Love and Interest, Tree of Red Stars essays

Love and Interest, Tree of Red Stars essays Often in life we are faced with challenges that force us to make decisions that can have conflicts with other values and beliefs that we have. In the novel Tree of Red Stars by Tessa Bridal, the characters Madga, Emilia, and Marco are all faced with difficult decisions that force them to make choices between what they love, and what they value in life. The time is set in the 1960s and the country of Uruguay is having an internal conflict, or revolution, in which rebels are trying to take control of the government. Anyone living in a country like this would have to make difficult decisions, such as rebelling, being neutral, or patriotic. The choices and consequences of these decisions affect not only the people that make them but also the people around them. Madga is one such person who touched the lives of many people in making her decision to join the Tupas. Her involvement eventually led to the unfortunate arrest and punishment of one of her best friends, Emilia. Madga is merely trying to fight for a better government that will be responsible. Her interests and involvement here became a conflict with her love for Emilia. Ironically, the exact opposite may happen as well. Ones love for another can force them to make decisions that conflict with their interests. Even though a person may want something, if it forces them to give up who or what they love, then they have to make a decision. Emilia is faced with very difficult choices several places in the book, and she shows her tendency at a very young age, to pick what she loves over other values she might have. Emilia loves Peter, but because of the Tupas and the revolution in Uruguay, their relationship is torn apart. Emilia believes it is all the Tupas fault, and would much rather have a family with Peter and live in a corrupted country, than to possibly not be with Peter. People make these decisions based on what they believe to b ...

How to Write a Great College Application Essay Title

How to Write a Great College Application Essay Title Your application essays title is the first thing the admissions folks will read. Although there are many ways to approach the title, youll want those words at the top of the page to make the proper impression. Why a Title? Lets start with the  basics: Is your essay about something? Do you want your reader to know what its about? If so, your essay needs a title. Ask yourself which work youd be more excited to read: The Casque of Amontillado or Some Random Story by Edgar Allan Poe Thats About Something that Youll Figure Out After You Read It. If you dont provide a title, you dont give your reader any reason to be interested in beginning your essay other than a sense of duty. Make sure the college admissions folks are motivated to read your essay by curiosity, not by the necessity of their assigned drudge work. Picture a newspaper in which every article lacks a title. What article do you want to read? Which ones sound interesting? Clearly a newspaper without titles would be ridiculous. Application essays arent that different. Your reader wants to know what it is that he or she is going to read. The Purpose of an Application Essay Title Weve established that you need a title. But what makes a title effective? First off, think about the purpose of a title: A good title should grab your readers attention.Related to #1, a title should make your reader want to read your essay.The title should provide a sense of what your essay is about. When it comes to #3, realize that you dont need to be too detailed. Academic essays often have titles that look like this: Julia Camerons Photography: A Study of the Use of Long Shutter Speeds to Create Spiritual Effects. For an application essay, such a title would come across as over-written, pompous, and ridiculous. Consider how a reader would react to an essay with the title,  The Authors Trip to Costa Rica and How It Changed His Attitude Towards Biodiversity and Sustainability. After reading such a long and belabored title, the admissions folks wouldnt feel like they need to read the actual essay. Sample Good Essay Titles In general, there are no concrete rules for titles. Good titles can take a variety of forms: A good title can be clever or play with words. See, for example, Porkopolis  by Felicity or Buck Up  by Jill. Porkopolis is a nonsense word, but it works well for an essay on becoming a vegetarian in a meat-centric world, and Buck Up employs both a literal and figurative meaning of the phrase. As youll read below, however, you dont necessarily want to try to be too clever. Such efforts can backfire.A title can be provocative. As an example, a student who wrote about encountering new foods while abroad titled her essay Eating Eyeballs. If your essay focuses on a humorous, shocking or embarrassing moment in your life, its often easy to write an attention-grabbing title. Titles such as Puking on the President, Romeos Ripped Tights, and The Wrong Goal are sure to peek your readers interest.An essay title can be concise and straight-forward. Dont feel that you need great wit and alliteration in your title. Simple and direct language can be quite effective. Consider, for example, The J ob I Should Have Quit  by Drew,  Wallflower  by Eileen, and Striking Out  by Richard. These titles dont play with words or reveal great wit, but they accomplish their purpose perfectly well. In all of these cases, the title has provided at least a partial sense of the essays subject matter, and each has motivated the reader to continue reading. What the heck does Porkopolis mean? Why did you eat eyeballs? Why should you have quit your job? Avoid These Title Mistakes There are some common missteps that applicants make when it comes to titles. Be aware of these pitfalls: Vague language. Youll be off to a remarkably bland start if your essay is titled Three Things That Matter to Me or A Bad Experience. Bad (or good or evil or nice) is a painfully subjective and meaningless word, and the word things might have worked well in Tim OBriens The Things They Carried, but it rarely adds anything of value to your essay. Be precise, not vague.Broad, overly general language. This is a continuation of the vague language problem. Some titles try to cover far too much. You dont want to call your essay My Life Story or My Personal Growth or An Eventful Upbringing. Such titles suggest that you are going to attempt to narrate years of your life in a few hundred words. Any such effort is doomed to failure, and your reader will be doubting your essay before beginning the first paragraph.Overblown vocabulary. The best essays use clear and accessible language. When a writer attempts to sound intelligent by adding unnecessary syllables to every word, the reading experience is often torturous. When an essays title is My Utilization of Erroneous Rationalizations During My Pupilage, the readers immediate response is going to be pure dread. No one wants to read 600 words of that garbage. Strained cleverness. Be careful if youre relying on wordplay in your title. Not all readers are fans of puns, and a title may sound ridiculous if the reader doesnt understand a supposedly clever allusion. Cleverness is a good thing, but test out your title on your acquaintances to make sure it works.Clichà ©s. If your title relies on a clichà ©, youre suggesting that the experience that you are narrating is unremarkable and commonplace. You dont want the first impression of your essay to be that you have nothing original to say. So if you find yourself writing When the Cat Got My Tongue or Burning the Midnight Oil, stop yourself and reevaluate your title.Misspellings. Finally, nothing is more embarrassing than a misspelled title. There, at the top of the page in bold letters, youve used the word its instead of its, or you wrote about patients instead of patience. We all make these mistakes, but take extra care with your application essay. An error in the title is a sure way to elim inate any confidence your reader has in your writing ability. A Final Word About Application Essay Titles Many writers- both novices and experts- have a difficult time coming up with a title that works well. Dont hesitate to write your essay first and then, once your ideas have truly taken shape, go back and craft the title. Also, dont hesitate to seek help with your title. A brainstorming session with friends can often generate far better titles than a solitary session of pounding your head on your keyboard. You do want to get your title right- its going to make an immediate impression on the admissions folks who read your essay, and you clearly want them to enter your essay in a curious and eager state of mind. Finally, if youre writing your essay for the Common Application, keep in mind that your title will go in the text box with the rest of the essay, and the title will count toward your essays overall word count.

Vulnerability of an organizations information system Research Paper

Vulnerability of an organizations information system - Research Paper Example Vulnerability in regard to organizational information systems can be defined as â€Å"a weakness that allows a threat to be realized or to have an effect on an asset† (Kim & Solomon, 2010, p.6). Thus it can be realized that a threat is not capable of affecting an information system unless the system is weak or vulnerable not to survive an attack (Kim & Solomon, 2010, p.6). Thus the vulnerabilities of an organization’s information systems reflect that the organization’s control over the systems has either become lost or ineffective (Whitman & Mattord, 2011, p.65). In the present times, the cyber world has taken a significant position in both organizational as well as personal lives. The most critical factor that has been obtained as making the information systems vulnerable to cyber threats and attacks is the human element. The information technology (IT) managers of today’s business organizations are thus encountered with severe challenges in regard to suc h vulnerabilities (Platsis, 2012). The present study focuses on the vulnerabilities those organizational information systems presently challenging the IT managers, with over viewing the most important cyber security vulnerability and considering measures that might protect organizations from such vulnerabilities. ... All these media, if vulnerable, can lead to cyber intrusions causing cyber threats or attacks, thus affecting the entire information system of the organization. Hardware and Software: Information systems viruses and other malwares have the capability to destroy the software system of computers, or they might affect the security functions of the system. Thus this makes the software vulnerable allowing outsiders to steal information and use their commands on the organizations’ computers and information devices to manipulate information as per their need. This initiates the need for an organization to consider the use of antivirus tools essentially as well as update the system’s functions on a regular basis to detect any vulnerability, in advance (Kazmeyer, 2013). Considering the vulnerabilities of the hardware, it is of major concern since the unsecured terminals can be taken advantage of by outsiders along with the help of network access points, using which they might ge t access to systems that are otherwise protected. Security functions may be circumvented by an intruder if they get access to server rooms or floors where the computer systems are placed for work. Thus in order to prevent this, organizations need to have strict control over the access of any individual to the hardware such that such vulnerabilities may not be taken advantage of (Kazmeyer, 2013). Transmission Media: The media of transmission in organizations include both cabling as well as wireless communication media. In case of cabling, wires are used for transmission, that in many cases pass through the walls and channels of the organization eventually terminating the plugs of the walls

Change Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Change Management - Essay Example In a world which is slowly shrinking, most organizations, especially multi-nationals, have a pool of employees spread across the world or they decide to outsource part of the staff internationally, where the new employees are from a different part of the world. This means immense cultural diversity and makes it a challenge to implement a uniform, organisation-wide change, where all employees would understand and agree with the change. Radically new technologies: Employees can be overwhelmed with the rapid advancement of technology, which could be challenging to work with in the absence of proper guidance, and make them feel inadequate. The point of origin of change: Change is mostly planned and initiated in the upper echelons of the organization because the need for change can be perceived by only those who have access to the bigger picture, or the external challenges like market forces and increasing competition. They know how the change would affect the organization as a whole, but there is usually no clear concept in the higher management about how the change would affect the worker on the floor, and hence they are often unable to communicate the consequences of change adequately, leaving the staff confused: â€Å"Many change projects are designed and launched at such a high level in the organization that all the planning is unrelated to the everyday, operational details that make up the lives of most workers. In such cases, the decision-makers often have no idea how changes will actually make anyone's life or job.

Attendance Monitoring System Essay Example for Free

Attendance Monitoring System Essay The system tracks the performance of employees regarding their attendance on a daily basis. 1. 2 System Overview Attendance Monitoring System provides a foolproof solution using fingerprint authentication with the use of a Barcode Scanner for input and affiliated with payroll ystem and human resource development system and provides efficient reports of the company.. The system records details such as arrival and departure of employees besides monitoring their attendance on a daily basis. 1. 2. 1 System Description Attendance Monitoring System takes input in a barcode scanner to collect and process data. Attendance monitoring system will provide the needed data for the payroll system for the deductions of the employee to be process. It provides reports of the DTR, the absences, and the leave of the employee. 1. 2. 2 System Organization Attendance Monitoring System has a barcode scanner that takes the input of the employee in barcode id. The system will monitor the daily, monthly, yearly record of the employees absences, leaves, and DTR. It computes for the late of the employee for the deductions. 1. 3 Project References http://www. digitscorp. com/insight/attendance-and-time-monitoring-system. html   http://www. bioenable. co. in/fingerprints_software_development_kit. htm   http:// www. aryah. net/TAMS. htm 1. 4 Glossary Provide a glossary of all terms and abbreviations used in the manual. If it is several pages in length, it may be placed in an appendix. 2 MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW The subsequent sections provide a brief description of the implementation and major tasks involved in this section. 2. 1 Description of Implementation This section provides a brief description of the system and the planned deployment, installation, and implementation approach. * The Attendance Monitoring System will be implemented along together with the Human Resource Development Information System and Payroll System, in which it can operate as a single software. 2. 2 Points of Contact In this section, identify the System Proponent, the name of the responsible organization(s), and titles and telephone numbers of the staff who serve as points of contact for the system implementation. These points of contact could include the Project Manager. Program Manager, Security Manager. Database Administrator, Configuration Management Manager, or other managers with responsibilities relating to the system implementation. The site implementation representative for each field managers and staff with whom the implementation must be coordinated. 2. 3 Major Tasks This section provides a brief description of each major task required for the implementation of the system. Add as many subsections as necessary to this section to describe all the major tasks adequately. The tasks described in this section are not site-specific, but generic or overall project tasks that are required to install hardware and software, prepare data, and verify the system. Include the following information for the description of each major task, if appropriate: What the task will accomplish   Resources required to accomplish the task Key person(s) responsible for the task Criteria for successful completion of the task   Examples of major tasks are the following:   Providing overall planning and coordination for the implementation   Providing appropriate training for personnel   Ensuring that all manuals applicable to the implementation effort are available when neededProviding all needed technical assistance Scheduling any special computer processing required for the implementation   Performing site surveys before implementation Ensuring that all prerequisites have been fulfilled before the implementation date Providing personnel for the implementation team Acquiring special hardware or software Performing data conversion before loading data into the systemPreparing site facilities for implementation 2. 4 Implementation Schedule In this section, provide a schedule of activities to be accomplished during implementation. Show the required tasks (described in Section 2. 3, Major Tasks) in chronological order, with the beginning and end dates of each task. 2. 5Security If appropriate for the system to be implemented, include an overview of the system security features and requirements during the implementation. 2. 5. 1 System Security Features In this section, provide an overview and discussion of the security features that will be associated with the system when it is implemented. It should include the primary security features associated with the system hardware and software. Security and protection of sensitive bureau data and information should be discussed, if applicable. Reference the sections of previous deliverables that address system security issues, if appropriate. 2. 5. 2Security During Implementation This section addresses security issues specifically related to the implementation effort, if any. For example, if LAN servers or workstations will he installed at a site ith sensitive data preloaded on non-removable hard disk drives, address how security would be provided for the data on these devices during shipping, transport, and installation because theft of the devices could compromise the sensitive data.

Common Misconceptions of Islam Essay -- Papers

Did you know that there are currently 1.5 billion Muslims living throughout the world? One in every five people in this world is a Muslim. It is proven that Islam is the fastest growing faith in the world and also happens to be the most widely and openly misunderstood faith as well. Americans have misconceptions about Muslims concerning the rights of Muslim women and whether Muslims believe in the existence of Jesus. "When a gunman attacks a mosque in the name of Judaism, a Catholic IRA guerrilla sets off a bomb in an urban area, or Serbian Orthodox militiaman rapes and kills innocent Muslim civilians, these acts are not used to stereotype an entire faith." How many times is it heard that a Christian, Jew, or any other majority robbed a bank or was involved in a mass murder? Very few, which is ironic because once a Muslim does such perils, it is blamed on the faith on whole and not the individual that makes that decision. Islam can literally be translated to mean submission to God and is derived from the root word meaning peace. One should always remember to go to the true source of Islam and separate what the true religion of Islam says from what is portrayed in the media. Many consider Islam an exotic religion or even too extreme for the modern world. But this is because religion does not dominate everyday life in the West, where as, Islam is consider a way of life for many Muslims; who from the teachings of the Quran have learned to balance their material and spiritual life. Like Christianity, Islam only permits fighting in self-defense, in defense of religion (but not the excuse for your own personal or political purposes), or on... ...mething it all gets blamed on the faith? The American government has been at war for almost two years to give rights to the people of Iraq, but how much of a difference can they actually make when their own people don't get proper rights? They say the people have freedom of speech, religion, and etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦but in reality they have nothing. If the government wanted unity between the people than they would create a better understand on a situation rather than turning citizens against each other. A recent example of how much the American government 'cares' for the rights of the people is shown through the pictures they found of the prisons are being taken care of in Iraq. Many misconceptions of religion, culture, and just people on a whole would be cleared if the government and media did not exploit them for their own advantage.

Still a Threat to the United States

The tenth anniversary of the 9/1 1 attacks prompted reflections on the current status of the terrorism threat to the United States. One aspect of an assessment†the threat posed by biological weapons†is especially challenging because of the unique character of these weapons. A prime distinction is the fact that exposure to minute quantities of a biological agent may go unnoticed, yet ultimately be the cause of disease and death.The Incubation period of a microbial agent can be days or weeks; unlike a bombing, knifing, or chemical dispersion, a bioattack might not be ecognized until long after the agent's release. Accordingly, bioterrorism poses distinctive challenges for preparedness, protection, and response. The use of a pathogen for hostile purposes became a consuming concern to the American people soon after 9/1 1 . About a half-dozen letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to Journalists and polltlclans beginning one week after the jetliner attacks.Four letters with spores and threat messages eventually were recovered. All were postmarked Trenton, New Jersey, which meant that they had been processed at the postal distribution center in nearby Hamilton. Two letters were postmarked September 18, one addressed to Tom Brokaw at NBC-TV and another to the editor of the New York Post. The other two letters were stamped October 9 and addressed to Senators Thomas Daschle and Patrick Leahy. As people became infected in September, October and November, local responses revealed gaps in preparedness for a biological attack.For example, the first confirmation of an anthrax case was on October 4, more than two weeks after the initial letters were mailed. Retrospective assessments later indicated that by then nine people had already contracted the disease. Their illness previously had been misidentified because of faulty diagnoses or erroneous laboratory In the end, at least 22 people had become infected, five of whom died. Meanwhile, scores of buildings were belatedly found to be contaminated with spores that had leaked from the letters.At least 30,000 people who were deemed at risk required prophylactic antibiotics. [2] Millions more were fearful, many of them anxious about opening their own mail. Since the anthrax attacks, the U. S. government has spent about $60 billion on biodefense. A large portion of those dollars has gone to biodefense research under he auspices of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The NIAID budget for biodefense research has grown from $200 million in 2001 to an annual average of $1. 6 billion since 2004.United States safer from a bioattack now than at the time of the anthrax attacks? Has the spending been worth it? Key Questions, Discrepant Answers Opinions on these questions differ. While concerned about the danger of backsliding, the authors of an article in Politico now felt â€Å"reassured about our preparedness† for a biological attack. [3] At the same time, an opposing assessment was emblazoned in he title of a New York Times Magazine cover story: â€Å"Ten Years After the Anthrax Attacks, We Are Still Not Ready. [4] A review of biodefense efforts during the past 10 years in Science magazine blandly acknowledged the obvious: â€Å"debate continues over how much safer the country The congressionally chartered Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism (WMD Commission) issued a report card in 2010 on efforts to address several of its previous recommendations. The administration's failure to â€Å"enhance the nation's capabilities for rapid response to revent biological attacks from inflicting mass casualties† merited a grade of â€Å"F† (meaning that no action was taken on this recommendation).Almost as bad was the â€Å"D*† given for continuing inadequate oversight of high-containment laboratories. Reasonable arguments can be made to support varied views about these issues , and all conclusions bear a degree of subjectivity. Yet an assessment of several broad critical contentions can offer clarification. The criticisms are largely expressed in the form of five contentions. Contention #1 : Funding for biodefense has meant fewer dollars for other deserving reas such as public health infrastructure and basic science research.In 2005, 758 microbiologists signed a letter to Elias Zerhouni, then director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), objecting to the diversion of funds from public health research to biodefense projects. Zerhouni, Joined by NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, rejected the letter's premise of â€Å"diversion. † An assessment of disputed interpretations suggested that spending on biodefense benefited non-biodefense research as well, but the numbers were so â€Å"convoluted† that a clear determination was elusive. [7] An analysis of the biodefense budget for fiscal year 2012 indicates that only 10% of the proposed $6. bill ion is dedicated exclusively to civilian biodefense. The other 90% is for projects with both biodefense and non-biodefense implications. The non- biodefense goals, according to analysts Crystal Franco and Tara Kirk Sell, include â€Å"advancing other areas of science, public health, healthcare, national security, or international security. â€Å"[8] This tilt toward dual-track benefits has been reflected in past budgets as well. A report in Nature magazine indicated that of the $60 billion pent on biodefense in the past decade, only about $12 billion went for programs have benefited substantially from biodefense projects.Fiscal woes in recent years have in fact resulted in reduced resources for public health and related programs. Economic pressure threatens to shrink biodefense funding as it does funding for much else in the federal budget; however, it is not clear now, nor was it in the past, if fewer dollars for biodefense would necessarily translate into more for public health, basic research, or any other health-related programs. Contention #2: The growing number of facilities for research on select agents specified pathogens and toxins) has heightened chances of an accidental release. Statistics alone make this assertion unassailable.The chances of something going wrong in any enterprise, assuming no change in operational security, increase with the size of the enterprise. As the number of research facilities increases, so does the chance of an accident. A continuing weakness is the lack of clarity about the number of high security laboratories. In 1983, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) designated four levels of safety for laboratory work with biological agents. A Biosafety Level-I (BSL-I) laboratory allows for work on relatively innocuous agents and a BSL-4 laboratory on the most dangerous.The two highest containment facilities, BSL-3 and BSL-4, require special security measures including restricted access, negative pressure to prev ent air from flowing out of the room, and protective outerwear for operators. BSL-4 laboratories require additional safeguards such as entry through multiple air-locked rooms and positive pressure outerwear with a segregated air supply. A BSL-4 laboratory is required for work on agents that cause lethal disease for which here is little or no treatment (for example, smallpox and hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola and Marburg).At present, there are 15 such U. S. facilities planned or in operation, triple the number operating in 2001. [10] Other dangerous agents, including the bacteria that cause anthrax and plague, are worked on in BSL-3 laboratories. The number of these laboratories has skyrocketed since 2001, although the actual figures are uncertain. While an estimated 20 BSL-3 facilities were operating before the anthrax attacks, in the decade since the number has grown to between 200 and an astonishing 1,400 or ore. [11] The huge discrepancy is attributable in part to varied method s of calculation.Some assessments have counted all BSL-3 laboratories in an institution as a single BSL-3 facility, while others have designated each laboratory as a separate entity. Furthermore, some laboratories with a BSL-3 designation may lack safety features found in others, such as double doors and a requirement that two persons must be present. No national authority is now empowered to mandate a single system of counting or that even the lowest estimated number of BSL-3 laboratories (200) represents a 10- old increase in the past 10 years, and that safety precautions at some BSL-3 facilities are less rigorous than at others.Contention #3: The growing number of investigators with knowledge about select agents has increased the chances that an unsavory scientist could launch a bioattack. Along with more high containment facilities has come more scientists who handle select agents. Concern about dangerous individuals among them was heightened in 2008 when the FBI named Bruce Ivi ns as the perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax attacks. Ivins was a veteran scientist who for decades had worked on anthrax at the U. S.Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Before charges could be brought he committed suicide, so his guilt or innocence could never be established in a court of law. Still, evidence of his aberrational behavior, including alcoholism, depression, and self-described bouts of paranoia, evidently went unnoticed by his superiors. The Ivins case highlighted questions about the screening of workers with ready access to select agents. The number of those workers Just prior to the anthrax attacks has been estimated at about 700.By 2008, however, the figure had climbed to more han As some have suggested, the greater numbers mean that â€Å"the odds of one of them turning out to be a bad apple has increased. â€Å"[13] Ironically, Ivins was not a newly minted investigator, but a long-respected fgure in the arm y's biodefense program. Days after Ivins' death, a USAMRIID spokesperson acknowledged that officials may have been unaware of his problems because they relied in part on self-reporting. [14] In 2011, a mental health review panel concluded that â€Å"Dr.Ivins had a significant and lengthy history of psychological disturbance and diagnosable mental illness at the time he began working for USAMRIID in The Ivins case has raised concerns that other troubled or nefarious individuals might be working in U. S. laboratories. A recent government-sponsored forum on biosecurity called for periodic behavioral evaluations of personnel with access to select agents that include drug testing, searches for criminal history, and completion by selectees of a security questionnaire. 16] Even while acknowledging the necessity of security measures, the right to privacy and freedom of scientific inquiry must be respected to the extent possible. In any case, behavioral monitoring can never provide absolute protection against the acts of a lever miscreant. Contention #4: Money for biodefense has been misapplied or otherwise failed to produce desired results. Project BioShield was established by congress in 2004 to acquire medical countermeasures against biological, chemical, and radiological vaccines and other drugs that have not necessarily been tested for efficacy on humans.Beyond the loss of time and money, the VaxGen failure was a public embarrassment. It became a symbol of ineptness early in the new program. Other biosecurity programs have also drawn criticism, including a $534 million surveillance project called BioWatch. This program included the placement of air amplers for detection of anthrax spores and other agents in more than 30 major U. S. cities. A committee convened by the National Academy of Sciences concluded in 2010 that the program was faced with â€Å"serious technical and operational challenges. † Others flatly criticized its funding as wasted.

Need for collaborative projects in business courses Essay

Group projects are integral to the business curriculum and can be useful in developing students’ skills and abilities as managers. However, faculty encounter several problems with group projects, including assessing students’ efforts, aiding good communication and coordination among members, and making sure the project is a truly collaborative effort. Technology may aid in addressing these problems; electronic discussion boards and chat rooms, for example, can help faculty and students enhance collaboration and increase the accountability of group members. Keywords: Discussion boards, chat rooms, collaborative learning, student projects INCREASED GLOBAL COMPETITION and other changes in the business environment over the last several years have led organizations to restructure themselves. One aspect of that restructuring is a shifting of responsibility and decision making downward and a movement toward self-directed work teams (Cohen, 1993). To prepare students to thrive in this environment, we obviously need to teach them effective teamwork and communication skills. This article describes two tools that can help accomplish this task, the electronic discussion board and the chat room. These can foster interdependence in group projects and deeper, active learning. First, we discuss the need for and benefits of collaborative projects, the problems of group work, and the role of technology in such projects. We then provide recommendations for incorporating these electronic tools in business communication classes. Need for Collaborative Projects in Business Courses. As many researchers have noted, the structural shift towards teams occurring in many organizations should be reflected in the classroom (Bobbitt, Inks, Kemp, & Mayo, 2000). Using groups in class thus prepares students to work collaboratively in the business environment while promoting collaborative learning in the classroom itself. The first benefit of group work in the classroom is that it teaches students how to work collaboratively in the business environment. Business organizations repeatedly indicate that the increased use of teams in the real world has increased students’ need for exposure and experience with teams (Buckenmyer, 2000). Companies that use teams creatively spend many hours and dollars training individuals to work in teams and training managers to manage teams. Through working in groups, students can enhance their abilities in setting goals, delegating work, and dealing with conflict (Colbeck, Campbell, & Bjorklund, 2000). They can also improve their communication, leadership, problem solving, and technical skills. All of these skills are highly rated by recruiters and employers and will help graduates meet the demands and rigors of the workplace (McNally, 1994). The second benefit of group work is that these projects promote collaborative learning. University educators have embraced cooperative learning methods as ways to engage students and to foster cooperation (Ravenscroft, 1997). Researchers have found that the values of Generation X are highly individualistic, visually-oriented, and aligned with information technology, not with the sharing of information (Buckenmyer, 2000). Thus, group course projects, with proper guidance, can help these students learn to deal effectively with others. Group work learning can be an excellent way of encouraging the development of higher cognitive skills in students (Thorley & Gregory, 1994) and can be effective even for relatively quiet group members. When groups work well, students consistently fare better in class, on tests, and in attitudes towards the instructor and each other (Jones & Brickner, 1996). The quality of learning is improved by peer support, with students gaining experience in communication, negotiation, organization, and task management. Cooperative methods have been recognized as effective ways to motivate students to become actively involved in learning. The collaborative group project creates a forum that allows students to take an active approach towards their own education. The security of working within a group provides an excellent entree into the progression to independent and autonomous learning (Maguire & Edmondson, 2001). Problems with Group Projects The many benefits of collaborative projects, however, are often offset by problems. First, a common problem is the failure of the group to work together effectively. Students may exert an individual effort but are unable to coordinate their efforts effectively with their group members to achieve any kind of synergistic benefits (Tullar, Kaiser, & Balthazard, 1998). Group members need to be contributing their ideas, questioning and learning from each other, and building on the efforts of the other members. For collaborative learning to occur, students must coordinate the diverse skills and abilities of their group members to address a complex task (Tullar et al. , 1998). A second problem is that often group members simply divide a project so that each individual writes a portion. Then, just before the project is due, the students bring in their disks and combine files without coordinating their efforts or talents effectively. Third, group work often leads to unequal contributions of members, resulting in â€Å"hitchhikers† and â€Å"workhorses† (Cottell & Millis, 1993). These â€Å"hitchhikers,† also called â€Å"free riders† and â€Å"social loafers,† can cause problems in the workflow of the group, as they do not do their fair share. Members of the group have difficulty addressing the free-rider problem and documenting the problem and their efforts to solve it (Gremler, Hoffman, Keaveney, & Wright, 2000). The issue becomes one student’s word against another’s as the teacher tries to determine fair individual grades. Finally, group projects are often assigned without the allocation of class time for groups to develop cooperative skills or to become cohesive (Michaelsen, 1992). There is limited time in class to discuss both the needed topics and the mechanics of group management. In many cases, groups meet on evenings and weekends when faculty members are not available for assistance. Additionally, many group members are geographically and temporally dispersed, which makes organizing face-to-face group meetings difficult. The Role of Technology in Enhancing Collaborative Learning Active and cooperative learning approaches will be counterproductive unless they are thoughtfully implemented and well supported. Communication tools like discussion boards and chat rooms can be effective in inter-team collaboration as well as in faculty-student communication. These tools can help ease the problems discussed in the previous section. By solving these problems with technology, faculty can address three learning goals: empowering students, improving their communication skills, and developing their ability to work collaboratively. Finally, these technological communication tools offer teaching opportunities by allowing faculty to be more accessible to students and to track students’ efforts better. Addressing Group Project Problems Internet-based tools can be a tremendous help in coordinating team efforts, particularly when the team is geographically (whether by a few miles or a few thousand miles) or temporally dispersed (Kaiser, Tullar, & McKowen, 2000). With technology, groups can meet either synchronously, using chat rooms, or asynchronously, using threaded discussion boards, in which group members contribute to the group discussion at times convenient to their schedules over a defined time period. These tools enable everyone in the group to talk at the same time or at their convenience by typing their comments into the forum that instantly distributes their comments. Additionally, strong personalities have greater difficulty dominating the group as everyone has equal access to the â€Å"floor. † Students may feel more comfortable presenting ideas this way than in a face-to-face meeting, and the quality and professionalism of their ideas may be higher, knowing that their participation is being monitored. The discussion forum also gives all students ample time for reflection so students’ responses are often more thoughtful than those in face-to-face situations. Studies have illustrated this level of increased and more evenly distributed participation from students in computer-supported groups (Tullar et al. , 1998). Addressing Learning Goals Projects provide opportunities for experiential learning, that is, students apply what they have learned to real-world situations and thus develop decision-making skills. But in doing so, projects often produce anxiety as students struggle to determine what answer the instructor wants. However, with these projects, whether it be a case, a report of a business issue, or a business plan, faculty are typically not searching for one right answer, but rather are concerned with the process that students use in solving problems. Teaching students to ask the right questions is thought to be more important than giving students the right answers. In the real world, there is neither one right answer nor is there a â€Å"sage on a stage† that can direct students to the right answer. Students need to learn how to find and to support the answers for themselves. The use of electronic discussion boards and chat rooms can aid student learning in the struggle through the project process. Thus, three learning goals can be addressed through the use of electronic discussion boards and chat rooms with experiential group projects: (1) empowering students to become active participants in their learning, (2) increasing students’ communication skills in describing and solving problems, and (3) enhancing students’ abilities to collaborate and work with others in developing their own resources in solving problems. To achieve these goals, education must involve interactivity among instructors, students, and the materials, and electronic discussion boards and chat rooms can enrich that interactivity. Providing Additional Teaching Opportunities Another advantage of these tools is the opportunity for faculty to participate in the discussions and e-mails. Faculty can use these tools to demonstrate concern for students and to provide additional accessibility and feedback. In fact, the transactional distance encourages faculty to maintain a facilitative role rather than an authoritative role (Moore, 1993). Finally, these tools make it easier for faculty and students to keep track of what everyone has said as there is a written record (Kaiser et al. , 2000). Students have the opportunity to reorganize and reshape their understanding of course content. The Web-based tools allow thoughts to be captured for future examination, elaboration, and extension. The end result is usually more robust and thoughtful discussions. In fact, threaded discussions can extend the time that both instructors and students invest in the course (Bruce & Hwang, 2001). Recommendations for Using These Tools Many universities are starting to use various computer course tools or platforms to promote online learning. These platforms, such as BlackBoard or WebCT, can be used to design either Web-based or Web-assisted courses. For several years, we have used discussion groups and chat rooms in Web-based classes but have also found that communication can be enhanced in traditional classes through use of these tools. Since more business organizations are using electronic tools, such as Lotus Notes, to facilitate group meetings, using them in the classroom helps students further prepare for their careers. However, the wise faculty member will be advised that these tools should be used judiciously. Therefore, based on our experience, the following suggestions are made to faculty who are considering the use of Web-based tools. Discussion Boards Instructors and students can compose and post messages electronically on electronic discussion boards. Both public and private discussion forums can be implemented. With many computing platforms, such as WebCT, faculty can set up public forums to start threaded discussions for the class to which the students can respond electronically. Students can use these public forums to post questions to which the entire class can respond, such as for help in finding information for the project. A project normally seems easier when the instructor is discussing it in class and few questions arise. However, students’ questions occasionally occur after class or on weekends. The discussion board allows the opportunity for students to post problems asynchronously and to receive input from the class. The burden is no longer on the instructor to solve every problem as it occurs but is on the students to work with each other as well as with the instructor in solving problems. This is a tremendous lesson for students to learn to deal with problem solving in the real world. When an employer gives an employee a project or task to do, he/she expects the employee to do it on his/her own and not ask for assistance from the employer every step of the way. Students have to learn to be problem solvers on their own, and the use of electronic discussion boards helps develop that skill. The professor’s role is to help get the conversation started. For example, the instructor can post a question on the public project discussion board asking at which sites people are having success finding information for the project. The students can then respond. Those students who respond in a useful manner will be rewarded, such as with a participation grade. Those students or groups who do not respond can be asked on the discussion board for their input. When students see the progress other students are making, they may be spurred to work harder. Additionally, the faculty need to check the discussion board frequently to see if any misinformation is being spread, to ensure â€Å"netiquette† is being practiced, and to restart the conversation as needed. Finally, faculty can take questions that the students ask individually and request that the students post them on the discussion board. In that way the instructor only has to respond once, and similar inquiries can then be referred to that response. This will eve ntually build a culture in the class where the instructor is not seen as the sole source for information, and the students learn to work with each other in solving problems. Additionally, instructors can create private forums to be used to divide students into groups for class exercises or for the use of asynchronous coordination of group projects in which group members cannot all meet at the same time. The instructor can visit these public and private forums to track group progress, to encourage students to help each other to solve problems, and to provide assistance as needed after the students have tried first on their own. In the private group forums, the students are encouraged to use the board to organize group meetings, to post their research findings, and to post drafts of their work for their group members to see and make comments. The professor can encourage individual group members to post their contributions to the paper to the private forum for the other members to see and post suggestions. This would increase group collaboration in a manner that can be documented. After the group has collaborated on a draft of the project, the instructor can offer suggestions. Finally, instructors should consider requiring the groups to post progress reports on their efforts periodically during the term. These progress reports describe what the group has accomplished, what the group’s plans are, if there are any problems, and if there are, how they are being addressed. The instructor should provide guidelines as to what the groups should have accomplished by the progress report dates so the students can determine if they are on track. While these reports could be submitted on paper, doing it through the discussion board makes it easier for group members to be aware of what has been submitted. Chat Rooms. With chat rooms, students can meet electronically at the same time no matter where they are, as long as they have Internet access. Each group can have its own chat room, with the instructor joining in from home or office in one of several ways. The group can meet first and then have a designated time when the instructor logs in to answer questions. The instructor can leave when the questions are answered or give the group time to discuss among themselves and then check back later. For project work, it is important that instructors periodically meet with student groups to answer questions, address problems, and provide guidance. The chat room may be a useful tool in meeting with students out of class. The students can meet with the instructor for a practice â€Å"chat† to get the students comfortable with the technology. The instructor can request that the groups meet with him/her several times during the term to discuss their progress. These meetings can be either in the office during office hours or during designated chat office hours, such as on Sunday nights when the instructor is at home. With traditional classes, groups should have the option to meet in person with the professor, particularly early on in the project. For those students who cannot come during office hours, the chat room provides an excellent way to interact, although instructors may want to set clear boundaries or specific hours for when they are willing to meet in the chat room. When the instructor is meeting with groups via chat, patience is needed. It can be confusing when everyone is typing in questions. While the instructor prepares an answer to one question, several more students’ questions can appear. The instructor needs to make it clear that he/she will discuss questions in the order in which they appear. On the other hand, there may be times when the chat room is silent while the students are preparing their questions. The instructor may want to prompt to see if there are any other questions but should give the students some time if needed. Finally, no one should log off until everyone has finished. Someone may be in the middle of preparing something to post and the silence is seen as the end of the session, or someone may have left the room for a minute and has come back to find an empty chat room. Therefore, a practice chat session may be helpful with these issues. Grading Student Use of Discussion Boards and Chat Rooms Grading student responses in both the discussion forum and chat room can present challenges. Many times there may be a group grade for a project that is then adjusted for the individual student’s grade base on his/her contribution to the group’s project. Additionally, students may be individually graded for their participation in the course. Some students will initially shy away from using the discussion board, as they would prefer to do things the way they always have and do not want to learn a new technology. Other students, particularly those who are too shy to speak up in class, may welcome this new opportunity. It is up to the instructor to provide the incentive to become involved. While a positive attitude may help the instructor in encouraging students, making posts part of their grade, such as a portion of their participation grade, probably ensures the best results. Instructor can grade the posting on several issues: clarity of thought/grammer, quality of comments/critical thinking, and usefulness/participation in responding to other posts. In evaluating the group projects to determine individual grades, instructors often have students submit group evaluations. The information on these evaluations can be substantiated or compared to what has occurred on the group’s private discussion forum and what has been documented in the progress posts. If a group member is not contribution, it is the responsibility of the group to communicate this the instructor and to attempt to deal with the problem before the final project is submitted. The use of the discussion board and chat room can be a tremendous help in tracking a group’s activities. This puts more responsibility on the students to document and address the issues before it is too late. It also aids instructors in making fairer assessments of individual efforts. To better manage the communication tools, instructors should set up clear guidelines for grading, such as describing how many new posts and response posts are required per week, as well as how often the students are expected to check the discussion board. For example, the professor may want each group to submit a bi-weekly progress report on its project. The instructor may also want to review â€Å"netiquette† as well as set limits as to how many posts students can make on public forums to avoid overwhelming the discussion board. The instructor needs to stress that it is the quality of the posts and not the quantity that counts and provide students with feedback to encourage its proper use. Finally, the instructor can also utilize student management tools that are included in the computing platforms like WebCT to determine when and how many posts the students are making. Additionally, search commands can be used to find all the posts one student has made in order to track an individual student’s progress. Conclusion Teamwork and group meetings are entrenched elements of an increasingly global environment. As a result, business faculty must prepare their students, as future managers, to collaborate with groups effectively. Electronic meeting tools, such as discussion boards and chat rooms, can play a key role in that training. These tools can enhance and empower student learning and collaboration as well as increase communication and problem solving skills. By collaborating more effectively in school, students will be better prepared to collaborate effectively in the workplace (Kaiser et al. , 2000). These tools also offer additional teaching benefits. They are very useful in documenting student effort and accountability for fair contribution. They also provide a means for faculty to be conveniently accessible and to provide feedback outside of class time. Additionally, electronic tools help students learn to develop their own resources. These tools then can be a tremendous aid for faculty to address group project problems, to help their students achieve learning goals, and to provide additional teaching opportunities to interact with their students. Thus, by using electronic discussion boards and chat rooms, such as with group projects, faculty can effectively enhance their students’ collaborative learning. References Bobbitt, L. M. , Inks, S. A. , Kemp, K. J. , & Mayo, D. T. (2000). Integrating marketing courses to enhance team-based experiential learning. Journal of Marketing Education, 22(1), 15-24. Bruce, S. M. , & Hwang, T. T. (2001). Web-based teacher preparation in visual impairment: Course development, teaching, learning and quality assurance. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 95(10), 609-622. Buckenmyer, J. A. (2000). Using teams for class activities: Making course/classroom teams work. Journal of Education for Business, 76(2), 98-107. Cohen, G. (1993). New approaches to teams and teamwork. In J. R. Galbraith & E. E. Lawler, III (Eds. ). Organizing for the future (pp. 194-226). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Colbeck, C. L. , Campbell, S. E. , & Bjorklund, S. A. (2000, January/February). Grouping in the dark: What college students learn from group projects. The Journal of Higher Education, 71(1), 60-83. Cottell, P. G. & Millis, B. (1993, Spring). Cooperative learning structures in the instruction of accounting. Issues in Accounting Education, 8, 40-59. Gremler, D. D. , Hoffman, K. D. , Keaveney, S. M. , & Wright, L. K. (2000). Experiential learning exercises in services marketing courses. Journal of Marketing Education, 22(1), 35-44. Jones, J. D. , & Brickner, D. (1996). Implementation of cooperative learning in a large-enrollment basic mechanics class. ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings [CD-Rom]. Kaiser, P. R. , Tuller, W. L, & McKowen, D. (2000). Student team projects by Internet. Business Communication Quarterly, 63(4), 75-82. Maguire, S. , & Edmondson, S. (2001). Student evaluation and assessment of group projects. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 25(2), 209-217. McNally, J. (1994). Working in groups and teams. In L. Thorley & R. Gregory (Eds. ). Using group-based learning in higher education (pp. 113-120). London: Kogan Page. Michaelsen, L. K. (1992). Team learning: A comprehensive approach for harnessing the power of small groups in higher education. To Improve the Academy, 11, 107-122. Moore, M. (1993). Theory of transactional distance. In D. Keegan (Ed. ). Theoretical principles of distance education (pp. 22-38). New York: Rutledge. Ravenscroft, S. P. (1997). In support of cooperative learning. Issues in Accounting Education, 12(1), 187-190. Reeves, T. (1996). Relevant readings. Technology in teacher education: From electronic tutor to cognitive tool. Action in Teacher Education, 27(4), 74-78. Thorley, L. , & Gregory, R. (Eds. ) (1994). Using Group-based Learning in Higher Education. London: Kogan Page. Tullar, W. L. , Kaiser, P. R. , & Balthazard, P. A. (1998). Group work and electronic meeting systems: From boardroom to classroom. Business Communication Quarterly, 61(4), 53-65. Address correspondence to Jacqueline K. Eastman, Department of Marketing/Economics, College of Business Administration, Valdosta State University, Valdosta GA 31698 (e-mail: jeastman@valdosta. edu).

Critical Essay Outline

Critical Essay Outline Critical Essay Outline Critical Essay Outline Critical essay outline is a tool that helps you to organize your material logically and helps you to sort and to classify the material systematically. As a result, you are empowered to see the relationships that exist between ideas in your critical essay writing. Outline writing helps you to develop and organize plan for presenting the material. The goals of the outlines are to present logically the general information, to summarize it schematically, and to provide a visual and conceptual plan of the writing process. An outline reflects logical thinking and classification of your ideas. Prior to writing an outline, you should set up the purpose of the critical essay, write down the thesis of essay and think about the ideas you plan to cover. At this stage you can write all of the ideas you want to include in your critical essay writing, plan the work by grouping ideas together that are related to each other, organize the work by dividing the material into groups ranging from the gene ral to the specific, or from abstract to specific. Critical Essay Format Create a title page if it is necessary. Use MLA style for headings, headers and pagination. Type in 12-point font, for example, Arial which is the easiest to read, make it double-spaced with one-inch margins. Always make a back-up copy of your essay on diskette and an additional hard copy. Usually, short critical essay must be minimum 2-3 full pages; the longer critical essay must be minimum 5-7 full pages in length. In the short critical essay, you must include at least three quotes from the works you are analyzing. Add quotation marks around direct quotations; identify the sources of all paraphrased information. Be careful and avoid plagiarism while writing a critical essay: Writing a Critical Essay The purpose of writing a critical essay is to evaluate somebody's work, to express your ideas on the raised theme, and to reveal your understanding of the material. Critical essay is a paper in which you should express your opinion or provide evaluation of the text. Prior to writing a critical essay, have a clear topic in mind. Once more read the text, be sure that the topic in mind correspond to the essay's topic. Develop an argument and state it in your first paragraph. The argument should prove your chosen position. If no one would disagree with what you're saying, it's not an argument. Critical Essay Help It is not easy to write a good critical essay without outline. Moreover, it is even harder to write a good critical essay on the topic you are not familiar with. You are welcome to ask for assistance. We are ready to write an impressive critical essay for you on any topic! In addition, you receive free title page, outline, and bibliography list. Related posts: Hamlet Thesis Dissertation Writers Dissertation Subjects Dissertation Paper Dissertation Help

Dunkirk Evacuation in World War II

Dunkirk Evacuation in World War II Conflict The battle and evacuation of Dunkirk occurred during World War II. Dates Lord Gort made the decision to evacuate on May 25, 1940, and the last troops departed France on June 4. Armies Commanders: Allies General Lord GortGeneral Maxime Weygandapprox. 400,000 men Nazi Germany General Gerd von RundstedtGeneral Ewald von Kleistapprox. 800,000 men Background In the years prior to World War II, the French government invested heavily in series of fortifications along the German border known as the Maginot Line. It was thought that this would force any future German aggression north into Belgium where it could be defeated by the French Army while sparing French territory from the ravages of war. Between the end of the Maginot Line and where the French high command expected to meet the enemy lay the thick forest of the Ardennes.  Due to the difficulties of the terrain, French commanders in the early days of World War II did not believe that the Germans could move in force through the Ardennes and as a result, it was only lightly defended. As the Germans refined their plans for invading France, General Erich von Manstein successfully advocated for an armored thrust through the Ardennes. This attack he argued would take the enemy by surprise and allow for a rapid movement to the coast which would isolate Allied forces in Belgium and Flanders . On the night of May 9, 1940, German forces attacked into the Low Countries. Moving to their aid, French troops and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) were unable to prevent their fall. On May 14, German panzers tore through the Ardennes and began driving to the English Channel. Despite their best efforts, the BEF, Belgian, and French forces were unable to halt the German advance. This occurred even though the French Army had fully committed its strategic reserves to the fight. Six days later, German forces reached the coast, effectively cutting off the BEF as well as a large number of Allied troops. Turning north, German forces sought to capture the Channel ports before the Allies could evacuate. With the Germans at the coast,  Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsay  met at Dover Castle to begin planning the evacuation of the BEF from the Continent. BEF responding aerial attack. Fox Photos/Getty Images Traveling to Army Group As headquarters at Charleville on May 24, Hitler urged its commander, General Gerd von Rundstedt, to press the attack. Assessing the situation, von Rundstedt advocated holding his armor west and south of Dunkirk, as the marshy terrain was unsuitable for armored operations and many units were worn down from advance west. Instead, von Rundstedt suggested using the infantry of Army Group B to finish off the BEF. This approach was agreed upon and it was decided that Army Group B would attack with strong aerial support from the Luftwaffe. This pause on the part of the Germans gave the Allies valuable time to construct defenses around the remaining Channel ports. The following day, the commander of the BEF, General Lord Gort, with the situation continuing to deteriorate, made the decision to evacuate from northern France. Planning the Evacuation Withdrawing, the BEF, with support from French and Belgian troops, established a perimeter around the port of Dunkirk. This location was chosen as the town was surrounded by marshes and possessed large sand beaches on which troops could gather prior to departure. Designated Operation Dynamo, the evacuation was to be carried out by a fleet of destroyers and merchant ships. Supplementing these ships, were over 700 little ships which largely consisted of fishing boats, pleasure craft, and smaller commercial vessels. To execute the evacuation, Ramsay and his staff marked out three routes for vessels to use between Dunkirk and Dover.  The shortest of these, Route Z, was 39 miles and was open to fire from German batteries.   In planning, it was hoped that 45,000 men could be rescued over two days, as it was expected that German interference would force the end of the operation after forty-eight hours. As the fleet began to arrive at Dunkirk, the soldiers commenced preparing for the voyage. Due to time and space concerns, almost all heavy equipment had to be abandoned.  As German air attacks worsened, the towns harbor facilities were destroyed.  As a result, departing troops boarded ships directly from the harbors moles (breakwaters) while others were forced to wade out to waiting boats off the beach. Commencing on May 27, Operation Dynamo rescued 7,669 men on the first day and 17,804 on the second. Escape Across the Channel British and French troops awaiting for evacuation. German forces were rapidly advancing and retreat to Britain was the only option. Historical/Getty Images   The operation continued as the perimeter around the port began to shrink and as the Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes of Air Vice Marshal Keith Parks No. 11 Group from the Royal Air Forces Fighter Command battled to keep German aircraft away from the embarkation areas. Hitting its stride, the evacuation effort began to peak as 47,310 men were rescued on May 29, followed by 120,927 over the next two days. This occurred despite a heavy Luftwaffe attack on the evening of the 29th and the reduction of the Dunkirk pocket to a five-kilometer strip on the 31st.  By this time, all BEF forces were within the defensive perimeter as was over half of the French First Army. Among those to leave on May 31 was Lord Gort who gave command of the British rearguard to Major General Harold Alexander. On June 1, 64,229 were taken off, with the British rearguard departing the next day. With German air attacks intensifying, daylight operations were ended and the evacuation ships were limited to running at night. Between June 3 and 4, an additional 52,921 Allied troops were rescued from the beaches. With the Germans only three miles from the harbor, the final Allied ship, the destroyer HMS Shikari, departed at 3:40 AM on June 4. The two French divisions left defending the perimeter were ultimately forced to surrender. Aftermath Troops of the British Expeditionary Force are greeted as they arrive home.   Hulton Deutsch/Getty Images   All told, 332,226 men were rescued from Dunkirk. Deemed a stunning success, Churchill cautiously advised â€Å"We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations. During the operation, the British losses included 68,111 killed, wounded, and captured, as well as 243 ships (including 6 destroyers), 106 aircraft, 2,472 field guns, 63,879 vehicles, and 500,000 tons of supplies. Despite the heavy losses, the evacuation preserved the core of the British Army and made it available for the immediate defense of Britain. In addition, significant numbers of French, Dutch, Belgian, and Polish troops were rescued.

Development, experience and completition of distance learning course Essay

Development, experience and completition of distance learning course - Essay Example Distance learning broadens ones capacity of thought and it helps one to have the zeal to find out knowledge and meet concepts individually. Throughout this program, knowledge gained was through observation, experimentations, research, and experimentations. For application of knowledge, one had to be keen on observation to ascertain the truth value of existing knowledge because not all knowledge is necessarily. Observation was of great help since they aided one to have a clear insight of the real world in relation to the theoretical knowledge. There was also a broader experimentation of various phenomena. The experimentation method helped one to be sure and to prove true or disapprove the hypothesis that were covered the common knowledge. This also helps in distinguishing fallacies and general knowledge which have not been verified. In most cases, one had to conduct research to find out the cause and effects of certain phenomena so as to come up with effective conclusions and deductio n. Also, experiences that one gained from interacting with various issues and challenges also helped one to unlearn the previous knowledge and to learn new ones. All these experiences and concepts defined one journey of learning throughout the entire period of the distance learning program. Throughout this period, ones performance was not good throughout. At some point the performance was good and at other times, the performance was averagely low but at the end of the entire program the overall performance was marked by distinction. This was because of one’s capability of adapting to the system and one’s ability to adjust to the environment and to the course requirements. There were times when there were courses which required one to carry out laboratory tests and some required one to conduct research. In the event that one was to be at the laboratory to conduct the experiments, it was difficult to make clear observation and to draw the right conclusion as there was no body to offer explanation to what was going on. Research that needed one to go to the community to find out the aspects of various phenomena also was marked with various challenges. This is because the community was not ready to give proper information and those who did gave irrelevant information that led to an irrelevant conclusion. This impacted negatively on the overall outcome of the result. However, studies which required observation and the critical analysis of books and just the general study of concepts were of great advantage to my performance. It was a great experience to read through books and to learn new concepts that were brought forth. These conceptions helped in dealing with the fallacies and the misconception that the society has had for a long time. The tangibility of the knowledge gained through literature enabled one to be a student of high aptitude and acuity of performance. For learning to be effective, it has to be maintained, retained, and one has to continu e with the search of knowledge. To enable one achieve these, one has to study widely. It is through study that one’s knowledge and concepts get challenged. Wide reading helps one to have different perspectives and approached towards something. This gives one the authority to speak on an issue from an open minded view. Wide study also keeps one relevant to the changing times, for example, science keeps on

Social Media Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Social Media Marketing - Essay Example Social media sites are easily accessible at any time and place using computers or at the mere click of a button via smart phone. These sites are here to stay and many organisations are shifting from the traditional methods of advertising to the new trend of social media marketing which is cheaper and easier to get more audience than in conventional advertising. Social media marketing should be adopted since it allows new communication methods between an organisation and its publics. There are new ways to communicate with the clients in a fast and efficient manner, where customers direct enquiries to the organisation and they are able to get answers faster as compared to print or television adverts. Social media does not limit marketers to a specific time or page or a particular newspaper or magazines where advertisements are displayed. Adverts can be placed on such networks at any time of day or night and potential clients can have access to them whenever they are on these social media platforms. As more people are shifting from buying newspapers and relying on social media and blogs for information, marketers should tap into this opportunity to place their adverts where they will be seen (Hay & Hay, 2011). Therefore, social media is pivotal to the world of marketing. This paper will focus on Samsung smart Phones and why the firm should em brace social media marketing. Samsung smart phones continue to face several challenges in the market today. This is due to proliferation of cheaper brands of smart phones such as Huawei from china. Although Android phones are more popular than windows and other operating systems, high end brands which are sophisticated such as apple’s iPhones are also a major challenge. However, Samsung enjoys a huge social media presence with over twenty million followers on Face book alone (Evans & Mckee, 2010).