federalism Essay - 1209 Words

Federalism nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The United States Government is beloved to all Americans, in the simple fact that all men are created equal and all men are given equal opportunity, to aspire to achieve success and make their dreams come true. Although the percentage of people who achieve all of their goals in life is fairly small, they have the freedom to chase them and America for the most part is a pretty content place. The â€Å"law of the land† that sets the standards for our rights and privileges is the U.S. Constitution. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;As pretty and proper as the U.S. Constitution sounds, there has always been and always will be some conflicts and concerns about different laws and amendments and even values that†¦show more content†¦However with all the power that the President possesses there are also many limits set on him, including the length of time he is allowed to hold his job. However the President who runs the entire country, is appointed by the states. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;This power and compromise is also included amongst the Congress. Each state appoints members of the legislature. Each state gets an equal numbers of electors in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The President is also required to take an oath before he takes over in office. â€Å"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, 1`protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.† Adams had the brilliant idea of Checks amp; Balances where he broke the government into three branches; the president, Congress, and the judiciary. Each of them had power but no one branch would be allowed to enjoy a monopoly of power. However when problems did occur each branch was allowed to put their two cents in and try to resolve whatever conflict that arose. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;However there are times when the Constitution puts its foot down, and prohibits power of the states . A big example of this is Article 1, Section 10. It lists all powers prohibited of the statesShow MoreRelatedFederalism And The Other Federalism849 Words   |  4 PagesI’ve researched different texts and different information on the topic of federalism to have a good understanding and knowledge of it. I found many sources of great information to learn about federalism and how it influences many countries in the world that we know today. My goal in this paper is to give a good understanding to what I’ve learned and give great detail on federalism and the other Federalism is when two or more levels of governments share the same power over theRead MoreEssay on Federalism1371 Words   |  6 PagesFederalism Federalism is a widely accepted system of government in North American cultures. To many North Americans it seems to be the obvious choice for all world governments, but this is not the case. In all honesty, federalism is a fairly unique form of government. Out of approximately two hundred nations on the earth one hundred and eighty states practice unitary forms of government, leaving only twenty or so as federal nations (Winchester, 1999). Unitary forms of government consistRead MoreDifferences Between Dual Federalism And Cooperative Federalism969 Words   |  4 Pagesdual federalism and cooperative federalism? Be sure to fully address what federalism is and why it was created. 1000 words. Dual federalism is a term used to describe a circumstance in which national and state governments are sovereign and equal within their constitutionally allocated spheres of authority. Federalism is a concept that refers to a system of government in which power is shared between the national and non-national governments. Cooperative Federalism is a model of federalism in whichRead MoreFederalism in India3277 Words   |  14 PagesFEDERALISM IN INDIA Federalism is a basic feature of the Constitution of India in which the Union of India is permanent and indestructible. Both the Centre and the States are co-operating and coordinating institutions having independence and ought to exercise their respective powers with mutual adjustment, respect, understanding and accommodation. Tension and conflict of the interests of the Centre and the respective units is an integral part of federalism. Prevention as well as amelioration of conflictsRead MoreFederalism Essay1956 Words   |  8 PagesFederalism The Constitution of the United States was drafted at a time when our country was in dire need of many answers to political and social questions. In addition to many other things, the drafters of the Constitution were concerned with solidifying our central government and the Constitution was intended to provide a solid structure from which our burgeoning nation could grow. The Constitution gave explicit powers to the federal government and provided the states with the Tenth AmendmentRead MoreFederalism Is Considered Centralized, Or Contrarily Decentralized Federalism?1881 Words   |  8 PagesFederalism can be perceived as quite complicated although, when explained can be quite simple. Its basic definition is that it is the share of powers between national and subnational governments. Canadian federalism was born along with the country in 1867 and has prospered ever since. Canada as a federation has evolved tremendously since its early years where it mostly started as a centralized s tate. After the World Wars, Canada progressed to become the decentralized country we know today. The resultsRead MoreFederalist And Dual Federalism1257 Words   |  6 Pagesthe individual states, most policy more closely reflected the peoples of the region. When it became clear that the Articles of Confederation were no longer working for America, the Federalists proposed a new system of Federalism, later named Dual Federalism, or â€Å"Layer Cake† Federalism. That system was based on the premise that there are two distinct, separate spheres of government, national and state. That new Federalist system of government based on the Federalist party ideals featured a strongerRead MoreFederalism Vs. Cooperative Federalism1148 Words   |  5 PagesFederalism is a critically important concept in helping to understanding the American political system. The Founding Fathers of the United States had to answer important questions on how to handle power and responsibility between the s tates and national government. They did not want to have a situation where the federal government had all the power. They had just fought a war against Britain because of that idea. However, they did not want each individual state doing essentially whatever they wantedRead MoreFederalism Vs. Cooperative Federalism1469 Words   |  6 PagesRight now the current form of Federalism that the United States uses today is called New Federalism, or Cooperative Federalism. Cooperative Federalism was created as a political model around 1937 that emphasized â€Å"teamwork† between the National and State governments. This was created to ensure that both governments would work together in order to provide services more efficiently in the Nation. This is why Cooperative Federalism is appealing to this day and still exercised, because the U.S. has stillRead MoreThe Federalism Of The United States1119 Words   |  5 PagesAmericans utilize the Federalism idea as putting into effect the Con stitution for Federal, State, and Local governments. These areas are served as different areas with different needs and goals within the federalist theory. The National Government has expressed powers over the nation and subjects that effect our nation. The State has limited powers that are involved within the State’s boundaries. The local government is expressed to help regulate the states. All together the governments make one

Martin Luther King Jr. - 2344 Words

Martin Luther King Jr. â€Å"I Have a Dream Speech† Martin Luther King, Jr: the name that will forever be known through out the generations. The man who changed history for the better. The man who led a march to demolish segregation, and changed thousands of African American lives. The man who gave a speech that was forever going to be remembered by thousands of people around the world. He was appreciated greatly that in honor for him and what he has done they created a holiday, which is known as Martin Luther King Day. Many people around the world celebrate it every year and will continue to celebrate it in his honor. On January 15, 1929; a baby named Martin Luther King Jr. was born. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia to the parents of Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta William King. He was the middle child of the three. Growing up, living in a world of segregation was difficult for him. He had to attend a different school than the whites, and eat different restaurants as them. There were numerous of things that King had to do that were separated from the whites. King attended a segregated public school and at the age of 15, he attended Morehouse College where he studied medicine and law then graduated in 1948. King soon enrolled in a program in Boston University where he met Coretta Scott. The young couple had wed and settled in Montgomery, Alabama where they had four children: Yolanda Denise King, Martin Luther King III, Dexter Scott King and Bernice Albertine King. In 1957,Show MoreRelatedMartin Luther King Jr.867 Words   |  4 Pagespeople, one of them is Martin Luther King Jr. He made the world a better place for black citizens by doing non-violence movements and marched the way to freedom. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta Georgia as Michael King Jr., but changed his name to Martin Luther King Jr. in honor of Protestant Martin Luther. Through his activism, King played a pivotal role in ending the legal discrimination of African American citizens. During his childhood, Martin Jr.’s father stronglyRead MoreMartin Luther King Jr1194 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿ Simmons 1 Gabrielle Simmons Mrs. Fitzgerald Social Studies 8A 4/27/10 Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a well known and an inspiring man to all cultures of the world. King was and still is one of the most influential heroes. King s views and believes helped African Americans through the 50 s and 60 s to the rights and liberties that was their right. King faced many obstacles on his journey, things like jail and even assassination attempts. Despite these obstacles,Read MoreMartin Luther King Jr.1078 Words   |  5 PagesMartin Luther King, Jr., was a very strong person, constantly fighting for what he believed in, which was equality for African Americans. He was not scared to stand up and tell the world what he wanted for society. He was fearless and did everything in his power to prove a point. Martin Luther King, Jr., was the strongest individual of his time, for he fought until death, which proves how much he was willing to risk his life to make the world an equal place. Growing up, he had a very interestingRead MoreMartin Luther King, Jr Essay1153 Words   |  5 Pagesbe slaves, African-Americans saw a road trip to equality through the eyes of Martin Luther King, Jr. Even after being emancipated from slaves to citizens, African-Americans were not ready to wage the battle against segregation alone. The weight which African Americans carried on their back, was lightened when they began to see what Martin Luther King, Jr. brought to the table against segregation. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the single most important African-American leader of the Civil Rights MovementRead MoreBiography of Martin Luther King, Jr745 Words   |  3 PagesMartin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born on in his mothers parents large house on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the second child, and was first named Michael, after his father. Both changed their names to Martin when the boy was still young. King JR was born into a financially secu re family middle class with that, They received better education in respect to most people of their race. King Jr, noticed this and this influenced him to live a life of social protestRead MoreEssay on Martin Luther King, Jr.591 Words   |  3 PagesMartin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born at home on Tuesday, January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. His parents were Martin Luther, Sr. and Alberta King. He was born into a world where segregation was the law. Where his boyhood best friend, who was white, wasnt allowed to play with him once they started school. Where black people went to separate bathrooms, drank from separate water fountains, couldnt eat in whites only restaurants, and had toRead MoreMartin Luther King Jr.1144 Words   |  5 PagesMartin Luther King Jr. (January 15 1929-April 4, 1968) Brief Summary (of who MLK Jr. is): Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and an activist who led the civil rights movement in the 1950. He was a fundamental force behind the civil rights movement that ended legal segregation. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. But he was sadly assassinated in 1968 on a second floor balcony of Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee†¦ Childhood: Martin Luther was never poor. He lived with a middleRead MoreMartin Luther King Jr.2405 Words   |  10 PagesMartin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and social activist, who led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968. IN THESE GROUPS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNERS FAMOUS PEOPLE WHO DIED IN 1968 FAMOUS PEOPLE WHO WENT TO PRISON FAMOUS CAPRICORNS Show All Groups 1 of 19  «  » QUOTES â€Å"But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice.† —Martin Luther King Jr. Read MoreMartin Luther King Jr. Essay1862 Words   |  8 Pagesbut the content of the character,† (Martin Luther King Jr,1963) Martin Luther King Jr. was a smart child and had a good childhood. He learned values from his parents, and Martin Luther King Jr was a man of much wisdom during his time. He was a major contributor to the civil rights movement, and those contributions have profound effect even today. Michael Luther King was Martin Luther King Jr’s name when was born. His parents changed his name to Martin Luther King when he was just a young boy. TheyRead More Martin Luther King Jr. Essay637 Words   |  3 Pages Martin Luther King, Jr. was perhaps one of the most influential person of our time. As the father of modern civil rights movement, Dr.Martin Luther king, Jr., is recognized around the world as a symbol of freedom and peace. Born January 15, 1929, King was the son of an Atlanta pastor. King accomplished many achievements during his life. He graduated from Morehouse as a minister in 1948 and went on to Crozer Theological seminary in Chester, Pa., where he earned a divinity degree. After that King

Cigarettes should be banned free essay sample

According to The New York Times, Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. ()Around 400,000 people die each year from smoking and that does not include the 50,000 who die from exposure to secondhand smoke or the 8. 6 million whose illnesses are caused by smoking. Smoking is harmful to the environment, the user and everyone around them and should be banned. Do people not care about the warning labels on cigarette boxes that read; Smoking Kills? So then why do people smoke? Most smokers started in their teens falling into peer pressure or trying to be â€Å"cool† and fit in. Others had parents that smoked, so they tried it to be like them. But after having just one cigarette they get addicted and continue smoking. The reason people get addicted is because nicotine increases your metabolic rate, so you burn more calories, causing some smokers to lose weight. We will write a custom essay sample on Cigarettes should be banned or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Some people think that smoking is the only way to lose weight, so they continue smoking (Which is a disorder all on its own). Smoking may also calm nerves and help increase concentration. However, this is usually an illusion perpetuated by the addiction cycle. When a smokers nicotine levels drop and they go into withdrawal, they may feel anxious and unable to focus. Once nicotine levels return to normal after smoking, their ability to focus returns, and her overall feeling of well being also returns. () Not only do you get addicted from smoking, you also get some pretty bad effects from it. Smoking Destroys Appearance. Film the noir movies make smoking look glamorous. The results from smoking are stained brown teeth, and a faul stench that permeates the hair, clothing and breath. Smoking deprives your skin of oxygen and nutrients, damages collagen and elastin and can leave your face as sagging and furrowed as a chow dog and it also prematures wrinkling of the face, body and inner arms. Those are just some pretty minor effects to what I am about to talk about. Smoking cuts life expectancy shorter, on average about 13 years. With all the chemicals in a cigarette it is a miracle it does not cut off more years. There are more than 7,000 chemicals in tobacco and tobacco smoke. Here a just a few: Tar, which gives cigarettes flavor, is the same thick black substance used to pave roads and driveways. Formaldehyde is the same stuff used to preserve dead animals. Cyanide is the main ingredient in rat poison. Lead is found in pencils and some kinds of paint. Acetone is a common ingredient in paint and nail polish remover. Ammonia is also in cigarettes. Hydrazine, a chemical used in jets and rocket fuel. Imagine, how much harm you do to your body every single time you smoke a cigarette. Every time you smoke, tar coats your lungs like soot in a chimney. The effects of tar in cigarette smoke include increased risk of bronchitis. Bronchitis occurs when the tissues of the brachial tubes become irritated and inflammated. This causes breathing to be harder than normal, resulting in a constant, hacking cough and wheezing. Emphysema is another risk of smoking. Emphysema develops when the air sacs at the base of tiny air passages called bronchioles gradually break down due to either a protein deficiency or smoking. Symptoms include shortness of breath, chest tightness, chronic coughing, fatigue and decreased physical activity ability. Emphysema eventually prevents oxygen entering the lungs from reaching the blood stream. Treatment cannot reverse lung damage from emphysema but can slow down the progression. Other risks of smoking include blood clots, high blood pressure, strokes, weight loss or gain, heart attacks, cancer and death. The mixture of nicotine and carbon monoxide in each cigarette you smoke temporarily increases your heart rate and blood pressure, straining your heart and blood vessels. This can cause heart attacks and stroke. During withdrawal it slows your blood flow, cutting off oxygen to your feet and hands. Some smokers end up having their limbs amputated. Second hand (passive) smoke is just as bad as smoking first hand. It causes nonsmokers to breathe in the same nicotine and chemicals as smokers involuntarily, putting them at risk for the same health concerns. Theres no safe level of secondhand smoke exposure. Babies are especially at risk. Breathing in secondhand smoke increases the occurrence of ear infections, asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis, cancer and SIDS, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. If youre a nursing mother who smokes, you should be aware of how you can minimize the effect your habit has on your baby. Even if you smoke away from your baby, nicotine and other cigarette chemicals still cling to your clothes and seep from your skin, making it more than likely that youll contaminate your home even if you smoke outside. Smoking is also associated with a reduced milk supply, early weaning and the prevention of the milk ejection. Nicotine makes its way into breast milk when you smoke. Nicotine can cause agitation, fussiness, restlessness and an increased heart rate in your baby. Never smoke while pregnant! Cigarette smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of low birth weight, prematurity, spontaneous abortion, and death. Smokers can benefit so much from quitting. I believe that if the government were to make smoking illegal it could help quitting be easier for them. They can get so much from quitting. They would be saving a lot of money, they would also be praised by family and friends for quitting, they would have better relationships, they would feel better physically and mentally and emotionally, and they could live longer. Many people who have tried to quit but could not, try switching to low-tar cigarettes. That does not help in fact they are even worse because smokers usually take deeper puffs and hold the smoke in for longer, dragging the tar deeper into their lungs. Another thing smokers try to use in order to quit is a nicotine patch. The patches have enough nicotine they need to stay away from a cigarette but it is still harming their body. Another tool to get away from smoking is the e cigarette which is a smokeless electronic one. As the safety and efficacy of e-cigarettes have not been fully studied, consumers of e-cigarette products currently have no way of knowing: whether e-cigarettes are safe for their intended use, how much nicotine or other potentially harmful chemicals are being inhaled during use, or if there are any benefits associated with using these products. Additionally, it is not known if e-cigarettes may lead young people to try other tobacco products, including conventional cigarettes, which are known to cause disease and lead to premature death. So it not advised to use them. With all the deaths and dieses that are due to smoking, it is interesting why the government has not banned them yet. It is a multi billion corporation but regardless it is harming the public. Why do we make such a big deal of suicide if smoking is the same thing, just a longer process. Why do we punish people that kill if we don’t do anything about cigarettes? Even the labels say SMOKING KILLS.

Wentworth Medical Center Essay Example

Wentworth Medical Center Paper In this case we looked at data from a long-term study of individuals 65 years of age or older, sociologists and physicians at the Wentworth Medical Center in upstate New York investigated the relationship between geographic location and depression. A sample of 60 individuals, all in reasonably good health, was selected; 20 were residents of Florida, 20 were residents of New York, and 20 were residents of North Carolina. From the data collected we could know that the higher test scores indicate higher levels of depression. The descriptive statistics of the data collected are as following: GROUPSSIZESUMMEANSAMPLE VARIANCE FLORIDA2088.504.423.81 NEW YORK20131.536.583.95 NORTH CAROLINA20137.096.852.31 For the second part of this study, we considered the relationship between geographic location and depression for individuals 65 years of age or older who had a chronic health condition such as arthritis, hypertension, or heart ailment. A sample of 60 individuals with such conditions was identified. 20 were residents of Florida, 20 were residents of New York, and 20 were residents of North Carolina. The descriptive statistics of the data are as following: GROUPSSIZESUMMEANSAMPLE VARIANCE We will write a custom essay sample on Wentworth Medical Center specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Wentworth Medical Center specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Wentworth Medical Center specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer FLORIDA20284.7114.2415.88 NEW YORK20313.1515.669.82 NORTH CAROLINA20321.0116.0512.79 In both of the two tables above, we found that the residents in Florida shows the lowest mean scores than either of the other states, implying that the level of depression is lowest than others. Compare these two tables, we found that the depression mean scores and variance of health individual is far lower than the individuals with chronic health problem. First, we determine if there is any difference in depression means for the three states within the health individuals, we have conducted the following hypothesis test, with the level of significance 0.05: H0:  µ1 =  µ2 =  µ3 Ha: Not all are equal where:  µ1= population mean of depression scores in Florida  µ2= population mean of depression scores in New York  µ3= population mean of depression scores in North Carolina We use Analysis of Variance to determine whether the observed differences in the three sample means are large enough to reject H0. SSDFMSFF CRITP-VALUE TREATMENT70.75235.3710.543.160.00 ERROR191.38573.36 TOTAL262.1359 The sampling distribution of MSTR/MSE is an F distribution with numerator degrees of freedom equal to 2 and denominator degrees of freedom equal to 57. From the ANOVA table above, we found that the p-value for this test is equals to 0 which is less than the level of significance of ÃŽ ±=0.05. As a result, we reject H0 and conclude that the means of the three depression levels between difference states are not equal. For further test, we need to determine where the differences occur. We use Fisher’s LSD procedure to make three pairwise comparisons: Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 H0:  µ1 =  µ2H0:  µ1 =  µ3H0:  µ2 =  µ3 Ha:  µ1 ≠   µ2Ha:  µ1 ≠   µ3Ha:  µ2 ≠   µ3 where:  µ1=population mean of depression scores in Florida  µ2= population mean of depression scores in New York  µ3= population mean of depression scores in North Carolina We use the level of significance of ÃŽ ±=0.05. The value of LSD in this case is equals to 1.16. We only reject null hypothesis when test statistic |xÌ„i xÌ„j| LSD. The calculated results are as following: Test StatisticLSD Test 12.151.16 Test 22.431.16 Test 30.281.16 The difference between the mean for population 1 and population 2 are greater than LSD, which means we can reject null hypothesis and conclude that the mean for population 1 is not equals to population 2. Similarly, with the difference between the sample means for population 1 and 3 is 2.431.16, we can also reject null hypothesis. But in test 3, the difference between the sample means for population 2 and 3 is 0.280.05). As a result, we could not reject null hypothesis, and conclude that there is no difference between the mean of depression levels of the individuals who had a

Edgar Allen Poe essays

Edgar Allen Poe essays Edgar Allen Poe, was a very famous writer, mostly for writing dismal short stories and poems. He wrote many poems and short stories, such as the Black Cat, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Raven, all are very famous. Edgar Allen Poe was known through many places and times, and still is, he also had his share of good times and bad times. He lost both of his wives to death and faced an alcohol problem late in his life. Also Poe was Editor of newspapers and small town writings, and many famous people congratulated him for his well-respected stories and poems. Poe was born January 19, 1809, in Boston Massachusetts. After his mother died in 1811, he was sent to his grandparents in Scotland where he was given a classical education. Later he returned to his hometown of Richmond Virginia, where he discovered his sweetheart (Sarah) Elmira Royster, and were engaged. Then he began to write poems and short stories, some were not very successful, and did not go over well, but he kept writing. Poe kept writing stories and poems until his wife Elmira died, but he eventually got over it and remarried. He began writing again, he then wrote The Cask of Amontillado. Poes writing brought him much joy. Famous people even read his writings, and some enjoyed them so much the mostly read Poes writings. Soon Poe became very sad, for his second wife had died as well. So he started drinking and became an alcoholic, and sometimes became very violent and much not like himself, and everything in Poes life began to go downhill. One of Edgar Allen Poes famous short story The Black Cat, was about a character (Poe) where he was happily married to a beautiful woman, and they had a cat with a white spot on it. They were all living happily together when Poe snapped and became very drunk. He took the cat that he loved so much, and cut the cats eye out of its socket. His wife soon found out and got very angry with...

Korean War - The Conflict in Korea

Korean War - The Conflict in Korea The Conflict in Korea"Never before has this nation been engaged in mortal combat with a hostile power ...without even formally recognizing a state of war." (MacArthur quoted in West and Phillip, 2001, 195)The Korean War was the civil and military struggle that was fought on the Korean Peninsula between 1950 and 1953. It originated in the division of Korea after the Second World War. The rivalry between the two Koreas drew third party countries into political and ideological disputes, such as the ongoing dispute between the United States of America and the USSR. There were many conflicts between the communists and capitalists during the Cold War era, commonly known as proxy wars, and the most serious incident occurred in Korea. Why did North Korea cross the 38th parallel and invade South Korea? This essay will argue that the primary reason is that; the Soviet-backed North Korean Communist government led by Kim Il Sung attacked the American-backed South Koreans with the aim of unifying the two Koreas and expanding communism.English: Armistice Agreement, DPR KoreaThe Soviets provided military and economic aid to North Korea in the hope of gaining a valuable buffer zone in Asia.In the months following the conclusion of the Second World War, the then unified Korea, split into two - North and South, both taking different steps in ideology which ultimately led to the Korean War. The Soviet Union controlled the North, while the US controlled the South. The North was transformed into a communist state under the control of the Soviet Union and the dictator Kim Il Sung, who was a dedicated communist who had fought for the Red Army during WW2 (Dictatorofthemonth, 2008). This made a recipe for disaster, considering that South Korea was under command by the Americans who were predominantly capitalist and in the focal point of...

Axis II Disorders, Borderline Personality Disorder and Post Traumatic Research Proposal

Axis II Disorders, Borderline Personality Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - Research Proposal Example 3). The American Psychiatric Association(APA) in the DSM-IV Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th Edition) classifies PTSD as one of the anxiety disorders, typically caused by either or several of the three types of traumatic events: Intentional human causes, Unintentional human causes, or Acts of Nature. The presence of the stressor as part of the diagnosis differentiates PTSD from other disorders and makes it a uniquely complex phenomenon. (page number) persistent (more than one month) re-experiencing of the trauma (this category of symptoms is titled â€Å"intrusive memories† in Johnson, 2004), persistent (more than one month) avoidance of trauma-associated stimuli and suppression of general responsiveness (â€Å"avoidance behavior according to Johnson, 2004), persistent (more than one month) symptoms of hyperarousal (or, according to Johnson, 2004, â€Å"hyper-vigilance†), and disruption of psychological and functional equilibrium. Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is defined as â€Å"a highly prevalent, chronic, and debilitating psychiatric problem† associated with the following symptoms: â€Å"a pattern of chaotic and self-defeating interpersonal relationships, emotional labiality, poor impulse control, angry outbursts, frequent suicidality, and self-mutilation† (Levy, 2005, p. 259). Kernberg (2004), who considered the organization of the personality to be crucially determined by affective responses as displayed under conditions of peak affect states, adds to this definition: â€Å"identity diffusion and the †¦ predominance of primitive defensive operations centering on splitting† among the key symptoms of this psychological dysfunction noting that they are accompanied by â€Å"the presence of good reality testing† (p. 99). The researcher meant that although the patient imagined himself living in the paranoid and

Volcanoes and other Igneous Features Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Volcanoes and other Igneous Features - Essay Example The hanging wall slides going up past the footwall. The pushing forces that cause reserve faults are compressional which tries to thrust both the sides together. In a reverse fault, the hanging wall is the part that moves upward. Reverse faults are also occasionally called thrust faults. The term thrust fault is used to classify a fault with plates under the ocean. These kinds of faults can instigate more damage and destruction than strike-slips faults. The massive Sumatra earthquake in 2004, which cracked the biggest fault length of any documented earthquake, is an example of a reverse fault earthquake. The second type of fault is the normal fault, in which the pressure force that causes it is tension. The hanging wall moves downward as the footwall slides past it, going up. The forces that generate normal faults pull both sides apart, or extensional. Although it is termed a normal fault, a normal fault is not the most frequently occurring out of all the other types of faults. The term normal refers to the propensity for the movement of this type of fault to follow the direction of gravity. Examples of a normal fault are The Cabrillo Fault and The Great Rift Valley of Africa. Meanwhile, strike-slip faults have walls that instead of moving up or down move sideways. That is, the slide happens alongside the strike, unlike dip-slip faults, which occur up or down the dip. In these faults, the fault plane is typically vertical, thus, there are no hanging walls and footwalls. The pressure forces causing these faults are horizontal, moving both sides past each other. The San Andreas Fault that runs through California is an example of a strike-slip fault. The majority of mountain ranges on Earth have been formed because of the compression along or within tectonic plates. Massive areas of bedrock disintegrate into blocks by faults. Landforms such as mountains, ridges, hills, valleys and lakes are occasionally created when the

Secret Intelligence Service and National Security Essay Example for Free

Secret Intelligence Service and National Security Essay The revolution in military affairs has given rise to powerful strategic tools such as effects based operations (EBO), mirrored by the concept of intelligence-led policing in law enforcement. Some advocates of intelligence change argue that the role of intelligence be expanded to provide the analytical power-house for ‘whole of government’ decision-making in relation not just to traditional threats, but also to this new range of threats—a kind of EBO for the whole of government. This article argues for a more limited view of intelligence and its role—one that recognises the inherently human, and hence secretive, quality of intelligence as a means for dealing with human-generated competition. A nation’s intelligence apparatus is only one small part of the wider machinery for delivering policy and executive action. Traditionally, the role of intelligence within this wider structure was to counter threat from some kind of human collective opposition—whether a country, a crime group or a terrorist organisation. Intelligence was regarded as a highly specific undertaking to give advantage over that threat in the form of knowledge, insight and predictive capacity. According to this model, advantage was sought over a human threat capable of learning and adapting. Intelligence therefore needed to be secret to deliver an advantage. To protect the ‘intelligence advantage’, countries also developed counter-intelligence organizations such as the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and MI5 and encoding and decoding organizations such as the US National Security Agency and the Australian Defence Signals Directorate. Today there is broad consensus that the threats we confront have expanded beyond the typical military or counter-intelligence threats of the past, especially those of the Cold War. This expanded range of threat falls into a major category and two sub-categories. The major category can be termed ‘non-conventional’ threats, ones that do not fall into the state-on-state category. They include environmental threats, threats of pandemic disease, terrorism and transnational crime. Volume 3 Number 3 (August 2007) 55 Security Challenges This broad category of non-conventional threat can be further divided between those threats of a human agency (terrorism, crime, people smuggling and trafficking) and those of a non-human agency (climate change and other types of environmental threat, natural disasters, pandemic disease). These two sub-categories are, however, closely linked, as demonstrated by Thomas Homer-Dixon and others. 1 They are linked in two ways. First, they are linked in the sense that so-called non-human agency threats such as climate change can give rise to instability. Instability can in turn give rise to many of the human generated conventional and non-conventional threats mentioned above. Second, threats like climate change are also linked with human agency in that they are often caused by human intervention. Changes in human behaviour are therefore necessary to remedy such threats. Even though these two sub-categories of threat are linked, they give rise to very different implications for the role of intelligence. On the one hand, the role of intelligence in countering human-related, nonconventional threat is relatively clear-cut and traditional. It includes counterterrorism, police intelligence, customs intelligence, coast watch intelligence and so on. All of these intelligence activities are characterised by the fact that they involve secret information that would be compromised if it were to leak out, and through its compromise would give the opposition (or threat) an intelligence advantage, or sacrifice the advantage enjoyed by the state. On the other hand, the non-conventional threats such as climate change, natural disasters or pandemic disease, entail no such secret, tightly held intelligence response. On the contrary, to counter such threats, especially in a liberal democracy like Australia, governments need to engage in a public dialogue with experts on the threat, whether those experts are scientists, journalists, medical or other experts operating in the public domain. This dialogue has to be public because the public needs to be taken along with the broad strategic changes required to deal with this type of threat. It also needs to be public and transparent because the scientific method is evidence based and depends on the capacity for peer review. Moreover, it is often difficult to achieve major changes in attitude to such threats in liberal democracies unless there is some kind of ‘tipping point’, either in terms of the concrete effects of the threat (catastrophic drought, for example, in the case of climate change) or public consensus on the science, or both. The concept of threat needs to be actualised right through the 1 Thomas Homer-Dixon and Jessica Blitt (eds), Ecoviolence: Links Among Environment, Population and Security, Lanham, MD, Bowman and Littlefield, 1998, ‘Introduction: A Theoretical Overview’. 56 Volume 3 Number 3 (August 2007) Security Challenges community before radical behavioural change can occur. This is because the political system of liberal democracies is usually geared to the short-term advantage of governments according to the political cycle rather than the long-term advantage of the nation. In order to move beyond populist politics, the whole community needs to be aware of the circumstances and prepared to make sacrifices to deal with the threat. Indeed, it is well known by intelligence specialists that long-term assessments, while they may eventually prove accurate, are almost never acted upon by policy. For example, nearly twenty-five years ago a leading Australian intelligence assessment agency employed a scientist—the only person in the organization working on scientific issues at that time. The scientist predicted that overpopulation, scarcity of water and climate change would result in vast changes for the worse in the Middle East, South East Asia and South Asia, forcing major, economically induced out-migration. Such events, he assessed, would eventually challenge Australia’s security. Today such an assessment would be commonplace. But at the time, no action was taken. Although the mandate of the organization was to predict long-term change, the political system was not equipped to deal with uncertain judgements about what was then considered the ‘deep future’. Nor could a secret intelligence report enable governments to deal with such predictions through debate in the public domain. Further, since threats like climate change constitute threats to the ‘global commons’, by definition they can only be addressed by global cooperation rather than competition. A ‘beggar your neighbour’ approach will only lead the globe deeper into trouble. The implications for intelligence are significant. In terms of threats like climate change, pandemic disease and catastrophic economic change, intelligence ceases to concern itself with achieving an advantage over an enemy or competitor. So the question therefore arises: are secret intelligence agencies appropriate organizations to advise on such threats? Despite the intrinsic problems associated with the use of intelligence to analyse threats of this nature, increasingly, intelligence agencies are being coopted to advise on them. For example, we learn from the Sydney Morning Herald of 10 April 2007 that the Office of National Assessments (ONA) has been commissioned by the government to determine the security implications of climate change. We further learn from the ABC news on 23 May 2006, which describes the ONA Director General being quizzed by the Senate Estimates Committee, that ONA has received multiple taskings of this nature. But the public are prevented from accessing the outcome on the grounds that the ONA is an intelligence organization operating in the secret realm. Volume 3 Number 3 (August 2007) 57 Security Challenges True, the ONA is being asked to look at the security implications. But to do so, it would need to make a sound assessment of the nature and extent of climate change. No doubt the ONA now has a few scientifically trained people working on this and similar issues. But no doubt also, it will be locked in earnest consultation with the Commonwealth Science and Research Organisation (CSIRO), the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) and similar agencies and institutions. And it will also be carefully perusing the reports of the International Panel on Climate Change. In other words, ONA is not, in itself, able to report on this issue. Its role is, rather, to organize, validate and valorize all the noise out in the public domain concerning the issue. The same evidently applies in the US. According to Anne Harrington, Director of the Committee of International Security in the National Academy of Science in Washington, If you get the intelligence community to apply some of its analytical capabilities to this issue [climate change], it could be compelling to whoever 2 is sitting in the White House. But why should the Central Intelligence Agency suddenly have authority on this issue when the world’s leading scientific specialists, who have spent lifetimes working on the issue, have been studiously ignored—and some even silenced—by the White House for the past seven years? All this leads us to ask what, exactly, should be the role of intelligence in the so-called ‘new security environment’? And how should intelligence fit in with other government structures to provide an analytical capacity in these areas? Intelligence and Its Purposes The narrower view of intelligence agencies suggested above—that is, organizations that deal fundamentally with human competition and therefore by nature exist in the secret domain—has not so far been widely accepted. The advent of non-conventional threat has generated considerable discussion in the ranks of those advocating intelligence reform. Various commentators have called for a broadening of the informational base of the traditionally tightly held intelligence agencies and a more ‘whole-ofgovernment’ approach. However, very little of this discussion has drawn the distinction between human-induced and non-human induced threat in relation to the role of intelligence. Nor has it distinguished between longterm threat to society and the ‘global commons’ caused by environmental issues and short-term threat generated by problems such as transnational crime and terrorism. 2 Tom Allard, Mark Forbes and agencies, ‘US braces for global warring’, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 April 2007. 58 Volume 3 Number 3 (August 2007) Security Challenges That is not to say that reform is not necessary, but rather that we need to be very clear what role intelligence should play in dealing with such threats and also where it should fit in to the wider ‘machinery of government’. Nor is it to claim that intelligence has no role at all in these matters: one very important role is to assess the security implications of issues like climate change, in order to prepare the state to meet those potential threats. Such a position does not imply, moreover, that some broader reform of the machinery of government would not be advantageous. But in deciding on the nature of that reform, we need to ensure that the tail of intelligence reform does not wag the dog of machinery of government reform. Nor is it to say that a discussion of intelligence reform should be considered in isolation from a discussion of wider issues to do with the machinery of government. Intelligence obviously has to be fitted in with the machinery of government, and how it fits in is important. Rogers correctly argues that the â€Å"practice of strategic intelligence is at its best when it is in counterpoise with strategic thinking [on the part of decision-makers and policy makers]†. 3 It follows that correct structure in the machinery of government should facilitate the connectivity between intelligence and policy on the one hand, and the consequent practice of strategic thinking in policy development on the other. But the problem here is that those involved with structuring intelligence do not necessarily have a say in the structuring of the machinery of government. And in any case, in a liberal democratic, federal structure such as Australia’s, a considerable proportion of government process is dictated by relatively immutable conventions and constitutions. We should also note that this issue of where intelligence sits in organisational structures is relevant both within a particular organization that uses intelligence, and also within the wider structures of state as supported by intelligence. In one case intelligence is embedded within the agency, in the other, it is embedded within the machinery of government. These two types and uses of intelligence may require very different structural approaches. In the case of the latter (intelligence agencies embedded in the machinery of government) it is the role of intelligence agencies to draw intelligence up and enable it effectively to be used in national policy-making. The structures used to ‘draw intelligence up’ are entirely proper considerations of a paper such as this on intelligence. This issue of the drawing up of intelligence covers the question of how a peak agency such as the ONA can best garner the wide range of intelligence that is required in today’s expanded threat environment. This expanded 3 Kevin Rogers ‘Developments in Australian Strategic Criminal Intelligence’ in Ratcliffe (ed) Strategic Thinking in Criminal Intelligence (Sydney: The Federation Press, 2004), p23. Volume 3 Number 3 (August 2007) 59 Security Challenges environment requires that the entire range of agencies producing intelligence be included—agencies such as the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Customs, Immigration, Coastwatch, Quarantine and the Australian Crime Commission (ACC). Structures to support this expanded role were discussed in an earlier paper by this author. But (alluding to the issues raised above), the expanded role for intelligence does not—or rather should not—include agencies such as the CSIRO, ABARE, the Productivity Commission, Geosciences Australia, the Department of Health, and so on. Unfortunately, this distinction is not always recognised or agreed in discussions about intelligence reform. For example, some have begun to questio n whether concepts like effects based operations (EBO), which in turn have been spawned by the new intelligence environment and new technologies, cannot be applied in a ‘whole-of-government’ way. According to this view, the three-way relationship between intelligence, policy and operations could be seen to apply across the spectrum of government decision-making, thus incorporating all departments of state and agencies in an endeavour to achieve a strategic outcome. Although such a project would be ambitious, ‘whole-of-government’ possibly can and should be made to function in a strategic sense. But it should be recognised that intelligence is not central to the process in the same way as it is central to EBO in a military setting or to intelligence-led policing in law enforcement. Indeed, in the author’s view, intelligence is a highly specific function to do with human competition and human enemies. It is not only inappropriate for wider use, but such use could be positively harmful in terms of the needed outcomes in government decision making in a democratic setting. Certainly, good strategic intelligence should be suggestive of courses of action, but only suggestive in the sense that the knowledge brought forward is suggestive. Intelligence can also comment on implications of actions when specifically asked to do so, but should not go the extra step of recommending options. It is not the role of intelligence to present analytical options to decision-makers in the same way as that is the role of a department of state or ministerial staff. The temptation to use intelligence agencies to support a strategic, ‘whole-ofgovernment’ approach is quite strong, however. Traditionally, intelligence agencies have been very close to the seat of power. Indeed, they were born Sandy Gordon, ‘Re-Shaping Australian Intelligence’, Security Challenges, vol. 1, no. 1 (November 2005), pp. 27-58. Brice Pacey, ‘National Effects-Based Approach: A Policy Discussion Paper’, Working Paper, no. 381, Canberra, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, 2003, passim. Pacey is not, however, arguing for a central role for intelligence in this enterprise. . 4 60 Volume 3 Number 3 (August 2007) Security Challenges of a one-to-one relationship, in which the intelligence chief sat at the leader’s right hand. This was both to provide immediacy and preserve secrecy. The idea of a separation between intelligence and policy is a relatively recent one. The only separation that was once required was that between master and servant. The temptation to use intelligence agencies as analytical determinants of policy is even stronger in situations where there is no real alternative to the analytical powerhouses that some intelligence agencies can bring to bear. Moreover, governments that use intelligence agencies to consider politically sensitive issues like climate change have the added advantage of keeping such consideration outside the public domain and the scrutiny of oppositions. This is because once a matter is within the purview of intelligence, governments can claim they can ‘neither confirm or deny’ questions in respect of them. But as argued above, this is essentially a misuse of intelligence. Intelligence in National Strategic Decision-Making At the moment in Australia, national intelligence exists within a relatively tight framework of the Australian Intelligence Community (AIC), oversighted by a small and powerful group of departments and ministers, particularly Prime Minister and Cabinet (PMC), Defence, Foreign Affairs and AttorneyGeneral’s Department. This tight structure is reinforced by the restricted membership of the National Security Committee of Cabinet (NSCC) and the Secretaries’ Committee on National Security (SCONS), which proffers advice to the NSCC. It is a structure that in its essence was bequeathed by the Cold War, with minor modifications as a result of the Flood Report and other developments. As such, it was designed to deal with state-on-state threat and the threat of spying and political violence rather than the broader range of threats we now confront. Such a tight structure has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are that the intelligence agencies of the AIC are well plugged in to the Canberra policy environment and have a nuanced appreciation of what the government wants to know. Equally, this tight structure allows for rapid, consensus decision-making when needed. Further, the agencies of the AIC, particularly the ONA, represent a collection of individuals capable of high-level strategic thinking. The disadvantages of such a tight system are well known. The 9/11 Commission and Butler report chronicled the distortion of the intelligence process to serve particular policy needs, or at least perceived needs. Given the tight inter-relationship between the government, key departments and intelligence agencies in Australia, such distortions are also possible here. Volume 3 Number 3 (August 2007) 61 Security Challenges The Butler committee report also emphasised the dangers of a filtration system such as the UK Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) standing between the judgements of experts and policy-making bodies. Some of the worst errors evident in the so-called ‘Dirty Dossier’ arose because the expertise in the Defence Intelligence Staff was filtered out or distorted, either as a result of a classic ‘broken telephone’ situation or through pre-judging the policy bias on the part of the JIC. In Australia, the system would be equally vulnerable should the findings of organizations like ABARE and the CSIRO be filtered through a small, nonexpert (in the disciplines involved) organization like the ONA. How suitable is the present Australian structure in light of the changes to the regional, global and technological environments? Before considering this important issue, let us consider the needs of a system designed effectively to operate in the new environment. x As discussed above, such a system would need to delineate a specific role for intelligence, one that relates to human-on-human competition, and that in turn necessitates a secret approach to intelligence. Such a system would also need to be capable of melding the intelligence product with product from other agencies working on issues that do not require secret intelligence and with other open sources. It would need to be flexible. That is, it would need the capacity to draw to a greater or lesser degree on a ‘whole-of-government’ approach for supporting information and judgment, depending on the urgency and nature of the threat and degree of secrecy needed. In other words, it would need to have the administrative means to ‘slide up and down the scale’ between a narrow, decision-making capacity at the top and a broad consensus model below, one that included information and analysis from a range of agencies, not only intelligence agencies but also economic and scientific agencies. In some instances, it would need to shape decisions for the longerterm. Yet it would also need to be capable of making adjustments in light of the evolving evidence. Such decisions would need to be maintained well outside the life span of a typical Australian Government. At times it would need to draw in two, or perhaps even three, levels of government, as already evident in the case of terrorism and pandemic threats such as SARS and ‘Bird Flu’. It would need to be well connected internationally in order to draw on available information and assessment. x x x x 62 Volume 3 Number 3 (August 2007) Security Challenges x Above all, it would need a powerful apex analytical and organisational capacity containing a range of expertise in order to bring together diverse lines of information, identify real problems, set priorities between them and devise viable strategies to deal with those priorities. This role should not be undertaken by existing intelligence agencies, because their role should be confined to the analysis and dissemination of intelligence. To use them in the dual role of policy advice and intelligence analysis and dissemination would be unduly to compromise the intelligence role. How well does the present system meet the needs outlined above? In some respects, quite well. It basically consists of a tight core capable of being expanded to meet a broadening of threat, with the NSCC providing a sort of ‘inner cabinet’, surrounded by a tight supportive framework consisting of key departments, SCONS and the AIC. It is a highly functional arrangement for an environment requiring a high degree of secrecy and relatively rapid decision-making. Where the nature of threat broadens, for example in the case of climate change, the current system is capable of rapid expansion. Members of Cabinet, such as the environment minister, can be brought into the NSCC where necessary. The AFP Commissioner, CEO of Customs and others can also be inducted into the SCONS when necessary. Within PMC, the National Security Division (established in 2003) provides a potential analytical unit that is not confined to intelligence, but that can range over the available government and non-government agencies, given its location on the ‘commanding heights’ of PMC. The present system falls down in a number of respects, however. It is deficient in that certain information deemed intelligence in the narrower sense outlined above is still not fully drawn into the AIC information network and database (AICNET). Nor are the organizations generating this intelligence (such as the AFP, Customs and the ACC) included in the tight deliberative network at the apex of government decision-making, at least not on a day-today basis. These exclusions cause a deficit in knowledge and a nalysis of non-conventional, but human-induced, threat. This deficit was discussed in greater detail in an earlier paper. 6 6 Gordon, op cit. At the time of final preparation of this paper, the government has announced a new system of combining the databases of Customs, Immigration and ASIO. One might well ask why this is only being done now, six years after the events of 9/11? Volume 3 Number 3 (August 2007) 63 Security Challenges x It is not capable of adopting strategic thinking across all levels of government in the federal structure—the so-called ‘EBO of governance’. Because of the requirements of the liberal democratic federal structure, however, this problem may not be amenable to an entirely satisfactory solution. Even given the restraints imposed by our political system, there is inadequate capacity at the top to analyse, identify and give priority order to threat. Although the National Security Division of PMC seems to be set up to undertake this role, according to Pacey, the division is still limited by coordination roles and the need to deal with immediate crises rather than provide long-term analysis. 7 In counter-terrorism, for example, the role of PMC is to provide a multi-government and multi-disciplinary platform. One suspects that this demanding role diminishes its capacity to deliver long-term policy advice. In the absence of an appropriate analytical unit outside the confines of intelligence, there currently seems to be a growing de facto move to recruit the ONA for this top-level analytical role, as discussed above. But, as also argued above, the ‘heavy lifting’ on matters like climate change should not be conducted by a secret intelligence organization at all, but through transparent, evidence-based techniques that are well tried and understood in scientific organizations. Moreover, to place an organization like the ONA at the apex of the policy advice structure is, at least in a de facto sense, to bring it directly into the policy-making apparatus—hitherto considered anathema for an intelligence organization. x x Therefore, if we accept the more limited role for intelligence advocated in this paper, we are left with a potential deficit in terms of an apex analytical unit— the intellectual powerhouse of ‘EBO of governance’. The main candidate for fulfilling such a role seems to be the National Security Division of PMC. And in fact, more and more of the capacity relating to security in areas requiring a multi-disciplinary approach is now located in PMC. This includes terrorism, energy security, pandemic disease, nuclear energy and intelligence. Conclusion and Issues for the Next Government In light of the profound changes in the security environment we have witnessed in recent years, those responsible for shaping the way governments will deal with long-term structural change confront a choice. 7 Pacey, op. cit. , p. 5. 64 Volume 3 Number 3 (August 2007) Security Challenges On the one hand, they can advocate an expansion of the role of intelligence to cover the broader nature of the threat we now confront. In a de facto sense, the current arrangement seems to be drifting toward this kind of arrangement. On the other, they can continue to regard intelligence as an essentially secret function designed to give advantage and deny advantage in terms of human competition, whether of the state-on-state variety or threats from criminal and terrorist groups. In this paper we have argued the latter position. We have done so because of concerns about the nature of intelligence and how it differs from policy analysis, the nature of scientific inquiry and the democratic need for debate and consensus. We have further argued that, while it may be possible to achieve something close to a strategic process on a ‘whole-of-government’ basis, such a process cannot be driven by intelligence; and nor is it correctly placed within a discussion of intelligence and its role. We are of the view that additional analytical capacity required to support ‘EBO of governance’ should exist in the form of an expanded staff specifically advising the NSCC. While the National Security Division of PMC would seem to be the logical candidate for such a role, several changes would be needed to provide the kind of analytical capacity described above. Ideally, a unit of this nature should be administratively removed from the day-to-day, short-term contingencies and coordination functions normally undertaken by a division of PMC. That is not to say that the unit should be entirely administratively removed from PMC. But it might be a statutory body linked in a similar way to the ONA. Or it might be more directly associated with the Cabinet Division. Further, the unit would require an expanded ability to provide advice on a ‘holistic’ basis, with a range of expertise covering scientific, health, intelligence, economic and defence issues. Already the germ of such a capability is contained within National Security Division. The existence of such a support unit would act as a buffer between the Cabinet and intelligence agencies and ensure that the latter continue to function as providers of intelligence rather than strategic advice. It would provide the capacity to meld factual and analytical work from both the intelligence agencies and those agencies outside the AIC, such as the various government scientific and economic agencies and non-government agencies. Its interface with such agencies would be far easier than between intelligence and outside agencies, given the role of intelligence in protecting information from human competition. Volume 3 Number 3 (August 2007) 65 Security Challenges In light of this position, the following issues emerge for the next government: x Australia’s national intelligence database should be expanded more fully to incorporate information and intelligence from agencies outside the AIC, such as the AFP, Customs, Coastwatch and the ACC. Details of how this might be accomplished are set out in an earlier paper by this author. 8 Leaving aside the security aspects of issues like climate change, pandemic disease and radical economic change, government should recognise that such issues in themselves are not conducive to analysis and advice from intelligence agencies. Rather, a ‘whole of government’ analytical and strategic capacity should be incorporated into the advice mechanisms serving the NSCC. This unit should incorporate the work of intelligence agencies, but also range far more broadly across government and non-government agencies. It should posses a ‘holistic’ capability— that is, it should include scientific, health and economic professionals as well as national security experts. It should not be constrained by the day-to-day needs of servicing a busy department like PMC. x Sandy Gordon joined the Australian Public Service in 1977, subsequently working in the Office of National Assessments, AusAID and as Executive Director of the Asian Studies Council and Australian Literacy Council. In 1990 he became a Fellow at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, where he worked on South Asia and the Indian Ocean. In 1997 he was appointed head of intelligence in the AFP, a position he held until 2000. He then became Co-Chair of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Transnational Crime Working Group and a member of the National Expert Advisory Committee on Illicit Drugs. Between 2003 and 2005, he lectured on terrorism and transnational crime at the Australian Defence Force Academy, University of New South Wales. He is currently Associate Professor, Centre for Transnational Crime Prevention, University of Wollongong. [emailprotected] com. au. 8 Gordon, op. cit. 66 Volume 3 Number 3 (August 2007)

West Side Story Essay -- essays research papers

West Side Story Day 4: 2-page essay   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The West Side Story portrays the lives of two different gangs living in America, as well as their beliefs and examples of living a good life. The expectations of what people consider the good life to be may vary on a person’s morals and their dreams of what life is truly about. In this movie, whether or not these characters were good people, lived a good life, or lived in a good society is a very controversial topic.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The characters of the West Side Story were not good people. The two gangs focused their lives on fighting with each other rather than attempting to get along and accept the differences between them. The gangs did not have any hopes or aspirations for their futures and cared about nothing more than being in a gang. Each gang made one mistake after another and never learned from any of them nor did they try to. Doc, an old and wise man, informed the boys with his knowledge and tried to open the eyes of both gangs to the hatred that engulfed them. Everything Doc had to say went through one ear and out the other, because the boys refused to see past their differences. The Jets, one of the gangs, accept what society believes of them and never make any effort to erase their bad history. They listen to what others tell them, agreeing to the excuses for their bad behavior. This is just one example of how the boys do not attempt to make a better life for themselves, or try t...

Chemistry Gcse Coursework Rates of Reaction Essay

Investigating how the concentration of sodium-thiosulphate (STS) and hydrochloric acid (HCL) affects the rate of reaction in the experiment. In addition I am also checking how different variables affect my experiment and also how I can make my test more precise, reliable and accurate. Strategy According to my results, as the concentration of STS solution increased the rate of reaction of my experiment was increased. Also as the concentration of STS solution decreased, the time of reaction increased. In my preliminary test I checked my equipment and I came to a conclusion that my equipment was working well. The preliminary test checked if the experiment actually worked and the things I used were reliable for me to use. The method I used to carry out my experiment was very reliable. I first picked the type of experiment I was going to do. Which consisted of many types or variables such as: changing the temperature, catalyst, surface area and concentration etc. As I had limited time I picked concentration. I also had to choose which type concentration I needed either 1 molar or 2 molars (concentration types). I realised that picking the 1 molar STS solution the rate of reaction was very slow. However in the 2 molar STS solution the rate of reaction was quick. As I was short on time I chose the 2 molar STS solution nevertheless picking this type of concentration could lead me to see more reaction between STS and HCL particles. Therefore allowing me to create an accurate test and allowing me to obtain precise results. Once I decided the concentration I then carried out my experiment. In my preliminary test I carried out my experiment using three beakers which contained of STS, H20 and HCL. In my experiment I applied H20 so that I could see the rate of reaction through a more dilute solution. I applied all of these solutions in to a conical flask. I recorded my results using a timer just to see if the experiment worked. What I predicted in my preliminary test was, as the sodium-thiosulphate concentration increased, the time taken for the solution to turn cloudy took longer. In this experiment I knew when the solution was completely cloudy was until the black cross underneath the flask had disappeared to my sight. Sodium-thiosulphate – used as solution as part of my experiment Hydrochloric Acid – used as solution as part of my experiment Beaker – used for carrying the solution Measuring cylinder – used for measuring the volume of solution Timer – used to measure the time taken for the solution to get cloudy Calculator – used to calculate the average time Conical Flask – used to carry out the experiment Black-cross card- used to see weather or not the solution had turned fully cloudy. Collecting Data In my experiment most of the variables I had were: volume of HCL, volume of STS, concentration of HCL or STS, temperature of room, type of apparatus and many more. The variable I changed was the volume of STS and the volume of water. The variable that I kept the same was the hydrochloric acid which remained at 30ml throughout the whole experiment. By doing so it made my experiment a fair test as I was controlling other variables such as HCL. I kept the other variables the same in order to allow my experiment to be a fair test. Taking temperature into consideration if I did not control this my results would be inaccurate. My experiment was carried out very safely. I made sure that I was wearing my safety goggles whilst I carried out my test. My experiment was placed not in the way of people so that my experiment is not any risk to me or them. In addition the safety rules made my experiment a fair test. Nevertheless regarding my data of results I had were very reliable and precise as I don’t have any outliers and my graph shows that the increase of STS is directly proportional to the time taken for the solution to become cloudy. To make sure that my test went accurately and precisely I made sure that my timing was accurately done not pressing the timer too early or late. This again shows that my test was a fair test. As the range of volumes of STS I had consisted between 12ml to 40ml although if I applied higher concentrations the test would have been more reliable. However I used these concentration types so that I can get a clear picture that STS reacts with HCL in a certain period of time. I repeated these volumes three times and as a result no outliers had become visible to me on my data. This suggested that my experiment was carried out very accurately. As well as in my preliminary test I also repeated the test three times so that I could see the results were accurate and precise. Similarly my real experiment was done very precisely such as calculating or measuring the results or measuring the amount of solution in each beaker etc. I predicted that I would find a wrong result whilst doing my experiment, however my prediction was wrong and the results were very accurate. If by chance I found an outlier I would not count it with the rest of my results and I would repeat that test again. One of my problems I encountered during my experiment was the time taken to press the timer which in my opinion affected my results. Interpreting Data What I notice in my results was that as the concentration of STS kept on increasing the time take for the solution to get cloudy was decreasing. For example when there was 12ml of STS the average time was 140 seconds. Where as when the STS was at 40ml the average time was 32 seconds which shows a very big relationship between the amount of STS and the time taken. This was due to the concentration of the STS solution. In comparison to my preliminary results I can see some similarities between the concentration types of the STS solution. Also I can see on my graph the scatter of results look very accurate and the natural trend of my results shows a negative correlation. What my graph shows is that the percentage of sodium-thiosulphate increased then the time taken for the experiment decreased. So as the sodium-thiosulphate particles increased which meant that there where more particles colliding with the hydrochloric acid particles. This altogether led to a decrease in the time taken for the reaction to happen. Not only is the results reliable but they are easy to understand as for the key which describes the part on the graph such as line of best fit, error bars etc. Therefore the data I obtained looks very reliable. The picture bellow suggests that if the concentration increases the collision rate increases. Also many other variables affect the collision rate to increase such as Catalysts and temperature etc. Evaluation In conclusion I think my experiment was very successful. My data is very reliable and accurate as I have no outliers. I probably did not encounter any outliers because the precision and the accuracy I applied to my investigation during timing or measuring etc. this shows the reliability of my investigation. The results could have been improved by repeating the investigation more times so that I can further improve the reliability of my data. On the other hand I am very confident with my results. On my graph the results show very small error bars which suggests that my results again were very accurate. I was also confidant with the safety of this experiment which mostly when I was pouring out STS and HCL. Therefore this applies to the accuracy of the test. On my table of results I repeated my investigation 3 times to ensure the reliability of my data. Nevertheless I measured the time taken to the nearest second which builds precision in my experiment. I am very confident with the method I used whilst using simple equipment and obtaining fantastic results and my experiment was a success. Overall I am really confident in this investigation, however I can make improvements. Maybe using a better timer to record my results would have granted me more accurate results. I could have also changed the concentration of the HCL solution. This would make my investigation more of a fair test because during my experiment I used a stronger concentration of the STS solution and so it would have been better if I used the stronger HCL solution. Also safety was equally important to the investigation. I can also improve my experiment by using a turbidity sensor which judges how cloudy things are. By using this turbidity sensor would give me more precise and reliable results. In my opinion this experiment was a very good choice as temperature, surface area and catalysts were also different variable choices, however what I noticed at the start of the experiment was that this investigation was easy to layout and the equipment was available. My results were outstanding seen as though I had no outliers or the error bars on my graph are very small. The line of best fit shows a natural trend between the solution and the average time taken. But taken into consideration the time taken to record the results was not 100% accurate. This problem would have been avoided if I used more accurate equipment. Taken as a whole I can see that my experiment went very well. I am very confident with my results and I can feel that my investigation was very precise, accurate and my results were extremely reliable. I also feel very confidant that my investigation went well.

Night World : Black Dawn Chapter 6

Because there's no point. She's as good as dead already.† Jeanne's expression was as hard andclosedas it had been in the beginning. â€Å"But – â€Å" â€Å"Can't you see? She'd slow us down. There's noway she could run without help. And besides that,P.J. says she's blind.† Blind. A new little shock went though Maggie.What would that be like, to be in this situation andsick and blind on top of it? She tugged on the girl's shoulder gently, tryingto see the averted face. But she's beautiful. The girl had smooth skin the color of coffee with cream, delicate features, high cheekbones, perfectlips. Her black hair was pulled into a loose, glossyknot on her neck. Her eyes were shut, long eye lashes tremblingas if she were dreaming. It was more than just the physical features,though. There was a serenity about this girl's face,a gentleness and stillness that was †¦ unique. â€Å"Hey, there,† Maggie said softly. â€Å"Can you hearme? I'm Maggie. What's your name?† The girl's eyelashes fluttered; her lips parted. ToMaggie's surprise, she murmured something. Maggie had to lean down close to catch it. â€Å"Arcadia?† she repeated. It was a strange name; she wasn't sure she'd heard right. The girl seemed to nod, murmuring again. She can hear me, Maggie thought. She canrespond. â€Å"Okay. Can I call you Cady? Listen to me, Cady.†Maggie shook the girl's shoulder slightly. â€Å"We're ina bad place but we're going to try to escape. If we help you out, do you think you can run?† Again, the eyelashes fluttered. Then the eyesopened. Doe eyes, Maggie thought, startled. They wereextraordinarily large and clear, a warm brown withan inner radiance. And they might be blind, butMaggie had the oddest sensation that she had justbeen seen more clearly than ever before in her life. â€Å"I'll try,† Cady murmured. She sounded dazedand in pain, but quietly rational. â€Å"Sometimes I feelstrong for a little while.† She pushed herself up. Maggie had to help her get into a sitting position. She's tall. But she's pretty light†¦and I've gotgood muscles. I can support her. â€Å"What are you doing?†Jeanne said in a voice thatwas not just harsh and impatient but horrified. â€Å"Don't you see? You're only making it worse. You should just have let her sleep.† Maggie glanced up. â€Å"Look. I don't know whatyou're thinking, but we can't leave anybody with them. How would you like to be left behind if itwas you?† Jeanne's face changed. For a moment, she lookedmore like a savage animal than a girl. â€Å"I'd understand,† she snarled. â€Å"Because that's the way it has to be. It's the law of the jungle, here. Only strongpeople survive. The weak ones †¦ .†She shook her head. â€Å"They're better off dead. And the faster youlearn that, the more chance you'll have.† Maggie felt a spurt of horror and anger-and,fear. Because Jeanne clearly knew the most about this place, and Jeanne might be right. They mightall get caught because of one weak person who wouldn't make it anyway†¦. She turned and looked at the lovely face again.Arcadia was Miles's age, eighteen or nineteen. And although she seemed to hear what Jeanne was say ing-she'd turned her face that way-she didn'tspeak or argue. She didn't lose her still gentleness, either. I can't leave her. What if Miles is alive but hurtsomewhere, and somebody won't help him? Maggie shot a glance at P.J. in her baseball cap.She was young-she might be able to take care ofherself, but that was all. â€Å"Look, this isn't your problem,† she finally saidto Jeanne. â€Å"You just help P.J. get away safe, okay?You take care of her, and III be responsible for Cady.† â€Å"You'll be caught with Cady,† Jeanne said flatly.†Don't worry about it.† â€Å"I'm not. And I'm telling you right now; I'm notgoing to help you if you get in trouble.† â€Å"I don't want you to,† Maggie said. She lookedright into Jeanne's angry eyes. â€Å"Really. I don't wantto wreck your chances, okay? But I'm not going toleave her.† Jeanne looked furious for another moment; thenshe shrugged. All the emotion drained from herface as if she were deliberately distancing herself.The bond she and Maggie had shared for that brief moment was severed. She turned, looked through a crack behind her,then turned back. â€Å"Fine,† she said in a dull, indifferent tone. â€Å"Whatever you're going to do, you'd better get ready todo it now. Because the place is coming right up.† â€Å"Ready?† Maggie said. They were all standing-or crouching, actually,since there wasn't room to straighten up-withtheir backs against the walls of the cart. Jeanneand P.J. on one side, Maggie on the other, with Cady in the corner. â€Å"When I say go, you guys jump over here. Thenall of us throw ourselves back that way,† Maggie whispered. Jeanne was peering out of the crack. â€Å"Okay, thisis it,† she said. â€Å"Now.† Maggie said,†Go!† She had been a little worried that P.J. would freeze. But the moment the word was out of Maggie's mouth, Jeanne launched herself across thecart, crashing heavily into her, and P.J. followed. ThecartrockedsurprisinglyhardandMaggieheard the groan of wood. â€Å"Back!† she yelled, and everybody lunged the other way. Maggie hit a solid wall and knew shewould have bruises, but the cart rocked again. â€Å"Come on!† she yelled, and realized that they were all already coming on, throwing themselvesto the other side in perfect sync. It was as if someflocking instinct had taken over and they were all three moving as one, throwing their weight alter nately back and forth. And the cart was responding, grinding to a halt and lurching off balance. It was like one of thoseparty tricks where five or six people each use only two fingers to lift someone on a chair. Their combined force was impressive. But not enough to tip the cart over. It was surprisingly well-balanced. And at any minute, Maggie realized, the people driving it were going to jumpout and put a stop to it. â€Å"Everybody-come on! Really hard! Really hard!†She was yelling as if she were encouraging her soccer team. â€Å"We've got to do it, now.† She launched herself at the other side as the cartbegan to sway that way, jumping as highas shecould, hitting the wallas it reached the farthestpoint of its rock. She could feel the other girlsflinging themselves with her, she could hear Jeanne giving a primal yell as she crashed into the wood. And then there was a splintering sound, amazingly loud, amazingly long. A sort of groaning and shrieking that came from the wood itself, and aneven louder scream of panic that Maggie realizedmust have come from the horses. The whole world was,Run, Maggie thought. Stop looking now. Run. She ran into the forest, dragging Cady with her. They had to find a place to hide – underbrush or something. Maybe they could climb a tree†¦. But one look at Cady and she realized how stupid thatidea was. The smooth skin of the girl's facewas clammy and luminous with sweat, her eyeswere half shut, and her chest was heaving. At least Jeanne and P.J. got away, Maggiethought. Just then there was a crashing behind her, and a voice cursing. Maggie threw another glance backand found herself staring at a man's figure in the mist. A scary man. The mist swirling behind him madehim look eerie, supernatural, but it was more thanthat. He was huge,with shouldersasbroad as a two-by-four, a massive chest, and heavily muscledarms. His waist was surprisingly narrow. His face was cruel. â€Å"Gavin! I've got two of them!† he shouted.Maggie didn't wait to hear more. She took offlike a black-tailed deer. And for a long time after that it was just a nightmare of running and being chased, stopping sometimes when she couldn't hold Cady up anymore, looking for places to hide. At one point, she andCady were pressed together inside a hollow tree,trying desperately to get their breath back withoutmaking a sound, when their pursuers passed right by them. Maggie heard the crunch and squish offootsteps on ferns and started praying. She couldfeel Cady's heart beating hard, shaking them both, she realized that Cady's lips were moving soundlessly. Maybe she's praying, too, Maggie thought,t, andapplied her eye to a crack in the tree. There were two people there, horribly close, justa few feet away. One was the man she'd seen before he was doing something bizarre, somethingthat sent chills up her spine. He was turning his face this way and that with his eyes shut, his head twisting on a surprisingly long and supple neck. As if he's smellingus out, Maggie thought, horrified. Eyes still shut, the man said, â€Å"Do you sense anything?† â€Å"No. I can't feel them at all. And I can't see them,with these trees for cover.† It was a younger manwho spoke, a boy really. He must be Gavin, Maggiethought. Gavin had dark blond hair, a thin nose, a sharp chin. His voice was impatient. â€Å"I can't feel them either,† the big man said flatly,refusing to be hurried. â€Å"And that's strange. Theycan't have gotten too far away. They must beblocking us.† â€Å"I don't care what they're doing,† Gavin said.†We'd better get them back fast. It's not like theywere ordinary slaves. If we don tdeliver that maiden we're dead. You're dead, Bern.† Maiden? Maggie thought. I guess in a placewhere they have slaves it's not weird to talk aboutmaidens. But which girl does he mean? Not me;I'm not important. â€Å"We'll get her back,† Bern was saying. â€Å"We'd better,† Gavin said viciously. â€Å"Or I'm goingto tell her that it was your fault. We were supposedto make sure this didn't happen.† â€Å"It hasn't happened yet,† Bern said. He turned onhis heel and walked into the mist. Gavin staredafter him for a moment, and then followed. Maggie let out her breath. She realized that Cady's lips had stopped moving. â€Å"Let's go,† she whispered, and took off in the opposite direction to the one the men had gone. Then there was a time of endless running andpausing and listening and hiding. The forest was aterrible place. Around them was eerie twilight,made even spookier by the mist that lay in hollowsand crept over fallen trees. Maggie felt as if she were in some awful fairy tale. The only good thingwas that the dampness softened their footsteps,making it hard to track them. But it was so quiet. No ravens, no gray jays. No deer. Just the mist and the trees, going on forever.And then it ended. Maggie and Cady suddenly burst out into an-.other meadow. Maggie gavea frantic glancearound, looking for shelter. Nothing. The mist was thinner here, she could see that there were no trees ahead, only an outcrop of rocks. Maybe we should double back†¦. But the voices were shouting in the forest behind them. Above the rocks was a barren ledge. It lookedlike the end of a path, winding the other way down the mountain. If we could get there, we'd be safe, Maggiethought. We could be around the corner in a minute, and out of sight. Dragging Cady, she headed for the rocks. Theydidn't belong here; they were huge granite boulders deposited by some ancient glacier. Maggie clambered up the side of one easily, then leaned down. â€Å"Give me your hand,† she said rapidly. â€Å"There sa path up above us, but we've got to climb a little.† Cady looked at her. Or-not looked, Maggie supposed. But she turned her face toward Maggie, and once again Maggie had the odd feeling that those blind eyescould somehow see better than most people's. â€Å"You should leave me,† Cady said. â€Å"Don't be stupid,† Maggie said. â€Å"Hurry up, giveme your hand.† Cady shook her head. â€Å"You go,† she said quietly.She seemed completely rational-and absolutely exhausted. She hadn't lost the tranquility whichhad infused her from the beginning, but now itseemed mixed with a gentle resignation. Her fineboned face was drawn with weariness. â€Å"I`ll justslow you down. And if I stay here, you'll have moretime to get away.† â€Å"I'm not going to leave you!† Maggie snapped.†Come on!† Arcadia remained for just a second, her faceturned up to Maggie's, then her clear and luminousbrown eyes filled. Her expression was one of inexpressible tenderness. Then she shook her headslightly and grabbed Maggie's hand-very accurately. Maggie didn't waste. time. She climbed as fastasshe could, pulling Cady, rapping out breathless instructions. But the delay had cost them. She could hear the men getting nearer. And when she reached the far end of the pile ofboulders she saw something that sent shock waves through her system. She was looking up a barren cliff face. There wasno connection from the rocks to the ledge above.And below her, the hillside dropped off steeply, ahundred feet down into a gorge. She'd led Cady right into a trap. There was nowhere else to go.

How to Stir Up Your Essay Writing Motivation

How to Stir Up Your Essay Writing Motivation How to Stir Up Your Essay Writing Motivation Essay writing motivation is invaluable. Finding personal motivation is key to success in any academic environment. Whenever you set out to complete an academic task, you face the risk of demotivation. This simply means you cannot find the inspiration to get to work. Starting on any project is always the most difficult part. Once you start you will find that moving onward is not nearly as challenging. As a college student, there are many things which might get in the way of stirring up the motivation, especially if you are busy with a multitude of other projects. But it is possible and we will show you how: Look Deep into Yourself If you are struggling to get motivated, look into yourself and find out what the issue is. You have control only over your actions and your thoughts, so if there is a problem with someone else or something else in your life, deal with it as far as you are personally able to and then let the rest go. You should not let yourself become demotivated to work simply because of things you cannot control. Get Less Stressed Sometimes the lack of personal motivation stems from stress, and more often than not in college stress can be debilitating for students who are unable to press onward through the storm. But thankfully, you can get back your personal motivation. If you are stressed about a project, break it down into smaller pieces. Crop down the Deadline Set up a deadline working backward from your due date so that you can assign manageable milestones for each day. Reward Yourself Give yourself a break as a reward once you accomplish the halfway point on your milestone list. Embrace the Feeling of Accomplishment Remember that setting smaller goals means you will feel accomplished more easily. That feeling will be motivating enough to get you through the next milestone, and the next one too. Soon enough, your entire project will be completed. This is something you want to apply to each task you face during the course of your academic career. A lack of personal motivation might come from feeling ill, from money problems, from stress, anxiety, or a fight with your friend. Regardless of why you are feeling less motivated, it is up to you to rise up, overcome the reasons for demotivation, and rectify the problem. Whether you are frustrated by a heavy workload, friends, family, or something else in between, you can identify the issue and start working to put it aside. If you are overwhelmed, start organizing your work or setting up a time management schedule. This will help you to feel motivated and accomplished; take that small accomplishment and turn it into something bigger and better. You can regain your motivation if you talk with family about your issues, or tell them that you need some space in order to get work done. Again, whatever the cause of your demotivation, find it out and fix it. Only then can you return to pursuing your academic goals. If you are demotivated in writing your paper feel free to contact our professional custom essay writing service right now!

4 Tips for Stand-Out Carnegie Mellon Essays

4 Tips for Stand-Out Carnegie Mellon Essays SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Carnegie Mellon is ranked among the top 25 universities in the nation, so you’ll need to have an impressive application- with stand-out essays, of course!- in order to get admitted. Applicants must submita total of four Carnegie Mellon essays,three of which comprise the Carnegie Mellon supplement. Keep reading to learn what the current Carnegie Mellon essay prompts are, what topics you could write about, and what qualities make for a great Carnegie Mellon essay. Feature Image: Mathieu Thouvenin/Flickr What Are the Carnegie Mellon Essay Prompts? In addition to thepersonal statement you must write for the Common App (for which you get to select one out of seven possible prompts), Carnegie Mellon requires all applicants to submit three supplemental essays; theseessays make up the Carnegie Mellon Supplement. Applicants are not allowed to submit other supplemental materials with their applications, such as websites, artwork, or resumes. (Note that the only exception to this is ifyou’re applying to a school that requires additional materials, such as the School of Architecture.) Each essay may be up to 300 words long, making them a little shorter than your typical personal statement for college, which is usually around 500-600 words. So what are the Carnegie Mellon essay prompts? Let’s take a look: "When we‘re connected to others, we become better people," said Carnegie Mellon University‘s Randy Pausch, author of The Last Lecture. At Carnegie Mellon you‘ll have the opportunity to collaborate with a diverse community of scholars, artists and innovators. Given the students, faculty, staff and resources that have been available to you as a student, how have you collaborated with others, in or out of the classroom? Or, what lessons have you learned from working with others in the past, that might shape your experience in the future? Most students choose their intended major or area of study based on a passion or inspiration that’s developed over time- what passion or inspiration led you to choose this area of study? Consider your application as a whole. What do you personally want to emphasize about your application for the admission committee’s consideration? Highlight something that’s important to you or something you haven’t had a chance to share. Tell us, don’t show us (no websites please). As you can see, each Carnegie Mellon essay you must write will focus on something different about yourself.Specifically, you must explain the following in your essays: For Essay 1, how you have collaborated with others (on projects) For Essay 2, what you plan to major in and why For Essay 3, something you want to emphasize about yourself How should you write each Carnegie Mellon essay? We give you specific tips next. All Carnegie Mellon Essay Prompts, Analyzed In this section, we’ll go over the three Carnegie Mellon essay prompts in detail, giving you key tips so you can ensure your essays stand out from the rest of the crowd. Carnegie Mellon Essay 1: A Collaborative Experience "When we‘re connected to others, we become better people," said Carnegie Mellon University‘s Randy Pausch, author of The Last Lecture. At Carnegie Mellon you‘ll have the opportunity to collaborate with a diverse community of scholars, artists and innovators. Given the students, faculty, staff and resources that have been available to you as a student, how have you collaborated with others, in or out of the classroom? Or, what lessons have you learned from working with others in the past, that might shape your experience in the future? This first Carnegie Mellon essay prompt might appear complicated, but let’s try to break it down. What is this prompt really asking you to do? The first part of the prompt is explaining Carnegie Mellon’s diversity and ongoing commitment to fostering collaborative environments.Clearly, Carnegie Mellon strongly values teamwork and students' abilities to work well with others in order to produce interesting, successful projects. The second part of the prompt is the question (or rather the questions), which we can divide into three major ideas: Have you ever collaborated with others (such as students, teachers, etc.) on something? What did you learn about yourself from this experience? What kind of role do you think this experience play in your future? The first step to answering this prompt is to come up withone specific experience you want to write about.Here are some examples of potential topics: A group project you did for school, what role you played in that project, and what you gained from the experience. For example, did you delegate roles? Take charge to ensure everything was completed on time? Fix a major problem that almost compromised your project? A team sport you play or used to play. Was there a specific time you led others to success? Or maybe your team struggled to get along and you came up with a solution to get everyone to work together. A volunteer effort you worked on with others.Perhaps you assisted with a winter holiday food drive or raised money for a children's charity. What did this experience teach you about collaboration? A group task you must do for a part-time job. For instance, maybe you work at a video game store and must take turns with your co-workers in stocking new games and helping customers. Has this experience had an effect on how you approach or view teamwork? This is a great essay in which toemphasize your leadership skills if you assumed some sort of leadership role in a group project or activity. If you didn’t take on a leadership role, that’s totally OK- just focus on what role you did play on the team you were part of and explain what this experience taught you about working together to accomplish a shared goal. Another thing to remember is to be as specific as possible.Don’t be afraid to use people’s names and delve into your feelings about the project or activity you did with others. For example, maybe the experience you're writing about was a challenge in the beginning- maybe your group couldn't agree on a science project to do for the school science fair. However, onceyou had everyone write down their project ideas and share them with one another, your group was at last able to decide on a project idea. As a final tip for this essay prompt,be clear about how this experience has affected you and might impact your future (at Carnegie Mellon).Maybe that experience working on the group science project taught you the importance of giving everyone a say in the brainstorming process, so you’ll ensure this happens with any group projects you work on at Carnegie Mellon, too. Carnegie Mellon Essay 2: Your Intended Major Most students choose their intended major or area of study based on a passion or inspiration that’s developed over time- what passion or inspiration led you to choose this area of study? Though it might look a little wordy, all this Carnegie Mellon essay prompt is really asking is, "Why this major?"More specifically,this prompt wants you to relate the intellectual path you've taken by explaining the experiences, people, and/or events that have led you to want to major in this particular field. By far the most effective way to answer this prompt is to tell a compelling story about how you came to be interested in your intended major.Think about the most important moments from your life that showcase your love of what you want to study, and then write about those. For example, say you plan to major in musical composition.You could start off by recounting the first time you tried to write a piece of music on your family’s piano and how hard it was. However, you really enjoyed the process of creating something new. This prompted you toenroll in weekly piano lessons; you also continued to compose piano pieces in your spare time. As a sophomore, you decided to enteryour school’s talent show and ended up winning with a musical piece you’d composed. While you don’t need to stick to chronological order, using this organization ensures your essay is easy to follow and clearly illustrates how you progressed from someone who knew nothing about the field to someone now highly devoted to it. In addition, be sure to focus on not only how you became interested in your major but also how this journey of discovering your passion has affected you and your goals.For example, perhaps you want to major in architecture because you hope to use your skills to encourage eco-friendly living and therefore combat the effects of climate change. It’s also a good idea to mention, explicitly or implicitly, how Carnegie Mellon will help you accomplish your goals in your intended field.You could talk briefly about a particular faculty member in your field whom you hope to work with, an expensive piece of equipment offered at Carnegie Mellon, or specific professional opportunities available to students. Finally, be careful not to exaggerate.Don’t say you suddenly developed an interest in literature after reading The Great Gatsby for English class if you actually loathed the book or had a passion for literature well before then. It’s OK if there wasn't one single moment in your life that made you realize this major was the right one for you.Instead of acting as though some particular incident was more significant than it actually was, just focus on the overall journey you took to get to the point you’re at now- that is, the major you’ve chosen to pursue. What defines you? Carnegie Mellon Essay 3: Something Important About You Consider your application as a whole. What do you personally want to emphasize about your application for the admission committee’s consideration? Highlight something that’s important to you or something you haven’t had a chance to share. Tell us, don’t show us (no websites please). This essay prompt is the most open ended of the three and a great opportunity to really dig into any important attributes of yourself that you feel you didn’t get to write enough about or at all in other parts of your application. Did you write about something in another essay, such as the one you wrote for the Common App, that you wish to talk about more here?Do you want to write about something that’s important to you and that you haven’t had a chance to elaborate on yet? Your topics are pretty endless here- just make sure whatever you write about for this essay is revealing something important that you think the admissions committee should know about you. This could be a specific personality trait- maybe you want to emphasize your leadership skills by talking about your role as team leader at the local youth club- or something about your life that’s had a major impact on how you see yourself and your future. Here are some topics you could write about (but don’t feel limited by these suggestions!): A specific incident that holds importance for you, and what it taught you about your academic and/or professional interests, your goals, your personality, etc. Someone you know who has impacted you in a significant way, and how that person has specifically influenced your interests and/or goals An explanation for something that negatively impacted your grades or another part of your application- for example, perhapsyou spent a lot of time taking care of a sick relative during your sophomore year of high school, which caused your grades to dip slightly A particular interest, passion, hobby, or skill you have, and what you've gained, either intellectually or emotionally, from it Once again,don’t try to write about what you think the CMU admissions committee wants to read- be honest about what’s important to you and why.If you volunteered somewhere a few times but didn’t enjoy it or gain anything valuable from it, do not write about it here! Similarly,don’t be afraid to focus on something seemingly mundane. Just besure you’re using the topic you choose- even if it’s pretty commonplace- to ultimately reveal something important about you. So, no, it'sprobably not a good idea to write about how you spend hours on Instagram every day, since this hobby isn’t really revealing anything significant about you, your goals, or your personal growth. 2 Real Carnegie Mellon Essay Examples + Analysis In order to write a great Carnegie Mellon essay, it helps to see what kinds of essays actually got applicants accepted to this prestigious university. Here, we give youtwo real Carnegie Mellon essay examples we found online and explain what makes them successful. Note: This year’s Carnegie Mellon essay prompts are new, so the following essays are in response to older prompts with different word limits. Despite these differences, being able to see the kinds of stories successful applicants have told should give you a clear sense of what topics, details, and styles might work well for your own Carnegie Mellon admissions essays! Carnegie Mellon Essay Example 1 This first of the two Carnegie Mellon essay examples comes from the college essays website Essays That Worked.The essay is quite long- more than 650 words!- and was written in response to the following (old) supplemental Carnegie Mellon essay prompt: Why Carnegie Mellon University? And now here's the essay: As a child who hid behind her parents and never uttered a word whenever strangers were near, I was no stranger to people deeming me shy. As I got older, however, I found my voice more comfortably through music, through art, and through writing. Playing Mozart’s Violin Concerto in the Kennedy Center, for instance, unleashed a swell of emotions through the intricate art of storytelling with my violin. I was drawn to writing stories and sharing ideas with my peers, starting my editor career in fifth grade. Five years later, I co-founded my high school’s literary magazine, Muses, which provides a platform for all voices while fostering connections among students. I was twelve years old when an HTML class through Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth program introduced me to a modern language of communication: computers and the internet. Falling in love with coding and website design, I utilized my newfound knowledge to design a website for my National History Day project, which won the school competition. In high school, I joined programming club, took the rigorous computer science classes, and designed Muses’ website. This year, I created a conceptual online boutique store, which won first place in Maryland Future Business Leader Association’s E-business competitive event. In the summer of 2016, I interned in an NCI melanoma research lab. This experience completely changed how I viewed the importance of technology to modern communication. We had obtained genotypes from thousands of melanoma patients and controls, but a new question arose: how could we extract the useful information from a massive data file, akin to finding a needle in a haystack? Under the guidance of a bioinformatician, I performed an association test between melanoma associated variants and survival outcome to identify the risk loci that might affect patient survival. Catering to the needs of the scientists, I wrote an app by R code that organizes and manages melanoma genotype information; extracting the information of a particular genotype and its association with melanoma was now a couple clicks away. From this work, I learned how to translate large data into solutions, while using the correct data format and data structure. I realized that modern technology not only helps us commu nicate more efficiently, but also provides a system upon which we can solve global problems. With a strong background in computer science and communications, I hope to incorporate both into a future career of building data systems, conducting research, and consulting for organizations that serve underrepresented citizens. One project I want to tackle is the modification of social media algorithms so that media created by minorities and/or for minorities will appear on users’ radars. The algorithm would analyze the user’s demographics and deliver news relevant to those traits, such as discoveries about Asian health issues showing up on Asian users’ feeds. Carnegie Mellon’s encouragement of interdisciplinary studies under the Information Systems major would allow me to accomplish this and so much more. As someone who attacks calculus and creative writing with equal enthusiasm, IS’ objective of providing students with a broad background in the humanities and sciences is very appealing. As someone who learned to work as a team in a research lab , I believe CMU’s emphasis on collaboration and student innovation would push me to further improve my teamwork and problem-solving skills. In particular, I hope to take advantage of CMU’s Technology Consulting in the Global Community program, receiving guidance from both CMU’s renowned faculty and international technology experts. To that end, the Social and Decision Sciences major, my second choice, would also prepare me to utilize similar decision-making and analysis skills to solve social problems. We live in a world where communication through technology connects communities across the globe, more so than ever before. The future of exploration and innovation requires us to develop efficient ways of communication- we need a combination of scientific expertise and knowledge grounded in the humanities to accurately convey ideas, solve problems, and make the planet a better home for us all. An education at Carnegie Mellon would propel me in this endeavor. Here’s why this Carnegie Mellon essay works so well: It has an honest, compelling narrative that flows well. This applicant begins by explaining how they've always been considered shy yet how, through various endeavors in fields such as writing, communication, and technology, they've managed to transcend this assumption. This story is raw and honest, and it highlights the applicant's most notable accomplishments in an appropriate and relevant manner. It’s extremely specific. The applicant uses concrete details to explain their background and why Carnegie Mellon is an ideal fit for their goals and interests. In addition, the essay makes note of specific qualities of CMU, from its "encouragement of interdisciplinary studies" to its Technology Consulting in the Global Community program, giving us a clear indication of why the applicant is so interested in attending this school. Concrete details are essential for a good Carnegie Mellon essay. Carnegie Mellon Essay Example 2 This second Carnegie Mellon essay example comes from the website Free Test Prep (now called BWS Education Consulting) and is, like the essay above, quite long at about 600 words- that’s double the current word limit. It was written in response to the following (old) Carnegie Mellon essay prompt: Please submit a one-page, single-spaced essay that explains why you have chosen Carnegie Mellon and your particular major(s), department(s) or program(s). This essay should include the reasons why you’ve chosen the major(s), any goals or relevant work plans and any other information you would like us to know. If you are applying to more than one college or program, please mention each college or program you are applying to. Because our admission committees review applicants by college and programs, your essay can impact our final decision. Please do not exceed one page for this essay. Here is the essay: What would be best for me? I spent a lot of time trying to find colleges to apply to and Carnegie Mellon made the list. I believe it would be essential for me to attend a research university. I want to be able to know that what I am working on (research, experiments, etc.) is current, ground-breaking, game-changing. I want to feel that what I’m doing matters. I’ve spent years in elementary and middle school only to discover that my achievements (and no, I don’t only mean my perfect attendance awards) did not grandfather in for the rest of my academic life. High school did not care whether I attended elementary regularly or about any of my pre-secondary school achievements. College applications only want to know what I have done throughout these past four years. I feel that Carnegie Mellon will provide me with an environment that will let me grow and change as the world is growing and changing. What I do here will matter and carry on to whatever graduate school I may be at or whatever career path I choose to tread. In the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, one can choose from several Higher Level (HL) courses to fulfill the three required. My campus chose to make English and History mandatory HL’s. I chose to take HL Psychology as my third. This focused two-year class has revealed my interest in psychology as a lifelong study and future career. I have always been interested in human behaviors, how and why people make their decisions, how both internal and external factors can and do influence everyday life. As this class has progressed, I have found myself enjoying these studies more and more. I have been very successful in this class and want to apply the knowledge and skills I have learned to real-world situations. Psychology HL requires students to complete two experiments, one in our junior year and one in our senior year. Additionally, we complete an Internal Assessment (IA) of the experiment done early senior year. My group had to create an experiment based on three past studies and go through the process of analyzing the validity of our results after performing the experiment on student participants. We tested the effect of researcher expectations on participant performance, using the studies of Rosenthal and Jacobson (1966); Stangor, Carr, and Kiang (1998); and Crisson, Seta, and Seta (1989). The objective of this project was to reflect on what we did, how it was done, and what could have been improved on. Although we had to accept our null hypothesis, that researcher expectations had little or no effect on participant performance, we were able to understand what went askew and know what to correct so we could improve the performance, given the opportunity to do it again. I found performi ng the experiments live exciting; I had to be wary of creating bias or unconsciously affecting others. It made me become more analytical; more understanding of the fact that many factors can influence behavior and more understanding of my own role in affecting others. I’m applying to Carnegie Mellon into the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. I believe that my two years in HL Psychology have prepared me well for whatever is demanded of me. I hope to take advantage of all the programs available at Dietrich College, such as the HSS Academic Advisory Center and HSS Career Connections. I expect to thrive during these next four years, prepared enough to head on into graduate school for a PhD in Psychology. Here’s why this Carnegie Mellon essay works so well: It’s tightly focused. This essay centers on the applicant's desire to study psychology, a topic that is made clear quickly and acts as the focal point throughout the essay. We learn that the applicant initially developed an interest in psychology through their high school's IB Program and that they intend to eventually get a PhD in the field. It goes into significant detail about a specific incident. In order to showcase their passion for psychology, this applicant wrote a detailed description of an experiment they conducted, what they learned from it, and how this knowledge will allow them to succeed at CMU. 4 Tips for a Great Carnegie Mellon Essay As you now know, you’ll need to write three essays for the Carnegie Mellon supplement.Here are some general tips to keep in mind as you begin to work on each Carnegie Mellon essay. #1: Use Highly Specific Details Don’t rely on catch-all phrases to get your points across in your essays. Instead, try to think of real, concrete examples you can use. Specific details will make each Carnegie Mellon essay you write (and your application as a whole!) stand apart from others; it also proves to the admissions committee that you know what kinds of opportunities are available to you at Carnegie Mellon. #2: Avoid Exaggeration- Be Yourself! Many students think they need to write about topics that sound "impressive," but this isn’t actually what admissions committees want.What they really want is to learn more about who you are, what you sound like naturally (on paper, of course), and what you value in life. This is why it’s so important for you to clearly channel your voice in your writing.For example, it’s OK to tell a joke or focus on a lighthearted topic if you would describe yourself as a comedian. Just make sure that, no matter what kind of topic you choose or how you write,you're ultimately making a bigger, important point about yourself- one that ideally emphasizes essential facets of your personality, your experiences, and/or your ambitions. #3: Don’t Repeat Anything You’ve Written for Your Common App Essay Carnegie Mellon requires all applicants to submit the Common App essay in addition to the three essays described above, so you’ll want to ensurethere’s not too much overlap between them. While it’s OK to elaborate on a specific topic or point that you briefly mentioned in another essay, don’t end up writing about the same experience more than once. The point of these essays is to showcase various aspects of your personality and life, and you won’t succeed if all you’re doing is repeating yourself in each Carnegie Mellon essay! Repetition: good for making pretty patterns, bad for college essays. #4: Edit, Polish, and Proofread Our final tip is to take a lot of time to edit, polish, and proofread each Carnegie Mellon essay you write.Look over each essay multiple times to catch typos and other technical errors, such as grammatical problems, and spelling mistakes. You should also be on the lookout for the following problems: Any inconsistencies in style, tone, voice, tense, etc. Any areas that are unclear, vague, or awkwardly worded or placed Any irrelevant details or descriptions that don’t add anything important Once you've edited and changed your essays a few times, give them to someone you trust, such as a teacher, mentor, or parent, and have that person offer feedback on how you could improve your writing. Here are some key questions to ask this person to think about as they edit your essay: Is the topic/theme effective and appropriate for a college essay? Does the essay sound as though you wrote it (and not someone else)? Does the voice sound like your authentic voice? Does the overall organization make sense? Is there a story, and does it flow well? Does the structure successfully get the main point across? Are the details specific and relevant? With all these tips in mind, you should definitely be able to write a great Carnegie Mellon essay! What’s Next? You'll need to use the Common App if you're applying to Carnegie Mellon. Get tips on how to write a great Common App essay with our expert guide. Thinking of applying to other great schools likePrinceton, Brown, or Columbia? Then be sure to check out our guides to learn how you can write amazing essays for these schools' supplements. Learn more about Carnegie Mellon's admission requirements by visiting its school page in our extensive database. Want to write the perfect college application essay? Get professional help from PrepScholar. Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We'll learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges. 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