Copy, Paste, Done !

Internet plagiarism rising in schools

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/jun/20/internet-plagiarism-rising-in-schools

Internet meant a great increase in the amount of free information, and students no longer had to wait three weeks for a book in the library. That has a downside, however. Internet plagiarism has risen considerably in school over the past years. It is very easy to just copy-paste things from the internet and handing it in as your own work. Mobile phones and MP3 players are also frequently used to cheat. A lot of schools and colleges now use the Turnitin database to check the work of pupils on plagiarism. There will be a three-day international conference at Northumbria University to share ideas on how to catch cheaters. Two of the ideas suggested are digital storytelling and earlier tutoring on how to reference sources.

I find this very interesting as I regularly catch myself committing plagiarism, though unconsciously. What happens is that I remember sentences from the text I’ve read and write them down identically or almost identically. Furthermore, some sentences are quite hard to change if you want to keep the message intact. Copying whole pages is something I never do, obviously. As it is such as big problem in the UK (and probably also in other places) I think the conference is a good idea. If some students are even willing to pay money for essays, then they are really on the wrong track. Telling pupils of the dangers earlier and teaching them how to use and reference sources is a good idea and will be sufficient for most of the students.

Oily Words

BP's Tony Hayward to give speech to oil conference

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jun/21/bp-tony-hayward-speech-to-oil-conference

BP chief executive Tony Hayward will give a speech in London tomorrow evening. The speech is entitled “Key roles and responsibilities of international oil companies (IOCs) in an age of uncertainty”. It will cover issues such as global responsibilities, cooperation between multinational and national oil companies and investment strategies. BP has of course been in the news lately due to the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, leading to an environmental disaster. Hayward has been heavily criticized after several missteps. This week, for example, he went away to take part in a yacht race while the leak still has not been covered and the damage turned out to be far worse than expected. Security will be tight during the speech, as the place could very well be a target for demonstrations.

What an idiot! Hayward has made quite a name for himself in the past weeks. First he said in an interview that the amount of oil was small compared to the huge amount of water. Some days later he posted a message on Facebook that he ‘wanted his life back’, which is quite offensive towards the oil workers (and their family) who lost their lives in the explosion. It has earned him the deserved nickname: the BP bumbler. To me he seems like one of those typical top job managers who also delivered us the financial crisis. A money grabbing bastard who cares about his wallet more than about the environment, animals and a whole branch of economy. How utterly uncaring, when several attempts to cover up the leak have failed and the damage turns out to be much worse than expected, to go on a sailing holiday. He will probably not get away with this easily, but firing him won’t solve much of the problems. What’s more, he has probably arranged a fat bonus for himself in case he has to leave.

A real bombshell

Bomb left outside Northern Ireland police station.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jun/18/bomb-northern-ireland-police-station

Last night a 300lb (300 pound) bomb was left in a van outside a Northern Ireland police station. The police of Aughnacloy was warned by dissident republicans who phoned a Belfast newsroom last night warning that a bomb had been placed in the van. Citizens living near the police station were quickly evacuated and spent the night in three community halls during the security alert. Bomb experts from the army have examined the vehicle and confirmed that there was indeed a bomb in it. If it had gone off it would have caused a lot of damage to buildings and resulted in a considerable number of civilians being killed. There have been several more bomb attacks on police stations and other buildings in recent months.

I was quite surprised by this news item as I thought that things were getting calmer in Northern Ireland. I really need to improve my knowledge about this conflict. Is it still about Catholics versus Protestants or some spin-off? Whatever the reason, the police seems to be well organized, quickly deploying army bomb experts and evacuating those in danger around the van. Bomb attacks are one of the hardest things to tackle, because when they go off, the damage is already done. One question is still on my mind. Were the dissident republicans in the complot or are they working for the police? It seems a strange thing to do to tell the news about the bomb, unless they thought it would go off in a matter of minutes… Beside that, I’m glad no damage was done in this attack.

The Sun has sunk... deep

Laws quits over expenses scandal

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2992831/Laws-quits-over-expenses-scandal.html

Treasury chief David Laws has quit because it emerged he channelled thousands in Commons expenses to his secret gay lover. The resignation is the first blow to the Tory-Lib Dem coalition. In a statement, Mr Laws said: “I do not see how I can carry out my crucial work on the budget and spending review while I have to deal with the private and public implications of recent revelations.” David Laws got a lot of support and positive words, despite the way he darkened the money. Prime Minister David Cameron described him as an honourable man, while deputy PM Nick Clegg said he deeply respected his colleague’s “dignity and integrity”. The resignation came after it was revealed that David Laws had paid 40000 pounds of taxpayers’ money to a man he has been having a relation with since 2001. Many people think he made the right decision with his resignation as a though job and personal problems (fuelled by media) are hard to combine.


This is the first of my blog posts that is about an article from The Sun and probably the last one as well. I am stunned that a paper can consist of so much rubbish. Almost all of the articles on the front page are about scandals, split-ups or people brutally murdered. What’s more, most of the pages are decorated with girls in lingerie, probably to divert the readers attention and to stop making him realise that he is reading an incredibly bad newspaper. Articles consist for fifty percent of quotes of other people, inconsequently linked together. The rest of the article, which I suppose is written by an editor of The Sun, could have been written by a ten year old just as well. This was one of the more serious articles on the site, and even here they manage to focus on the secret gay lover instead of the fact that someone steals 40000 pounds of taxpayers’ money. People quoted are just saying how honourable and decent Mr. Laws is, while in fact he channelled thousands of pounds away for his own interests. Not even one speaker in the article has something negative to say about David Laws. Cheap, panting and with no respect for privacy is how The Sun might be described. The worst thing however, is that there are people who actually like it…

Football Frenzy

Robin van Persie pleased with two-goal return from injury for Holland

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/may/27/robin-van-persie-holland-world-cup


In the friendly match between Holland and Mexico, Robin van Persie proved his worth as an attacker by scoring both goals for the Dutch team. He suffered from several injuries in the past several years, and though they have not completely cured, he seems to be fit enough to compete in the World Cup 2010, starting in June. In the first half, Holland was by far the better team, constantly keeping high pressure on Mexico’s defence. This paid of with two goals, one in the 17th minute and one just before the half time break. Two excellent crosses from midfielders Ibrahim Afellay and Rafael van der Vaart provided Holland with goal scoring opportunities. After the break the Dutch players were unable to keep up their good form. Mexico was the better team during the second half but only scored once and so the match ended in a 2-1 victory for Holland. According to Hollands’s manager Bert van Marwijk the frugal second half was because of the heavy training sessions of his team this week. And after all, it was just an exhibition game. The real matches won’t start until June 11.

It is always fascinating to see what happens in the weeks before a World Cup, not to mention the tournament itself. Teams are composed, strategies invented and opponents are closely monitored. The ‘Oranje gekte’ and similar foreign phenomena flare up and cause football to be the conversation of the day in nearly every country that participates. I like the fact that English newspapers like the guardian report about what the Dutch national football team does and what their views on it are. My own vision is always slightly blurred because of patriotic so it’s a good thing to here some opinions from other countries. Apart from keeping an eye on the competition, a reason for the attention might be that a lot of Dutch footballers and coaches are active in other countries such as England like Van Persie playing for Arsenal. I’m looking forward to see what both England and Holland will achieve this tournament.

Academy Aspiration

Education secretary Michael Gove urges all schools to become academies

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article7136801.ece


Every school in England should become an academy, according to the Educational Secretary Michael Gove. He has written to all 20000 state head teachers, offering them the chance to break free from local authority control, said creating more academies would improve standards, cut bureaucracy and raise aspirations. For a school to become an academy means that they have a bigger budget and freedom over what they teach. But there are also people disappointed by the announcement. Chris Keates, general secretary of the teaching union says that what parents and the public want are good local schools run by local councils, also improving the community feelings. As schools need to be judged before becoming an academy, a critics say that schools judged not good enough will be left behind. They also fear that extremists will start schools and use it for their own purposes. Michael Gove defended his plan by assuring the public that it will not be possible for extremists to run an academy and that stronger schools will help weaker schools to improve.


As I am not really familiar with the British education system, despite Roger Marples’ speech, I had to look up what exactly the difference between a ‘normal’ school and an academy is. The Times Q&A page tells us that an academy school a “state-maintained but independently run school which has the help of outside sponsors including big business and entrepreneurs.” All academies have a specialism in one or more subjects, for example sport, science or technology. They are state-funded and thus free.

I don’t think that this is a good plan at all. For the reasons already mentioned above I doubt it will be effective. There apparently is no national curriculum the students follow. Freedom is good, but in some cases there have to be guidelines or rules. If a student moves to another part of the land he might have to adapt to a completely different school. The outside sponsors are a sign of commercialising taken to far. Education, especially primary and secondary schools, is something that should be financed by the state and not some business that has different ideas about a school and just wants to make profit.

Content Covered by Cover?

Design: Don't judge a book by its cover.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/may/09/judge-book-by-cover


While “albums are sold across the world inside a universal sleeve and blockbuster films branded in a singular style", novels are given a different cover in almost every country. The reason for this is unknown though some people suggest it might be a cultural thing. Also, marketing might play an important role. In the US and the UK covers are desperately trying to get the attention from people passing by, while in countries like Germany the cover is kept really simple. Others are sceptical about book buyers being so different in each country that they require different covers. There might also be an element of pride in designing a cover for a book. It has certainly become the norm to start covers from scratch, with variable results.


“What you are trying to get across on a cover is the essence of a book” according to Nathan Burton. I agree with him on this point. Covers are important, as many people, including myself, often judge a book by its jacket. It has always puzzled me why for example the Dutch wrappings of Harry Potter are very different from the English ones. I was in a library in Sweden once where they had both the English and Swedish version of several fantasy books I knew. It was very interesting to see these, as I only recognized them by the authors name on the cover. Whatever the reason for the ‘cover confusion’, it’s interesting to see how every designer has a different interpretation of the book and thus creates a different cover.

Robin Hood once more

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/may/11/robin-hood-cannes-film-review

The Cannes Film Festival opener of this year is the film ‘Robin Hood’. The story has been told many times before, which is the reason that director Ridley Scott and screenwriter Brian Helgeland have chosen a different approach to the story. Instead of the usual Sherwood-forest-tale, the story takes place years before that, and ends when the normal story begins. The events that happened before are cleverly linked. Robin Longstride is a peasant archer in the army of King Richard Lionheart, who returns from the crusade, but dies in France. Robin takes the place of a noblemen called Robin of Loxley. In this combined role of noblemen and peasant he can be a member of both classes at the same time. Robin has to fight King John, his vicious captain, conspirators, and the French. Meanwhile he also gives a speech promoting something like the Magna Carta and obviously, he has to save Marian. Both Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett are excellent in their roles of Robin Hood and Maid Marian. This is without a doubt a good film.


I have seen both the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves , the parody Robin Hood: Men in Tights and the recent BBC series and are therefore familiar with the story. At first (after seeing the commercial) I decided this film was not worth seeing because it looked too large-scaled, more of a media hype than a good movie. After reading the article, however, I have to change my opinion. I always wondered about the events that happened before Sherwood, and according to the reviewer, they are clearly linked. Every actor and actress give a different interpretation of the characters of Robin and Marian, and I am eager to see what Crowe and Blanchett made of them, more so because they both have an good reputation (on film domain). Robin Hood is a typical British symbol, known worldwide for his inspiring ideals. The film will be two hours of not worrying about the ‘real world’ and I will definitely go and see it.

Hand of History

David Cameron feels the hand of history where it hurts

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/apr/25/david-cameron-david-mitchell


The UK might very well be on the brink of a political revolution, according to David Mitchell. The age old system of only two parties (and some small insignificant ones) might become a hung parliament and end into a political system with several smaller parties. This is due to the rise of the Liberal Democrats and its leader Nick Clegg, as well as the discontentment among voters. The problem with the two party system is that the leader of one party (often the opposition) only has to prove that he is less terrible than his opponent. Debates will have to be about content again and not just about putting the other one into a bad daylight. This change will come hardest to the conservatives, as they have made the most profit from the old system. They are also the ones most strongly opposed to the approaching change.


I completely agree with David Mitchell’s views in this article. A system with more than two parties that causes a hung parliament will be fairer and change the tone of the debate in the UK, which is too harsh and too much directed at denigrating the opponent. I also hope the voting system will be changed into something that will divide the votes proportionally among the parties. This way, it will be impossible for a party to gain a reasonable number of the votes but not enter parliament because of no local majority. Also possible would be a combination of the two systems, just like the one in New Zealand.

Apart from the content, I really liked David’s way of writing, using comparisons and typically British humour to make his point. Sharp and sarcastic, without forgetting about the seriousness of the subject.

Apologise for Pope 'Condom' Memo

Foreign Office apologises for Pope 'condom' memo.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8642404.stm

The article is about a document that circulated which suggested some ideas for “an ideal visit” for the pope. This visit would include his being invited to open an abortion clinic and bless a gay marriage during his September visit. It would also be accompanied by the launch of “Benedict” condoms. Several religious leaders were shocked by the document and think it would be appalling to treat the Pope this way. The Foreign Office has apologised for the paper and stressed that it did not reflect its views. Apart from the ideas mentioned above, the document contained various other ideas such as making the Pope apologise for the Armada. The individual responsible has been told orally and in writing that this was a serious error of judgement and he has accepted this view.


I think a lot of people take the document much too seriously because, as the ones responsible also state, it was ‘a joke that had gone too far’. And even though some of the ideas are just ridiculous, like the Pope apologizing for the Armada, some other ideas are not so bad in my opinion. Admittedly, I am against religious leaders and especially the Pope, as I feel he is a murderer. The recent activities of paedophile priests only add to the crimes against humanity the church has been committing for ages. When someone slaughters a tribe in Africa we condemn and imprison him but when the Pope indirectly does the same by forbidding condoms, he is welcomed with open arms? The church has almost no self-criticism, hence the enormous amount they get from outsiders. Imprisoning the Pope will probably not solve anything, and he will certainly refuse to open an abortion clinic, but he certainly must be questioned about his medieval views on the world.