Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Criminology Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
Criminology Research Paper - Essay Example In the previous periods, citizens thought that the introduction of democracy would lead to reduction of abuse of power. However, with democracy, abuse of power is on the verge of increasing. The government crimes can be categorized in to a wide range, depending on the point of view of the citizens and the country of concern. Taking for instance; in Africa land grabbing is considered to be a governmental crime, while in the Western parts of the world, it is the opposite. However, scholars have tried to categorize different government crimes thus, finally coming up a conclusive number. The major ways in which governments abuse their powers include; Most governments tend to use a country’s resources for unintended and unplanned projects. This is a crime that is mainly caused by lack of accountability of the government officials (Grant & Keohane, 2005). The article explains that accountability is so problematic among all leaders globally. Most government officials take advantage o f the power placed upon them to misuse a country’s resources due to lack of accountability. In addition, other leaders use the resources on projects that they claim are meant to help the citizens. However, research shows that they are the key beneficiaries of these projects (Abraham, 2006). This is indeed a crime since; resources used on other projects should be used for the sake of the citizens. For instance, African government officials have been known to use their powers to enrich themselves before the end of their terms of leadership. Government officials also abuse the power rested upon them by coming up with projects that are worth lot of money without even consulting the citizens. This is abuse of power since; the officials take such actions on the basis that no one can question them. This is a case that was clearly manifested in Venezuela in the year 2006. Projects were started but the returns and revenues from the projects were not clearly shown. In addition, the exp enses of the projects were overly stated, giving rise to large figures (Coronel, 2006). The issue of bending and breaking of laws is also a crime committed by the government officials. Most governments in the world have put in place laws that they do not follow themselves. The legal accountability is exceedingly poor in most states because courts do not have a wide general authority over governments. Previously, it has been noted that the courts will only ask the leaders if they have performed their duties well. However, the courts do not follow up to know if the duties have been performed or the officials could be lying sometimes (Grant & Keohane, 2005). Governments have been involved in these crimes and many others such turning a deaf ear to the cries of the poor in the society. While citizens cry out for help with issues such as hunger, unemployment problems and poverty, the government takes no action to control these issues. Most government officials in the world have also been involved in rigging during elections in order to win the elections. This of course is a crime since; they will have attained leadership the wrong way. Again, in such cases the courts will do nothing to punish these leaders since; in most cases they will have no evidence of the crimes committed. Governments have also committed the crime of corruption against the citizens. This is decidedly different from the embezzlement of funds in the country. It involves the use of a country’s money to manipulate people in order to get what they want. For
Monday, October 28, 2019
It Was But A Dream Essay Example for Free
It Was But A Dream Essay From my home country, attending school is a blessing. It is an opportunity given to those who can. Education is a privilege for those who can afford, and a gift to those who cannot. But for a person like me, who somehow found having my nose at a book intriguing, college education was a dream. Living that dream is another wonderful experience all together. Fellow students and teachers became the drawing force of inspiration from deep within. They highlighted that going to school was truly what I wanted. To be constantly surrounded by equally educated individuals continues to tickle the mind. There was just so much to learn. It is not about doing what everybody else does. It is not about having the bragging rights of even attaining an education. It is all about fulfilling what is in my heart. This was my chance to have an education, and as a person of my country, I simply could not back away. Concepts The first step in achieving one’s dreams is to accept all challenges that come along with it. There were times when you would question if this was what you really wanted for yourself. It is not as easy as the fantasies make you believe. It is hard work. But nothing is ever free. Education is earned as much as everything else that we want to have as our own. The next step is to immerse yourself in the pool. Education, I realized, is not just through the books and the professors. Relating with other students gave the textbook definition more in-depth meaning. It gave the whole idea of schooling much deserved essence. Sharing with fellow students what you have learned in class is a simple yet overwhelming experience. In comparison to lower level education, college education is more diverse. Not only are there a wide array of programs and courses to choose from, but there are also a lot of cultures to learn and understand. Moreover, it is advantageous to be able to relate with these cultures. College was that door to go beyond barriers and closed minds. As a person who is of color, this aspect of cultural differences is an important highlight in further enhancing one’s education. Without being able to see beyond the color of one’s skin, one fail to completely learn what is there to learn. Inferences Based on my experiences, not only do I dream to have an education, but it would seem that the underlying objective is to understand and to be understood. College education is not just being able to learn Science, English, Mathematics, or Art. My experiences suggested an even bigger and better package. It is learning all that with fellow students. Professors are also studentsâ€â€in the sense that they learn from their classes as well. According to my perceptions of education, I am an open minded person ever eager to learn more about anything and everything. I have my own field of interest, like any other student, but a student will always give a different idea a chance. Keeping minds closed would be the greatest downfall of a college student. Within me, I will always bring my country. But I share that with other people for them to learn who I am and who my people are. Implications My college experience has been fruitful. It was another beginning to life’s adventures, to learn, to find, and to experience. It was never always an easy task. But at the end of the day, one would find that you gained more than what you gave away. The network of friends, students, and educators helped fulfill a lifelong dream. All the hardships, the challenges, the financial ties were all worth it. Earning my college education was not just a dream I fantasize about as a child and a young adult. It was something I really wantedâ€â€that made every challenge seem very minimal. The new ideas and friends made in every class and endeavor might become overwhelming. But I always remember that I feel that way because I learned something new. The challenges tire me, but I always take my victories. Point of View In the end of it all, I believe that everyone truly deserves a college education. A lot of individuals find school too tiring. To them, it would always seem that there is too much to do: too much to read, too much to write, and too much to achieve. Little did they realize that at the end of it all, it is not about having achieved too much. Instead, it is having achieved so much. It is given more than enough effort, more credit, and more attention. That leaves a person worth knowing. As it is said, a person who is education talks very little. There are a lot of other ways to share what you know, and to let people see what you have gained in school. It is unfortunate that more often than not, people fail to realize this reality: college is a life changing experience. It is not just the books, the school hours, the tuition, and fees. It is about keeping the mind active. I believe everyone should experience college. There is much nothing to fear except the belief that you cannot achieve anything. I might not have achieved the greatest of awards, but my college experiences are my life’s best teachers. That is considering that even having a college education is but a dream.
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Children And The Internet Essay -- essays research papers
Children and the Internet Many children nowadays use, or at least have access to the internet. But most people are blinded by all the benefits of the internet, and fail to notice any of the problems that can come from overuse. Since the internet is a new technology, not many studies have been done to determine how beneficial or detrimental it can be to children. Although the internet may have many benefits to children, it can also be very harmful to them.      One of the most obvious problems with children using the internet is the chance of getting addicted. Internet addiction is a serious thing, but hasn’t drawn much attention due to the fact that it is a newer problem in society. Children that have grown up using computers will naturally be more susceptible to getting hooked on the internet. Many children spend more time on the computer than they spend watching television. Most of the time children spend on the computer can be attributed to the internet. This computer overuse results in less time for children to study, do homework, read, exercise, or participate in any out of school organizations. Such a pattern will eventually affect the child’s grades, health, and social life.      Spending too much time on the internet isn’t the only problem that children can encounter. The content which children access on the internet can be harmful as well. There is no regulation of the content on the internet. Children can acces...
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Lessons Learned from the Three-Week Project Turn Around Essay
In the world of computers, Information Technology and Software Development people speak a different language. They might as well be talking ancient Latin and no one will care for when they use C++, VisualBasic and Java the rest of the population would sometimes feel out of this world.            The team leaders and project managers who are leading this group of people must learn a different way of solving group conflicts and a host of business problems related to the digital world. One has to remember that though this special group is in some sort of manufacturing a product, they are by no means dealing with raw materials like wood, minerals, metals, and chemicals. They use something else and that is human resources called programmers.            Charlie Poole had the opportunity to work in this world and he found out soon that he must quickly adapt to the situation. His problem with a certain software development project was not unique to the software development company he is working for. He is feeling the pressure of seemingly insurmountable problems common to this business. In fact Poole and his team is already experiencing or about to experience a number of patterns or cycles a software development group usually encounters as described by Kent Beck in his book, Extreme Programming Explained and a few examples are listed below: Schedule slips – the day for delivery comes, and you have to tell the customer that the software won’t be ready for another six months. Project canceled – after numerous slips, the project is canceled without ever going into production. Defect rate – the software is put into production, but it doesn’t solve the business problem that was originally posed. False feature rich – the software has a host of potentially interesting features, all of which were fun to program, but none of which makes the customer much money. Staff turnover – after two years, all the good programmers on the project begin to hate the program and leave.            Again, based on his journal/project report there is reason to believe that the dreaded scenarios mentioned by Beck is looming in the horizon of Poole and his team as evidenced by his writings:            In July 2001 I spent three weeks trying to turn a project around. The project had troubles:         big requirements that said nothing, schedule slippages tat had already extended it to twice   it’s original estimate, no integrated version of the app we were developing [†¦] This was           far beyond my original commitment and I was planning to leave. At the same time, the  project manager was leaving, and a new one was not available for three weeks. (Poole)            The backdrop is set and before Poole could have reached the last level as desribed by Beck – leaving the company in frustration – the â€Å"turnaround master†Mr. Poole turned to the radical tenets of Extreme Programming (â€Å"XP†) for help.            The principles of XP can be found in an article written by Pradyumn Sharma, CEO of Pragati Software and he listed it as: Continuous Integration Small Releases Onsite Customer Planning Game Metaphor Simple Design Testing Refactoring Pair Programming Collective Ownership No overtime Coding Standards            Charlie Poole asserts that he only used four of the twelve XP principles namely, 1) Continuous integration; 2) Small Releases; 3)Onsite Customer; and 4) Planning Game. This does not really mater because the success of the team can be attributed not only in the use of XP methods but in the leadership skills of Poole.            Consider the following steps he took, becoming a sort of a maverick in that company who like the others have certain traditions and a way of doing things.            In order for the project to be completed in such a short time and with the odds not in their favor, the team and the leadership must follow an ancient truth which is the development of a â€Å"vision†. Before anything this â€Å"vision†must be first in place in the hearts and the minds of the all the members of the team including of course the leadership. A vision or a mental image of what must happen after a given time must be provided by the leader. According to Russ Finney this leader is called the professional system builder and he must in turn become a system visionary which according to Finney has the unenviable role of doing the following tasks:            His or her willingness to share insight and understanding of a situation, and the necessary         steps he or she envisions to arrive at a desired outcome, tend to be dependent on tow  factors: the level of confidence he or she has in the ideas, and his or her tolerance for scrutiny and criticism [†¦] With each passing phase of the project, he or she must constantly develop and communicate his or her vision of both the system functionality  and the project approach. (1999)            Charlie Poole did not only provide vision and listened to his team mates but he also he team but he designed an ingenious way for building it and presenting it to them. Poole did not sit in one corner of th office and wrote his vision but instead proposed the use of â€Å"stories†. Again, he demonstrated his ability to be a maverick when the situation calls for it. This use of a story works wonders for the group because of the following reasons: Simplifying the abstract world of computer programming. A creative way of allowing the Customers who may not be technically proficient to join            and contribute to the painting of a mental picture of what the project ought to be. It created a source of information from which the group can draw inspiration and also a tool to on seeing a bird’s eye view of the project that will aid in the latter stages of  integration.            Poole also did more than provide a vision, he also created an environment that minimized the emergence of conflicts between teams and team members. He probably got the idea from Ohlendorf’s work when he began to meet his team every Monday for breakfast. And instead of castigating his team for infractions he was willing to listen to what they have to say. The following statements explain why Poole was successful in this area. Amy Ohlendorf in her work entitled Conflict Resolution in Project Management asserts that learning how to actively listen will do wonders for an organization experiencing difficulty and she said:            Listening allows the conflict to take its natural course by giving individuals the  opportunity to disagree, express strong opinions, and show passion for ideas. A respect  for individual difference is demonstrated and an environment of understanding is        fostered. Listening is helpful in achieving a winning resolution by enabling an employee          to identify the criteria that is considered an acceptable outcome. As a result [†¦] trust and    a relationship bond will form preparing individuals to listen also to the needs of the   manager. (2000)            The only snag to the three week saga was when the company’s management step in to override what Poole was successfully been doing since he assumed the post – providing close proximity leadership. This way he was able to know how to make the thing work and all of a sudden management began dictating unrealistic deadlines that almost keeled the ship over. Lesson learned from that fiasco: in times of crisis lead, don’t manage.                                                                      Conclusion            Based on his journal or project report, Charlie Poole did not elaborate if he went to a leadership school or if he had had previous training in a management institute. If he did not then it can be said that he demonstrated an uncanny ability to provide high-caliber leadership for a group in crisis mode where everything that is happening points to an inevitable collapse.            Almost everything went according to his wishes – at least those that he can control – which are a testament to his leadership skills and the courage to do practice methodologies and techniques never done before. In other words he dared to do something different, for the simple reason that he was tasked to complete a job and there is no way it can be done using the normal route – the normal way of doing things around here sort of thing. And he was handsomely rewarded for his no guts no glory approach with a little help from sound leadership principles that he threw in to his bag of tricks. References Ohlendorf, Amy. (2000). â€Å"Conflict Resolution in Project Management.†University of Missouri –            St. Louis, Available: http://www.umsl.edu/~sauter /analysis/488_f01_papers/Ohlendorf.htm[30 May 2006]. Finney, Russ. (1999). â€Å"Winning Project Teams†. ItmWEB Media Corporation, Available:            http://www.itmweb.com/essay003.htm [30 May 2006]. Beck, Kent. (2000). Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change. Boston, MA: Addison-           Wesley. Poole, Charlie (2006, March 4) â€Å"Three Week Project Turnaround.†Cunningham & Cunnigham,          Inc. Available: http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?ThreeWeekProjectTurnaround [30 May 2006].
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Should Hate Speech and Hate Sites Be Banned from the Internet?
Should hate speech and hate sites be banned from the Internet? | 1. Introduction Internet can be termed as one of the most revolutionary inventions of the 21st century. However, just like any other thing in the world, it has its positive points and a dark side as well. Some users have made a productive use of this invention while others use it in a harmful manner. One of the most popular and convenient mode of researching nowadays, is to find the relevant information on the internet. But due to the everlasting cruelty in the world, some information on the internet can prove to be harmful for the respective person. It might be some content that gives inappropriate information or try to influence its viewers to go on the wrong path. 2. Overview A website that promotes or uses hate speech against race, community, gender, person, religion, nationality etc is called a hate site. The people who are responsible for putting these things on the internet; not only take use text but graphics, sounds and animations are also used to influence their readers more. It might be used to convince people to join a certain group of people who work against some concepts or people, for e. . ; StormFront. org hosts a hate site against Martin Luther King, Jr who was an American activist and a leader. More House College (2008) states that he is famous for his contributions in the African-American civil right movements. In the above mentioned site, content full of hate is written about the activist and claim that there is a long list of wrong actions done by him. The website terms him â€Å"modern day plastic God†. Such offending content about the man is possible due to the much proposed concept of â€Å"freedom of speech†. This concept focuses on the freedom of writing or saying anything that an individual feels is correct. This verbal freedom also gives the writer the freedom of speech without being accountable for doing it. But what these people fail to understand is that with freedom of speech comes gereat responsibility as well. They have a responsibility to only convey the message which would not offend anyone or harm anyone in life. 3. Ways to Inhibit Hate Sites There are approximately 4 billion web pages on the internet therefore it is very difficult to ensure that no hate content is pated on them. There are different ways in which this problem is handled by different countries. For e. g. Media Awareness Network (2009) states that according to the Canadian Human Rights Act Section 13, any text communicated by any telecommunication means (including internet) that may promote hatred towards a person or any of the following things is prohibited; 1Race 2Nationality 3Religion 4Gender etc Akdeniz et al (2008) stated that the Turkish governments are very sensitive about the hate content regarding their state and officials. They also take action against the hate sites promoting racism and terrorism. Whereas United Kingdom have a relaxed attitude towards racist content but are very alert about any hate content regarding their royalty. 4. Effects of Hate Sites on the Society 4. 1Effect on Children Children of the modern age are also tech-savvy and explore the internet just like adult. Therefore they are liable to exposure to hate sites as much as we are. Children’s minds are like blank papers and form perception of things very easily. They tend to take effect of things more than adults. If they are exposed to such content, a degree of aggression and negativity is induced in their character. This negativity leads to a negative and hopeless attitude about everything in life which hinders in their achievements. The aggression in their characters leads to making them commit crimes when they grow up; thereby making the society unsafe and unproductive. Therefore hate sites should be prohibited to ensure that our youth develop into successful and positive individuals. 4. 2Communal Groups It is a common practice for people to form small groups and communities on the basis of their similar ideas and concepts. The problem arises when they start being vocal about their ideas in an aggressive manner. Such an example is of the Knights Party (2010): The Ku Klux Klan organization in the United States; it is one of the biggest hate group organizations in the country. Their aim is to safeguard the rights and interests of the white American, may it be through violent or aggressive means. Their site is recorded to host content full of hate against the African-Americans, Jews and other minorities. They try to influence people to join them in their aims and also use this medium to promote their aggressive rallies. Such inappropriate sites should be banned from the internet. Fig. 1: KKK during their rally 4. 3Terrorist Organizations Nowadays, terrorist organizations also host sites. They convey their objectives to other people and openly state hate content for their enemies. This might influence the innocent people in the society and influence them to join these organizations thereby increasing terrorism in the society. They might state incorrect facts about their enemies just so that the people get influenced by the information and join their groups. 5. Sites Chosen for Analysis The sites that were analyzed for the hate speech are as follows; http://www. kkk. com/ – The official site of â€Å"The Ku Klux Klan†main site; advertises hate content against the minorities of the society and claims to safeguard their White supremacy at every cost. http://www. martinlutherking. org/ – Content full of hate against Martin Luther King, Jr 6. Conclusion After a comprehensive analysis of the topic under discussion, it can be concluded that hate sites on the internet are liable to cause harm to humanity and the peace and harmony of our societies. Therefore appropriate laws and regulations should be implemented to shut down the sites which ex0pose people to such inappropriate content. It is also the responsibility of the citizens of the society to report such hate sites to the concerned authorities so that we can hope for a safe future on the internet for our youth. References StormFront. org, Matin Luther – A True Historical Examination, [Online] Available at: http://www. artinlutherking. org/ More House College. (2008). Martin Luther King Jr Collection, [Online] Available at:http://www. auctr. edu/mlkcollection/ Media Awareness Network. (2009). Online Hate and Free Speech, [Online] Available at: http://www. media-awareness. ca/english/issues/online_hate/hate_and_free_speech. cfm, Akdeniz. Y, Altiparmak. K. (2008). Internet: Re stricted Access: A Critical Assessment of Internet Content Regulation and Censorship in Turkey, [Online] Available at: http://www. cyber-rights. org The Knights Party, (2010), [Online] Available at: http://www. kkk. com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)