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.
Monday, 21 June 2010
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.
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.
Friday, 18 June 2010
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.
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.
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