Plagiarism Essay Example for Free

Plagiarism Essay Plagiarism has become an increasing concern with the internet age. Many students are cutting and pasting information from the internet into personal papers without proper citations and using the information as their own. Many services such as Turnitin help educators determine the levels of plagiarism in papers and therefore how much authentic information is being submitted. If students are plagiarizing work, the education is undermined and schools are unable to guarantee the quality of education students are receiving. Plagiarism is â€Å". . . the act of passing off as one’s own the ideas or writing of another (Georgetown University 2006). † Many students will use someone else’s written idea, but change the words around to be their own. This is plagiarism and credit should be given to the person who had the idea first. Although plagiarism can be found in many forms, written plagiarism is the most prevalent. The internet has allowed students access to a much larger database of written works. Unfortunately, many students are becoming lazy and using other people’s written works as their own. Services such as Turnitin have been developed to help combat plagiarism. Turnitin is software that accepts written assignments from students; runs the papers through databases looking for sentence or phrase matches; and gives the instructor a similarity index for each submission (MacMillan 2007). Other websites such as plagiarism. org and iThenticate are also based on the same premise as Turnitin and provide information on how to combat plagiarism. Plagiarism is a rising problem in today’s education that will require centered attention. Services such as Turnitin and iThenticate have proved important tools for educators, but many questions remain about the effectiveness of these services. Similarity indexes have appeared that are not accurate on some papers submitted. Overall, the services are the best tools to date to combat plagiarism, but will need updating as time goes on for complete accuracy.

Leadership And Communication: Law Enforcement Agencies

Leadership And Communication: Law Enforcement Agencies Beginning with the studies and writings of Aristotle and Plato, communication has been dated back to the receiving of different means (talk, signals, writing, gestures, etc.). This is when it was determined that communication can be verbal or non-verbal. When communication is broken down to its main components, it is comprised of the source, transmitter, channel, receiver, and destination with noise occurring in the transmitter and receiver points. Noise is the interference of accurately sending information through the communication flow chart. How often does someone think about these components of communication? Once these components are studied and understood, the sender and/or receiver can see where the problem is in the order and find a resolution. Communication is essential when it comes to large organizations when there are a large number of employees to be reached. Interpersonal communication skills are critical when it comes to training and teaching others new skills. Basic c ommunication can function as a method to influence the actions, behaviors, even beliefs of people. As noted before, communication can be non-verbal. Use of body gestures, posture, visual aids, and using someone elses personal space can also be used to communication the message effectively. In verbal and non-verbal communication, different messages with the same method of sending it can be misinterpreted (Interpersonal Communication, 2004). For example, a pat on the shoulder from a boss may mean that person is in trouble or they are doing a good job. The basics of communication are crucial to understand in order to effectively send messages and receive the correct message. Going further in depth on the concept of communication, the sender and receiver both have roles they need to fulfill in order to successfully relay the correct message. In this context, organizations have a role in compiling the correct message and choosing the appropriate channel through which to send it, and the employee has the responsibility of receiving and properly decoding that message. Each organization must explore their means of communication and see which ones are most effective. The occurring problem with this is what can be called the active sender and the passive receiver in the communication process. When the receiver is passive in their receiving the message, they either do not want to hear what is being communicated or just listening to the message, not decoding it. This is when it is critical that the organization find out what methods will be most effective in sending a message. Once the organization finds the right means of communication that works for them, then the employees will be able to receive and decode the message correctly-thus, producing the desired outcome of the employee and better service from their organization. Once the correct means of communication is established, negotiating is the next step in the communication process. Through a well-established communication system, the organization and its employees can resolve conflicts or problems more effectively. For law enforcement agencies that are looking to share information with the public, this method of communication can also be utilized. With technology becoming more advanced and prevalent, there are much more options to be used when communicating with the public. Law enforcement organizations can accomplish much through both of these types of communication (Woerkum Aarts, 2008). The previously mentioned types and methods of communication can apply not only to law enforcement agencies, but to daily communication between strangers. Even on a horizontal chain of communication, these communication techniques can be utilized to more effectively receive and send a message. Think about the last time someone gave the wrong change for a transaction at the store. Was the message communicated? If so, how was it communicated? How was it received? The situation can take many different, unnecessary, turns if right means of communication are not used. There are many aspects to taking into account when analyzing the communication process. Leadership Leadership relies on communication in order to be effective. There are many ways and methods communication can be integrated to become a better leader. It is essential to differentiate managers and leaders. Influence and power are important when assessing the characteristics of a manager versus a leader. While acknowledging power and authority have roles in leadership, it is also important to note that ethics and morals more strongly define a better leader (Walker, 2004). One of the most important roles of a leader is to teach. To begin with the basics of leadership, a leader must teach their learners how to test their mental reality and discover how to change it. Next, the most crucial part of leadership and learning is for the teacher (leader) to ask the learners questions that help them explore their thoughts and ideas. This will help the learners develop better reasoning skills and more accurately convey their thoughts. A successful method of developing deeper and more critical t hought is simply asking the question, Why? When why is asked to answer an open-ended answer, there is a deeper level of thinking and even cognitive dissonance that will cause the learner to better critique their thought process. Other methods such as telling stories help engage the learner, we well as engaging reciprocating dialogue. The more important of these two, engaging in dialogue, is given guidelines in order to keep the leader/learner relationship healthy: 1. Suspend assumptions and certainties, 2. Observe the listener, 3. Listen to your listening, 4. Be aware of thought, and 5. Befriend polarization (of opinions) (Karathanos, 1998). Observing the listener is critical for the leader in order for them to be sure that the learner is accurately receiving the correct message. This can be detected by body language, facial expressions, and any speech/thought given. Listen to your listening means paying attention to what you are hearing and processing it correctly. Some people mere ly listen to others. Leaders need to ensure they are listening, not just hearing. Being aware of the learners thought and feedback is the most crucial part of the leadership/learner process. When the learner expresses thought or any other communication, the leader needs to be very aware, listening, and ready to help expound on the learners thoughts. Lastly, everyone has opinions. It is important for the leader to embrace these opinions so further discussion can possibly bring about other thoughts. When the basics of communication in the leader/learner relationship regard are taken into account, it can be applied to many concepts, especially organizations and hierarchy. One of the aspects of the previous passage that strikes most interest is asking the question why? That simple word can bring about a huge discussion of many things. It also allows for more complex thought and further discussion and exploration of a certain topic. Listening versus hearing is also pertinent to leadership and communication. Children always hear their parents say that it is time for them to get up. How many of those children are really listening to their parents when they say it is time to get up? Not many because most children remain in the bed to squeeze out a few extra minutes of shut-eye. When it comes to a law enforcement agency, it is imperative for the higher levels on the hierarchy to listen to the lower hierarchy, not just hear them. In order for any organization to meet their goals and needs, everyone must work together. This means that goals, concerns, and ideas must be communicated effectively, and listened to attentively, rather than just heard in passing. Different Types of Leadership The organizational hierarchy of an organization is an essential part of the organizations successfulness. Every organization has some type of matrix organizational hierarchy-meaning that there is a type of chain of command. Within this structure, there are teams and groups that have leaders, whether appointed or naturally emerging. One of the most important aspects of a team is that each member feels needed, feels like they belong, and feels like they are contributing to the team. The three key points of an organizational team are accountability, authority, and responsibility. Authority is power over others to coerce them into doing certain tasks. Responsibility is the fact that one person knows they must answer to another regarding certain tasks. Accountability is taking on the responsibility of getting a task done due to the responsibility that person has. There are also different types of leaders: the explorer, the coordinator, the driver, and the administrator. The explorer is th e type in which the person is very confident and adventurous and tends to assign daily problems to others rather than taking them upon themselves. The coordinator tends to be very conscientious of team members thoughts and opinions and is good in resolving team discourse and developing compromise. The driver type of leader is realistic, good at doing what they can with what little they have, and are very resourceful. Lastly, the administrator is very organized and is meticulous in the way their work is done. Everything must be done methodically and in a reasonable fashion according to the administrator (Organizational Design, 2004). Communication and Leadership in Law Enforcement Law enforcement agencies include all types of individuals, including the ones listed in the previous paragraph. There are many various types of hierarchy, chains of command, and leadership in law enforcement agencies. Let us first discuss how communication has been improved in law enforcement agencies. When people are asked to think about communication, most think of just speech and their verbal actions. It goes much deeper than that. One law enforcement agency saw it as so important to bring in a 40-hour class for its employees. The class aim was to help police officers better understand and handle those with special needs. This training class educated the officers on how to be more aware of others behavior, actions, and especially what they are saying. This, in turn, would help the officer better pick up on the small things that would help the situation on a whole (detecting drunkenness, mental illness, miscommunications, etc.) (Shafa, 2009). Training law enforcement employees on the differences of people and their disabilities, cultures, mental state, etc. is extremely important. Police officers very often have to make a split-second decision on the scene as to who is the hostile one, who is the victim, who is a danger, who is in danger, etc. This type of training discussed in the previous paragraph can definitely help law enforcement become more aware of their surroundings. More specifically, it will help them learn how to become more understanding and patient when it comes to communicating with different types of people. There are many different traits that build a good leader. Argumentativeness versus argumentative behavior is found to be traits in leaders. Argumentativeness is harmful to a group when it comes to communication. An argumentative person is just that by nature. Rarely is a decision unanimously voted upon when presented by an argumentative person. When a person is argumentative, they are verbally aggressive and destructive to productivity and the group. Yet, this verbal aggressiveness can be changed into something else to be productive. When it comes to argumentative behavior, this has shown to be very productive in leaders. The argumentative behavior can help bring about certain points that would not be brought up normally by a non-aggressive, assertive, or argumentative person. Once that point is brought up, the group can discuss it. But it takes someone with a certain trait, such as argumentative behavior, to bring about these points (Limon France, 2005). Argumentativeness versus argumentative behavior is a fine line to discuss. Someone with argumentativeness is more likely to be verbally aggressive, overpowering, and very opinionated, not accepting of the views of others. A person with argumentative behavior can actually benefit a group. When the argumentative behavior occurs, certain points are brought up that normally would not have been brought up. Once this window is opened, the group can discuss the issue. But the argumentative behavior has to be present in order to bring about this point. Let us consider that there is no one in the group with argumentative behavior. How will issues arise in order to be discussed? There may be the possibility that one person may speak up. Everyone has different traits. There is likely to be at least one person in the group that will disagree with someone elses view point and voice that. Although they may try to be very nice about it, the conflicting view is still brought up. Some officers who are new to the force feel they have an image to fulfill. They will often abuse their authority and act differently than they normally would in a different role. Attitude is everything when it comes to communication. When trying to improve upon ones communication skills, individually or as a group, much offense can be taken. They may see that they are being attacked because they are not communication well enough or they are just doing something wrong. Law enforcement has been given a bad label when it comes to bad cops, even regular cops, due to their communication skills. Awareness and training classes have been implemented in order to help officers better communicate with the public. These classes focus on paralanguage, hearing versus listening, kinesics, proxemics, and cultural considerations. Paralanguage is basically all other voice characteristics that accompanies the spoken language. Tone, volume, rate, and pitch all can convey different messages. If someone i s speaking in a fast, high-pitched tone, very loudly and fast, it can be easily concluded that they are excited, upset, or anxious. If they are quiet, speaking slowly at a low volume, things such as sadness, depression, shock, and other emotions can be detected. As spoken of before, hearing versus listening is a key factor in communication. Listening is the art of decoding what a person is saying rather than just merely letting their words in one ear and out the other (hearing). Kinesics is any communication that is nonverbal. Communication can be completely nonverbal. Gestures, facial expressions, posture, etc. can give a better clue as to what the person is feeling or what they are trying to communicate. Proxemics is the defining area around a person that would be considered as their comfort zone. A person will become much more alert to the other party once their comfort zone is impeded upon and they are made uncomfortable. When taking into account cultural differences, the most i mportant thing that we can remember is physical touching. Some cultures do not allow it, other encourage it, and what one action means to us may not mean the same thing to a person in a different culture (Pritchett, 1993). These five aspects of communication are crucial when encountering others, especially in law enforcement. Paralanguage is very often used in law enforcement. When an officer asks if a person has anything on them that they should know about, when that person says no, there is a lot of paralanguage happening that clues the officer in that the person is really saying yes. In law enforcement, hearing versus listening is somewhat hit-and-miss. If a police officer is dealing with a drunk man that is about to be locked up for the night anyway, how much listening is the officer going to practice? On the other hand, if the officer pulls up to a murder scene, how much listening is the officer going to practice? He will definitely be practicing a lot in order to gather as much evidence as he can, as opposed to the drunken guy. Kinesics is also a good tool for police officers to use when trying to get down to the real story. Kinesics is basically body language accompanied by speech. One can easil y say that they do not have any marijuana on them, but while they are saying they do not, they are fidgeting, putting their hands in their pockets and walking around. Proxemics is a good tool to use to get someone to talk. Each person has their personal space (usually around one foot from their body). Once that personal space is invaded, their self-confidence and security decreases. When the person sees that the police officer has invaded their personal space, they know they are probably going to search them anyway. Cultural considerations are a difficult concept to keep up-to-date on. Law enforcement and police officers would have to do research if they find themselves encountering many different cultural positions. For example, in the American culture, waving hello or good-bye is a good thing. In other countries, waving is seen as a serious insult. The same goes for the things we say. Therefore, we must be careful in what we say, do, and the way we act around those of a different culture. Inter-Organizational Communication When it comes to inter-organizational communication, a study shows that smaller agencies have the tendency to communicate better with larger agencies. The population and size of an organization depends on the type of communication and with whom to communicate. The studies presented in this case show that organizations tend to communicate with the same type and size of organizations as themselves (Roberts J. Jr., 2007). When speaking of law enforcement agencies today, this seems to ring true. Why would the Federal Bureau of Investigation communicate with the city police of a city with a population of 2,000 people for help, information, or ideas? Let us also look at it this way-why would the city police department of a city of 2,000 people contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation for help, information, or ideas? Placing these studies in the real world today seems to be accurate. We see many organizations of the same size and on the same level communicating and working together, but they rarely go outside of their comfort zone in this regard. For example, after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, how often did people see the local city police sitting with the state police and military guard to block off roads? How many local organizations were seen getting their feet dirty along with the National Guard? There were more volunteers than this case. It can be guaranteed that it was not seen too often, if any. The success of an organizations communication system depends on effective means of communication, relaying the message, and considering the receiving party of the message. When it comes to productivity and communication within law enforcement agencies, there is little face-to-face contact with those who are sending a message and those who are receiving the message. Let us focus on the managing powers of the organization and communications in that regard. If higher management was to become lax, what would happen to the lower hierarchy? If higher management tightens up and significantly increases communication with the lower hierarchy, what would happen? One study suggests that managers or administrators who monitor progress and work-productivity run the risk of having those being studied turn to more malfeasance in their position. Therefore, the study concludes that trust is imperative when it comes to the managing relationship-in both horizontal and vertical lines of communication. Horizontal communication is two street patrol officers (on the same level of the hierarchy) communicating. Vertical communication would be a street patrol officer bringing c oncerns to the Chief of Police (the Chief being higher on the hierarchy). Being that police work is somewhat discretionary for the police officer, trust is definitely vital in both vertical and horizontal lines of communication. The Chief of Police is rarely able to be in a patrol car, seeing exactly what his officers are doing. Therefore, the Chief of Police must have a certain amount of trust in his officers, as well as the officers for their Chief, trusting him to do what he says he will do. Let us take a look on the other side of things. As stated before, officers have a certain amount of discretion over how to conduct their job. Everyone knows that a police officer will get a free drink from the local gas station or a free meal from the local breakfast restaurant. What would happen if communication and trust all of the sudden became tightened up and enforced? Not only would these little acts be affected, the productivity of the police officer would also be affected. If a police officer is, so to speak, micro-managed, there is more likely to be more backlash than welcoming of the communication. This can cause the officer to become insecure or frustrated at the focus being more on them and cause less productivity in his work (Langbein Jorstad, 2004). Women as Leaders While focusing on what characteristics comprise a good leader, let us also discuss how women emerged in their positions throughout the law enforcement organization to become effective leaders. Women were first introduced to the criminal justice system basically to handle female inmates due to abuse and mistreatment by male employees. Women were eventually moved to mainly work social work and had separate work environments, pay scales, dress code, and duties. Once the economy struggled through the 1930s and 1940s, women were battling for employment positions, or bread winners for the family and were eventually demoted back to being housewives. Despite stereotypical roles, struggles, and sexism, women have proved successful in rising to leadership positions in law enforcement among other types of organizations. Most of this can be contributed to the Fourteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, both of which grant rights and equal protection to minorities. The factual stories of most successful women in leadership positions mainly include their past of lawsuits of discrimination, struggles with promotions, etc. Yet, these women have proved themselves worthy to be promoted to a high leadership position. While women have not yet met their goal in being treated equally as others, there has been a huge improvement over the years and many women successfully fulfilling leadership positions (Rienerth, 2001). Women have naturally integrated into the law enforcement scene. They have risen to leadership positions just as men have. Our country has made a lot of progress since the 1930s when women were suppressed from working and having household titles other than housewife or homemaker along with many other improvements in other regards. Today, there are many laws that protect the rights of not only women, but other minorities that have face hardships in gaining employment throughout our history. Nevertheless, something throughout all of this has proven successful due to our currently thriving and successful law enforcement agencies we have today. Groups and communication are a critical contribution when it comes to what comprises a healthy, successful, and thriving organization. Continually coaching, involving others, motivating, rewarding, and promoting teamwork can universally help organizations achieve their goals on the small scale and the large scale. In law enforcement agencies, there are many different departments that help the organization function on a daily basis. It is believed that authority or leadership is the reason for the failure or success of the agency. In this regard, leadership is believed to be the solution that can help stop unethical behavior. When a law enforcement agency has much more unethical behavior than others, management and higher leadership in the organization are usually to blame. When management is not consistent in carrying out their duties, communicating concerns, and especially when other employees see that they are not handling unethical employees the way they should, employee performan ce and productivity goes down and risk for unethical behavior rises. The whole organization suffers-tension mounts, low morale, lack of strife to achieve the same goal, and fragmentation of the organization can all occur (Wright, 1999). Suggested Further Research Further research should be conducted regarding the effectiveness of current practices by law enforcement agencies. We can only improve upon what we know we are already doing wrong. First, studies should be conducted on the current practices by different types of law enforcement agencies. These results should be studied then compared to the practices of successful agencies. Once these studies results are gathered, it should be further researched and calculated as to what the agency can do differently or more accurately pinpoint their weak points. Without duplicating the other agencys practices, further action should be taken in order to help what the agency is doing wrong. This can be done through policy and procedure, training, employee performance evaluations, and even staff meetings. Conclusion Established organizations and law enforcement agencies have policy and procedure in place. There should be more in place for each agency that outlines the chain of command and communication procedures. This should start from the bottom with training of new officers. Communication should be emphasized through a well-taught course during training. There should also be refresher courses at least yearly for those who have been with the agency for more than one year. Communication training should also be given to those who normally do not come in to contact with the public also. This training would be for administrative personnel, dispatchers, and office workers. This would be effective because even though these people do not interact with the public on a daily basis, communication still needs to be enforced and improved across the board in order for the organization to run smoothly. With the discussion given on leadership, training could help, but not in the same way communication traini ng would. In order to improve leadership skills and communication in that regard, ethical and equal treatment training would be beneficial. It is very unlikely that a 65-year-old Chief of Police veteran is going to change much just by watching a video. But the training would be very beneficial to those who are just coming into the agency. The same goes for this training also-it should be re-iterated every year to ensure all employees, new and old are staying fully trained in all regards. In summary, communication is the root of all beginnings of any organization. First, the organization must be established. Then the hierarchy must be constructed. From there, communications among leadership and those on the lower part of the hierarchy must be effective in order to achieve the organizations goals. If they are not being met, the solutions or methods discussed in this paper should be applied. Remembering there is a sender, receiver, and a channel through which a message is sent is essen tial to remember. The channel is they pivotal point in which the message can be effectively sent or effectively lost. The passive receiver concept must also be taken into account. When this is detected, either the channel for the message needs to be changed or the receiver needs to be addressed. Listening versus hearing impedes much progress due to party not fully understanding the message of the other. When leading a group of people, it is important for the teacher to effectively utilize their methods. One of the most important methods of ensuring the message is effectively conveyed is asking the question why? This opens up the listener to much more broad thinking to come to other, possibly alternative, ideas. A law enforcement officer dealing with a mentally handicapped person would communicate with that person differently than a sober, belligerent, 250 pound man. Understanding the other partys situation is very important when dealing with law enforcement. Leadership plays a role in everything that is discussed in this paragraph. Whether it is training, on the job work, or providing awareness, leaders are responsible for their employees performance regarding communication. This is where trust is fundamental for law enforcement agencies-vertically and horizontally in the hierarchy. If there is no trust between police officers and their Chief of Police, work-productivity will suffer due to low morale. This low morale will come from the officers thinking, If the Chief doesnt care, then why should we? Thus, leadership and communication go hand-in-hand when it comes to managing an organization and keeping that organization thriving and successful.

Descriptive Essay - The Old Root Cellar -- Descriptive Essay, Descripti

The Old Root Cellar Our summer trips to Colorado seemed to take forever. I was an eager four year old child who couldn't wait to get to my secret place. Every child has a special place: it might be a fort made out of sheets and couple of chairs, or maybe it's an easy chair that serves as a stage coach or a fighter plane. Maybe its a bed that becomes a ship protecting you from sharks. My special place was at my grandparents farm. My childhood was spent on military bases or in suburban neighborhoods. There were great places to play, but no place could match the old root cellar on my grandparents' farm, known as the "secret place". I really don't know who named it the "secret place" because it the place, it was what I did there that was secret. The place wasn't secret; what I did there was secret. I am the thirteenth grandchild and I am sure that many of my cousins spent hours playing there. In fact my mom spent a few hours there as a child. To me in my four year old's mind, it was all mine and no one else knew about the wonders it held. The root cellar is about 100 feet away from my grandparents house with a tomb like entrance. It was built on November 24,1937. I know this interesting fact because it is written in cement above two heavy wooden doors that open from the center out. I would open the doors and find a short stair case that led me to another set of doors. I opened up the second set of doors and I was inside the root cellar. The root cellar is made all of cement and has an oval shaped ceiling. Along the walls of the root cellar are wooden shelves that have sections for everything from cans of dried up paint to canned cherries with four inches of dust on them. There are old vases, broken tools and pictur... ...nts' house. She spent many hours with me making cookies and teaming up on my brother. I told her all my secrets and dreams. When I had to go back home, she would always write me letters. They were actually written by my grandpa. My mom tried to read them to me, but I wouldn't let her. However, I didn't know how to read, so I finally had to give in and let her read them to me. I spent many memorable summers at my "secret place." I will cherish those times and memories forever. Even though the root cellar was only a huge mound of dirt with a wood pile and a tree, to me, it was whatever I wanted it to be for that moment in time. It could be a bakery, a battle field or a castle. Having an imagination then, has helped me now to have an open mind to see things from other people's point of view and to be able to imagine the possibilities in any real life situation. .

Integration Of Umts And B-isdn: Is It Possible Or Desirable? :: essays research papers

Integration Of UMTS And B-ISDN: Is It Possible Or Desirable? INTRODUCTION In the future, existing fixed networks will be complemented by mobile networks with similar numbers of users. These mobile users will have identical requirements and expectations to the fixed users, for on-demand applications of telecommunications requiring high bit-rate channels. It will be necessary for these fixed and mobile networks to interoperate in order to pass data, in real time and at high speeds, between their users. But how far must this interoperation be taken? How much integration of the fixed and mobile network structures is needed? Here, a fixed network, B-ISDN, and a mobile network, UMTS, under development at the same time, are examined to see how well and closely they should work together in order to meet expected user needs. Work already taking place on this is discussed. BACKGROUND The Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), the third generation of mobile networks, is presently being specified as part of the European RACE technology initiative. The aim of UMTS is to implement terminal mobility and personal mobility within its systems, providing a single world mobile standard. Outside Europe, UMTS is now known as International Mobile Telecommunications 2000 (IMT2000), which replaces its previous name of Future Public Land Mobile Telecommunication System (FPLMTS). [BUIT95] UMTS is envisaged as providing the infrastructure needed to support a wide range of multimedia digital services, or teleservices [CHEU94], requiring channel bit- rates of less than the UMTS upper ceiling of 2 Mbits/second, as allocated to it in the World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC) '92 bands. UMTS must also support the traditional mobile services presently offered by separate networks, including cordless, cellular, paging, wireless local loop, and satellite services. [BUIT95] Mobile teleservices requiring higher bit rates, from 2 to 155 Mbits/second, are expected to be catered for by Mobile Broadband Services (MBS), the eventual successor to UMTS, which is still under study. [RACED732] Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network (B-ISDN), conceived as an all- purpose digital network that will supersede Narrowband ISDN (N-ISDN or ISDN), is also still being specified. B-ISDN, with its transport layer of Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is expected to be the backbone of future fixed digital networks. [MINZ89] It is anticipated that, by the year 2005, up to 50% of all communication terminals will be mobile. [CHEU94] The Mobile Green Paper, issued by the European Commission in 1994, predicts 40 million mobile users in the European Union by 2000, rising to 80 million by 2010. This gives mobile users an importance ranking alongside fixed-network users. [BUIT95] One result of this growth in mobile telecommunications will be the increase in teleservice operations that originate in either the fixed or mobile network, but

The Saltation of Malcolm X Essay examples -- History Civil Rights Pape

The Saltation of Malcolm X Saltation is a geological term used to explain how a stream current transports and erodes a rock. The rock starts out as a sharp, coarse edged fragment on a stream bed. The current then lifts the rock from the stream bed and transports it down stream. The current, which rotates and spins the rock, slowly smoothes its edges. In saltation, a counter current or other events causes the rock to slam against the stream-bed and grind its ruff edges into a smooth exterior. Eventually after it is lifted off the bed, the current adds the finishing touch. A rock which travels in a stream will always be eroded into a smooth sphere, but a rock that undergoes the process of saltation will always be more quickly eroded. Saltation is an easy way to apply the necessity of the revolutionary philosophy of Malcolm X to the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement was the stream, a powerful stream which had been gaining its volume since the first black individual was enslaved in America. The American conscious is represented by the coarse edged rock, a rock that grew coarser with the birth and education of every American. Malcolm X is the variable which causes the rock to undergo a sort of saltation, in which the American conscious became more aware of its racial problems. The American conscious was then carried on by the Civil Rights Movement to become a fully integrated, accepting conscious. Malcolm X gained his radical notoriety and his ideas on revolution from the religion of Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, and he later used this radicalism to further the Civil Rights Movement by intentionally playing the devils advocate to the philosophy of Non-Violence. When he was affiliated with the Nation... ...n Books, 1993. Black Man’s History by Malcolm X. @ www. uky.edu/StudentOrgs/AWARE/archives/MalcolmX/history.html Breitman, george. Malcolm X Speaks, Selected Speeches And Statements. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1990. Karim, Benjamin. Remembering Malcolm. New York: Carroll and Graf Publishers Inc., 1992. King, Coretta Scott. My Life With Martin Luther King Jr. New York: Holt, Reinhardt, and Winston, 1969. leland.stanford.edu/group/King/KingBios/breifbio.htm Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site @ www.nps.gov/malu/ Novak, Philip. The World’s Wisdom. New Jersey: Castle Books, 1994. Pinkney, Alphonso. Black Americans. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1993. Playboy. Malcolm X/ Alex Haley Interview. @ www.uidaho.edu/~yusuf921/malcolm x.html Washington, James. I Have A Dream, Writings And Speeches That Changed The World. San Francisco: Harper

Leadership Succession

Is it necessary for Citigroup to have a leadership succession plan? Why? Leadership succession planning is very important from two perspectives. First of all, it helps to select highly-potential candidates, who have strong leadership abilities and possess all necessary qualities to assume high administrative positions in the future. Besides, leadership succession plan also includes the measures on giving a wide range of learning, training and development opportunities for such individuals in order to improve their professional performance, proficiency, managerial abilities, leadership skills, and so on.Undoubtedly, if Citigroup does not pay attention on the situation around Sandy Weill right now, the company’s risk to be left without an effective leader will be increasing. Sandy Weill is a man over 70, and at this age his professional abilities as an executive can get worse at any time. That is why, I suppose, there is an urgent vital need for the company to select and start p reparing someone who would be able to succeed Mr. Weill.2. Who should have the responsibility of preparing a succession plan?For large organizations and corporations specialists suggest establishing special Leadership Planning Boards, which would carry out the main activities on leadership succession planning. Such activities have to include identifying critical positions, establishing criteria and identifying the best candidates (at least two for one position), reviewing and monitoring their professional progress and personal development, interviewing and evaluating every candidate and coming up with some conclusions and suggestions.Undoubtedly, such departments as Business Human Resources Units or Corporate Human Resources Departments have to be also involved in leadership succession planning process. They have to assist Leadership Planning Boards and give all necessary information about potential candidates. Top managers from Board of Directors or Chief Officers have to take all the responsibilities on supervising and controlling the effectiveness of leadership succession planning process (Tennessee Valley Authority, 2000).3. Should the succession plan include insiders? Outsiders? Or both?I think that it is preferable for any company or organization to select the candidates from the insiders. If there are qualified and talented managers, who worked and had opportunity to develop together with the company for some time, they are certainly better aware of the specifics of company’s business, strategies of management, organizational culture and traditions, etc. Moreover, they could already win some reputation and respect of the employees; therefore, they are potentially effective leaders or top managers.But there can be a situation when there are good outside candidates, who had no experience of working with the company. In such case, I suppose, it is necessary not only to interview such candidates and estimate their potential effectiveness, but also in volve them into business activities of the company as soon as possible. I strongly believe that working closely with the leaders and learning more and more from them is a key factor for good performance of any successor.4. Why do executives such as Weill avoid the succession issue?I think that Mr. Weill can have some personal reasons for doing this. Possibly, he does not take leadership succession as a reality or does not want someone to be on his back. Maybe he assumes any succession plan as the necessity of his resignation or as a sign of lack of trust from his colleagues. There’s also probability that he is trying to avoid all succession plan initiatives in order to prove own competence and uniqueness.Nevertheless, I believe that this situation is not a typical one, especially for such huge organizations as Citigroup. Usually, top managers and executives demonstrate concern about their organizations and get actively involved in succession planning. They can point on some p ossible successors, work with them, train and promote them in order to prepare such candidates for taking higher positions and make them understand, what the organization requires to remain successful.References:Leadership/Succession Planning. (2000) Tennessee Valley Authority. Retrieved June 29, 2007, from: . Ritter, J. (2003, April 15) Succession Planning: A Tool for Success. The Galt Global Review. Galt Western Personnel Ltd. Retrieved June 29, 2007, from: .

Agricultural exploitation and human effects on the environment

Humans rely on earth's resources for a high quality of life. As the population surge continues, more food has to be produced to meet the high demands of people. However in relying on more and more resources, the population have forgotten to stop and think about the environment. The growth in human population has caused: * More waste is being produced. * More pollution is being caused. * Non-renewable energy resources, such as coal, oil and natural gas, are being used up rapidly. * Raw materials are being used up rapidly. Agricultural production has been rising over the last few decades. Production has been rising due to an increase in the development of various crops and animals, and more intensive methods of farming. New varieties if crops and farm animals have been developed by artificial selection and genetic engineering. Crops can be genetically engineered to be resistant to pests. Many foods now contain genetically modified organisms. Some humans think that these will help food production and maintain high standards of living for the population. However, there are people that believe that we have the ability to produce adequate food without genetically modified organisms. They believe that the genetically modified organisms should be researched into for long term effects on health and environment. Agriculture is becoming more and more mechanised and the conditions can be controlled much more than before. On many arable farms machines have replaced labourers almost entirely. Every stage of crop production is carried out by machines. Large amounts of pesticides are used to increase crop yield by reducing competition from weeds and minimizing losses to disease and pests. Inorganic and organic fertilisers keep mineral levels high in the soil. Without fertilisers, heavy harvesting, of most crops would deplete the soil of the minerals. A deficiency of any one mineral limits plant growth. Fertilisers can increase crop yields however above a particular level, the increase in crop yield for each unit of fertiliser used gets less. Worse to that is that if a high over use of fertiliser is used then it will result in a decrease in crop yield and also have the long lasting effect on the environment. Among the most intensive forms of farming are greenhouse cultivation of plants and factory farming of animals. Both these methods grow organisms indoor in a confined space under controlled environmental conditions. Growing plants in greenhouses allows conditions such as light intensity, temperature, carbon dioxide concentrations, and mineral levels to be controlled artificially. Many people are against factory farming due to the following reasons: * Intensive cultivation is not cost effective because it relies on the heavy use of fossil fuels * Antiobioitcs, pesticides, and growth-promoting substances may harm human health and the environment. * Excessive use of antibioticvs in farm animals is contributing to the evolution of antibiotic resistance * Intensive cultivation isn't cost effective and is damaging to the environment whereas organic farming isn't dependent on fossil fuels and is better for the environment. Land clearance for cultivation and for grazing reduces the number of habitats available. Tropical forests are cleared for timber and land use on a massive scale, destroying important habitats and making the soil unstable. Destruction of a habitat reduces variation and the gene pool. Maximum use is made of available agricultural land by intensive cultivation, including the use of nitrate fertilisers. This causes there to be soil erosion and eutrophication. Agricultural pests cause economic damage to crops and farm animals. They can have a terrible effect especially in monocultures in which only one crop is grown. These systems are simpler than natural ecosystems and usually lack the predators of pests. Also, the growing the same crop on the same land again and again may allow the pests to increase in number. Pests attack crop plants and animals – which reduces yield. They cause disease, spoil stored food, compete for resources and increase the chance of pathogenic disease. These factors have a bad effect leading to a reduced amount of food produced and a huge economic loss for farmers. à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Pests for plants include weeds, insects and crop diseases à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Weeds compete with crops for water, light and ions, – reducing crop yields à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Insects damage crops – By eating leaves – photosynthesis – Tunnelling into stems – transport – Attacking roots – water uptake – Destroying buds and shoots Pesticides are poisonous chemicals used to control organisms considered to be harmful on agriculture or organisms involved in disease transmission. Pesticides should be specific, non persistent (biodegradable) and shouldn't accumulation. Pest control cannot completely remove a pest. The point is to remove enough of a pest so the farmer can get a good profit return. Pests can also be controlled chemically. This involves the use of herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides to kill the pests. The chemicals can be sprayed onto the crop, applied as powders or smokes in enclosed areas, sprayed onto animals or added to animal feed. Advantages of chemical control: * Pests are destroyed quickly and fairly cheaply * Chemicals can be applied on a small level * Doesn't need a high level of skill * Very effective means of control Disadvantages of control: * Chemicals aren't specific and can damage non target insects. With the removal of insect predators, there may be a resurgence in the pest * Pesticides contain poisonous chemicals which could enter into food chains likely to then kill birds, fish or mammals. * Pests could become resistant to pesticides. * Chemical residue could harm humans Chlorinated organic chemicals such as DDT were constant and remained in the environment for long periods, which is not what is required of a modern pesticide. However DDT was over used and this led to resistance from many species of insects. The suitable insecticide is an effective pesticide at low quantities and kills harmful insects. Another key point is that it should have no environmental effects. Researcehrs are constantly making progress on developing on new compounds. In the latest generation of insecticides, the pyrethroid has been developed from the flower of the plant named Pyrethrum. However, the effect of the natural pyrethrum was found to be short term as it was quickly broken down by sunlight. Biochemists then used the natural pyrethrum as a beginning point to develop a much safer, stable compound, suitable for insect control in field crops. Farmers should spray their crops in early morning or late evening to avoid harming passing by bees and ladybirds. Chemical pest control may involve the use of: * Herbicides – for control of weeds * Insecticides – for control of insects * Fungicides – for control of fungi * Molluscicides – for control of slugs and snails There have been many problems with insecticides since the primary idea behind insecticides was to kill all the pests possible – the effects on non-target organisms wasn't looked into, some of which are beneficial. Biological control target natural enemies to maintain the population of pest species. A beneficial organism (agent) is deployed against a harmful organism (target). The purpose is to reduce the pest population down to a level which is economically profitable. If the pest population was completely wiped out then it would have a counter effect because there would be no food for the natural predator which would soon die out. Advantages of biological pest control: * Can provide long term control if population equilibrium is reached * Even though it is expensive in the short term (introductioin), it can work out cheaper in the longer term * Unlike chemical control, it's highly specific to a pest which means less chance of having an effect on non target organisms. * No environmental contamination * It can be used in a glasshouse situation Disadvantages of biological control * Success needs deep level of skill and research. This can be expensive. * Examples which have gained success are fairly few in number * A thorough amount of knowledge is required about the life cycle. * Possibility of releasing organisms with unknown ecological effects * Consistent input is needed to maintain a population stability There are advantages and disadvantages of both chemical and biological control. Integrated pest management is the merging of the two methods. It is seen as a very effective way of tackling pests. This is achieved by: * Varying cultivation techniques * Use of biological agents * Minimal and well-targeted use of highly selective pesticides. Deforestation is having a effect on the environment. They are being cut down for reasons such as: * Sale of valueable timber * Freeing of land * Clearing land for roads The trees are being cut down at a much faster rate than they can regenerate. The consequences of deforestation are: * Soil erosion – digging and ploughing loosen up the topsoil, which is aiding in the process of soil erosion. * The removal of vegetation affects the regional climate mainly by reducing rainfall which increases speed of desertification. * Deforestation of the watershed causes lowland flooding. The removal of vegetation on the higher slopes of valleys consequents in heavy rain sweeping exposed soil to the floods below. On the lower slopes, plants and leaf litter would act as a sponge and soak up water gradually released into the soil. Instead, due to the absence of plants, only evaporation occurs. This is generally slower than transpiration in returning water vapour to the atmosphere, so soil conditions become wetter. * Climate change – A reduction in the level of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as there is less global synthesis. This leads to global warming. Cutting down forests hasn't much effect on global carbon dioxide levels however since forests burn rapidly releasing lots of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which assists in acid rain and helps towards global warming. Destruction of natural habitats leads to reduction in biodiversity. It is estimated that around 50% of the earth's species live in the rainforests even though rain forests only take up around 10% of the earth's land. If natural habitats are exploited then it could make them become extinct. This may lead to a loss in medical properties of some tropical plants which haven't been looked into. Agricultural is way of combating deforestation. Possible solutions to problems of deforestation: * Managed forests involving the sustainable replanting and regeneration. * Providing protected areas to preserve species. There have been dramatic increases in the intensity and efficiency of commercial methods. This has meant that over-fishing is happening in many areas of the world. Fish are a renewable source. Over-fishing results in a depletion of younger fish, so that the breeding stock can't maintain previous population levels. If the rate at which they are removed exceeds that at which they have been produced, their supply is disappearing. Fishing isn't examined for possible negative issues. In a fish farm, fish are replaced by artificial breeding. However in the ocean, fish are taken out of the sea from humans with no aim to replace them by breeding. Over fishing often causes both a fall in the number of fish and a change in population structure: young smaller fish may become increasingly common as fishing fleets try to maintain the size of the fish they catch. Catching large numbers of small fish before they spawn can seriously reduce their ability of their species to reproduce. This could lead to a terrible fall in the local population of smaller fish. However fishing is likely to halt due to economic reasons, fishing is likely to stop before it can cause extinction. International agreements have been gained on control like: * Enforcing exclusion zones * Imposing quotas * Restricting the mesh size of nets – bigger nets may allow juvenile fish to escape and reproduce. * Having closed seasons for fishing