Drilling oil in the usa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Drilling oil in the usa - Essay Example According to the plan, oil will be drilled in the Atlantic coast, Alaska’s northern coast and Mexico’s eastern Gulf. This can only be achieved as long as the coastlines remain protected. Initially, oil drilling had been banned because of the environmental concerns. Oil spills imposed severe threats to the health and safety of the natural environment. Oil drilling in Pacific Coast, New Jersey northward and Bristol Bay of Alaska is still prohibited (Shannon). Through this plan, President Barack Obama intends to make US self sufficient for fulfilling its energy needs. However, there is dire need to formulate and implement energy policies that would ensure environmental protection and safety. Although the plans of President Obama aim at strengthening the economy of US in the long run, yet they are a big source of threat to the ever worsening environmental conditions. Until 1970, US had been producing enough oil to suffice its own needs. However, ever since 1970, US’s oil needs grew manifolds, and hence, the oil had to be imported. Oil production in US faced a sharp downfall after the collapse of oil prices in 1986. In 2000, the production of oil declined by 24 per cent as compared to its production rate in 1985 (Churchill). In 2000, the proportion of oil produced in US out of the total world’s production was no more than 12 per cent. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) had recorded that till 1 January 2000, the number of oil reserves in US were 21 billion barrels (Churchill). Oil reserves have been decreasing in number in US ever since, and the current plan is likely to cause more harm to the environment than good to the society because the oil reserves will soon vanish any way, but the harms caused to the environment in the course of their exploration would sustain for a long period of time, perhaps till the end of the world. There has been considerable protest against this policy. President Barack Obama had been watchful of the possible emergence of protests against the plan by the environmental agencies. He said these words in a speech explaining his consent on the security of energy, But the bottom line is this: given our energy needs, in order to sustain economic growth, produce jobs, and keep our businesses competitive, we're going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel even as we ramp up production of new sources of renewable, homegrown energy. (Obama cited in Shannon). This plan made by Presient Barack Obama has conventionally received a lot of criticism. There is no doubt in the fact that upon its implementation, the plan would impose serious environmental threats in US. In his speech, President Barack Obama does approve of the idea of looking for new and renewable sources of energy, but intends to change the oil attainment strategy meanwhile. Considering the extensively damaged environment, there is dire need to immediately discover and implement alternative sources of energy. As research is being done to find new ways, US should abstain from drilling oil and continue importing oil because the ultimate solution lies not in the use of oil, but in the use of alternative sources of energy. â€Å"The only real way to quit relying on foreign oil is to wean ourselves from oil" altogether† (David cited in The Week). Global warming is already a leading issue of the contemporary age. We can not afford to

Is independence consistent with Scotland keeping the pound Essay

Is independence consistent with Scotland keeping the pound - Essay Example de â€Å"The Euro†, â€Å"A new Scottish currency† and â€Å"keeping Pound as a part of a formal sterling currency union.† The UK government argued in this regard that after independence, the economies of Scotland and rest of the UK might start to vary due to certain imperative factors encompassing the formulation along with the execution of the above-discussed policies, fluctuating interest rates and incessantly transforming financial conditions among others (Webb 2-15). It would be vital to mention that the aforementioned factors eventually erupts the question concerning whether independence is consistent with Scotland keeping the Pound. Scottish independence is not simply a subject matter of constitutional sovereignty. It can be apparently observed in this similar concern that there are certain states, particularly in Europe, which are legally sovereign but possess minimal scope towards administering themselves. In this regard, the social arrangement of Scotland represents that the political behaviour of the state has become quite converged in recent days, as compared to the earlier years. Notably, Scotland, among other European states, experienced massive deindustrialisation, owing to which the economy of the state became excessively reliant on consumer spending and on an exaggerated housing market as well. Thus, the sovereignty of Scotland emphasised augmenting public finances and endeavouring towards enhancing the ability of affording a liberal welfare state and most vitally, enriching the public services. It has been argued by the nationalists in this similar concern that Scotland, with its sovereign power, wou ld be able to manage as well as utilise the accessible resources efficiently with the incorporation of various activities that may comprise balancing revenues with international trade, coping with the fluctuations concerning interest rates and contributing extensively towards raising wealth funds (Keating 1-16). It has often been argued that Scotland is

Matthew Broadrick Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Matthew Broadrick - Essay Example His father provided him with a stage at the age of seventeen in a workshop construction. His occupation grew majorly in two Neil Simon schemes that include the play, Brighton Beach Memoirs (1982 and 1983), and the famous film Max Dugan Returns, launched in the year 1983. He reprised the position of Eugene in the Biloxi Blues in the year 1988; he also participated in the second installment of the Simon trilogy, for both Broadway production and in the film adaption. In the third and the final installation of the trilogy, Jonathan Silverman replaced Matthew. He had his first big-screen success in the light comedy War Games in the year 1983 (Mecchi 1). He produced some of the best films that happened to be among the great hits in the film industry that include Project X (1987), which starred Helen Hunt whom he dated, Inspector Gadget in the year 1999, addicted to love in the year 1997. He has also appeared in other films that include Out on a Limb in the year 1992, the Night We Never Met in the year 1993, The Road to Wellsville in the year 1994, and The Cable Guy in the year 1996, which he produced with Jim Carrey that gave him The Best Fight award nomination. He had a car crash in year 1985, as he drove in Ireland with his beloved fiancà ©e Jennifer Grey. In that accident, a woman and her daughter were killed. In that case, he was free but he paid a fine to the relatives of the victims. In the car accident, he broke his leg. He returned to the New York stage in the revivals of old show plays such as ‘show the public how to succeed in business without much trying (Mecchi 2). In the year 1996, Broadrick co-produced the Infinity. He worked with his mother, and she wrote the screenplay. He did not manage to succeed as a director. He married Sarah Jessica Parker, who is also an actress. In his life, he dated Lili Taylor and was engaged to Helen Hunt. Broadrick came back to Broadway in musical

Assessment Tool Essay Example for Free

Assessment Tool Essay †¢ Assessment is an ongoing process that includes collecting, synthesizing and interpreting information about pupils, the classroom and their instruction. †¢ Testing is one form of assessment that, appropriately applied, systematically meas- ures skills such as literacy and numeracy. †¢ While it does not provide a complete picture, testing is an important tool, for both its efficiency and ability to measure prescribed bodies of knowledge. †¢ Alternative or â€Å"authentic† forms of assess- ment can be culturally sensitive and pose an alternative to testing, but they require a larger investment in establishing criteria for  judging development and training evaluators. †¢ Child assessment has value that goes well beyond measuring progress in children – to evaluating programs, identifying staff development needs and planning future instruction. †¢ The younger the child, the more difficult it is to obtain valid assessments. Early develop- ment is rapid, episodic and highly influenced by experience. Performance on an assessment is affected by children’s emotional states and the conditions of the assessment. Policy Recommendations: †¢ Require that measures included in an assess- ment be selected by qualified professionals  to ensure that they are reliable, valid and appropriate for the children being assessed. †¢ Develop systems of analyses so that test scores are interpreted as part of a broader assessment that may include observations, portfolios, or ratings from teachers and/or parents. †¢ Base policy decisions on an evaluation of data that reflects all aspects of children’s development – cognitive, emotional, social, and physical. †¢ Involve teachers and parents in the assess- ment process so that children’s behaviors and abilities can be understood in various contexts and cooperative relationships among families and school staff can be  fostered. †¢ Provide training for early childhood teachers and administrators to understand and inter- pret standardized tests and other measures of learning and development. Emphasize precautions specific to the assessment of young children. NIEER Assessment of preschool-age children who may not reliably or uniformly respond to inquiry has been the subject of much debate. The growing emphasis on testing young children as a means of holding programs accountable for their learning has intensified the discussion. Though there are legitimate concerns regarding standardized testing, it and other forms of assessment are necessary  components of all high-quality early education programs. Properly conceived assessments are important to understanding and sup- porting young children’s development. They are also essential to documenting and evaluating how effectively programs are meeting young children’s educational needs. For assessments to be effective, they must be practical, cost-efficient and meet reasonable standards of efficiency and validity. Testing usually involves a series of direct requests for children to perform, within a set amount of time, specific tasks designed and administered by adults. These tasks have predetermined answers. Alternative forms of assessment are more open-ended and often look at performance over an extended period. Examples include structured observations, portfolio analyses of individual and collaborative work, and teacher and parent ratings of children’s behavior. What Can Be Learned Assessment can provide the following four types of information for and about children and their parents, teachers and programs: †¢ Screen children to see if they need intervention—particularly when par- ents and teachers suspect a problem. †¢ Plan instruction for individuals and groups of children. †¢ Identify program improvement and staff development needs. †¢ Evaluate how well a program is meet- ing goals and needs for children. Data should be aggregated to determine whether desired outcomes are being achieved. Why Assessment is Important Preschool Policy Facts â€Å"Assessment is the process of collecting, synthesizing and interpreting information to aid classroom decision-making. It includes information gathered about pupils, instruction and classroom climate. â€Å"Testing is a formal, systematic procedure for gathering a sample of pupils’ behavior. The results of a test are used to make generalizations about how pupils would have performed on similar but untested behaviors. † — Peter Airasian, Assessment in the Classroom 2 The quality of an assessment depends in part on decisions made before any meas- ure is administered to a child. Project designers should be able to explain why specific measures are used and what they hope to learn from the results. Assess- ment strategies can be formal (standard- ized testing) or informal (observation, portfolios, teacher and parent ratings). The selection of a strategy is guided by the purposes and goals of the assess- ment and is also affected by the available resources in terms of time, money and staff. Formal and informal assessment  strategies each have strengths and weak- nesses. Therefore, a comprehensive assessment requires a multi-method approach in order to encompass the many dimensions of children’s skills and abilities. Standardized Testing †¢Most rigid of assessment strategies, places the greatest constraints on chil- dren’s behavior. Considered objective, time- and cost-efficient, and suitable for making quantitative comparisons of aggregated data across groups. †¢ Preschoolers’ performance is highly influenced by children’s emotional states and experiences, sometimes causing unstable scores over time. Most individual tests of cognitive  ability must be administered in a controlled, relatively quiet area. Observations †¢ Intrude minimally into children’s activities, which naturally integrate all dimension of development— intellectual, motivational, social, physical, aesthetic, etc. †¢ Should be used to complete develop- mental scales of proven reliability and validity, they are not sufficient alone. Portfolios †¢ Involve multiple sources and methods of data collection, and occur over a representative period of time. A collection of student work, the process provides richer information than standardized tests. †¢ Encourage collaboration – between  students, teachers, and parents – and integrate assessment with instruction and learning. Teacher Ratings †¢Can be used to assess children’s cogni- tive and language abilities as well as social and emotional development. †¢ Can be specifically related to other types of assessments, including stan- dardized test scores, other validated assessment tools, or global assessments of children’s traits. Parent Ratings †¢ Encourage parents to observe and listen to their children. †¢Inform parents about the important behaviors and milestones in young children’s development and allows teachers to involve parents as partners  in assessment. Assessment Methods Preschool Policy Facts 3 Issues and positions involving assessment are summarized in a document from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (NAECS/SDE) titled Early Childhood Curriculum, Assessment and Program Evaluation: Building an Effective, Accountable System in Programs for Children Birth through Age 8. Given the pervasive use of testing and its probable expansion, when and under what conditions can this type of assessment be used appropriately with preschool-age  children? What characteristics of tests and their administration will guarantee that we â€Å"do no harm† to children and that we â€Å"do help† adults acquire valid informa- tion? Also, given that even the most well-designed tests can provide only limited data, how can we maximize the use of non-test assessments so they add valuable information beyond that obtained through standardized testing procedures? To produce meaningful data and minimize the risk of creating a harmful situation, all assessment tools for preschool-age children, whether formal or informal, should satisfy the following criteria: †¢ Assessment should not threaten children’s self-esteem, make them feel they have failed, or penalize them for what they do not know. †¢ Information should be obtained over time, or if time-distributed measurements are not feasible, unusual circumstances in the situation (e. g. , noise) or child (e. g. , fatigue) should be noted to avoid invalid, single-encounter results. †¢ Information should be obtained on the same content area from multiple and diverse sources, such as standardized tests, classroom observations and parent ratings, especially when repeated instances of data gathering are not feasible. †¢ The length of the assessment should be sensitive to young children’s interests and attention spans and therefore should probably not exceed 35-45 minutes. †¢ Testing for purposes of program accountability should be administered to a representative sample of students whenever feasible to reduce the overall time spent in testing and to minimize the chances for placing undue stress on children and burden on teachers and classrooms. Reliable and Valid Preschool Assessment To be reliable and valid, standardized testing should: †¢ Contain enough items to allow scores to represent this diverse range of indi-  vidual ability, in order to identify and distinguish among children of low, average and high levels of ability. †¢ Take place in a controlled environment that at least approximates the condi- tions experienced by the population on which the measure was standardized. †¢ Be administered by appropriately trained examiners who are familiar with testing materials and procedures and with working with young children. To obtain scores that resemble natural performance, informal assessments should: †¢ Take place in or simulate the natural environment in which the behavior being evaluated occurs to avoid meas-  uring the child’s response to an artifi- cial environment rather than the child’s ability to perform on the content. †¢ Be conducted by an assessor who is knowledgeable regarding the assess- ment materials and familiar with the children being assessed. When an outside researcher or evaluator must administer the assessment, it is best if the individual spends time in the classroom beforehand. †¢ Measure real knowledge in the context of real activities, resembling children’s ordinary activities as closely as possible. In addition, parent or teacher ratings should evaluate naturally occurring  behavior. †¢ Be conducted as a natural part of daily activities rather than as a time-added or pullout activity. This fact sheet is based on the policy brief â€Å"Preschool Assessment: A Guide to Developing a Balanced Approach† by Ann S. Epstein, Lawrence J. Schweinhart, Andrea DeBruin-Parecki and Kenneth B. Robin. The brief includes full references and is available at www. nieer. org. It was made possible by the generous support of The Pew Charitable Trusts. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Preschool Policy Facts.

A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE BOOK AND MOVIE: MALCOLM X Essay -- essays res

When comparing and contrasting movies and books, the majority of the time the book presents more of a detailed atmosphere and illustration of events. However, in this case I think the book, "Autobiography of Malcolm X† and the movie, â€Å"Malcolm X† quoin side with one another. Spike Lee is not only one of the best filmmakers in America, but one of the most crucially important, because his films address the central subject of race, as so does the book. He doesn't use a sentimental approach or political work, but shows how his characters lived, and why. Alex Haley depiction of Malcolm X life as told to him by Malcolm, shares the same perception as the movie, but what Alex provides in the book seems to be almost or all Malcolm’s different interactions with â€Å"white folks†, and each interaction Malcolm gained something from it - whether it was positive or negative - and that is one of the things that attracted me to his life story. During that stage of his life, in the late 1940s, he was known as "Detroit Red," and ran with a fast crowd - including white women who joined him for sex and burglaries. Arrested and convicted, he was sentenced to prison; the movie quotes him that he got one year for the burglaries and seven years for associating with white women while committing them, as so does the book. Prison was the best thing that happened to Red, who fell into the realm of the Black Muslim movement of Elijah Muhammad and learned self-respect. The movie then follo...

economics :: essays research papers

Lesson 1 Project Economic Questions and Vision The two major economic systems in the world are the capitalist (free market) economic system and the socialist economic system. The many different countries of the world usually have an economic system in place that contains elements of both capitalism and socialism. Since the philosophies of capitalism and socialism are opposite, an individual country and its economic system will answer key economic questions differently. Regardless of how much that country or society supports either philosophy, the key questions their economic system must answer are the same. One question that must be answered is, what goods will be produced? Another question is how will these goods be produced? Also there is the question to be answered, for whom will these goods be produced? The location of the economies operation on the production possibilities frontier (PPF) is also very important to production. The PPF is related to what goods are produced which depends on whether the economic system is based on capitalism or whether it is based on socialism. What goods will be produced in a capitalist economic system Is determined by what the market wants. As an example if the buyers and sellers want more computers, televisions, automobiles. houses, and entertainment or food to be produced, then the production of these products will take place. (pages 56, 57, 58, and 59 of Economics 6th edition by Roger A. Arnold) In the capitalist economic system the sellers usually respond to the buyers changes in wants or preferences also. Goods and services are produced when enough buyers exist that desire to buy those goods and services. If buyers start wanting more of a certain product than another, production usually shifts to meet the need. Capitalism is based on the concept of free enterprise and the principle of individual rights. This means freedom from private and government coercion. Production and trade help to increase the wealth that people need to support their life. In the capitalism system the person who creates the wealth is the owner of that wealth. (http://www.capitalism.org) What goods will be produced in a socialist economic system Is decided by the government in control. The government may or may not be responsive to the wants of the ordinary citizen. Some economist believe that one of the reasons for the fall of communism in the Soviet Union as well as in Eastern Europe was a decline in economic growth.

Health Care Usa vs. France

Comparison of the Health Care Systems: France and the United States| Yet in 1948 the United Nations proclaimed that, â€Å"everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of oneself and one's family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care. † We should understand that health care should be considered a human right, rather than an economical benefit. However, there are two hundred countries in the World and many of them still lack an adequate health care system. Throughout the World health, except the U. S. , care systems tend to follow general patterns.There are four basic models: Beveridge, Bismarck, the National health insurance, and the out-of-pocket. The Beveridge model named after the founder of British health care system William Beveridge. According to McCanne (2010), the majority of hospitals and clinics are owned by government. In this model the government is a sole payer, which controls the costs of medical expenses. T herefore, there is the tendency for low cost per capita. The second model of health care named after a founder of European welfare Otto von Bismarck. The major principle of this system based on the insurance plans, which financed jointly by employers and employees.Moreover, the insurance plans are non-profit and cover everyone. The government tightly regulates and controls the health system, that allows to keep low medical costs. The third model is a the National health insurance model. It uses private sector of health providers, but payments come from a government based insurance, to which every citizen must pay. The National health insurance controls and keeps low prices for medical services, and tend to be cheaper and simpler administratively. The last and most disorganized health system follows the out-of-pocket model.The major principle of that system based on the money and basically people with money can get the medical assistance, whereas poor get sicker or die. According to the World health report (2000) released by World Health Organization, France is the country that provides the best health care. The same report states, â€Å"The U. S. health system spends a higher portion of its gross domestic product than any other country but ranks 37 out of 191 countries according to its performance. † The question is, why equally strong, politically and economically, countries have such significant difference of health care performance?Certainly, one of the major dissimilarity of the systems is the difference of health care models. The French health system rigorously follows only one, as most of European countries, the Bismarck's model. At first glance it seems to be very similar to the American; both countries widely use an insurance system, where employers and employee are both responsible for an insurance payment. However, in contrast to USA, the biggest fundamental difference between the two systems is that the Bismarck-type health insurance plans ha ve to cover everybody, and they do not make a profit.Opposite to France, the United States of America does not follow any of the models of health care. American health care system have elements of all of the models. When it comes to treating veterans, it becomes a government owned and controlled system, as Beveridge model. For Medicare dependant Americans and population over the age of 65, our health care system uses the model of National Health Insurance, otherwise known as universal health system, which tends to be cheaper and simpler. The health care system of a working population, who gets insurance through the employer, is more aligned with the Bismarck model.Finally, for those fifteen percent of Americans, who do not have any health care insurance the current system becomes an Out-of-Pocket Model, which is primarily used in Third World countries. Most of health care industries in the World, in order to be efficient, try to meet only three of the models, but very important basi cs: costs, quality and access. All those major elements of a health care system have a complex and often challenging nature; they often interlace with each other, what leads to a conglomerate of hard solvable health care issues.For example, the quality of care is tightly bounded to the cost of therapeutic and diagnostic procedures. Consequently, the high cost of health care puts access restrictions for certain populations. Therefore, one of the major health industry concerns is access to quality and affordable health care. The French health care system combines universal coverage with a public–private mix of hospital and ambulatory care, higher levels of resources, and a higher volume of service provision than in the United States (Rodwin, 1993) As shown in Table 1, France has a higher physicians' density per population than USA.Moreover, there is a significant difference, of more than 50%, between physicians of general practice and more disparity in more specialized practice s. It demonstrates that French health care is based on more generalized medicine, than the US, where high costly specialty medicine is common practice. Table 1, Health Care Resources: France and United States, 1997–2000. American Journal of Public Health 2003 Resources| France| US| Active physicians per 1000 population| 3. 3 | 2. 8| Active physicians in private, office-based practice per 1000 population| 1. 9| 1. | General/family practice, %| 53. 3| 22. 5| Obstetricians, pediatricians, and internists, %| 7. 5| 35. 6| Other specialists, %| 39. 2| 41. 0| Non-physician personnel per acute hospital bed| 1. 9 | 5. 7 | Total inpatient hospital beds per 1000 population| 8. 5| 3. 7| Short-stay hospital beds per 1000 population| 4. 0| 3. 0| Share of public beds, %| 64. 2| 19. 2| Share of private beds, %| 35. 8| 80. 8| Proprietary beds as percentage of private beds, %| 56| 12| Nonprofit beds as percentage of private beds, %| 44| 88| Share of proprietary beds, %| 27| 10. 7| France and t he U. S. ace a crises of unprecedented scope. Both countries possess large and growing elderly populations that threaten to push the pace of health care price increases even higher than their already faster-than-inflation rates. (Dutton, 2011) However, France has wide access to comprehensive health services for a population that is, on average, older than that of the United States (Rodwin, 1993). France and the United States, relies on both private insurance and government insurance. In both countries, working populations generally receive their insurance through their employer. However, French health care s based on the National Health Insurance and there is no uninsured population. French national insurance covers about 70 percent of the medical bills, the rest of the 30 percents is paid by private insurance companies, which are typically provided and paid by employer. Furthermore, contradictory to the common American opinion, that universal health care system does not allow one t o choose doctors, hospitals and clinics, French people are not restricted in their choice of medical professionals and institutions, and they freely navigate themselves from doctor to doctor (Imai, Jacobzone, Lenain, 2000).In contrast to that, certain American HMOs allow their members to visit doctors strictly in their systems. The other tremendous distinction of the French health care system is that there is no discrimination of people with preexisting conditions. Moreover, individuals with preexisting conditions have a priority and receive more coverage; patients with long-standing diseases, such as mental illness, cancer, diabetes, obtain 100 percent governmental support for all medical expenses, including surgeries, therapy and pharmaceutical agents (Imai et. al. , 2000).At a final point, most of American's health budget oriented on the end of life diseases, which as a rule, heavily involve costly sophisticated technology and procedures, that enormously brings operating cost up. At the same time USA still neglects major successful health care steps such as disease prevention and public health education. This perhaps explains, in spite of impressive achievements in the biomedical science and technology the US do not have a better health care performance. References Dutton,V. P. (2011). Health care in France and the United States: Learning from each other. Imai, Y. Jacobzone, S. , Lenain, P. (2000). The changing health system in France. France: Economics department, organization for economic cooperation and development. p. 268. McCanne, D. (2010). Health Care Systems – Four Basic Models. Physicians for a National Health Program, p. 1 Rodwin V, Sandier S. 2003; Health care under French national health insurance. 12(3):113–131. American Journal of Public Health 2003 The universal declaration of human rights. Article 25. (1948) World Health Organization, (2000). The world health report 2000 – World Health Organization Assesses the World's H ealth Systems.