Carefully-selected inmates speak to students, juvenile offenders, drug treatment program participants, and members of community groups to give them a first-hand understanding of the consequences of drug use and crime.

Michael K. Powell, the F.C.C.'s current chairman, said yesterday that he would travel to New York tomorrow to meet with industry executives, analysts and debt-rating agencies to "gain a first-hand understanding" of recent changes in the telecommunications industry.

Coco is the whimsical acronym for the Children's Opera Company of Ossining, established by Arthur Jay to give youngsters first-hand understanding of opera as a dramatic form.

Interns gain a first-hand understanding of the legislative process and the operation of executive branch agencies.

They began their ambassadorial role with a message of support for the Team GB Ambition Programme, announced today, which offers aspiring athletes and coaches a first-hand understanding of the Olympic environment during the Games.

To gain a first-hand understanding of the situation on the ground and the military risks of the Bundeswehr's mission, Guttenberg went several times to the frontlines of the Afghan conflict.

Eisenhower, "at once the most subtle and brutal strategist of the nuclear age," rejected the concept of a limited nuclear war, reasoning, with a general's first-hand understanding of battle, that fear would overrule reason once nuclear weapons came into play.

Twelve courses later, we waddled out, with a first-hand understanding of the creativity, skill and tensions behind a great restaurant meal.

Shirley Matthews has a first-hand understanding of that equation.

It is unique in offering accreditation surveys that are conducted by professionals who are actively involved in ambulatory care and have first-hand understanding of the specific issues facing the facilities they survey.