civics :: essays research papers

What is Civnet? Civnet is a website of Civitas International for civic education practitioners (teachers, teacher trainers, curriculum designers), as well as scholars, policymakers, civic-minded journalists, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) promoting civic education all over the world. Objective Any healthy, fully functioning democracy requires a political culture composed of active participants who understand what it means to be democratic citizens. Though there may be free and fair elections in new and emerging democracies, there might not yet exist a democratic culture; i.e., people may be unaccustomed to voting, running for elective office, understanding how their government works, seeking out different sources of information to make informed choices, forming advocacy and public-interest groups to influence political outcomes in a consensus-building, non-coercive political system, and creating voluntary organizations to meet societal needs not met by government or the commercial sector. "Civil society" may be thought of as the third sector, and a foundation on which free, non-coercive, democratic polities must rest. Moreover, well-established democracies often witness increased apathy, atomization, and a dilution in citizen participation and civic behavior, as civic values are not properly reinforced and are allowed to go stale. Therefore, civic education at the pre-collegiate and collegiate levels is vital both to newer and older democracies, to ensure that future generations of citizens understand the values, mechanisms, and skills necessary to develop and maintain a democratic political system. Accordingly, an international coalition of concerned academics and representatives of non-governmental and governmental organizations formed Civitas International association and helped establish Civnet to address these needs by raising the profile of civic education, promoting civic education on the agendas of government policymakers throughout the world, enriching the debate on teaching methodology, establishing teacher-training programs, creating and distributing civics lesson plans, syllabi, curricula, text books, and teaching materials, and enabling civic education practitioners to network and share information, ideas, and resources. In addition to teachers, educators, and policymakers, many believe that journalists also have a role to play in highlighting solutions and citizen success stories, rather than merely reporting on societal problems. While Civitas International has many activities to achieve these aims, Civnet is unique in that it provides an international electronic resource where teachers may instantly receive and download teaching resources, scholars may read articles of thought and opinion, and use Civnet's links to find a world of other civic Web resources, and civic educators may read what their colleagues are up to in Civnet news, network with their counterparts in other organizations, and learn about upcoming civic events on the Civnet calendar.

I want to be a manager when I grow up Essay -- Business, Business Proc

I believe you learn about leadership by acting as an example. You should be prepared to do the things you are asking others to do by getting on your hands and knees, if need be, and get your hands dirty. This engraves a picture into the mind of an employee or subordinate to what type of a manager you are. In this paper, I will cover the role a manager plays in an organization describing four functions of management: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. I will then describe three traits: conceptual, human, and technical, which an individual must possess to become a successful manager within an organization and how they fit in with the four functions. There are usually three management levels within an organization: first-line, middle, and top managers. First-line managers are typically referred to as supervisors. They have the duty to oversee employees in non-management positions who do certain jobs to make the merchandise for the organization. All departments within the organization will have a first-line manager (Jones & George, 2011). Middle managers oversee the first-line management teams and seek methods to organize human and additional sources to reach goals for the organization. The middle manager will have marketing or production knowledge and they assist their supervisors to attain a more efficient way to use their operating budget and to lower manufacturing cost. If organizational goals are not being met, middle managers will make proposals to top managers on how to obtain the goals (Jones & George, 2011). Top managers are accountable for the running of every division. Organizational goals are made by top managers such as the type of merchandise the organization should make, in what ways the div... ...a manager’s list of achievements and aids in the reaching of a company’s business goals. It is vital for a manager to possess these skills and can lead to an organizations’ success or failure. I believe you learn about leadership by acting as an example. You should be prepared to do the things you are asking others to do by getting on your hands and knees, if need be, and get your hands dirty. This engraves a picture into the mind of an employee or subordinate to what type of a manager you are. In this paper, I covered the roles a manager plays in an organization describing the four functions of management: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. I described three traits: conceptual, human, and technical, which an individual must possess to become a successful manager within an organization and how they fit in with the four functions.

Human resource management chapter

How can companies make sure they do not discriminate against women as the workforce becomes more diverse? Offer full scholarships to female employees for campus or online colleges while still maintaining their position In the company with a chance of promotion once the required course Is completed. Compare pay to performance (male or female) and make diversity a part of that performance. Conduct discrimination policy training. Seeing as women only can become pregnant, they should not be forced Into leave If hey can still do the work.They should be entitled to the same sick pay or dillydally that any other employee (male or female) would be paid for any other medical absence. How does each of the four labor trends affect HARM? A) Aging of the labor force Older workers may present seem challenges related to costs of health care and other benefits. Chronic health problems and age-related disabilities need to be considered. HER professionals will be challenged by the need for multi-gener ational workers to successfully function as a team. Different generations often hold opposing attitudes awards work and life.If not managed properly, these differences could result in ineffective performance in the workplace. B) diversity of the labor force The diversity of the U. S. Labor force challenges employers to create HARM practices that ensure they fully utilize the talents, skills, and valves of all the employees. As a result, organizations cannot afford to ignore or discount that potential contributions of women and minorities. HARM must communicate with employees who are from different cultures and speak different languages. A comfortable work environment just be made.There should not be any racial tension or discrimination. C) Skill deficiencies of the workforce affect HARM in that more companies are looking for computer and tech skills. Today's employees must be able to handle a variety of responsibilities, interact with customers, and think creatively. A college degre e Is a requirement for Jobs today. HARM sometimes has to team up with colleges to teach certain skills. HARM is challenged to find qualities and skills In candidates that are sometimes hard to find. There are more skills needed by companies than employees eave to offer.

Lead 200

November 19, 2012| Martin Luther King Jr. | Leader Assessment| | | Dawan Robinson Leadership 200 Dawan Robinson November 19, 2012 LEAD 200 Martin Luther King Jr. ’s Biography Martin Luther King Jr. was born January 15, 1929 and passed away April 4, 1968 in Atlanta, Georgia. He faced many challenges during the Civil Rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr. had been assaulted several times by people on the streets. He received hundreds of phone calls, and letters, which was threatening to kill him. During the movement Martin Luther King Jr. had been arrested more than twenty times.One of the most famous threats was made on Martin Luther King Jr. was on January 30th, 1956. A bomb was thrown into Martin Luther King Jr. ’s house, fortunately nobody was seriously injured. Almost everywhere he went he was harassed. In 1964 he was harassed by a group of black Muslims, they threw stones at him in the streets. On the other hand, in 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Chr istian Leadership Conference, which was a organization made to provide new leadership for the now growing civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he got from Christianity and its effective methods came from Gandhi.From the time he was elected the president of Southern Christian Leadership until the time he passed he traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, going to speak wherever there was injustice, protest, and action. Also, in that time he wrote five books as well as a lot of articles. In these years, he led a big protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that grabbed the attention of the entire world, which gave what he called a union of sense of right and wrong. Martin Luther King Jr. ’s Impact Martin Luther King impacted everyone through a nonviolent protest.He showed love, faith, determination and fearless representation. He didn’t only fight for equal rights but what most people fail to realize is that he was fighting agai nst poverty by recommending that we stop the war in Vietnam and use all of that money to lift our economy so there would be a chance for young Americans of all colors and ages to capture the dream. My personal opinion I felt that when he started speaking out against the war in Vietnam his life was in serious danger. His idea to stop the war and use that money to pull people out of poverty scared the United States government.Martin Luther king demonstrates everything that is good in America. His actions showed that one man or woman can impact the country with a simple message of peace and love through a single nonviolent protest. I would say that Martin Luther King impacted America by teaching us that it’s wrong to discriminate against people. Also, that all people have the right to go to the same school, the same church, and the same restaurants. He fought for the right of his people to be considered equal with each race. What made him stand out to me is that he was a nonviol ent person.He didn't believe in using violence to reach his goal. Many decades later after Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down on a motel balcony in Memphis, Tenn. , he is still viewed mainly as the black leader of a movement for black equality. Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered as an inspirational speaker, whose leadership came from speechmaking. Speeches like the ‘I Have a Dream' speech at the civil rights march in Washington in August 1963 stimulated people of all races. Martin Luther King Jr. ’s Leadership When people think of Martin Luther King Jr. , they think of a great leader.I think that Martin Luther King’s famous â€Å"I have a Dream† speech shows just what kind of leader he was. He was a man who was very effective at what he did. Martin Luther King Jr. was described by some as having a unique way of getting people to work together rather than fight. Most average leaders will only focus on results, and that would be all. Good leaders focus on the behaviors that will get the results and great leaders focus on the emotions that will drive these behaviors. When thinking of being a great leader you have to be a visionary and be sure to follow that vision.This was back at a time when African Americans had to sit on designated seats on the bus, until King dreamed that America would rise above color. The ability to dream and follow his vision is a powerful characteristic and history shows that some of the great leaders were even greater visionaries. If Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t dream of equal civic rights, we wouldn’t be living in a society where cultural differences are celebrated. Martin Luther King Jr. was a leader who had a lot of self-doubt, and who was aware of his own limitations and his weaknesses.Sometimes he was hesitant to take on the responsibilities that were put on him. For example, during the Montgomery bus boycott, he was worried about the threats to his family. He was more feared rather th an confident and secure in his leadership role. Martin Luther King Jr. ’s ability to deliver a public speech showed his strong leadership, in which that's how he got so many supporters. He was able to persuade thousands of people to believe what he believed in. People began to trust in him and to me that's the number one thing you need as a good leader, the trust of your followers.Nobody wants a modest leader when it comes to getting what they want. Determination and confidence is what made him a fearless leader, who jumped right into the problem and made people love him for his courage to stand up and take on the leadership role. It is recognized that Martin Luther King Jr. ’s leadership styles has proven him to be one of the greatest leaders. Almost in every big city in the United States there is a street or school named after him. This shows how greatly his achievements are misunderstood and most of them are found in black neighborhoods.Throughout this analysis I wi ll be discussing the different variety styles of leadership theories that Martin Luther King Jr. used. He used theories such as, path-goal theory, situational theory, and the servant leadership theory. Path-Goal Theory Defined In addition, when it comes to the path-goal theory it is described to be a leadership concept that the subordinates accept a leader's behavior only so far as they view it as causing an immediate or future benefit. Therefore, a leader's main function is to clear a path to the realization of the ubordinates' goals. They have to decide the behavior patterns that are most relevant in helping the subordinates get what they want. Path-goal theory is used by almost every successful leader. Martin Luther King used path-goal theory, which is designed to show how leaders can help subordinates along the path to their goals by choosing specific behaviors that are best fit to the subordinates needs and to the situation in which subordinates are working. Martin Luther King was a great leader because he was able to direct and motivate subordinates.In my opinion to be a good path-goal leader, a leader has to be focused on being instructive, supportive, participative, and achievement. The leader should be able to adapt and realize what motivates the subordinate. If a subordinate needs to have control on a project, the leader should be participative and provide involvement. On the other hand, if a subordinate has a need for involvement, the leader should be supportive and provide nurturance. The path-goal theory is important because it allows the leader to see what behaviors will affect the subordinate positively and negatively.This theory allows the leader to change their leadership style based on the subordinates’ personality. Martin Luther King wanted people to think differently. I believe that because he wanted people to think differently, helped him remove obstacles for subordinates. It challenged people to make a difference. Most leaders want ed people to do exactly what they’re told, but Martin Luther King wanted people to think outside the box and think differently. Martin Luther King also gave support for subordinates. He supported new ideas that the subordinates came up with and this also helped make things happen, like equality throughout the world.Situational Leadership Theory Defined When viewing the situational leadership theory, it describes this leadership style as belief that effective leadership requires flexibility in leadership styles depending on the situation. In other words, the leader has to adjust his style to fit the development level of the followers he is trying to influence. With situational leadership, it is up to the leader to change his style, not the follower to adapt to the leader’s style. This leadership style may change continually to meet the desires of others in the organization based on the situation. Martin Luther King Jr. s great with using situational leadership. When a d ecision is needed, an effective leader doesn’t just fall into one style, such as using transactional or transformational styles. There are different causes that affect situational decisions, which include the motivation and the ability of the followers. Which, this is affected by causes within the particular situation. With situational leadership, the relationship between the followers and the leader may be another factor that affects leader behavior as much as it does follower behavior in different situations. Martin Luther King Jr. s observation of his followers and the situation will have an affect on what they do rather than the truth of the situation. His perception of his self and other factors such as stress and mood will also change the leaders' behavior in different situations. I believe Martin Luther King follows the situational approach of leadership because he has the ability to adapt to the variety of followers and environments as well as opposing attitudes. I al so believe he was mostly using the coaching style. He was a very supportive person, but at the same time he directed people with his speeches on the direction people needed to go.When looking at the styles approach, I believe he was really relationship oriented. To me this means that he had a lot of concern for the people. When seeing the skills model, motivation was one of the keys to his individual attribute. He had the dream that inspired everybody. He was also great with problem-solving skills and social judgment skills. He was able to get all these people to work with him and follow him to pursue his dream. He was great at adapting to different situations when doing his speeches. He got the vibe from the audiences and adapted from them.He observed his followers and grabbed their attention by relating to the situation at hand, Servant Leadership Defined Servant leadership stresses the importance of the role a leader plays as the factor of the resources of a organization, and tea ches leaders to serve others while still achieving the goals that are set. A servant leader is a servant first, who has responsibility to be in the world, so he contributes to the well-being of people and the community. A servant leader looks to the desires of the people and asks his self how he can help them to solve problems and promote personal development.He puts his main focus on people, because only content and motivated people are able to reach their targets and to achieve the set expectations. Martin Luther King followed the servant leadership theory because he was a servant first who contributed to the well-being of people and the community. He had the ability to be inspired and also inspire his followers. To me Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most inspirational and influential leaders in recent history. He actually preached and practiced servant-leadership.During a time when fear and segregation took over his country, he picked forgiveness and compromise instead of ge tting revenge and retaliating. He was a representative of positive change, trying to heal a country that was in a bad situation and had people that showed prejudice, hatred, and discrimination. Martin Luther King took on a different approach than what others would do, instead of hating the people who disliked him; he chose to love them instead. He insisted Americans to stop judging and start understanding each other. Like most great leaders, he used his words to empower, heal, and reunite people.A lot can be learned in his â€Å"I have a dream† speech, when relating to servant leadership. I would say Martin Luther King used servant leadership because when he was faced with a problem, he looked for solutions that would benefit everyone, not just him. When something went wrong, he would take the blame. When things went well, he shared the credit with others. He told everyone the same story, even when it was difficult. He knew that he didn't have all the answers, so he looked fo r advice from others. He worked hard and inspired others to do the same as well. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a great example of a servant leader.His life shows the great power of servant leadership to totally change an entire nation. Conclusion In conclusion, Martin Luther King, Jr. accomplished many great things during his life. He has impacted my life deeply. If it were not for him, there would be lots of racism in my school. If this happened, there would be too much attention given to misbehaved students and not enough to my education. When I grow up I want to follow in his footsteps. Just like my hero Martin Luther King, I want to win a Nobel Prize. That would be my greatest accomplishment. Luckily, we had Martin Luther King, Jr. to put an end to racism.There is still some racism, but with Martin Luther King Jr. ‘s words in our heart, we can stop whatever racism there is left. Dr. Martin Luther King delivered the speech many wished they could have written and he inspired li ves others were not able to. He also changed the way of thinking of those who were unaware before his â€Å"I Have a Dream† speech. He definitely made a difference, and continues to inspire people, not only for standing up to everyone and anyone but because he fought through obstacles put in his way and never backing down, and always believing he would accomplish his goal until turning his dream into a reality.Work Cited * Donald T. Phillips. â€Å"Martin Luther King, Jr. On Leadership† Inspiration and Wisdom for Challenging Times. January 1999. New York, New York. * Keith, Kent M. â€Å"The Case for Servant Leadership† Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, 2008. Westfield, IN. * Huggins, Nathan Irvin. â€Å"The Journal of American History† Martin Luther King Jr. Charisma and Leadership. Vol. 74. No. 2. September 1987. Pp. 477-481. Mississippi Valley.

Antonio Vivaldi: Introductory Concepts

Introductory Concepts Composed by Antonio Vivaldi,† L’inverno† (Winter) is the fourth concerto of a set of violin concertos named â€Å"Le Quattro Stagioni† (The four seasons) that belong to a more complex work titled â€Å"Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione† (The Contest of Harmony and Invention) (Grasmeier) . The structure of this piece is in ternary form. The piece begins with a fast tempo and then slows down to finish fast and loud again. Vivaldi makes use of variety in this â€Å"Winter† composition through dynamic when the music suddenly changes its volume and also through changes in pace.Although this concert is performed only by string instruments (mainly violins) he also achieves variety by using different techniques among the instruments (like pizzicato). Vivaldi’s â€Å"Winter† is considered a program music which means it must tell a story. I believe he is able to evoke cold, ice, chattering teeth, shivering bodies, and wind. Beginning with a fast pace seems like a big storm is about to come, when the violins go in crescendo it feels almost like some people are running to get shelter, and the pizzicatos reminded me of shivering.I also believe that the high pitch of the violins helps to give the image of coldness. This masterpiece is played by an instrumental ensemble, more specifically, an orchestra and has a violin solo. The instruments involved are string instruments (violin being the predominant). The main melody or Idea A is played very loud and the violin solo is executed with bravura which gives more heart to the music. In all, I believe that this composition serves its purpose of creating mood and is also very delightful to listen to.

Finger print as a crime fighting technology Essay

Finger print as a crime fighting technology - Essay Example (Cowger, p56) Fingerprinting has turned out an important and useful biotechnological application as there are several benefits of DNA fingerprinting. It helps the medical scientists in the identification of the organisms causing different diseases. With the help of DNA fingerprinting the paternity of a person could be established so the babies could be identified even if their parents were switched at birth time. Along with that DNA fingerprinting also helps in criminal investigations (Grew, p566). The investigators can take any skin tissue, blood drop or semen from the crime place and then use to decide weather any particular person was present at that place or not. Moreover DNA fingerprinting also helps in the identification of a body when it is decomposed or now available complete due to any incident (Beavan, p98). The use of fingerprinting is getting popular for different purposes due to variety of advantages offered by this technology however there are some negative aspects of t his application as well. There are some technical difficulties associated with DNA fingerprinting for example there is possibility that any error can occurred in the hybridization and probing process. In this way the investigation of a crime or paternity identification could be misguided however there are little chances for errors in this test. The probability determination and population genetics are the other problems related with DNA fingerprinting (Belkum, p122). An important application of the latest technology of fingerprint is its efficient use for fighting against the crime. It has been evolved as an important crime fighting technique as it helps the investigators in finding out the potential suspect of the crime by telling about the people present at the crime scene. There are several developments in the field of fingerprint that have allowed the investigators and crime fighters to refine their efforts in the field of crime fighting and investigation. For instance, the poli ce now commonly use the automated license place recognition camera for finding the stolen vehicles (Scheibert, et al, p1503). There are certain techniques within the fingerprinting technology that allow reaching the suspects in different ways. For instance, the brain fingerprinting technique is also used for meaning the suspect electrical brainwaves. In this method, the police make the suspect wear a headband embedded with electric sensor and the different images are shown to him on the computer screen. It is based upon the belief that the brain reacts in specific manner towards specific type of information and the brain activity and response towards certain pictures of the crime scene could help finding out his involvement in the crime (Cowger, p56). Due to the increased use of fingerprint for the crime prevention it has become a common practice in most of the countries of the world that the people are required to give their fingerprints at several locations like shopping mall, air ports and other public places. It allows maintaining the record of the fingerprints of the people visited at particular place during that time and later these fingerprints could be used to match with the fingerprints found at any crime scenes. These fingerprints also allow sorting out the people involved in any crime committed earlier. In this way, the fingerprinting technology allows fast recognition of the crime suspects. The most important use of fingerprinting te

International organisations. United Nations in Human Rights, ICJ & ICC Essay

International organisations. United Nations in Human Rights, ICJ & ICC - Essay Example International Court of Justice, on the other hand, is under affiliation with the United Nations. It settles disputes, which are put forward by individual states. In addition, it gives legal advice to states (Smith, pp. 55-60, 2007). A legal procedure has to be followed for international court of justice once a case is filed in the court. Hence, it is obvious that International Criminal Court tries individuals whereas International Court of Justice deals with the issues of a state and hence deals with larger bodies. These are mostly states that are members of the UN. In addition, since advisory services on legal matters are also provided in International Court of Justice, the cases dealt here have to undergo an entire formal procedure. There has been debate about the empowerment of these institutions, and non-governmental bodies have been emphasizing the empowerment of ICC as well. They emphasize on handling the cases regarding the exercise of power to International Criminal Court (Smith, pp. 55-60, 2007). On the other hand, others believe that ICJ should be given the matters to decide. Hence, it remains matter of debate but a trend that is established that individuals and non-governmental bodies preferring ICC to IJC. ... The mandate of UN was to respect human rights and make justice available to everyone, regardless of their creed, color, or race. However, it has been an argument that this may not be the case as Saudi Arabia is also a member of the UN. Since Saudi Arabia is a place where a woman is not allowed to leave the house without a man and where gays are not well represented at all, it is a contradiction to its mandate (Advancing Human Rights, 2011). International efforts to establish peace and govern human rights emerged especially after World War II when the harm extended to the human race was observed (Halderman, page 275, 1979). This was the time after which United Nations emerged as a peace making body, and its task was to make sure that wars were avoided as much as possible and matters of dispute were tried based on talks and discussions rather than wars, which cause immense loss to human life and infrastructure alike. Recently, the aims of United Nations include the security and well-be ing of people and larger bodies, including states that are its members. Its work is extended on the micro scale to humanitarian assistance, to ensure equality and well-being to humans living across the world. It also undergoes economic and social developments of states. This is done by providing infrastructure to the poorer nations that are its members. In addition, it can bring this about by abolishing some unfair practices that exists in certain areas, a very popular example of which is child labor. United Nations funds its projects through some of the member states. The function of United Nations is debatable due to differences of interests of different groups of individuals. Hence, their different actions can be debated on basis of