Overcoming the Temptation to Overuse the Internet for Research Essay

Students today face a tremendous amount of obstacles in their day-to-day learning environment that may not have been an issue in generations past. The main problems remain the same as they always have. Time-management is a skill that learners must acquire if they want to turn in assignments on time and make the grades they need to obtain the goals they have set for themselves. Procrastination is a component of poor time management that many students face, which leads to cramming and an increased level of stress. Whereas students faced both of these issues in the past as well as today, one problem that has crept into society that students are struggling with every day is the increasing overuse and reliance on the Internet for research, information gathering, and even general learning. The growing use of the Internet in the recent years has made information much more accessible than ever before. The term â€Å"Google it† is so widely and commonly expressed that it would be very difficult to find anyone who did not understand. When someone needs information for school, work, or personal use Google seems to be the first and most convenient crutch. Convenience is the foremost reason students go straight to the Internet when they are in need of research sources. Barberio (2004) states, â€Å"the very real possibility exists that students overuse the Internet, much to their detriment and most likely, to the growing consternation of their instructors† (p. 307). Even when traditional textbooks are available, they almost always come with some links available to accompany the text with sources on those links easily available. Once students access these links, they no longer have the bountiful wisdom of a librarian to help them sort through it as they could in a traditional library. Setting the parameters for coursework research and requiring credible sources and proper online citation styles is left to the instructors in each subject (Davis, 2003). Professors and universities have concerns for the temptation of cut-and-paste plagiarism and show frustration over the lack of traditional library use and the scholarly research and references libraries offer. Besides the convenience, another reason students rely on the Internet too much is because of the struggles previously discussed. Poor time management leads to procrastination. Procrastination leads students who may have otherwise had the time to do more traditional research, to grasp at the instant gratification that the Internet offers. According to Carter, Bishop, & Kravits (2007), developing good time management skills helps students to finish their work on a schedule and avoid procrastination that helps to lower stress. In order to alleviate the temptation of counting on the Internet for resources, students must address the reasons they rely on it too much in the first place. As far as convenience is concerned, there may be no way around that. The Internet will continue to be used as a resource for gathering quick and â€Å"easy† information. However, the Internet can be a fine source of professional research and cost-free quality articles, scholarly papers, and official documents. If students today can sort through the vast pages of â€Å"search results† and biased Internet information, and gather un-biased facts from different sources. If they can then take this data and use critical thinking skills to draw intelligent conclusions, the Internet can be a worthy source for their research and learning. Another way to avoid over-using Internet resources would be to schedule a trip to the local library. Students may find it is surprisingly easier to gather information there. Before going to the library, students should be very precise with the information they are looking for, so that they do not waste the time that they have there. Overcoming poor time-management and procrastination would be another way to schedule that time for library research. When building a schedule, it is helpful to obtain some type of planner to help keep track of important goals, assignments, tasks, responsibilities, and deadlines. Schedulers or planners can take shape in many varying forms including the traditional hand-held â€Å"Day runner† or notebook, calendars online such as Google calendar, or planners built into mobile phone applications. In addition to keeping track of this information, it is important to break the larger tasks into smaller tasks and prioritize the information to ensure that each task is completed on time. After setting a solid schedule, the next step is utilize tools to help manage time. As a student, there are a number of techniques that can be used to help manage time. These techniques include incorporating to-do lists into one’s routine and making use of the course syllabus to ensure compliance. Again, breaking the syllabus down into smaller tasks makes it easier to look at and less stressful to comprehend. Copying each week into its own folder in a Word doc on the computer desktop is one example of how to keep track of the syllabus. Students also need to become familiar with the many resources available through the University (Carter, Bishop, & Kravits, 2007). Students face many trials every day when trying to reach their goals. The Internet and its easy access to information without leaving one’s seat have become extremely tempting as a one-stop shopping for every need that comes along in the course of a day. When students are faced with a research paper, the habit remains to turn to Internet searches as a quick way of gathering this information. Learning how to properly gather this data and to use critical thinking skills is vital if scholarly research is going to be accomplished. Students must also use time management skills so that procrastination is not an issue and time is available for alternative forms of research.

PepsiCo in 2007 Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

PepsiCo in 2007 - Case Study Example Natural resources essentially drop out of the competitive equation. Being born rich becomes much less an advantage than it used to be. Technology gets turned upside down. New product technologies become secondary; new process technologies become primary. PepsoCo obtains better terms from distributors and suppliers and promotes their products and services to consumers better than foreign firms because of common cultural heritage, ties, and language should be used for their greatest advantage. The main strength is new product development and product reformulation. Customers accept, reject, or alter propositions, perhaps through on-the-spot negotiations. Also, PepsiCo establishes close relations with distributors and follows aggressive acquisition strategy. The company relies on innovations and Product One strategy and strong leadership (Thompson et al 2008). For PepsiCo, Power One strategy is both a component and a determinant of the marketing mix. The company considers the life-style factors influencing product development. Urbanization, leisure, competition, discretionary income, travel, styles, tastes, automobiles, informality, and convenience have led to the emphasis on product form, readiness, packaging, combination, and selectio n convenience. For PepsiCo, product development refers to the conversion of ideas into successfully marketed products. It combines technical and marketing competence, and is concerned with strategies of programmed introduction of new products to markets as replacements for decaying ones. Since it carries out an important mission directed at corporate growth and advancement, product development should report to top management (Thompson et al 2008). Strong leadership and positive corporate culture support development and strategic growth of the company. Opportunities In implementing the product mix concept, companies are shifting away from being producing units, with set production capacities that merely broaden their line by adding similar items. They are becoming units that assess market opportunities against such criteria as rate of return on investment, and that change their facilities when the opportunities warrant it. This orientation demands a change from product rigidity to product flexibility. International expansion proposes great opportunities for PepsiCo (Thompson et al 2008). The idea is to establish effective management in multi-brand companies by developing a series of profit centers in which product executives assume responsibility for the total marketing effort for a line. This approach grows out of the inability of one executive to master the intricacies and details of marketing several dozens or hundreds of products. Product managers develop product ideas, nurture their brands, compete effectively within and outside the company , prepare budgets, work with marketing-research and advertising agencies, influence salesmen, wholesalers, and retailers, and generate sales, profits, and larger market shares. They understand and represent markets, customers, and consumers. "PepsiCo management believed international markets offered the company's greatest opportunity for growth since per capita consumption of snacks in the United States averaged 13.9 servings per month" (Gambler 2008). Weaknesses Both PepsiCo and distribution-channel members are faced with the problem of deciding the best combination

Trip to California Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Trip to California - Essay Example nia, he will find that it is very diverse, and this diversity ranges from its forested coastal regions to its north, the rugged mountains in the interior, to the harshness of the desert to its south. But sandwiched between all these is the Central Valley which is the most fertile and agriculturally productive part of the state. In order to get a better view of California in our travel, we chose to hire a car as soon as we landed at the airport in Los Angeles. It was while we were driving from one place to another that we came to discover just how expansive the highway system of this state really is. Because of these highways, our travels within the state were made much easier and in fact, we covered more distance and travelled to more destinations of interest in just a few hours than we would have done in our own state. During this trip, we were pleasantly surprised to find how useful our knowledge of Spanish really was, because despite the fact that English is the official language of the state, Spanish is also spoken by a large number of people making knowledge of the latter very useful (Anderson, 2006). We found that once people realized that we could speak Spanish, they would quickly give us directions to where we wanted to go. I believe that it may have been because of the goodwill which was as a resu lt of speaking to those people in their own language. Some very memorable places that we visited were the Hollywood symbol and the Walk of Fame in Los Angeles; the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz in San Francisco; and finally, the cities of San Diego and Santa Barbara. Furthermore, we found the desert in southern California to be a very exciting place and we spent several days exploring it. We often spent the nights out of doors in the cold desert discussing the day’s events and making plans for the coming days. We had so much fun in California that it was with the deepest regret when the time came for us to leave. We all later came to admit that we had fallen

Mohrs Circle and Strain Gauge Rosette Lab Report

Mohrs Circle and Strain Gauge Rosette - Lab Report Example An aluminium alloy beam, clamped at one end within a rig containing a cam whose full-range rotation leads to a repeatable tip deflection of = 0.5" = 12.7 mm, as shown in Figure1. The beam has dimensions as follows: breadth b = 25.4 mm, depth d = 6.35 mm and length (to the cam) L = 254 mm. Three strain gauges are mounted on the upper surface at 94 mm from the clamped end; these gauges are mounted at 15, 45, and 75 with respect to the longitudinal, x-axis, of the beam, as shown in Figure 2. Each of these gauges can be selected using a switchboard, to be one arm of a Wheatstone bridge arrangement [1 research and give reference ], with a dummy strain gauge providing temperature compensation. The Wheatstone bridge is a divided bridge circuit used to measure electrical resistance; these minute changes in resistance correspond to strain in a strain gage in what is known as a bonded resistance strain gage [2] From a), determine the principal strains I and II, as well as the direction of maximum shear strain. Also, determine the value of Poisson's ratio, , for the material. In this experiment I should theoretically be equal and in the direction of x. Inevitably there will be experimental errors so your result may be different. In the discussion section (6.), discuss possible reasons why the maximum strain obtained may not be predicted to occur in the x-direction,

Debates in Australian History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Debates in Australian History - Essay Example The term may also be used to denote those programs or agencies which are independent in nature within an institution on which the responsibility of selecting, preserving and offering access or archival documents is bestowed on. The third meaning refers to repositories or buildings that are used for purposes of housing various collections of archival material. This paper, however, aims at presenting an in-depth understanding of archival documents as a broad collection of media and other traditional textual materials, including films, photographs, sound recordings, videotapes, magnetic disks and magnetic tapes (Shultz, Hoffman & Reiter-Palmon 2001, p.23). Oral history, on the other hand, refers to the formal, well-rehearsed accounts of the past presented by traditional bearers who have been culturally endorsed to informal conversations regarding to things and incidents of the old days among the members of the family, coworkers and/or neighbors. Oral history may also entail printed comp ilations of old stories which were told about both the past and the present experiences or even recorded interviews with certain persons deemed to have an imperative story to tell (Mnjama 1993, p.83). Each and every of these uses has a certain specific currency. Undeniably, a majority of the people throughout history has got to learn about the past through spoken words. In addition, for those individuals in the society who are history-conscious, firsthand accounts of the past have been so preserved for the record and to be precise, at those moments when they were historical actors and with their memories of the pass from the scene. Being histographical methods, both oral history and archival documents have had their merits, as well as demerits. Advantages Archival documents are important cultural resources. This is because these materials have been authored in such a conscious way so as to not inform, but also perpetuate knowledge, convey feelings, ideas and opinions. Moreover, the authoring of archival documents is geared towards entertaining and availing information about their subject (McKemmish 1993, p.9). Archival documents are customarily a part of the broader group of records which are closely related. Since they are created or accumulated in the course of undertaking business, these documents do play a central role in facilitating the business process. Another of the advantages of archival documents is that they are useful for historical and/or research purposes. They actually provide a doorway through which both the past and present events can be examined. Furthermore, a variety of researchers, including scholars, students at various levels, genealogists, biographers, local historians, documentary filmmakers and independent writers, take advantage of these archival documents (Lucas 1981, p.228). It is also worth noting that archival documents can be used for a number of purposes and by assorted audiences. As thus, records of organizations which do not have their personal institutional archives, as well as individual personal papers are most a times actively sought by the historical societies. Additionally, archival documents are the basis for legal evidence, personal and collective memory and organizational knowledge. Since archival documents are undeniably information objects serving as an evidence of the past events,

Terrorism and Human Rights in Kenya Dissertation

Terrorism and Human Rights in Kenya - Dissertation Example This not withstanding, terrorism is gradually emerging to be one major setback to the protection of human rights in Kenya. This situation has created a situation that is best described by Karanja (2003) who states that â€Å"The word terrorism sends a cold chill down the spine of every Kenyan.† Indeed as far as terrorism is concerned, one attack is not small enough to be neglected. This is because acts of terrorism come with so much emotional and psychological traumas; not to talk of physical pain and agony, loss of property and most unfortunately death of human beings. Even as these negative effects of terrorism affect humanity and more specifically residents of Kenya, one other area of concern that has gained so much prominence and come to the table of discussion is the issue of human rights of people in Kenya who suffer in the various events of terrorists attacks. In 1956, 1998 and 2002, Kenya suffered various degrees of terrorist bombings of which Kenya suffered catastroph ic effects. Not quite unusual, Kenya responded to these bombings with counter-terrorism. These counter terrorisms however worsened Kenya’s plight: especially that of ordinary citizens as their human right protection and general security came under threat. It is against this background that this research has been set off to investigate the relationship between terrorism and human rights issues in Kenya. It is against this background that this research has been set off to investigate the relationship between terrorism and human rights issues in Kenya. The research proposal shall critically analyze the evolution of human rights in Kenya, history of terrorism in Kenya,

Impact of Government Restriction on Tobacco Smoking Essay Example for Free

Impact of Government Restriction on Tobacco Smoking Essay Introduction                      Tobacco smoking is known to be a major health problem among many since the product is known to have up to 60 carcinogens among them nicotine and carbon monoxide (Owing, 2005). Currently the smoking prevalence in the European region is estimated to be about 28.6% with the male having a higher percentage of 40% as compared to the female who rank at 18.2%. Health experts have always pinpointed smoking as one the killer habits contributing to high cases of mortality and many health hazards CITATION WHO07 l 1033 (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2007). In that regard many government have put measures to curb the habit. In this presentation we shall focus on the smoking trends and limitations put by governments within the period 1974-1999 divided in 1974-1984 and 1985-1999. 1974-1984 Tobacco smoking in Britain has been on the decline in the past 50 years. It is believed that in the period beginning 1974 the country experienced the highest decline in smoking. This is compared to 1940s when prevalence was a high as 82%. Prevalence of smoking in the Great Britain for the period 1974-2012 % 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 1998 2002 2006 2010 2012 Men 51 45 38 35 31 28 28 30 27 23 21 22 Women 41 37 33 31 29 26 26 26 25 21 20 19 All 45 40 35 33 30 27 27 28 26 22 20 20 Note: Retrieved from ash.org.uk smoking statistics with information originating the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, 2012. Based on the above statistics it is evident that the period 1974-1984 experienced a slower decline in tobacco smoking as compared to the later period. The fact that this period was the first to experience such huge decline implies there must have been a general change in public attitude towards the habit. In this case the government played the role as a regulatory body to curb a common habit that had become a vice. To control smoking habit among the people the British government used price increase to keep tobacco prices high. This was done through the introduction of taxes. Due to addiction effect of nicotine contained in tobacco the decline in the number of smokers was not very large even the though the habit is concentrated among the low income earners (Ewles, 2005). Despite the low smoking prevalence in the period 1974-1984 as compared to earlier years, rights of non-smokers were not recognized. The government focused more of reducing smoking rates rather than reducing the effects imposed by tobacco smoke on third parties. Smoking in public was not regulated as smoking zones did not exist and not much research had been done of how the smoke can affect non-smokers without their consent. Individuals were free to smoke in public as no law enforced by the government was in place to control them. It is not just smokers who did not recognize that non-smokers have their rights but also non-smokers were not aware that they had rights to a smoke free environment. Generally the number of women smoking had also declined compared to earlier years. The trend continued to later years. Even though there was a decline still the number was high based on the statistics that by 1974, 4 in every 10 women were smokers. This figure dropped and by 1984 it was 3 out of 10. In this period of time smoking among women wasn’t looked from the negative side but it came to be a concern when it was done in pregnancy. Despite lack of much research about the effect of smoking in pregnant women in this period, there was general belief in the public that it was not ideal for a pregnant woman to smoke. A pregnant woman smoking was seen as irresponsible and not caring about the child she was carrying. The concern here was about the wellness of the child whom the woman was carrying since he/she was being exposed to the dangers of tobacco. However, such public concern did not affect the trend because smoking among pregnant women was common with women from low social class. The question whether decline in smoking was to the advantage or a disadvantage of all is an issue of concern. While tobacco industry was a big contributor to the tax revenue of the nation and created jobs, the same industry was linked to health and socio-economic challenges. In the period discussed many of the affected parties were the low class citizens who could otherwise used their funds in the right way rather than smoking. It problem worsened if they got health complications as this rendered them uneconomical. The efforts put by the government in this period to curb tobacco smoking were of great value because they focused on building the future nation rather than gaining tax revenues at the expense of the future. 1985-1999                      In this period of time the trend in tobacco smoking were in decline until 1994 when they remained constant. In general what this statistics imply is that the smoking prevalence in Britain may have begun to be constant at a rate of one smoker in every for individuals among the adults. The trends here show that the number of women smokers was also getting closer to that of their male counterparts of which stand at 28% as compares 29% in men by 1994. Smoking among the young too increased in this period especially among the teenagers. Despite the low prevalence percentage as compared to preceding periods, the worry was about the stability trend. The trend showed that unless action be taken the prevalence rate in Britain would have begun to rise again CITATION Roy00 l 1033 ( Royal College of Physicians of London. Tobacco Advisory Group., 2000)Smoking during pregnancy was an issue of concern especially among the young and unemployed ones. This is because during this time much awareness had been created about the negative effects of smoking especially in pregnant women. Smoking in pregnancy had been known to cause immature birth and the children of mothers who smoked during pregnancy risked â€Å"neo-natal mortality or sudden infant death syndrome, of asthma or wheezing illness in the first years of life CITATION Roy00 l 1033 ( Royal College of Physicians of London. Tobacco Advisory Group., 2000).† On the other hand there was public perception that smoking during pregnancy affected the normal growth of the child both physically and intellectually. With this kind of information within the public a pregnant woman smoking was seen as not caring of the wellness of her child. Although a large number of women continued to smoke during pregnancy, statistics by the Health Education Authority (HBE) in 1999 showed that 10% of women who were smoking before pregnancy stopped the habit. Much awareness was also created of how smoking is likely to affect people who are not smokers but come into contact with the smoke. It was well known that an individual smoking in public is likely to cause more harm to individual who inhale the smoke. In that regard the government came with rules meant to discourage smoking in the public. This was based on acceptance even among the smokers that non-smokers had rights to a clean environment. It is in this period that the government adopted policies that limited places where an individual could smoke. This was aimed at discouraging further increase in the number of smokers who could be easily influenced and also meant to protect the rights of non-smokers. To curb smoking the British government put more efforts in price increase through the use of taxes. However, this did not been seem to work due to various reasons attached to smoking among them being the addictive nature of the product. It is well known that nicotine substance contained in tobacco is addictive and price increase could not prevent individuals from continuing to use the product. On the other hand the legality of tobacco made it is easier for smokers to get it from cheaper sources that taxation didn’t affect.The government also turned to campaigns through the media that targeted the youth to discourage the habit among them being banning of cigarette adverts. However, such campaigns were known to have poor results in terms of outreach among the young people. The hurdle the government was facing here is that in this period the young were affected as compared to the later whereby focus was put more on the adult population. The actions by the government to put restrictions on smoking were of great importance to the society. Within this period of time most firms in the UK were manufacturing their products outside the country unlike in the 1974-1984 when tobacco products were produced locally. This meant that no jobs were created for the locals within the country unless in fields like sales, marketing and distribution. Looking into the retail sector cigarettes were sold as secondary products since retailers had other products they majored in hence low returns from the tobacco products. On the side of the consumer it is known that in UK tobacco products are priced in a way that most of the cost is excise duty. This implied that expenditure on the products did not stimulate the economy high as compared to other goods bought by the consumer (Ewles, 2005). Through the restrictions imposed the society benefited in terms of cost savings and a healthier population. This in turn benefitted both the government and citizens through saving on funds that could otherwise be used for health purposes. On the other hand the efforts to curb smoking were of great help to the future generation which could easily adopt to low smoking rates. Rules on public smoking also played an important role in societal wellbeing as they gave non-smokers their rights of a clean and healthy environment. References Owing, J. H. (2005). Trends in smoking and health research. New York: Nova Biomedical Books. Royal College of Physicians of London. (2000). Nicotine addiction in Britain: A report of the Tobacco Advisory Group of the Royal College of Physicians. London: The College. Ewles, L. (2005). Key topics in public health: Essential briefings on prevention and health promotion. Edinburgh: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone. Source document