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NJPSA/FEA Board of Directors
2020-21 NJPSA Board of Directors
Textbox Section
Robin L. Moore, Ed.D. - President
Principal, Roland Rogers Elementary School
Term: 2010 - 2021
Dr. Robin Moore has been an educator for over 20 years. She has elementary and secondary educational experience as a teacher, supervisor, assistant principal and principal. Currently, she serves the principal of Roland Rogers Elementary School in Galloway Township. Dr. Moore has served as the president of The Atlantic-Cape Principals' & Supervisors' Association since 2013. She is an active council member of the NJ Principals' & Supervisors' Association and has memberships with ASCD and NAESP. Dr. Moore holds a BA in Business Administration from Stockton College, and Masters and Doctorate degrees in Educational Administration & Educational Leadership from Rowan University. She holds New Jersey Education certifications in Teacher of the Handicapped and Principal / Supervisor. She also holds Certificates of Eligibility in School Business Administration and School Administration. In recent years, she has received numerous awards which includes; 2003 NAACP Service Award; 2003 Military Order of the Purple Heart Distinguished Service Award, Stockton's Black Faculty & Staff's 2005 Distinguished Alumni Award; 2006 Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Purpose Driven Life Award, and 2010 Educational Leadership Hope Image Award, 2013 New Mt. Calvary Women of the Year Award and she was a recipient of the Atlantic County Church School & BTU 2014 Dedication Award .
Paul Christopher, Ed.D. - President-Elect
Principal, Monmouth County VSD-Class Academy, Monmouth Co. Vo-Tech and Shore Regional Board of Education Vice President
Paul Christopher has served as Principal of Monmouth County Vocational School District since 1988, having previously served as Principal of Brielle Elementary School. He earned a bachelor of science from the University of Scranton, a master's in education from Monmouth University, and an Ed.D. in Leadership/Administration from Nova Southeastern University. He was the recipient of the MET Life/NJPSA/NASSP Principal of Year, the Golden Lamp Award for Excellence in Educational Leadership, and the Visionary Leadership Award from NJPSA. He is President of Monmouth/Ocean County Secondary Principals Association, Vice President of the Shore Regional High School Board of Education, and Vice President of the Monmouth County School Boars Association. Paul is also a member of the Legislative Committee, Standards and Assessment Committee, and Strategic Planning Committee of NJSBA. He is Assembly Delegate for Monmouth County School Boards Association and Member of Monmouth County School Boards Association.
Arlene Rogo, Ed.D. - Vice President
Principal, Neptune Middle School
Dr. Arlene M. Rogo is beginning her 37th year as a New Jersey Educator. She is currently Principal of Neptune Middle School. During her 25 years in Neptune, she also served as principal of Summerfield Elementary School for 16 years and Principal of Midtown Community Elementary School for 6 years. In 2012, MCES, a Platinum LEED School became one of the first Green Ribbon Schools designated by the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Rogo began her career in Bergen County as a teacher in middle school and high school, and then gained administrative experience as a high school grade administrator, a middle school department chairperson and K-8 curriculum supervisor, and as a K-8 vice principal. Dr. Rogo is also a coordinator of the Monmouth County Elementary/Middle School Administrators Association.
Karen Bingert - Immediate Past President
Principal, Hillsborough High School
Karen Bingert has been the principal of Hillsborough High School in Somerset County since 2006. She began her career in education in 1992 as an English teacher at Asbury Park High School, next teaching middle and high school English in the Southern Regional School District. She joined the Hillsborough Township School District in 1999 as a vice principal at the high school before moving into her current position. A longstanding Council Member at NJPSA, Ms. Bingert is an active member of the Elementary/Middle/Secondary and Nominations committees. She co-chaired the NJPSA/NJASA Joint Committee on Educator Effectiveness and Graduation Requirements/Assessment. In the past she has served as the president of the Somerset County High School Principals Association and currently acts as the association's liaison to NJPSA, and she is the Vice President of the Hillsborough Principals and Supervisors Association. Ms. Bingert earned her BA in English/Secondary Education from Trenton State College and her MA in Administration, Supervision, and Curriculum Planning from Georgian Court University.
Michael Vinella, Ph.D. - Recording Secretary
Principal, East Brunswick High School
Dr. Michael Vinella has worked in East Brunswick Public Schools for 23 years and is entering his seventh year as EBHS principal. Dr. Vinella holds a B.A. in Economics from Rutgers University, a M.Ed. in Administration and Supervision from Kean University, and a Ph.D. in K-12 Educational Leadership from Walden University. He holds certificates as Teacher of Social Studies, Supervisor, Principal and Chief School Administrator. During his time in East Brunswick he has held positions as Social Studies teacher, Assistant Principal at EBHS, Supervisor of Staff Development/Grants/Testing and Supervisor of Social Studies. Dr. Vinella has also served on several local, county, state and national committees with the most recent being the NASSP Student Leadership Advisory Committee, NJPSA/NJASA Joint Committee on Educator Evaluation and Graduation Requirements, and the NJDOE Principals Practice Pilot.
Patrick McCabe, Ed.D. - Treasurer
Principal, South Amboy Middle/High School
Patrick McCabe has served as Principal of South Amboy Middle/High School - a sixth grade through 12th grade school - since 2005. Prior to that he was a principal of a Middle school in Colts Neck, NJ. Before becoming an administrator, Patrick served as a school psychologist and taught English at Marist High School. He earned a Bachelor of Science from Saint Peter's University, a Masters in Counseling from Seton Hall University, a Masters in Administration from New Jersey City University and a Masters and a Doctorate in School Psychology from Rutgers University. Patrick spent four years as a Trustee on the Bayonne Board of Education, has served as a Leaders to Leaders mentor since 2013 and is presently the President of the Middlesex County Secondary Principals Association.
NJPSA Board Members
Ralph Aiello - NASSP State Representative
Principal, Cumberland Regional High School
Ralph Aiello is the New Jersey State representative to the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the principal of Cumberland Regional High School in Cumberland County, New Jersey, a position he has held for going on seven years after previously serving as Assistant Principal for eight years. As principal, Aiello puts a strong emphasis on preparing his young assistant principals to lead their own building one day. During his time in administration, Aiello has served as president of his local association, as a council member of the New Jersey Principal and Supervisor Association (NJPSA), NJPSA treasurer, NJPSA VP, and in 2017-2018 as NJPSA president. Aiello also was the New Jersey Assistant Principal of the Year in 2013. Aiello holds two bachelor's degrees in elementary education and historical studies from Stockton University and his master's in leadership from Wilmington University.
Karen Beckford-Bennett, Ed.D.
Principal, Lovell J. Honiss School
Dr. Karen Beckford-Bennett has been an accomplished New Jersey Educator for 28 years, and has spent the last 16 years as Principal of Lovell J. Honiss School in Dumont, New Jersey. She joined the Dumont School District in 2002 serving as the vice-principal of Honiss School before moving into the principalship. Her prior administrative experience was in the Englewood School district where she served as a school facilitator / vice-principal. Prior to becoming an administrator, Karen's teaching career began in the Teaneck Public Schools where she taught for 10 years at both the elementary (grades 3 and 4) and the middle school level (math and science - grade 6). She is currently the co-chair of the Dumont Administrators and Supervisors Association. Dr. Bennett earned her BA in Elementary Education from the University of Pennsylvania, her MA in Administration and Supervision from Bank Street College of Education, and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Organizational Management from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a recent recipient of the Bergen County Excellence in Education Award. Dr. Bennett is passionate about curriculum and instruction, issues of equity and closing the achievement gaps.
Kimberly Clark, Ed.D.
Assistant Principal, Pinelands Regional Jr. High School
Kimberly Lynn Clark, Ed.D. is a practitioner-researcher, who currently works at Pinelands Regional, a 7-12 public school district in New Jersey, as an assistant principal. In addition to her building-level responsibilities, she is the district supervisor of several departments including English-as-a-second-language, special education, and gifted and talented education. As a researcher, Dr. Clark focuses on the topics of educational leadership, leadership development, feminist theory, gender performance, and nontraditional administrative preparation.
Aaron Eyler, NASSP State Coordinator
Principal, Matawan Regional High School
Aaron S. Eyler has been the Principal of Matawan Regional High School, located in Monmouth County, since July 2018. Prior to his current position, he was an Assistant Principal at Piscataway High School (August 2012-October 2015) and Principal of Matawan-Aberdeen Middle School (October 2015-June 2018). In addition to his regular duties, he serves as the President of the Matawan Regional Administrators Association and the district's "School Safety Specialist." An active member of NJPSA, he sits on the Legislative Committee, Special Education Committee, and Council. For more information about Mr. Eyler, please visit his biography page.
Brian C. Gismondi, Ed.D.
Principal, West Deptford High School
Brian C. Gismondi has worked in public education for 24 years. He served as a teacher of music in New Jersey and Delaware. For the past 19 years, Dr. Gismondi has served as an assistant principal, as well as, a principal of elementary, middle and high schools. He currently and proudly serves as the West Deptford High School Principal. He is the President of his Local School Association and has served NJPSA as a Council Member and a member of the Nominating Committee. Dr. Gismondi currently resides in West Deptford with his wife and twin teenage daughters.
Denise P. King, Ed.D.
Principal, B. Bernice Young Elementary School
Dr. Denise P. King is Principal at B. Bernice Young Elementary School in Burlington Township. Dr. King has more than 27 years of educational experience in various diverse K - 12 learning environments through higher education. Her professional experiences include: teacher, professional development facilitator, vice principal, and principal. Denise currently serves as the president of the Burlington County Principals and Supervisors Association. She earned her B.A. from Rutgers University, M.Ed. from Cheyney University and Doctorate from Nova Southeastern University. She serves as a board member on the Camden and Burlington Counties YMCA Youth Advisory board, Burlington Library Friends, and the Burlington County Institute of Technology foundation. Dr. King serves as a mentor for the NJEXCEL administration leadership program and is a passionate supporter for empowering young adults with challenges for career and college readiness. Dr. King was named NJPSA Visionary Leader of the Year, Elementary Level Principal, in 2016. Denise and her husband have lived in Burlington County for 17 years and are the proud parents of three sons.
Tracey L. Knerr
K-12 Supervisor of Mathematics, Hillsborough Public Schools
Tracey L. Knerr is a career educator who has worked at every level of education from kindergarten through higher education. She is passionate about creating an educational system and World in which everyone understands and enjoys mathematics. She is currently the K-12 supervisor of mathematics for the HIllsborough Township Public Schools. She is the co-author of a pre-k through 5 mathematics program called Math Shapes: Go Figure Helping you Help Your Child. Tracey enjoys providing professional development opportunities for educators around the state. She is the treasurer of NJASCD and also holds membership in these organizations: ASCD, Learning Forward, ISTE, NCTM, NCSM.
Thomas Macagnano
Assistant Principal, Julia A. Barnes Elementary School
Thomas Macagnano has over 23 years experience in the field of education. For the past 17 years he has been an assistant principal with the Jersey City Public Schools. Thomas is also the president of the Administrator and Supervision Association of Jersey City.
Nicole Moore - NAESP State Representative
Principal, Indian Mills School
Nicole Moore is an accomplished New Jersey educator for nearly 25 years. Ms. Moore has spent the last 16 years as Principal of Indian Mills School in Shamong, New Jersey, a pre-K through fourth grade school, where she serves as the building's sole school leader. Ms. Moore previously served as the Assistant Principal of Blackwood Elementary School in the Gloucester Township School district where she was responsible for student discipline, teacher evaluation, business operations and community relations. Ms. Moore holds a Master's in Administration Planning and Social Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Diane Pistilli
Principal, Nicolaus Copernicus School
Diane Pistilli is the Principal of Nicolaus Copernicus School in Jersey City. She has 41 years of educational experience. Her professional experiences include teacher, guidance counselor, Asst. Principal and Principal. Diane Pistilli served as the Past President of the Administrators Supervisors Association of Jersey City and was on the Executive Board of ASA JC for over 10 years.
Ross Stanger
Supervisor of Instruction, Vineland Public Schools
Ross Stanger graduated from the Hill School, in Pottstown, PA, before matriculating to Kenyon College in Gambier, OH. While an undergraduate, Mr. Stanger was a three sport athlete and 10 varsity letter winner in cross country and track and field and two time captain of cross country. Mr. Stanger was a history major, admissions tour guide, and coordinated overnight stays for visiting students. He also studied abroad in Kenya and Uganda. After graduating, Mr. Stanger worked as a kindergarten and 1st Grade Assistant and as the 6th Grade Dean's Assistant at Saint Ann's School, in Brooklyn, NY. He later earned a M.A. in American History from Rutgers University-Camden, and a M. Ed. from Wilmington University. Mr. Stanger taught social studies for 10 years at Vineland High School North. Mr. Stanger has served as Vineland Public Schools' Supervisor of Social Studies, Art, and Library/Media Specialists, and has coordinated the A.P. and Gifted & Talented Programs, since 2008. He is a two-time elected school board member in Hopewell Township (Cumberland County) and was elected Vineland Administrator of the Year in Vineland in 2018. Mr. Stanger is actively involved in Holocaust and Genocide Education, serves as the Program Chair of the South Jersey Holocaust & Genocide Coalition, and was awarded the Miles Lerman Holocaust Education Award in 2020. Mr. Stanger also previously served as the President of the Vineland Principals and Supervisors' Association for three years. He is currently a doctoral student at Drexel University in the Education Administration focusing on the impact of character education on public schools.
2020-2021 FEA Board of Directors
Patricia Wright
Executive Director of NJPSA
A lifelong educator, Patricia Wright is currently the Executive Director of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association. She has held the positions of teacher, reading specialist, assistant principal, principal, and superintendent. Mrs. Wright serves as a member of the New Jersey Professional Development Advisory Committee. She also served as the chair of the New Jersey Anti-Bullying Task Force and co-authored the New Jersey Bar Foundation's Anti-Bullying Curriculum. She is the developer of the Connected Action Roadmap (CAR), a comprehensive and coherent model of school improvement, which has been endorsed by the Partnership on Collaborative Professional Learning. Most recently, she spearheaded the development of the New Jersey Leadership Academy with the NJASA, in which cohorts of superintendents, assistant superintendents, principals, assistant principals, supervisors, and directors collaborate for a yearlong experience of quality, sustained professional learning.
FEA Board Members
Donna McInerney, Ed.D.
CEO of FEA
Donna McInerney is the Chief Executive Officer of FEA, having previously served for nearly six years as FEA's Director of Program Development and Design. A former high school Social Studies teacher and supervisor, she earned her doctorate from the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University, specializing in curriculum theory and development. Over the last 15 years she has been an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Graduate Education, Leadership and Counseling at Rider University and in the Educational Administration and Secondary Education Program at The College of New Jersey. She currently teaches in the NJ EXCEL program. Throughout the course of her career, Dr. McInerney has provided professional learning experiences on a wide variety of topics including tools for professional learning communities, the Connected Action Roadmap (CAR), research-based instructional strategies, classroom management techniques, project-based learning, differentiated instruction, curriculum integration, and cooperative learning strategies. Her most recent work has focused on the instructional leadership skills and coherent frameworks needed to improve teacher practice, drive student achievement and ensure systemic, sustained, school improvement.
Denise Hecht
CFO of FEA
Denise Hecht is presently the Assistant Executive Director for the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association (NJPSA) and Chief Financial Officer for the Foundation for Educational Administration, Inc. (FEA). Prior to this, she was the Founder and President of DenTel Practice Management. Her firm offered professional and staff development in the fields of education, health care, and business. She received her MBA from Wagner College in New York where she has served as an adjunct member of the graduate school business administration faculty. She has also served as an adjunct professor at Farleigh Dickinson University. Ms. Hecht is a published writer, the author of the CLICK Profile for Educators, and is a certified NLP practitioner. Ms. Hecht has served as the President of the New Jersey Association of Partners in Education and has been a board member of the David Sarnoff Library and Museum. In partnership with the NJDOE and the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, she has assisted in writing and successfully implemented a $5.1 million grant for training Superintendents and Principals in leadership and technology in the state of New Jersey. She has also presented at several national conferences on leadership in the health, education, and business-related fields. Ms. Hecht was past Director of the Institute for Education and Cognitive Psychology, an organization devoted to the personal and professional improvement of teachers and administrators.
Dr. Angela Bender
Superintendent, Ridgefield Park Dr. Angela Pucci Bender is currently the Superintendent of Ridgefield Park and previously served in the Ridgefield Park District as Principal of Grant School. She began her career in education with the Fair Lawn Public School District where she was a Business Education teacher in grades 6- 12. Dr. Bender served her last several years at Fair Lawn as the District Technology Specialist providing teacher professional development and in-class technology support. She joined Ridgefield Park in 2005 as a Supervisor of the Fine, Performing and Practical Arts. Angela has been the Grant School Principal since 2006. She held both teaching, and administrative positions and responsibilities on the elementary, middle, high school, and district levels. She is a proud NJ EXCEL graduate and a former NJPSA Board Member. She is an NJ EXCEL instructor and serves in various mentor positions throughout the program since 2005. Angela is also an Adjunct Professor at Ramapo College of New Jersey in the Master of Science in Educational Technology program. She has written curriculum for children and adult learners. Angela completed her undergraduate work at Montclair State, her graduate work at Ramapo College, her post-masters at NJ EXCEL, two post-masters and her Doctorate at Capella University.
Janet Ciarrocca
Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology, North Brunswick
Janet Ciarrocca is the Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology, North Brunswick and was formerly the principal at Livingston Park Elementary School. Throughout a 30 year career in education, she has moved from classroom teacher, to library media specialist to principal. She has worked in both urban and suburban districts. A lifelong learner, she is a proud graduate of the NJ EXCEL program. Janet is currently participating in the Learning Forward Academy program, a 2 ½ year cohort focused on a specific job embedded problem of practice, in this case, the CAR process. She is passionate about professional learning and figuring out ways to reach every learner.
Thomas Conroy
Principal, Brookside Elementary School
Tom Conroy is currently the of Brookside Elementary School in the Westwood Regional School District. He has been in Westwood for the past five years. Prior to serving in his current position, Tom held both teaching, and administrative positions on the elementary, middle, high school, and district levels. He is entering his fourth year on the NJPSA/FEA Leadership Academy Development and Presentation Teams. Tom completed both his undergraduate and graduate work, at Montclair State University.
Angela Dunbar
Assistant Principal, Halstead Middle School, Newton
Angela D. Dunbar is the Assistant Principal of Halsted Middle School and Director of Curriculum & Professional Development for Newton Public Schools in Newton, New Jersey. Angela has over seventeen years of experience in education. Prior to becoming a school leader, Angela was a high school special education teacher for eight years in Newton and five years in the Bronx, New York. Angela believes in providing educators with individualized support in order to build their capacity and increase student achievement. Angela is the founder and leader of the Curriculum Consortium of Sussex County and organizes professional development opportunities for educators in Northwest, New Jersey. Angela's administration prowess was recognized when she received the 2017 Dale Reinhardt Excellence in Education Award for her work as a leader in the area of curriculum development and her ability to provide professional development opportunities for educators. Additionally, Angela was a recipient of the Newton High School Teacher of the Year Award in 2014. She holds a Master's in School Building Leadership from Columbia University.
Terence Johnson
Assistant Principal, Cumberland Regional High School
Terence Johnson is the assistant principal at Cumberland Regional High School. He instituted and runs the Freshman Transition into High School program, in which seniors help incoming freshman learn how to adjust to life in high school. An alumnus and former football player at The Citadel, Terence was named the 2019 NJPSA Visionary Assistant Principal of the Year, as well as the New Jersey NASSP Assistant Principal of the Year .
Anthony Scotto
Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Hamilton Township (Mercer County) School District
Mr. Scotto currently serves as the Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the Hamilton Township School District. Previously, he served as the K-12 Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the Barnegat Township Public School District. Prior to working in Barnegat, Mr. Scotto was the Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the Tri-District of Atlantic Highlands/Highlands/Henry Hudson Regional. Before Mr. Scotto became an administrator 12 years ago, he was a classroom teacher for 10 years. He earned his MA in Administration/Curriculum Planning/Supervision from Georgian Court University and his BA in Elementary Education/American Studies from St. Peter's College (University). He and his wife (Heather) currently reside in Monmouth County and have a son.
Karen Tanner-Oliphant
District Supervisor of Testing, Roselle Public Schools
Ms. Karen Tanner-Oliphant began her career as a Family and Consumer Science teacher at East Side High School in Paterson, New Jersey. There she served in many roles as a student advocate, mentor, and class advisor. Currently, Ms. Tanner-Oliphant serves as the District Supervisor of Testing for Roselle Public Schools and has been recognized for her leadership in service to the district and the educational community through her participation in various special projects, leading to improved student outcomes such as: High Schools that Work, School Improvement Grants (SIG Program), NJDOE Assessment Panel (next generation statewide assessment), Connected Action Roadmap (CAR-District-wide Implementation), and a developer of the Broad Field Family and Consumer Sciences Assessment for AAFCS-CTSO Certification. She also served as the State President of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences. Karen earned her B.S. from Hampton University, an M.A. from Kean University – School Administration and MA in Secondary Reading and Curriculum from Grand Canyon University. Through her leadership as President of the Morris County (NJ) Chapter of the Links, Incorporated, her focus is to provide transformational programs and services to the community that are designed to lead to improved outcomes for children and families.
View the 2021 Winter Professional Learning FEA/LEGAL ONE Catalog


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Fall 2022/Winter 2023
The UN at 75
Tahrir Forum
Midan
eBook: A Global Perspective on the Trump Era
The United Nations at 75: Multilateralism at a Crossroads
If the UN survived the Cold War and a later unipolarity, shouldn't it be thriving in a multipolar world?
By Antonio Patriota
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the 75th annual U.N. General Assembly, which was held mostly virtually due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., September 22, 2020. United Nations/Reuters.
Last September, for the first time in three-quarters of a century, the United Nations General Assembly failed to bring together the heads of state and government who traditionally flock to New York each year to participate in its high-level debate. Courtesy of COVID-19, messages were kept virtual with digital technology conveying pre-recorded speeches, as a single attendant from each member state sat behind their corresponding country plates at UN headquarters. The British media spoke of a seventy-fifth "unhappy birthday".
However, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had already adopted a somber tone since before the transformation of the health alert into a global pandemic. In January 2020, he conjured the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" to identify the most serious challenges facing the international community today: an increase in geopolitical tensions, the climate crisis, rising inequality at the heart of inequitable globalization, and the ominous side of the technological revolution. In his opening statement before an empty General Assembly hall last month, he brought up a fifth horseman: the global health crisis unleashed by the new coronavirus—described as the greatest test since the creation of the United Nations, and a defining moment for modern society. What are the implications of this diagnosis for the future of multilateralism?
Some observers suggest that multilateralism had been undergoing a long crisis since the Al-Qaeda attacks of September 11, 2001. The universal manifestations of solidarity toward the victims of those attacks were still fresh in our memories, as the real and perceived interconnection between terrorism and security in the Middle East further inflamed an already unstable region. As the only source of legitimacy for military intervention in situations other than self-defense, the Security Council was placed under stress by the war in Iraq, raising doubts as to the enduring relevance of a core obligation inherent to the multilateral system. With the benefit of hindsight, former Secretary-General Kofi Annan would contend in his memoirs that "far worse would have been a rubber stamp for a war fought on false premises. From such a misjudgment, the road back to credibility and legitimacy in the eyes of the world would have been far harder".
The so-called unipolar moment may have peaked in 2003, with a trend toward multipolarity gaining visibility after the 2008 financial crisis, when the G-7 was replaced by a more inclusive group of twenty participants at the annual summits on economic coordination. Current international dynamics are often labeled as multipolar, even if considerable military and economic power continues to be wielded by the United States, and China's path toward the number one position in terms of GDP places it in a category by itself. It appears that remnants of unipolarity still coexist, along with elements of bipolarity. When Secretary-General Guterres speaks of "multidimensional multipolarity", he seems to be hinting at this complex geopolitical rearrangement, in which the diplomatic, economic, or military capabilities to influence outcomes are undergoing a significant process of redistribution.
Threats to the Global Economy and Security
Guterres has also alluded to a "Great Fracture" as an especially dangerous scenario in which the two largest economies, with their own priorities and internet capacities, risk creating a new global geo-strategic and military divide. Needless to say, the sort of international cooperation required to confront the current health and climate challenges, along with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, is not made easier by a geopolitical transition that is challenging multilateralism in new ways.
The UN at 75 faces a complex crossroads. It is possible to argue, however, that if the UN and the Bretton Woods institutions survived the Cold War and held their sway during the unipolar moment, there is no structural reason why they should be unable to retain their roles, and even thrive, in a more multipolar world. It is also possible to state that multilateralism has been delivering important results in the early 21st century. The consensus decisions achieved in 2015—with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change—are noteworthy examples.
The picture is less encouraging when it comes to the promotion of peace and security. Indeed, the strategic perils announced by the First Horseman of the Apocalypse mentioned by the Secretary-General pose a systemic threat, rife with problematic consequences for the entire gamut of issues requiring international cooperation: from health and the environment to sustainable development and human rights. Yet, even in this domain, the panorama is not entirely negative. The call for a global ceasefire, prompted by the pandemic, has received significant support from governments, civil society and academia, and has created opportunities for diplomacy.
While the dangers posed by an increasing number of nuclear warheads places the world under higher levels of alert, and the threat of nuclear proliferation persists, a Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was successfully negotiated with the active involvement of non-governmental participants. Thanks to its central role, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) was awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee explicitly admitted that it was under no illusion that an international prohibition would eliminate nuclear weapons. The prize can be interpreted, however, as recognition that a pioneering brand of multilateralism, which opens the door to civil society, can raise awareness and pressure the general public to unite around vital goals for humankind.
In his 2014 book entitled "World Order", former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger undertakes a valuable and insightful analysis of our contemporary international environment. He says today's unprecedented geopolitical transition coexists with manifestations of radical ideologies that contemplate a withdrawal from the sovereign nation State paradigm created through the treaties of Westphalia in 1648. In answer to the question "where do we go from here", Kissinger establishes upfront that "a reconstruction of the international system is the ultimate challenge to statesmanship in our time". The penalty for failing, he adds, is not necessarily a major war, but principally "an evolution into spheres of influence identified with particular domestic structures and forms of governance"—a landscape similar to the 'Great Fracture' mentioned by Guterres. Kissinger's vision for the future is articulated as "a world order of states affirming individual dignity and participatory governance, and cooperating internationally in accordance with agreed-upon rules".
Security Council Reform?
In UN terms, references to "participatory governance" and "agreed-upon rules" bring to mind the decision-making processes and composition of the organization's principal organs, on the one hand, and the importance of ensuring that international law is upheld by all and allowed to evolve, on the other. In no other forum within the UN system is the deficit in equitable participation more obvious than in the Security Council. With the redistribution of diplomatic influence, it has become vital and urgent to expand the organ entrusted with the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
An obsolete Security Council is incompatible with the kind of strengthened multilateral system required to navigate the current turbulence just as the G7 was considered insufficiently inclusive to face the 2008 economic crisis. But beyond the need for participatory mechanisms there is scope for seeking to refine the conceptual frameworks for the promotion of a more peaceful world. This is already happening, to some extent, as the twin resolutions on 'sustaining peace' adopted by the Security Council and the General Assembly in 2016 indicate. Attempts at refining conceptual tools, however, presuppose a reaffirmation of the lasting relevance of key Charter provisions. The future of modern society and international cooperation would indeed be at stake should the core understandings outlawing the use of force suffer any erosion. These Chapter VII constraints on unilateralism represented a step forward for civilization in 1945 and have acquired a lasting stature.
To put an end to the multiple conflicts that continue to inflame numerous parts of the world –Africa and the Middle East in particular– Secretary-General Guterres has called for a 'surge' in diplomacy. To ensure that countries do not relapse into conflict and that situations of tension do not degenerate into belligerence, he has prioritized 'prevention' in the agenda for sustaining peace. These are not revolutionary ideas, but rather simple admonitions that reflect the painful lessons of the past few years in which military interventions, irrespective of their motives, have created more problems than solutions.
In remarks to the Security Council, as he began his tenure at the UN in 2017, Guterres argued in favor of a need to 'rebalance our approach to peace and security', which he considers to have been previously dominated by responding to conflict rather than preventing war and sustaining peace. According to this reasoning, he acknowledges that member states have been mistrustful of placing an emphasis on prevention, due to understandable concerns over sovereignty. While recognizing that prevention should never be used to serve hidden agendas, Guterres considers, rather, that "prevention is best served by strong sovereign states acting for the good of their people".
In a 2018 report on Peace Building and Sustaining Peace, the secretary-general stated in his conclusions that "sustaining peace is first and foremost a responsibility of member states. The mirror image of a United Nations system that is better oriented toward prevention, human rights and sustainable development is a membership that sees these as mutually reinforcing, sovereignty-affirming and within national interests."
The notion of prevention as a sovereignty enhancer introduces a new perspective to discussions that began during Annan's tenure, in the aftermath of Rwanda and Srebrenica. A moral imperative to exercise a collective responsibility in preventing such atrocities from ever happening again – including through military intervention if necessary – led many to view sovereignty as an obstacle to prevention. The notion of a "responsibility to protect" (R2P) sought to overcome a possible incompatibility between respect for the non-interference Charter provisions of Article 2.7 and a moral duty to defend human lives. R2P gained general acceptance in the 2005 UN World Summit Outcome and entered the halls of the Security Council in 2011, through UN Resolution 1973 on the Libyan crisis. Another set of concerns was brought to the fore by interventions which instead of promoting peace and stability ended up disseminating war and terrorism, even if unintentionally. A Responsibility while Protecting (RwP) was posited as a necessary corollary to R2P, in a note circulated by the Delegation of Brazil to the Security Council (UN General Assembly – Security Council. Document A/66/551 – S/2011/701).
A State Responsibility
As the host country to the 2019 Aswan Forum on Sustainable Peace and Development in Africa, Egypt embraced the view that conflict prevention is a state responsibility, requiring leadership and commitment. The Forum's set of conclusions proposes a "paradigm shift from crisis management to sustainable peace and development", while endorsing the idea that conflict prevention can become a sovereignty enhancer. This may seem like a minor modulation, but its systemic implications should not be underestimated. In a broader sense, Harvard Professor Stephen Walt adopts a similar stance in a 2020 article entitled "Countries should mind their own business: two cheers for a classic idea that's been out of fashion for too long".
Walt is straightforward in pointing out that those who interfere in foreign countries "rarely understand what they are doing, and even well-intentioned efforts often fail due to ignorance, unintended consequences or local resentment and resistance". No roundabout formulas are employed in identifying Libya as an example of the above. As he reminds us, "the idea that individual nations should be (mostly) free to chart their own course at home remains deeply embedded in the present world order". His conclusion is that respect for boundaries and sovereignty will ultimately help countries with different values to cooperate on critical issues.
The concept of the sovereign territorial state may have been with us since the 1648 treaties of Westphalia, but, in contrast with 17th century Europe, we have today a body of universally accepted international laws and principles around which to unite and cooperate. Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd recently stated that, although the UN at 75 has demonstrated a vocation for longevity, one should not assume it is capable of automatic "self-regeneration". As the international community grapples with a complex crossroads confronting multilateralism, the necessary vehicles to move in the right direction include a reaffirmation of important established norms, overdue structural reforms, and a renewed look at ideas that may have seemed old-fashioned until recently.
Antonio de Aguiar Patriota was appointed Brazilian Ambassador to Egypt in 2019. Before holding the Office of Minister of External Relations from 2011 to 2013, he was Ambassador to the United States from 2007 to 2009 and Deputy Foreign Minister in 2010. Prior to his arrival in Cairo, he was Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations from 2013 to 2016 and Ambassador to Italy from 2016 to 2019. He has also served in Geneva, Beijing and Caracas. Recent articles include "Is the World Ready for Cooperative Multipolarity?", published by the Brazilian Center for International Relations, CEBRI in 2018, and "Collective Security and Collective Responsibility in International Interventions", published by the Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies in 2020.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: How to set key to query result? I have the following request in Laravel:
$name = Place::where("status", "1", function ($query) use ($request) {

            if (($from = $request->get("from"))) {
                $query->where('name', 'like', $from . '%');
            }

            if (($to = $request->get("to"))) {
                $query->where('name', 'like', $to . '%');
            }

        })->orderBy('name', 'desc')->get();

I get result like as:
{
  "id": 2,
  "name": "Lena"
},
{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "Baran"
}

How can I set keys for these two result rows? I want to do:
 name_one = {
      "id": 2,
      "name": "Lena"
    },
    name_two = {
      "id": 1,
      "name": "Baran"
    }

A: you can do a keyBy('name'); after the get() function lookup keyBy example below
$collection = collect([
    ['product_id' => 'prod-100', 'name' => 'desk'],
    ['product_id' => 'prod-200', 'name' => 'chair'],
]);

$keyed = $collection->keyBy('product_id');

$keyed->all();

/*
    [
        'prod-100' => ['product_id' => 'prod-100', 'name' => 'Desk'],
        'prod-200' => ['product_id' => 'prod-200', 'name' => 'Chair'],
    ]
*/

A: You can try this code
    public function getCollectinos()
    {
        $collection = collect([
            ['id' => '1', 'product' => 'Chair'],
            ['id' => '2', 'product' => 'Desk'],
            ['id' => '3', 'product' => 'Bookcase'],
        ]);

        $grouped = $collection->groupBy(function ($item, $key) {
            return  'name_'.$this->number_to_word($item['id']);
        });

        $array = $grouped->toArray();
        dd($array);
    }

     public function number_to_word( $num = '' )
    {
        $num    = ( string ) ( ( int ) $num );

        if( ( int ) ( $num ) && ctype_digit( $num ) )
        {
            $words  = array( );

            $num    = str_replace( array( ',' , ' ' ) , '' , trim( $num ) );

            $list1  = array('','one','two','three','four','five','six','seven',
                'eight','nine','ten','eleven','twelve','thirteen','fourteen',
                'fifteen','sixteen','seventeen','eighteen','nineteen');

            $list2  = array('','ten','twenty','thirty','forty','fifty','sixty',
                'seventy','eighty','ninety','hundred');

            $list3  = array('','thousand','million','billion','trillion',
                'quadrillion','quintillion','sextillion','septillion',
                'octillion','nonillion','decillion','undecillion',
                'duodecillion','tredecillion','quattuordecillion',
                'quindecillion','sexdecillion','septendecillion',
                'octodecillion','novemdecillion','vigintillion');

            $num_length = strlen( $num );
            $levels = ( int ) ( ( $num_length + 2 ) / 3 );
            $max_length = $levels * 3;
            $num    = substr( '00'.$num , -$max_length );
            $num_levels = str_split( $num , 3 );

            foreach( $num_levels as $num_part )
            {
                $levels--;
                $hundreds   = ( int ) ( $num_part / 100 );
                $hundreds   = ( $hundreds ? ' ' . $list1[$hundreds] . ' Hundred' . ( $hundreds == 1 ? '' : 's' ) . ' ' : '' );
                $tens       = ( int ) ( $num_part % 100 );
                $singles    = '';

                if( $tens < 20 )
                {
                    $tens   = ( $tens ? ' ' . $list1[$tens] . ' ' : '' );
                }
                else
                {
                    $tens   = ( int ) ( $tens / 10 );
                    $tens   = ' ' . $list2[$tens] . ' ';
                    $singles    = ( int ) ( $num_part % 10 );
                    $singles    = ' ' . $list1[$singles] . ' ';
                }
                $words[]    = $hundreds . $tens . $singles . ( ( $levels && ( int ) ( $num_part ) ) ? ' ' . $list3[$levels] . ' ' : '' );
            }

            $commas = count( $words );

            if( $commas > 1 )
            {
                $commas = $commas - 1;
            }

            $words  = implode( ', ' , $words );

            $words  = trim(str_replace( ' ,' , ',' , $this->trim_all(  $words  ) ) , ', ');
            if( $commas )
            {
                $words  = $this->str_replace_last( ',' , ' and' , $words );
            }

            return $words;
        }
        else if( ! ( ( int ) $num ) )
        {
            return 'Zero';
        }
        return '';
    }

   public function str_replace_last( $search , $replace , $str )
   {
        if( ( $pos = strrpos( $str , $search ) ) !== false ) {
            $search_length  = strlen( $search );
            $str    = substr_replace( $str , $replace , $pos , $search_length );
        }
        return $str;
    }

    public function trim_all( $str , $what = NULL , $with = ' ' )
    {
        if( $what === NULL )
        {
            //  Character      Decimal      Use
            //  "\0"            0           Null Character
            //  "\t"            9           Tab
            //  "\n"           10           New line
            //  "\x0B"         11           Vertical Tab
            //  "\r"           13           New Line in Mac
            //  " "            32           Space

            $what   = "\\x00-\\x20";    //all white-spaces and control chars
        }

        return trim( preg_replace( "/[".$what."]+/" , $with , $str ) , $what );
    }

Output  :

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: What would be the advantage for using the following statements? Recently, I ran into the following lines:
StringBuilder sb = default(StringBuilder);
sb = new StringBuilder();

I would simply write the statement(s) like
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();

What would be the advantage for using default(StringBuilder) statements?
Based on all the great feedback, I came up with a new question.
EDIT:
Can you see an advantage or disadvantage to doing something like this?  (it does compile)
var sb = default(StringBuilder);

Again like was mentioned I believe we are looking at whether there is a scope issue or not, but the biggest problem might be objects not getting initialized properly.  what are your thoughts?

A: In general, nothing.  There is no reason to initialize the variable, then set it in the next line of code.  Your second statement is cleaner.
There are few reasons to split declaration and assignment.  This typically is only required if there are scoping issues involved, such as trying to use exception handling around the assignment:
StringBuilder sb = null;

try
{
    // Using a statement that may throw
    sb = GetAStringBuilder();
}
catch
{
    //...
}

// The compiler will warn about a potentially
// uninitalized variable here without the default assignment
if (sb != null)
{
    //...

In this case, you need to split the two because your doing the assignment within a local scope (the try).
If this isn't the case, then it's better to keep them together.

A: There is no advantage whatsoever; the second snippet is more concise and more readable.

A: The advantage of using default comes up only when you develop a generic class that works with parametrized types. Sometimes, it is not known whether the type is a reference type or a value type or a struct. The default keyword returns null for reference types and 0 for numeric value types.
For more details, please see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/xwth0h0d%28v=vs.80%29.aspx

A: The default keyword is often used with the initialization of generic types, where one cannot be certain whether  we are dealing with a value type (initialized e.g. to zero) or a reference type (initialized to null). As per other answers, in the example you provided,  there is little purpose either initializing StringBuilder and reassigning it immediately, nor using the default keyword.
In .net 3.5 there is one additional convention which you may come across, viz:
var sb = new StringBuilder();

Here the type of sb is inferred from the RHS of the assignment.


text:
Q: How to print the first key by searching from nested yaml using python I have below nested yaml file, I want extract only NN41_R11.
devices:
  NN41_R11:
    connections:
      defaults:
        a:
          ip:
          port:
          protocol: telnet
        class:
    type: IOS
testbed:
  name:

I am new to yaml parsing using python, below is the code which i tried to pseudo code, but its printing the entire yaml file.
import yaml
stream = open('/tmp/testbed1.yaml','r')
data = yaml.load(stream)
print data.get('devices')

A: First you need to load the yaml file into a python nested dictionary object (key/value pairs). After this you're able to access the values of the dictionary with the dict.get('key') method.
# Read yaml file into nested dictionary
import yaml
fileName = '/tmp/testbed1.yaml'
with open(fileName, 'r') as yamlFile:
    data = yaml.load(yamlFile)

# Get target value
target = data.get('devices').get('NN41_R11')

# Pretty print nested dictionary (or simply print)
__import__('pprint').pprint(target)


text:
Q: WordPress Showing IP Address Instead of Domain When I navigate to my WordPress site, I get the IP address instead of the domain name. In settings> general I have changed the domain name but then I get an error message that the site cannot be found. I have also done this in the database itself and I have adjusted the vhost files yet I get an IP address. I suspect it is due to one of the wordpress files but I have no idea which file? If I place a index file with hello world in the htdocs folder, it works and I get a domain name instead of an ip address...
OS: Ubuntu Server
Web Server: Apache2

A: I had the same issue and in my situation it was a problem with the firewall on the vhost. Otherwise, try to replace the htaccess...
But i have still the issue, that the ip address is still set in the admin backend, for ex. when i hover over the "next page arrow" on the create pages admin site


A bond of $100 applies for all hire items (total for each event). This will be returned promptly following your event and the safe return of all items. For replacement costs of lost or damaged items, please click here.


Question: How to talk to Doctors about the benefits of hospice and speaking to their patients early enough so that they can get all the benefits hospice offers.
This is a tough one! We, in Hospice, have been pondering this question since the Hospice concept came to this country so many years ago.
Honestly, the younger docs are more receptive than the older ones. Medical schools are now addressing end of life care on a more consistent basis and palliation has been accepted as a medical practice (to some degree).
If the physician has had a personal experience with someone close to them facing end of life they tend to be more receptive to hospice care.
Family practitioners tend to be more receptive than oncologists and other specialists but unfortunately family practitioners tend to send their patients on to a specialist and don't really see them again except on the side lines.
Have I "ruffled any feathers" yet? Probably. I guess what I really think, and I know I sound pessimistic, is that after all these years hospice still hasn't convinced a great many physicians of the need for non aggressive end of life care.
So if that is the case, physicians are not eager to refer to hospice, what is a hospice to do? Go to the community. Educate the community on the benefits of LIVING until they die; of having a quality life when they have a disease that can't be fixed; of learning that dying is not a medical event but a social, communal event; that hospice is an option with support, guidance, comfort and expert knowledge of end of life issues.
When patients and their families begin insisting on hospice from a knowledge base of what hospice is, what it offers, when the appropriate referral time is and what questions to ask the physician then physicians will begin making earlier referrals.


Dining With Proust. , Anne; Senderens Borrel, Alain - Cellar Stories - The largest used and rare bookstore in Rhode Island.
Borrel, Anne; Senderens, Alain, and Jean-Bernard Naudin.
By This Author: Borrel, Anne; Senderens, Alain, and Jean-Bernard Naudin.


Magento 1.7 went into beta over the weekend and our resident geeks at iWeb couldn't wait to get there hands on it.
Load testing and testing and benchmarking has already begun down in the lab and we will be porting over our bespoke iWeb plugins in the next few weeks.
So while all this is happening I thought I would give you an overview of the good bits.


text:
Peyton Manning, Andy Roddick among new co-owners of Sweetens Cove Golf Club
Sweetens Cove Golf Club, the nine-hole cult-favorite golf course in South Pittsburg, Tenn., has some new co-owners that will help elevate the stature of the nationally recognized standout it is.
Among those new investors are some legendary athletes, including multi-time Super Bowl champion Peyton Manning and former US Open tennis champion Andy Roddick. Manning and Roddick are part of a group of five investors in the Tennessee golf course founded by Rob Collins and Tad King, replacing a former 18-hole course called Sequatchie Valley Golf Course on the property with their vision for what a modern golf course should be. Sweetens Cove has a shed for a clubhouse, a nearly nonexistent practice facility and only port-a-potties for restrooms, but the fun architecture has wowed thousands of golfers. It's become a magnet for golfers from around the world to experience Sweetens Cove, approximately an hour outside Chattanooga, another underrated place.
In early April, Collins was asked by Mark Rivers, a real estate investor from California and one of the five investors, to join him at Ruth's Chris Steak House in Chattanooga to meet with some of the new investors. That's when, according to The Times Free Press, Collins was introduced to Manning as one of the investors.
Since Manning and Roddick have come aboard as investors, they've played the course a number of times and have shared social media posts from and relating to Sweetens Cove. The hope is to further grow the course, the amount of play on it and improve just a few of the infrastructure features of the property.
In the long term, who knows what's possible. Another course could be built, with King-Collins design building a dream 18-hole layout. Maybe it could be on adjoining property to Sweetens Cove, laying the groundwork for a future resort.
But for now, Sweetens Cove is on more-than-solid financial footing, allowing Collins and King to further grow one of America's best golf courses.
TagsAndy Roddick Mark Rivers Peyton Manning Rob Collins Sweetens Cove Golf Club Tad King


text:
home / Studies
Americans Believe Housing Market Recovery May Be Short-lived
Written by: Mike Randall
Mike Randall
Mike Randall is most knowledgeable in the areas of credit scores and credit cards, having written on those topics and others for the past eight years. He graduated from California State University with a degree in English literature, and he has an extensive background in personal finance studies. When he's not keeping BadCredit.org readers informed of changes in the subprime market, Mike's hobbies include sailing and gourmet cooking.
Despite the continued rise in home prices over the past two years, many believe the gains will not last.
According to a survey of Americans conducted for the Country Financial Security Index, 48 percent said they believed the country could be heading for a housing crash in the next two years.
However, the pessimism does not seem to be affecting most Americans and is not among the top concerns for the nation.
When asked to rank their level of worry, 48 percent of respondents said a housing bubble was not among their top concerns. Only 25 percent said it ranked in the top three, and just six percent said it was their primary concern.
"Other concerns seem to be
more pressing for most respondents."
With home prices up 12.4 percent on average over the past year, the 65 percent of Americans who own homes are benefiting from the advance.
On a worrisome note, only 41 percent think home ownership is possible for the average middle income family. This is a 5 percent decrease from the prior year's survey.
The biggest barriers to home ownership are lack of a down payment and carrying too much debt. By creating a budget and prioritizing saving and debt repayment, home ownership is possible for many more Americans.
With interest rates still near their all-time lows, it is not too late to make the move.
Source: countryfinancialsecurityblog.com. Photo source: cameronburke.co.
Buying a Home Economy
Other Studies You May Like
Study: Unemployment Insurance Prevented 1.4 Million Foreclosures
By: BadCredit.org Staff • 10/1/14
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By: BadCredit.org Staff • 1/27/15
5 Takeaways from the 2015 Credit Card Landscape Report
By: Linsey Knerl • 4/10/15
Credit Card Debt To Rise $55.8 Billion By 2016
By: Logan Ladnyk • 6/11/15


Turbine Sound Studios proudly presents the Boeing 757-RB211-535C Pilot Edition sound package for FS2004 recorded in HD High definition.
A total of 61 sound files are included.
The 757 was produced in two fuselage lengths. The original 757-200 entered service in 1983; the 757-200PF, a package freighter (PF) variant, and the 757-200M, a passenger-freighter combo model, debuted in the late 1980s. The stretched 757-300, the longest narrow-body twinjet ever produced, began service in 1999. Passenger 757-200s have been modified to special freighter (SF) specification for cargo use, while military derivatives include the C-32 transport, VIP carriers, and other multi-purpose aircraft. Private and government operators have also customized the 757 for research and transport roles. All 757s are powered by Rolls-Royce RB211 or Pratt & Whitney PW2000 series turbofans.
The first engine to power the 757-200, the Rolls-Royce RB211-535C, was succeeded by the upgraded RB211-535E4 in October 1984. Other engines used include the RB211-535E4B, along with the Pratt & Whitney PW2037 and PW2040.


text:
Home | News | Man dies after car ends up in Ascarate Lake; Driver arrested
Inset: Gamez / Map: Google
Man dies after car ends up in Ascarate Lake; Driver arrested
Staff Report August 26, 2015
Officials with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office say one man was killed Tuesday night, after the car he was riding in ended up in Ascarate Lake.
Deputies were sent to Ascarate Park just before 11:00 p.m. Tuesday night, after calls of an accident inside the park were received. When they arrived, they spotted a car in the lake. According to officials the driver of the car, Diego Gamez, was found a short distance away from the wreck, allegedly attempting to flee the scene.
The Sheriff's Office Special Traffic Investigators were called to conduct the investigation. Official say their preliminary investigation has revealed that the vehicle – described as a black Saturn – was "traveling southbound on R. E. Thompson Loop inside of Ascarate Park at a high rate of speed."
The road and area where Gamez crashed, was originally designed as a Grand Prix road course, and races were held there periodically until the early 70's
Officials say that Gamez failed to negotiate a curve, left the roadway and the Saturn vaulted into a grassy area near the lake. They add that the car then struck a retaining wall with the left side of the car, causing it to rollover into the lake.
Deputies say Gamez was able to exit the vehicle and flee, leaving his passenger trapped inside.
El Paso Fire Department Water Rescue located the submerged Saturn and were able to remove the passenger, identified as Angel Omar Sanchez.
Sanchez was rushed to University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
EPCSO officials say that Gamez was arrested for Intoxicated Manslaughter and was booked into the El Paso County Detention under a $100,000 bond.
ascarate crash	2015-08-26
About Staff Report
Staff Reports are just that, Staff Reporting the news. No skew, no opinion just the news. We pride ourselves on making sure that we bring you the news as soon as it is published, submitted or sent to us. No need to have a reporter rewrite or give their opinion. The facts or information, nothing more.
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text:
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Classic Review: Space Gamer/ Fantasy Gamer (Better Games edition)
by admin October 25, 2018 January 13, 2021
On #TBT, we bring you the occasional classic article – an older review or analysis piece we wanted to rescue
Brant Guillory, 25 October 2018
For a while, Better Games had the rights to the name Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer magazine. And they did it justice. I have about 75% of the issues – the magazine lasted only 10-12 or so, but these little gems should definitely be tracked down.
1. There's a complete game in every issue.
Usually it's one based on Better Games' Free Style Role-Play engine, such as Rogue Swords of the Empire or Where Fools Dare to Tread but occasional other greats pop up, like the Trojan War game that uses a deck of cards for generating random encounters. These games are at least as complete as Barony, usually more polished, and certainly a better value for your money.
The FSRP engine is basically a cinematic storytelling engine, where many of the lists & charts of normal RPGs are left behind. If you want to sneak up behind someone and attack them in the back, does it really matter whether you have a dagger or a deck hook? The important part is the way in which you make the attack… at least, according to FSRP rules.
The games themselves cover several genres – Superheroes/Supervillians (Nice Guys Finish Last); conspiracy/horror (Where Fools Dare to Tread); straight-ahead fantasy (Rogue Swords of the Empire); and fantasy with a twist (Arabian Sea Tales).
Covers from some of the issues
What makes these games such a great deal is not just that they are complete, coherent, and fun, but that they include some great little mechanics that can be lifted into almost any game you want. FSRP is a customizable system – if you don't wnat to use a certain set of tables, then don't. The beautiful side-effect of this is that the mini-systems, such as the character background generator in Where Fools Dare to Tread is perfect for Dark Conspiracy and could even be adapted to the Storyteller line without much difficulty.
2. Quick & Dirty Systems
Similar to, but not identical to those little "systems" are the Quick & Dirty charts of randomizers for use with all sorts of things. Cantrips, military leaders, ale available in a bar, you name it, it's here – and not just for fantasy genres, either – Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer was an equal-opportunity magazine, with little add-ins for everyone. They almost invariable use 2d8, which is odd, but offers a good spread of numbers without taxing the authors' imaginations.
3. Scenarios
Most of the scenarios/modules/adventures are generic, meaning that you could lift them into Tales from the Floating Vagabond just as easily as you could Traveller. More often than not, at least one of the scenarios was a support for the game in that issue, but the superhero ones would work for Champions just as easily as the enclosed game.
4. Other Contents
The letters column is more congratulatory than confrontational, but does occasionally bring up some interesting stuff. The magazine met its demise right around the time of (or because of) the ascendancy of M:tG, so there is very little addressing the CCG realm. There is a Map of the Month that usually has some interesting pieces – a starship, an adaptation of Neuschwanstein, a pirate frigate, among others. The editorials and columns are interesting, but nothing spectacular.
5. Layout & Appearance
Maybe it's because I work in desktop publishing, but I was disappointed with the layout. It is obviously produced with either Quark or Pagemaker on the Mac at the office, and most of the art looks like it was pasted-up by hand rather than scanned and placed. Don't get me wrong – it is well-done small-press layout, but obviously small-press nonetheless. The entire time you're reading it you can't help but get the sense that the guys that gave you Barony just went out and hired some layout flunkies for eyewash. Admittedly, this is a small nit-pick, and it doesn't really affect the information, but it's not a slick as you'd want. The color covers are very good. After about issue 4 or 5 the binding shifted from saddle-stiched to perfect bind, which makes for a more professional-looking and durable product.
Go find these magazines. They are worth the dough…
Thanks for reading! We'd love to have your feedback either in the comment area below, or in our discussion forum. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube…
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Today, people have little time to visitstores and touch different products before making a decision about home decoration. The good news is that there are hundreds of bloggers, designers and websites that we can turn to for decor inspiration and ideas from the comfort of our homes. If you're ready to find inspiration, that team at Pella Windows and Doors is here to help.
Pinterest: Whether you're interested in modern, luxury, log, colonial or farmhouse design – the possibilities are virtually endless. If you are looking for ideas, the king of inspiration boards is a click away. Every imaginable type of home you type into the search bar brings you thousands of perfect home ideas for your Haverhill home. For small projects or large, you are almost guaranteed to find endless design trends that will appeal to you that could work for your Haverhill home. You'll also see links to many bloggers' home décor sites full of fresh ideas and home decorating tricks. Your biggest challenge will be narrowing down your ideas!
Houzz: When you are on the hunt for design trends, Houzz is your destination. With a menu of tools on the site, you can design the home of your dreams in Haverhill with a few clicks. When you want to get advice and inspiration from other homeowners, there is a handy open-forum section where you can ask for opinions from other users and see their before and after photos and DIY tips. We also can't forget to mention that there are over 10 million photos to choose fromand shopping directly from the site. Visiting Houzz should give you enough inspiration to design multiple homes.
Social Media: Outside of Pinterest and Houzz, there are a number of ways to create a vision for your Haverhill home. Instagram is a social media platform focused on photography – what a perfect way to visually help you decide on what you want for your home. We even found HGTV's top list of designers on Instagram. This list included classic vintage designer Benjamin Vandiver and Arizona's DIY queen Jenny Komenda.
Pella Showrooms: Whether you drop into our showroom in Haverhill or simply visit the main Pella website, you'll find design trends everywhere. Visit our site today for visual ideas of what our products are capable of and what they look like in a renovated home. To see your inspirations come to life, use the Pella Product Designer to make sure you love the plan before you invest.
No matter where you go for inspiration, our professionals at Pella Windows and Doors are ready to turn it into your home's reality. Your home goals are our goals. Visit our Haverhill showroom or give us a call at 978-373-2500.


Considering the state of the American economy in the 21st century, with corporate malfeasance on the order of Enron and Worldcom, or the havoc wreaked by the financial crisis of 2008 that brought the world financial system to the brink of collapse and set off the largest recession since the Great Depression, I would argue that far too many CEOs lack a good risk management strategy, as well, and are not exactly positive contributors to society themselves.
Coss came up with an innovative workout regimen and lost 70 pounds in six months. After he was released from "the hole" back to the prison yard, he led a group of 20 incarcerated men through his workout regimen, and they lost a thousand pounds collectively.
When Coss got out of prison, Defy's incubator provided him with the training, access, mentoring, and financing needed to turn his idea into a business. … [Marte's] ConBody serves 5,000 customers a day. Coss has given a TEDx Talk. He's had a seven page spread in Men's Fitness. He's hired 15 people with criminal histories, including other Defy grads, as trainers. Through ConBodyLive.com, he has customers in 24 countries. Defy helped him raise $250,000 more from investors to scale his business.
Most of the stories Hoke shares in the book aren't of successful business breakthroughs, though. They are of more personal, elementary breakthroughs, but they are indispensable to living a successful life—whether you live in prison or not. They are mostly the stories of people still behind bars, making the emotional and psychological leaps needed to understand that they aren't defined by their past, that they can still make a positive contribution to their communities and to society.
Hoke, who had a good friend of hers brutally murdered when she was 12 years old, developed a tough-on-crime, lock-em-up-and-throw-away-the-key-mentality for much of her life because of what she considered the light sentences of her friend's murderers. Today, she is in the same room with people who have committed similar crimes on a regular basis, asking them to step to the line, letting them know it's okay to forgive themselves—that it is, in fact, the first step toward transformation and becoming "the CEOs of their new lives." That doesn't mean they don't feel guilt or remorse. What it means is that they know that they're still worthy of love, or know it for the first time, and don't have to live their lives in shame. One Defy class described attends their graduating ceremony in arm and leg shackles, and Hoke has to hold the mic for them to make the business pitches that are a part of that day, and to speak from the heart to the family members who have shown up to witness it. And it's still a joyous, tears-of-joy filled event. The men smile ear-to-ear, stand tall with pride in what they've accomplished and a new belief in themselves. Perhaps you don't believe they deserve that. Perhaps you don't think they deserve redemption or a second chance. But what Defy is doing is working—for those in the program, for the taxpayer, and for society. Over 75 percent of people who have served time in prison end up going back in after they're released. Over 95 percent of Defy Venture's Entrepreneurs in Training (EITs) never return, and they have a 95 percent employment rate upon release.
During this turbulent time, I made choices that I've regretted to this day. I lost sight of my boundaries and ended up having intimate relations with more than one graduate.
I hadn't broken laws. The men has been released from prison. But that didn't stop the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) from determining that my choices were inappropriate. Still filled with shame, I didn't disagree with them.
We're all behind bars—the bars of perfection, the bars of shame, of judging and being judged.
But we don't have to remain "shackled by our pasts," by self-doubt and shame and a fear of others' judgment.
A Second Chance is a book about entrepreneurship, and providing a second chance for incarcerated people (though Hoke also points out that, "if you knew my EIT's backstories, you might realize that we are more often in the legitimate-first-chance business) by channeling their hustle into entrepreneurship, into what Hoke calls our "generous hustle." But it's also a book about forgiveness, grace, acceptance, dignity, and transformation. It is about taking off our masks, grieving, and healing—and then moving on. It is about how "we can build our futures without being shackled by our past." It is about the power of hope and love. It's about the stories (and lies) we tell ourselves that come to control our lives, and how to be more honest and forgiving with both ourselves and others.
At Defy, we have our EITs start simple cash-flow businesses—companies they can incorporate and get to profitability within three months, like painting companies or dog-walking companies. And we make them launch their companies uncomfortably fast. As of 2017, we've incubated and funded 170 of our grads' fast-start businesses, and their companies have been so successful that they're our best fair-chance employers—they've hired nearly 400 other people who needed second chances!
The point is, stop trying to be so fancy. Just start simple and do something.
We should all wonder why, in the land of the free, we lead the world in mass incarceration. (The United States, which represents about 4.4 percent of the world's population, houses 22 percent—almost a quarter!—of the world's prison population.) After we wonder about it and educate ourselves as to the causes, we should do something about it. It's become an increasingly bipartisan issue in the last few years, so we should be able to help make a change by nudging our representatives in that direction.
In the meantime, it is still the daily reality for millions of men and women in our country, and for the millions more who have been locked up and are now out on probation and parole, struggling to find work and make an honest living. Defy is changing the lives of these men and women, one class at a time, all based on entrepreneurial principles and the simple idea that doing something wrong doesn't make you a bad person, that your life shouldn't be defined by the worst thing you've ever done. If you'd like to help, or need help yourself, you can learn more by getting a copy of A Second Chance, or heading over to www.defyventures.org today.


One thing has been made clear to me recently through my Bible study and my walk with the Lord: as a follower of Christ, walking through grief is necessary and mandatory to be obedient. Ignoring it will stifle my spiritual walk and hinder growth. Disclaimer: This post is intended to be a transparent account of one believer's journey through trials, grief, forgiveness and eventually hope. It is not written maliciously, but with the intent to provide enough detail for comprehension and learned lessons. Please don't misinterpret or misrepresent my words. This is not libel in any way.
While the stages of grief are listed as: denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, not everyone follows the pattern listed sequentially. But the end result of acceptance is the universal goal for walking through grief, and typically is an indicator for healthy mental health.
This year, for me, has brought many instances of grief, and I've learned more about myself coming through each one. Though not every instance has been extremely painful or one that causes me deep despair, I've felt the emotions come and go, tried to analyze them rationally and have learned to lean on God in new ways as a result.
Exhibit A: I am a stepmother. I've been married for over seven years to my best friend who had two daughters from his previous marriage. If you're not a stepmother who has drama at times, I apologize. This is a bit of a rant. In the small family unit we have, the dynamic is clearly broken. It is not God's design to have broken marriages and relationships that aren't clearly marked. So much pain resides. I'm encouraged by some families who weather the differences and come to accept new family members. My dynamic has not. I remain on the outside, chosen by my husband yet completely unwanted by others.
I continue to try to love with all that I have, and have been struggling to not become bitter over repeated offenses. After so much time has passed, there are still words and actions from so many on that side of the family, that have been deliberate to get a reaction from me. I, unfortunately, get stuck trying to determine why, after all this time, we are still playing games. It's frustrating and downright irritating. Maturity would help, but clearly that's asking too much. Insecurity changes people and lack of going through the grief process completely stunted some. So I back off and don't respond anymore.
But I'll just be honest. Some days I win the battle. Some days the enemy does. Value is sometimes hard to find when you're a "back burner". Others' feelings are valued higher than yours. Where a Christian spouse puts their spouse (2nd only to God), in divorced families, the lines seem to get blurred between kids, wives and even parents. Guilt inhabits my spouse at times and causes him to make decisions that put me out in the cold, and I'm left to fend for myself. This is so clearly not God's intention. But it is so in line with the enemy's intentions of killing and destroying. You think he's after your family? Check the relationship between you and your spouse. How's your marriage going? The enemy is after that first. If he can erode from the center of God's precious design, the rest will just unravel. Be on alert ALWAYS.
Sadly in our situation, the children (and others unknowingly) have been used repeatedly to carry out tasks that make no sense to me, and I'm left to question their motives and hearts. I can see the insecurity in the other parent, the need to prove something, the lack of accepting responsibility, the resistance to acceptance. I process and process, and when I feel like I'm finally okay again, something happens again to make me question my ability to love with Christ's love. I realize I'm not able to do it in my own power. And I'm expected to keep peace and not make waves. Who can imagine why I camp out in anger? The tower Grace built has no drawbridge, a deep and deadly moat and you had better believe there are alligators in there! Just try to get to me!!
But as much as my love for isolation and justified anger tries to grow, the Holy Spirit within me fights against this. I am not a new creation who is meant to harbor hurt and justified offenses. I am reminded repeatedly through Scripture WHO I am and WHOSE I am. And Jesus died for ALL of us; me, my hubby, the kids, the ex-wife, the in-law, etc. Whoever started the pain doesn't have to end it.
So I've grieved the relationships I thought I would have by now. I have accepted that I helped raise two daughters who keep me at arms length because of expectations on the other end, and am hopeful some day they can be released from that obligation. But until then, I accept that my husband chose me and that is enough. It's still painful, but he is well aware now. And we knew that choosing Jesus would do this to us. It's worth it all.
Ephesians 6:12 states, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms". I'm not fighting people for my value. Because I am a daughter of the King, I already HAVE value. I'm fighting the enemy whose goal is to destroy my ability to see my value. And if he can destroy that, he thinks he wins. Those who continue to hurt are only being used by him. And the truth is they have hurts they need to address as well that have absolutely NOTHING to do with me. So in turn, I give the offense to God to handle, and I carry on with my life.
Exhibit B: This year also brought a physical loss to grieve: my maternal grandmother passed away early April. Though expected due to her mental decline and physical inabilities at 91, the actual loss hit hard. A family member who abandoned our family almost 25 years ago made all of us wait EIGHT hours to show up to pay last respects while my grandmother's body laid on a table decomposing. I couldn't fathom the selfishness and the audacity to not care until after a shift of work was completed. Irritation took over and I had to surrender it. To me, the actions were incomprehensible.
I was able to forgive quickly in that situation, however, because I had been accustomed to the rejection by that family member and had noticed lack of healthy grieving patterns over the years I had known them. This was not surprising, just unbelievable regarding the relationship between that person and my grandmother who had passed. And dealing with the loss of my last living grandparent made me ache for Heaven like I can't even express. Lots of emotion, but we had more pressing tasks at the moment.
I watched my mom and her three sisters grieve completely differently and was sadly able to assess where each of them were on the day we laid Nanny to rest. Prayers were going up constantly due to strained relationships and for the ability for all four daughters to get through the motions so that each could move on and grieve separately later. Since my grandmother had dementia, she hadn't known me for a while. I had grieved her ability to do so long ago, but recognizing she was completely out of this world and onto the next took some time. That acceptance was a little slower.
A few weeks after her passing, while visiting my parents, I had asked my mom who had gotten Nanny's Bible. My mom went upstairs and brought it down for me. Immediately, I was actively grieving her again, this time seeing my grandmother as a young woman searching hard after her Lord. I read her notes in the margins, saw her highlighted verses, read her underlined passages with notations about soldiers, or those who suffered depression, or those seeking hope.
Reading her Bible was like reading her diary. There was such a connection and I wanted to respect that privacy, yet I couldn't tell her. She was already gone, and I had to grieve that she hadn't known me as the Christ follower I am today. How I wanted her to know that out of nine grand kids, I could say where I was – her prayers had paid off!! I wanted her to know that I fell away during my teens and twenties, but that God got a hold of me at 27 and I finally heard His voice! The ache for her to understand wasn't rational, but I knew I could find comfort in knowing the Lord knew my decision for Him and He knew her influence on my life.
Within the well-worn pages, I found a handwritten note from twenty years earlier when she was praying for my dad's salvation. That broke me! Her fervent prayers, in her beautiful cursive, locked into the pages clinging to hope. And all I could think was, "What a legacy." And yet, I have memories that aren't all that exciting when I think about time spent with her as a child. I know she loved me and I know she loved all of us grand kids, but I also know she struggled with depression and value. I have been able to forgive my grandmother for hurt from years ago, recognizing the similarity to the people Jesus prayed for on the cross, "They know not what they do." Recognizing her inability to stretch in certain areas allowed me to give grace that only the Lord can give. And I saw her hurting, so I forgave.
Exhibit C: I accepted two positions this year: one of them was a permanent position within the US government, and within six months, was asked to take the Lead position in the same department. Any of you who work in leadership know the isolation that can result because you are under management, but above those who produce. I'm smack dab in the middle and though I love the challenges, I have no counterpart to assist. So I have to go to God for wisdom, guidance and help when working certain tasks.
I have had one worker who attacks me on a routine basis. She is a great worker, but one who is verbal when she has ideas of how something should go, and isn't quiet about suggesting them to me. I listen and implement as needed, but don't make all of the decisions. I also have made mistakes in the course of my training period, which this person has pounced on repeatedly.
I find myself constantly having to forgive her so that I can remain professional, and simply because I cannot respond or address the situation without having the union involved. I choose to let things go, accept the support from upper management when they are aware and step in, but I can't say that it's not painful. One of the hardest things for me is when someone repeatedly does something to me and I have absolutely no clue why. I am simply her lead. I have to forgive. And God has been patient with me in learning this step. I turn the offense over to Him, and trust Him with the outcome. In turn, I am respectful through email, Skype and other means of communication and let it go.
Exhibit D: Two years ago, the Lord made it clear to my husband and myself that He was asking us to leave the church we had been growing at for almost ten years, and move to another church in the same town. We went, knowing only one person there, and tested the Word. It was biblical. Kevin knew immediately that we were being sent there. I had a month's worth of sermons before I was a believer for the move. But I began to accept that this is what He was calling us to, and a few months later, there was a clear reason why I was at our new church (they were seeking to start a new women's ministry – WOOHOO!).
But that didn't stop the enemy from using the new location as a means of value-shredding. Our old church was so close-knit. We knew everyone and everyone knew us. We were greeters, task-doers, project-completers, life group leaders and Bible teachers. Once I knew my spiritual gift, I jumped in response, and it was awesome to see Kevin grow too. Then we were asked to move…to a bigger church…to where ONE person knew us…to where we had to start relationships from scratch…to a place where it seemed everyone knew each other already. (I know these are lies from the enemy, but that doesn't mean I didn't rush out after each service each week!) [Insert panic here].
And to top it all off, those close friends from our old church began to fade away. Those who said they would stay in touch, didn't. We helped one couple move and after promises of dinners over and get-togethers have been to their home once since. There's still a bottle of wine that was meant for them as a housewarming gift collecting dust in my collection. God's response to my heart ache? Forgive.
Then last week during personal Bible study, I had a revelation. God spoke into my heart in one of those a-ha moments. Those who followed hard after the Lord all had one thing in common: They did it alone and on the dependence of God. Their expectations for man had to be surrendered, and the calling placed on their lives shifted to primary. Are we seeking the approval of God or man? Paul asks this very question in Galatians 1:10. If we are seeking men's approval, we aren't really servants of God. And I know what I want to be…with or without those I thought would be standing next to me, because I know WHO IS ALWAYS WITH ME.
New Exhibit A: David was "a man after God's own heart", yet if you ask some, they remember primarily his infidelity. I've walked in those shoes, as a recipient and the accused. I know what I deserve. I don't need human judgement, thank you. My Lord asked for a repentant heart and since I believe in and follow Jesus, He has granted me forgiveness and grace.
David was a Shepherd who took down Goliath (murder), and then later became King after Saul died – trying to murder David! God used Him, and David didn't have an army of his besties running with him at all times. He had his faith in what God could do.
Exhibit B: Rahab? She was a prostitute. Yet God used her to protect Joshua's spies and in return, her family would be spared when the Israelites came to destroy Jericho. She didn't have the acceptance of her town or the people of her profession. She exhibited faith and was obedient so her family could be protected.
Exhibit C: John the Baptist. He was a desert dweller who liked bugs and solitude, until he had to start baptizing people. Then he jumped wholeheartedly into his calling and was alone. Shouting for people to repent will definitely isolate you. But he kept telling the truth about what was happening (and who was coming). He was even imprisoned for calling out Herod's improper marriage, and was beheaded for it. But it didn't stop him from doing the right thing.
Exhibit D: C'mon…Noah? Clearly thought to be insane when he began building an ark, when there had never been a flood before. But he did it with faith. He obeyed, built and reaped the reward of listening. There were no neighbors cheering him and God on. There was no encouragement from the peanut gallery.
My understanding is now this: I have to follow hard after Christ on my own. It's great to have encouragement and biblically we are told to encourage others for accountability and such, so don't take my revelation to be saying we should exclude people and hide/isolate/build walls. That would be counter productive to what the Lord is asking us to do. But the ache of thinking others are going to come through will only lead to human disappointment. Expectations lead to conditions, which leads to conditional love, and truly, that's not love at all. So, we have to let go of the expectations and forgive those who hurt us: all of the time, not just when it makes sense.
The actual steps we need to take in our walk, will be completely by ourselves, holding the hand of Christ in faith.
Can we feel it tangibly? No. But we can definitely see it throughout Scripture that those who really trusted in God weren't clinging to human relationships. They were following hard after Christ. They were doing the unthinkable and were willing to die for it. They weren't pleasing men or seeking approval from others who were supposed to believe the same things as them (or even those who didn't believe the same things). They were stepping out in faith, answering the call, and accepting that it may lead them AWAY from family (Abraham and Lot much?).


text:
thirteenth survey wave
Belarusians' media consumption, attitudes to mobilization and political identities (poll conducted 11-20 November 2022).
Photo: Pavel Kritchko
Chatham House surveyed 858 respondents between 11 and 20 November 2022. Our sample corresponds to the structure of the urban population of Belarus and is adjusted by gender, age, size of settlement and level of education (RIM weighting).
The poll was conducted using the Computer Assisted Web Interview (CAWI) method, which in practice means that it was limited to internet users. Around 85 per cent of the population of Belarus uses the web, and internet users remain more economically and socially active.
Therefore, despite the fact that our sample has been weighted to accurately reflect the make-up of Belarusian society, it is possible that support for Lukashenka and his policies may be slightly higher than this poll indicates, since Lukashenka's supporters tend to be less socially and economically active than his detractors. We also acknowledge the 'fear factor' which may affect the results of the survey.
The statistical margin of error of our sample of 858 people (with a 95 percent confidence level) does not exceed 3.4 per cent.
Because of rounding, the sum of the response percentages in the graphs may not equal 100 per cent. All answers of all respondent answers are available as XLSX and SAV.
Belarusians' media consumption, attitudes to mobilization and political identities (PDF)
Медиапотребление, отношение к мобилизации и идеологическая самоидентификация беларусов (PDF)


text:
Welcome to the School of Economics at The University of Queensland
I am delighted to welcome you to The University of Queensland's School of Economics.
As the Dean of a large School in the world's top 50 Economics departments for its research, I have the privilege of working alongside some of the best and brightest in the field of Economics, and in partnership with our inspirational students and alumni and innovative partners.
The School strives for academic excellence, seeking to be externally facing, connective and relevant for the big challenges that are faced by private, public and third sector organisations. We support innovative thinking in research and education. We see ourselves as having a global social responsibility and we see the benefits of triangulating outstanding research and education with delivering beneficial outcomes to public sector, corporate and non-profit partners regionally and globally.
Our graduates are encouraged to think about how they can make a meaningful impact through their understanding of economic and financial markets, organisations and processes, of how individuals make and should be making big and small economic and financial decisions, and of how economies work as a whole.
But well beyond this, economics is a field that stimulates critical thinking, collaboration and application. The goal for our School is to use these skills to guide our people and projects, now and into the future, as we work to produce game-changing graduates who are flexible, creative and entrepreneurial.
We aim to empower our students to be adaptable, game-changing and global citizens and leaders of the future. We see future jobs for our students as essential to what we do – jobs in a wide range of career pathways. In an increasingly competitive global job market, we must help prepare students for the unknown.
Our aim is to empower students to be adaptable thinkers, and to respond and learn from the evolving economy. Within this context, we believe that thinking on a global scale and being exposed to an international learning environment are two of the keys to future success.
Our students benefit from access to innovative and award-winning teachers and a supportive and engaged School community focused on face-to-face and interactive teaching while leveraging on digital technologies.
We aim to foster a culture of diversity, inclusion and respect, where everyone is welcome. Whether you are starting your career at an undergraduate level, want to hone your skills and knowledge at the postgraduate level, or want to partner with us on research and industry-related projects, I encourage you to explore our School website and explore how UQ can help you go further.
Professor Daniel Zizzo
Academic Dean and Head of School
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