Kids and Mobile Phones

Kids and Cellphones Cell phone users are growing every minute in every part of the globe and the user is getting younger. The cell phone and service provider advertisements are increasingly being targeted at the children, teens and young adults. European governments have cautioned parents about the health hazards children face with the use of cellphones before they are16. But, countries like Britain, already have half their children using mobile phones and the number of users between ages 4-9 is fast increasing.Cell phone manufacturers are now targeting this age with friendly colourful mobiles with only 4 buttons and of upto 20 phone numbers to be stored. Parental controls and GPS locator are added features. The very reason you are going through this hub is probably because you have to make an important decision, whether your child is ready for a cell phone of her own. Well, let us weigh the pros and cons of giving her one. At what age are kids ready for their own cell phone? At what age do they really ‘need' one? Every child, whatever the age-toddler, tweens, teens, today wants a mobile phone.Tweens and teens see the use of a cell phone as becoming independent and flaunting it as a status symbol, in addition to keeping up with the peers. A toddler or a preschooler just wants to imitate what adults do. But, it is more the parent who seems to want to know what the child is upto and also keep up or one step above their friends. So, how useful is it going to be? Schools have banned the use of mobile phones as it is a constant source of distraction among students, whatever the age. Some teenagers have even cheated on tests using cell phones.Parents arguments that they need to know what their child is upto, does not hold water because the student is not permitted to use it during school hours. So, having one does not serve any purpose. If your school allows the student to bring a cell phone but makes it mandatory that it be put on silent mode during school hou rs, then probably you could know whether your child reached her swimming or music lesson after school. If a regular transport has been arranged for your child, it hardly matters whether he has a cell phone or not.Yes, in times of emergency, such as school leaving early or a basketball session finishing late, it would help you as parent make necessary alternate arrangements for transport. It is this sense of security, safety and convenience, most parents give in to the plea of a mobile phone for their child. A phone with GPS is seen as a must for some parents who want to know their child's whereabouts at any given time. Of course, the child will argue that he would like a mobile phone because his friends have it, he can keep in touch with them and collect missed homework.Some parents see the need to give their little one a mobile phone if she is allergic to something or asthmatic, or going on a school trip. The Cons of Giving Your Child A Mobile Phone The safe, convenient way to cons tantly be in one-button touch communication gives a parent the sense of security concerning the child. But, if the child is under 12, he should be under the supervision of an adult at all times anyway. And in most cases, the child would know how to use a regular phone or the cell phone of the one who is supervising.Researchers have often cited cell phone usage as being hazardous to health, more so in the case of children. The ongoing research suggests that the more one spends time on one's mobile phone, electromagnetic radiation emitted can be the cause of Alzheimer's disease, brain tumors, cancers ,etc. The developing tissues of a young child can be affected, but the more recent studies show that there is no connection between radiation from cell phones and brain cancer. Well, the debate is still on, and it is certainly beneficial to limit the use of a mobile phone, whatever the age.Children have been seen to be impulsive if they are allowed the use of a cell phone, according to a recent study. Because of the texting on cell phones, they learn to quickly retort/reply. These children are seen to be faster in IQ tests, but very inaccurate, since messaging between peers makes them quicker-on-the-draw, but without time for ample thought. SMSing friends takes up most of their time and most teens and tweens are losing sleep texting away into the night. Spellings take a back seat as well, since they learn to use shortcuts in messaging away to friends.Increased independence gives children the courage to skip more time from family life. They also learn to be totally dependent on a mobile phone, which comes to light when the said phone is either lost or confiscated. Depending on whether the phone is internet enabled, you will be exposing your child to unwanted MMS , youtube videos, emails from spammers, or simply calls from unwanted tricksters. Which brings us to the subject of MONEY Cell phones can be expensive. Your child may not agree to what you show her- a basic c ell phone to make and receive calls.You will have to talk to her first in order to know what exactly she wants and why she â€Å"needs† it, before you even agree to purchase one. Talking to her friend's moms or the teacher can give you a benchmark. A basic plan for your child's cell phone can be a good thing until you are hit by extra charges for those additional â€Å"awesome† ringtones, textmessaging, internet usage,and of course additional talktime. So, it certainly pays to have a good talk with your child before you settle on buying a mobile phone on the do's and don'ts as well.Some kids get into the habit of losing their cell phones often when they know their parents will replace them without a whimper, simply because the latest model has arrived in the market. Most parents realize that the cell phone is mainly used for SMSing, downloading games, ringtones,and music videos which can be an additional burden on the family budget. So, are you upto it? And of course, as time progresses, they are busy messaging friends or speaking to them, even during family outings. I have seen mothers admonishing their teenagers busy on heir phones in restaurants and in shopping malls and worse, they turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to their surrounding which can be detrimental, particularly if they are driving or about to be accosted by strangers. Many accidents happen and unwanted injuries take place because a teenager ignores warning signals as he is busy talking on the phone. Thieves love to snatch the trendiest of cell phones even as you speak, so beware of flaunting it in public. Cell phone etiquette is important, an should be taught to your child as well.Excusing oneself to take a call, ignoring a prankster and reporting him to the parent or teacher, and never be party to pranks themselves. What is good and what's not is to be dealt with by the concerned parent, before it gets out of hand. Cell phones also put your child at risk for getting in trouble for : sexting – sending or receiving nude pictures prank calls – which can get your child in trouble if someone starts pranking other people from your child's phone LG Optimus Elite Prepaid Android Phone (Virgin Mobile) Amazon Price: $115. 00List Price: $129. 99 Samsung Galaxy S III 4G Android Phone, Blue 16GB (Sprint) Amazon Price: $699. 99 Brand New Sidekick LX 2009 SHARP PV300 GSM Unlocked – T-Mobile (Carbon Black). This phone does not have internet capabilities. Amazon Price: $54. 99 List Price: $149. 99 Samsung Galaxy S III 4G Android Phone, Blue 16GB (Verizon Wireless) Amazon Price: $699. 99 HTC One V Prepaid Android Phone (Virgin Mobile) Amazon Price: Too low to display List Price: $199. 99 Samsung Galaxy S III 4G Android Phone, White 16GB (Verizon Wireless) Amazon Price: $699. 99NEW Version Ultra-thin Quad-band Watch Mobile Phone FM/MP3/MP4 2M Camera Amazon Price: $99. 00 Best Course Of Action Each parent has their own views and the schools their children go to, play a big part in whether to give a cell phone to their child or not. A hand-me-down or a new handset is your decision as well, provided your child agrees. You could categorize it into one or a couple of the following. a necessity a luxury a fad an invasion Making the right choice of cell phone is necessary as well-whether you want a basic version to just make and receive calls or one that needs to be internet enabled and with Mp3.Once the decision is made, make sure you know that it is definitely going to cut into your monthly expenses,whether you have a talk with your child or not. So, is your child ready to take on this responsibility and sticking to a basic plan. Or will you need to pay extra for all the additional downloads and textmessaging. Some points worth considering: Prepaid monthly plans offer the ability to control exactly how much your child can spend in any given month. Some handsets offer unique parental controls to monitor and restrict activity which is a good thing.Some phones also let you limit who can call the phone and who your child can call. Consider giving the phone only when she is in the shopping mall or on a school trip. Discuss the do's and don'ts of important issues such as cyberbullying, pranksters, cell phone ettiquette, the dangers of driving while on the cell phone, adhering to the cell phone rules of the school,etc. If you feel the need, get one that has a GPS locator, so you will know exactly where the child is at any given time. Stress that there is a responsibility attached which needs to be adhered to, strictly.

My Personal Story

My Personal Story Chapter 1: Elementary School Years (K-6) All of my elementary school years were spent in Ridgewood, New Jersey. I remember going to school everyday at Somerville Elementary. This is only significant because there were a bunch of different schools, all obviously having to do with where you lived. I think there were like 5. But also, all of my friends went there. It was me, Peter English, Dougie Burek, Ryan Monroe, Cooper Shreve, Matt Myatt, Ned Winner, Frank Melli, Brian Wennersten and Michael Springer. Somehow every year, at least 2 or 3 of us were always in the same class. I guess I was well liked back then, by both my peers and teachers, as I was always chosen to be the lead in plays, and to represent the class at things. In fact I gave an Oscar winning performance Santa in my 2nd grade play, Santa and his magical computer. I was chosen to play the role of â€Å"Old Man† in a play about China or something, don't really remember to be honest. But I did everything with those guys. We were always playing football, basketball, wiffle ball or something in someone's backyard. In terms of learning during this time, it was all at a moderate pace, and I don't really remember having any problem keeping up. My Mom used to take me Hackensack Hospital, a learning center for people who had trouble learning at a normal pace. I never understood why I went there, until my parents told me I had a learning disability, which to me just meant I needed to work harder. My ADHD didn't really affect me in my daily life, I just remember getting really hyper from time to time, and that was remedied by being given But when it came to grades, I did pretty well, earning all Es (excellents) and Gs (Goods), with like one S (satisfactory) in handwriting. I actually was made a teacher's helper in both 4th and 5th grade, which meant I got to help grade papers, and help kids with their math, spelling, etc. Also, I was picked for Critical thinking, which was a big deal because only the â€Å"smartest† kids got picked for that, and there you got to talk about advanced things like, geometry and books that you had read. Otherwise, I remember my elementary school years for the sports I played. I played Little League Baseball, Soccer, and Biddy Basketball. My mom wouldn't let me play because she thought, despite me being one of the bigger kids in school, that I would get hurt. I was on travelling all-star teams for all of the sports, and was thinking about sports 24-7 then. I played in 3 basketball leagues at a time, Biddy, YMCA, and my All-star team. In 4th grade my dad coached both my Biddy team, and my all-star team. I still like to give him a hard time about taking me out of a tournament game against Neptune, NJ where I scored the first 8 points of the game, in fact our only 8 points in the quarter to keep us in the game! Then he left me out until the 4th quarter. We ended up losing by 22 points. 22! I was feeling it, should've left me in. Also, the great thing about playing sports was that there were stats involved. After every game we played, my brothers and I would talk about what kind of numbers we were putting up. It was a big deal to outscore the others. At one point, I held the record for most points scored in an organized basketball game with 26 in 4th grade, which stood until my younger brother broke it with 28 points when he was a senior in high school. The first thing he did after that game? Called both me and my older brother at college to let us know the mark had fallen. We were a very competitive bunch. To this day, we talk about these things at Thanksgiving. 5th and 6th grade were very big for me in terms of change in my life. In 5th grade, within a span of 6 months I lost all of my grandparents, including my great Uncle Johnny. There are 3 days in my life that I remember everything I did the entire day, and my Grandma dying is one of them. The other two will come later. I came home from school, was sitting in our den with my 2 brothers, and watching TV. The phone rang, and my mom answered it, then she came in the room, and said, â€Å"I just want to let you all know, Grandma just died. We all started crying immediately. I remember my mom screaming â€Å"I want my mommy! † repeatedly and feeling helpless. I had never really experienced personal loss before, as I had never met my dad's mother because she died when he was 16. His father re-married 3 months later, and my dad never got along with his stepmother, and they kicked him out of their house. I've never met my dad's fa ther. So, losing my Grandma was a big deal. I always remember coming home from school, seeing her, and her always making me smile. I remember everything about her to be honest. Her perfume smell, the fact she always kept bouillon cubes in her pantry, and the fact that she always loved everything my brothers and I were interested in. Her and my Grandpa became baseball fans because of us, after not really caring one way or another before we were born (I'm told). My Grandma was always around, and she loved her grandchildren very much. She was a great lady, always singing, always happy. In the middle of 6th grade, My dad came home from work one day, sat me and my brothers down, and told us we were moving to Chagrin Falls, Ohio. He said we were going in 1 month, in the middle of the school year. I wasn't excited, as all I ever knew was New Jersey, but obviously had to do it. It was really hard leaving all of my friends. Chapter 2: Middle School (Grades 6 to 8) After finally getting acclimated with middle school life in New Jersey, and getting used to how things worked there, I was ripped out of there, and plunked into a small town in Ohio. Coming into the middle of a school year is hard for everyone, but especially for a middle schooler. I remember my first day, and being sat at the â€Å"nerd† table because the guy showing me around thought that would be best. I didn't let that happen though. I immediately got up and sat at the â€Å"cool† table, and actually ended up becoming friends with those people. It was still pretty hard to make friends though, as in a small town everyone knows everyone else's business, and have their own clicks. In homeroom, when I sat down, two girls waked me around the room, ad told me whom I needed to bother with getting to know, and who not to care about. It kind of prepared me for what Chagrin was all about. A lot of people who base their worth off of what other people think about them. I ended up making a lot of friends, but kind of felt like an outsider for my middle school years, even though I was pretty much accepted. Everyone loved to talk about things they did together when they were younger, and how long they'd been friends. SO I just tried to blend in, and try and not get noticed. I'd always sit my older brother on the bus, and not really talk to anybody, until one day my friends Cade Otstot and Trevor Gile told me to sit with them and their friends. From that day on I felt like I belonged. Class-wise, being in small classrooms with less people made me feel like I was always getting put on the spot. I hated answering questions in class, and really hated doing my homework. I always felt like there was so much else to do other then that. SO I put school on the back burner and got caught up in trying to be popular, and playing sports. Although I always did enough to get by. I never really got Fs or Ds or anything like that, but also didn't try and overachieve for fear people would look at me like I was a nerd or something. Looking back, that was probably a mistake. I played basketball and football in middle school, but really wasn't that good. I loved the sports, but this time is when I started gaining weight. I wasn't obese or anything, but I wasn't in shape either. I was on the B teams in both sports, but excelled in baseball. I always thought I was playing well, but the coaches never seemed to notice. So I was relegated to the bench for the most part. Otherwise my middle school years were pretty uneventful, although I did make a few really good friends, but also I fell out of touch with my New Jersey friends. Chapter 3: High School (Grades 9-12) Freshmen Year of high school was pretty typical. My older bother Mark was a senior, and looked out for me for the most part, but I still got flak for being his younger brother. Nothing too crazy though, because I knew eventually I'd be as big if not bigger than those guys, and if they really did something to me, I'd get them back ten fold. Football practice that year was big wakeup call. Everyone was bigger faster than us Frosh, and everything seemed to move a lot quicker. Especially in school. There were no classes where I could just drift through, I had to stay up on my studies, which I think I did a good job of, but still my mind drifted a lot to sports, and girls. I didn't really have much interaction with girl's, except them being nice to me to get to my brother. All the freshmen girls wanted my older brother, so people whom I had never talked to decided it was a good idea to talk to me. I didn't go to many parties then, as my fiends and I were more into just going to the movies and hanging out at my parents’ house. Or we'd play football in my backyard. But I did get asked to the winter formal (a Sadie Hawkins dance). I had a good time on my first actual date where I had to dress up in a jacket and tie. Also, that year I got my first detention, and had to stay after school, and was grounded, although it was my brother's fault that we were late so many times. Only detention of my career actually. So that's pretty much my Freshmen Year. Sophomore year was just a blah year. Nothing really happens in your sophomore year. Just same old same old. Football wise, I lettered, and I made the JV basketball team. That year our football team broke our 28 game losing streak, the longest in Northeast Ohio, We won our last 2 games, to go 2-8. I went to my first Homecoming dance, and also my second winter formal. School wise, I got bored. The classes were so boring to me. I just wanted school to end every day. Also, the girls who had talked to me the year before because my brother, just plain stopped. Shocking I know. Junior year was actually a lot more fun. I finally mounted the courage to talk to girls regularly. I made some great friends in the process as these girls are the people who I still keep in touch with the most to this day. I was voted to be head coach of the Powder Puff football team, and that was a great way to get to know everybody. I had a blast doing it, and it helped me get invited to parties and what not. My friends and I had a blast that year. We'd go out every weekend, and party. It was great! I had two dates to the winter formal, my friends Meghan, and Melissa. Everything was going really well socially, as I really came out of my shell. Academically, I did just enough to get by, posting GPAs anywhere from 2. 7-3. 0 during this year. Can you sense a pattern here? Went to my first prom with my friend Katie. It was at Jacobs Field where the Tribe plays so it was an awesome night! Senior Year was a blast too. The football team did really well, winning our first 7 games, and having 2 games that were voted games of the decade in Cleveland. Big deal for a little school like ours. Also, I actually got to contribute, and set the family record for kick return average; at 3. yds a return (I caught 2 onside kicks, and ran one 3 yards). This was the first year I actually got in shape for football, and took it seriously. It's the first time in my life I learned that whatever you put into something, you get out of it. I took the SATs untimed, a â€Å"perk† as my parents put it of having a learning disability, which to be honest put more pressure on me then anything. I over thought pretty much every question, and was in an isolated room by myself. It was kind of miserable. I didn't score as high as I would've liked but did enough to get accepted into 5 colleges. These were all small schools where the environment was geared towards learning at your own pace, and where they had good LD programs, as my parents made this a high priority. Funny, I had never been in LD classes in high school, but my parents thought I should do it in college. Anyway, I graduated, went away that summer to the Jersey Shore, as we had been doing since I was 11, where my summers consisted of being a dishwasher/bus boy at Uncle Bill's Pancake House during the day, and a Summer Place at night, and came back and said goodbye to all of my friends, before initially heading off to Muskingum College. Chapter 4: College (1998-2006) Muskingum College (1998-2000) The college odyssey that was the Scott Iantosca Experience started in New Concord, OH. Now I thought I wanted a small college in a small town, but I quickly found out that this wasn't the place for me. All there was to do was drink in your dorms, and go to one of the 3 fraternity houses on the campus. If you weren’t in a fraternity, you pretty much had nothing to do. Thankfully I was getting recruited pretty hard by all of the fraternities, so I had some fun. I was accepted into the plus program, which is the LD program there. I didn’t realize the commitment. We had to meet with tutors for every subject. And it had to be in between your classes, not when you had free time. It kind of was like an added class. Midway through I stopped going. I didn't want to hear the exact same lecture twice, which was basically what it was. I just used them as needed, and that wasn't taken to kindly too by the administrators. Also, I thought I could get by skipping class all the time, and teaching myself the material. I probably only showed up to my classes about half of the time. Somehow I was stunned when I got a 1. 7 GPA, and couldn't rush that year, while all of my friends were allowed to. Then I got kicked out of school at the end of the year for my grades. This was a wake up call, or so I thought. I had to go to Muskingum and plead my way back in, in front of the board of trustees with the leader of the Plus program. It was really embarrassing. Being as I had soured on the Muskingum experience, I was fighting t o get back into a school I didn't want to go to. I got back in on a probationary period, but then was so unhappy there, I did the same thing. Then I told my parents I didn’t want o go back, and instead of working hard and getting good enough grades so that I could transfer out of there, I just stopped going to class, and only turning in papers. I thought I could just get kicked out and go wherever I wanted to. At the end of the semester, I went home for good. I got a job waiting tables for Max & Erma's, and Blockbuster video while my friends were at school. It was pretty miserable. I gained a lot of weight, getting up into the 270s. And was feeling like my life was passing me by and I would be living with my parents forever. My only form of entertainment was going to my brother's basketball games, but I'd always feel awkward because I'd see people I know there and have to answer questions about why I was home from school. Landmark College–Putney, VT (2000-2001) The second part of my college odyssey was at Landmark College. My mom found out about it through someone she worked with and being as I had no other options, I decided to take a look at it. It is a school solely for people who have learning disabilities, mostly severe, and who have gotten kicked out of school. Basically a second chance for people who have messed up in their first try at college. I went into it optimistically, but even during my first visit, I knew it was going to be a challenge. Putney, Vermont is a very small town, where there is absolutely nothing to do. The campus was so small it didn’t help much either. There was a zero tolerance drinking policy, and if you were caught once, you were immediately brought in front of this disciplinary board where you were given a hearing. Pretty strict. Also, the only way to get off campus was on a van that one day a month would take you to Wal-Mart, and then every Friday take students to the movie theater. That was it. We all referred to it as a prison. People were trying to get thrown out of there on a nightly basis, and going to great lengths to do it. Kids would intentionally trash their rooms, even throwing their TVs out the window in hopes of getting kicked out. And everyone would try and overdose on their prescription meds, in hopes of their parents taking them out of school. There was an ambulance or campus security van at one of the 2 dorms every night. Many of the students had some serious learning problems, for example, many didn't know what a verb was until they went to Landmark. Or in one instance, this guy couldn’t form a complete sentence logistically until he went there. Not really a big deal to me, but just not something I had been around before. They also told stories at orientation about how Landmark changed their lives, and how before Landmark they would get so frustrated they would cry by themselves in the shower. Pretty heavy stuff, but also made you think and re-evaluate your position in life, and inspired me to get my stuff together. A lot of the things they talked about were about accepting your disability, and learning to overcome it. Having not really had my learning disability really be a big deal for me, I hadn't realized that a lot of the reasons I had trouble focusing, and talking in class was because of my ADHD. It was kind of eye-opening. Socially, I kept to myself, and just concentrated on my grades and school work. They were pretty laid back there, and although we were assigned a tutor and an advisor who we had weekly meetings with, they only lasted as long as you wanted them to, and being as I was getting a 4. 0, mine were really short. The classes were really easy to me for some reason, so I did really well. I pretty much cut off my social life because I knew why I was there: To get the hell out of there! My days went like this: Wake up, go to class, eat lunch, go to the library, go to class, do homework, watch TV and sleep. This is what happened 24-7. I never deviated. I talked to my advisor every day about what I needed to do to transfer, and he kept telling me to take my entire 2 years there. No way was this happening. I finally sat down with my dad and outlined what I had accomplished, the fact that I was 21 at the time, and that I had proven to everyone, including myself that I was ready for a â€Å"regular† college again. I even was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, the junior college National Honor society. It was the first academic award I had gotten since elementary school, and my parents came to the ceremony. I was really proud of myself, to be honest. So, I then started to look for schools to apply to. After being in social jail for a year, I decided campus life was a big deal, as well as my major, which was going to be sports management. Ohio University met both of these criteria, and accepted me, so there you had it. Ohio University (2002-2006) Ohio University was the most fun I had ever had in my life. I did so many things academically, and socially it was amazing. My parents moved to Switzerland, and my older brother moved to Warsaw, Poland, so I got travel around Europe on my 6 week Christmas break while other people had to go home and get part time jobs or sit around. I experienced and saw so many beautiful things, and expanded my horizons greatly. Of all the places that I travelled, I would definitely say Germany and Italy were my two favorite places to visit. In Germany, we travelled along the Christmas trail, which had Weinachtsmarkts (Christmas Markets) all up down the states. It was amazing. Although I already had a few high school friends who went to OU, and had established a good group of non-fraternity friends or GDIs (you can pretty much figure out what that means), I decided to rush and join a fraternity, much to their chagrin. They thought â€Å"Frats† were full of meatheads, and shunned them pretty much. I, on the other hand, am all about new experiences and branching out, so I saw this as a gateway for doing so, and expanding my social circle, and creating lifelong networking contacts. I ended up joining the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, after receiving bids from all of the fraternities I visited. Being a 22 year old pledge was hard, as I was being â€Å"hazed† by people younger than me, but it allowed me to bond with my pledge brothers, and build some lifelong bonds with them. I still keep in touch with many of them, and have been in 2 of their weddings, and 4 of them (Rick Heyeck, Mike McMasters, Aaron Gray, and Will Hardy) will probably stand in my wedding, if I ever get married. I'll always cherish my times with them. Ohio University is known for being a party school, and while it certainly did live up to its reputation as such, I still managed to always make it to class, and get moderately good grades. I was in the learning disabled program there, but only used it to take untimed tests. Which, again, were nerve racking as someone just sat in the room and stared at you while you were taking the test. Since, many of my credits didn't transfer over; I had to pretty much start over from scratch academically, but was fine with it because OU was so much fun. The Sport Industry program had everything I was interested in, a lot of sports classes, and a good amount of business classes, and was very laid back as to the amount of work we had. It was very term paper based, and being as I love to write, I was all about it. The only negative from this experience was that my weight became a real problem. I was pushing 300 lbs by the end of my tenure as a Bobcat. Ohio University was a study in excess. Excessive drinking/partying, eating junk food, and excessive sleeping. Not a lot of workout time in there. My main concern was how this would affect me in getting a job after school, but it really didn’t as my advisor knew someone with Columbus Blue Jackets, and spoke to them, and I got a job there after interviewing. Post College (2006-Present) Right after I graduated, I took a job as an Inside Sales Rep for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL. I figured this was the best way for me to get my foot in the door within the Sports Industry, so to speak. What I didn’t realize was that ticket sales was not what I wanted to do. I thought that I would eventually make a lateral move to doing something more in the front office, but about a month into my tenure, I saw that I was pretty much pigeonholed into being a â€Å"ticketing guy†. This was fine, I guess, because I won the monthly sales contests consistently. Also, I enjoyed working with a close knit sales â€Å"team† of people at the same stages of their careers as I was. This also created a great environment of competition, and I gained a mentor in my boss, Joseph Cote, who is now the head of ticketing for the Portland Timbers, of Major League Soccer, and the Portland Beavers, a minor league baseball team. He basically taught me how to be a professional, and how to balance fun in the office with being serious and buckling down. The perks of the job were unreal. We worked at the arena, so we had free reign to all of the events, and also had to â€Å"work† the hockey games. Basically it consisted of us standing at a table during the intermissions, and then visiting our clients we had sold for the game. Then we just watched the game the rest of the time. It was a good job. But, towards the end of my tenure there, my mother contracted a benign cyst on her back the size of a basketball, and was rendered basically an immovable object. She had to have surgery, and with my dad being CEO of a major corporation, and my brothers living in San Antonio, TX, and Manhattan at the time, I decided I needed to come home and take care of my mother while she was incapacitated. She would definitely do it for us. Family always comes first. This did not go over well with my employers, and they gave me an ultimatum of accepting a promotion, or going home and helping my mother. Which do you think I chose? I told them thanks for the opportunity, and gave my two weeks notice that day, and moved from Columbus, OH back to my parents’ house in Chagrin Falls, OH. After about 6 months of taking care of my mom, she was ready to live normally again. During my time with her though, I did do some good things to get my life in order, and re-focus on what’s important. I joined LA weight loss (which doesn’t exist anymore), and by the end of my tenure there I had lost 108 lbs. it’s easily my biggest accomplishment, aside from sticking with college and getting a degree. So after that, I revved up my job search again, and looked anywhere and everywhere for a job. But many of the interviews I was going to were for jobs selling copiers, or Ink for copiers, or things of that nature. I think what I enjoyed most about sales is the passion that was brought to the job everyday when I was selling something that I knew a lot about and had great interest in. Selling copiers, or ink, or technical equipment while living in Cleveland wasn’t really doing it for me. So begrudgingly after trying to find a job on my own for about 3 months, I asked my father for help. He had dinner one night with Jay Bauer, the president of Nation Pizza Products in Schaumburg, IL, and had mentioned his son who was coming to pick him up that night was looking for a job after a hiatus from employment (a really nice way to say I was unemployed by the way). As I picked him up, Jay came to the car, and told me to call him the next day and he would see what he had for me at Nation. I was pretty excited. After living with my parents for a while I would have moved anywhere, but Chicago was a dream. I’ve always loved Chicago. It has everything, great nightlife, So many sports teams, and the best restaurants in the world. I called Jay the next day, and the rest was history. After flying me out for an interview and dinner with my two future bosses, a tour of the plant, and then another interview with HR, They called me a week later and hired me for a position they were creating especially for me. This should have been my first sign that Nation wasn’t right for me. See, everyone at Nation Pizza Products has been there for decades, there are only a handful of new hires every year. And they only had one salesmen, albeit the VP of sales, but he had done everything himself for 15 years. They had no idea what to do with me, built hired me basically to keep up the relationship with their biggest customer, Nestle. Thus, being the President and CEO’s son really is what got me hired. Nothing having to do with my sales acumen at all. I was too elated by the fact I was living in downtown Chicago to care at this point, but this was sign #2. I tried to soak up everything I could my first year there, doing a lot of grunt work, trying extra hard to pay my dues, and when given the chance to work with customers I shined. But when I asked for more responsibility, I was told I wasn’t ready. Also, the handled me with â€Å"kid gloves† the entire time I was there. Not talking about customers other than Nestle with me because they thought I would tell my dad, despite the fact that they were PAYING me to be a Nation employee! I even signed a confidentiality agreement when I started there. I thought this would eventually get better over the years, as I progressed in the business. It did not. As time went on, I was given reluctant independence there, but when able to work alone with customers, they would send me thank you notes, and call the President of the company directly and let them know how much they enjoyed working with me. Instead of giving my boss confidence in me, he took it as a threat to his job, and I was gunning for him. Which I wasn’t. I thought the two of us could and should work as a team, thus with double the effort, we could bring in double the business. He didn’t see it that way, and took credit for many of my sales when talking with the executive board. I’m not one to be boastful about my achievements, but how does one gain respect at an organization when people are constantly thinking he is just a minion, and hasn’t made a sale in 4 years? Also, I worked with a lot of fake people. It was really bad. Maybe it’s a food industry thing, but everyone I worked with, from the chefs to the food scientist, was extremely fake towards me. They loved to tell me I was doing a good job, and then behind my back talk to my bosses, and make negative comments about me, and disregard the way I was working. Also, the commute was obnoxious. It was an hour and half each way, and wouldn’t put me back in the city until around 8, after sitting in traffic. I didn’t mind it when I thought there was a place for me at the company, and a progression plan in place. There was neither. Then, My dad â€Å"retired† from Nestle, as much as basically taking 3 months off and hanging in Miami with my mom can be called that before taking the opportunity to run another company here in Chicago, everyone started treating me differently. They treated me as if they had no need for me anymore, and I wasn’t a valuable member of the team. In my fourth and final year there, they kept making take the boss’ car to get washed, or carry boxes for women who worked in the office to their cars, or clean up the presentation room, basically treating me like a secretary. Finally I had enough, and walked into the presidents’ office, who was my major confidant at the company (another source of angst for the VP of sales because he thought I was bad mouthing him to him, which I wasn’t, so much insecurity there), and told him it wasn’t working out. I said I was no longer happy here, and didn’t really see myself going any further than my current position. He tried to get me to stay, and I actually considered it, until the VP of sales walked in. Thankfully, for him, I’m a classy person, and I thanked them both for the opportunity, and gave my two weeks notice. They said they would pay me for my two weeks regardless, and asked what I wanted to do, and I said I would just leave then. I’ve never been happier or more content with a decision I’ve made in my entire life. Also, the president of the company said he would help me out in anyway he could, and write me a recommendation if I needed it. I still keep in touch with him as we speak. So that brings us to present day. I am unemployed, but extremely happy. I’m glad I’m taking a step back and actually analyzing what my strengths and weaknesses are, ad what my interests are. Taking my time choosing my next move is definitely the right step to take. The next chapter of my life is yet to be written I feel. Do I have a plan? I’m getting there. There are things I envision myself accomplishing professionally and personally over the next 5-10 years. I won’t bore you with them here. But the great thing is I have an unbelievable support system behind me of family and friends. Also, I feel like I have the right attitude towards it, and am determined to do thing the right way this time. And whatever I choose I know I’ll work hard at it, and take steps to become a success. Just taking it one day at a time.

Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 17

Leadership - Essay Example In our daily life, we often play the role of a leader whether or not we realize this. In this paper, I have analyzed my own style of leadership that prevails in a particular context. This paper first describes the scenario in which I have analyzed my style of leadership followed by a comprehensive discussion of the identified style of leadership. I used to play in a rock band as a lead guitarist. There were five members in my group. We used to record songs and I used to take active part in that activity. I used to tell my group members my opinions regarding the songs as well as their lyrics. Since our group also made songs, and I have good sense of poetry, I helped my group write the lyrics of the songs. Even now when my friends make a new song and record it, the first person they send its copy for a review and necessary alteration is me. This is because they believe in my abilities as a lyricist and trust me that I would give them honest advice. When I give advice, they change the songs accordingly. In the situation described above in which I help my friends in writing the lyrics of the songs or help them modify the lyrics they have written to make the songs perfect, I play the role of a servant leader. Robert Greenleaf coined the term â€Å"servant leader† in the 1970’s. Servant leader is a person that may not necessarily be formally identified as a leader. When an individual working at any level in an organization leads just by addressing the needs of the team, that person essentially plays the role of a servant leader. In my case, I used to meet the needs of my friends by giving them useful advice regarding their songs. Although by doing so, I helped them yet I was never recognized as a leader perhaps because I was their age and a friend to them. This made me their servant leader. A servant leader resembles a democratic leader in many ways since in such a leadership, the whole team plays a role in the decision-making. In my case, when I

Impact of Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Impact of Globalization - Essay Example Also, because of globalization, most firms were able to launch their products worldwide in a bid to make huge profits. Toyota, for instance, is a motor vehicle manufacturer founded in Japan but in an attempt to increase its revenue it had to spread to countries like the United States and other continents. The same goes for Ford Motor Company that started as an â€Å"International New Venture†. In addition to this, globalization made it possible for some countries to get what they could not produce cheaply as the cost of producing the same could have been higher than buying from international corporations. In spite of the possible advantages of going global, it is argued that this idea has a dividing factor between countries. The fact that governments are put in a situation whereby they must choose between a number of different companies from different countries is seen to be insinuating that there would be bad relations with corporations that are not chosen. Furthermore, the r ole of the government has been changed. The state ought to protect its interests by virtue of its sovereignty, but globalization forces state to privatize their agencies so as to benefit from the advantages that come with privatization. Turning to privatization in a bid to do business affects the government’s role in deciding how to run its agencies and this greatly dictates who may be sponsored to ascend to political power so that they may be easily influenced to sing to the tunes of these international corporations.

Car company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Car company - Essay Example The political, economic, legal, ecological and technological environment has an impact on the progress of the retail business. The profit potential within the target market is promising for the company but a competitive advantage is aimed to be reached over the already established competitors through application of appropriate strategy in the marketing mix. The staffing policy of FastCar Motors is in line with the legal framework of the government and it seeks to develop and train the employees to ensure that they have knowledge on the application of technology in the care retail business to facilitate the growth of the company. The directors of the FastCar Motors comprise of the management team of the company who include the company CEO, the General Manger, Sales Manager and Human Resource Manager whose roles are stipulated in the organizational structure. The automobile industry within the UK is growing at a very fast pace with the implementation of modern technology in the production of automobiles especially sports cars such as Daimler, McLaren, Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce and Lotus. The car producers in the UK such as Toyota, Ford, Nissan and Honda have established themselves in the automobile business over time despite the challenges and competition within this industry. Chatal, Haugh and Mourougane (2010) say that since the 19th century the automobile industry in the UK has developed in terms of production and export. There was notable decline in the rate of growth of the car manufacturing industry in the UK as compared to the competing companies in Japan, France and Germany before 2008. The growth of the car manufacturing industry of the UK began to be experienced after 2008 with the country being rated among the producers of large car volumes. This is in contrast to the early 1980s when many British car manufacturers were owned by foreign firms. The UK car manufacturing industry can therefore be

Abstract Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Abstract - Essay Example works and paintings were influence by John Sloan who was a realism artist, Franz Kline and Robert Rauschenberg, who made greater contributions in realism art (Carpenter 2004, 130). He was also inspired by a trip he made to Italy in 2003 which was facilitated by the Newington-Cropsy Travel Grant he had won and which allowed him to travel and study in various countries (American Arts Quarterly 2007, 34). His development also included sketch studies of the various masterworks he came across to enhance his skills. Kassan is most known for his life size hyper realism portraiture. His knowledge of human anatomy extensively helped him in the understanding of the muscular structure beneath the skin make his work to appear to be real and with life thus conveying emotion to people when they view them (Philips 2007, 34). Kassan has also kept up to date with the latest technology by doing a demonstration on finger paint on is apple iPad which was a great hit on YouTube and went viral in six months with one million

Public health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7

Public health - Essay Example The noxious smokes produced by gasoline grass mowers are toxic and very harmful to both the environment and to the populaces (Williams & Thompson, 2010). Reports on those fumes emitted by the use of the machine are certainly correct. According to the investigation carried out in 2001 by the Sweden, air pollution as a result of cutting grass for about one hour by use of gasoline mechanized mower is very high. The pollution is about the similar as that resulting from the 100 mile car travel. According to the American environmental guarding organization, 54 million citizens cutting their grass every weekend with the gas-powered machines might be adding as much as 5% of the county’s air contamination. It also outlined that a new gas motorized grass cutter machine release nitrogen oxide and organic compounds in one hour of work. The contamination is identical to that produced by 11 new vehicles that are compelled in one hour (Lamarre, 2004). The problem with the use of small engines contributes to large toxic waste challenges. Small engines are believed to produce disproportionately great amounts of volatile organic compound, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide that add to smog. The issue of the high pollution rates related to the use of small grass mowers is a controversial issue. The human health consequences of pollution-laden atmosphere have increased dangers of asthma attacks, inflammation and injuries to the lungs and lesser amounts of oxygen in the blood stream. The reduced amount of oxygen the bloodstream can worsen heart conditions leading to fatalities in the long run. Solution: the utilization of the gas powers is not the only alternative to minimize pollution. Eco-conscious clients looking for new machines should consider electric replicas that are currently available in the market. The electric model is most efficient and has less if not negative impacts on human health and to the surrounding (Lamarre, 2004). The

Operations management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Operations management - Essay Example distribution to clients or customers along with purchasing activities with other vendors (Chidambaram, Whitman, & Cheraghi, â€Å"A Supply Chain Transformation Methodology†). With this concern it can be said that Ben and Jerry’s is playing a significant role by rendering its customers quality service through providing right product at the right time (Ben & Jerry’s, â€Å"Company†). The paper will be focused on providing a brief discussion about supply chain management of Ben & Jerry’s, an American ice-cream manufacturing enterprise along with its transformation methodology of providing their products in the global context. The various scopes of supply chain management of Ben & Jerry’s in the global operations has also been highlighted within the discussion (Chidambaram, Whitman & Cheraghi, â€Å"A Supply Chain Transformation Methodology†). The organizations in the present day context are highly focused to deliver their offerings according to the desires of the customers due to the immense growth in the communication networks along with changing face of globalization. Therefore, the competition within the enterprises can be considered to be extended globally in the modern business environment (Chidambaram, Whitman, & Cheraghi, â€Å"A Supply Chain Transformation Methodology†). The supply chain management system of Ben & Jerry is one of the effective tools for the organization in its endeavor to expand to more than 30 countries of the world. With the concept of effective global supply chain management system, the strategy of Ben & Jerry’s consigns transformation methodology along with making use of appropriate management techniques that help the enterprise to lead among the various competitors around the globe (Ben & Jerry’s, â€Å"Company†). In order to address the transformation related challenges on a global basis, Ben & Jerry’s focuses on various transformation steps for efficient supply chain management around its different units of enterprise.

Consumer Behavior- B Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Consumer Behavior- B - Essay Example 3-Graham is a college student who is impulsive and somewhat rebellious.   He seeks out variety and excitement, usually looking for something new, offbeat, and risky.   Even though he was 18 years old and  eligible to vote, he didnt vote in the last presidential election and is not very interested in world events.   To which VALS segment does Graham belong? ESSAY 1- Discuss how a small bio-technology firm could influence the reference group infrastructure and the lead users to accelerate adoption of its products in the market. A small bio-technology firm can significantly influence the reference group infrastructure and its lead users to accelerate adoption of its products in the market by way of exploring key characteristics of lead users and major reference groups like key consumers, suppliers, and industry experts. Only after gaining acquaintance with their key characteristics or their behavior can a firm hope to sell more products in the market. This is because such knowledge can inform a firm about what are the currently hot demands in the buying market. This can boost adoption of products in the market because the firm will be then able to act in accordance of those demands. Lead users form a major reference group and researching such users’ preferences and dislikes can give a firm a lot of valuable material regarding how they can influence other potential customers in foreseeable future. A seller organization hoping to accelerate adoption of its products in the market should essentially understand the buying motives and decisions of their lead users. They can later use this kind of information to convince other customers to make the same kind of decisions. ESSAY 2- Unheard of twenty years ago, discuss the rationale people use today to shop or NOT shop on the Internet.   Given  your response,  what are the benefits to purchasing an iPod direct from a channel member.  

(Urgent) Small business management (Due to the midnight of May 24 at Essay

(Urgent) Small business management (Due to the midnight of May 24 at latest) - Essay Example Perhaps, someone who has been successful in his educational attainments has contributed a lot in enabling the small business to become competitive and profitable. The two articles I have chosen are both referring to the functions of Small Businesses. These articles have been chosen to give us a better understanding on the factors that may contribute to the success of a small company. The first article, an international based journal, highlights the effect of recruiting outside board members to handle a small family business. The UK-based journal discuss about the impact of ownership on the behaviour and performance of a small company. In line with the outstanding performance of a small company, it is important that we determine the impact of both internal and external factors that could directly and/or indirectly affect the efficiency of the business operations and profitability. Internal factors that may contribute to the success of an organization include the type of management, type of business ownership, the leadership style of the managers, the size of the business organization, organizational culture and traditions, emotional attachment of the owners to the business, organizational performance, and the barriers to the implementation of a strategy. Based on the This study aims to analyse the point-of-view of the authors by considering the key arguments in each article. The theory behind the small business functions used in the articles will be discussed thoroughly. As part of the conclusion, this paper will compare and contrast the main evaluation of the two selected articles. According to Ghobadian and O’Regan (2006), the transformation leadership style is more common in independent plants than the transactional leadership style. The authors has concluded that the transactional leadership style is usually adapted by the subsidiary plants

The Effects of Employment on Academic Performance Essay Example for Free

The Effects of Employment on Academic Performance Essay ABSTRACT This study examines factors that impact students engaged in paid employment while studying in a tertiary accounting program in a regional Australian university. It examines the differences in experience of domestic and international students. No direct significant relationship was found between paid employment and academic performance for the overall study sample. There was a positive relationship found between paid employment and academic performance with respect to domestic students. However, in the case of international students a negative relationship between paid employment and academic performance was observed. A significant positive relationship between a shift work pattern of paid employment and academic performance was found. The Effects of Employment on Academic Performance of Australian Accounting Students 1. Introduction This study makes a contribution to the literature identifying and examining the factors that impact student performance in tertiary accounting programs. Much of this existing literature is located within the United Kingdom and North American institutions. Documented factors in these studies include the impact of gender, prior knowledge of accounting, academic aptitude, mathematical background, previous working experience, age, class size and class attendance. However, more recently, observations of accounting academics suggest a new factor to be examined in the Australian context, the socio-economic circumstances as represented by their need for paid employment of accounting students. Anecdotal evidence suggests that in recent times more students are now working while studying, reducing the time available and quality of their efforts towards their accounting studies, for example many students miss or do not prepare for classes. University administrators have noted concern about student work patterns and student availability to spend time on their studies and participate in the university community life (Rudkin and De Zoysa 2007). The contribution of this paper is to examine the impact of paid employment while studying on the academic performance of students in an accounting program in Australia. The impact is examined differentiating between domestic and international accounting students. This dichotomy is significant because there is currently a large international student enrolment in accounting programs in Australian universities driven by government immigration policy to address a skills shortage (Birrell and Rapson 2005). There is also a shortage in meeting the demand for accounting graduates in the domestic industry coinciding with a shift in the funding mechanisms for Australian domestic university students in recent years. The impact of the market demand for a skilled workforce and the effects of existing student funding on work participation requires analysis. This paper investigates two aspects; first whether there is a relationship between paid employment and student performance, and secondly if there is a difference between the experiences of domestic and international students in paid employment and academic performance. Survey data of 170 enrolled students enrolled in a third year 12 credit point financial accounting subject at the University of Wollongong in the autumn session of 2006 was collected for this study. 2. Prior Research There have been few studies identified that examine the relationship between student participation in paid employment and their academic performance in a tertiary accounting program. There have been no studies identified by the authors that examine the difference in employment on tertiary academic performance between domestic and international accounting students in Australia. Gul and Fong (1993) conducted a Hong Kong study on first year accounting students, and found predictors of academic achievement to be personality type, grades achieved at the school certificate in mathematics and accounting, and previous knowledge of accounting. A study by Wooten in 1998 examined 271 students taking introductory accounting at a major south-eastern American university of which there were 74 students identified as non-traditional defined as aged 25 years or older, and 127 traditional students aged under 25 years. Wooten found that for the traditional cohort grade history, motivations and family responsibilities all influenced the amount of effort these students made. However, neither extracurricular activities nor work responsibilities influenced their effort. However for the non-traditional students, motivation was the only variable that significantly influenced effort. Neither grade history nor extracurricular activities, nor work responsibilities, nor family responsibilities had an effect on motivations. Family activities had a significant negative impact on effort for the traditional students, but not for the nontraditional students. It is conjectured by the authors of this paper that these differences in ages may also capture different socio-economic circumstances. Gose (1998) found an increase in the number of students employed over time, with 39% of students working 16 or more hours per week in 1998 compared with 35% working in 1993. Naser and Peel (1998) and Koh and Koh (1999) documented much research done on common predictive factors of academic performance in accounting courses, including gender, prior knowledge of accounting, academic aptitude, mathematical background, previous working experience, age, class size, lecturer attributes and student effort. However, they note the findings are not definitive. An Australian study done by Dobson and Sharma (1999) examined the relationship between student performance and the cost of failure, noting both the public and the private dimensions to the cost of failure. Similarly the Australian study by Booth et al. (1999) examined factors that impact upon accounting student academic performance, but failed to incorporate a socio-economic dimension. Booth et al. (1999) used the Approaches to Learning paradigm from the education literature to investigate the learning approaches of accounting students from two Australian universities, as compared to previously reported data for Australian arts, education and science students. This study provided evidence that Australian accounting students tend to take a superficial approach to learning typified surface learning such as rote memorization, while using lower deep learning approaches than their counterparts in Australian arts, education and science studies. Whether this is due to work factors has not b een investigated. Wijewardena and Rudkin (1999) undertook a study of students enrolled in a first year accounting program at a regional Australian university. They identified that students’ attendance at tutorial classes, the commitment of a major in accounting and a demonstrated interest in accounting correlate positively and significantly with academic performance. They also find that local students perform better than their overseas counterparts and that part-time students (who work full time) outperform full time students. Cheung and Kan (2002) contributed to the limited studies done outside the Western context. They examined factors related to student performance in a distance learning business communications course in Hong Kong. Their results based on studying 168 students showed females outperformed males, and a positive correlation between previous academic achievement and related academic background and student performance (p261). A positive correlation was found between tutorial attendance and student performance and between previous learning experience and student performance. No relationship was found between semester course loads and student performance. The results are consistent with prior Western studies. A Welsh study by Gracia and Jenkins (2003) undertaken in the second and final year levels of an accounting degree considered gender, prior year performance and students’ application to study and their relationship to student performance. Gracia and Jenkins argue that academic failure creates both emotional and financial costs for students, and that significant cultural differences may be attributed to academic success. This study found that if students are actively committed to self-responsibility for their studies, they tend to do well in formal assessment. They also found females outperform males in the second year and that there is a negative correlation between age and grades. Students who have work experience perform significantly better than students who go straight from the second to the final year. They argue that the work experience allows students to get their finances in order thereby reducing the need for them to earn money while studying in the final year, thereby reducing financial and time management pressures. Vickers et al. (2003) while not specific to students that study accounting, examined the effects of part-time employment of students on their participation and attrition in tertiary study in Australian universities. They report that the proportion of full-time students undertaking work has increased between 1990 and 2000 from 46% to 56%. They find that an inverse relationship between the number of face to face course hours and the drop out rate of tertiary students, with the more hours of classes the less the drop out rate. They also found that students working 20 or more hours per week are more likely to drop out of tertiary study by 160 – 200% than those who work less than 20 hours. Vickers et al. also find that students receiving Youth Allowance are more likely to drop out of tertiary study than those who do not receive Youth Allowance, despite the fact that the majority of this group do not work part time. They also observe that the odds of dropping out of university decrease by 31-32% if a student is from the highest socio-economic quartile as opposed to the lowest. Those who work between one and 20 hours per week are just as likely to continue in study as those who do not work at all during their studies. The Vickers et al. study is important because it signifies a change in the university experience not only for students but also for academic staff who teach working students. Strong and Watts (2005) investigated factors affecting accounting student satisfaction at a small public university in New South Wales. They found improvements in the effective allocation of casual and full time staff and the introduction and of common subject outlines lead to improvements in student performance indicators of satisfaction. Consistent with this theme, Hutcheson and Tse (2006) explained student non-attendance in class as student satisfaction with the teaching performance and course delivery. Nonis and Hudson (2006) note that the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education has found that since 1987 the time students spend studying outside of class has declined each year, with only 47% spending six or more hours per week studying outside of class compared with 34% in 2003. Nonis and Hudson (2006) identify a need for empirical research to determine the impact of student work on academic performance, and its impact on the design of academic programs. Their study found a lack of evidence for a direct relationship between times spent working and academic performance. Sullaiman and Mohezar conducted a study at the University of Malaya in their MBA program. They found conflicting evidence of the impact of work experience on student academic performance. They note studies by McClure, Wells and Bowerman (1986), Schellhardt (1988) and Dreher and Ryan (2000) finding a positive relationship between work experience and academic performance, but studies by Dreher and Ryan (2000, 2002 and 2004) Dugan et al. (2006) and Graham (2001) and Peiperl and Trevelyan (1997) found no relationship between students working and their grade point average. Sullaiman and Mohezar’s study found that work experience is not related to MBA performance. Hutcheson and Tse (2006) at the University of Technology Sydney found that on average students who attended more than half of the tutorials obtained a higher final mark than students who did not, and that this was particularly so for international students. This begs further research as to why, when students pay high fees for classes, they do not attend. This paper identifies the need to investigate whether the need to work is one possible reason for this finding. De Zoysa and Rudkin (2007) undertook a pilot study examining the relationship between academic performance and student socio-economic circumstances, which did not find a direct significant relationship between the number of hours of paid employment and student academic performance in accounting. However, a significant positive relationship between shift workers and academic performance was found. James et al. (2007) undertook a non-discipline specific study encompassing a survey of 18,954 Australian public university undergraduate and postgraduate students. They found 70.6 per cent of full-time undergraduates reported working during semester two, 2006, working on average 14.8 hours per week, with one in every six full time undergraduate student working more than 20 hours per week. For students enrolled in a part-time pattern, 41.8 per cent were working at least 38 hours per week, which effectively means full time employment. The study found many students worked significant hours merely to afford basic living necessities such as transport, books and study materials, with 39.9 per cent of full-time students and 54.1 per cent of part-time students believing their work adversely impacted upon their studies. The study of this paper contributes to the literature in that it uniquely examines differences between domestic and international accounting students in the Australian context of the impact of undertaking paid employment on their academic performance in a subject of an undergraduate accounting degree. This study makes two contributions to the accounting education literature. First, rather than a predominant focus on first year students, this study examines second and final year accounting students in a regional Australian context. It uniquely examines differences between domestic and international accounting student experiences. 3. Method Subjects of this study were drawn from School of Accounting and Finance at the University of Wollongong, a regional Australian university. The accounting program is professionally accredited with both requisite professional accounting bodies, CPA Australia and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia. The degree is a full time three year program, with admission based on the standard University Admissions Index (UAI), or equivalent. Specific to these entry requirements, mathematics is not a compulsory entry requirement, though is recommended. There are no domestic undergraduate full fee paying students admitted to this degree. A prescribed program of study is required, with both compulsory accounting subjects using a prerequisite system, with opportunity for more liberal electives. This study undertook a survey of 170 third year students in their final compulsory financial accounting subject in 2006. The students were questions about their academic experiences and socio-economic circumstances in the prior session, the Australian Spring Session 2005. To obtain a complete sample, students who failed their prerequisite subject in the prior session Spring 2005 were also surveyed to obtain a representative population. Academic performance for the purpose of this study is determined as the final grade in the second year financial accounting subject, ACCY201, studied in spring session 2005. The research was conducted by paper surveys handed out in compulsory tutorial classes in the last week of session. Participation in the survey was optional. Both day time and evening tutorial classes were surveyed, to ensure a representative mix of both part time and full time patterns of study and work commitments. Of the 170 students surveyed, 101 (59%) of students are domestic students while 69 (41%) are international students. Those enrolled part time in the sample of 170 students are 34 (20%) while those enrolled full time are 136 (80%) of the sample. Of the domestic students, 45 (45%) are male and 56 (55%) are female. More domestic students are enrolled full time than part time, with 69 (68%) being enrolled full time compared with 32 (32%) being enrolled part time. More males are enrolled part time than females, with 18 (56%) of males enrolled in a part time pattern compared with 14 (44%) of females in part time study. There are 27 (39%) of domestic males compared with 42 (61%) of domestic females enrolled in a full time study program. Australian government regulations require that international students be enrolled in a full time study pattern. The survey sample reflects this, with all but two of the 69 international students being enrolled full time. It is surmised that the two males enrolled in a part time pattern are completing remaining subjects needed to satisfy graduation requirements which would arise if subjects must be repeated. The pattern of male and female international students is similar to that of domestic students in the sample, with there being 30 (43%) international male students compared with 39 (56%) international female students. These demographic enrolment patterns are illustrated in Table 1 Enrolment Pattern below, which describes the relationships of male and female, full time and part time, and domestic and international students. [INSERT TABLE 1 ABOUT HERE] 4. Results and Discussion Five aspects pertaining to the relationship between student employment patterns and their academic performance will be discussed. First section 4.1 will discuss the relationship between the hours worked in paid employment by students and their academic performance. Secondly, section 4.2 examines the type of employment mode students undertake and its impact on academic performance. Thirdly the impact of the nature of the paid work done by students and its impact on academic performance is considered in section 4.3. Section 4.4 explores the impact of travel time between students’ places of employment, the university and their residences on academic performance. Section 4.5 documents student perceptions on the impact of their paid employment on their academic performance. The research in these aspects seeks to discover the employment commitments of both full time and part time accounting students, whether the nature of this is different between international and domestic students, and whether these factors impact positively or negatively on the academic performance of accounting students. For the purpose of the survey, those working 20 hours or less a week are regarded as part time workers, consistent with the Australian government working regulations of student visas for full time international students. This is also consistent with a survey undertaken by Vickers et al. (2003) which while not unique to accounting students, found that 20 hours per work of paid employment was a significant indicator with respect to student performance because students who worked above this amount were most likely to withdraw from university study. 4.1 The relationship between hours worked and academic performance. The survey gathered data on the employment patterns of the sample. Of the 170 respondents to the survey, 165 answered the question of whether or not they were working in paid employment. Of this 165 sample size, 38 (23%) indicated that they were not in paid employment during the survey study period, while 127 (77%) indicated that they were in paid employment, either working full time or part time. The study seeks to compare the work patterns of students with their academic performance in accounting. Of the 165 students that answered in the affirmative to working while studying, subject results relevant to the period of their work was available for only 144 students. Therefore the sample size was reduced to 144 surveys. Academic performance was classified into three bands. The first band captured students achieving below 44 marks in a subject, indicating poor performance and a fail grade. The second band captured students achieving between 45- 64 marks indicating a satisfactory performance in terms of achieving a pass conceded or pass grade only. The third band captured students achieving a final subject grade of 65 or better, indicating a good performance of a credit grade or better in a subject. The research reveals no significant relationship between the hours worked by a student and their academic performance in an accounting subject. 44 (31%) out of 144 students achieved poor academic performance. 49 (34%) achieved a satisfactory academic performance, while 51 (35%) achieved good academic performance. Of these students 31 (22%) did not work in paid employment, 71 (49%) worked between 1 and 20 hours per week, and 42 (29%) worked in paid employment 21 hours or more per week. This is illustrated in Table 2 Hours Worked and Student Performance, shown below. [INSERT TABLE 2 ABOUT HERE] The survey results were then tested to determine if there was a different relationship between the number of hours per week spent in paid employment and academic performance between domestic as compared to international students in an accounting subject. The results show the impact is different for each group. Acknowledging the limitation of the small sample size of only four domestic students not working, the results show that domestic students who are working perform better academically than those who are not working. However, the finding for international students is the reverse. International students who are working perform less well academically than international students who do not work in paid employment. While possible reasons can be conjectured such they are working longer hours for lower rates, the determination of such factors is outside the scope of this paper. This is illustrated in Table 2.1 Hours Worked and Student Performance: Domestic Students vs International Students as shown below. [INSERT TABLE 2.1 ABOUT HERE] In the table above, it is shown international students in the poor student performance band demonstrate that as the number of hours of work increase, the does the percentage of poor performing students. When considering student paid employment in the range between one and twenty hours per week, there are different relationships evident between employment and academic performance for international and domestic students. There were 43 domestic students and 28 international students who indicated they worked between one and 20 hours per week. Of the international students who work between one and twenty hours of paid employment per week, 12 (43%) were in the poor performance band, 10 (36%) were in the satisfactory performance band and 6 (21%) were in the good performance band. This is compared with the domestic student trends for paid employment between one and twenty hours per week which showed only 9 (21%) of domestic students in the poor performance band, 8 or 19% fell into the satisfactory performance band, and 26 or 60% met the good performance category criteria. This demonstrates that while part time employment between one and twenty hours a week is more consistent with better academic performance than not, the reverse is evident for international students. Those international accounting students who worked between one and twenty hours were more likely than not to demonstrate poor academic performance. This trend is more apparent in the band of hours worked per week being 21 hours and above. There were a total of 36 domestic students falling into this category, compared to only 6 international students. It is noted that under international student visa requirements, a maximum allowed paid employment is 20 hours per week. There were 6 international students who indicated they worked 21 hours and above, outside this legal requirement. Of these 6, 4 (67%) fell into the poor performance category of a fail grade between 0 and 44%. There was one international student in each of the other two categories. This again is a different trend to the domestic student experience. Generally domestic students working more than 21 hours per week in paid employment performed less well than similar students working only between 1 -20 hours. 10 (28%) of domestic students working 21 hours and above achieved a poor performance grade, while 18 (50%) achieved a satisfactory grade and 8 (22%) achieved a good academic grade. These results show that domestic accounting students who are working perform better than those who are not working. However, for international accounting students the opposite trend is evident. Specific explorations to the reasons for these opposing trends are outside the scope of this initial survey. However, further analysis of this finding is offered from research done by Rudkin and De Zoysa (2007) who undertook a study of the socio-economic conditions of accounting students at a regional university in Australia in a comparable period. They undertook a survey of student hourly pay rates. Their findings are given in Table 3 below. [INSERT TABLE 3 ABOUT HERE] Rudkin and De Zoysa (2007) undertook a pilot social account from 162 questionnaires from students in their second session in the second year of an undergraduate accounting degree at a regional Australian university. In this survey students were asked to indicate their average gross pay rate. Hourly rates varied from under $10 an hour to $21 per hour and above. This data was then further analyzed for the purposes of this paper, finding differences between the pay rates achieved between domestic and international accounting students, as shown in Table 3.1 below. [INSERT TABLE 3.1 ABOUT HERE] Of the students who are paid less than $10 per hour, 90% of these are international students. Rudkin and De Zoysa (2007, p.95) found that 18% of students in their study found were illegally underpaid while 20.7% indicated they felt exploited in their employment. It is conjectured by the authors that international students are more vulnerable to illegal and exploitative work practices with lower pay rates, and so must work longer hours to achieve the income necessary to support their study. This is identified as an area for further research. 4.2 Type of employment pattern and academic performance. This section examines the relationship between the type of employment mode the students are employed under and their academic achievement in an accounting subject. Three categories of employment of students were identified, permanent work, casual work or contract work. Although conditions and entitlements vary across industry of employment, the three categories are reflective of patterns of work conditions, and entitlements with respect to vacation, sickness and family leave, regular hours, guaranteed income and hourly paid rates. The authors assumed that students employed in permanent positions have access to paid leave, more economic certainty compared to students employed on a casual or contract basis, but they would also have less flexibility in their employment. Of the sample surveyed, 112 students gave valid responses to the question of the nature of their employment to the three options of permanent, casual or contract. 18 students (16) indicated they were in permanent employment. There were no international students employed in a permanent position. Overall 87 students (78%) stated they were employed under casual conditions. Of these 87 students 57 (66%) were domestic students and 30 (34%) were international students. A casual employment pattern is most predominant in the international student grouping, with only 57 out of a total of 79 (72%) domestic students who responded to the question indicating casual employment. This is in contrast with the international student cohort, where 30 out of 33 (91%) were employed on a casual basis. The number of students employed on the basis of a contract were minimal, with only 7 (6%) of students working in this form of employment. These results and their relationship to student academic performance are summarized in Table 4 below. [INSERT TABLE 4 ABOUT HERE] The chi-square test found no significant relationship between the mode of employment and student academic performance in an undergraduate accounting subject. However, it can be observed that students employed as a permanent worker performed better (22% poor performance compared to a combined 78% for satisfactory and good performance) compared to students employed as a casual worker (31% achieving a poor performance band) and as a contract worker (57% achieved a poor performance band). However, any comparison between domestic and international students of this data is not meaningful due to the small numbers in each category. 4.3 Nature of work patterns and performance The authors investigated whether regardless of the mode of employment, the nature of the work patterns that student employment required may impact on their academic performance. It was assumed that students who worked shift work did not have a stable work and study pattern preventing or hindering their participation in classes and class preparations. That is, students working irregular shift work times and hours would experience different attendance and study patterns and opportunities compared with those students who worked set hours at regular times. Students were asked to nominate whether their typical work pattern was changing shift work to a roster, or regular hours. 87 valid responses were received to this question. 58 students (67%) indicated that they worked changing shift work compared with 29 (33%) who indicated they worked regular hours. The results of this question are shown below in Table 5. [INSERT TABLE 5 ABOUT HERE] An unexpected significant positive relationship was found between students who work changing shift work academic performance. Only 12 (21%) of student working changing shift work compared to 21 (72%) of those working regular hours were classified in the poor student performance band. 80% of students in the changing shift category achieved satisfactory or good academic results while only 27% of students with regular working hours achieved similar results. There were similar results observed between domestic and international students in this respect, with 69% of domestic students and 61% of international students working changing shift work hours. Only 14% of domestic students doing shift work achieved poor results, while 60% of students working regular hours achieved poor results. All of the 9 international students doing regular hours failed the subject. These relationships are described in tables 5.1 and 5.2 below. Table 5.1 gives a comparison between domestic and international students’ work patterns, and Table 5.2 below shows the relationship between both domestic students’ and international students’ work patterns and their academic performance. [INSERT TABLE 5.1 ABOUT HERE] [INSERT TABLE 5.2 ABOUT HERE] Reasons for the favourable relationship between shift work and academic performance have not been sought in this study, but are identified as an area for further research. Conjecture as to the reasons include greater flexibility for students working shift work to arrange their rosters around their university class and assignment commitments, and the possibility that jobs requiring night shift work such as garage attendants require a presence but only ad hoc activity and so allow time on the job to be spent studying and completing class work. 4.4 Travelling time and performance. The location of the university of this study is an Australian university located approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney in the state of New South Wales. It is a regional university that includes the Southern parts of Sydney in its catchment area. Many students travel by public transport being rail from Sydney and a limited local bus service. The travel time from Sydney to Wollongong is approximately 1  ½ hours journey one way. Students residing or working in Sydney face a daily three hour transport commitment. Such a journey is not uncommon as the regional area has a high local unemployment rate and many students seek paid employment outside the region in Sydney. It is the assumption of the authors that time spent by students travelling detracts from their academic performance both because of the fatigue factor of travelling distances, and because travelling time is time not available for academic pursuits. Students were asked to indicate on average how long did a typical journey take you to travel to the university. A summary of the results to this question is given in Table 6 below. [INSERT TABLE 6 ABOUT HERE] It is observed that 46% of students surveyed are spending more than one hour travelling each way when they attend the university. It was assumed by the authors that time spent travelling has a cost to the students both in time available at the University for study and financially in terms of the cost of how many days they attend the university. It was assumed that if students are working, the time spent travelling in addition to the hours they spend in paid employment has a combined impact on their availability to participate in academic tasks. The relationship between time spent travelling and student performance was measured. No significant relationship was found between travelling time and academic performance of students who are not working. However, there is a significant relationship between academic performance and travelling time with students who are working. It was found that students who spend less time travelling perform better academically than students who spend more time travelling to university. This results are described in Table 6.1 below. [INSERT TABLE 6.1 ABOUT HERE] Student perception on the impact of work on studies. The authors were interested in observing the perceptions of students of the impact of their paid employment on their academic studies. Students were asked whether â€Å"my exam and / or assessment marks would have been better if I had not been working†. Out of 124 valid responses from students who are working to this question, 51 (41.1%) answered in the affirmative, while 73 (58.9%) answered in the negative. That is, 41% of the students surveyed thought that their work interfered with their studies. Students who indicated they were in paid employment were also asked the question whether or not they missed classes because of their work. 110 valid responses were received to this question. 42% indicated that they always missed classes because of their work commitments, while 11% indicated that most of the time classes were missed because of work commitments. While the findings suggest that there is no significant relationship between the amount of paid employment per week that students undertake and their academic performance, it does suggest that these students are deprived of a full academic experience in terms of full engagement with the campus community, networking opportunities and similar. The responses of students who admitted missing classes because of paid employment are shown below in Table 7. [INSERT TABLE 7 ABOUT HERE] Other reasons for missing classes given for students were that they were not prepared for class, because they lacked motivation, because they did not find the classes useful, because they had other illness or family or personal reasons, and because they had work commitments to complete in other subjects. The rankings of these reasons are given in table 7.1 below. [INSERT TABLE 7.1 ABOUT HERE] 5. Summary and Conclusions This study examines the relationship between employment and the study of accounting students in Australia. Given the high incidence of paid employment in the accounting student population and its impacts on academic performance, this study has ramifications for the nature of accounting program delivery in the Australian context in terms of times classes are offered and flexibility in delivery modes, and the quality of the university education experience with which students can engage. Limitations of this study include use of self reporting by students, a small sample size. In addition, findings pertain to a regional university in the Australian context. While many tertiary institutions in Australia are regional in nature given the geographic and demographic characteristics of the country, this experience may be different and not generalisable to metropolitan institutions in Australia and outside the Australian context. Further testing at other institutions would contribute to the knowledge of the relationship between paid employment and academic performance for accounting students. This study makes four findings. First, this investigation did not find a direct significant relationship between the hours students worked in paid employment and their academic performance in an accounting subject. However, contradictory results did emerge with respect to differences between domestic students and international students in a cohort. Secondly, while there was a positive relationship between paid employment and academic performance in relation to domestic students, there was a negative relationship between paid employment and academic performance for international students. Thirdly, with respect to international students, although a statistically significant relationship was not found, it seems that the academic performance of international students not working is better than that of working international students. Fourthly, a significant positive relationship between shift workers and academic performance was revealed that offers no obvious explanation and is identified as an area needing further research. With respect to the quality of university education experience of accounting students, there are indicators that accounting students may not be optimally engaging in a full university experience because of work pressures. There were 9% of students are found to be working fulltime and studying full time simultaneously. The fact that many choose to miss classes for work commitments does not afford them the opportunities associated with campus life including generic skill development of a social nature, networking with their future professional peers, and engagement with the benefits of cultural exchange with an international student body. Given that Vickers et al. (2003) found if students work more than 20 hours per week they are 160%-200% more likely to drop out of university, this has implications for attrition rates in accounting courses also. The authors contest that there is a need to explore further to understand the positive and negative impacts of paid employment on academic performance, and why differences exist between domestic and international students. This will aid in meeting the demand for good Australian accounting graduates. References Australian Government Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (2006) Skilled Occupation List, Sydney and Selected Areas Skill Shortage List, and Employer Nomination Scheme Occupation List, Commonwealth Government Printer. Birrell, B., and Rapson, V. (2005) Migration and the Accounting Profession in Australia, Report prepared for APZ Australia, Centre for Population and Urban Research , Monash University, Victoria. Booth, P., Luckett, P. and Mladenovic, R. (1999) â€Å"The quality of learning in accounting education: the impact of approaches to learning on academic performance†, Accounting Educational, Vol. 8, No. 4, pp277-300. Cheung, L. and Kan, A. (2002) â€Å"Evaluation of Factors Related to Student Performance in a Distance-Learning Business Communication Course†, Journal of Education for Business, Vol. 77, No. 5, pp.257-263. De Zoysa, A., and Rudkin, K. (2007) â€Å"Australian Employment Patterns and Course Participation Preferences of Accounting Stude nts† International Review of Business Research Papers, Vol.3, No.1, March 2007, pp.23-36. Dobson, I. and Sharma, S. (1999) â€Å"Student performance and the cost of failure† Tertiary Education and Management, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp141-157. Gracia, L. and Jenkins, E. (2003) â€Å"A quantitative exploration of student performance on an undergraduate accounting programme of study†, Accounting Education, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp15-32. Gull, F. and Fong, S. (1993) â€Å"Predicting success for introductory accounting students; some further Hong Kong evidence† Accounting Education: an international journal, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp33-42. Hutcheson, T. and Tse, H. (2006) â€Å"Tutorial attendance and Grade Achievement† Working Paper No. 145, University of Technology, Sydney, March. Koh, M. Y. and Koh H.C. (1999) â€Å"The determinants of performance in an accountancy degree programme† Accounting Education, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp13-29. James, R., Cexley, E., Devlin, M. and Marginson, S. (2007) â€Å"Australian University Student Finances 2006: A summary of findings from a national survey of students in public universities†, Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of Melbourne, Australian Vice Chancellors’ Committee. Nonis, S. and Hudson, G. (2006), â€Å"Academic performance of college students; influence of time sp ent studying and working† Journal of Education for Business, Vol. 81, No. 3, Jan-Feb, pp151-160. Robert Half International â€Å"The Global War for Talent and its Effect on the Finance and Accounting Teams in Australia† White Paper, 6 April 2005. Rudkin, K. and De Zoysa, A. (2007) â€Å"Educating with Social Justice: Public Interest vs Private Benefit† International Review of Business Research Papers, Vol. 3, No. 2, March 2007, pp.87-99. Strong, T. and Watts, T. (2005) â€Å"Improving Teaching Performance Outcomes by Improving Student Satisfaction: A case study of a small accounting program† School of Accounting and Finance Seminar Series, University of Wollongong. Sullaiman, A. and Mohezar, S. (2006) â€Å"Student Success Factors: Identifying Key Predictors†, Journal of Education for Business, Vol. 81 July/August, pp328-333. Vickers, M., Lamb, S. and Hinkley, J. (2003) Student workers in high school and beyond: the effects of part-time employment o n participation in education, training and work. Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth: a research program by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST). Camberwell Victoria, Australia. Wijewardena, H. and Rudkin, K. (1999) â€Å"An Empirical Investigation of Some Factors Affecting Student Performance in Introductory Accounting† The International Journal of Accounting and Business Society, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp39-53. Wooten, T. (1998) â€Å"Factors Influencing Student Learning in Introductory Accounting Classes: A Comparison of Traditional and Nontraditional Students† Issues in Accounting Education, Vol. 13, No. 2 May, pp357-373.

International Water Conflict Essay Example for Free

International Water Conflict Essay Water is one of the most precious commodities for human beings. To some, it is the very lifeblood of the world. From time immemorial, the availability of water has determined the rhythms of daily life in many regions. The critical importance of water to the survival of the human race can be seen in the earliest civilizations whose growth and sustenance were closely tied to its water distribution systems. Many authors have located the importance of water in different religious observances. In Hindu and Buddhist traditions, the rivers of the earth, including the Indus, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, originate from the mythical Mount Meru, the living place for the gods. In the Christian tradition, the waters originate from the Garden of Eden, and that divides the world into greatest streams: the Nile, the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Indus and the Ganges. Islam also gives water its due importance. The holy book Koran describes that every living thing is made from water. As Caponera points out, it seems that in the Koran, the most precious creation after humankind is water. There is a water crisis today. Water is not only a commodity, it is synonymous with life. All life on earth is dependent on water. If water is life, its possession bestows power. Water has crucial economic value, and it is a subsistence resource. Also, water has an emotional and symbolic value for certain countries and communities. The scarcity of water is increasing worldwide and its quality is continuously deteriorating. Water shortages reduce food production, aggrandize poverty, amplify disease and force people to migrate. The scarcity of water also undermines the states capacity to govern. Nearly half of the worlds population lives in international river basins. Sharing of the international rivers can therefore be a serious object of contention between riparian nations. For the last few years, water war has been a topic of widespread debate. However, wars over river water are likely only under a narrow set of circumstances, as there are also more examples of water cooperation than water conflict among countries. Nevertheless, the increasing scarcity of water raises doubt about the sustainability of these cooperative agreements over the international rivers. Water scarcity is particularly severe in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, owing to population growth, urbanization and industrialization. Whether the water crisis intensifies the dispute over the shared waters or whether it can be turned towards sustainable cooperative management of river resources, depends on many interacting processes. In this book (International conflict over water resources), after analyzing the existing sharing mechanisms of the major international river systems in these regions, argues that the real solution lies in a comprehensive approach to river basin management. The scarcity of water is increasing worldwide and the quality of the water is continually deteriorating. The growing global water stress poses a threat to the survival and prosperity of present and future generations. The gap between the needs of the growing population and the diminishing fresh water resources is widening every day. In the arid and tropical regions, where countries possess a very limited supply of water, it is not difficult to perceive the consequences. Water, a key necessity of life, can also cause friction between communities and countries, particularly in climatic zones where it is hard to come by. The over-exploitation of water resources might result in an acute shortage. From this perspective, it will be impossible for all the social actors to remain comfortable with the present or future prospects of the availability of the resource. These actors will work purposefully and consciously for their own interests. Increasing competition can potentially destroy the existing social arrangements for water distribution in the society. Newly organized actors with conflict behaviors might emerge in the future or the incompatibilities between existing actors might grow in societies with a weak administrative structure and laden with ethnic and social dichotomies. Scarce water resources can potentially trigger conflicts between the state and its internal groups. The development of water resources by the state by building dams, irrigation infrastructures, or industries in a particular region might be perceived by the local population as exploitation for the interest of others. Regional parties may be activated or environmental groups may be formed to challenge the actions of the state. If a particular group is involved in exploiting more than its perceived share of water with the backing of the state, then this inter-group conflict may escalate into conflict between the exploited group and the state itself. As discussed earlier, the construction of large dams for the efficient use of water resources has created tension between the state and a group of its own citizens in the past few years. The growing demand for irrigation and energy activates the state agencies to plan and build mega hydro-projects, which displace large population and inundate vast areas. In many places, the project affected population takes up of the struggle against the state. The list of mega dams that have witnessed this sort of protest is very long. The major ones include: Sanmenxia and Three Gorges in China; Madur Oya and Mahavali Project in Sri Lanka; Mangla, Nanela and Tarbela in Pakistan; Kaptai in Bangladesh; Arun in Nepal; Akasombo in Ghana; Kossou in Ivory Coast; Tana and Athi in Kenya; Itaparica and Tucurui in Brazil; Kainji and Niger Dams in Nigeria; Ataturk and Keban in Turkey; Lam Pao and Nam Pong in Thailand; Kedong Ombo and Batang Ai in Indonesia; Upper Pampanga in Philippines; Manantali in Mali; Savajina in Colombia; Brokopondo in Suriname; Caracol and Netzahualcoyotl in Mexico; and Nam Ngum in Laos. India, currently in the forefront of dam construction, deserves a separate list of its own. The Indian hydro-projects that have recently led to protest movements by the displaced people are: Pong Dam, Subarnarekha Project, Nagarjunsagar Project, Srisailam Project, Lower Manair Dam, Upper Krishna Projects, Tehri Dam, Narmada Projects and Ukai Reservoir Project. Sometimes disagreement over the development and sharing of water resources may begin with competing groups inside a state, but the states perceived favour of a particular group brings the state as a party to the conflict. Similarly, if the water source exploitation is perceived as the states intentional act on a particular region or people, a group identity may form, leading to conflict with the state. The construction of dams for hydropower generations in the northern part of Sweden to provide energy to the industries and factories in the South has become an area of disagreement between the Sami people of the North and the Swedish state. The Samis, who live in the forests in the Arctic Circle, accuse the state of favoring city dwellers at the cost of their livelihood and welfare. Even though this dispute has not transformed into a violent separatist movement, the reactions to similar issues in South Asia have been quite different. Disagreement over the sharing of river water from the Indus river system has been one of the major causes of violent secessionist movement in the Punjab province of India in the 1980s and 1990s. This Sikh-dominated province has been traditionally provided with a water supply from the Beas, Sutlej and Ravi Rivers. The demands of the downstream provinces of Rajasthan and Haryana persuaded the Indian government to construct canals and divert 60 per cent of Punjabs water and energy to those Hindu-majority regions. This became one of the major motivations for the Sikh Party (Akali Dal) to ask for autonomy in the 1970s, which subsequently transformed into an extreme violent secessionist movement in the 1980s and 1990s. On the other side of the border, the dispute over the sharing of the same Indus river system water has also played a critical role in a major separatist movement in Pakistan. The Pakistani part of Punjab, which is economically and politically the most powerful province in the country, takes advantage of its upstream location and consumes most of the waters of the Indus river system through the help of barrages and dams, ignoring the demand of the downstream Sind province. The perceived close tie of the federal government with the Punjab province has escalated this conflict between the Sind province and the Pakistani government. The link between fresh water resources and international conflicts can be investigated at least in two different dimensions. First, in an interstate conflict, the deliberate targeting of water storage facilities may be directly responsible for inducing water scarcity or reducing the water quality of the opponent. Thus, water scarcity becomes part of a military strategy and military behavior. The British Royal Air Force damaged a few German dams in the bombing runs of 1943. Dams and dykes were destroyed during the Korean and Vietnam wars by the US bombing. Iran claimed to have hit a hydroelectric station in Iraq in July 1981, as part of the Iran-Iraq War. Dams, water storage and conveyance systems were targeted by the warring sides during the 1991 Gulf War. Allied forces even had thought of a plan to shut off the flow of water to Iraq by using the Ataturk Dam in Turkey. Armies in Yemen (in the 1994 war) and former Yugoslavia (1991-95) used the water storage facilities as targets to create problems for their adversaries. In January 1993, the Serbian militia seriously damaged the Peruca Dam in Croatia. There are cases where in fact a human population is held hostage to political and military leaders. Manipulation with such basic human supplies in times of war should be an urgent issue for international humanitarian law, and it certainly would be unacceptable under conditions of peace. However, the aim here is to concentrate on a second dimension of the relationship: the likelihood of changes in fresh water resource supply to cause or contribute to the emergence and/or escalation of conflicts among states. As discussed before, there has been a general decline in the quantity and quality of global fresh water resource. This leads us to consider scarcity of resources as a cause of conflict, in conflict theory language: an incompatibility between already existing parties. A common starting point in the analysis of many inter-state conflicts has been sought in the desire of the leaders of states to acquire territory. In the post-Second World War period, it has become unfashionable and immoral to conquer territories of others. Nevertheless this has happened repeatedly, for instance, in the Middle East, in South and Southeast Asia and lately in Europe. Huth characterizes territorial dispute as one of the enduring features of international politics. But, why do states fight for each others territory? As Toset, Gleditsch and Hegre explain, territory can be a symbol of self-determination and national identity, but it can also be a proxy for tangible resources found on the territory. Thus, access to water supply can be a motive of waging war. Under special circumstances it is a possibility that scarcity of fresh water resources may give rise to serious armed conflict. â€Å"Water is not transported across large distances, as is the case with oil or minerals, for instance. In the post-Second World War period, political actions are taking place more in order to satisfy the demands of the majorities of a country. † (Barrett, S. 1994, p. 24) This means that stronger nations might be more in need of natural resources on the territory of other states, to meet the growing needs and desires of the home population. In this way, development might be seen to require the acquisition or exploitation of a larger share of jointly owned fresh water resource. The water on the surface of the earth is naturally organized within river basins. The river basins are the fundamental units of the fresh water world and the central feature of the ecology of the planet. Moreover, the river runoff is the most important source of available fresh water for human consumption. However, the rivers do not follow the political boundaries; nearly 260 rivers flow from one country to another. More than 40 per cent of the worlds population is directly dependent upon the fresh water from these international rivers and about two-thirds of these people live in developing countries. The use or misuse of water in the upstream countries affects its quantity and quality in the downstream countries. Downstream nations can affect the flow of water by building large-scale dams, with effects spilling over the borders. The International Water Management Institute in Colombo projects that in 2025, 3 billion people will be living in countries facing water stress. Water tables are increasingly falling in every continent. Many developing countries already face serious problems in meeting rapidly growing water demands. In order to meet such demands, further pressure is being placed on these blue water resources, this over-exploitation resulting in acute shortages. Faced with such scarcity, water has increasingly become a source of social tension, bringing further competition and creating conflict which, together, have the potential to destroy the existing arrangements for water distribution. Even though such tensions are omnipresent, they tend to be more complex and difficult where international rivers, lakes and aquifers are concerned. The Centre for Natural Resources, Energy and Transport (CNRET), now a defunct UN unit, brought out a Register of International Rivers in 1978. In that it listed 214 internationally shared rivers and lakes: 57 in Africa, 40 in Asia, 48 in Europe, 33 in North America and 36 in South America. The CNRET study has become dated because of significant changes in international geopolitical borders and names of countries and rivers in the last 25 years. The names of some countries and rivers have also changed in this period. The disintegration of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Ethiopia and Czechoslovakia has helped to increase the number of internationally shared rivers and lakes, and also the number of basin countries. For example, the Volga River is now international, and the Aral Sea is shared by at least four independent states. The re-unification of Germany and Yemen has made the Weser basin and the Teban basin national, contributing to a decrease in the number of international fresh water resources.