Decision Making

Right now I do not use any type of software to aid me in decision making.  Instead I use a note pad and write down my assignments for the week and normally do what is due first.  If there is a test or quiz I normally study a few days in advance.

After some research I found a decision making software that I might possibly use.  This software is called VISA.  With this software you first build a value tree were you include all of your criteria.  After this you include all of the possible conclusions.  Next you will score each alternative.  After this you will weight each criteria and alternative on its importance to you.  Once all this is done the software gives you results in the tree form with scores deciding what is most urgent.

http://www.visadecisions.com/index.php

Plagiarism in College

Technology has made the process of plagiarism so much easier.  Can you imagine before google or even before the internet?  How could you find a paper that is on the same topic?  You would either have to go to a public library and search for one or hope a friend has taken the same class before you.  Now that there is the internet and pretty much everyone has one all you have to do is google your topic and instantly thousand of hits are a click away.  Once you find the one you like all you have to do is copy and paste or try and put it in your own words.  From 1993 to 1997 University of Berkley California estimated a 744% increase in cheating.  I can only imagine what the percent is now.  I know that my catholic school I went to in high school used turnitin.com as well as my English 103 class.  Also in my English 103 class since the number of students were small our teacher was able to see and recognize how we write and our tendencies.

http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring2000/Overbeck/stats.html

http://orange.eserver.org/issues/5-1/kennedy.html

Ethics Put to Test

The first job I ever had was at a local Produce and Ice Cream store ran by my best friends grand mother.  As a favor to me and her grandson she hired me even though I had no experience.  Since it is a local store a lot of kids from the local high school work there.  Many friends of the workers know that they work there and know how old fashion the store is.  There are no cameras and ice cream can not keep inventory on.  So a lot of the workers normally hook up their friends with free ice cream, pretzels, hot dogs, drinks, etc.  Once my friends found out they were at the store constantly looking for free hand outs.  My friends put me in a bad situation always asking for free stuff.  This situation put my ethics to the test.  Since it was my best friends grand mother along with the fact that I have known her since I was six the simple answer was to say no to my friends even if it meant upset friends.  Even if I was not personally connected to the owner I would of said no because I believe in loyalty and honesty.

Americas Downfall in Education

When it comes to the matter of education in the United States I believe students are to blame as much as teachers.  As a student you have to want to better your self and do good in school.  You can not just rely on an invention or a crazy new website to make you rich or well off because that is very rare.  What students need to do is get an education and want to get an education.  They need to study out of school as much as they do in school.  I believe that the desire to do well in school comes from the parents or who ever the kid looks up to.  If parents or a role model push a student to do well and support him he will ultimately try to please them.  We also have to remember that not all teenagers care about school and would rather try to be cool and act like there above school.  Most of those kids you can not change and thats fine.

It is not just the students who are to blame it is also teachers and our educational system as a whole.  I think that tenure should be completely erased.  Teachers should never feel comfortable about their job security.  If they are not doing it properly and actually pushing there students they should not be teaching.  Also, they should be tested reguarly wether that is every two years or a year.  I do believe teachers have almost become baby sitters for the mischevious kids.  Who cares about the no child left behind.  If they do not want to learn it is there fault and keep moving because the world does not wait for anyone.  Furthermore, statistics are important to a point and we should not judge our students as a whole through these statistics.

Websites I used
-http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/9/14/141847.shtml
-http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/060327/27global.htm
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