Quality of Life

The quality of life as a student is affected and will be affected by a number of factors. Positively, one factor with a positive effect on quality of life at the university of Glamorgan is the sense of security. Unlike the university experience in west-Africa, Glamorgan offers a secure, quiet and conducive environment for learning. Although the the town of Trefforest where it is located may possess some racist tendencies, the town remains a relatively safe environment for students to live both on and off campus.

Also, the university facilities provide basic social amenities as well as a large pool of information resources. Particularly, the university's wireless internet network can be accessed anywhere on campus as well as an internet-based school network. This makes information easily accessible and the school network allows each student to keep track of academic work and relevant schedules as well as stay abreast of current university affairs.

In contrast, one negative aspect that may affect quality of of life at the university of Glamorgan is the stress of coursework and academic life. Students studying more complicated courses such as engineering and law-related courses may encounter large volumes of assignments and research which may result in sleepless nights and long hours of studying without rest and this can be deemed unhealthy.
 

The London Riot

  In various countries and at different time periods, riots have taken place and continue to take place. The only thing that separates one riot from the other is its general effect on the society. This can be seen in the level of casualties in each riot and the radius of the land area covered by the riot and resulting violence. In particular, the London riot of 2011 which affected the area of Tottenham, in North London has had many reasons for its evaluation.

Brief History
According to CBC (2011), the London riots started on the 6th of August 2011 in the areas of Tottenham, North London. It began when an estimated 300 people gathered to protest the shooting of 29-year old Mark Duggan by the Police. It is said that Mark Duggan was shot dead by a Police officer unjustly .This resulted in a general outrage in the community which is a combination of different cultures. In addition to that, there had been claims of recent harassment by Police on younger members of society and although it all began as a peaceful protest outside the Tottenham police station, the protesters saw no progress in their quest to know the truth and decided to resort to violence. Later on, before the situation could be bought to order, many people started destroying vehicles, breaking into shops and generally there was a breakdown in law and order which led to chaos in the community. Sooner or later, this outbreak of chaos spread first to some other parts of London like Croydon and Brixton, then onto other cities in the UK such as Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham and Birmingham.

 Facts and Figures
-According to Lewis (2011), 42 people had been arrested as at the 7th of August 2011
-Also, about 26 Police officers were injured as at this date
-Later on, about 100 more Police officers were injured as at 12th of August

Speculated Causes and General Reaction 
    The major cause of this protest which led to a riot was believed to be the unjust killing of Mark Duggan by a Police officer. However the outburst of chaos in Tottenham was discouraged by the family as they said they were not 'condoning the violence that erupted' as it would bring no solution to discovering the circumstances behind his death, (BBC, 2011).
    Another cause, as suggested by a recent research (Lewis et al, 2011) involving around 270 people who rioted in London, is that the rioters may have exhibited acts of antagonism and a lack of trust towards the Police. In other cases, rioters narrowed down the reason for their actions simply to opportunity. Although the riots were initially thought to be pre-empted attacks by gang members, it was later discovered that gang members had little effect on the attacks, rather with ages of rioters mostly within the ages of 16-24, a large number of them were found to be unemployed. (CBC, 2011)
   Finally, as explained by Lammy (cited in Walters, 2012) MP of Tottenham, one other major reason for the outbreak of chaos was the proper discipline that children lack which makes it difficult for parents to bring their teenage children under control. Although, he had earlier stated that ' this was attack on Tottenham, on people, shopkeepers, women, children, now standing homeless'; he attached some blame to the ban on smacking children and confessed that children need smacking when necessary to instil discipline in them.


Conclusion
  In summary, the illegal killing of Mark Duggan can be said to have sparked up the embers that went from a peaceful protest to a  town-wide outspread of chaos mostly triggered by the unclarity of the Police concerning the issue. The London riots of 2011 have given an example of how many people decided to use violence to support illegal acts for a cause that had no proper depth.  In some of the other rioting cities in the UK, some rioters had no clue about why this was going on but as stated earlier that many of the rioters were unemployed people, they took it as an opportunity to breakdown law and order.



References:

BBC (2011). London riots: Dozens injured after Tottenham violence. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14435251 (Accessed: 10 March 2012) 

CBC (2011) Getting to the root of the U.K. riots. Available at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/08/09/f-uk-riots-faq.html (Accessed: 10March 2012)

Lewis, P. (2011) 'Tottenham riots: 26 police officers injured and 42 people arrested', The Guardian, 7 August [Online]. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/07/tottenham-riots-eight-police-injured (Accessed: 10 March 2012) 

Ball, J. Lewis, P. Newburn, T. Taylor, M. (2011) 'Rioters say anger with police fuelled summer unrest', The Guardian, 5 December [Online]. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/05/anger-police-fuelled-riots-study (Accessed: 10  March 2012)

Walters, S. (2012) 'Labour MP: Smacking ban led to riots because parents fear children will be taken away if they discipline them', Mail, 29 January [Online]. Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2093223/Labour-MP-David-Lammy-Smacking-ban-led-riots.html (Accessed date: 10 March 2012)

 

MEDIA

Types of Newspapers being compared Broadsheets and Tabloids
Newspapers being compared:  The Guardian and The Sun 
Item of News: Cardinal Keith O'Brien's comments concerning gay marriages
  
Similarities:

• Both newspapers state the author of the article and the times they were last updated.
• Both newspapers also placed some information concerning the author in the case of there being a need to make contact or just know more about the author
• Both newspapers post the same picture in their stories

Differences:

Area of Focus	The Sun	The Guardian
Picture	Here there are more pictures and they are much bigger.	Here there is only one picture and it is much smaller.
	Pictures are not very well described.	Pictures are properly described.
Text	Much more shorter  because of the big pictures and not very detailed concerning the story.	Much more longer because of the smaller picture and contains more details.
Style	Use of non-academic language such as “Storm as cardinal raps gay marriage” in the headlines.	Use of proper academic language such as “cardinal O’Brien’s gay marriage comments decried as scaremongering” in the headlines.
	Biased and tends to paint the story badly.	Cautious language is used.
Organisation	Not very well organised.	Well organised story  with paragraphing.

References:

Jowitt, J. (2012) 'Cardinal Keith O'Brien's gay marriage comments decried as scaremongering', The Guardian, March 2012 [Online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/04/cardinal-kieth-obrien-gay-marriage (Accessed: 5 March 2012)

Wilson, G. (2012) 'Storm as Cardinal raps gay marriage', The Sun, March 2012 [Online] Available at: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/4171188/Storm-as-cardinal-raps-gay-marriage.html (Accessed: 5 March 2012)

Language

         The language of French is officially the language of France and French people. According to Edwards (2007), the language of French is spoken by an estimated 128 million people worldwide. These include France, a part of Canada and 24 other countries  which were colonized by the French or originated from the French. Particularly in the UK, the larger population of the French-speaking population is situated in London; areas such as Croydon and Lewisham.

• The entrance of French into the UK in the year 1687 was signalled with the arrival of the Huguenot French people. These were members of the French protestant church who fled France with mass killing of anyone who did not worship in the catholic church. (Gwynn, 2012)
• According to Scarborough(2012), the ascension of king Louis XIVin 1661 brought the removal of the Edict of Nantes which was created by king Henry IV in 1598. This edict gave the Huguenots freedom of worship and religion but with its removal came their forced conversion to Catholicism or their mass massacre. 
• With the mass killing of Huguenots, many of them began to flee France but soon emigration was outlawed and those that were caught were sent to the galleys. However, an estimated 50,000 Huguenots arrived in England in between 1687 and 1714 (Gwynn, 2012) by means of the sea and for more years many of them still came to settle in england although a large number of them is said to have died at sea. 
• The settling of the Huguenots in England was not generally accepted by the english people but with growing interest in French fashion and style combined with the fact that they were hard workers, the French people became a gradual part of the English society. The evidence of their loyalty to England was proven in the Anglo-French wars and the Napoleonic wars. 
• Therefore, by the end of the 17th century the Huguenots has proven their willingness to become english and today, in the UK, French is the most commonly taught language in secondary schools across the UK (Edwards, 2007)

 

 Huguenot exiles from France (2005) 

References:

Edwards, V. (2007) French in the British Isles. Available at:http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/multilingual/french.shtml (Accessed: 6 March 2012)

Gwynn, R. (2012) 'England's First Refugees', History Today, 35(5) [Online]. Available at: http://www.historytoday.com/robin-gwynn/englands-first-refugees (Accessed: 9 March 2012) 

Scarborough, S. (2012) Huguenots- Their Faith, History and Impact. Available at: http://www.reformationsa.org/articles/The_huguenots.htm (Accessed: 9 March 2012)

Google Images (2005) Huguenot Exiles from France [Online]. Available at:http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?um=1&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=664&tbm=isch&tbnid=5dkRfAuntJdKlM:&imgrefurl=http://faculty.unlv.edu/gbrown/Hist103/index.html&docid=lJf0Y9nNF_GvyM/ (Accessed 9 March 2012)

The Welsh Assembly

       The Welsh Assembly is the law-making body of Wales. It consists 60 elected members; 40 of them are chosen to represent individual constituencies and 5 of them are chosen to represent the 5 regions of Wales. It can be suggested that because Cardiff city is the capital of Wales, the government building where the Assembly hold its plenary meeting is also located in Cardiff. This building is called the Senedd which was opened in 2006. It has public spaces where the people of Wales can watch Assembly meetings.
 
    History of Welsh Assembly Devolution  

• First of all, according to the Cambridge advanced learners dictionary[online] devolution is the moving of power or responsibility from a main organization to a lower level, or from a central government to a regional government. In the case of Wales, it was the movement of some powers from the UK government to the Welsh one.
• The commencement of this devolution was in 1997 when the people of Wales voted 'yes' in a referendum which led to the 1998 creation of the National Assembly for Wales. (Welsh Assembly Government, 2011) 
• Later on, in the 2006 Government of Wales Act, the National Assembly for Wales was given power to ask for allowance to create laws on issues re-assigned to the National Assembly.
• Recently, the 2011 referendum on law-making powers for the National Assembly for Wales resulted in a 'yes' vote. This does not mean that the National Assembly for Wales can make laws on more areas than before but that it no longer requires the assertion of the UK parliament in making laws on 20 devolved areas of economy. Some of these areas are agriculture, education, the environment, health, housing and local government.(National Assembly for Wales, 2012)  

     Summarily, this latest referendum has brough about a number of differences in welsh law-makin such as: "Assembly laws will no longer be called Assembly Measures;Proposed laws will now be called Bills" and many more     .

                                                            GoogleImages(2011)

References:

Welsh Assembly Government (2011) History of Devolved Government in Wales. Available at: http://wales.gov.uk/about/history/devolved/?lang=en (Accessed: 24 February 2012)

National Assembly for Wales (2012) The Referendum. Available at: http://www.assemblywales.org/gethome/vote2011/get_involved-referendum.htm    

GoogleImages (2011) [Online]. Welsh Referendum 2011 Available at: http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=welsh+referendum+2011&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm/ 
 (Accessed: 24 February 2012).

Presentation Feedback

Strengths:

• Confidence in speech
• Proper eye contact
• Audible voice level
• Adequate gesticulation 
• Very detailed

Weaknesses:

• Not enough design on  presentation
• Irregular stuttering
• Needed references

Things to Note for Next Presentation:

• Addition of custom animation
• Giving out handouts concerning the topic

A New Government

       A new government has emerged from the latest general election led by David Cameron,  leader of the Coalition of Conservatives and Liberal democrats. For years, only either the Conservatives or Labour parties have partaken in government, while Lib Dems have been in between. This coalition was the product of a hung parliament. However, the negotiations that happened demanded a higher proportional system for future elections.

Reference:
InsideOut (2010) A New Government. Available at: http://www.insideout.net

Time Management

      'Time' is one of those elements can never be regained when lost. It is the building block of all the world because as world undergoes evolution, time plays a major role in its development. Even life as we know it is measures by time in years, months, week and days; in essence,  Time is Life.
      Like any other natural element, time must be managed judiciously, as it can never be regained. This is where the term "Time Management"comes into play.
Hence the question, 'what is time management?'
      It is believed that time management is process whereby an individual plans, calculates, schedules and organises daily, weekly or regular activities in order to make optimum use of available time  in a day and to avoid disorderliness and disorganisation. When time is effectively managed, an individual can benefit from it financially, socially, phycologically, emotionally and physically.
However, experts seem to have a more concise defition. According to Tiedemann(2007):                         
'Time management is a self-disciplined, self-discovered tool by which is a standard of measure that we are all given to quantify our priorities in any given day. It is simply how we manage our time, manage our disciplines and ultimately, manage our selves in our mindsets in a balanced mental, physical and Spiritual manner of delegation of that time'.

  Although this emphasis on time and time mangement had gone on for decades, many people still find it either difficult or unnecessary to manage this irreplaceable element. This is because time management requires some basic skills. Some of these skills are:

• Prioritization:- this is necessary in order to be able to separate one's needs from one's wants. This means differentiating between important activities and desirous activities for example, a student  putting a study session at higher priority than playing football which is for leisure. This can be achived by creating a task list which activities are arranged in order of importance. 

• Goal Setting:- this is also helps to create a pathway in which one can plan present and future ambitions. It gives individuals a sense of focus in every situation This can be achieved through structured schedules.   

As an individual, I also possess have some strengths and weaknesses with regards to time management:

TIME   MANAGEMENT    SKILL	STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES	PROPOSED SOLUTION
Having a daily schedule or reminder	Keep a diary for daily activities.	Find it difficult to strictly keep to it.	Being principled and determined.
Assignments and Research	Mostly finish work on time.	Sometimes forget deadline of submission.	Have constant reminders on all devices.
Studying	Have a pre-planned study time.	Get easily distracted.	Locate quiet and suitable places to study.
Attendance	Always get to appointments and classes early.	May forget some of the necessary material that is required.	Do a check-list of necessary items before leaving.

In summary, TIME is the essence of Life and is measured by time, hence it should be properly invested in order to witness positive results in all areas of life.


Reference:
Tiedemann, L.(2007) What does Time Management Mean for You? Available at:        http://www.articlesbase.com/time-management-articles/what-does-time-management-mean-for-you-274353.html(Accessed: 17 February 2012) 

Advantages and Disadvantages of EU Membership

         The European Union or the EU,  was created in 1993 with the signing of the treaty of the European union popularly known as the Maastricht treaty. Although efforts had been made in the past to unify Europe as a whole the signing of the treaty implied that the original 12 member states had become economically integrated and would possess common policies in a number of areas(Online Encyclopedia, 2009). This economic integration signalled that there would be a common market with among member states with which to influence policies and create common ground for its member states to form allliances and benefit from one another.  Therefore, in theory, it can be said that  the EU was created with a view of producing a large federation, both politically and economically.

Numerous member states of the EU  benefit heavily from the union, these benefits are as follows:
  
* Funds :- there are major funds attributed to developing the union, socially, economically and regionally. These funds are classed under the group of Mainstream funding.
      The most substantial aid  for developmental projects involving productive investments is the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This is aimed at creating and maintaining jobs, improve developmental projoects in the regions and assist Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SME's).
        There is also the European Social Fund(ESF) which is beneficiary to human resource development and engaging widespread support for training and employment schemes at the national and regional level. Finally, the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) which is solely aimed at rural development (Tourism Unit, 1996) 

*Common Currency:- the creation and existence of the EURO as the common currency for member states with the exception of the United Kingdom has made business between countries easier to to carry out as there is no concern for exchange rates. This currency is presently the official currency of over 10 countries and it has removed diversification in business.

*Single Market:- Businesswise, this European single market has a population estimated at 500 million and with one registered european trademark, business is made easy and it also exposes SME's to economies of scale and export markets. For consumers, this free movement of goods and services across borders provides a wider range of commodities to choose from and with the registered Eupean trademark 'CE', consumers are more informed about  these products and are guaranteed a minimum standard. Finally, this single market gives individuals the right to live, work, or study in any other EU country. Hence studying abroad is made easy through the ERASMUS student foreign exchange programme. This creates a wider range of opportunities for individuals to choose from.(Great Britain. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, 2012)

Although the EU has numerous benefits it is possesses a number of disadvantages:
*Cost:- according to (EconomicsHelp, 2012) the EU costs an estimated £6.4 to maintain, fund, and oversee. One of the factors which contibute to this is the large employee network. The EU has different organs and specialized ones with a large number of workers in numerous countries.

*Problems of the Euro:- the Eurozone; nations that tender the Euro as  main currency; has faced my obstacles especially in establishing interest rates across its member states. The reason for this being that the member nations do not all have the same growtth rate which makes it difficult for the European Central Bank (ECB) to set interest rate which will benefit all nations. This is one of the main factors contributing to the current Eurozone crisis. It is also believed to be a major reason why the UK refuses be part of the Eurozone.

*Net Migration:- the free movement of people, goods and services across Europe has resulted in some overcrowded cities in the UK and across Europe. Major cities such as London, Berlin and many others have become overcrowded and this is beginning to put pressure on available resources.

       
                                                                                                                                                              

 

                                                       European Union Countries(2009)

References:

1. EconomicsHelp(2012).Available at: http://www.economicshelp.org/europe/disadvantages-eu.html  (Accessed: 31 January 2012).
2. Encyclopedia of Management,(2009) European Union. Available at: http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/European_Union.aspx (Accessed: 31 January 2012).
3. Google Images(2009) European Union Countries[Online]. Available at: http://www.europeword.com/blog/europe/the-european-union-countries-at-the-helm-of-global-affairs/ (Accessed: 1 February 2012).
4. Great Britain. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (2012) Benefits and Achievments of EU Single Market. [Online]. Available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/europe/benefits-of-eu-embership (Accessed: 31 January 2012). 
5. Tourism Unit, (1996) Tourism and the European Union: A Practical Guide. Luxembourg: Office for official publications of the European communities.

Educational System in UK and Nigeria

               From the the generalization of education all over the world, there have been many arising differences and similarities between different countries depending on the style the country required. However, with the influx of international trade and diversification of languages, the basic educational system has become a compulsory need in the lives of individuals who wish to locate lucrative jobs. Hence, there is a general hunger for high quality education at any level which is why numerous students travel thousands of miles away from home to different parts of the world to acquire quality education. Nevertheless, there is a need to examine the educational systems in the UK and my home country, Nigeria.

Here are some of the similarities between educational systems in the UK and Nigeria.

·         First of all, both systems are strictly based on proper British English.

·         Also, the systems are broken into three age stages : age 5-11, age 11-16 and 16 and above

·         Finally, the stages of school are called both the same names in the UK and Nigeria; primary school, secondary school and university. These are divided into terms and sessions.

Below are the differences:

	United kingdom	Nigeria
1.       Age of entry	By law, the compulsory age for a child to start school is 5 years.	There is no enforced age for starting school. Some children start earlier than 5 years, others later while some not at all.
2.       Finance	The UK government funds the education children between the ages of 5 and 16 years.	Here, the government only subsidises the prices of its public schools to make them cheaper. However, they are of very bad quality. There is also the option of private schools which must be funded by parents or guardian.
3.       Age of continuity	By law, child must be 11 years and above to enter secondary education and must be 18 years and above to enter university education.	Although there are laws regarding the ages for continuity there is no real enforcement of children’s ages to enter any level of education.
4.       A ‘levels or Sixth form	It is compulsory for a child to go to a sixth form or A’ level college before entering any university.	Here, it is no longer compulsory to do A’ levels before entering university. Hence, numerous children start university education before 18 years.

Clearly, there is a major difference in the adherence to rules in the UK than in Nigeria. However, that is not to say that both systems do not face their own problems. As suggested by Mortimore (2010), the UK government needs to give its teachers some extent of appraisal and sovereignty in classroom environment. It also needs to create a “democratically elected” commission to suggest amendments in the system to make it more effective and reduce its dependence in party politics. Hence, it is observed that the UK has its own issues with education.

Nigeria is not left out with its own set of issues. According to Tomori, (2012). The Nigerian educational system is filled with gaps such as inadequate infrastructure and facilities to provide a conducive learning environment; this is caused by poor funding of said schools by the Nigerian government. Hence, it could be said that both educational systems in Nigeria and the UK are somewhat similar but there is quite a gap in the level of quality.

Mortimore, P. (2010) ‘Ten Education Issues the Government should address’, The Guardian, 4 May [Online]. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/may/04/education-big-issues-new-government  (Accessed: 24 January 2012).

Tomori, O. (2012) ‘Education will be far worse in 2012’, The Punch, 5 January [Online]. Available at:  http://www.punchng.com/feature/2012-in-view/education-will-fare-worse-in-2012-tomori/   (Accessed date: 25 January 2012).