What's the news Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

What's the news - Essay Example The reading further stipulates considerations that journalists should have in mind when collecting news these are: timeliness, proximity, prominence and consequences that their news might have. The reading makes sense as it enlightens those pursuing journalism career with the elements they ought to consider to make their profession successful. The reading highlights important fundamentals to be considered which are timeliness, proximity, prominence and consequences of particular news (Harrison 73). In case a journalist considers these elements when collecting news, they will automatically provide the best news to their readers that will make them yearn for more news from the same paper. For instance a paper has news that meets all the requirements above will make their readers have enthusiasm for their news thus their paper will definitely sell and in turn provide its editors and reporters with constant income that will improve their living standards (Harrison

The Creation Of The Spitfire History Essay

The Creation Of The Spitfire History Essay In 1931 the Royal Air Ministry issues a specification for a new modern fighter plane, which was to be both agile in combat as well as fast, included in the specification was the requirement of a top speed of 251mph. R.J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation at the time, replied to this specification with his first initial prototype The type 224 was a huge disappointment. After the initial reaction to this plane was received Mitchell and his design team then began to design a radical new plane, The type 300 this plane was also rejected. However the design team of Mitchell continued to develop the plane and added new features into the plane such as; ( The Supermarine S6B 1931 ) An enclosed cockpit, oxygen breathing apparatus. Smaller and thinner wings and the newly developed more powerful rolls Royce PV-XII V-12 engine (1,Wikipedia, November 3rd ). This developed design was accepted by the Air Ministry. On the 1st of December the Ministry issued  £10,000 for the construction of the first Spitfire and the next specification was written based on Mitchells design on January 3rd 1935. On March 5th 1936 the first prototype spitfire took its maiden voyage (2,Wikipedia, November 3rd). After the first test flights went well, the spitfire was then issued for manufacture. One of the biggest icons of aviation was to be placed in massed production; Further official trials were held in May 1936, and in June the Royal Air Force placed a production order for 310, by which time the new fighter had been dubbed the Spitfire. (3. Taylor, Patrick 2010) After this initial order the Spitfires the pilots then began to there training on how to fly them, from here the Spitfire also became the plane which was loved by its pilots. The Creator and Design team R.J Mitchell was a chief designer at Supermarine Aviation before undertaking the challenge of the Air Ministry specification. Although R.J Mitchell was influence during the prototyping of the plane and was highlighted as the creator of the spitfire he died from illness in 1937 and the project taken on by Supermarines new Chief Designer, Joseph Smith. Mitchell never got to see the achievement that his creation would achieve. After Mitchells untimely death Smith and the design team continued to develop the Spitfire during the Second world war and unlike other planes of this period such as the hurricane. Mitchells design was so sound that the Spitfire was continually improved through the second world war whereas its contemporary, the hawker hurricane quickly became obsolete. Over 22,000 Spitfires and derivatives were built. (4,Wikipedia November 4th) Mitchells design was also so robust that the spitfire was redesigned and adjusted to suit many different situations. Out of all these variations the most famous was the Seafire, This plane was adjusted to fly off airplane carriers. Early marks of Seafire had relatively few modifications to the standard Spitfire airframe; however cumulative front line experience meant that most of the later versions of the Seafire had strengthened airframes, folding wings, arrestor hooks and other modifications (5, Wikipedia, November 4th ) The Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine spitfire is a single seating fighter aircraft that was used mainly in the British RAF. The Spitfire was designed as a short-range high-performance interceptor aircraft (6,Wikipedia November 4th) in conjunction with the Hawker Hurricane they were the basis of Britons air defence against any attacks. However the Supermarine Spitfire was also used for other tasks in the RAF, these would range from interceptor, photo-reconnaissance, fighter-bomber, carrier-based fighter, and trainer. ( 7,Wikipedia, November 4th) The versatility of the spitfires design allowed this to be done. The main event from were the Spitfire began to build its reputation as one of the greatest planes invented was during the battle of Briton off the cliffs of Dover. In the summer and autumn of 1940. (The Supermarine Spitfire in flight ) The German air force aimed attacks at factories, airfields, shipping centres such as Portsmouth were also targeted. The spitfire was one of the main reasons why the British Air forces won the Battle of Britain which highlighted it as a design icon in the future years. After the Battle Of Britain the Spitfire became the backbone of the RAF. And also saw action worldwide due to how successful and well they flew. As the war further progressed different versions of the spitfire were adapted for different missions and conditions. Up to 24 different variations of the spitfire were produced and 20,351 were produced in the 10 year period in which they were manufactured from 1938 to 1948, (8,Wikipedia, November 7th). The spitfire is the only plane that was built, before, during and after the second world war (9,EzineArticles, November 7th). All the spitfires were built to a certain specification and these could be adjusted and altered depending on the situation that the planes may face. The spitfire helped to save a huge number of lives in the period in which it served, regardless of which mission it undertook. R.J. Mitchell and his team had designed and developed one of the solutions that helped to win the second world war for Great Britain and the allying countries. The origin of the Spitfire and its production: The Supermarines were assembled in the west midlands in Castle Bromwich , this factory was equipped with the most specialist equipment available so that all Supermarines that were rolled out of this factory were flyable. It is estimated that this factory cost the government a total of  £2,000,000 however by the beginning of 1939 it was believed the factory may of cost double this. By the time production had finished at Castle Bromwich a total of 12,129 spitfires had been made.(10,Wikipedia, November 24th). However, the making of these planes was not the simple process in which the British government had hoped. As part of a plan to remove Britain of all its prized war resources German Luftwaffe ( The Germans version of the fighter plane during the war) attempted a vast number of air raids in hope of destroying the factories in the Southampton area. The two main factories here Woolston and Ichten provided the bulk of the airplane parts for the Castle Bromwich factory. On September 26th both factories were successfully bombed and wrecked with the loss of 92 lives, and many of the experienced work force injured. (11,Wikipedia, November 24th ) Knowing the inevitable would happen and the factories would be destroyed 6 days prior to the factories being bombed the British government dispersed and relocated many of the jigs and machinery used. The jigs and machinery were relocated to different parts of Southampton. These different parts and workshops became well known for being able to produced individual parts for the spitfire. The four most well known towns with satellite access were: Southampton and Eastleigh Airport Salisbury with High Post and Chattis Hill aerodromes Trowbridge with Keevil aerodrome Reading with Henley and Aldermaston aerodromes (12,Wikipedia 24th November) Without these factories the Spitfires production would not of been to the scale which it achieved. With careful guidance and supervision from the British government, who also funded the factories, the production of parts and the planes themselves were able to also avoid the attacks of the German air force. What made the spitfire a design icon: The spitfires design is noted as the main factor to making it a globally known design icon, one of the most known points of this was the Elliptical wing design. The elliptical wing design was aimed to solve two problems that arose during the designing of the spitfire in 1934, these problems revolved around the need for the wings to be thin, to help with manoeuvrability, as well as ensuring that it doesnt cause too much drag when the airplane is in flight. This provided a stern challenge for Mitchell and his design team with the added knowledge that the wings must be able to carry any extra ammunition and equipment. A feature of the wing which contributed greatly to its success was an innovative spar boom design, made up of five square tubes which fitted into each other.'(13,Wikipedia November 24th). This design allowed for incredible balance and strength in the wings. With the basis of the wings created the design team continued to test and modify during the war. They experimented wi th different angles of which the wings would be set at, and different tips which would be placed on the edge of the wings. A thin cross section on the wings allowed for a faster speed than all of the other contemporary planes at the time'(14,Wikipedia November 24th) . The RAF saw speed as the best form of defence against the attacking German Luftwaffe. Another of the spitfires features was how easily it could be developed adjusted and changed for different missions or conditions that the RAF may need the plane for. In its lifespan 24 different variations of models based upon the Spitfire Supermarine were created due to the design being so successful in terms of flying ability. One of the main reason the spitfire gained fame was how well they flew, the pilots of the second world war adored the spitfire for this reason. (Supermarine Spitfire in flight) The influence of the creation of the Spitfire Supermarine The main influence behind the creation of the Spitfire was the main planes in the German air force, the Messerschmitt Bf 109E and the Luftwaffe. The British government and the RAF saw these planes as a huge threat to Britain and a threat which the Hurricane (The British fighter plane before the spitfire) could not handle on its own. After issuing a specification on a new fighter plane , the British Government gave the engineers and designers of Britain the chance to provide a solution. Which R. J. Mitchell took up and created the spitfire it was a huge leap for British aviation design. The Supermarine type 224 was the first plane and design that Mitchell submitted to the British government. Although this design failed and disappointed it was the basis of the Supermarine Spitfire. After many Cleaned up designs and alterations the improved Supermarine Spitfire was accepted by the British governments and was then placed under test flying after an initial trial order was established. There was no previous plane that the spitfire based its design upon, it was designed by Mitchell and his team from the beginning until the first successful test flight and the further developments during the war, Although Mitchell was not to see his creation fly as he died during the testing process in 1937. What influence the Spitfire had on design. From the Spitfires initial design it helped to influence aviation in a whole new way. Many different variations of the Spitfire were created by the RAF for different missions and conditions. After the war had come to an end the spitfires were still placed into production as RAFs across the world used spitfires as there signature planes until they were placed out of service. The Spitfire also placed belief that British design was able of achieving great things and after the war the world of design took an upwards spiral due to belief in the designers of Britain. The influence of the Spitfire in terms of aviation was also notable, aviation designers paid more attention to the balance and handling of the plane, one notable factor was most aviation designers copied the spitfires wing pattern to increase both speed and stability. The influence of the spitfire was huge as it became a national and worldwide icon it helped aviation to reach new levels and develop further and faster than ever before. Due to the spitfire planes designers could place planes onto air craft carriers which could be designed to withstand long haul flights and carry the needed fuel. The Seafire was an example to this. Conclusion:

Changing the Drinking Age to 18 Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Essa

Young teens all get a bad rep when it comes to drinking alcohol. Especially college students that are considered â€Å"binge drinkers†. When in reality a nation wide survey of students at 168 colleges and university’s found some interesting things about the underage corrupt youth. 93% of all students have never received a lower grade in a class because of drinking too much. 98% of all college students say that they have never gotten into trouble from an administrator from excessive drinking. While the media continually gives the under twenty one community a bad rep, in reality they are continually practicing safe drinking habits and in some cases not drinking at all. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse by the Institute for Social Research of the University of Michigan, the proportion of non-drinkers in the U.S. just reached a record breaking all time high. The point is that college students drink less than what most people think and are in reality res ponsible drinkers. So what can be done to change the drinking law to eighteen again? These underage students continually spite the law and show that they can handle the responsibility. It is silly to overlook this and maintain a blind law such as the current drinking law. The first step into taking this law and changing it back to eighteen is to start at home and inform the children at a young age the harms and hazards of alcohol. It is not something to take lightly and it can lead to many life long problems. However I feel if this is taught at an early age and drinking is looked at as a privileged rather than a right it will be abused and rather something that will not be taking for granted. This will make drinking in small portions more commonplace and drinking in an excessive manner a rarity. Drinking would no longer be a big deal. Young children start off learning the dangers of drinking and would eventually start drinking at family events like they do in other foreign countries. These countries do this and do not have a major drinking problem in their society. By the time these children get to the age of 18 it will be legal to purchase and legally drink and it will not be a big deal because they have been taught responsible drinking from the start. This is an obvious start to fixing and changing this law, however it would be difficult to change the social and family traditions of A... ... that it is morally wrong to let eighteen year olds to drink legally. They would also argue that more and more deaths would happen due to this law being changed. When in reality if you follow these steps, teach young children at a young age to drink moderately and responsibly, add more harsher penalties to the drinking and driving laws and make defensive driving courses mandatory to graduate in high school, and to finally make a â€Å"permit† for under twenty one drinkers as a test to see exactly how it affects the society. All in all the age of eighteen is thought to be old enough to make such big decisions as getting married and joining the army to defend the country. It would at least show that this country has confidence in the eighteen year olds to be responsible with this new law and to not abuse the power. It would make a uniform â€Å"legal age†. This simplicity in itself will make checking I.D.’s less of a problem. This law needs to be changed and ev eryone knows it. This is a reasonable proposal to try something that has never been tried before and I think that the lawmakers are scared that it would work and it would just make them look foolish for not thinking of it on their own.

Leadership Reflection Essay

1. Background Floods of memories flashed through my mind as I recall the problems I faced when I stepped up to lead the team during the second meeting. Problem 1 The objective of the meeting was to come up with the programme outline, so that we can draft the proposal and show our execution plans to our beneficiary. As the leader, I facilitated the discussion to allow my team mates to partake and contribute ideas, but most of them appeared reserved. Despite my utmost effort to encourage them to express their views, I found myself doing the talking most of the time. When I asked for their opinions on my suggestions, the common answers elicited from them were ‘All right’ or ‘Sounds good’. Upon dividing the programme into different sub-events (such as games station, ice-breakers, teaching of jingle, etc), I allocated a portion to each member, so that each of us can research on our individual activity and provide more in-depth details for the proposal. Besides that, I offered to collate everyone’s work and come up with the framework of the proposal. The stipulated deadline was the subsequent week (the third meeting). During the week, I sent out some emails that constituted some of my humble opinions and suggestions on the different sub-events in the light of cultivating a team environment whereby ideas are expressed and exchanged freely. However, most of my team mates did not reciprocate, notwithstanding my reminder to request them to read the emails. Problem 2 Furthermore, as I was collating everyone’s work, I realized that some of them submitted work that was slipshod in my perspective. Some work exhibited direct copying attempt from the internet without any paraphrasing or analysis, while others lacked structure, thoroughness and forethoughts. For instance, John prepared the ‘logistics’ document, but he merely listed the logistics in scatter of words with the absence of a table or structure and excluded many essential details like quantity and deadlines to purchase them. With all the aforementioned occurrences I faced, I bottled all my feelings and took everything in my stride. After assembling everyone’s work, I edited the proposal myself by injecting my ideas, rephrasing the words and researching on my other team mates’ parts. 2. Self-reflection I found myself thrown into a pool of mixed emotions – disappointment, anger, confusion and discontentment. To describe all these emotions in one word, it would be ‘disheartened’. Disappointment I believed that creativity is an imperative quality that is necessary in the making of an effective team, and to foster creativity, we should be straightforward with our ideas so that we can combine and refine them to create the best outcome. Thus, when I was the leader, I placed a significant proportion of emphasis on establishing a climate of discussions and interactions. I also hold the conviction that if I have any interesting insights or plausible ideas, even if the work is designated to my other team mate, I should still share with the rest instead of keeping them to myself. This is my understanding on the essence of ‘team work’. All the sub-parts tasked to the individual team member will ultimately be organised together and the final product will be submitted as a team effort. Hence, I was very disappointed by the low frequency of team mates voicing out their ideas to support one another. The lack of response painted an impression that everyone was focusing solely on their parts independently instead of considering the overall picture. Anger Secondly, I was furious when some of my team mates submitted work without meeting the basic requirements. In my point of view, it is the responsibility of every member that whenever tasks are allocated to them, they should demonstrate some professionalism in their work by performing extensive research or analysis to achieve its basic objectives. When a member performs the task poorly, it impedes the team’s efficacy, especially if it inconveniences another member to stand in and complete the remaining work. In the midst of experiencing such array of emotions, I kept my cool and tried my best not to show it, because my nature is not prone to expressing feelings. To be frank, I was also afraid of igniting unnecessary conflicts or shaking the team spirit. Hence, I did not raise these issues with my team mates. Confusion and Discontentment Coupled with exhaustion and stress, I became increasingly baffled and displeased with myself. As a leader, I felt that I am not doing enough to understand and solve the problem. If I tolerated everything, pretended that the team was progressing smoothly and not ameliorate the obstacles, how can I call myself a responsible leader? Being responsible does not only entail the fulfillment of obligations. There are two parts to this empowering word. The first half is ‘respons’ which means ‘response’. The second half, ‘ibility’, is a variant of the word â€Å"ability†. Therefore, ‘responsibility’ broken down to its roots literally means respond with ability. It means accepting the situation for what it is and choosing to respond rather than react to it. To me, the members in a team are paralleled to different instruments in a symphony. Each instrument produces a different sound and plays a different melody line. A symphony always sets out to provide a flawless work of art, displaying the harmony achieved by its many intricate melodies from different instruments. For my team to be that ‘symphony’ I envisioned, I told myself that I need to be responsible by responding to the situation. ‘How can I inspire them to join in the bandwagon towards achieving a cohesive and efficient team?’ With this question, I was determined to find the root of the problems and remedy them. 3. Application of leadership concepts Identifying the problems Through the leadership concepts learnt during lesson, I identified that the main problem of my team was called ‘groupthink’. Most of the team members were reluctant to express their opinions to question the viewpoint made by others. Dissenting views were often suppressed or absent in favour of consensus. Understanding the causes was next in line after identifying the problem. I realized that there were 2 main reasons that led to the ‘groupthink’ problem in my team. Causes of the problems Firstly, according to the Big 5 model personality test that we did in class, the trait of ‘agreeableness’ appeared predominantly under the top 2 traits that my team mates possess, including myself. Perhaps we concentrate so much on our relations and that deterred most of us from expressing opposing views, leading to us accommodating to each other’s decisions and conform to unanimity instead of objectivity. This stifles creativity as a team. Secondly, from the Ten characteristics of Effective Teams, I reckoned that my team lacked the ‘vision’. Aligning to a team vision means all members having a clear comprehension of achieving the shared goals through individual commitment and common standards. The existence of ‘groupthink’ could possibly be due to some members’ lack of regard for the importance of the project, giving less attention to the contribution of ideas or smaller priority in achieving quality work. The lack of understanding on the team’s common expectations also gave rise to differences in perspectives on the standards of work values and attitude. The last problem lies in me. From the Leadership Grid of ‘Concern for Production’ against ‘Concern for People’ covered under the Contingency Theories In Leadership, I rated myself as a low structure high consideration country club leader. It explains the suppression of my emotions to maintain an easy-going image and my lack of courage to pin-point the issues I faced as a leader. I needed to work on building my ‘authority- compliance’ aspect and not let my concern for people override my concern for productivity. Solving the problem After recognizing the causes of the problem, I picked up my courage. With sensitivity and tact, I told my team the predicament I faced as the leader, and how we could address the problems by applying the leadership concepts we have learnt. To build an open communication, I infused more humour in discussions and constantly make positive affirmations to other members, allowing meetings to be conducted in a friendlier and less-solemn setting. I also attempted to elaborate on a participant’s contribution with examples and suggest new angles to view problems. These helped to prompt them to speak up more frequently. Next, every team member took turns to articulate the objectives we wished to achieve individually and as a team. After understanding each other’s’ needs and establishing a common vision which everyone could connect with, we took some time to come up with a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) in the Team Charter, whereby we determined the criterion on acceptable standards and behaviour. At this time, I took the opportunity to let my team understand my stance regarding individual commitment and quality of work. I was pleased to see all of them acknowledge where I was coming from and promised to strive for better performance. Furthermore, I initiated a fortnight peer evaluation (see appendix 3.1) to recognize the terrific efforts from my team mates, and learn to work on our weaknesses. This will also help the team to keep our efficiency balance in check. After all the efforts into effecting changes in my team, I am delighted to see everyone making consistent progress. The ‘groupthink’ problem is resolved and views are exchanged more openly and regularly. With the strengthening of team’s camaraderie and competency, conflicts are minimized and communication is much more open than before. As for myself, I feel that I became more vocal and candid with my views too. Whenever I foresee or identified any problem, I will discuss the solutions with my team mates instead of avoiding them. In conclusion, there is definitely room for improvement for myself and the team. However, I am gratified that I have discovered more about myself and be part of the experience grown from a group of once-seemed ‘independent individuals’ to a unified team of comrades.

My High School Years Essay

We all have nice memories of when we attended high school. Memories that will never be forgotten. For most of us it has been a while since high school and it is all a blur. We all remember a lot of things, especially things that the school did and we didn’t approve of. Something that would annoy us, but we wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. The majority of us, I’m sure, don’t like the way the school handled the schedule, the food we had for lunch, or the teachers we had to listen to. One of the things that they need to change in high school is the way they handle the lunch periods. School is already hard on us because of all the homework we get and I don’t think is fair that they won’t allow us to pick our lunch period. We are all accustomed to eating at a certain time. The school would either give us lunch too early or too late. If they gave us lunch too early, we wouldn’t be hungry. In my case I would have breakfast during my study hall which was 3rd period, then I would have lunch which was 4rd period. I would have to force myself to eat or else I would be hungry the rest of the day. If we had lunch too late, we would not be able to concentrate in class because while we were working silently on our work we could hear our stomach growling, students that were sitting around us would just laugh. I remember that when that would happen to me I would start turning the pages of my book real fast so that the students around me couldn’t hear me. When I was in high school most of the students were mean and unfriendly. It was really hard to make friends, at least for me it was, and to be placed in a lunch period where you didn’t know anyone wasn’t easy. Our high school had a big cafeteria that could be divided into three smaller rooms, but they would never open up the walls. The reason for this was that there had been a huge fight once and they didn’t want any more confrontations. Each room had a name, they were named Commons A, Commons B, and Commons C. We weren’t able to pick the common in which we wanted to be in. The school, to make our life more miserable, would also give us assigned seats. One thing that I can’t complain about and that my classmates are probably going to look at me right now for saying this is the food. I went to Belvidere High School and I loved the food! I would look forward to lunchtime every day just because of the food. Till this day I have not found alfredo sauce that is as good as the one that they just to give us in high school. One thing that I would hate in high school was how they would run the schedules. They would give us too much time for one thing and not enough for another. We would go into a classroom for 15 minutes and do nothing. This class period was called home room. The teacher was supposed to inform us of changes that would be going on around the school, but they never would. We would sit there for 15 minutes of our life and basically do nothing. The teacher herself didn’t know what was going on. They also need to take away study hall, people didn’t do their homework during study hall. They would just sit there and talk, they wouldn’t even bring their books to study hall. Instead of getting study hall we should get more gym time. I mean, 45 minutes isn’t enough to actually exercise. By the time that we are done getting dressed we only have about 35 minutes left. Then the teachers instead of hurrying up the students, they’re over there having conversations with the other gym teachers . Then they take forever to take attendance. By then time they’re done explaining what were actually doing that day, we have like 25 minutes left of gym, not including the 5 minutes they give us at the end of the class period to get changed. 20 minutes is not enough time to run a gym class. We can’t exercise, sweat and take a shower in that little time and then the media complains that the students are obese. The method that some teachers have of teaching is absolutely awful. My Spanish teacher for native speakers was really nice and got along with everyone. All the students would talk so well about her, they would always say positive things about her. Probably because they never did anything while they were in her class. The only thing was that she was horrible at teaching. Well, it wasn’t that she was horrible at it, it was just that she wouldn’t teach anything. I remember she got sick and was out for three months. During that time we literally did not do anything. I remember that the substitute would just look at us and he would ask us what would we usually do, we would look at him, smile and answer â€Å"nothing†. Don’t ask why, but this was the second year that I had taken Spanish class with her, so when she came back she told us that most of us had been with her for two years so she would give us a grade based on what we had gotten the year before. I took that class to improve my writing in Spanish, to learn the proper grammar, but I did not achieve any of that. The English teachers weren’t as bad as the Spanish teacher, but we still didn’t accomplish much. The only time that I remember writing an essay in high school was junior year. Maybe it had to do with the school that I was in. My junior year of high school I went to Belvidere High School instead of Elgin High School. In Belvidere High the teachers were a little more strict, at least that’s what I thought. Until I found out that the only teacher that had ever assigned me to do an essay had been with one of the students. I was completely shocked because she had always been very professional about her job. Even though there’s a lot of negatives things with the high school that I went to, I still enjoyed every minute of it. I got to meet new people and experience new things. Sure my high school wasn’t the best, but I am still thankful that I received a basic education. The only thing that I do regret is not going to prom. I told myself that if no one asked me to prom that I wouldn’t go. Nobody ended up asking me so I didn’t go. I lost the chance to experience something that you only get to experience once in your life. So enjoy your high school while you can because once you are out, there is no turning back.