatively, the most important issue is whether the assessment is appropriate for the intended outcome. Each learner is initially given a learning styles questionnaire to complete. From this questionnaire the assessor can establish which from assessment may suit the learner best. Observation The assessor observes the learners as they carry out tasks defined in the standards for the qualification. This observation often takes place in the workplace, or the conditions of the workplace, but it can also be carried out in any other place where the learner is undertaking practical activities which is a positive. Assessors should ideally plan observations to take advantage of any skills or activities that occur naturally in the learning environment, and to make the best use of the available resources. There are times however when an assessor may spontaneously observe a learner carry out a task which can be written up as an observation. One of the weaknesses of observations is that some learners amy beome self –concious or shy/embarresed and feel they are ‘being watched and graded’. The residents or clients may also act differently if they are aware that an observation is taking place and can lead to a distorted picture of the true nature of the learners role . Evaluation In some areas, as learners work towards achieving their qualifications they will generate evidence in the form of products of their work. This is the case in qualifications in Health and Social care for instance which is primarily a work-based or practical qualification. Learners may produce CVs, diet plans, weight charts, reflective accounts which can all be used to assess their knowledge in a chosen subject area. These can be incredibly posistive and allow the learner to reflect and be proud of his/her practices and positives. The weakness with evalution is that it has to be done correctly, with enough time to explore areas that may need extra work and encourage the learner in a positive way. Questioning and discussions with the learner Questioning can be used whenever an assessor wants to assess knowledge and understanding and the various different applications of knowledge such as reasoning, planning, analysing and evaluating. Questioning can be used to: * confirm knowledge and understanding where it is not apparent from performance * Address gaps in knowledge and understanding in performance based units * Authenticate evidence by asking learners to explain part of the evidence and/or describe the process of producing it * Assess contingencies where it would not be practical or safe to wait until the skill or activity can be observed * You can use oral or written questions, depending on the requirements of the outcomes of units being assessed and the circumstances of the assessment. Your choice of method should reflect any special assessment requirements your learners may have. For example, some learners do not respond well to written questions — in any case, you should always ensure that the appropriate reading level is used Discussions give the assessor the opportunity to gauge the learner’s knowledge and highlight areas lacking which can be taught at a later date. A weakness in discussions and questioning is that the assessor has to be careful not to lead or prompt or give the answer to the learner as it may not be valid. Outcome 3Understand how to plan assessment 3.1Key factors when planning assessment When planning an assessment there are a number of factors to be considered. Who are you assessing? What do you want them to achieve? Where will the assessment take place? How long do you have? Once you have answered these you then need to look at applying a holistic approach. Using a holistic approach means that many areas of work and outcomes can be covered at the same time. The assessment process isn’t just about watching a learner complete a task it is about, discussion, planning, implementing and reflection. Areas of risk that may be involved when I assess a learner in the care setting are minimal but may still arise. An example of this would be assessing a learner carrying out a manual handling task. Has the learner had the appropriate training to carry out the task? Is there a piece of equipment involved and has it been tested for use. Is the learner competent and confident to carry out the task? Do I feel that I have assessed any risk involved and am I happy for my learner to proceed? If I am not happy at anytime then the assessment will be stopped and a further risk assessment carried out. During the initial meeting the learner will have completed a Learning Styles Questionnaire, this should have highlighted any areas such as advanced learning needs or dyslexia and the planning of an assessment should take this into consideration. 3.2 Benefits of using holistic assessment Using a holistic assessment enables the assessor to cover a large range of outcomes in a number of diploma units with one piece of evidence. Holistic assessment may for example cover infection control and manual handling. By referencing outcomes well the learner will see that good progress is being made and opportunities area taken. It saves time from both the learners and the assessor’s point of view. 3.3 How to apply holistic assessment when planning assessment As the assessor meets with the learner and plans each technical certificate or unit of work they should be thinking about how best a holistic assessment would fit into the plan and how it can be cross referenced. The learner must then be in agreement and sign the plan. 3.4Summarise the types of risk that may be involved in assessment When talking about ‘risk’ there are a number of different kinds. There is physical/environmental risk to learner, client and assessor and there is emotional/psychological risk. Environmental issues in care setting such as fire, health and safety, trip hazards, the clients themselves. Emotionally learners could feel they are being pushed if too much work is given at once or they may not feel they are being challenged enough. This creates unrealistic and unnecessary risk stress on the learner and is far from beneficial and conducive to good work being produced. 3.5.1 How to minimise risks through the planning process. Plan number one that is produced with the learner will have ensured that the learner is working in safe conditions and if needed any risk assessments have been done, i.e. if the learner is under 18 years old. The plan will also check that the employer’s insurance liability is up to date. The assessor will discuss with the learner how best to handle their work load to cause minimum stress. Some learners prefer large assignments whilst others prefer small chunks at a time. By knowing your learner you will know whether their work is authentic and justifiable, it is important that they are told about not copying and pasting articles as their own work and explain to them what plagiarism is. Outcome 4Understand how to involve learners and others in assessment 4.1 Explain the importance of involving the learner and others in the assessment process There are a large number of reasons why it’s so important to involve the learner in assessment. The diploma is for the candidate, it’s their work, and there goals and they need to feel as if they own it. By clear involvement the learner will know what is expected from them and clearly understand the standards and criteria. By involving others in the planning such as senior colleagues and managers then witness statements can be provided, time allocated for learning and support. 4.2 Types of information available to learners. In order for a learner to complete their diploma they should be given any necessary teaching and resources. This may include handouts, oral teaching sessions and websites to look at. Other types of information are items such as standards and the criteria they need to meet. The learner will be told how the evidence is gathered an in what format such as written accounts, reflective accounts, observations. 4.3 How can peer and self-assessment be used to promote learner involvement and responsibility? 4.4How can assessment arrangements be adapted to meet the needs of the individual learner? Each candidate’s assessment needs must be considered in relation to the assessment being undertaken. Most candidates will require more than one assessment arrangement. For example, candidates who have a visual impairment, hearing imparient or advanced learning needs . Outcome 5Understand how to make assessment decisions 5.1 When judging evidence we use the following terms:- Valid, authentic, current and sufficient. When assessing a learner’s evidence as an assessor I have to be satisfied that the work submitted is the learners own work and not plagiarised from a book or the internet. It is often easy to tell when this happens as the terms used and flow of the writing changes. Within the realms of health and social care the standards, policies and procedures are continually updated to ensure national standards are met, with this in mind it is important that the learners work is current and up to date with knowledge that his relevant and not historical. I also have to consider whether the work submitted is sufficient, has it covered the entire outcome required and does it show an understanding of the subject. 5.2 In order for assessment decisions to be reliable and fair between learners there are a set of learning outcomes and criteria that have to be achieved. Each learner is made aware of these outcomes and criteria and their work should demonstrate this. Each learner is assessed against the criteria and outcomes. Outcome 6Understand how your assessments contribute to the quality assurance of assessment 6.1 6.2 6.3 There is great importance of quality assurance in the assessment process as it shows whether the performance targets are being met against national standards that are in place. Within my workplace all work is quality assured by an Internal Verifier (IV). The IV is qualified and occupationally competent in the subject that they verify. The role of the IV is to provide support, advice and guidance to the assessing team. The IV holds regular standardisation meetings with the assessors and also gives one-to-one support and feedback on learner’s portfolios. When the portfolios of learners have been assessed and internally verified, and all the assessment criteria have been met, the IV should arrange for the centre to apply for certification for those learners. This will prompt a visit from the External Verifier to confirm the assessment and verification decisions made at the centre. The IV is responsible for ensuring that the details of the learners applying for certification, the assessor(s) involved, and the IV activity in relation to those assessors. The EV will visit the centre to verify the assessment and internal verification decisions made by centre staff. Where there are large numbers of learners this is normally done on a sampling basis. The sample is selected by the EV, to allow them to verify the work of all assessors across a range of evidence types and performance criteria and is based on the IV’s sampling plan. It may be necessary for the EV to sample more portfolios than was originally planned, or all the portfolio s in the group, so all portfolios should be available on the day of the EV’s visit. If a learner feels †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Outcome 7Understand how to manage information relating to assessment of occupational competence 7.1 7.2 It is important to follow procedures for the management of information relating to assessment for a number of reasons. The assessor should regularly update learning records to provide accurate information on the learner’s achievement. At my place of work we use a computer system called ‘Zylab’ which tracks each learner’s progress through a colour chart system. The up to date information contributes to evidence of quality assurance and standardisation, pointing out learners that need extra help or who are falling behind. I use the Zylab forms to show my learners how they are progressing, to see a visual representation of progress and can be extremely rewarding and increases willingness to learn and achieve. The use of feedback and questioning during the assessment process allows me as an assessor to clarify and judge the learners understanding and knowledge in certain areas. Giving critical feedback to someone is a delicate process. It is very important to assure that you approach the task with sensitivity to the persons feelings to avoid the common problem of a very defensive reaction. An example of giving positive, negative and positive feedback is:- You really did an excellent job with that Communication essay everybody has been very impressed! In the future, it would be better to avoid naming people that havent accepted all the methods you outline. Its great that you put so much thought into this and a lot of people are going to benefit from it! This is often referred to as a feedback sandwich. Outcome 8Understand the legal and good practice requirements in relation to assessment 8.1 The organisation that I work for has legal requirements, polices and procedures in relation to assessment. Each visit to see a learner I ask whether there have been any incidents that have occurred, either emotionally or from a health and safety perspective. If there has been then I check an incident form has been completed (if appropriate), what measures have been put in place to ensure it doesn’t happen again and I take time to listen to the learner express themselves. All work undertaken is dealt with in a confidential manner. No names of places, clients, service users or staff are used in portfolio evidence and the learner knows that they can talk to me in a confidential manner. Clear records of learning are kept for all learners as mentioned before we use Zylab sheets which must be updated every Friday. The organisation has a responsibility to ensure that all learners are given equal opportunity to develop and learn and the organisation recognises the diversity in each on e. 8.2 The use of technology can make in the assessment process is invaluable. I have a learner with advanced learning needs who really struggles with writing and spelling. To overcome this we use a Dictaphone and use the recording as oral evidence. The organisation now offers on line training which for many learners is ideal as the use of computers within day to day lives and workplaces becomes far more common. It has to be remembered though that there are older learners that we assess that don’t have the computer skills and would rather use a paper portfolio. Each learner needs to be assessed as an individual. 8.3 There are legal and best practice requirements that have to be met in relation to assessment with regards to gender, disability, race/culture/religion and language. Each learner that enrols on a course is initially assessed as to any factors which could lead to advanced learning needs. These needs may be due to language barriers, religion or culture. For every learning need identified the organisation has a duty to ensure each one is recognised and the appropriate support is given.

The Changing Nature Of Public Diplomacy Media Essay

The Changing Nature Of Public Diplomacy Media Essay In this study I will attempt to respond to several questions. The first: Is Public Diplomacy is the right tool to change world opinion toward Iraq. If the finding that it will be possible which will lead to the second question which: What the ideal action plan for Iraq Public diplomacy? The third question will be: How can government policy makers apply this strategic tool? Certainly, the initial stages of this process will be complex. The objective of this paper to be presented on later stage as policy proposal for the Iraqi government. The study begins by exploring the concept of PD and why Iraq should consider establishing PD in the foreign ministry, and its impact on Iraq foreign policy. It then and introduces the diverse methods of national reputation building. In doing so, this dissertation suggests to consider a way of understanding international relations, which is foundation of national image building through public diplomacy. Finally, based on the findings of a pilot study and online survey focusing on the national image of Iraq, this study proposes establishing a PD department (PDD) within the foreign ministry and suggestion on how to deploy public with a case study Introduction Motivation Although reputation management has historically been restricted to companies or other organisational entities, countries are also increasingly concerned with their reputation relative to other countries and have started to actively measure and manage that reputation. For an entity to achieve a certain desired reputation outcome, it has to manage as much of its exposure to various target groups. That would mean, for example, steering media coverage by closely supervising what information is made public. Iraqs reputation abroad has dramatically deteriorated. Iraq is the only nation in the Arab world whose new-formed democratic system is constantly being challenged, and constantly been projected as country with no national identity, Iraqi leaders are often compared to Saddam and Iraqi actions against the terrorist and insurgent are often described as politically motivated policies. Conditions in Iraq are often compared with those that existed in Vietnam. Why national reputation matters? National reputation is unquestionably an instrument of power. Managing national reputation and nation-states relationship with stakeholders overseas has been an integral part of foreign-policy making and public diplomacy, national reputation has a direct impact on international relations of a nation and its national policies, ranging from political, economic to cultural (Gilboa, 2006) Yet the Iraqi government has failed to prevent the deterioration of Iraqs image and reputation in the world. The main reason is the lack of awareness and understanding of the critical role PD plays in contemporary international relations. In the information age, national reputation has become a critical asset and soft power has become a major instrument of foreign policy  [1]  . Communication, education and persuasion are the principal techniques of foreign relations, not military force. Even the US, the sole superpower, is slowly learning this hard lesson in the Iraq war. National reputation is what peoples around the world think about a states conduct and behaviour. Therefore, a grand strategy in international conflict requires the integration and application of three fundamental components: force, diplomacy and communication. The last component, communication, may even be the decisive factor Purpose My interest in the area rose from an awareness that the level and volume of coverage on Iraq had grown enormously in the past eight years and as such, my awareness of the subject itself had grown too. After a period of widely reading about and studying PD and analysing Public diplomacy strategy in country like South Africa, Colombia, Denmark and Israel and how those countries where able to improve there image abroad, it was my belief that this area need to be explore for the benefit of new Iraq and that a by writing a dissertation I could carry out may contribute little or nothing to the sheer quantity and wealth of studies, debates and articles that already existed on these topics. By contrast, it was my understanding that Iraq reputation and the foreign audience perception on Iraq in the media was a relatively misrepresented and the area of PD hast been explored and researched by the Iraqi policy makers and as such, it was my belief that if I undertook an examination of the topic I could contribute something on how the national image can be restored. What is more, my growing interest about PD concept, coupled with a doubt bout how Iraq been presented on the media and abroad led me to question various things about why Iraq reputation and national image has been deteriorated abroad  [2]  and why the Iraqi government dont a strategy in restoring the national image. Is what is being reported fact or conjecture? How accurate is people perception on Iraq? The fact that Iraq has been for so much time in the news since the regime change has placed Iraq in the centre of the world map, a privilege most third-world countries will never have. After hitting headlines for years, people know very well what Iraq is and where it is, this pre-existing knowledge is a valuable asset, and as such an asset any PD campaign for Iraq should capitalise on. Are the news and image reported precise and helpful or misleading and distorting? Why does there appear to be more reporting on the effects of war on Iraq than the improvement since the regime change? Why are there so many reports about how hopeless Iraq is becoming and that Iraq cant survive without the support of the US? Objectives These questions, among some more specific ones which I will detail later, are some of the reasons that I began to be interested in the way how PD can help the Iraqi government in communicating with foreign publics in an attempt to bring the foreign public closer to home and educate them about the New Iraq, its nations ideas and ideals, its institutions and culture, as well as its national goals and current policies. My concern was about the level of information people gain from the news then I studied the news and its role as a system of information. As such, the focus of this study, examining how informative the print press was during my chosen sample and the themes that were of predominant focus of debate. The questions I would like to address are: How Iraq been reported and represented in the media; what were the media interests on Iraq? In exploring the core themes and topics in the sample I will be able to distinguish what the public perception and therefore what audiences and policy makers will understand of the messages in the press. By dealing with these questions I will be able to conclude why Iraq government should aggrievedly peruse on forming a PD department at the MFA and that strategy of PD that the department can take to deploy the PD policy and how can be benefited prior to hosting the gulf cup in 2013 Literature Study In this I will be iinvestigating the domain of literature currently available on the fields of Nation image and PD has shown to be rather problematic, with both disciplines being still vastly understudied. While the empirical section of this study deals exclusively with those concepts, there are a few surrounding disciplines which at least fall into the margins of the relevant field and thus should also be discussed Images of Nations One school of thought investigates a concept similar to country reputation, namely the images of nations, or countries. Perhaps the most exhaustive study conducted in this field is the book Images of nations and international public relations by Michael Kunczik written in 1990. Here, Kunczik discusses the idea that the world is a large and complex communication network (1990:17) in which the mass media cannot be treated in isolation. He points out that although practically anything can contribute to forming an image of another nation (Kunczik, 1990:18), there are ways for public relations to remove prejudices between peoples. In the old days one could win over an empire by marrying, today you can win over peoples by a leading article. But according to Kunczik, is because the mass media is continuously feeding people images of nations (1990:20). Another observation he makes (1990:21) is the large amount of money that is fed into international image cultivation. This, according to Kunczik, shows how important governments rate the kind of an image their country, government or policies project abroad. One of the first times the term national public relations was used explicitly was in 1978 when Herzog, Israels ambassador to the United Nations, commented that  ´from the point of view of national public relations the Israeli policy of settling the occupied territories won in wars with the Arabs had done more damage than anything else (Koschowitz 1984 as cited in Kunczik 1990:21). For purposes of this literature study, it is important also to point out the observation Kunczik makes about the then-current state of research in the area of image cultivation by states. According to him, the book published in 1965, International behaviour. A social-psychological analysis by Kelman still ranked the definitive study in that field when Kunczik wrote his work in 1990. After pointing out very few other publications dealing with Image cultivation of nations, Kunczik concludes that Fundamentallyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the literature situation on the subject area addressed here is poor [because] public relations activities tend to be especially successful the less they are recognisable as such. Very often, therefore, scientifically non-serious sources have to be resorted to such as newspaper reports, personal statements etc. (Kunczik, 1990:24). Since this publication, Kunczik has done a number of studies following up on his idea of images of nations, focussing often on the international image of crisis countries. In his most recent study, Images of Nations and Transnational Public Relations of Governments with Special reference to the Kosovo, presented at a symposium in 2004, Kunczik points out in the introduction that the mass medias reality is not factual reality and very often does not correspond to real happenings. Mass media constructs a separate reality. That criteria used to construct this reality are the so called news values. But for the recipients, who have no primary access to most things reported on, this constructed world becomes factual reality. Even in this, Kuncziks latest study, he points out the relationship between news media and images of nations is not well researched. One study that could be particular relevant to the topic of this study was Is the Media Being Fair in Iraq? by The Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology  [i]   In this study it was found that the Iraq image was still suffering under coups and earthquakes style of coverage, and that histographic cultural perceptions continued to affect the trend of international news coverage of Iraq by the foreign press (which include Arabic Media). This study is not only served to provide raw data that to could help to understand how Iraq been portrayed abroad in both Arab and western world. But also to assess the degree to which typical tones of stories might reflect the political agendas of publisher, owners, editors and news anchors and other key media figures. While the above-mentioned study and those laying the ground-work of images of nations appear to provide a foundation to a dissertation on Will PD fix Iraq reputation can, it is of crucial importance to highlight that the theory to be followed is that of country reputation, not images of a country. While the two concepts of reputation and image are often confused as having the same meaning, they are in fact two distinguishable terms whose differences should be realised. Image versus Reputation Reputation, as opposed to image, is seen as a strategic concept developed around long-term impressions of an organisation built around a number of corporate images and actions (Fombrun Shanley, 1990). Already then, the idea crystallised that there was a difference between the two concepts: while images were regarded as having a stationary nature, reputations were seen as dynamic. In their recent book Reputation in Artificial Societies: Social Beliefs for Social Order, Conte and Paolucci develop the core of their reputation theory upon this difference between image and reputation. The authors point out that reputation cannot be seen as a static attribute, rigidly codified as footprints of social hierarchy. Reputation rather consists of dynamic properties because reputation attribution is a mental process that takes place within communication processes. According to the authors, image is conceived as a set of evaluative beliefs about a given target and reputation as the process and effect of transmission of the image. Image is seen as an evaluative belief and is said to be a static system, while reputation is a meta belief that carries no reference to the acceptance of established beliefs (Conte Paolucci, 2002). Public Relation The public relations practice also sees vast differences between Image and Reputation two misunderstood siblings that need better management (PR influences, 2003). While image on the one hand is built, costs money, is fast and opportunistic, reputation is earned, is an asset, is careful and industrious. In the words of Brown in A Sound Reputation, Reputationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦is a dynamic, not static, quality; it changes as individual opinions change. And there are two drivers of opinion change direct experience and indirect experience (2005:1). Brown also points out that the most common form of indirect experience is media coverage, which is an important finding for this study (2003:1). In a paper titled Reputation and the Corporate Brand (Argenti Druckenmiller, 2004:369), image is defined as a reflection of an organisations identity and its corporate brand, or more specifically, the organisation as seen from one stakeholder groups point of view. Depending on which stakeholder is involved, an organisation can have many different images. Reputation, on the other hand, is defined in that study as the collective representation of multiple constituencies [stakeholder groups] images of a company, built up over time and based on a companys identity programmes, its performance and how constituencies have perceived its behaviour. In short, images are seen as multiple, stationary reflections of an organisations identity and its corporate brands while reputation is the dynamic, collective representation of the various images of a corporation as perceived by different stakeholders. While an image is a fixed set of beliefs about a corporation, reputation changes as individual opinions change. Considering the large body of literature that highlights the differences between image and reputation, it is indeed questionable if the studies that fall under images of nations are in fact relevant to a study on Iraq reputation. While image, as the above definitions point out, is indeed a part of reputation, it is not reputation per se. ` Most literature dealing explicitly with the concepts of country reputation measurement and management today, are derived from the school of corporate reputation measurement and management, however, I will be only discussing the country reputation which relevant to this study should next be discussed. Country Reputation Country Reputation Management Already in 1999, Olins compiled a pamphlet titled Trading Identities: Why Countries and Companies are becoming more alike. Here, Olins puts forward the idea: As countries develop their national brands to compete for investment, trade and tourism, mega-merged global companies are using nation-building techniques to achieve internal cohesion across cultures and are becoming ever more involved in providing public services like education and health (1999:1). Pharoah writes in Building and Managing Reputation for Countries that Countries are increasingly realising that reputation matters and if reputation matters, then reputation needs to be managed. According to Pharoah, the governments of today are Increasingly becoming the brand managers of their country (Pharoah, 2004:1). These findings lead to the idea that instruments used to manage and measure companies could be argued to apply to countries as well. Country Reputation Measurement Applying reputation measurement theories to countries was adopted on through a research survey which was conducted by The Media Tenor on behalf of the South African government, with the results being published in 2000. The studys mission  [ii]  was to establish a framework for South Africa to effectively manage its Public diplomacy and its vision to To further strengthen confidence in South Africas ability to host a successful FIFA 2010 World Cup In cooperation with International marketing council (IMC),  [iii]  developed a tool according to which South Africa reputation was measured and the findings used to devise a framework for the active management of South Africas reputation and perception prior to the world cup 2010. The tool applied was an adapted version of Media Tenor used to measure the media coverage for ogranisations and countries. The method is composed of opinion leading media, along this method, a Analysis of all texts in opinion leading media  then questionnaire was designed, using Media Tenor reputation, measuring foreign public perceptions of South Africa and its competitive set, the same questionnaire was used to determine the perception of South Africa residents. That allowed the researchers to identify the similarity between internal and external perceptions of the country, or, between identity and reputation. This allowed the team to make recommendations about South Africa future reputation management efforts. The results of the study assisted the IMC team with their communication plan on how to further strengthen confidence in South Africas ability to host a successful FIFA 2010 World Cup. This approach and the instrument developed could be used for the reputation measurement o f any country They did however, highlight that in order to validate this, further research and more comparable studies would be needed. According to the authors, that tool allows governments to gain insights into which aspects in the perception of the general public drive the overall reputation of their country and how can we improved, what are the tools that can implemented, one of the method that south Africa launched was their Brand South Africa program, which also was part of the PD strategy towards improving the foreign public perception. The core of the Brand South Africa is a three-step framework whereby the first step incorporates a diagnosis of the current state of the countrys reputation, the second designing a future state thereof and thirdly managing the PD strategy.