CRJ 560 Active Learning

The most common forms of academic dishonesty are cheating on tests and plagiarism. The ease of access that the Internet provides has also made it easier for students to plagiarize other peoples’ works. At the same time, online services such as Turnitin.com and SafeAssign have made it easier to catch students who plagiarize other peoples’ works. 

Despite all the warnings and admonishments some students will inevitably try to get away with it. Regrettably, sometimes they do, but sooner or later they get caught. These students risk getting an F on the assignment that they plagiarized and an F for the entire course. They can also be expelled from the university. 

For this discussion question, first read the section in the Syllabus regarding Academic Dishonesty. Then read the article titled, "Student Perceptions of Anti Plagiarism Programs" (Nuñez, 2011). 

In your analysis, consider the pros and cons of the Saint Leo policy whereby students are required to submit their written assignments to the Turnitin.com web site. Consider that some other universities do not require students to submit their works to Turnitin or a comparable plagiarism check web site. These other universities leave it up to the student to check their own work on an optional basis. The course instructors are also given the latitude whether to check the work for plagiarism or not.

Now consider another Saint Leo University procedure as it pertains to plagiarism. Unlike some other universities, Saint Leo does not afford its instructors the discretion to make determinations and take disciplinary actions against students who have been caught plagiarizing. Instead, the Saint Leo procedure is to have the professors forward all the information regarding the plagiarism incident to the Graduate Academic Standards Committee, which in turn makes the final determination as to how the student will be disciplined. By contrast, some other universities allow the individual professor to make the determination as to whether there has been plagiarism and the professors are given the authority to deal with the matter in any way they deem appropriate.

Explain the advantages and disadvantages of these two very different policies. Which one do you think is better and why?

The Tea Party movement that started in 2010 is considered by some political analysts as an example of a “grass roots” initiative by frustrated common citizens who seek to influence national policy. In 2011, the Occupy Wall Street movement came into prominence and was immediately compared to the Tea Party.

For this discussion question you will take the identity of an analyst working for the Criminal Intelligence Bureau (CIB) of the Miami-Dade Police Department. Your Bureau commander has assigned you the task of analyzing these two political movements that are likely to protest during the upcoming DRNC event next year. Your analysis and recommendations will weigh heavily on your command staff’s policy formation as it pertains to these two particular political groups.

For this discussion post, you must conduct your own research and cite at least three sources. Your report to the CIB Commander must be at least 500 words long, but no more than 1,000 words. As always, your response must be written at the graduate level and cited properly according to APA style guidelines.

At a minimum, you are to address the following:

• Describe and analyze the Tea Party and the Occupy Wall Street movements and determine their underlying motives and their likely involvement in the upcoming DRNC event.
• How have these movements differed from other political movements in the past?
• How do the Tea Party and the Occupy Wall Street movement differ from one another?
• What policy recommendations do you make to the Miami-Dade Police Department command staff on how to deal with these two political movements during the upcoming DRNC?

For this discussion question, first read the case study on pages 182 – 210 of the textbook. Analyze case study in utilizing the Five Step Approach provided by the authors. The five steps are the following:

1. Define the problem and determine its causes.
2. Establish criteria to evaluate alternatives.
3. Generate policy alternatives.
4. Evaluate and select policy.
5. Evaluate adopted policy.

After addressing these five steps, answer discussion question number 8 on page 202, which states: 

Did the five-step model help you understand the problem, and help you organize and structure your research and a potential response in a way that made the task more manageable, and your analysis more thorough? Or did this problem reveal possible limitations of the five step approach? 

For this discussion question you are to assume the position of Major Louis Warren, the principal planner for security for the DRNC event.

Based on your readings so far, identify the three likeliest threats that you expect to encounter on the week of the event. Then identify the three most consequential threats that you expect to encounter that week. Understanding that risk is a function of likelihood and consequence (Risk = Likelihood X Consequence), how do you rank order the overall risk posed by these threats?

For the second part of this question, you will need to formulate a very brief policy statement (not to exceed seven words) that best addresses the risks that you have identified. You may formulate one, two, or three policy statements at the most for this question.