Sustainable Housing Dissertation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sustainable Housing Dissertation - Essay Example People in the United Kingdom have received many benefits from sustainable housing. The United Kingdom has developed numerous green and sustainable buildings. The paper first elaborates the concept of Green Home or Sustainable housing and the need for switching to sustainable housing is been discussed. The code of sustainable homes focuses on evaluating the homes in terms of the benchmark of Building Research Establishment’s Eco homes. Various types of sustainable constructions are mentioned in the research paper. Furthermore, the paper debates on various energy resources as well as material useful for sustainable constructions. Additionally, a discussion on the proper location for sustainable building, on the basis of different parameters, is included in the paper. There many types of sustainable housing mentioned in the paper. The paper offers specific examples of Eco friendly constructions in United Kingdom. On the basis of this discussion the paper concludes that the well-b eing of future generation should be taken into consideration by the construction industry. Key words: sustainable housing, low or zero carbon houses, eco homes, carbon emission. TABLE OF CONTENT Page No. Abstract....................

3. Describe the traditional definitions of health and illness of the Essay

3. Describe the traditional definitions of health and illness of the White populations - Essay Example This often tends to put the patients in need of immediate medical assistance, at a higher health risk. Furthermore, even though affordable health care providers are indeed located and identified, seeking self-referral for acute illnesses is another major problem. Most of the practitioners do not attend to patients on a self-referral in terms of securing an appointment with them, but instead are required to get one from ones family physician or alternatively seek initial assistance from some other general practitioner till a referral is received. This leads to wastage of time as well as money, which is both highly unacceptable setbacks in case of emergency medical care. The above mentioned hassles may not be bothersome to the economically well off individuals, however in case of an average citizen or a commoner, such setbacks play a huge role in influencing their decision and restricting their access to cheaper, better and effective health care. It has been observed on various occasions that assessing the exact type of illness suffered can be tricky. The situation is much worse in case of an ordinary citizen who has very little or absolutely no knowledge regarding medicine or health care. In such a situation, comprehending the actions of the physicians or nurses, or the tests carried out on them, especially during complex physical examinations becomes all the more difficult. Most of the time the patients have no knowledge or information regarding the tests carried out on them, their significance, or outcome, and even if they ask for a detailed explanation, they are often provided with an answer which includes complex medical jargon, which is practically incomprehensible to the ordinary individual. This may put the patients under tremendous pressure, and lead to awkwardness and unease among them. The health care practitioners must be trained to deal with such situations and communicate with them in a better and comprehensibl e manner, in order to save them

Gender Differences in Computer-Mediated Communications Essay Example for Free

Gender Differences in Computer-Mediated Communications Essay â€Å"On the Internet, no body knows you’re a dog. † Herring (2003, p. 205) mentioned this caption of a cartoon bearing published in the New Yorker (July 1993). May be in this age with the internet evolution it’s hard to know it’s a dog, but what about distinguishing user’s gender in computer-mediated communication (CMC) is it easy or not. This essay tries to shade the light on some of these gender differences in computer-mediated communication (CMC). This essay gives an idea about computer-mediated communication (CMC) modes and the gap between CMC expectations and the fact that there are gender differences in CMC. Then it gives an idea about gender differences in traditional communication followed by exploring gender differences in CMC. First, it’s important to have an idea about CMC different modes. According to Herring (2003, p. 205), â€Å"computer mediated communication (CMC) comprises a variety of interactive socio-technical modes†. She gave some examples of these modes such as: e-mail, discussion lists and newsgroups, chat, MUDs (Multi-User Dimensions) and MOOs (MUD, Object Oriented), IM (Instant Messaging). Dalampan (2006) classifies CMC modes into: synchronous and asynchronous (Figure. 1). The synchronous mode requires communication in real-time. However, the synchronous mode doesn’t require interlocutors to be online at the same time. (p. 59) According to Dalampan (2006), the field of computer-mediated communication (CMC) continues to generate interest from sociolinguists who are concerned with whether the traditional gender differences in face-to-face interaction are carried over into online discourse (p. 59). The problem that all studies tried to investigate is the gap between earlier high expectations for CMC concerning providing an environment that creates equity and the fact that gender differences still existed even in CMC environment. Li (2006) saw that many educators and researchers had high hopes for CMC, believing that it provided more equal access to information and communication and would ultimately lead to greater equity. Also, Hendry (2001, p. 3) mentioned that earlier research in computer-mediated communication (CMC) found that CMC promoted social equity. She explains that this could be due to predictions by many researchers that CMC would democratize communication and mitigate gender differences. Despite these claims that the relative anonymous communication on the Internet would break down traditional gender binaries, research has identified gender differences in computer-mediated discourse, similar to differences observed in spoken discourse. (Herring, 2006) In order to determine whether the language used by males and females in computer-mediated communication (CMC) reveal gender related differences or not, many studies were conducted. However, according to Li (2006) research findings concerning gender differences in CMC are mixed. However, this essay will explore some of these gender differences in CMC in some related studies. Linguists have long recognized gender as a factor that may affect person’s linguistic productions (Baron, 2005, p. 8). â€Å"Sociolinguists have written extensively about stylistic differences they have observed between males and females in spoken and written language† (p. 4). Based on these previous studies, Baron (2005) mentioned some gender linguistic differences such as: females tend to use more politeness indicators than males, whereas males more frequently interrupt woman than vice versa; in general, women tend to use language as a tool for facilitating social interaction, whereas males are more prone to use language for conveying information; on average, women’s speech reflects standard phonological, lexical, and grammatical patterns more than men’s does (p. 8). Computer-mediated communication (CMC) has attracted more and more researchers’ attention as a due to the dramatic increase in the use of the Internet in recent years (Li, 2005, p. 382). According to Baron (2003) linguists and other scientists have been studying CMC for we over a decade (p. 4). The essay now will give some examples for gender differences in CMC. Herring (2006, p. 4) reported a tendency for women to be more polite, supportive, emotionally expressive, and less verbose than men in online public forums. Conversely, men are more likely to insult, challenge, express sarcasm, use profanity, and send long messages. Also, Baron (2003) listed some gender differences such as women tend to use more affective markers, more hedges, more politeness markers, and more tag questions. However, men are likely to use more referential language, more profanity, and fewer personal pronouns than women. (p. 9) A study conducted by Li (2006) showed that gender is a considerable factor in the context of mathematics and sciences learning using CMC. Concerning gender communication patterns, findings show males students are more likely to present their opinions and explanations, but less likely to make specific suggestions; whereas female students tend to ask for a lot of information, but are less likely to provide explanations or opinions. Also, female students tend to initiate conversations, while male students are more likely to enter the dialogue at later stages and respond to previous discussions. Li (2006) presented a meta analysis for some studies in gender differences in CMC. Her analysis provided answers for three main questions: first one, what are gender differences in users’ communication patterns in CMC? Results show that on average, female users had a significantly higher frequency of collaborative instances using CMC than males. Also, females had a significantly higher frequency of challenging others and were more personal oriented. Males, on the other hand, used more authoritative statements. Second one, to what extent do male and female differ in their interaction pattern in CMC? Results indicated that, on average, there was a small but significant gender effect on users’ participation pattern, male users had a significantly higher frequency of posting messages or having longer access to the Internet than female users, also, male users have better access to CMC environments. Third question, who would enjoy CMC environment, males or females? Results showed that, on average, there was a moderate but significant gender effect on users’ enjoyment of CMC. Male users enjoyed more CMC environments than their female counterparts. According to Bernard (1998), males tend to dominate group discussions, even when they are in the minority. They even tend to generate more aggressive and often caustic interactions to the extent that they often marginalize female communications to the point of being excluded from the CM interactions. Savicki and Kelley (2000, p. 817) examined whether men and women communicate differently using CMC. They found that gender composition of the groups is the variable that has the strongest relationship to communication style. Results found that women in small task group developed a significantly different style of communication than men did using CMC with other men. They explained that women in female-only groups were able to overcome the limitations of the text-only format of CMC with self-disclosure, use of â€Å"I† statements and through directly addressing their message to other group members. On the other hand, they found that men in male-only groups ignored the sociomotional aspects of group functioning and were more likely to engage in a collective monologue approach to discussion with the addition of mild flaming. Men in MO groups were less satisfied with the CMC experience and showed lower levels of group development. (p. 817) Herring (2003) (Baron, 2005, p. 15) found that on many-to-many asynchronous CMC mode (listservs and newsgroups), males tended to be more adversarial and to write longer messages than females, whereas females tended to be more supportive in their postings with shorter messages and more apologizes than males. On the other hand on synchronous many-to-many CMC mode (chat and social MUDs and MOOs), males were more aggressive and insulting, whereas female had more aligned and supportive discourse. By studying IM conversations of college students, Baron (2005) concluded that there are significant gender differences in IM conversations. She found that male-male conversations tend to be shorter and have more of a spoken character, while female-female conversations tend to be longer and have more of a written character. Males use more contractions than do females. (p. 14) On the other side, Dalampan (2006) added the context factor or dimension he concluded that males and females language use seems to be influenced more by the context of use than their gender this may be because both males and females in his sample were scholars so they were acting like scholars not as males and females. He also concluded that despite the claims of previous research that females used more linguistic qualifiers, hedges, and personal pronouns, the associations were not found to be strong. (p. 65) Another study conducted by Abdul Kadir and Din (2006) shows that there are no significant gender differences in CMC learning mode orientation and learning style. (p. 50) At the end, however research findings may appear to be mixed but findings showed that computer-mediated communication (CMC) couldn’t eliminate gender differences as expected after all it is another communication environment. These gender differences are somehow similar to gender differences in spoken and written language. Some findings didn’t show significant gender differences this could be due to other factors such as the presence of the instructor in the Dalampan (2006) study. Also, findings were different depending on CMC mode either being synchronous/asynchronous or one-to-one/one-to-many. References Abdul Kadir, R. Din, R. (2006). Computer Mediated Communication: A motivational strategy toward diverse learning style. Journal Pendidikan, 31, pp. 41-51. Retrieved March 16, 2008 from http://pkukmweb. ukm. my/~penerbit/jurnal_pdf/jpend31_03. pdf Baron, N. S. (2003). Instant Messaging by American College Students: A case study in computer-mediated communication. Retrieved March 16, 2008 from http://www. american. edu/tesol/Baron-SeeYouOnlineCorrected64. pdf Baron, N. S. (2005). See You Online: Gender issues in college student use of instant messaging. Retrieved March 16, 2008 from http://www. american. edu/tesol/Baron-SeeYouOnlineCorrected64. pdf Bernard, M. L. (1998). Gender Interaction Differences Using Computer-Mediated Communication: Can the Internet serve as a status equalizer?. Retrieved March 16, 2008 from http://psychology. wichita. edu/mbernard/articles/GenderInternet. html Dalampan, A. E. (2006). Gender Issues in Computer-Mediated Communications. TESL working paper, 4 (2). Retrieved March 16, 2008 from http://web1. hpu. edu/images/GraduateStudies/TESL_WPS/10Dalampan_Gender_a17241. pdf Hendry, J. (2001). E-gender or Agenda: Are women getting what they want?. ANZMAC 2001. Retrieved March 16, 2008 from http://smib. vuw. ac. nz:8081/WWW/ANZMAC2001/anzmac/AUTHORS/pdfs/Hendry. pdf Herring, S. C. Paolillo, I. C. (2006). Gender and Genre Variation in Weblogs. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 10(4). Retrieved March 16, 2008 from http://www. blogninja. com/jslx. pdf Herring, S. C. (2003). Gender and Power in Online Communication. In: J. Holmes and M. Meyerhoff (Eds. ), The Handbook of Language and G

Blue Jeans - American Cultural Artifact Essay Example for Free

Blue Jeans American Cultural Artifact Essay Blue jeans in the last thirty years have attained such world wide popularity that they have come to be considered an American icon. However jeans have not always been held in high stead, but rather have had a troubled history including its beginnings within the working class movement, being considered unsavory by religious leaders and also seen as a rebellious statement about ‘western decadence’. According to the University of Toronto, no other garment has served as an example of status ambivalence and ambiguity than blue jeans in the history of fashion. Throughout this essay I will discuss how jeans have become such a common treasured and even expensive item crossing over class, gender, age, regional, and national lines as reflected by the many changing political views and acceptance from various social classes over the past 50 years. History of Blue Jeans According to the University of Toronto, blue jeans were originally created for the California coal miners in the mid-nineteenth century by the Morris Levi Strauss, a Bavarian immigrant who relocated to New York in 1847. Mr Strauss’ fate and the history of clothing changed forever when in 1872 he received an offer from Jacob Davis, a tailor from Reno Nevada. Mr. Davis, in order to improve the durability of the pants that he made for his clients, had been adding metal rivets to the highly stressed seams. The idea was successful and he wished to patent it, but due to financial constraints required a partner and hence Levi became the financial backer and partner. In 1873, the new partners received a patent for â€Å"an improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings†, and thus the history of blue jeans as we know them began. Blue jeans were originally called â€Å"waist overalls† by Levi Strauss and Co and in the 1920’s these were the most widely used worker’s pants in America. The name of these trousers changed to â€Å"jeans† in the 1960’s when Levi Strauss and Co. recognized that this was what the product was being called by the young, hip teenage boys. The history of waist overalls continues as the history of blue jeans. Jeans is now generally understood to refer to pants made out of a specific type of fabric called denim (Fashion Encyclopedia). Blue Jeans through the decades The popularity of blue jeans spread among working people, such as farmers and the ranchers of the American West. According to the Encyclopedia of Fashion, in the 1930’s jeans became so popular among cowboys that Wrangler formed just to make denim work clothing for those who rode the range. Jeans have tended to follow along in popularity with popular culture as evident with the popular Western films which found adventure and romance in the adventures of the cowboys who rode horses, shot bad guys, and wore blue jeans. Those who wished to imitate the casual, rugged look of the cowboys they saw in films began to wear jeans as casual wear (Fashion Encyclopedia). This effect is not hard to understand, as even today fashion trends are greatly influenced by what highly publicized celebrities choose to wear. During World War II blue jeans became part of the official uniform of the Navy and Coast Guard, and became even more popular when worn as off-duty leisure clothing by many other soldiers. In his book, â€Å"Jeans: A Cultural History of an American Icon†, James Sullivan states that the rise of the popularity of jeans after the WWII can greatly be attributed to the influence of the film and music industry, during the 1950s many young people began to wear jeans when they saw them on rebellious young American film stars such as Marlon Brando and James Dean. By 1950, Levi’s began selling nationally and other brands started emerging, such as Lee Coopers and each with its own particular fit (Sullivan 287). According to the University of Toronto, in the 1960’s and 1970’s jeans were embraced by the nonconformist hippie youth movement, and the history of blue jeans even gets linked to the downfall of communism. Behind the iron curtain, jeans became a symbol of â€Å"western decadence† and individuality and as such were highly sought. Jeans had become extremely popular, but were still mainly worn by working people or the young. In the 1980’s through to the 1990’s jeans were no longer seen as rebellious or a source of individuality, but they were transformed as the term ‘designer jeans’ was discovered. Many designers such as Jordache and Calvin Klein came on board to create expensive jeans and some jeans even reached haute couture status (Fashion Encyclopedia). In the new millennium denim is seen on designer catwalks and there are now hundreds of styles, types and labels available and of various price ranges. Changing Popularity According to Peter Beagle in his book â€Å"American Denim: A New Folk Art†, the popularity of jeans can be attributed to the fact that jeans can be seen to embrace the American democratic values of independence, freedom and equality. Some Americans even consider jeans to be the national uniform. Blue jeans have evolved from a garment associated exclusively with hard work to one associated with leisure. What began as work clothes has transformed into one of the hottest items available on the consumer market today. What was once apparel associated with low culture has undergone a reversal in status. Blue jeans were the first to accomplish a rather revolutionary cultural achievement bringing upper class status to a lower class garment. Conclusion At one point or another throughout history, blue jeans have been the uniform of many groups and are considered the one garment of clothing that has remained hip for over a century and has survived everything from World War II to the eighties. For half a century blue jeans have helped define every youth movement, and every effort of older generations to deny the passing of youth. Fifty years ago America invented the concept of teenager, and it is probably no coincidence that the enduring character of blue jeans, claiming independence and the right to self-expression, can be traced to the same time. Jeans were once seen as clothing for minority groups such as workers, hippies or rebellious youth, but are now embraced by the dominant American culture as a whole.

Role of Exchange Rate Regime in Argentinas 2001 Crisis

Role of Exchange Rate Regime in Argentinas 2001 Crisis Discuss the role of the exchange rate regime in contributing to the 2001 crisis in Argentina. Introduction For much of Argentina’s history, the country has been plagued by a cycle of economic and political instability. Despite the country’s rich resource base, the economy performed badly from the 1950s to the early 1990s. According to the Economist (2002), ‘between 1976 and 1989, income per person shrank by more than 1% per year. Two bouts of hyperinflation, and two banking collapses, destroyed confidence in both the peso and economic policy.’ In order to combat this, in 1991, Menem and his economy minister Domingo Cavallo pegged the Argentine peso one-to-one with the dollar, and this succeeded in halting inflation. However, within ten years this came to be seen as a mistake. Aside from being a means to control inflation, the exchange rate regime can also be seen as Menem deliberately â€Å"tying his hands† in order to avoid taking responsibility for sensitive or unpopular decisions. For example, prices could now rise without wage increases due to currenc y devaluation. Menem had been a very popular president but in the end he left his second term of office in 1999 very much discredited. His government oversaw the development of sharp inequalities and the increasing resentment of the discluded. He lacked any systematic pro-poor or pro-development policies. Menem reduced inflation from a high of about 5000% to 0 and until about 1999, the economy was doing well with stable inflation and stable growth (an average annual rate of 6.1% between 1991 and 1997). From 1999, however, there was serious recession in Argentina and by 2001 just about everything that could be wrong with an economy (aside from inflation) was wrong with the Argentinian economy, and in early 2002 the country defaulted on its $155 billion public debt. The Economist (2002) spoke of the ‘awe-inspiring severity of the economic, financial, political and social collapse’ of Argentina. This essay first examines the theoretical arguments in favour of adopting a pegged exchange rate. Turning to the case of Argentina, the essay then investigates why the exchange rate regime implemented by Menem did not work, how this contributed to the 2001 crisis, and what other factors contributed to the crisis. Pegged exchange rates A government has various different options in terms of exchange rate mechanisms (Fischer 2001). The currency can be allowed to float freely, the exchange rate can be pegged to another currency or group of currencies in a soft way such that the relevant authorities agree to defend the peg but can re-value it if the exchange rate comes under heavy pressure, or it can be pegged hard. Alternatively, some countries have chosen to do away with their national currency altogether and use only the dollar – this is known as full dollarization. Argentina opted for the hard peg – a currency board – in 1991. A currency board maintains a fixed exchange rate with a foreign currency thus subordinating conventional monetary policy objectives to the exchange rate target (a peg with the US dollar, for example, maintains interest rates and inflation very close to those in the United State). For an orthodox currency board, the country’s foreign currency reserves must be suffic ient that all holders of the domestic currency could convert it into the reserve currency. The key advantage of a currency board is that currency stability is no longer an issue because the exchange rate is fixed to a hard currency and the level of inflation is determined in the country of that hard currency. On the other hand, a country which adopts a currency board gives up the ability to manipulate monetary policy according to domestic considerations. Furthermore, the fixed exchange rate will determine the country’s terms of trade. The exchange rate regime in Argentina The dollar peg made exports expensive and imports cheap. This resulted in dollars flowing out of the country, and this combined with a heavy debt burden reduced the reserves of dollars. The government ended up with only a fraction of the reserves necessary to maintain the currency board successfully and this was one of the major reasons for the crisis of 2001. While there were clearly other contributing factors, de la Torre et al (2002) argue that the relationship between the exchange rate regime and the Argentine banking system is key to understanding the crisis, and that an early move from the pegged board to full dollarization could have reduced the magnitude of the economic collapse. ‘The establishment of the currency board in 1991 helped develop the Argentine financial system. Despite its strengths, the financial system remained vulnerable to real exchange rate misalignments and fiscal shocks. After 1998, Argentina fell into a currencygrowth-debt trap. It tried to break aw ay by focusing on growth, but failed to address the currency and debt components of the trap, dramatically raising uncertainty. This unleashed a depositor run, which lead to the abandonment of the currency board’ (de la Torre 2002:abstract). Being tied to the highly valued dollar also hurt the economy as Argentine exports became relatively more expensive. As demand for exports fell, Argentina had to turn to the IMF for emergency loans worth $21.6 billion. What other factors contributed to the crisis? It is important to remember that this was not the first crisis that Argentina has suffered. In order to fully understand the causes of the 2001 crisis, it is necessary to put it into historical perspective. Arguably every president since Peron came to power in 1946 had aggravated the country’s economic, political and social problems with an over-personalised style of leadership characterised by corruption and the use of patronage (financed by printing money) to maintain favour. The historical mismanagement of the economy may have sowed the seeds for the 2001 crisis. In addition various external factors can be seen as trigger causes, contributing to the specific timing of the economic collapse. In the first place, the prices for Argentina’s exports stopped rising. Although the total value of exports did grow from 1999 to 2001, the rate of growth was hampered by protectionism and subsidies in rich countries, and many industries could no longer compete abroad. Argentina’s largest export partner was Brazil, a country which was facing economic difficulties of its own. The negative effect on the Argentine economy was two-fold: Brazilian economic problems and a devaluation not only reduced demand for Argentine exports, but lower wages in Brazil attracted many Argentine manufacturers to move their factories across the border into Brazil. Ollier (2003:184) points to the fragmentation of the politico-institutional system and the extreme dependency of the economy on foreign credit as the major causes of the collapse. The loose fiscal policy of Menem’s second term certainly did nothing to help the economy. While his predecessors had encouraged hyperinflation by printing money to buy political support, Menem now printed bonds to finance the fiscal deficit, and the country’s public debt rose and rose. Conclusion Argentina is not a country which should have any problems: it has a rich resource base and a relatively homogeneous population. Yet Argentina has long suffered various economic problems (as well as political and social problems). High levels of expectation have consistently not been matched by performance. Severe sectoral conflict between the agricultural and industrial sectors has hampered economic development. The existence of three highly organised social groups, each attempting to shape economic policy has also impeded the ability of the government to manage the economy effectively: landowners may have few votes but they have immense economic power; the Argentine union movement is one of the most powerful in the world; and the business sector is highly organised and incorporated into the state apparatus. In addition the political systems and institutions have fostered high levels of corruption with devastating effects on the economy. The federal government is unable to curb the f iscal expenditure of the provincial governments. Neo-liberalism requires effective, independent regulatory mechanisms but in Argentina the legal system is too weak and is incapable of scrutinising audit commissions etc. Furthermore, the presidency is too strong and there are no institutional safeguards to keep the presidency in check. The liberal policies of the 1980s and 1990s stabilised the economy, but at the cost of rising unemployment which, coupled with cuts in welfare provisions, took poverty to new depths. Various external shocks brought about the crisis in 2001 but had the exchange rate regime not been in place, the economy may have been sufficiently flexible to respond to, and recover from, these shocks. The rigidity of the currency board and the corresponding inability of the government to manipulate exchange rate policy or monetary policy is what permitted these shocks to lead to such a severe economic collapse. Bibliography de la Torre, A., Levy Yeyati, E. Schmukler, S. (2002) ‘Argentina’s Financial Crisis: Floating Money, Sinking Banking’ (downloaded from http://www.econ.umn.edu/~tkehoe/classes/Schmukler.pdf on 19 March 2007) Economist (2002) ‘Argentina’s collapse: A decline without parallel’, The Economist, 28 February 2002 (downloaded from www.economist.com on 19 March 2007) Fischer, S. (2001) ‘Distinguished Lecture on Economics in Government: Exchange Rate Regimes: Is the Bipolar View Correct?’, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 15(2) Spring, 2001, pp. 3-24. Ollier, M. (2003) ‘Argentina: Up a Blind Alley Once Again’, Bulletin of Latin American Research, 22(2), pp 170-186

September 11 and Arab-Israeli Peace Essay examples -- Threats to World

The current war on terrorism creates a great opportunity to advance the Arab-Israeli peace process. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, some argued that the most effective way to prevent future attacks would be to address the root causes of terrorism, notably the Palestinian issue. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon indeed became alarmed that in its attempts to build a wide coalition, one that includes as many Arab and Muslim states as possible, the United States might "appease" the Arabs. It would do so by sacrificing Israel's interests. Osama bin Laden, for his part, is using the Palestinian issue for his war against America and the West, to appear as the great savior of the suppressed Palestinians much as Saddam Hussein tried to do a decade ago. "Appeasement" of bin Laden and his associates would be fruitless. These fanatics are not trying to influence the fine details of an Arab-Israeli peace. They planned their horrific actions well before the recent collapse of the peace process. Peace in the Middle East is their great enemy, which will deprive them of a great issue to mobilize money and support for their war against America and Arab regimes such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt. There is no way any peace agreement can satisfy their demands, because they wish Israel not to exist at all. Israeli worries about coalition deals with Arab states behind its back are understandable and such deals have to be avoided. However, a more forceful U.S.engagement in the peace process, which will result in security for Israel and the establishment of a viable Palestinian state alongside it, is a key interest of both the United States and Israel. All the better if such an outcome will "appease" the mode... ...endations about confidence-building measures should be a first step in reviving the peace process one year after it collapsed. To be sure, the assassination of an Israeli cabinet minister by Palestinians militants on Wednesday poses a major threat to this opportunity to promote peace. While restraining Israel, the United States and the international community should take advantage of the current situation to exert very heavy pressure on Arafat to crack down decisively on his radicals so that the terrorism against Israel will finally stop. Suppressing the militants is a prerequisite not only for reviving the peace process but for avoiding a dangerous escalation of violence. Moreover, disarming the radicals is an essential condition for building a viable Palestinian state able to live peacefully alongside Israel.

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Welcome students, parents and faculty. Well, this Senior Breakfast brings us one step closer to the event we've been anxiously awaiting. We've worked long and hard to get to this point. And yet, it seems like so little time has passed since we were middle schoolers, excited to move on with our lives and enter high school. Do you remember how we were in middle school, even as freshmen? Remember what we thought of, what we wanted to get out of life, what we thought high school would be like? Now, think how we've changed. Our perception of what high school was going to be like was definitely a little fantasized. It wasn't really what we expected, though I don't think many of us were disappointed. After everything, our attitudes are a little different -- our minds maybe even a little broader. We have experienced a great deal during our high school years, thanks to the opportunities Brinkman made available to us. The French classes can go on a field trip to a play in Seattle; the band can represent the school at statewide marching competitions, complete with original music and a cou...