Comparing Ethiopia to Other Countries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Comparing Ethiopia to Other Countries - Essay Example â€Å"According to the neo classical growth theory, output growth results from one or more of three factors: increases in labor quantity and quality, increases in capital, and improvements in technology† (Todaro & Smith, 2003 p 164). Thus, the concept of neoclassical growth theory states that growth of an economy stops when the technological change ends. A technological change leads to an increase in saving and investment and there by increases the real GDP per capita. In the context of Ethiopia the theory of neoclassical growth theory has relevance in the respect of underdevelopment. The lack technology has pulled back Ethiopian economy from attaining development. In other words technological backwardness has contributed to the lesser growth of Ethiopia. This is clear from the GDP ratios of the country. Ethiopia’s GDP remained at â€Å"$1000 in 2010† (Human Development Report 2009: M Economy and Inequality, 2009). The Human Development Index indicates that the H DI of Ethiopia were just 0.328 in 2010. In HDI ranking Ethiopia had171st rank† (Human Development Report 2009: M Economy and Inequality, 2009). ... This will increase income, savings and investments, which, in turn, can lead to economic development. â€Å"The role of Lewis theory in Ethiopia is also showing a negative trend. The relevance of the theory in a country is highlighted when there occur a shift in the employment rate from agriculture to industry sector. The data regarding the employment in agriculture and industry of Ethiopia shows that the role of the Lewis theory in the development of a country is more relevant. The employment rate of Ethiopia in the agriculture sector during 2009 was 85% while that of industry was just 5%† (Intelligence Throughout History: Birth of Overhead Reconnaissance, 1861). The Big Push Theory: The Big Push Theory by Paul N. Rosenstein Rodan calls for a big investment from the government’s side, for attaining economic growth in an underdeveloped country. â€Å"The Big Push is a model of how the presence of market failures can lead to a need for a concerted economy wide and proba bly public policy- led effort to get the long process of economic development underway, or to accelerate it† (Todaro & Smith, 2003 p 162). A big investment by the government encourages more growth in that sector, which ultimately leads to the development of that particular sector and, therefore, attracts more investment by individuals and firms. The relevance of big push theory in Ethiopia is seen from the aid given by the government and the UN in various situations including the natural calamities. This big push has helped the Ethiopian economy in improving their HDI rank during past years. Market friendly approach: Market friendly approach was first put forward by World Bank, which gave a much

Practicum Report Essay Example for Free

Practicum Report Essay A. Introduction I. Introduction of University of Technical education Ho Chi Minn City 1. Brief History The University of Technical Education Ho Chi Minn City (UTE) evolved from the Board of Technical Education, first founded on 5 October 1962, renamed Nguyen Truong To Center for Technical Education in Thu Duc on 21 September 1972, and upgraded to Thu Duc College of Education in 1974. On 27 October 1976, the SRV Prime Minister issued a decision to establish Thu Duc University of Technical Education on the basis of Thu Duc College of Education. This was amalgamated with Thu Duc Industrial School in 1984 and further merged with Technical Teacher Training School No 5 in 1991 to become the present University of Technical Education Ho Chi Minh City. At 1 Vo Van Ngan Street, Thu Duc District, only 10 km north-east of the center of Ho Chi Minh City, UTE enjoys the combined advantages of a spacious, comfortable, and peaceful suburban study environment and excellent bus service, with easy access to the city center, the airport, and the surrounding areas. 2. Duties. Responsibilities. The University of Technical Education Ho Chi Minn City assumes the following functions: To train and upgrade technical teachers for technical universities and colleges, professional and vocational schools, and comprehensive middle schools To train technological engineers and technical manpower adaptable to the labor market To promote scientific research and production development in the field of professional education and technological science To expand cooperation relationships with international scientific organizations and technical teacher training institutions. 3. Missions Specialized in training technical teachers at university and post-university levels for the whole country, UTE ought to provide competent trainers directly responsible for training and upgrading qualified manpower for the process of modernization and industrialization of the country and building up a knowledge-based economy. Being the leading technical education training institution in the whole country and having access to new methodologies and innovative teaching aids, UTE ought to train and upgrade technical teachers, sound in theory, skilled in practice, and competent in pedagogy, and to provide skilled manpower, adaptable to production realities and able to meet the ever-increasing needs of society. As a center for research and experimentation in vocational education, UTE ought to be a reliable counseling agency for the government in planning relevant policies and to dependably support other training institutions in improving their teaching methods and equipment. 4. Quality Policy Constantly improve the quality of teaching and learning to offer students the best conditions to develop their creative potentials, broaden their knowledge, and perfect their skills to meet the needs of society. Quality Policy (based on the ISO 9001:2000 standards) 5. Training Programs. An experienced and dynamic state-run university, UTE offers quality technology-oriented training programs in a supportive and student-caring environment UTE, with its 13 Faculties, offers students a large choice of programs and specialties delivered at various levels of training and in different modes of study. The current enrollment amounts to over 25,000 students at 5 different levels Masters degree, Bachelors degree, Associate degree, Technician diploma, and Technical worker certificate -, studying in 2 different training systems Regular and In-service. With the approval of the MoET, UTE has been offering Masters programs since 1592. Based on its traditional fortes in science, engineering and technology, UTE is now offering 7 Masters programs: 1. Machine building technology 2. Mechanics of machinery 3. Operation and maintenance of automobiles and tractors 4. Electrical equipment, network and power stations 5. Technical education science 6. Electronic engineering 7 International vocational education. (In association with Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, FRG) Together with the development of the countrys economy on the way of industrialization and modernization, UTE has expanded its scope of training Together with the development of the countrys economy on the way of industrialization and modernization, UTE has expanded its scope of training to meet the demands of the new socio-economic reality and is now offering 34 Bachelors programs: 1. Electrical and electronic engineering 2. Electronic technology Telecommunications. 3. Computer technology 4. Industrial electricity 5. Electrical automation 6. Mechanical engineering 7. Industrial technology 8. Mechatronics 9. Automation technology 10. Automotive engineering 11. Thermotechnics Refriferation 12. Info mechanics 13. Machine design 14. Home and Industrial civil engineering 15. Home economics 16. Garment technology 17. Food technology 18. Fashion design 19. Printing technology 20. Information technology 22. Accounting 23. Industrial management 24. English for engineering 25. Technical education in Electrical and electronic engineering 26. Technical education in Industrial electricity 27. Technical education in Mechanical engineering 28. Technical education in Industrial technology 29. Technical education in Mechatronics 30. Technical education In Automotive engineering 31. Technical education in Thermotechnics Refrigeration 32. Technical education In Computer technology 33. Technical education in Home and industrial civil engineering 34. Technical education In Electronic technology Telecommunications Associate. programs: 1. Electrical and electronic engineering 2 Industrial electricity 3. Mechanical engineering 4. Automotive engineering 5. Garment technology For the dual purpose of developing human resources for the society and providing a teaching practice environment for our graduates, we arc also actively involved in delivering Technician diploma and Technical worker certificate programs. Technician diploma programs are offered in: 1. Industrial and household electricity 2 Electronic technology 3. Thermotechnics-Refrigeration 4. Garment technology 5. Automotive engineering 6. Operation and maintenance of mechanical equipment 7. Accounting Informatics Technical worker certificate programs are offered in: 1. Industrial and household electricity 2. Electronics 3. Metalworking (Turning, Milling Planning) 4. Automotive repair 5. Refrigeration 6. Industrial Mewing This multi-level, multi-mode and multi-disciplinary training structure allows us to take the initiative in all work from research to applications. It also facilitates the organization of transfer programs, helping students fulfill their lifelong learning dreams in the most economical and effective way. Students can choose either to study on the main campus or in the provinces to suit their conditions. Constantly improve the quality of teaching and learning with this guiding training principle, over the past half century of development, UTE has been training qualified manpower, sound in theory, skilled in practice, and  equipped with a good sense of morality, able to stand on various fronts in lecture halls, on construction sites, in factories, etc to serve the process of industrialization and modernization of the country. Many of our graduates over 400 Master degrees holders, 30,000 engineers, and 2,000 technicians and high-qualified workers -, brought up and trained at UTE, are now holding key positions in various training institutions, business and industry. 6. Facilities In addition to our main 17-ha campus at 1 Vo Van Ngan Street, Thu Duc District, we have another 4. 5-ha campus at 484 Le Van Viet Street, District 9, HCMC. We are planning to establish a new 80-ha campus in Dalat, LamDong Province. UTE provides students with adequate facilities in a creativeness-inducing learning environment, giving each and every individual the opportunities for study and practice. The University library has spacious reading rooms with sufficient publications and periodicals for study and research needs 26,092 titles of books with 299,247 copies, 253 titles of newspapers and magazines, averaging 115 titles of books per one program of study. Library management and services have been computerized and modernized to meet the ever-increasing needs of the readers. Recently, the University has heavily invested in modern practice and experiment equipment. We now have 72 practice workshops (12,708m2) and 20 laboratories (lr908m2), enough for our present training needs. We have installed 1,363 computers; 944 of these are for teaching, learning and research; the remaining 419 ore for management and administration. Our computer systems are regularly upgraded. Our local network operates reliably at 512 Kbps; the ADSL lines enable high-speed networking and Internet access. We have 150 claasrooms with a total area of 9,698m2, each varying in size from 64m2 to 175m2 to suit specific training needs (averaging 6,66m2 per student). New buildings to be constructed include a Central Building with 30,000m2 of floor area, a High Technology Center with over 5,000m2 of floor area, and a Multi-purpose Classroom Building with over 4,000m2 of floor area. For 7 consecutive years 2002 2009, UTEs dormitory has been granted  the title City-level Cultural Unit. For sporting activities, we have a football field (12,600m2), 7 volleyball courts (756m2); a tennis court (240m2); and a sporting event hall (720m2). Staff UTFs faculty and staff currently total 698. Nearly 60% percent of the more than 538 faculty members have postgraduate qualifications. Over 100 lecturers are working towards a Ph. D. or a Masters in the country or abroad. Faculty members actively take part in scientific research and strive to apply innovative teaching methods to activate students. In addition to creating favorable conditions for individual self-improvement, UTE regularly organizes upgrading courses in foreign languages, computing and professional skills for all staff (averaging more than 10 courses per year). 7. Cooperation UTE maintains effective multiform cooperation relationships with domestic as well as international organizations. We have provided on-campus training to thousands of core technical teachers for technical and vocational schools in the provinces across the country. In addition to local training institutions, business and industry, we have also established bilateral ties with various international organizations, the governments of many countries, NGOs and international universities and colleges. Some of our cooperation projects have been highly appreciated-the Viettnam-Germany Center for training vocational teachers and qualified workers funded by the State of Baden- Warttemberg (FRO), the Masters Program delivered in association with Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg and supported by InWent (PRO), the Bachelors Program in Clothing Design Manufacture delivered in association with Heriot-Watt. University (UK), the Bachelors Program in Electrical and Electronic Engineering delivered in association with Sunderland University (UK), the joint-training programs with Siemens, MTZ (FRG), Omron (Japan), Rockwell Automation, Foxconn, General Electric (US), and others. Among our other partners are about 20 other foreign universities, institutes, and international organizations in many countries around the world, including Dresden University (FRG), Trier University (FRG), LENSET de Cachan  (France), Universite de Metz (France). Guangxi Normal University (China), Tianjin University of Technology and Education (China), Sydney University of Technology (Australia), Universite de Liege (Belgium), Universite de Sherbrooke (Canada), DSE DAAD GTZ (FRG), Yeungnam University (South Korea), Chungwoon University (South Korea), Sejong University (South Korea), Hanbat National University (South Korea), Quilin University (China), Kunming University (China), Yuan Ze University (Taiwan), Southern Taiwan University of Technology, National Taiwan Normal University, and others. II. Introduction of faculty of foreign languages The Faculty of Foreign Languages (FFL) is in charge of delivering a Bachelors program in Technical English and teaching General English and ESP to students of all the other faculties in the university. Faculty members total 23, including 1 Ph. D. , 1 Ph. D. candidate, 12 Masters, and 6 premaster students. The teaching staff consists partly of highly experienced lecturers with many years of leaching at UTE and other large national universities and partly of young teachers full of enthusiasm, energy and creativity. FFL encourages and creates favorable conditions for all staff members to upgrade their qualifications either in the country or abroad. Within the common trend of regional and internal integration, English has assumed an ever more important role in a multilingual and multicultural working environment. The Technical English program delivered by FFL aims to provide the labor market with white collar workers, knowledgeable about ESP, and able to work in industrial parks, export-processing zones, companies, factories and plants, as well as for foreign offloces, international and non-governmental organizations, where English is required. FFL actively engages in compiling and adapting ESP textbooks to suit the students requirements, as well as the Universitys and employers expectations. FFL has been seeking assistance from domestic counterparts as well as support in information and teaching materials from universities in English-speaking countries, gradually expanding cooperation relationships and railing the teaching and learning quality, FFL is getting ready to offer new programs in Japanese, Korean and Chinese to meet the ever-Increasing needs in these languages. III. The aim, the learning outcomes and the pro-requisites of TEFL teaching practicum course 1. The aim Applying the understanding aspects of foreign language learners, methods, and approaches in language teaching and learning, observation, execution of lesson in a specific context, to classroom management. Special emphasis is given to the planning and execution of technically-related lessons. It also provides students a further opportunity to reflect upon their work as professionals. 2. The learning outcomes. Upon successful completion of teaching practlcum, students should be able to: Gain insight into EFL students motlvatlon, frustration, and strategles in learning English as a foreign language. Recognize how theories of language learning and teaching underlie classroom practice, implicitly and explicitly, based on knowledge gained through 8-week observation and leashing practice. Begin to develop a personal view of what constitutes effective EFL teaching. Gain confidence in ability to devise and carry out EFL classroom learning activities by engaging in observation, teaching and tutoring in a diversely educational setting. 3. The pre-requisites Successful completion of Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing 4, Phonetics and Phonology, Morphology and Syntax, Semantics, British Literature, British Civilization, TEFL Methodology, and Media in ELT. B. Content I. Teaching practicum planning Date (Feb 6th Mar 31st)Content Week 1 (Feb 6th -Feb 11th)1. Confirm the practicing place; receive specific plan, purpose and requirements, rules and regulations of teaching practicum course. 2. Divide teaching practice groups, meet instructors and members in groups, assign tasks for each person. Week 2 (Feb 13 -Feb 18)1. Receive teaching schedule. 2. Make plan for teaching practicum in 7 weeks 3. Get acquainted with students. 4. Observe instructors class on Tuesday, Feb. 14th , 2012 (Period 1-4, Room A2. 202) and Thursday Feb. 16th. 2012 (Period 1- 4, Room E1. 505) 5. Make the first lesson plan (Unit 7) Week 3 (Feb, 20 -Feb. 25)? Feb. 20th. 2012 1. Observe others classes of Thu Hue, Cam Lien, Yen Nhi, Ngoc (February morning 20lh 2012) 2. Observe Mr. Luans class (February afternoon 20th 2012) Period 1-4 ? Feb. 21st. 2012 3. Observe the first teaching of Ha Word Power (Air travel file + Word group) Period 1 Room A2. 202. 4. Observe the first teaching of Tuy? n Focus on Function (Making arrangements) Period 2 – Room A2. 202. 5. Give the first lesson plan for instructor and receive the feedback. 6. Correct the first lesson plan.  ¦ Feb. 23rd, 2012 7. Observe the second teaching of Ha Word Power (Air travel file + Word group) Period 1 Room E1 . 505. 8. Observe the second teaching of Tuyen Focus on Function (Making arrangements) Period 2 – Room E1. 505. 9. Receive the feedback from instructor and correct the first lesson plan again Week 4 (Feb. 27 -Mar. 03)Feb. 28th. 2012 1. Observe Huongs class, Changing lives on 27th February 2012, Period 1 2. Observe Vys class, Changing lives on 27th February 2012, Period 2 3. Observe Bao class, Changing lives on 27th February, Period 3 4. Observe To Lins class. Changing lives on 27th February 2010, Period 7 5. Observe To Liens class, Changing lives on 27th February 2010, Period 8  ¦ Feb. 28th. 2012 6. Observe the first teaching of Duy- Grammar point -Past and present perfect simple, period 1, Room A2. 202. 7. Observe the first teaching of Tr? ng- Word Power (Trends file + The language of graphs) -Period 2- A2. 202. 8. , Get the feedback from instructor and groups members to correct some mistakes in the second lesson plan for a better teaching period on March 1st, 2012. 9. Give the second lesson plan for instructor and receive the feedback.  ¦ March 1st. 2012 10. Observe the second teaching of Duy- Grammar point Past and present perfect simple, period 1, Room El. 505. 11. Observe the second teaching of Tr? ng Word Power (Trends file + The language of graphs) Period 2 -Room El . 505. 12. Get the feedback from instructor and groups members. 13. Prepare the third lesson plan (Unit 10) Week 5 (Mar. 5 -Mar. 10) ¦ March 5th. 2012 1. Observe Hieus class, unit Crossing cultures. Period 7 2. Observe To Linhs class, unit Crossing cultures, Period 8 3. Observe Cuongs class, unit Crossing cultures, Period 9  ¦ March 6th. 2012 4. Observe the first teaching of Kim Language Focus (Modal Verbs) Period 1 Room A2. 202. 5. Observe my instructors class, period 2-3, Room A2. 202.  ¦ March 8th. 2012 6. Observe the second teaching of Kim – Language Focus (Modal Verbs) Period 1 Room E1. 505. 7. Observe the third leaching of Trong Focus on Function (Invitation)- Period 2 Room E1. 505. 8. Research mora information to make lesson plan for third teaching. Week 6 (Mar. 12-Mar. 17) ¦ March 12th. 2011 1. Observe the third teaching of Duy- Word Power -Business headlines file -f Word family, period 2, Room A4. 103. 2. Observe the third teaching of Tuyen Language Focus, (Present perfect simple and continuous) -Period 1 Room A4. 103. 3. Observe the third teaching practice of Ha Focus on Functions (Offers and requests) Period 3 Room A4 103 4. Give the feedback for groups members to correct some mistakes in the last lesson plan for a better teaching period on March 15th . 2012 5. Give the third lesson plait for instructor and get feedback from her to correct it. ?March 13th 2012 6. Observe the fourth teaching of Duy-Word Power -Business headlines file Word family, period 2, Room A2. 202 7. Observe the fourth teaching practice of Tuyen Language Focus (Present perfect simple and continuous) Period 1- Room A2. 202. 8. Observe the fourth teaching practiceof Ha Focus on functions (Offers and requests) Period 3- Room A2. 202 9. Give the feedback lor groups members. Week 7 (Mar. 19 Mar. 24)? March 9th, 2012 1 Observe the third teaching practice of Kim Language Focus (Prepositions) Period 2 Room A4. 101. 2 Observe the fourth teaching practice of Tr? ng -Focus on Function (Invitation) Period 3 Room A4. 103. 3. Get the feedback from instructor and members in Week 8 (Mar. 26-Mar. 31)group, correct the third lesson plan and prepare for the fourth one.  ¦ March 20th. 2012 4. Observe the fourth teaching practice of Kim -Language Focus (Prepositions) Period 2 Room A2. 202. 5. Create a game and small party to say goodbye to students. II. Teaching schedule NO. DATEPLACECONTENTNOTE. 1Tuesday, February 28th, 2012Room A2. 202Unit 7: Changing Lives Part: Focus on function Opinions and suggestions; agreeing and disagreeingGeneral English 3, 51 students, pre-intermediate level. 2Thursday, February 1st, 2012Room E1 . 505Unit 7: Changing Lives Part: Focus on function Opinions and suggestions; agreeing and disagreeingGeneral English 3, 31 students, pre-intermediate level. 3Monday, March 20th, 2012Room A4. 103Unit 10: Will our planet survive? Part: Language focus Future with will; the first conditional; if and whenGeneral English 3, 51 students, pre-intermediate level. 4Tuesday, March 13th. 2012Room A2. 202Unit 10: Will our planet survive? Part: Language focus Future with will; the first conditional; if and whenGeneral English 3, 45 students, pre-intermediate level. III. Teaching materials 1. Lesson plan 2. Textbook 3. Student teaching evaluation form 4. Student teaching observation form C. Conclusion I. Reflection paper Through 8-week observation and teaching practice, I recognised that the teaching practicum give me useful first-hand experience and practical knowledge of teaching and learning English as a Foreign Language. Actually, this course helped me to apply the theory, methods and approaching, ets in real class. Moreover, it is important to know my own strengths and weaknesses. It also provided me a further opportunity to reflect upon my works as professionals. All these things are valuable experience for me to strive for the career in the future. First of all, I made a clear and specific plan for the course. So, I spent 47 periods in observation. Thanks to this, I had a chance to get familier with my students, such as ability, level, gender, interest, number of students, asmostphere and facilities in class. When I observered I noted down who are active and passive, equipments need to bo used. Then, I considered lesson plans with which activities I could apply in the class, which methods are suitable, what strategies were used to support my teaching and students learning. Secondly, I apprehened a lot of things from the intructors and other student teachers, I understood that there are three significant things which teachers should focus when teaching: interaction between teacher and student, professional responsibilties and knowledge and time mangement I found that although the knowledge is good, teaching method is not good. Ultimately, the job is not successful. Thirdly, when I observed I learnt a lot of useful things from the failure and success of my friends. The common mistake is the instructions were ineffective, which made students confused. However, I learnt a nice way from my peer to give intructions such as giving short sentences, using familiar words as well as emphasizing the important words. After the teacher gives intructions for an activity, he or she could make sure sudents have been about what to do in the activities by asking them some questions. Until he or she has check students understanding about it or her instructions, starts the activity. Furthermore, many student teachers did not give any samples or examples when they asked students to make conversation about some topics, so it was hard for students to know how they should do. In time management, most of apprentices lacked of it. Specifically, we could not divide reasonable time. Obviously, teacher talked more than students talked. Thus, my instructor suggested, let students practice more. I really appreciated her advice, it helped me improve a lot after that. The worse thing was we often went into overtime. It was the reason made us lose our self-control. Besides, few student teachers were not confident about their own ability and knowledge. I realized that it could have equally disastrous consequences. Hence, I reminded me look for more information or documents relating to the lesson. The speciality is know thoroughly the grammar points which we teach because if we are not clear what we say, how can we make others understand deeply? The benifits of utilizing multimedia in teaching are countless. Student teachers carefully considered to take full advantage of them. And so did I. Yet, we completely seemed to be bad at blackboard presentation. According to a lecturer, she suggested that the blackboard should be divided into two or three parts at the start of the lesson. For example: Additional example or explanationLesson Unit: Title (different color) (page no. ) I. Language focus grammar structure -use/ meaningAdditional example OrOr Students exercise or feed backexplantion This is a layout with 3 parts. If the board is small, we can divide as follow. Lesson Unit: Title (different color) (page no. ) I. Language focus grammar structure -use/meaning -etcAdditional example or explanation. Even something seems trifling like the way erase the board, gesture, manners and behaviour, etc. I was also instructed by my consultant. Thanks to her consideration, I made my own pedagogic style. Consequently, my instructor praise me tor this. Over two months, I look back what I got and what I did not. I evaluated my strength and weakness. My strong point is confidence. Thus, I could manage class well, designed task effective, engage all students in learning. The weak point was my pronunciation. Though I tried to correct it later classes, I still pronounced wrong. So, I made a plan for practice pronounce more to be better. Additionally, I learnt how to solve the problems that can occur in the classes, predict them problems and anticipate the solutions. That was very important for an effective teaching class. In short, base on knowledge gained through 2-month observation and teaching practice, the help of instructors and peers, I gained confidence in ability to devise and cary out EFL classroom learning activities. I applied the theory in school in real environment. In fact, the invaluable lessons and experience underlie for career in the future, I had a straight judge myself.

College Graduation Essay Example for Free

College Graduation Essay I had been waiting for this morning to come for four years. In a few hours it came and went, but it was an important time in my life. Graduation day was the end of one life and the beginning of a new life with different problems, worries and joys. While walking in the theater, I had seen hundreds of parents, grandparents, children, and even alumni students’. My family was there, excited and cheering for me because I had finally made it. I was backstage getting ready for the walk on stage and thinking that I had finally reached the one day that would end college life and start a new life in the workplace. The time came for all the graduates to line up and start heading on stage to begin the ceremony. The walk to the podium seemed to take forever, as if we were waiting in line at Cedar Point. I just wanted to get my college degree, and get the day over with, but we had to wait for the band to start playing as well as the Valedictorians and Salutatorians to begin. I was excited and scared at the same time because I knew that once I walked across that stage everything would be different. The sound of the cheering, the stately music, the solemn atmosphere, and the joy of the students all play a part in creating this spectacle. It had represented the culmination of years of our hard work, careful planning, and studiousness. We must say goodbye to the fun and excitement of college days and enter the real world. As graduates, we’re reminded of duty to uphold and the finest traditions of the university and act in a spirit of honesty and integrity. During the graduation exercise I became bored. Crazy thoughts started roaming through my head while sitting there. Such as; â€Å"oh my god† I hope I don’t trip and fall in these six inch black heels, I’m nervous; hundredths of people will be staring as I walk across that stage. Just before I knew it; Good morning staff, parents, and fellow graduates. This year, you seniors have come a long way, Ms. Pierce, our vice president at the university, droned into the microphone. Ms. Pierce is a tall, thick, brown-skinned woman, who Ive always known throughout my four years there at the university. As she went on babbling about how proud she was, and how hard wed worked, all I could think about was how I had longed for this moment to finally come, I was still somewhat startled and amazed by this brilliant event. This eventually brought small joyful tears to my eyes. Just a few days earlier, I had been counting down the days to graduation. Only two days left before graduation, and four weeks and four days left until summer! I shouted out as I began marking off the May days in my calendar. Waiting to be called up then all of a sudden I heard: Tamar Perryman, with a loud applause and smiling faces of excitement. Walking up to get my degree as well as shaking the vice presidents hand with a firm grip. Finally I had overcome my fear and accepted my bachelor’s degree! About an hour later, our graduating class threw our caps up. As a sign of excitement, It was now time to party afterwards; I and some of my other classmates went from one friend party to the next following the commencement. When walking towards the backyard I had smelled barbeque from the grill, and boy did it smelled delicious. My stomach started to growl and I knew that was a sign to hurry and smash. I also noticed the beautiful dandelions off by the side of the garage. Picnics tables were set with decorated signs that read â€Å"Congrats you’ve made it† balloons were pinned up, soft music was playing from the garage Adults were gathered around taking pictures with friends and family. Several parents’ and grandparents’ attend to share their excitement as well, gifts were brought from office supplies to home house ware appliances. By midnight I was extremely tired from what a long day, I knew today would be a memory that I would never forget about while lying in my queen size sleigh bed. Before dozing off to sleep, I started thinking about what hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities I was going to apply to first thing in the morning.

Cultural Dependency Theory

Cultural Dependency Theory Introduction: There are many reasons to examine the current situation of the world, where a lot of countries are underdeveloped or are developing, and a small portion of the world, which are the Western countries, are relatively rich and developed and rule over the under-developed and developing countries. In this essay, I discuss the Modernisation theory and the Cultural Dependency Theory, how they came into existence and what are their problems. Also, the contributions made by all the countries and trying to develop have not really helped them to a great extent. In this essay, I have also explained why this division is still present and the dependency of the Third World countries on the Western countries. At the end of the essay, I have given the pros and cons of both the theories. International Communication Theory: The Third world countries were highly inferred for development because of the cold war which divided the countries into Eastern countries and western countries. This lasted for more than 50 years. Most of the Third World Nations wanted to avoid the group of countries which had common interest in politics and they wanted to concentrate on getting their population out of the control of the other legal or political restrictions. Third world nations got their name during the cold war which is said to be given by Alfred Sauvy in 1952, who was the French Economic historian. The world was divided between the capitalist first world which was led by the United States, and the communist second world, which was headed by Moscow (Thussu, 2006). The Term Third world was given to the nations who were not included in above mentioned groups (Brandt Commission, 1981; South Commission, 1990) and Asia, Latin America and Africa started a movement of National Liberation. This changed the entire political maps of the world (Thussu, 2006). By 1960, a lot of countries were free from the colonial powers and these new independent states got an opportunity to develop because of International Communication (Thussu, 2006). The New International Economic Order (NIEO) was approved by the UN General Assembly and the UNCTAD, because, the Non-Aligned Movement started demanding fairness in the economy. NIEO had an independent and an egalitarian economic order which was grounded on the principles of equality and was government free which included that, all the members of the country had equal rights to participate in the development process (Thussu, 2006 cit. Hamelink, 1979: 145). The NIEO provided a structure which helped to understand the international relations between the countries based on North-South division. At the same time, New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) also had to be taken into consideration in order to link it with the economic order. The Non-Aligned countries demanded changes in the global economic and informational systems. Juan Somavia, 1976, observed that, The transnational Power structure supported the transnational communication system to develop. This is basically a tool for transmitting values and lifestyles to Third World Countries which provokes the consumption and society which is necessary to the transnational system as a whole. (Somavia, 1976: 16-17) There were a lot of times when the Third World or the developing countries took technical and financial help from the Western or the developed countries as they wanted to use the communication technologies for development. One of the main areas where the developing countries took support from the developed ones was the satellite television. Television was considered to be one of the most powerful and influential medium. It could be used for a lot of purposes like bringing change in the attitudes of the traditional people, educational purposes and modernise societies. Cultural Dependency Theory: Cultural Dependency Theory was emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s in Latin America. It was a criticism of the modernisation theory. This theory was developed in Latin America under the supervision of Raul Prebisch who was the director of United Nations Economic Commission. The main interest in research of Instituto Lationoamericano de Estudios (ILET) which was established in 1976 in Mexico City was to study the Transnational media business, which gave a force to criticise the modernisation theory.(Thussu, 2006) It became necessary to analyse international communication. So dependency theorists directed towards getting a substitute theoretical account (Baran, 1957; Gunder Frank, 1969; Amin 1976). Transnational Communication (TNCs) which was dominated by the North, have control over the governments and over developing countries by setting their personal rules and regulations on global trade which includes dominating labour, market, production and resources. These countries were developing in such a way that the developed countries keep dominating over the developing countries and maintained the need for the developing countries to be dependent on the developed countries (Thussu, 2006). Due to the neo-colonial relationship in which the TNCs controlled the exchange and structure of global markets, the inequality in the south had become wider and deeper whereas the TNCs had strengthened their control over the worlds natural and human resources (Baran, 1957; Mattlelart, 1979, Thussu, 2006). Dependency theorists tried to show the link between modernisation and policies of transnational media (Thussu, 2006). Herbert Schillers idea of cultural imperialism is the most clearly identified one (1969-92). Schiller analysed the links between the transnational business and the dominant states. (Thussu, 2006) The main argument of Schiller was about how the US based transnational corporations weaken the cultural liberty of the developing countries and force them to be dependent on both hardware and software of communication and media. The definition of cultural imperialism by Schiller was, the sum of the process by which a society is brought into the modern world system and how its dominating stratum is attracted, pressured, forced and sometimes bribed into shaping social institutions to correspond to or even to promote, the values and structures of the dominant centre of the system (Schiller, 1976: 9) Schiller argued that new emergent American empire was taking over the European colonial empires like, British, French and Dutch. This was based on the economic, military and informational power. According to him, the US based TNCs are continuously growing and are starting to dominate the global economy. US business and military organisations have got a leading role in the development and control of a new, electronic based global communication system due to the support that economic growth has received from the communication knowledge (Thussu, 2006). USA had the most effective surveillance system as it controlled global satellite communications which was the crucial element in the cold war years (Thussu, 2006). Due to this the dependence on the US increased for communication Technology and investment (Schiller, 1969). All the western goods and services along with the American way of life were promoted when the media programs were imported from the USA which required sponsorship to run . This was a threat to the Southern traditional cultures (Schiller, 1969). He argued in his book, which was republished in 1992 that the domination over the worlds communication of the US increased after the UNESCO failed and the cold war got over. The domination of US over the economy had started decreasing as the TNCs started acquiring important role in international relations changing the cultural imperialism of US into Transnational corporate cultural domination (Schiller, 1992: 39) The other works which show the dominance of the US using cultural imperialism is clearly seen in the Hollywoods relationship with the European movie market (Guback, 1996); US exports television shows to Latin America and influences it greatly (Wells, 1972); Disney comic also have contributed in promoting capitalist values (Dorfan and Mattelart, 1975) and advertising industry has played a role of an ideological instrument (Ewen, 1976; Mattelart, 1991) (cited in Thussu, 2006: 48-49). Oliver Boyd-Barrett noticed one of the most prominent aspects of dependency in international communication in the 1970s as media imperialism. This examines the information and media inequalities between the nations. It analyses the domination of the US over the international media (Boyd-Barrett, 1977). Modernisation Theory: The concept of modernity has become a very general statement. It represents the experience of the western culture on the others. All the global cultures are disapproved to modernity and the concept of cultural imperialism critically evaluates the conclusions in the critique of modernity (Tomlinson, 1991). A philosophical notion in the years after the war was that international communication is an important part in order to modernise and develop the Third world nations. The notion was that international communication can be used to spread modernity among the newly independent countries and that it will help to transform the traditional societies of the developing countries. It was also used to transfer the hypothetical description of economic and political entity of the developed countries.   Modernisation theory is an attempt to provide a support for the development policies which was created by the western countries. These development policies were supported towards the Third world countries which were still getting out of the rule of the stronger countries and were getting independent. This theory is just an attempt to explain the economic under-development of the Third world nations by focusing on the development which can be done with a process which is determined by the societys internal features. Vincent Mosco points out: The Modernisation Theory was meant to reconstruct the international division of labour amalgamating the non-Western world into the emerging international structural hierarchy (1996: 121). Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Simmel and Tonnies and others came up with their own theories keeping in mind the dramatic changes in the European societies due to the modern world. There was an agreement between the theorists which was based on the political spectrum and all of them thought that the world had more than one possible meaning in the capacity to deliver fulfilment and happiness. Modernity was associated with enlightenment and was suppose to free the people from the control of another person or any legal or political restrictions. But modernity failed to deliver complete freedom. Modernisation includes economic scientific and technical development that is very closely related to the capitalist market. But Bermans, in his book All that is solid melts into air talks about the notion of self development. The main aim of his book is to explain that cultural condition of modernity stood still and lapsed during the twentieth century. He also aims to fix the serious problem which was closely linked to the possibilities of dangers along with the enthusiasts and enemies of the modern life which was found during the nineteenth century. (Berman, 1983) According to the Frankfurt School theorists the main issue of modernity was the injustices by the capitalist system or social intolerance by a bigot or of the ideology of possessive individualism (Tomlinson, 1991). Horkheimer and Adorno critiqued the modernisation theory by comparing it with the so called rational institutions. The main task of modernisation theory is to set people free, but the history and past politics show that this theory failed to do their task effectively (Tomlinson, 1991). According the Berman, people living in the twentieth century do not know how to live a modern life and missed of broken the connection between the culture and lives. He describes modernisation as a set of historical processes due to which the experience of modernity evolves. He claims that modernity is one of the most difficult, anxious and uncertain place to live, but ultimately it is the world where people live and people can master the cultures of the place where they live. At one point of time, he mentions about the Third World nations and discusses that the governments of those countries are trying to protect their people from modernisation which is being imposed by the West. He says that if the culture which is being imposed by the west is really not used by the Third World nations then will they consume so much energy? The governments of the Third world nations call the West as aliens. But they do not understand the fact that they are their own peoples energies, desires and cr itical spirit. When these governments say that they do not want the Western Countries to impose any kind of cultures in their nations, they are trying to say that, they have managed to keep the political and spiritual influence on the people. Also they do not realise that once the people become more aware of things going around them, modernist spirit will be one of the first things to be adapted by the people. The governments of the Third World Nations are fighting against each other in order to keep their tradition alive among the people, which had no result at the end. He also says that Third world governments think that they are being enforced upon by the western countries by accumulating a lot of capital or are being forced to break into parts. He suggests that people have to adapt to a place in which nothing can be taken for granted. Media is just one form of medium which helps to spread the experience of modernity. But according to another theorist, Peter Berger, 1974, modernisation is not a one way journey which rectifies human self understanding. He explains this concept with the help of a story of a visitor who visited the villages of Tanzania. People living in these villages belonged to different Tribes but are now living very co-operatively. This was one of the communities which were transferring from tradition to modernity. The visitor asked someone; whether they still practice their personal tribal dances. The answer was, yes, and it is done once or twice a year on any special occasion. He also added that this is done so that it becomes easy for the people to understand one another better. (Berger, 1974).It is clearly seen that there is a process of political-economic which is enforced upon the Third world nations as they are very closely connected with their traditions and colonialism which has become a history for the Western nations and still are in a position to dominate over the Thi rd world nations (Tomlinson, 1991). Castoriadis, 1985, mentions that the West will continue to conquer the world even if it was going to be destroyed materially (Castoriadis, 1985). So when Berman says that the Third World cultures need to be modernised, he means not just in terms of objective structures of the capitalist markets, urbanism, but also in terms of a narrative with a clear beginning keeping in mind the cultures of the west. His view of modernity means that it is full of forces like the dynamic and development forces which means that the Western cultures are being imposed on the Third world nations in order to modernise and develop their countries. But Castoriadis has a different opinion. He accepts individuals have their own priorities and have their personal institutional forces towards modernity. The kind of institutions we develop in order to become powerful does not come from external forces of humanity but it comes from within through the social imaginary (Tomlinson, 1991). Habermass view on modernity is completely different from that of Bermans. Habermas thinks that modernity is a way of making someone poor culturally, whereas Berman thinks that there are forces which drive people towards modernity (Tomlinson, 1991). Cultural Dependency Theory v/s Modernisation Theory: The gap between the ruling and the working class increased which combined with regular recession to create dissatisfaction among the working class (McPhail, 2009). In order to fight for their rights, working class started forming groups such as unions (McPhail, 2009). Stevenson criticised this theory by using the dependency literature which was notable for an absence of clear definitions of fundamental terms like imperialism and an almost total lack of empirical evidence to support the arguments (Stevenson, 1988: 38). A lot of other theorists argued that it did not consider the media form and the role played by the audience (Thussu, 2006). Those involved in a cultural studies approach to the analysis of international communication argued that, like other cultural artefacts, media texts could be polysemic and were amenable to different interpretations by audiences who were not merely passive consumers, but active participants in the process of negotiating meaning (Fiske, 1987, cited in Thussu, 2006: 49). It was also noticed by the theorists that cultural imperialism thesis did not consider issues as how global media texts worked in national contexts, ignoring local patterns of media consumption (Thussu, 2006: 49). Cultural Dependency theory also failed to explain the effects of the cultural products distributed by the US around the world. Also, cultural imperialism failed to give attention to the complexities of the Third World cultures and assumed a hypodermic-needle model (Sreberny-Mohammadi, 1991, 1997). It was also argued that western scholars did not have deep knowledge about the Third world cultures. They had extremely limited knowledge and not being aware of diversities such as race, gender, class, religion and ethnicity. Very few systematic studies have been conducted by the southern scholars on cultural and ideological effects on western media on the audiences of the south (Thussu, 2006).One of the major issues of this theory was that it did not consider the role of the national elites, especially elites living in the developing countries (Thussu, 2006). Modernisation Theory had promised to deliver the social and economic change which failed miserably (McPhail, 2009). Therefore, three other theories were developed which looked at the development communication which were totally different and directed in a different way, which were, Cultural imperialism, Participatory communication and Entertainment-Education Theory (McPhail, 2009). Social and cultural theory does not agree with the core of modernity. Also this theory was criticised to a great degree because of its ideological basis, lack of clarity and it is a subject which is ignorant to many and it fails to exercise good judgement. This theory ignores the external determinants of underdevelopment like the exploitation of the Third world countries when they were being ruled by the Western countries. This theory ignores these factors and assumes that the Third World nations are progressing independently and are becoming modern on their own. In order for the Third world nations to progress they needed help from the Western countries as there was a lot of poverty, inadequate resources, lack of social provisions and political instability in the Third world nations. Modernisation Theory ignores all the disapprovals and expression whose meaning cannot be determined from its context which was addressed by the classical theorists (Tomlinson, 1991). In this theory, the traditional cultures, media habits, language, religion of the developing countries were not included, and were totally ridiculed and ignored (McPhail, 2009). One of the clear criticisms on this theory is that the American policy was to commit to free flow the information to the world and all the nations fell into the trap and gave immense support to this statement which was assumed to be true (McPhail, 2009). Scholars from the developing countries argued that the developing countries were not the beneficiaries of this theory, which was meant for them, but the western countries who created it were only getting benefitted out of this theory as it helped the companies to grow and establish in the Third world and could find their new consumers of their products (Thussu, 2009). A lot of people in the Third World remained poor and under developed, even after adapting themselves to modernisation theory and by the mid 70s, they started talking about the passing of the dominant paradigm (Rogers, 1976: 3).Slowly, when the US realised that the Southern nations are looking at them with suspicion, they stopped their free flow of information and became the one at the receiving end which at the end became a one way flow of information (McPhail, 2009). This matter was going to be brought up in the debate of the UNESCO in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but the US president, Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher withdrew from UNESCO in order to protest against NWICO. Different opinions resulted in creating two streams, one of which was the outline of cultural imperialism by Herbert Schiller and the NWICO debate and fallout. This resulted in making a particular culture homogenous, that is the American popular culture, which is been mass produced (McPhail, 2009). Due to these reasons, the theorists of modernisation theory realised that this theory needs to be redeveloped (Thussu, 2006). The revised modernisation theory gives greater notice to the local elites (Thussu, 2006). But even in the revised version, western technology remains important. According to Thussu, 2006, Modernisation requires advanced telecommunication and computer infrastructure, preferably through the efficient private corporations, thus integrating the South into a globalized information economy (Thussu, 2006: 46) Despite of all the criticism done on dependency theory, cultural imperialism thesis have been extremely influential in international communication (Tomlinson, 1991; Thompson, 1995). This particular thesis was extremely important and needed during the heated argument during the NWICO debates in UNESCO and other international fora in the 1970s (Thussu, 2006). While criticising this thesis, John Thompson, 1995, concluded that this research is probably the only systematic and moderately plausible attempt, to think about the globalisation of communication and its impact on the modern world (Thompson, 1995: 173). Theorists, who defend this theory, argued that the critics of this theory often take the notion which is totally not in reference to the theory and it is completely abstract (Mattelart and Mattelart, 1998). There were a lot of changes in the debate of international communication which reflected the language of privatisation and liberalisation in the 1990s, media and cultural dependency theories became less eminent but their relevance was very visible all around (Golding and Harris, 1997; Thussu, 1998; Hackett and Zhao, 2005 and Hamm and Smandych, 2005 cited in Thussu, 2006: 50) Boyd-Barrett rightly argues that media imperialism has not included variables, such as gender, media relations and ethnic issues, so it is still a very useful theory to understand of what he terms the colonisation of communication space (Boyd-Barrett. 1998: 157). References: 1. Amin, S. (1976) Accumulation on a world scale: a critique of the theory of underdevelopment. New York: Monthly Review Press. 2. Baran, P. (1957) The political economy of growth. New York: Monthly Review Press. 3. Berman. M (1983) All that is solid melts into air: the experience of modernity. London, verso, pp. 15 4. Boyd-Barrett, O. (1977) Media Imperialism: towards an international framework for the analysis of media systems. In J.Curran, M. Gurevitch and J. Woolacott (eds), Mass Communication and society. London: Edward Arnold. 5. Boyd-Barrett, O. (1998) Media imperialism which was developed again. In. D. Thussu (ed.), Electronic empires. London: Arnold. 6. Brandt Commission (1981) North-South: a programme for survival. The report of the Independent Commission on International Development Issues under the chairmanship of Willi Brandt, London: Pan Books. 7. Castoriadis, C. (1985) Reflections on rationality and development, thesis eleven, no. 10/11, pp. 21. 8. Golding, P. And Harris, P. (eds) (1997) The political economy of the media 2 vols, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. 9. Gunder Frank, A. (1969) Capitalism and underdevelopment in Latin America. New York. Monthly Review Press. 10. Hackett, R. A and Zhao, Y. (eds) (2005) Democratizing global media: one world, many struggles. Lanham, MD: Rowman Littlefield. 11. Mattelart, A. (1979) Multinational corporations and the control of culture. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press. 12. Mattelart, A. and Mattelart, M. (1998) Theories of communication: a short introduction. London: Sage. 13. McPhail, T. (2009) Development Communication Reframing the role of the media. London. Blackwell Publishing. 14. Mosco, V. (1996) The political economy of communication: rethinking and renewal. London: Sage. 15. Berger, P. (1974) Pyramids of sacrifice, Harmondsworth, Allen lane, pp. 197-8 16. Rogers, E. (1976) Communication and DevelopmentL the passing of a dominant paradigm. Communication Research, 3. 17. Schiller, H. (1969) Mass Communication and American Empire. New York: Augustus M. Kelley.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Second revised and updated edition published by Westview Press in 1992. 18. Schiller, H. (1976) Communication and cultural domination. New York: International Arts and sciences press, 9. 19. Somavia, J. (1976) The Transnational Power Structure and International Information. Development Dialogue, 2:   16-17. 20. South Commission (1990) The challenge of South: the report of the South Commission. Geneva: the South Centre. 21. Sreberny-Mohammadi, A. (1991) The global and the local in international communication. In J. Curran and M. Gurevitch (eds), Mass Media and Society. London: Edward Arnold. 22. Sreberny-Mohammadi, A. (1997) The many cultural phases of imperialism. In P. Golding and P. Harris (eds), Beyond cultural imperialism. London: Sage. 23. Stevenson, R. (1988) Communication, development and the Third World: the global politics of information. London: Longman. 38. 24. Thussu, D. K (ed.) (1998) Electronic empires: global media and local resistance. London: Arnold. 25. Thussu, D. K (2006) International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. 26. Thussu, D. K (2006) Approaches to theorizing international communication. In: International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. Pp. 46. 27. Thussu, D. K (2006) Approaches to theorizing international communication. In: International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. Pp. 48-49. 28. Thussu, D. K (2006) Approaches to theorizing international communication. In: International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. Pp. 49. 29. Thussu, D. K (2006) Approaches to theorizing international communication. In: International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. Pp. 50. 30. Thompson, J. (1995) The media and modernity: a social theory of the media. Cambridge: Polity. 31. Tomlinson, J. (1991) Cultural Imperialism- a critical introduction. Great Britain. Pinter Publishers Ltd.

Baseball History :: essays research papers

Baseball is North America's oldest and most storied professional team sport. Certainly, there have been numerous moments which are still remembered by baseball fans of all ages many years after they happened. We all remember moments like "The Catch" in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series and Bill Mazeroski's World Series winning home run in 1960. There are also the players who transcend the ages like Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Jackie Robinson. These players continue live on in the hearts and minds of the nation long after their playing days are over. The great players, teams and memorable moments of the 20th century are well remembered, but somewhat less known are those of the 19th century that helped to shape the game and provide a foundation for the great national pasttime that would develop in the current century. For the great Yankee teams of the 20's, 30's 40's and 50's, there are the St. Louis Browns of the American Association and Chicago White Stockings and Boston Red Stockings of the National League. The Ty Cobbs and Walter Johnsons of the game had their match in Cap Anson, Dan Brouthers and Amos Rusie. Colourful characters like Casey Stengel and Reggie Jackson had their equals in Arlie Latham and Mike "King" Kelly. It has been said that the more things change, the more they stay the same. This is certainly the case in baseball. The franchise shifts, player movements and salary issues of today are certainly not new, although the first half of the 20th century would give that impression. Since the National League began in 1876, at least one major league franchise either moved to a new city, moved to a new league, or has folded every year until 1893. Player movement of the early major leagues occurred quite frequently. Constant player movment and contract jumpers - players who left their old team for a better offer, often in the middle of the season - prompted Boston owner Arthur Soden to devise the reserve clause in 1879.

death penalty :: essays research papers

When turning on the television, radio, or simply opening the local newspaper, one is bombarded with news of arrests, murders, homicides, and other such tragedies. There are many things that I don't agree with in today's society but, out of all the wrongdoing that takes place, I believe murder including the death penalty is the worst of them. I am strongly against the death penalty because it violates God's rules, costs the tax payers too much money, the possible "wrongly accused," and it is cruel and unusual punishment. How often do these concepts creep into the public's mind when it hears of our `fair, trusty' government taking away someone's breathing rights? I do not support having the death penalty because it violates religious beliefs. Many religions, such as my own, Catholicism, follow the rules that God sent to use through the Ten Commandments. One of the most important of those ten states, "Thou shall not kill." If you are executing an individual, that clearly violates this commandment. Murdering any person, no matter what the individual has been convicted of, is a mortal sin. Therefore, God will punish anyone who aids in executing people. I believe that religious beliefs, such as the Ten Commandments, are the corner stone for our law system. Executing someone should not be made an exception to God's rule. My next reason against the death penalty is that taxpayers waste too much of their money with the death penalty. The average death penalty case is appealed three times. This means that the taxpayers must pay for the same trial to be heard three times. This is a very expensive practice. Also, the average convicted murder spends 12 years on death row. If supporters of the death penalty are positive enough to kill the person for committing the crime, shouldn't the supporters be confident enough to execute them in a timely manner? Why spend the taxpayer's money keeping these inmates in jail for so long? Taxpayer's money should go to better society, not to accommodate the prisoners that are going to end up dead. There's always the chance of the innocent being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Independent Reading Project: Creating a Museum of Living Literature Ess

Independent Reading Project: Creating a Museum of Living Literature 1. Problem Statement In preparation for the Advanced Placement Literature and Composition exam, high school students must read many kinds of literature during the year-long course to familiarize themselves with different time periods, movements, philosophies, and genres. Advanced Placement students must learn to think critically, and be ready to find, analyze, and express literary connections through written analysis. The biggest challenge of teaching and learning Advanced Placement English is the difficulty covering the entire scope of literature in two semesters. Twentieth century literature often gets neglected. The pace of the curriculum can also limit the creativity of lesson planning and evaluation. Many teachers rely heavily on lecture, discussion, and a traditional analysis paper. To add some variety to traditional teaching and learning strategies, a teacher might design an independent project where students work in teams and focus collaboratively on a single novel from the twentieth century. Each team would read a selected book and work together to create artifacts that would be shared with the other teams. Through collaborative work and sharing, students would be able to grasp the concepts and connections of several works of literature. The project outlined in section 5 will target twentieth century literature. 2. Target Audience The target audience is two sections of the Advanced Placement English Class. There are approximately 24 students in each class. These students are in their final year of high school at St. Pius X Catholic High School. The classes are coed, ranging in ages between 17-18 years old. The... ...to create. 7. Works Cited Blumenfeld, P. C., Solloway, E., Marx, R. W., Krajcik, J. S., Guzdial, M., & Palincsar, A. (1991). Motivating project‑based learning: Sustaining the doing, supporting the learning. Educational Psychologist, 26(3 & 4), 369‑398. Available October 17, 2002, from Professional Development Collection database: http://search.epnet.com Turner, J., & Paris, S. G. (1995). How literacy tasks influence childrenï ¿ ½s motivation for literacy. The Reading Teacher, 48(8), 662‑673. Available October 17, 2002, from Professional Database Collection database: http://search.epnet.com/ Wang, S.‑K., & Han, S. (2001). Six cï ¿ ½s of motivation. In M. Orey (Ed.), Learning, teaching, & technology. Retrieved September 15, 2002, from University of Georgia, Dept. of Instructional Technology Web site: http://itstudio.coe.uga.edu/ebook/6csmotivation.htm