Systems and Network Security

Introduction Providing security to the users of a system is among the key concerns of an operating system manufacturer. On the windows platform it has been observed that the uses of different file systems is one approach that has been used to provide additional security.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Systems and Network Security specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the Windows Server 2003 platform the use of the NTFS files system has been maintained owing to the security features that the system supports (Weber Bahadur 2003). With the NTFS files system files and directories are maintained as securable objects thus allowing users to set permissions that limit access to these objects. Some of the main functions handled by an operating systems include those associated with Authentication, Authorization and Accounting. (See Figure III) On the Windows platform AAA provides a means for the system to identify a user, grant access to specific resources and document what actions the user took and at what time they took these actions (Reeser, Kaplan Wood 2003). The majority of services associated with AAA on the Windows Server 2003 environment are offered by the Windows security model. Under this security model authentication is carried out through the use of user account / password settings. Authorization is handled by discretionary access control lists managed by the system. The system caters for accounting needs using event logs and event auditing policies (Reeser, Kaplan Wood 2003).To assist in the management of permissions when a user logs on to the system an access token is produced. This token consists of pieces of information about the users account (Weber Bahadur 2003). Through this means when a user attempts to access a file the system checks to see if the user has the security descriptor for that file. In addition to monitoring the users of a system the Windows Server 2003 platform al lows the administrator of the system to audit activity on the system by observing the system logs. Each access attempt is logged and stored in a log file that can be viewed by the system administrators or other users with appropriate permissions (Weber Bahadur 2003).Advertising Looking for essay on computer science? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, no system provides perfect security and for that reason there are ways to go around the operating system in Windows Server 2003. The purpose of this report is to briefly discuss some of the issues with authentication, authorization and auditing (AAA) on the Windows Server 2003 platform. Windows Server 2003 Authentication Mechanism The Windows Server 2003 platform just like the Windows 2000 was constructed to give a wide range of control over access to its resources. As a matter of fact Windows Server 2003 is designed such that it checks access permissions for every request before granting access to system resources (Stewart, McCann and Melendez 2006). The Windows Server 2003professional system can provide local security when used as a standalone system, in a workgroup or participate in domain security managed by a Windows server (Stewart, McCann and Melendez 2006). Before a user is granted access to any system resources on the platform they are required to logon providing a valid user ID and password (Stewart, McCann and Melendez 2006). After successfully logon the user is granted an access token by the system. This access token includes information about the user’s identity, any permission associated with the user account and a complete list of the groups to which the user belongs. A string of bits represents the token that is attached to every process that the user initializes until the user logs off the system (Stewart, McCann and Melendez 2006). This signifies that each time the user runs a program, enters a system command or accesses some system resource a copy of that token accompanies that request. On each occasion that a user attempts to access a resource the system automatically compares the token with a list of permissions associated with the resource. This list of permissions is referred to as the access control list (ACL) (Stewart, McCann and Melendez 2006). This list is one of the more important attributes associated with the Windows Server 2003 resources. It guarantees that whenever a request is made the ACL and token are carefully compared and access is only granted when a match is found. The recognized permission settings in the Windows Server 2003 platform are Allow and Deny. Allow enables the user or group access to a service whereas Deny disables the same (Stewart, McCann and Melendez 2006). (See Figure I)Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Systems and Network Security specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Windows domain security is built o n Active directory. This is a centralized database of configuration and communication information maintained by domain controllers on a Windows network (Stewart, McCann and Melendez 2006). The Active Directory is used to support everything from authentication of users to accessing shared resources on the network. However when used as a standalone system or part of a domain Windows Server 2003 does not use Active Directory but uses the registry and internal security systems to control access to resources. The Windows Server 2003 logon is compulsory to allow access to resources on the system. There are two types of logons available on Windows Server 2003 namely the classic and Windows welcome (Stewart, McCann and Melendez 2006). When a Windows Server 2003 system is a member of a domain the classic system can be used. However, when the system is a standalone or member of a workgroup either classic or welcome logon can be used (Stewart, McCann and Melendez 2006). The logon on process is typically made up of two components namely identification and authentication. The identification part requires that the user provide a valid account name and in cases where a domain is involved a valid account name. Authentication requires that a user provide a valid means of verifying their identity to the system (Stewart, McCann and Melendez 2006). Possession of the proper password for an account is considered to be appropriate authentication. The Windows Server 2003 system also supports the use of third party authentication procedures such as the use of biometric procedures (Stewart, McCann and Melendez 2006). These procedures include the use of systems that check fingerprints, retinal scans and the use of smart cards to verify identity of the user. Upon a successful login to the system the user is provide a token which includes the user Security identity (SID) and SID’s for each of the groups the user belongs. The access token thus includes the unique SID associated with the account, a list of groups to which the user belongs and a list of rights and privileges associated with that user account (Stewart, McCann and Melendez 2006) (See Figure II).Advertising Looking for essay on computer science? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Access to system resources is granted only after the user receives an access token. Each access token is created for one time use and is discarded after the user logs off the system (Stewart, McCann and Melendez 2006). Once constructed the access token is attached by the system to the users shell process. This shell process defines the environment in which the user executes programs or spawns other processes. In the Windows Server 2003 system resources are controlled by the system at an object level. Each object in the system has a unique access control list that defines users and groups that have permission to access the specific resource (Stewart, McCann and Melendez 2006). In this regard therefore everything in the Windows Server 2003 environment is an object. This includes all files, folders, printers, processes, users, requests, etc. An individual object is identified by its type, which will define the permitted range of contents and operations which may be performed on the obj ect (Stewart, McCann and Melendez 2006). All objects in the Windows Server 2003 system are logically divided into three sections namely, a type identifier, a list functions or services and a list of attributes that may or may not have associated items (Stewart, McCann and Melendez 2006). The object identifier is used to describe the type of entity associated with the object. A service is used to define the procedure to follow when manipulating an object. Whereas, the attributes are its named characteristics such as the file name or whether the file is hidden or read only (Stewart, McCann and Melendez 2006). Windows Server 2003 Authorization Mechanisms The Windows Server 2003 operating system is built with a number of features to help protect selected files and applications from unauthorized use (Russel Crawford 2009). The system offers its users a variety of features from protection and third party software that can allow the user manage or configure the system. These features assi st administrators by provision of powerful and flexible structures for controlling the access to resources and the network. Every user within an organization serves a specific role and purpose. For the users to successfully perform their tasks within an organization the system needs to allow access to required resources (Russel Crawford 2009). The employees who work in the accounting departments are not allowed to make changes but only make use of different files and documents. It is right, as all the control should be done by the directors of the company. There is a special department that is in the control of those specific documents used by the employees. The personnel department controls the access that may be given to corresponding specific people that are allowed to look through and to make use of the document. The Windows Server 2003 system performs it authorization function by adhering to several key underlying principles. As mentioned earlier the Windows Server 2003 system considers all entities as objects. A security principal is one of these objects that the system identifies with. â€Å"Any entity that can be authenticated by the Windows Server 2003 system is considered a security principal† (Russel Crawford 2009). Each security principal has an account and all local accounts are managed by the local Security Accounts Manager (SAM). If an account is in another Windows domain it is managed by Active Directory (Russel Crawford 2009). Another important concept that is used in authorization mechanisms is that of the security identifier (SID). This is a unique value monitored and stored on the system for identification of user, groups, etc., within an organization (Russel Crawford 2009). Upon creation of an account a unique SID is issued by the system. Windows Server 2003 uses the SID to manage access control rather than the name of the object within the system. Another concept that is used in management of authorization is that of the securi ty context. This refers to information that pertains to a particular user on the system and their capabilities (Russel Crawford 2009). This requires that the system assess all users in a single department or location to maintain similar security permissions across the entire group. To perform this task the Windows Server 2003 system makes use of a security descriptor. This is â€Å"a data structure containing information associated with the object to be secured† (Russel Crawford 2009). The security descriptor is used to identify an objects owner using the SID. In case something has been already done for the issue, â€Å"the security descriptor contains discretionary access control list (DACL)† (Russel Crawford 2009). This DACL will contain a list of users and groups that are allowed or denied access to the object in question (Russel Crawford 2009). In case a specific objects as already been created for use, the corresponding documents of the control should be creat ed by the company representatives such as security descriptors. This SACL controls how the sub system will audit access attempts to the object (Russel Crawford 2009). As mentioned earlier authorization makes use of an Access Control List (ACL), that should be ordered in advance and contains the needed information about people who are allowed to make use of the documents and its abilities in this or that process (Russel Crawford 2009). â€Å"Each access control entry in the list identifies a security principal and specifies a set of rights denied, audited or allowed for that security principal† (Russel Crawford 2009). In addition to the above mentioned approaches the system also offers security settings which are applicable to individual computers. These settings can be locally configured through the use of the Local Security Policy Administration tool (Russel Crawford 2009). In addition to that the security policy can be configured using the Microsoft Management Console. â€Å"If the computer is a member of an active directory domain the analysis snap-in tool can be used through the Security Settings Extension to Group Policy† (Russel Crawford 2009). Other concepts that are used by Windows Server 2003 systems in managing authorization include discretionary access to securable objects. This concept suggests that the owner of an object has overall control over who uses the object and in what way (Russel Crawford 2009). Different people may be given various types of access by the owner of the companies. of users. This suggests the owner of an object is allowed to allocate Read and Write permissions to specific categories while denying Write permissions to other categories of users. Detailed description of authentication, authorization and auditing on windows Another concept that is used to control authorization in the Windows Server 2003 system is that of inheritance of permissions. This can be realized by â€Å"allowing objects create a cont ainer inherit properties of the container† (Russel Crawford 2009). For example, the NTFS file system allows sub folders and files to inherit properties of their parent containers. Another principle used in the management of authorization is that of rights and permissions. â€Å"Access control basically involves the configuration of rights and permissions to objects on the local computer or network and the potential users of those objects† (Russel Crawford 2009). In this respect a right is an authorization to perform an action. Rights are granted by the administrator and can also be withdrawn. The system administrator views right from two perspectives namely, logon rights and privileges. Permission is the authorization to perform an action on an object (Russel Crawford 2009). The system reserves the right to grant permissions to the owners of an object. An example of permission is the liberty to perform an operation such as opening a file. It should not be forgotten t hat the permission may be denied sooner or later in case of rules violation. For example, a user permits members of a group Read and Write access to a file. This suggests that if you are not a member of the group then permission has been denied. In addition to this the Windows 2003 system allows for the provision to deny permission explicitly (Russel Crawford 2009). Russel Crawford say that â€Å"the same object owner is allowed to deny a specific member of the group Read and Write access to the file† (2009). To achieve the goal of authorization the Windows Server 2003 system maintains that all operations must be performed within the context of a user. Upon accessing the system crucial information about the user is recorded in a unique access token created by the system (Russel Crawford 2009). Each application that is launched on the system operates as a process that may contain several threads being executed. Before any thread is run it must identify itself to the operati ng system by providing the access token information. Once it has been identified access is granted within stated parameters. Windows Server 2003 Auditing Mechanisms As with most operating systems the Windows Server 2003 systems provides administrators with an easy way to track activities on the system (Gibson 2011).The system allows one to track user access files, shutdown systems, create or modify accounts and much more. Although the system monitors several events by default it is crucial that one knows what is required within the organization (See Figure IV). It is important to know how to enable auditing of different events to meet organizational needs (Gibson 2011). The Microsoft Windows Server 2003 system records all auditable events in the event log and these can be viewed by using the event viewer. In addition to this there is the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) which provides a different type of auditing. This feature allows a user or administrator to audit compu ters on a network for a wide range of vulnerabilities (Gibson 2011). This is a free tool that can be downloaded and installed on a single machine on the network (See Figure V). The MBSA can then be used to perform vulnerability scans on any other Windows systems running on the network and perform audits on them for compliance. To achieve this software compares their security status against known security vulnerabilities. Auditing within a Windows environment is relatively easy to implement based on the fact that it is possible to enable an audit policy for an entire domain using group policy or for a server using Local Security Policy (Gibson 2011). The Windows Server 2003 system allows the administrator to enable auditing to manage both success and failure events. For example if you enable Full auditing access for a folder the system would create an entry in the security log that includes user and file specific details (Gibson 2011). If someone attempted to delete the file but lack ed the necessary permissions to do so a failure event would be created in the security log. This log would also contain the necessary file and user information associated with the event. Failed events are monitored as they provide a good point to begin identification of potentially malicious activity (Gibson 2011). The Windows Server 2003 system makes is relatively easy to enable security settings for auditing. However, the main difficult lies in identification what requires auditing before enabling it using the settings within the system (Gibson 2011). It should be noted that if one enabled everything the log would be filled with many unnecessary details. These details and processes will consume crucial system resources and make the process of identifying important events even more difficult. The audit policy includes two account settings that both deal with logging on to the system. The first one is Account Logon which creates an event any time a user or computer is authenticated with an Active Directory account (Gibson 2011). The other option is the Logon setting which creates an event each time a user logs on locally (Gibson 2011). Redirect flow of running process These attacks also referred to as redirection attacks can be described as tier one attacks due to the fact that there is a direct link between the attacker and the victim (Zou, Dai Pan 2008). This attack exposes the attacker to discovery which in many cases they desperately attempt to avoid. One method to avoid this problem is to add a layer between the attacker and the user. This can be accomplished by taking advantage of TCP/IP characteristics. In this approach the attacker will craft packets that can be used to turn intermediate systems into attack launching platforms (Zou, Dai Pan 2008). This process makes the tracing of an attacker difficult. These attacks can be achieved by ICMP redirects. The Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) is used by the system to provide diagnostic messages co ncerning packet delivery. Among the common messages of this type are the echo request/reply messages which focus on the ability of one system to communicate with another (Zou, Dai Pan 2008). Another type is the ICMP redirect which when accepted modifies a systems routing table allowing messages to be sent via a shorter route. These attacks work by altering the path that a victim host should use to reach its default gateway to an invalid path (Zou, Dai Pan 2008). Thus the victim is unable to communicate with all systems except those present on the local subnet. Another attack that falls under this category is the Smurf attacks. It is reported that every TCP/IP subnet has a special address known as a broadcast address. Packets sent to this address are processed by all the systems on that subnet (Zou, Dai Pan 2008). One of the common uses for this address is the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP). This is a concept used to map IP addresses to MAC ones within the subnet. When launchin g a smurf attack, the attacker selects a random network and Echo-Request ICMP (ping) packet to that subnet’s broadcast address (Zou, Dai Pan 2008). Normally each system on the network will send a response to this message but the attacker also spoofs the source address to be that of the victim. In so doing, each system sends its ICMP Echo-reply packet to the attacker (Zou, Dai Pan 2008). There are two advantages of such an attack. First is the fact that the actual packets the attacker send are not received by the victim, making it more difficult to track the origin. Second is that the network also serves as an attack amplifier due to the fact that a single ICMP echo request may result in hundreds of reply packets directed at the victim (Zou, Dai Pan 2008). Another type of attack is known as the Chargen attack. The chargen is a special service bound to port 19 that typically is used to test network capacity (Zou, Dai Pan 2008). When a connection is made to this port it resp onds with a string of characters. When launching this kind of attack, the attacker must first locate the systems active chargen service. Once located the attacker sends a UDP echo request to port 19 after spoofing the source IP address as that of the victim. This results in the intermediate host sending a string of characters to the Echo service port of the victim (Zou, Dai Pan 2008). As protocol dictates the victim will respond by sending that string in response to the received message. The end result is an endless loop where the process is repeated until the victims system fails. In many cases one system is not enough to guarantee failure thus a number of intermediate systems may be used as described in the Smurf attack. Conclusion In the course of the report the various mechanisms used to provide AAA services on the platform have been briefly discussed. It has been observed that authentication is carried out through the use of user account / password settings. Authorization is h andled by discretionary access control lists managed by the system. The system caters for accounting needs using event logs and event auditing policies (Reeser, Kaplan Wood 2003). It has also been noted that due to the system used for authentication the system can easily be exposed to attacks by unwanted outsiders. This is because based on the mechanism for authentication, once a user is authenticated the system hands over control of specific resources to them (Stewart, McCann and Melendez 2006). Unfortunately in a networked environment this is risky as it allows for man in the middle attacks that could cripple the entire system. However, this should not be taken to mean the system is not worth further consideration as there is no system that guarantees perfect security. The above point just goes a step further to identify potential weak points in the system. The system has also been applauded for the convenience it offers to users through the use of workgroups (Stanek Bhardwaj 20 07). As the number of connected computers increases so too does the number of workgroups. Workgroups are small groupings of computers running the operating system. The operating system allows the users to form small groups and share resources without the need for intermediary servers and administrators. References Gibson, D. (2011). Microsoft Windows Security Essentials. Indiana: Wiley Publishing Inc. Reeser, T., Kaplan, S., Wood, A. (2003). Citrix MetaFrame Access suite for Windows Server 2003: the official guide. California: McGraw-Hill/Osborne. Russel, C., Crawford, S. (2009). Microsoft Windows XP Professional Resource Kit. USA: Microsoft Press Books. Stanek, W. R., Bhardwaj, P. K. (2007). MCSA on Windows Server 2003 Core exams in a Nutshell. California) O’Reilly Media Inc. Stewart, J. M., McCann, B., Melendez, A. (2006). MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows XP Professional. Boston: Course Technology. Weber, C., Bahadur, G. (2003). Windows XP Professional Security. USA: M cGraw-Hill Inc. Zou, X., Dai, Y. S., Pan, Y. (2008). Trust and security in collaborative computing. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. Appendix Figure I: User Account Applet (Stewart, McCann and Melendez 2006) Figure II: Default Permissions (Russel Crawford 2009) Figure III: The AAA Process (Gibson 2011) Figure IV: Sample Audit Policy (Gibson 2011) Figure V: MBSA Software (Gibson 2011) This essay on Systems and Network Security was written and submitted by user Bennett Odom to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Inattendu essays

Inattendu essays Une certaine malformation dans le plancher causa aux planches de cracker se qui me signala lapproche de ma mre. Jouvris les yeux doucement laissant la lumire aveuglante accesser mes retinas tendis que je baillaient gracieusement and tirant les quatres extentions de mon corp. Avec elle, elle apportait un assortement dlectable de viandes completment satures avec de la sauce, se que jaimais appeler mon petit djeuner. Attackant la nourriture avec un apptie qui mtait avant inconnue, jaivais vite dvourer le repa qui mavais t donn avant daller saluer le rest de ma famille comme ils arrivaient la cuisine aprs une priode de repos et rcupraton bien Regrettablement, bien qu ils taient bien reposs, personne navait lnrgie pour accepter mon offre qui tait de prendre lavantage dun si beau matin dt pour prendre une marche relaxante atravre du voisinage. Pourtant, je dcida dy aller bien que seule et je suis parti par ma sortie qui se trouvait dans la porte arrire. Une fois dehors, je fus bombard dun assortement dodeurs de nectars dlicieux qui vennait du jardin de ma mre. Mais, aprs avoir appris ma lesson du plusieurs expriences passes, je dcida de continuer mon chemin et daller explorer quelque par dautre oà ¹ jallais pouvoir courrir et jouer sans avoir a minquit des consequences, le park. Le park tait situ peu prs trois blocs de ma maison et à §a me prennait environ cinq minutes pour my rendre. En chemin, je remarqua quelques enfants qui avait dcid de suivr...

Complete Strategies Common App Essay Prompts (2018-19)

Complete Strategies Common App Essay Prompts (2018-19) SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you’re applying to more than one or two colleges, there's a good chance you'llhave to use the Common Application, and that means you’ll probably have to write a Common App essay. In this guide, I’ll cover everything you need to know about the essay. I'll break down every single Common App essay prompt by covering: What is the question asking? What do college admissions officers want to hear from you? What topics can you write about effectively? What should you avoid at all costs? This will be your complete starting guide for Common App essays. At the end of reading this, you should have a lot of ideas for your own essays and directions to write a really strong personal statement. Basic Info on the Common App Essay Before we dig into the nitty gritty of the individual prompts, let's quickly go over the logistics of the Common App essay and some general tips to keep in mind. Most - but Not All - Schools Require the Essay Although not every school in the US requires an essay as part of their application, the Common Application has traditionally required you to submit a blanket personal statement. That policy changed recently, and the essay is now optionalfor some schools. However, this policy has beenadopted by only a handful ofschools, including DePaul University, Georgia State University, Hampshire College, Old Dominion University, The New School, and the University of Idaho. Some of themrequire an additional writing supplement instead. If you’re applying to more than one or two schools on the Common App, you'll almost certainlyneed to write a response to the Common App prompts. As such, I would recommend sending your essay to schools even if they don't explicitly require it. You’re writing it anyways and it’s the bestway for the school to get to know you as a person. It's also worth noting that because of the way this system is set up, you could theoretically send a different essay to each school. However, doing so isn't a good use of your time: if schools want to know something more specific about you they’ll require a supplement. Focus on writing a single great personal statement. Pay Attention to the Word Limit The exact word limit for the Common App essay has varied somewhat over the years, butthe current range is 250-650 words. You must stay within this length; in fact, the online application won't allow you to submit fewer than 250 words or more than 650. Some schools will state that if this isn't enough space, you can send them a physical copy of your essay. Don't do this. No matter how tempting it may be, stick to the word limit. Otherwise, you risk seeming self-indulgent. In general, I would recommend shooting for an essay between 500 and 650 words long. You want to have enough space to really explore one specific idea, but you don't need to includeeverything. Editing is an important part of the essay writing process. The word limit is like this barbed wire- you shouldn't cross it, no matter how tempted you are. Don't Stress Too Much About the Question As you'll see, the Common App prompts areverygeneral and leave a lot of room for interpretation. Moreover, colleges interpret the questions generously - they're more concerned with learning something interesting about you than with whether your topic fits the question perfectly. Per a Common App survey, 85% of member schools "feel the prompts should be left open to broad interpretation." You can write about almost anything and make it work, so if you have an idea, don’t let the fact that it doesn’t fit neatlyinto one of these categories stop you. Treat these breakdowns as jumping off points to help you start brainstorming, not the final word in how you need to approach the essay. Make Sure You Look at This Year's Prompts The Common App change to the prompts fairly frequently, so make sure you're familiar with the most up-to-date versions of the Common App essay questions. If you have friends or siblings who applied in past years,don't assume that you can take the exact same approach they did. This guide will go over the details of all seven current prompts, but first let's talk about some overalladvice. Want to write the perfect college application essay? Get professional help from PrepScholar. Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We'll learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges. Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now: 4 Tips For Finding Your Best Essay Topic As you're brainstorming and preparing to write your essay, you'll want to keep these tips in mind. You'll have to search for the best topic, just like this bird is searching for food. Make ItPersonal The point of a personal statement is to, well, make a personal statement, that is to say, tell the reader something about yourself. As such, your topic needs to be something meaningful to you. What does it mean for a topic to be "meaningful to you"? First, it means that you genuinely care about the topic and want to write your college essay on it - no one ever wrote a great essay on a topic that they felt they had to write about. Second, it means that the topic shows off a quality or trait you want to highlight for the admissions committee.For example, say I wanted to write about my summer job with the Parks Department. It's not enough to simply tell astory about my feud with a raccoon that kept destroying all the progress I made repairing a bench; I would need to make it clear what that experienceshows about my character (perseverance) and explain what ittaught me (that there are some things in life you simply can't control). Remember that the most important thing is that your essay is about you. This advice maysound obvious, but when you're used to writing academic essays it can be tricky to dive deep into your own perspective. Take Your Time Give yourself plenty of time to brainstorm and write, so you don't feel rushed into jotting something down about the first thing you can come up with and sending it right off. I recommend starting the writing process 2 monthsin advance of your first deadline. On a similar note, you shouldtake theessay seriously: it's an important part of your application and worth investing the time in to get right. If you just dash something off thoughtlessly, admissions officers will recognize that and consider it evidence that you aren't really interested in their school. Avoid Repetition Your essay should illustrate something about youbeyondwhat'sin the rest of your application. Try to write about a topic you haven't talked about elsewhere, or take a different angle on it. A college essay is not a resume - it's the best opportunity to show off your unique personality to admissions committees. Pick your topic accordingly. Get Specific The best topics are usually the narrowest ones: essays focused on a single interaction, a single phrase, or a single object. The more specific you can get, the more unique your topic will be to you. Lots of people have tried out for a school play, for example, but each had their own particular experience of doing so. One student saw trying out for the role of Hamlet as the culmination of many years of study and hard work and was devastatednot to get it, while another was simply proud to have overcome her nerves enough to try out for the chorus line inWest Side Story. These would make very different essays, even though they'reon basically the same topic. Another benefit of a specific topic is that it makescoming up with supporting details much easier. Specific, sensory detailsmake the reader feel like they're seeing the experience through your eyes, giving them a better sense of who you are. Take a look at this example sentence. General: I was nervous as I waited for my turn to audition. Specific: As I waited for my name to be called, I tapped the rhythm of "America" on the hard plastic chair, going through the beats of my audition song over and over in my head. The firstversion could be written by almost anyone; the second version has a specific perspective- it's also intriguing and makes you want to know more. The more specific your essay topic is, the more clearly your unique voice will come through and the more engaging your essay will be. Breaking Down the Common App Essay Prompts Now that we've established the basic ideas you need to keep in mind as you brainstorm, let's go through the Common App essay questions one at a time and break down what admissions committees are looking for in responses. Keep in mind that for each of these questions, there are really two parts.The first is describingsomething you did, or something that happened to you. The second is explaining what that event, action, or activity means to you. No essay is complete without addressingboth of sides of the topic. Prompt 1:A Key Piece of Your Story Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. What Is It Asking? This prompt is very broad. Is there something you do or love, or something that happened to you, that isn’t reflected elsewhere in your application but that you feel isvital to your personal story? Then this prompt could be a good one for you. The key is that whatever you write about needs to be genuinely important to you personally, not just something you think will look good to the admissions committee. You need to clarify why this story is so importantthat you couldn't leave it out of your application. What Do They Want to Know? This question is really about showing admissions officers how your background has shaped you. Can you learn and grow from your experiences? By identifyingan experience or trait that is vital to your story, you're also showingwhatkind of person you see yourself as - do you valueyour leadership abilities or your determination to overcome challenges? Your intellectual curiosityor your artistic talent? Everyone has more than one important trait, but in answering this prompt, you're telling admissions officers what you think is your most significant quality. What Kind of Topics Could Work? You could write about almost anything for this prompt:an unexpected interest, a particularly consuming hobby, a part of your family history, or a life-changing event. Make sure to narrow in on something specific, though. You don't have room to tell your whole life story. Your topiccan be serious or silly, as long as it's important to you. Just remember that itneeds to showcase a deeper quality of yours. For example, if I were writing an essay on this topic, I wouldprobably write about my life-long obsession with books. I'd start with a story about how my parents worried I read too much as a kid, give some specific examples of things I've learned from particular books, and talk about how my enthusiasm for readingwas so extreme it sometimes interfered with my actual life (like the time I tripped and fell because I couldn't be bothered to put down my book long enough to walk from my room to the kitchen). Then I would tie it all together by explaining how my love of reading has taught me to look for ideas in unexpected places. What Should You Avoid? You don't want your essay to read like a resume: itshouldn't be a list of accomplishments. Remember that your essay needs to add somethingto the rest of your application, so it also shouldn't focus on something you've already covered unless you have a really differenttake on it. Also try to avoid generic and broad topics: you don't want your essay to feel like it could've been written by any student. As I touched on above, one way to avoid this problem is to be very specific - rather than writing generally about your experience as the child of immigrants you might tell a storyabout a specific family ritual or meaningful moment. Prompt 2:Coping WithObstacles The lessons we take from obstacles we encountercan be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you faced a challenge, setback, orfailure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? What Is It Asking? This prompt is pretty straightforward. It's asking you describe a challenge or obstacle you faced or a time you failed and how you dealt with it. The part many students forget is the second half: what lessons did you learn from your challenge or failure? If you take on this question youmust show how you grew from the experience and, ideally, how you incorporated what you learned into other endeavors. What Do They Want to Know? This question really raises two issues: how you handle difficultsituations and whether you are capable of learning from your mistakes. You'll face a lot of challenges in college, both academic and social. In addressingthis prompt, you have the opportunity toshow admissions officers that you can deal with hardships without just giving up. You also need to show that you can learnfrom challenges andmistakes. Can you find a positive lesson in a negative experience? Colleges want to see an example of how you've done so. What Kind of Topics Could Work? Good topics will be specific and have a clearly explained impacton your perspective. You need to address both parts of the question: the experience of facing the challengeandwhat you learnedfrom it. However, almost any kind of obstacle, challenge, or failure, large orsmall, can work: Doing poorly at a job interview and how that taught you to deal with nerves Failing a class and how retaking it taught you better study skills Directing a school play when the set collapsed and how it taught you to stay cool under pressure and think on your feet What Should You Avoid? Make sure you pick an actual failure or challenge - don't turn your essay into a humblebrag. How you failed at procrastination because you're justso organized or how you've been challenged by the high expectations of teachers at school because everyone knows you are sosmartare not appropriate topics. Also, don't write about something completely negative. Your response needs to show that you got something out of your challenge or failure and that you've learned skills to apply to other situations. Spilling your coffee is not an appropriate failure, no matter how disastrous it may feel. Prompt 3: Challenging a Belief Reflect on a time when you questioneda belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome? What Is It Asking? There are two ways to approach this question. The first is to talk about a time you questioneda person or groupon an idea of theirs. The second is to talk abouta time that something caused you to reconsider a belief of your own. In either case, you need to explain why you decided the belief should be challenged, what you actually did- if your story is just that someone gave you a new piece of information and you changed your mind, you should probably find a different topic - and how you feel about your actions in hindsight. What Do They Want to Know? The obvious question this prompt raises is what your values are and whether you're willing to stand up for what you believe. Whether you've reconsidered your own beliefs or asked others to reconsider theirs, it shows you've put genuine thought into what you value and why. However, colleges also want to see that you're open-mindedand able to be fair and kind towards those who have different beliefs than you do. Can you question someone else beliefs without belittling them? If not, don't write about this question. What Kind of Topics Could Work? This prompt is really one where you either have a relevant story or you don't. If there's a belief or idea that's particularly important to you, whether political or personal, this might be a good question for you to address. What Should You Avoid? The main pitfall with thisquestion is that lends itself to very abstract answers. It's not very interesting to read about how you used to believe chocolate isthe best ice cream flavor but then you changed your mind and decided the best flavor is actually strawberry. (Seriously, though, what is wrong with you!?) Make sure there's clear conflict and action in your essay. Divisive politicalissues, like abortion and gun rights, are tricky to write about (although not impossible) because people feel very strongly about them and often have a hard time accepting the opposite viewpoint. In general, I would avoid these kinds of topics unless you have a very compelling story. Also keep in mind that most people who work at colleges are liberal, so if you have a conservativeviewpoint you'll need to tread more carefully. Regardless of what you're writing about, don't assume the reader shares your views. You also want to avoid coming off as petty or inflexible, especially if you're writing about a controversial topic. It's great to have strong beliefs, but you also want to show that you're open to listening to other people's perspectives, even if they don't change your mind. Want to write the perfect college application essay? Get professional help from PrepScholar. Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We'll learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges. Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now: Prompt 4:Solving a Problem Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma-anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution. What Is It Asking? The first part is very straightforward: how have you or would you solve a problem? However, you also need to "explain its significance to you." In other words, whythis problem? What Do They Want to Know? This prompt helps admissions officerssee both what you care about and how you solve problems. Even if you pick something seemingly minor to talk about, like fixing a dishwasher on your own, explaining why you wanted to do it yourself (maybe because you like knowing how things work) and how you did so (maybe by asking other people for advice of maybe by looking up videos on YouTube) will show admissions officers a lot about what you value and how you think. Answering this questionis also an opportunity for you to show the maturity and perseverance you'll need to face the challenges of college. You will face inevitably face problems, both academic and personal, in these four years, and admissions officers want to see that you're capable of taking them on. What Kind of Topics Could Work? Any kind of problem (â€Å"no matter the scale†) is fine- it just has to be important to you. Like number 3, it will be easier if you can focus inon a specific event or occurrence. You can write about something funny, likehow you figured out how to care for your pet hedgehog, or something more serious, like how you resolved a family conflict. Writing abouta problem you want to solve, rather than one you've already found a solution to, is much harder because it's more abstract. You certainly can do it, however; just make sure to have a compelling and concrete explanation for why this problem is important to you and how you came upon the solution you're proposing. For example, say a student, Tommy,wanted to solve the problem of homelessness. First of all, because this is a very big problemthat no one person or solution is going to fix, hewould need to describe specifically what problem within thelarger issue hewants to address. Then, in writing his essay, he might focus on telling a story about how a man he met while volunteering in a homeless shelter inspired his idea to hire men and women living in shelters to work as liaisons in public spaces like libraries and parks to help homeless people get access to the services they need. What Should You Avoid? Avoid anything sweeping or general: for example, "How I plan to solve world hunger" is probably not going work. As I mentioned above, you want to stick to concrete ideas and solutions that clearly relate to your own experiences. Simply writing down some of your ideas, no matter how great they are, isn't going to make for a very interesting essay. Look at those dummies, solving a problem! Prompt 5: Personal Growth and Maturity Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. What Is It Asking? Like prompt 1, this one is very general. It's asking you to talk about something you did or something that happenedthat caused you to grow or mature as a person. The other key point to remember when addressingthis question is that you need to explain how this event changed or enriched your understanding of yourself or other people. What Do They Want to Know? In short: when and how have you grown as a person?Personal growth and maturity are complicated issues. You essay may touch on themes like personal responsibility and your role in the world and your community. You don't have to explain your whole worldview, but you need to give readers a sense of why this particular event caused significant growth for you as a person. This prompt can also help you show either a) your own sense of self-concept or b) how you relate to others. What Kind of Topics Could Work? Much like prompt 3, this question likely either appeals to you or doesn't. Nonetheless, here are some potential topics: A time you had to step up in your household A common milestone (like voting for the first time or getting your driver's license) that was particularly meaningful to you A big change in your life, like becoming an older sibling or moving to a new place It's important that your topic describesa transition that lead toreal positive growth or change in you as a person. However, personal growth is a gradual process, and you can definitely still approach this topic if you feel like you have more maturing to do. (Fun fact: most adults feel like they have more maturing to do, too!) Just focus in on a specific step in the process of growing upand explain what it meant to you and how you've changed. What Should You Avoid? Almost any topic could theoretically make a good essay about personal growth, but it's important that the overall message conveys maturity. If the main point of your essay about junior prom is that you learned that you look bad in purple and now you know not to wear it, you will seem like you just haven't had a lot of meaningful growth experiences in your life. You also want the personal growth and new understanding(s) you describe in your essay to be positive in nature. If the conclusion of your essay is "and that's how I matured and realized that everyone in the world is terrible," that's not going to play very well with admissions committees as you'll seem pessimistic and unable to cope with challenges. Prompt 6: Your Passion Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more? What Is It Asking? This prompt is asking you todescribe something that you're intellectually passionate about.Butin addition to describing a topic of personal fascination and why you're so interested in it, you also need to detail how you have pursued furthering your own knowledge of the topic.Did you undertake extra study? Hole yourself up in the library? Ask your math team coach for more practice problems? What Do They Want to Know? Colleges want to admit students who are intellectually engaged with the world. They want you to show that you have a genuine love for the pursuit of knowledge. Additionally, by describing how you've learned more about your chosen topic, concept, or idea, you show that you areself-motivatedand resourceful. What Kind of Topics Could Work? Pretty much any topic you are really interested in and passionate about could make a good essay here, just so long as you can put can a) put an intellectual spin on it and b) demonstrate that you've gone out of your way to learn about the topic. SoIt's fine to say that the topic that engages you most is football, but talk about what interests you in an academic sense about the sport. Have you learned everything there is to know about the history of the sport? Are you an expert on football statistics? Emphasize how the topic you are writing about engages your brain. What Should You Avoid? Don't pick something you don't actually care about just because you think it would sound good. If you say you love black holes but you actually hate them and you tortured yourself with astronomy books in the library for a weekend toglean enough knowledge to write your essay, your lack of enthusiasm will come through. Prompt 7: Your Choice Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design. What Is It Asking? You can write about anything for this one! What Do They Want to Know? Since this is a choose-your-own-adventure prompt, colleges aren't looking for anything specific to this prompt. However, you'll want to demonstrate some of the same qualities that colleges are looking for in all college essays: things like academic passion, maturity, resourcefulness, and persistence. What are your values? How do you face setbacks? These are all things you can consider touching on in your essay. What Kind of Topics Could Work? If you already have a topic in mind for this one that doesn't really fit with any of the other prompts, go for it! What Should You Avoid? Avoid essays that aren't really about you as a person. So no submitting your rhetorical close-reading of the poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn" you wrote for A.P. English! However, if you want to write about the way that "Ode on a Grecian Urn" made you reconsider your entire approach to life, go ahead! Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. 5Key Takeaways About the Common AppEssay Questions We've covered a lot of ground, but don't panic. I've collected the main ideas you should keep in mind as you plan your Common App essay below. Neatly packaged takeaways. (Henry Faber/Flickr) A Topic for Prompt 1 MustBe Something Beyond What’s in the Rest of Your Application For prompt 1, it's absolutely vital that your topicbe something genuinely meaningful to you. Don’t write about something just because you think it’s impressive. Big achievements andleadership roles, likeserving as captain of a team or winning a journalism award, can certainly be used as topics, but only if you can explain why they mattered to you beyond that it was cool to be in charge or that you liked winning. It's better if you can pick out something smaller and more individual, like helping your team rally after a particularly rough loss or laboring over a specific articleto make sure you get every detail right. Prompts 2, 4, and 6 Are Generally the Simplest Options Most students have an experience or interest that will work for either prompt 2, prompt 4, or prompt 6. If you’re uncertain what you want to write about, think about challenges you've faced, aproblem you solved or want to solve, or your major intellectual passions. These prompts are slightly easier to approachthan the others because they lend themselves to very specific and concrete topics that show clear growth. Describinga failure and what you learnedfrom it is much simpler than trying to clarify why an event is a vital part of your identity. Prompts 3 and 5 Can Be Trickier, but That Doesn’t Mean You Shouldn’t Write About Them These questionsask about specific types of experiences that not every high school student has had. If they don't speak to you, don't feel compelled to write about them. If you do want to take on prompt 3 or 5, however, remember to clearly explain your perspective to the reader, even if it seems obvious to you. For prompt 3, you have to establish not just whatyou believe but why you believe it and why that belief matters to you. For prompt 5, you need to clarify how you moved from childhood to adulthood and what that means to both you and others. These prompts elicit some of the most personal responses, which can make forgreat essays but also feel too revealing to many students. Trust your instincts and don’t pick a topic you’re not comfortable writing about, but don't hesitate to take on a difficult or controversial topic if you're excited about it and think you can treat it with the necessary nuance. Make Sure to Explain What Your Experience Taught You I've tried to emphasize this idea throughout this guide: it's not enough to simply describewhat you did, you have to explain what it meant to you. Pushing past the surface level while avoiding cliches and generalizations is a big challenge, but it's also what will make your essay stand out. Make sure you know what personal quality you want to emphasize before you start and keep it in mind as you write.Try to avoid boring generalizations in favor of more specific and personal insights. Bad: Solving a Rubik'scube for the first time taught me a lot. Better:Solving a Rubik'scube for the first timetaught me that I love puzzles andmade me wonder what other problems I could solve. Best: When I finally twisted the last piece of the Rubik'scube into place after months ofwork, I was almost disappointed. I'd solved the puzzle; what would I do now? But then I started to wonder ifI could use what I'd learned to do the whole thingfaster. Upon solving oneproblem, I had immediately moved onto the next one, as I do with most things in life. Then, as you go back throughyour essayto edit, every step of the wayask yourself, "so what?" Why does the reader need to know this? What does it show about me? How can I go one step deeper? Don't Worry About What You Think You're Supposed to Write There is no single right answer to these prompts, and if you tryto find one you'll end up doing yourself a disservice. What's important is to tell your story - and no one can tell you what that means because it's unique to you. Many students believe that they should write about resume-padding activities that look especially impressive, like volunteering abroad. These essays are often boring and derivative because the writer doesn't really have anything to say on the topic and assumes that it will speak for itself. But the point of a personal statement isn't to explain what you've done, it's to show who you are. Take the time to brainstorm and figure outwhat you want to show colleges about yourself and what story or interest best exemplifies that quality. What's Next? For more background on college essaysand tips for crafting a great one, check out our complete explanation ofthe basics of the personal statement. Make sure you're prepared for the rest of the college application process as well, with our guides to asking for recommendations, writing about extracurriculars, taking the SAT, and researching colleges. Want to improve your SAT score by 160points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

RESPONSIBLE RESEARCHER Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

RESPONSIBLE RESEARCHER - Essay Example Another set of motivations deals with pressures that students claim to be under, some of which may be real and others of which may be rationalizations for dishonesty, but all of which shift the responsibility for their behavior away from themselves. I realize my responsibility in delivering authentic papers and will not try to place other person's success or failure on me. I am positive that it will not bring any genuine realization to myself, but rather will show me in a different light, present me as a person with different qualities and talents. I now realize that academic dishonesty might be the first step to dishonest behavior in gradually all areas in life that will sooner or later lead to failure. The next factor of academic dishonesty that I would like to note is a pressures and overloads during academic years. These factor along with improper explanation of the material are often results of academic cheating. There were times when I had to work during my studies and thus sometimes failed the courses, however I have never plagiarized or conducted any other unacceptable behavior. I have learnt to manage stress and meet the deadline and have realized that this, along with honesty and clearness of education goals is guarantee of success. While my education, I am going to divide my time effectively and make it possible to accommodate my work to studies and not conversely. That, by means, effective time management: devoting a reasonable part of time on involvement in Campus life when making studies of academic subjects and keeping the excellent academic performnce the bsic priority. ccording to recent sttistics, provided in research by Philip Langlais, proportion of college students who chet t some point in their creers rnge from low of 25% to high of 80%, but the most common estimte is bout hlf. Not ll of these, of course, re hbitul cheters; mny students chet only under wht they regrd s extreme circumstnces nd my chet only "two or three times in their whole creers." Some students claim that cheating is a means of "balancing the books, " as it were, with professors whom they perceive to be acting unfairly, such as requiring too heavy a work load, giving tests that are too difficult, and grading too harshly. Some students admit to a lack of effort-not attending class, not wanting to do the work-as a reason for their academic dishonesty. Other students claim that, as it were, "the devil made me do it": They say they gave into an irresistible temptation when an opportunity to cheat arose. Still others see cheating as a game or contest of wits between themselves and their professors. Finally, students say that facilitation of academic dishonesty is motivated by adherence to loyalties outside the

Constructing a motorway (civil engineering project) Essay

Constructing a motorway (civil engineering project) - Essay Example This essay discusses that a motorway can be defined roughly as a main road or highway, with two or more lanes on opposite direction, and where fast motor traffic occurs. A motorway has to be well constructed with all the required plans, materials and skilful engineering needed to provide a long-lasting use for motorists. As the Junior Site Manager of a 30-mile motorway, my job is to provide the plan and the necessary activities to have a smooth flow of construction, maintenance and completing of this motorway. But before going on an analysis of the construction parameters, I deemed it necessary or compulsory on my part to study history and the great accomplishments of the engineers and architects who made the British Motorway System, on how it was visualised, planned, and made to action to provide the future generation with a quality highway for the vast land transportation that we have today. First, the planners used geographic and topographic maps. Although technology and computers were not yet very effective at that time, the information the planners had was enough to make them achieve their great objective. Present planners and engineers have all the information from computers and databases before they embark on such a gargantuan task. The vision that the planners had is mastery itself, considering that in the nineteenth century, motor vehicles were just beginning to be invented. Engineers and builders of motorways are faced with multiple and complicated tasks. In the initial steps, they are concerned particularly of the volumes of earth to be moved during embankments and cuttings. There is also the concern of the cost of moving those volumes of earth. Present engineers try to balance these two activities – the cut and fill. The aim is to avoid borrow or spoil, which adds costs to construction. Formation of cutting and embankments Cuts and embankments are needed in constructing a motorway or an elevated highway. In doing this, there are excavations a nd earthworks involved. Earth movement will involve a lot of activities in road construction. The first job of a builder of a motorway is to balance the cut and fill by calculating quantities to be moved. Calculating the volumes to be moved will involve measuring the horizontal and vertical sections using a planimeter, and in order to be accurate about this step, it has to be done at least three times. (Gallagher, 2004, p. 415) The principle in calculation is analogous to measuring the volume of a ship, which is measuring the displacement and tonnage. To do this means to measure the area of vertical cross section in successive lateral points. This technique of measurement was first introduced by Matthew Baker when he applied it in a cross section of a ship in 1586. The series of measurements were then compiled by George Parker Bidder in a paper titled â€Å"Table of Cutting and Embankments† on the construction of the London and Birmingham Railway in 1836. (Gallagher, 2004, p. 415) An important factor to be considered in earth work or excavation is to determine the material a junior site engineer like me will be working with. I will have a lot of site investigation and analysis of the materials. A lot of information from our databases regarding the site, the materials and equipment that we will be using, will help a lot in the success of the motorway project. A common way of classifying the soil to determine its ease of excavation is known as the Ease of Digging scale. This is common in the United Kingdom. According to this theory, the soil is classified into four categories: E – for Easy digging, e.g. sands, fine gravels, etc. M – for Medium, example is cohesive soil like clay, gravel, etc. M-H – for Medium to Hard – refers to rock broken to pieces, heavy clay, gravel with boulders, etc. H – Hard refers to hard materials that require blasting. (Durham. Ac.uk.) Foundations Foundation engineering involves an analysis of the soil mechanics and judgment on the part of the engineer on the complex blend of the

The biases in testing Essay Example for Free

The biases in testing Essay Many examples can be given for the biases in testing based on culture. Cultural biases have been in testing as long as testing has been around, whether intentional or not. With each passing year, however, it seems that cultural bias is more examined and those who create the tests are using stricter guidelines to insure that the tests they create are not biased towards one student more than another. For example, in New York City, students were given a question asking, â€Å"what were ways the British improved the lives of Africans? † it was prefaced with a passage from 1922 stating â€Å"We are endeavoring [trying] to teach the native races to conduct their own affairs with justice and humanity, and to educate them alike in letters and in industry†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . This testing question has a clear cultural bias and shows â€Å"outright racism† according to one parents group (Rammohan, 2007). It’s ridiculous that questions like this are still showing up in standardized testing at all. Although, imperialism should be taught, it could have been presented in a less biased way. Jay Rosner in On White Preference from The Nation states another example of bias towards white students over others, â€Å"On the October 1998 SAT, for example, every single on of the 138 questions (sixty math and seventy-eight verbal) favored whites over blacks. By favoring whites, I mean that a higher percentage of white than black students answered correctly every question pre-screened and chosen to appear on that SAT†¦SAT forms are designed to very strongly correlate with one another. And the pattern I’ve identified is a predictable result of the way the tests are constructed. Latino test-takers are similarly affected, faring only a bit better than blacks. † Obviously, test takers are being gypped when it comes to standardized testing, and the tests are being biased towards white students. This example of white students performing better on all 138 pre-screened questions gives the indication that the system that is used to screen questions is in and of itself, biased, and therefore, in need of examination. Rosner goes on to give another example of the biases of test creators. On a pre-testing question where minority students actually performed better than white students, the question was thrown out, an obvious example of bias towards white students. Interestingly enough, Rosner’s entire reason for looking into the SAT and other standardized testing questions formulated by the ETS, the Educational Testing Service, was due to the fact that white students had filed a suit against the University of Michigan because they were allowing black students into the college with a lower SAT score and not accepting white students who may have a higher score. While it does not show test bias, it’s an interesting example of how the colleges may be cognizant of testing bias and how they are trying to rectify the discrepancies, i. e. allowing minority students who may have a lower SAT score into the college. As stated by Rosner, there is in fact, a twenty percent gap in performance on standardized testing between white students and minority students, displaying bias on the part of the ETS as their company formulates and screens questions before putting them onto the tests (Rosner, 2003). If they were, in fact, unbiased, why did they not allow the question where black students performed better than white? If they had allowed the question, then maybe we could state that they were at least making an effort towards being unbiased regarding test formulation and administration, unfortunately, all actions point to the contrary. As long as those formulating the tests are using biased criteria, our tests will continue to be biased and white students will continue to perform better than minority students. References Rammohan, Yasmin Tara. (9 May 2007). Advocates say standardized tests often flunk cultural bias scrutiny. Medill Reports Chicago. Retrieved from http://news. medill. northwestern. edu/chicago/news. aspx? id=35935. Rosner, Jay. (27 March 2003). On white preferences. The Nation. Retrieved from http://www. thenation. com/doc/20030414/rosner.

Henry James The Art of Fiction Essay -- Henry James The Art of Fictio

Henry James' The Art of Fiction In an essay written in response to an essay written by Walter Besant, both titled "The Art of Fiction", Henry James provides both a new understanding of fiction and greater understand of his own works. James analyses, however briefly, the process of creation of a work of fiction, readers' responses to it, and the requirements of the work and the author. James' language within this essay may be in need of some levity, but he does occasionally break through the haze to make a very strong and effective point: "[T]he only condition that I can think of attaching to the composition of a novel is†¦that it be sincere" (161) There is point in which over-analysis takes away from the intention, the point in which talk of theory wanders away from the actual work of art. This is as true today in the critique of fiction as it was in James' time. In analysis we often place requirements of a piece of work. We state that for something to be this, it must then have that. These restrictions and guidelines can hardly be placed on fiction. We cannot presuppose the c...

Work Culture Preferences

My work culture preference results indicate I prefer high powered, well resourced, and ethical jobs. My preferred high powered attributes of a job would consist of high salaries, career advancement, and learning new skills. My preferred attributes of a well resourced job would include a being a safe work environment and comfortable atmosphere. My preferred attributes of an ethical job would include being fair, making a difference in people’s lives, and have a social and environmental responsibility. Being aware of my culture preferences will make me a better employee in helping to achieve my organization’s goals. In my previous paper I stated that career compenticies were following instructions, organizing, and delivering results. My results from these surveys are essential in assisting my to evaluate their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats know as a strength, weakness, opportunity, and threats (SWOT) Analysis as well as developing operational and strategic plans. I can use these results to help develop teams within my organization that will help to create and implement the necessary changes or goals for the organization that promotes growth, stability and renewal opportunities based off a SWOT Analysis. The results from a SWOT analysis are essential to growing a business. I want a high powered position, I am organized, I believe in fairness and ethics, and I can deliver results. My career plan competencies and work culture preference results indicate that I would add value to the SWOT Analysis process by helping develop an organization’s goals and plans with the results. To be successful in an organization, I need to use my talent to my advantage which could include a higher position and bigger salary. Work Culture Preferences Work culture preferences are an important part of a competency assessment because it gives the user suggestions as to where they will achieve the highest level of potential in a work setting. Knowing your ideal work culture can help in developing strategic and operational plans to achieve your organizational goals by illustrating how you perform as a manager. So, for instance, if the skeleton of a manager is represented best by the four functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Then the flesh surrounding the skeleton of the manager would be the work culture preferences. The results of my work culture assessment are indexed in three categories. The first of these categories is supportive. My assessment shows that I have a considerate management style with no conflicting demands. Focus is placed on the employees and goals & expectations are represented as being clearly defined. The focus is on the welfare and personal development of the employee with lots of recognition and celebrations of success. Secondly, my well resourced category shows that a comfortable, well-designed and safe work place is of importance to me. This category also states that all the necessary resources to provide a higher standard of work would be made available to the members of my teams. Finally, the high powered category lists there will be the likelihood of rapid promotions, high salaries and other benefits for team members although, the job will be demanding. One specific study often used in business is called a SWOT analysis. The word SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The two competencies necessary to conduct a SWOT analysis are: internal represented by the strengths and weaknesses and external represented by opportunities and threats. My competencies relate to the internal and external competencies in many ways. My strengths indicate that I’m supportive and considerate. That’s an important factor to consumers in today’s market because it shows that I’m able to relate to their wants and needs. The opportunity for team members to learn new skills and work in different environments is encourage in an effort to strengthen the management team. According to this competency assessment what could appear as my weakness and/or threat wasn’t easily identifiable. However, I could assume that an organization with no focus, sloppy performance and unrealistic goals wouldn’t be the most desirable position to me. Why, because that management style is the exact opposite of what I’d bring to the table.

Research Paper on Human Behavior Organization

[pic] Organizational Behavior against Perception In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement of the Subject HBO101 Submitted to: Ms. Pichay Submitted by: Leader: Marino, Lizaso Member: Lindero, Maricar Lustina, Irene Macaraeg, Maan Macarambon, Putri Johanna HBO101-1T ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We are heartily thankful to our dearest professor, Mrs. Pichay whose encouragement, support and guidance until the wavering moments of the semester helped us to see this term paper into completion.We are also particularly grateful for the assistance given by the staff of UE Library specifically the Circulation Library and Graduate School Library for letting us borrow books and theses. We would like to offer our special thanks to the National Library for providing us the resources needed for this study. We would also like to thank our respective families and friends for their understanding and for allowing us to spend most of our precious time working with our research paper. Above all, we glorify and thank Almighty God/ Allah, who have given us the power to believe in ourselves and pursue our dreams.We could never have done this without the faith we have in him. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Title Pagei Acknowledgementii Table of Contentsiii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION A. History and Background B. Significance of the Study C. Objectives of the Study D. Scope and Delimitations E. Definition of Terms 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 3SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY REFLECTION PAPER Chapter I Introduction A. History and Background Although human relationships have existed since the beginning of time, the art and science of trying to deal with them in complex organizations is relatively new.In the early days people work along or in such small groups that their work relationships were easily handled. It has been popular to assume that under this conditions people worked in a Utopia of happiness and fulfillment, but this assumption is largely a nostalgic reinterpretation of history actual conditions were brutal and backbreaking. People worked from dawn until dust under intolerable conditions of disease, filth, danger, and scarcity of resources. They had to work this way to survive, and very little effort was devoted to their job satisfaction.Then came the industrial revolution in the beginning the condition of the people did improve, but at least the seed was planted for potential improvement industry expanded the supply of goods and knowledge that eventually gave workers increased wages, shorter hours, and more satisfaction in this new industrial improvement Robert Owen, a young Welsh factory owner about the year 1800, was one of the first to emphasize the human needs of employees. He refused to employ young children. He taught his workers cleanliness and temperance improved their working conditions.This could hardly be called a modern organizational behavior, but it was a beginning. He was called â€Å"the real father† of personnel administration by an early writer. A ndrew Ure incorporated human factors into his work The Philosophy of Manufactures, published in 1835. He recognized the mechanical and commercial parts of manufacturing, but he also added a third factor, which was the human factor. He provided workers with hot tea, medical treatment, â€Å"a fan apparatus† for ventilation, and sickness payments.The ideas of Owen and Ure were accepted slowly or not at all, and they often deteriorated into a paternalistic, do-good approach rather than a genuine recognition of the importance of people at work. Interest in people at work was awakened by Frederick W. Taylor in the United States in the early 1900s. He is often called â€Å"the father of scientific management,† and the changes he brought to management paved the way for later development of organizational behavior. His work eventually led to improved recognition and productivity for industrial workers.He pointed out that just as there was a best machine for a job, so were ther e best ways for people to do their jobs. To be sure, the goal was still technical efficiency, but at least management was awakened to the importance of one of its neglected resources. Taylor’s major work was published in 1911. it was followed in 1914 by Lillian Gilbreth’s The Psychology of Management, which primarily emphasized the human side of work. Shortly thereafter the National Personnel Association was formed, and later.In 1923, it became the American Management Association, carrying the subtitle â€Å"Devoted Exclusively to the Consideration of the Human Factor in Commerce and Industry. † During this period Whiting Williams was studying workers while working with them, and in 1920 he published a significant interpretation of his experiences, What’s on the Worker’s Mind. Organizations permeate all levels of our lives. We come into contact with many of them daily. In fact, most of us probably spend most of our lives in—or are affected b y—organizations.We expend sizable amounts of our time as members of work, school, social, civic, and church organizations. Or we are involved as employees, students, clients, patients, and citizens of organizations. Organizations are characterized by their goal-directed behavior, and they pursue goals and objectives that can be achieved more efficiently and effectively by the concerted action of individuals and groups. Organizations are, however, much more than means for providing goods and services. They create the settings in which most of us spend our lives.In this respect, they have profound influence on our behavior. However, because large-scale organizations have developed only in recent times, we are just now beginning to recognize the necessity for studying them. Organizations have always been regarded as integral to the social world. They have become pervasive and as social units they impinge upon the behavior of their members and the members of society. They are sig nificant since they allow individual members to achieve their personal goals and to channel their energies for the welfare of society.The modern study of what people do within organizations was developed in the mid to late 1940s. the behavioral sciences—psychology, sociology, and cultural anthropology—have provided the principles, scientific rigor, and models for what we refer to today as organizational behavior. Modern society depends on organizations for its survival. Organizations exist through components technology and people. Society must understand organizations and use them to achieve the goals of its human components—the people. Each organization can work effectively with people if the management considers them in human terms.The organizational behavior of the manager affects the people, the structure, the technology, and the environment in which the organization operates. People are the chief components of an organization. They make up the internal soci al system of the organization. They are living, thinking, feeling beings of the organization. Organizations exist to serve people and society as a whole. Organizations operate in an external environment. Individual organizations such as schools and agencies are influenced by the external environment.The environment influences the attitudes, behavior and performance of the people, their working conditions and life styles. According to Davis (1993), the climate of each organization is achieved through an organizational system. In a working social system, people bring together both individual and group ways when they enter an organization. They bring their philosophy and goals, their psychological, social and economic wants which they express in their behavior. For Osborn (1991), he expressed that managers are the hearts of organizations.Organizational behavior is a knowledge base that enables managers to help their organizations perform better. Organizations relay on both human and ph ysical resources for their continued functioning. To combine successfully the two types of resource inputs into product or service outputs, managers must understand organization as work settings. Osborn also stated that the manager heads a work unit which links subordinates with the total organization through means and chains. The manager is also responsible in making the work unit functions as an organization in and of itself. The esults sought by the managers are task performance and human resource maintain at the individual, group, and organizational levels. He stressed further that manager share a common challenge. On the one hand, they are held accountable by superiors for work until performance. On the other hand, they are largely dependent upon their subordinates to do the required work. Organizational behavior Organizational behavior is the study and application of knowledge about how people—as individuals and groups—act within organizations. It strives to iden tify ways in which people can act more effectively.Organizational behavior (O. B) is a scientific discipline in which a large number of research studies and conceptual developments are constantly adding to its knowledge base. It is also an applied science, in that information about effective practices in one organization are being extended to many others. Organizational behavior provides a useful set of tools at many levels of analysis. For example, it helps managers look at the behavior of individuals within an organization. It also aids their understanding of the complexities involved in interpersonal relations, when two people interact.At the next level, organizational behavior is valuable for examining the dynamics of relationships within small groups, both formal teams and informal groups. When two or more groups need to coordinate their efforts, such as engineering and sales, managers become interested in the inter-group relations that emerge. Finally, organizations can also b e viewed, and managed, as whole systems that behave inter-organizational relationships. There are four primary goals in organizational behavior. The first is to describe, systematically, how people behave under a variety of conditions.Achieving this goal allows managers to communicate about human behavior at work using a common language. A second goal is to understand why people behave as they do. Managers would be highly frustrated if they could only talk about behaviors of their employees, but not understand the reasons behind those actions. Predicting future employee behavior is another goal of organizational behavior. Ideally, managers would have the capacity to predict which employees might be dedicated and productive or which might be absent, tardy, or disruptive on a certain day.This would allow them to take preventive actions. The final goal of organizational behavior is to control and develop some human activity at work. Since managers are held responsible for the performan ce outcomes, they are vitally interested in being able to make an impact on employee behavior, skill development, team effort, and productivity. Managers need to remember that organizational behavior is a human tool for human benefit. The key elements in organizational behavior are people, structure, technology and the environment in which the organization operates.When people join together in an organization to accomplish an objective, some king of structure is required. People also use technology to help to get the job done, so there is an interaction of people, structure, and technology PEOPLEPeople make up the internal social system of the organization. They consist of individuals and groups, and large groups as well as small ones. There are unofficial, informal groups and more official, formal ones. Groups are dynamic. They form, change, and disband. The human organization today is not the same as it was yesterday, or the day before.People are the living, thinking, feeling bein gs who work in the organization to achieve their objectives. STRUCTUREStructure defines the formal relationship of people in organizations. Different jobs are required to accomplish all of an organization’s activities. There are managers and employees, accountants and assemblers. These people have to be related in some structural way so that their work can be effectively coordinated. These relationships create complex problems of cooperation, negotiation, and decision making. TECHNOLOGYTechnology provides the resources with which people work and affects the tasks that they perform.They cannot accomplish much with their bare hands, so they build buildings, design machines, create work processes, and assemble resources. The technology used has a significant influence on working relationships. An assembly line is not the same as a research laboratory, and a steel mill does not have the same working conditions as a hospital. The great benefit of technology is that it allows peopl e to do more and better work, but it also restricts people in various ways. ENVIRONMENTAll organizations operate within an internal and an external environment.A single organization does not exist alone. It is part of a larger system that contains many other elements, such as government, the family, and other organizations. All of this mutually influenced one another in a complex system that creates a context for a group of people. Individual organizations, such as factory or a school, cannot escape being influenced by this external environment. It influences the attitudes of people, affects working conditions, and provides competition for resources and power. Organizational behavior follows principles of human behavior.The effectiveness of any organization is influenced greatly by human behavior. People are a resource common to all organizations. There is no such thing as a peopleless organization. One important principle of psychology is that each person is different. Each person has unique perceptions, personalities, and life experiences; different capabilities for learning and stress; and different attitudes, beliefs, and aspiration levels. To be effective, managers of organizations must view each employee or member as a unique embodiment of all these behavioral factors.Organizational behavior is the study and application of knowledge about how people—as individuals and groups—act in organizations. Its goals are to make managers more effective at describing, understanding, predicting, and controlling human behavior. Key elements to consider are people, structure, technology and the external environment. Previously known as human relations, organizational behavior has emerged as interdisciplinary field of value to managers. It builds on an increasingly solid research foundation that was begun in the 1920s, and it draws upon useful ideas and conceptual models from many of the behavioral science.Organization needs a well-managed structural mecha nism in assessing work force performance in correlation to work performance and productivity of workers. Performance appraisal is a measurement conducted on workers to evaluate how they achieve work targets and productivity (Najib, 2007). Various factors can be regarded in applying performance appraisal. Some researchers state that performance appraisal can be viewed from various aspects relating to the aims of research or what is going to be analyzed. Some evaluate working activity aspect, while others evaluate behaviour or personality aspect.Work performance, according to D. Grote (2002), V. M. Rivai and A. F. Basri (2005), and L. M. Robert and H. J. John (2006), is stated as behavior and work result that should be made as priority. They believe that behavior aspect is input or how individual conduct his/her duties which can be measured by knowledge, skill, attitude, and habit variables. Work result aspect, on the other hand, is output or what is going to achieve from a job which can be measured by quantity, quality, and timeliness variables. The approach of both appraisal aspects is used in this research i. . (1) behavior aspect and work result aspect, and (2) their contribution to performance. B. Significance of the Study Having become one of the most prevalent debates in recent years, organizational related studies have became a major topic of study nowadays. Organizations as defined as † a consciously coordinated social unit, composed of two or more people that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals. †    So we can see that individuals, walking under the flag of organization are valuable resources to the firm.It is totally impossible to find an organization without any manpower. So, as long as organizations are consisted of individuals, it is very important to know and learn about these fundamental elements of the firms. And that is the reason the concept of organizational behavior is a major fie ld of study these days. Organizational behavior is defined as † a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within organizations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization's effectiveness.    Or in other words, it is â€Å"the study of what people think, feel, and do in and around organizations. †    And because the nature of human being is a sophisticated, multidimensional phenomenon, wide ranges of disciplines are required. Psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, economics and industrial engineering are the traditional disciplines and communications, information system, marketing and women's studies are the emerging disciplines toward studying organizational behavior. The purpose of the study is to draw optimum performance from all the employees.In today’s world, the environment of business is changing constantly. As a result, the manager has to play increasingly important role. With recent increase in workload, responsibilities and diversities, the importance of managers in a working environment has also increased. In order to help managers and supervisors learn more about the complexity of the new workforce many different studies have been developed. One area of study that has increased in importance over the years is the study of Organizational Behavior.This paper first defines exactly what organizational behavior is and discusses its importance. C. Objectives of the Study This research is to analyze the influence of work behaviour towards work performance. Variables for behaviour are knowledge, skill, attitude, and habits. Situational assessments of work performance can be used repeatedly to measure progress in work rehabilitation and used for feedback and goal setting. The organizations in which people work have an effect on their thoughts, feelings and actions.These thoughts, feelings and actions in turn affect the organi zation itself. By this research, can also understand the workers or employees behave the way they do and also thereby predict how they are going to behave in the future. Performance objectives also play a major role in defining the results expected through your staff's hard work and dedication. It’s necessity in setting clear goals for employees. They also challenge staff members to achieve maximum results to promote business growth and make continuous improvements to meet the challenges and changing demands of the marketplace.It must be clear and guide action. D. Scope and Delimitation This research covers about work performance and behaviour of an employee. The limitations of this research are to those people who are currently working. Only workers can participate in this research. E. Definition of Terms The following terms used in this study are defined operationally. Organizational behaviour  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ is the application of knowledge about how people, individuals, and gr oups act in organizations, in order to achieve the highest performance and dominant results.Attitude  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ the degree to which the person has a favourable or unfavourable evaluation of the behaviour in question. Knowledge-  remembering of previously learned material; recall (facts or whole theories); bringing to mind. Analysis-  breaking down into parts; understanding organization, clarifying, concluding Work behaviour  -is the  behaviour  one uses in  employment  and is normally more formal than other types of  human behaviour. Job performance  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ is a commonly used, yet poorly defined concept in  industrial and organizational psychology, it most commonly refers to whether a person performs their  job  well.Performance- the act of performing; the carrying into execution or action; execution; achievement; accomplishment; representation by action; as, the performance of an undertaking of a duty. Behaviour- can be regarded as any action of an organi sm that changes its relationship to its environment. Behaviour provides outputs from the organism to the environment. Chapter II Related Literatures In the 1920s and 1930s Elton Mayo and F. J. Roethlisberger at Harvard University gave academic stature to the study of human behavior at work.They applied keen insight, straight thinking, and sociological backgrounds to industrial experiments at the Western Electric Company, Hawthorne Plant. They concluded that an organization is a social system and the worker is indeed the most important element in it. Their experiments showed that the worker is not a simple tool but a complex personality interacting in a group situation that often is difficult to understand. To Taylor and his contemporaries, human problems stood in the way of production and so should be minimized. To Mayo, human problems became a broad new field of study and an opportunity for progress.He is recognized as the father of what was then called human relations and later be came known as organizational behavior. Taylor increased production by rationalizing it. Mayo and his followers sought to increase production by humanizing it. The Mayo-Roethlisberger research has been strongly criticized as being inadequately controlled and interpreted, but its basic ideas, such as social system within the work environment, have stood the test of time, the important point is that it was substantial research about human behavior at work, and its influence was widespread and enduring.According to George and Jones (1996), organizational behavior provides guidelines that both manager and workers can use to understand and appreciate many forces that affect behavior in organizations and make correct decisions on how to motivate people and mobilize other resources to achieve organizational goals. Knowledge on organizational behavior derived from scholarly studies replaces intuition and gut feeling with a well-researched body of theories and systematic guidelines for managi ng behavior in organization.Mangkunegara (2000) defines performance as work result qualitatively and quantitatively that can be achieved in conducting a job as demanded by responsibility. While H. J. Bernardin and J. C. A. Russel (1993) state that performance is an income produced by a worker during his/her service time. V. M. Rivai and A. F. Basri (2005) conclude the definition of performance as a function of motivation and capability. To finalize a demanded job or duty, someone should have a certain motivation and capability.Capability of a worker is not worth if he/she does not know what should be done and how to do it. Target achieving is one of measurements in performance appraisal. There are three criteria in assessing performance, i. e. (1) individual duty, (2) individual behavior, and (3) individual characteristics. From the above description, it can be inferred that performance can be categorized as work result achieved by a worker in a certain time in an organization based on power, responsibility, and duties.During his/her service time, performance of an individual can be observed (Rivai & Basri, 2005). Meaning that performance appraisal should always relate to task finalization. Whenever performance appraisal does not relate to job finalization, then such appraisal will result in a misjudgment and a mistake. Bibliography Luthans, Fred. (2011). Organizational Behavior: An Evidence-Based Approach. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. New York Nelson, Debra L. Quick, James C. Organizational Behavior Foundation, Realities and Challenges. (1997). West Publishing Company, St. Paul MN. http://www. ehow. com/info_8156482_objectives-organizational-behavior. html#ixzz27xcgisTS http://www. brainyquote. com/words/be/behavior135737. html#IIMeu7jGSj4UxvQL. 99 http://mansci. journal. informs. org/content/28/2/138. short http://www. livestrong. com/article/178352-how-behavior-modification-operates-to-motivate-people/