1776 by David McCullough Essay Example for Free

1776 by David McCullough Essay Revered historian David McCullough covers the martial side of the historic year of 1776 with trait insight and an enthralling description, appending new research and an innovative standpoint to the foundation of the American Revolution. It was a tumultuous and bewildering time. As British and American officials fought to make a negotiation, incidents on the ground escalated until war was unavoidable. McCullough writes gaudily about the depressing conditions that herds on both sides had to bear, embracing a bizarrely ruthless winter, and the job that luck and the quirks of the climate played in assisting the regal forces hold off the worlds supreme militia. He also successfully discovers the magnitude of enthusiasm and troop self-confidence a knot was the same as a triumph to the Americans, while anything other than crushing victory was off-putting to the British, who projected a quick finish to the combat The redcoat withdraw from Boston, for instance, was principally mortifying for the British, whereas the negligible American win at Trenton was overstated regardless of its partial strategic importance. In his latest book, 1776, David McCullough wields on this significant year the narrative gifts he is expressed in such fascinating accounts as The Great Bridge plus The Path between the Seas. As a olden times of the American Revolution, it is an improbably abridged volume: critical developments leading to the insurrection like the Stamp Act, which occur to fall external the boundaries of Mr. McCulloughs strict time outline, are not observed, and succeeding episodes of the war (which would keep on after the Trenton-Princeton crusade for an added half-dozen traumatic years) are overlooked as well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Quantities of the strongest courses in 1776 are the illuminating and well-formed descriptions of the Georges on either sides of the Atlantic. King George III, so often represented as a shambling, haughty fool, is given an additional attentive treatment by McCullough, who reveals that the king deemed the settlers to be ill-tempered subjects without valid gripes an outlook that led him to underrate the will and aptitudes of the Americans. Now and then he seems dazed that war was even obligatory. The great Washington meets his substantial status in these pages, and McCullough hinges on private association to balance the man and the fable, disclosing how severely concerned Washington was about the Americans chances for success, regardless of his public sanguinity. Perhaps more than any other man, he recognized how providential they were to simply carry on the year, and he gladly places the responsibility for their fortuity in the hands of God in lieu of his own. Enchanting and terrifically written, 1776 is the work of a skilled historian.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1776 is least valuable, nevertheless, at conveying the interior of most war narratives: combat. The initial, and best, hundred pages focus on the cordon of Boston, an overwrought but almost bloodless issue. When the action transfers to New York, the narrative sagged. McCullough writes with great lucidity regarding the composite tactics between Manhattan, Long Island and Westchester County in the summer and fall of 1776. But when battle blasts, the action turns out to be hindered in stock images. 1776 is even so an emotive and sensible work, reminding us that its armed forces rather than tavern nationalists and turbulent politicians who have constantly paid the price of American optimism and determined its victories. Works Cited McCullough, David, (May 24, 2005), 1776, Simon Schuster ISBN: 0743226712.

A Reality Check In Contemporary Indian Media Media Essay

A Reality Check In Contemporary Indian Media Media Essay The paper discusses the evolution of the Gatekeeping Model over the years and examines how the traditional roles of gatekeeping have witnessed a change. From editors and reporters, the news and information is now being filtered by corporate houses, sponsors, advertisers, politicians and in case of the social media, the audience themselves. The research also offers an overview of the trend of cross media ownership in India and how the sponsors are influencing the information carried where corporatization of the media has affected the flow of news. Besides, it also studies the idea of gatekeeping in India in the context of social networking where the users themselves are gatekeepers. The paper suggests that the traditional methods of gatekeeping have decayed and hence it should be understood in novel contexts keeping in mind the rapid growth of new technologies and different ways of mass communication. Keywords: Gatekeeping, Advertisers, Social media, Indian media. Which news is more valuable? Twenty one persons killed and dozens injured in train collision or The speeding train kills seven elephants. Most people would say both are equally important but the people who are actually involved in the process of news selection and placement will be holding a different view. One of the news stories will be given more value than the other and so would be placed accordingly in the news paper. One of them might take a position on the front page while the other might have to be satisfied by being on some inside page. Most of the times, the stories with comparatively less value might not even get a chance to be published if the space on the page is not enough. Everyday numerous events take place that need reporting but not all of them can be published in a news paper or be flashed on a TV screen or announced on a radio set. The idea of gatekeeping seems logical at first since there is a limitation of time and space in publications and channels and very sim ply put, not everything can be shown or published. Thus, some kind of filtration is but natural. However, there are conscious processes involved which decide what has to be transmitted and what has to be withheld. The earliest concept of gatekeeping has assigned this conscious role to the editors of media houses. Traditionally, such decisions were based on the principles of news value and making such decisions used to be the major task of a gatekeeper which was taken up by the editor of a news paper. Every story that used to enter the newsroom had to go through the scrutiny of the editor and only after the editor approves, it was allowed to be published. Hence, it can be said that an editor used to have the final say in what is to be sent to the readers and what not. Editor was the sole authority holding the gate through which the stories pass. The traditional theories and models on gatekeeping also laid emphasis on the importance of the role of an editor in the paradigm of news communication. The famous model of gate keeping given by D.M. White(1950) focused only on the role of an editor as the man who made decisions. However, his theory was criticized when the other factors influencing the decision started gaining recognition. The editors started losing their say in the news selection process as the media got locked into the power structure, and consequently as acting largely in tandem with the dominant institutions in society. The media thus reproduced the viewpoints of dominant institutions not as one among a number of alternative perspectives, but as the central and obvious or natural perspective (Curran et al, 1982). The element of biasness affects the information that is received by the reader. The editor is required to keep in mind a number of things other than the news value principles for letting a story be published. The flow of information is being regulated by the gatekeepers who are not directly involved in the news gathering process but are the managers and the owners of the media firms or the advertisers or other stake holders. Money and power are able to filter out the news fit to print, marginalize dissent, and allow the government and dominant private interests to get their messages across to the public (Herman and Chomsky, 1988). The political affiliation of a media outlet determines the ideology it would stand for and hence the gatekeeping will be done accordingly. The gatekeeper moulds the stories in a way that satisfy the interest of a political leader or a group and so changing the angle and slant of the real truth. Mass media content is influenced by media workers socialization and attitudes. Their professional training, personal and political attitudes and affiliations lead them to produce a social reality (Riaz, 2008). To a certain level, gatekeeping is very important for communication planning but as the news media has been overpowered by the top tier of corporate, it is becoming more of a negative term. Commercial advertising is the principal source of revenue for media and is very important for ensuring the survival of the media houses. In fact, the biggest regulators of the flow of information are the commercial organizations providing financial support to the media outlets in the form of advertisements. This has not only changed the nature of flow of news but also the entire set up of a news paper. Twenty five years ago, we could never imagine that first page of a newspaper in India would be full page advertisement. The news paper today looks more of a product catalogue than a news journal. On one hand, the globalization and liberalization provides a better scope of mediating while on the other it has given rise to commercialization of news. The profit making motive of the owners and publishers has led to backroom negotiation and encouraged payola which further leads to withholding of information and possibilities and hence preventing the readers from realizing the importance of truth in order to create the desired effect in the society. This can be easily related to agenda-setting. The gatekeeping today, is a vital part of the agenda-setting function of media as it is vastly used as a helping tool by the agenda setters. According to the agenda-setting theory, because of the fact of paying attention to some issues and neglecting and ignoring some others, the mass media will have an effect on public opinion (Riaz, 2008). For example, while watching a cricket match on television, one cannot watch the action taking place in the whole ground and also the spectators present in the pavilion from every angle at the same time. Even though today the information is coming from all corners, newspapers still remains as the top most trusted source in India and so the editorial decisions made in the dark without proper justification is not only an irresponsible act but also a corrupt practice. Keeping the gate is a serious responsibility and if the gatekeepers integrity is lost, the news paper too will loose its integrity. The gatekeeper has the power to forward the selected news items to the consumers. Therefore, the gatekeeper must have a moral justification of selecting a news story over the other because with power comes the accountability. News comes from the people and goes back to them. People are the ultimate source and the consumers of information. Hence, it is very important to ensure that the interests of the people are met. But the commercialization of media has led to conscious manipulations in sending back to the public what they are interested in and what can be discussed.Gatekeeping today can be called as one of the barriers to communication because the gatekeepers decide the nature of thoughts that will be created in the minds of the people and dictate what is worthy of the attention of the receiver. Here, one can raise an eyebrow and can ask for ones right to information. There has been numerous instances where biased gatekeeping created false or skewed notion of an institution, event or an individual. These will be discussed later in the paper.    Gatekeepers of news and information: The theoretical underpinning The gatekeepers model has been the bedrock of many communication studies in India and abroad and it has been the most debated theory as well. Communication scholars like Wilbur Schramm have outlined the basic tenets of the process of communication. A message is sent by a sender to a receiver through a channel and the receiver gives feedback making the communication process a dynamic and continuous one. However, the gatekeepers model has been seminal in the sense that it has identified influences of the institutional roles of editors on the information, especially information in news form, being passed on to readers, listeners and viewers. The evolution of the Gatekeepers theory has been charted by Chris Roberts, a Doctoral student at The University of South Carolina in a paper titled Communication Theory and Methodology Division Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication presented in August 2005 at Communication Theory and Methodology Division Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication San Antonio, Texas. Roberts has termed the concept as the vanilla ice cream of mass communication theory. He says- this is so since it may not be everyones favourite, but nearly everyone can tolerate it and while it may have an unremarkable flavour, it serves as a building block for other theory and methodological approaches. In post-war America in 1947, it was Prussian scholar Kurt Lewin who coined the term gatekeeping. He concluded in a study of sweetbreads on Iowa housewives that they are the gatekeepers who control what food enters the channels that ultimately bring it from the garden or super market into the household and onto the dining-room table. Each channel is walled into sections surrounded by gates the decision-making points that determine whether the food will enter the channel to start with, or move to the next section. But there are forces which exert pressure along the way to accept or reject food. He however added that the theory holds not only for food channels but also for the travelling of a news item through certain communication channels in a groupà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Lewin, 1947). It was in the same year 1947 that David Manning White decided to observe how an editor of a newspaper chooses or leaves out news. Aided by a telegraph wire editor Mr Gates for his study on a newspaper titled The Peoria Star, White proposed the flow of communication in 1950 which was later integrated into Lewins theory(Figure-I). The theory was published in Journalism Quarterly, 27. FIGURE I http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Media,%20Culture%20and%20Society/gatekeeping.doc/gatekeeping-1.gif White suggested that a news source has several items some of which are filtered by the organizations editors who act as gatekeepers. The news that thus reaches the audience is selected consciously. However, editors can also publish only what is provided to them by the sources like news wires. This aspect was elaborated by Dr Walter Gieber in 1956 whose dissertation at the University of Wisconsin expanded Whites early study to 16 wire editors. Where Gieber differed from other scholars was that he gave equal importance to the processes surrounding the agents who act as gatekeepers. Chris Roberts outlines that in Giebers theory, these gatekeepers are passive and reactive, unable to do much to influence the copy they receive. A very key factor in the news flow process was overlooked by White which is the organizational influences like work culture, work routines and story deadlines which were also noted by Gieber. The Westley-MacLean model (Figure-II) introduced the idea of gatekeeper C and feedback between the three centres. According to them, C filters some component of the message which is being sent to B. But feedback between the sender and receiver remains all throughout. FIGURE II http://communicationtheory.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/westley-and-macLean%E2%80%99s-model-of-communication-diagram.jpg (Available at: http://communicationtheory.org/westley-and-maclean%E2%80%99s-model-of-communication/) Here, X1 and X2 are news items which reach the client A (media house, reporter) who passes it on to audience B. There is the intervention of C, a gatekeeper who can also receive some news directly (X3, X4). Westley and MacLean have suggested that communication begins when receivers start to give feedback (f) according to their own surroundings. This model was applicable for both interpersonal and mass communication and identified the very important element of feedback despite the presence of a gatekeeper. If we take an example from India, a newspaper reporter might get news and the editor might edit it before publishing. But whatever information reaches the audience is acted upon by them- the thriving Letters to the Editor section, especially in the Hindi press, being a good example of that. But if one talks about gatekeeping, it should be kept in mind that it is not only about the selection and presentation of news but also about gathering of news from various sources. J T McNelly(1959) focused not on editors but also on reporters, who according to him were the first of the multiple gatekeepers(Figure-III). According to him, news can be modified in different ways and by different authorities. FIGURE III C:UserssargamDesktopDocs n FilesThird SemDev CommShowcases-McNelly-and-News-Flow-4.jpg Available at http://www.alanmachinwork.net/Showcases The scenario in contemporary Indian media industry In terms of investment in men and machinery, the Indian media industry has become a corporate structure both in operation and management. And it has witnessed a definite transformation from a mission to a profession. Commercialization of media is almost complete and all sorts of manipulations are being used as are done in the case of product marketing. This has tremendous impact on gatekeeping functions also. It has given rise to many gatekeepers of news and information apart from traditional gatekeeper like editors. Today, there are different powerful gatekeepers who influence the media and their coverage because of either their economic clout or influence. Broadly speaking, the gatekeeping scenario in the Indian media has undergone a change due to three key factors, viz., Cross-media ownership, Corporatization of media, Popularization of social media. Gatekeeping in cross media ownership situation Post the reforms of 1991, the Indian economy has opened up many sectors for private entrepreneurial interest. Since the last two decades of liberalization, the phenomenon of concentration of wealth has been marring the economy. A 2009 study India 2039 an affluent society in one generation funded by the Asian Development Bank has shown that a handful of 50 people (50 billionaires in a country of more than 120 crore) controlled wealth equivalent to 20 per cent of Indias Gross Domestic Product(Available at: http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/ai/rti/international/laws_papers/india/india_2039_an_affluent_society_in_one_generation.pdf). The corporate world has been able to carve its own huge space in the economic domain of the country in a short span of time. This space has also in a sense intruded into the media in a hegemonic manner. Both in the print and electronic media, the corporate sector has become an investor and a power to reckon with. Quoting a research conducted by Dilip Mandal and R. Anuradha, that has been published in Media Ethics (Oxford University Press, 2011), Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, (member of the committee set up by the Press Council of India to check ethical and legal violations by the media) has elaborated how the boards of directors of a number of media companies now include (or have included in the past) representatives of big corporate entities that are advertisers(Guha Thakurta, Media Ownership Trends in India, The Hoot, July 3, 2012). The board of Jagran Publications has had the Managing Director (MD) of Pantaloon Retail, Kishore Biyani, McDonald Indias MD Vikram Bakshi, and leather-maker Mirza Internationals MD Rashid Mirza; besides the CEO of media consulting firm Lodestar Universal India, Shashidhar Sinha, and the chairman of the real estate firm JLL Meghraj, Anuj Puri. The board of directors of HT Media, publishers of Hindustan Times and Hindustan, has included the former chairman of Ernst You ng K. N. Memani and the chairman of ITC Limited Y C Deveshwar. Joint MD of Bharti Enterprise Rajan Bharti and MD of Anika International Anil Vig are a part of the TV Todays Board of Directors. The board of directors of DB Corp (that publishes the daily, Dainik Bhaskar) includes the head of Piramal Enterprises Group, Ajay Piramal, the MD of Warburg Pincus, Nitin Malhan, and the executive chairman of advertising firm Ogilvy Mather, Piyush Pandey. NDTVs Board of Directors has Pramod Bhasin, President and CEO of the countrys biggest business processing outsourcing company GenPact as a member of its board of directors. The idea behind giving such details is to show the constant overlapping of corporate and citizens interests. News and information published/broadcast was traditionally meant to inform, awaken or entertain people which now has become a tool for publicity, public relation, relationship management and veiled advertising for the corporate firms. They do so through having an i nterest in media houses via investment and ownership. As Guha Thakurta has said, Instead of media houses relying on advertisers to fund quality journalism, the relationship becomes insidiously reversed. Advertisers and corporate units begin to rely on news outlets to further their interests. In 2003, Bennett Coleman Company Limited (publishers of the Times of India and the Economic Times, among other publications) started a paid content service, which enabled them to charge advertisers for coverage of product launches or celebrity-related events. Radiagate and the control of information by the corporate media In late 2010, Open magazine published records of leaked telephonic conversation between corporate lobbyist Nira Radia and influential media persons, politicians and corporate houses which seem to point to a nexus between the three sectors in the appointment of ministers and in important corporate deals. Among the mainstream newspapers in India, newspapers The Hindu and The Pioneer were one of the first to publish the records and carry the story. However, a highly conscious process of selection went into the coverage of what came to be known as Radiagate. Many news publications and news channels did not carry the story at first and the tapes leaked were also allegedly selective. In an article Media ethics: Why we need both panic and a pinch of salt (Tehelka Magazine, Vol 7, Issue 48, Dated December 04, 2010), Shoma Chaudhary has pointed out how the media is under immense pressure while reporting a story. She says that one of the most damaging symptoms in Indian media today is its slav ish relationship with corporate power. Political misconduct is often brought to book, corporate crime almost never. Big business has its tentacles everywhere. Almost all the premier publications and channels The Times of India, Times Now, The Economic Times, CNBC etc come across as compromised in differing percentages, she has stressed. Therefore, even if the editors and reporters wish to play out the role of gatekeepers, they have corporate concerns in mind since the private sector has become a major source of revenue for the media houses. Prominent media houses have a diverse set of people with varying financial interests investing in them and thus proving to be a huge financial support which is how the corporate sector can also be considered a gatekeeper- a force that controls or influences the selection and consequent flow of information. Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu Business Line, Rasheeda Bhagat has discussed the media blackout of the issue pointing out that the TV cha nnels (employing journalists allegedly involved in the scandal) remained silent on the issue for long. (Those Living In Glass Houses, The Hindu Business Line, November 23, 2010). Though the print and electronic media tried to control the information, the traditional role of gatekeeping by the editors or even the new role of gatekeeping by the corporate sector eventually failed when it came to Radiagate. This was due to the alternative of social media which proved to be a powerful tool in mounting pressure on the government to start investigating in the 2G scandal. Face book and Twitter helped people to access opinions of fellow citizens and thinkers while the leaked tapes were also available online on video-sharing websites like YouTube. Advertorials have been another form of corporate intrusion into the business of news and information. They are actually advertisements furthering the commercial interests of a corporate house, a firm or an organisation presented in the manner of a piece of news or an editorial. Bart Pattyn (Media Ethics: Opening Social Dialogue, 2000) says that advertorials employ a language not directly persuasive but more oriented at conveying information about the product. Generally, the editor has no role to play while an advertorial is being carried since it is the advertising department of the media house which decides in this matter. While it is not illegal or unethical to publish or carry them, many experts feel that the concept of advertorials has made media houses compromise on their ethics since they try to avoid conflict of interest between them and the sponsors. The level of investment that the advertisers and sponsors have achieved indicates that they have become the main source of reve nue for media houses. However, Professor J. J. Soundararaj (Try Advertorial to Overcome the Challenges of Commercial Clutter, Excel International Journal of Multidisciplinary Management Studies, Vol.1 Issue 2, November 2011) points out that advertorials are costly. Hence not all firms can afford them. Thus, it is the financially sound organisations that use this method of promotion. Hence, this can be another example of how the corporate sector is acting as a gatekeeper and controlling and selecting what information should reach an audience. Politicians as gatekeepers Several politicians in India today run a news channel or publication. Commenting on this trend, journalist Archna Shukla studies the case of Piccadilly Group, owned by Kartikeya Sharma which manages Hindi newspaper Aaj Samaj and runs news channels under the name of India News. (We also make TV news, The Indian Express, August 19, 2012). Sharma is the son of Congress leader Shri Vinod Sharma. It is said that Sharma senior took a vow to launch his own newspaper and TV channel after he felt that it was media activism that led to his son Manu Sharmas conviction in the Jessica Lal murder case of 1999, Shukla says. In the South India, AIADMKs J Jayalalitha owns Jaya TV while rival DMKs M Karunanidhi owns Kalaignar TV and his nephew Kalanidhi Maran owns Sun TV. Mediapersons have pointed out how they give favourable coverage to the political parties of their owners. Election Commission officials have said that they do not receive complaints about paid news in Tamil Nadu since the party affiliations are already clear. Even if the channels are not owned directly by the politicians, the evil of paid news has hit the Indian media showing how anyone with money can be a gatekeeper. Guha Thakurta has pointed out that many candidates have fixed rates in case they want a newspaper to impart favourable coverage during elections. There have been instances when even the government and its machinery have controlled the flow of information for safety and strategic purposes. Gatekeeping of information can also be beneficial in instances where the media goes overboard with reportage. During the coverage of the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, the editors at first went ahead with the complete coverage focusing only on Nariman House and Trident Hotel, completely sidelining the attack on Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. Television channels broadcast gory images and were also in competition with each other for exclusive footage which interfered with the ongoing army operations. The government and military authorities had to finally intervene to urge the media for a balance and controlled coverage. People as gatekeepers: The rise of social media It is very interesting to note that in areas untouched by technology (like many villages), the tradition of sitting together to discuss the days happenings is strong. Here, the better read people in the village or those who own a radio or television set can gatekeep and let out selective information to fellow villagers. Hence, the audience itself doubles up as a gatekeeper. The same phenomenon can be noticed in areas completely engulfed by technology. India has been witnessing a growing craze for social networking with more than 50 million Indians registered on leading networking site Facebook. The very idea of social media activities like chatting, posting and blogging is the concept of Freedom rather freedom from censorship. A blog is a free platform where people or bloggers themselves are gatekeepers who control information and decide what their fellow netizens will read. A tweet by a celebrity (as a note on social networking site Twitter is called) can be read by anybody followin g the celebrity. The followers can also comment on the tweets and there have been instances of uncontrollable and harsh commenting on scams and scandals on Twitter. Commenting on the social media scenario today, noted filmmaker Shekhar Kapur says: As Newspaper and Media empires fade, Gatekeepers as we know them, are being replaced by Platformers that enable communities to share ideas, thoughts, knowledge, news, between themselves at an unprecedented speeds, letting them transact   and exchange even real goods and services between themselves. Communities will now reject Gate Keepers that thrive on a system that tries to control that flow. Social networking has become a rage precisely because of the free flow of information it allows on an immediate basis. There is no editing authority which can delete or control what a user writes on several websites. As a result, one can also come across inappropriate content online showing how people themselves have the power to gatekeep and decide what can be filtered. In the wake of the recent misuse of social networking websites by groups trying to spread rumours regarding dangers to lives of the residents of the north-eastern states in India, Union Minister for Information Technology Kapil Sibal has called for some regulation to avoid such instances. As a result, a few websites have agreed to share user information with the government authorities. Conclusion The concept of gatekeeping in India has undergone a transformation due to the trend of cross-media ownership, corporatization of the media and increasing popularity of social networking websites. Consequently, the traditional role of gatekeeping by the editors or reporters are now being performed by sponsors and advertisers who influence content selection due to their economic clout and politicians who own news entities or have significant financial holdings in them. A platform where the audience itself can gatekeep is the arena of social networking where the absence of strong censorship allows users to generate the desired content and share it with fellow users. Examples include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Orkut and others. The Indian authorities have recently called for some kind of regulation in this arena to prevent the misuse of this platform. Disregarding the older concept of gatekeeping, it is now recognized that gatekeeping is exercised at almost every stage in the whole process communicating news. Earlier, due to the lack of space and time the editors used to leave out or ignore so many things but today, in the era of information over flow, the gatekeeping starts from the very first stage i.e. from the place of origin of event. The sources give some information and leave some and so the people who are the source of events act as a gatekeeper; a reporter is a gatekeeper as she might not send the full information to the newsroom or might send biased information and the chain goes on and stops back with the people as the consumers of the news by choosing what to consume and what to leave. So, the earlier notion of editors as the only gatekeeper is no more true. Some exogenous factors like pressure groups and flak (Herman and Chomsky, 1988) are also keeping the gates and mark their presence by pressurizing the media outlet s to stop certain information from being conveyed to the citizens. For an example, Salman Rushdies Satanic Verses received the highest level of criticism by the religious pressure group accusing Rushdie for blasphemy. This not just banned the readers to read this book but also did not allow Rushdie to openly address the public. Not allowing people equal access to information is also a form of gatekeeping. This creates information gap and disparity between the haves and the haves-not of knowledge. In a democratic set up like India, everyone should have the right to equal access to information. For example, the Internet service providers including both private and government provide higher speed at higher prices. Therefore, somebody who cannot afford higher prices cannot have the information. Similarly, the uploading speed provided is much less than the downloading speeds. This again acts as a gate for the citizen journalists who wish to share some important piece of information they have with the world. The power of gatekeepers seems to diminish in a modern information society. The Internet defies the whole notion of a gate and challenges the idea that journalists (or anyone else) can or should limit what passes through it (Shoemaker et al, 2001). The statement is an eye opener for many, who have still not r ealized the power of internet to control the information at various levels, and which is indeed proving out to be real in the current scenario. As after its unparalleled debut in the information sector, it has set a bench mark for its competition, and in a very short span, the internet became one of the most viewed and dependable source and controller of information, with a global consumer base at its disposal, and hence a very powerful gatekeeper.

Great Gatsby :: essays research papers

The attempt to capture the American dream is central to many novels. This dream is different for different people, but in The Great Gatsby, for Jay, the dream is that through wealth and power, one can acquire happiness. This happiness is something for which he must reach into the past to have and for which he must revive an old dream. Jay Gatsby, the central figure of the story, is one character who longs for the past. Surprisingly he devotes most of his adult life trying to recapture and, finally, dies in its pursuit. In the past, Jay had a love affair with the affluent Daisy. Knowing he could not marry her because of the difference in their social status, he leaves her to amass wealth to reach her economic standards. Once he acquires this wealth, he moves near to Daisy and throws extravagant parties, hoping by chance she might show up at one of them. He, himself, does not attend his parties but watches them from a distance. When this dream doesn’t happen, he asks around casually if anyone knows her. Soon he meets Nick Carraway, a cousin of Daisy, who agrees to set up a meeting. Gatsby’s personal dream symbolizes the larger American dream where all have the opportunity to get what they want. Later, as we see in the Plaza Hotel, Jay still believes that Daisy loves him. He is convinced of this as is shown when he takes the blame for Myrtle’s death and then watches and protects Daisy as she returns home. Jay cannot accept that the past is gone and done with. Jay is sure that he can capture his dream with his wealth and influence. He believes that he acted for a good beyond his

The Erotic in Joyces A Painful Case Essay -- Painful

The Erotic in Joyce's A Painful Case      Ã‚  Ã‚   The characters whom inhabit Joyce's world in "Dubliners," often have, as Harvard Literature Professor Fischer stated in lecture, a "limited way" of thinking about and understanding themselves and the world around them. Such "determinism," however, operates not on a broad cultural scale, but works in smaller, more local, more interior and more idiosyncratic ways. That is, the forces which govern Joyce's characters are not necessarily cultural or socioeconomic in nature, but rather, as Prof. Fischer stated, are "tiny," and work on a more intimate level. In any case, as a result of such "forces", these stories often tend to be about something, as Prof. Fischer said, that doesn't happen, about the "romance of yearning and self-disappointment." Joyce's story "A Painful Case" is a perfect example of a story about something that doesn't happen, and more specifically, about "the romance of yearning." It is through such yearning, however, and the various "erotic" for ms that such yearning takes, that Joyce's characters are able to transcend the "forces" which govern their lives. In "A Painful Case" the erotic takes on three separate forms: mental, physical, and what I call, "auditory." Although all three play a role in the story, it is only through "auditory" eroticism that Joyce's protagonist, Mr. Duffy, comes to experience a moment of "self-transcendence."    While "auditory" eroticism may serve, in the end, as the conduit for Duffy's self-transformation, initially it is "mental" eroticism that brings together Mr. Duffy and Mrs. Sinico. Joyce writes, "Little by little he (Duffy) entangled his thoughts with hers. He lent her books, provided her with ideas, shared... ...llowed to shine in full poetic fervor and "reality," although Joyce attempts to escape it, seeps back in through his words and metaphors.    Works Cited and Consulted Bidwell, Bruce and Linda Heffer. The Joycean Way: A Topographic Guide to Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Johns Hopkins: Baltimore, 1981. Gifford, Don. Joyce Annotated: Notes for Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. University of California: Berkeley, 1982. Joyce, James. Dubliners. Penguin Books: New York, 1975. Peake, C.H. James Joyce: The Citizen and the Artist. Stanford University: Stanford, 1977. Tindall, William York. A Reader's Guide to James Joyce. Noonday Press: New York, 1959. Walzl, Florence L. "Dubliners." A Companion Study to James Joyce. Ed. Zack Bowen and James F. Carens. Greenwood Press: London, 1984   

Gay Rights Essay -- Equality Homosexuality Papers

Gay Rights Throughout history, homosexuality has been looked down upon and legislated against. The law has prohibited any type of behavior outside of the heterosexual relationship. This deviant behavior has included not only homosexuality butalso fornication, adultery, oral, and anal sex. Originally, religious laws prohibited these types of behavior; then civil laws followed suit. The reasoning for these prohibitions is that marriagebetween a man and a woman is the cornerstone of society. "The idea of a man,a woman, and children is what civilization is based on." Therefore, any acts outside of a heterosexual marriage are viewed by fundamentalists as an erosion of society as stated by the Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In our group there is a consensusthat homosexuals should have complete equality with everyone else in this country to not only marryand engage in sexual activities, but also to raise children. This is the result of the factthat in the recent past homosexuals, as well as women, have challenged these restrictions in the courts as well as in the media. Their actions have had a tremendous effect not only on our group butalso on a vast amount of people in this country. Just twenty yearsago there would have been a much greater opposition to equality for homosexuals. Butas a result of their involvement, public awareness has been raised. This paper aims to deal with specific constitutional arguments, a number of court cases, the opinions of a few Hunter College students we talkedto, and the role that homosexuals play in the media. Challenges have beenmade on restrictions of same sex marriages as well as restrictions on adoption by a homosexual couple.Constitutional arguments such as ... ...ore acceptable topic to discuss in society due to the influence of the media and court decisions. As a result, homosexuals are no longer apprehensive to demand their rightful place insociety, along with their civil rights and right to equal protection. Withthe help of public figures and the open- mindedness of the courts and the general public, thequestion of whether homosexuals are entitled to equalrights will be relegated to history. Bibliography BOOKS The Challenge of Democracy, Janda, Berry,Goldman. Fifth edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997 The Law of Sex and Discrimination, J. RalphLindgren and Nadine Taub. Second edition. West Publishing,1998. Sexual Orientation and Human Rights, RobertWintemute. Oxford Press, 1995. WORLD WIDE WEB http://www.aclu.org/news/n061997a.html http://www.nonline.com/procon/html/gayadoptpro.htm

Research: Video Games Essay

Read the following introductions and select the best one for this report. Introduction A Introduction The purpose of this project is to introduce our group’s two conceptual designs. We have included the following sketches for each car: 3 dimensional view, elevation, plan, front, rear and interior view. Also, we have included a discussion of how the designs meet the criteria given in the project outline. The cars could be suitable for short trips in busy areas. Introduction B 1.0 Introduction With the rise in global warming and increasing pollution levels, it is becoming essential to find a viable alternative to the internal combustion engine petrol powered car. The aim of this project was to create two designs for a fuel cell powered car, the main criteria being environmental friendliness in terms of both emissions and materials. This report presents the designs for two such cars, each of which includes the following components: engine, fuel, wheels, accessories, safety features and materials. Car A is aimed at the upper end of the market, while Car B is a mid-range vehicle suitable for family use. A description of the design and an analysis of operational efficiency for each car are followed by a comparison of the two designs. Finally, the most cost efficient design is recommended. Select the best introduction for this report. How to Write a Research Paper Introduction One of the most important areas of any project is the research paper introduction that defines the standard and the quality of the project right from the very outset. You have to pack in lots of important information within a short space which can be difficult for students. Here are a few guidelines to help you write a proper introduction for the paper. Provide A Problem Definition: Your research paper introduction will be the first time that your problem is described and not just treated as a subject. It is very important that you are precise and compact in your definition. The sample introduction is not a place to write a complex thesis or go on about every single possibility associated in the problem. On the other hand, you cannot limit the problem to a few words. A proper research paper introduction should define the problem in one or two sentences through keywords that are essential to the context of the project. This is extremely important for scientific papers. Research Paper Introduction Example If you read about how to write a research proposal than these 2 next items will be easier for you to understand: Give A Structured Review: When you are writing your research paper introduction, you should be building it around a specific outline that provides an overall review of the paper. Your introduction would be different from an abstract in some aspects but it still needs to highlight all the possibilities of the project. If there are any primary limitations to your work, you can also mention that in brief within the introduction. Sometimes the final project can turn out a bit different from initial planning. It is advised to write your research paper introduction towards the end of your work so there are no contradictions with the conclusion. Include All The Proper Sources to a Sample Introduction: Some of the best research paper introduction samples include primary resources supporting the argument or research of the problem. You should search for similar resources from your local library and on the net to put on your paper. When you are mentioning a source, cross check it if is from a credible site and if the information is correct. It is better to develop a sample research paper introduction based on well known portals for sources rather than individual and independent websites. You should only mention those sources that closely highlight your specific theme of research. Sample Research Paper Introduction Introduction for a research paper Common Sample Introduction Mistakes: One of the many ways students mess up their research paper introduction samples is by making simple and common mistakes. The first thing to keep in mind is the word limit, usually restricted to fifty words. If you go on talking about the project, it should count as an error on your part so you need to be concise. You should also proof read your introduction quite a few times to avoid making any grammatical or sentence construction errors. Your research paper introduction should be optimized for keywords that are distributed in the main body of the project and deal with the essential context of research. Students focus a lot on content and guidelines but tend to ignore basic outlines of the introduction or abstract, getting lesser grades. If you work upon these research paper introduction guidelines, you would surely come up with a professional quality paper as your assignment. Author of an article. What impact does playing video games have on children or adolescents? The most widely used â€Å"positive† impact video games are said to have on children is that they may improve a player’s manual dexterity and computer literacy. Ever-improving technology also provides players with better graphics that give a more â€Å"realistic† virtual playing experience. This quality makes the video game industry a powerful force in many adolescent lives. However, numerous studies show that video games, especially ones with violent content, adversely affect a teen’s aggressive behavior. Part of the increase in aggressive behavior is linked to the amount of time children are allowed to play video games. In one study by Walsh (2000), a majority of teens admitted that their parents do not impose a time limit on the number of hours they are allowed to play video games. The study also showed that most parents are unaware of the content or the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating (see below) of the video games their children play. In another study conducted by Gentile, Lynch, Linder & Walsh (2004, p.6) â€Å"adolescent girls played video games for an average of 5 hours a week whereas boys averaged 13 hours a week†. The authors also stated that teens who play violent video games for extended periods of time show the following behaviors: 1. Tend to be more aggressive 2. Are more prone to confrontation with their teachers 3. May engage in fights with their peers 4. See a decline in school achievements. (Gentile et al, 2004). Another negative impact is that players are rewarded for their violent acts. The interactive quality of video games differs from passively viewing television or movies because it allows players to become active participants in the game’s script. Players benefit from engaging in acts of violence and are then able to move to the game’s next level. Gentile & Anderson (2003) state that playing video games may increase aggressive behavior because violent acts are continually repeated throughout the video game. This method of repetition has long been considered an effective teaching method in reinforcing learning patterns. Video games also encourage players to identify with and role play their favorite characters. This is referred to as a â€Å"first-person† video game (Anderson & Dill, 2000, p. 788) because players are able to make decisions affecting the actions of the character they are imitating. After a limited amount of time playing a violent video game, a player can â€Å"automatically prime aggressive thoughts† (Bushman & Anderson, 2002, p. 1680). The researchers concluded that players who had prior experience playing violent video games responded with an increased level of aggressionwhen they encountered confrontation (Bushman & Anderson, 2002). In a Joint Statement (2000) before the Congressional Public Health Summit, a number of American medical associations — the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychological Association, American Academy of Family Physicians and American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry — caution parents about violence in the media and its negative effect on children. Their report states that exposure to violent media can elevate aggressive feelings and thoughts, especially in children. These effects on aggressive behavior can be long-term. Although fewer studies have been conducted on interactive video games, evidence suggests that playing violent video games may have a more dramatic influence on the behavior of children and adolescents (Joint Statement, 2000). Tips on managing your child’s media consumption Because of the popularity of video games, completely eliminating them from your child’s life might be difficult. But there are a number of suggestions for decreasing the negative impact that they might have on your child. Here are a few tips: * Know the rating of the video games your child plays (see below). * Do not install video game equipment in your child’s bedroom. * Set limits on how often and how long your child is allowed to play video games. * Monitor all of your child’s media consumption — video games, television, movies and Internet. * Supervise your child’s Internet use — there are now many â€Å"video games† available for playing online. * Take the time to discuss with your children the games they are playing or other media they are watching. Ask your children how they feel about what they observe in these video games, television programs or movies. This is an opportunity to share your feelings and grow closer with your child. * Share with other parents information about certain games or ideas for helping each other in parenting. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory body established in 1994 by the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA). The major video game manufacturers created this board after concerned groups and parents applied pressure over the content of video games. Similar to the movie industry’s rating system, all major game companies now submit their new products for rating to specially trained raters at the ESRB. The ESRB rates over 1,000 games per year. The ESRB looks at a number of factors when rating games. In particular, it considers the amount of violence, sex, controversial language and substance abuse found in a game. Based on its developed guidelines, the ESRB then gives an age recommendation and content descriptor to each game submitted. The following are the rating symbols currently in use, according to the ESRB Web site. Early Childhood (EC): Content should be suitable for children 3 years and older and contain no objectional material. Everyone (E): Content suitable for persons ages 6 and older. The game may contain minimal violence and some â€Å"comic mischief.† Teen (T): Content suitable for persons ages 13 and older. Content is more violent than (E) rating and contains mild or strong language, and/or suggestive themes. Mature (M): Content suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Content definitely has more mature sexual themes, intense violence and stronger language. Adults Only (AO): Content suitable only for adults and may contain graphic sex and/or violence. Adult Only products are not intended for persons under the age of 18. Rating Pending (RP): Game has been submitted to the ESRB and is awaiting a final rating. The ESRB Web site has more details about this rating system, as well as the â€Å"content descriptors† that are used in conjunction with the ratings on game packaging. The site is also useful for parents who want to search for the rating of a particular game. References Bushman, B. & Anderson, C. (2002). Violent Video Games and Hostile Expectations: A Test of the General Aggression Model. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 1679-1686. Gentile, D. A. & Anderson, C. A. (2003). Violent video games: The newest media violence hazard. In D. A. Gentile (Ed.), Media violence and children. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishing. Gentile, D. A., Lynch, P., Linder, J. & Walsh, D. (2004). The effects of violent video game habits on adolescent hostility, aggressive behaviors, and school performance. Journal of Adolescence, 27, 5-22. Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children: Congressional Public Health Summit. (July 26, 2000.) Available:http://www.aap.org/advocacy/ releases/jstmtevc.htm, Accessed 9/2004 Walsh, D. (2000). Interactive violence and children: Testimony submitted to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate. (March 21, 2000.) Available:http://commerce.senate.gov/ hearings/0321wal1.pdf (Acrobat), Accessed 9/2004 The gamer community had a near-miss this week in Ohio, when a 15-year-old boy collapsed after playing â€Å"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3† for up to five days straight. The Columbus teen was rushed to the hospital with severe dehydration, where he recovered, according to a report from TV station WCMH on Aug. 7. Players who delve too deeply into their electronic worlds can face various health risks, ranging from deep vein thrombosis, or blood clots, to severe dehydration. For instance, in July, a Taiwanese teenager was found dead after sitting for 40 hours in an Internet cafe playing â€Å"Diablo 3.† At the time, doctors speculated he died from a heart attack caused by a blood clot that formed during the long session. And last summer, a 20-year-old man from the U.K. died from a blood clot after spending 12-hour sessions on his Xbox. His father told â€Å"The Sun† newspaper, â€Å"He lived for his Xbox. I never dreamed he was in any danger.† [10 Easy Paths to Self Destruction] While these are extreme cases, they are a reminder that sitting at a computer or console for days, whether it’s for â€Å"World of Warcraft† or for work, isn’t healthy for anyone. But psychologists who study video games and kids say parents needn’t worry about the amount of time spent gaming, unless screen time starts to affect school, health or social life. (And, of course, a stint of tens of hours gaming is likely to negatively affect schoolwork and lead to social woes.) That said, researchers remain concerned about the effects of violent content in video games, which have been linked by many studies to aggressive behavior. Too much screen time? These days, screens of one kind or another occupy youth for 50 hours a week, a 2010 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation reports. â€Å"It’s a full-time job plus 10 hours of overtime, and that’s the average,† said Douglas Gentile, a psychologist and director of the Media Research Lab at Iowa State University. Video-gaming consumed nine weekly hours for teens, the Kaiser survey found, while a Harris Poll conducted for Gentile during the same period reported 13 hours a week spent gaming on computers and consoles. While some kids can shoot ’em up for hours, for others, too much time gaming leads to poor school performance. Recent studies have finally linked the cause and effect, showing that gaming displaces after-school academic activities such as homework and reading. A 2010 study from researchers at Denison University in Ohio, published in the journal Psychological Science, compared two groups of boys that had never owned gaming systems. They gave one group a system right away, but withheld games from the other group for four months. Boys who received the video-game system first had more teacher-reported learning problems and significantly lower reading and writing scores than the other boys. Problems in school are relatively easy for parents to fix: Limit screen time — of course, if you can get the controller out of his or her hands. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than one to two hours per day in front of any electronics. Violent games and aggression What’s harder to control is violent content in video games. The Pew Research Center reported in 2008 that more than 90 percent of games rated as appropriate for children 10 years or older contained violence, including games rated â€Å"E† for everyone. (Most researchers define violence as the ability of a player to intentionally harm others in a game.) Now most researchers will agree that video games can help as well as harm. For example, educational games boost learning, and action games can improve vision and spatial skills. Video games have also been used successfully to teach children self-care skills for asthma and diabetes. And then there’s the primary reason people play video games: They’re relaxing. Gentile thinks the flickering screen and varying sound levels trigger a primitive brain response. â€Å"One of the reasons I think we find television and video games so relaxing is they provide the attention for you. It forces you to orient to the media. You don’t have to work to pay attention like you do in [a] classroom lecture,† said Gentile. But a preponderance of evidence links violent video games to an increase in aggressive behavior in teens. The behavior wasn’t violent crime, like school shootings, but small yet hurtful offenses like teasing, name-calling, rumor-spreading and fist fights. In a review of 130 studies of kids and teens, Iowa State University researchers found that violent video games increased the likelihood of aggression and decreased empathy. The meta-analysis appeared in 2010 in the journal Psychological Bulletin. [5 Ways to Foster Self-Compassion in Your Teen] Which teens are vulnerable? Of course, repeated exposure to violence in any environment has a deleterious effect, Gentile noted. â€Å"Seeing violence anywhere increases the risks that a child might become involved in aggression, whether as a perpetrator or a victim,† he said. But video games are phenomenal teachers. Players get immediate feedback and rewards for punishing competitors. And not only do games reward hostility, they train your brain to respond to real-life problems with aggression, research indicates. In fact, games can prime teens to react to slights with name-calling or pushing, instead of choosing to avoid confrontation. â€Å"So when I get bumped in the hallway, I don’t assume it’s an accident anymore,† explained Gentile. â€Å"What comes to mind first is to retaliate in some way. Those aren’t the only options you have, but we never think of them because what we see over and over in the media is ‘You killed my monster, now you must die.'† But psychologist Patrick Markey’s research suggests just some teens are susceptible to these effects. Markey found people withcertain personality traits — those who are highly neurotic, less agreeable and less conscientious — are those more likely to become hostile from gaming. The 2010 study appeared in the journal Review of General Psychology. â€Å"The truth of the matter is that most people can handle this media, but for some people with a select predisposition, these people might be a little more aggressive, more prone to an argument here and there,† said Markey, a professor at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. â€Å"The most interesting part is there is really no research that suggests video games have a different effect than TV or movies. It has empirically never been shown,† said Markey. â€Å"Any media is supposed to engage us emotionally, and video games are a form of media, a form of art even.† Recreational Gaming If all this hoopla surrounding a seemingly innocent pastime has you baffled, count me in. For people who view it as a source of entertainment, or even as a recreational activity, gaming spells out pure pleasure. Some may even wish to classify it as a brain workout. Human callowness is what leads us into making these hasty categories, for all that is pleasurable, is bound to suck our sanity in a whirlpool of addictions.  » When we speak of any recreational activity, we usually think of sharing, and online gaming is not too different. Gaming communities, at times, happen to be very closely bonded, with some interactions leading to lifelong relationships. Now, there certainly wouldn’t be this kind of outrage over youngsters bonding over sessions of football, isn’t it?  » Critics of gaming blame the overdose of violence that forms an integral part of certain games to the unruly behavior in players. But barring a few games, which indeed have a mature rating, the others do qualify as safe indulgences.  » Online gaming usually involves multiplayer games, and cooperation with partner players becomes an integral part of it. There is a distinct possibility of people bonding across countries and cultures, united by a common passion for gaming.  » One aspect which simply cannot be ignored is the positive effects of gaming on the player’s self-esteem. As the level of the games escalates, it calls for enhanced levels of skills, and surmounting these challenges gives the player a sense of achievement, and leads to confidence building.  » There are games which are meant to be enjoyed by the family, and when played together, they make for a few hours well-spent, and bring the members of the family closer, just as any other family activity would do.  » Games are looked at by some to be an outlet for their negative emotions. Pent-up frustration and anger makes way for a calmer mind when people play these games as a form of recreation, which otherwise would have had a negative effect on their relationships. Addictive Gaming So, where does it go wrong for online gaming, and why are they blamed for causing harm to young and old minds alike? The answer lies in the fine line which separates indulgence and overindulgence. It happens to people who blur the demarcation between games and life. When we think of gamers, the first image that comes to our mind is that of a nerd, holed up in a room, hunched up in front of a computer screen with fingers furiously tapping on a keyboard/joystick. These people have no clue whatsoever about what goes on around them; they lose all track of time, forget their hunger and personal hygiene, all for the sake of a mere game.  » The aftereffects of being excessive are for everyone to see. Since such people are usually isolated for extended periods, their confidence usually deserts them once they are not in the company of a computer. Frequent mood swings and temper issues are not unknown.  » Family members of such addicts are often heard lamenting about the amount of time these people give to their obsession, which strangely enough, makes them more rebellious.  » Lack of social interaction also leads to extreme awkwardness when they find themselves in the company of actual people. To say that they suffer from social phobias would not be an overstatement.  » Getting involved with the wrong kind of people online can inculcate wrong values in a person. They may refuse to respect people or use profanity, which leads them to be ostracized from society. At the very least, it does have some negative impact on their communication skills.  » As with any addiction, this one too will push players to cross any limit to protect their obsession. Parental interference in preventing this addiction is usually unwelcome, and we have had some disastrous examples of violence as a result of this.  » Certain games with their prejudiced notions on genders and races actually influence an addicted gamer’s mind. They tend to carry these prejudices into their real life, adversely affecting their existing relationships. Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-does-online-gaming-affect-social-interactions.html Question QUESTION: 1. Do playing online games affect the academic performances of your students? 2. What do you observe to the students who are very active in playing online games? What their behavior? 3. How will you work as a counselor to stop them in playing online games, or just to lessen it? 4. How do you handle students who are not motivated to study instead they choose to devote their attention in playing online games? 5. What do you think are the reasons why they get hook in playing online games? 6. As an educator, what are the positive and negative effects of online games to your students? 7. What will be the effect to them if they continue to play those games? ANSWER: Hi Harold, Many of the video games out these days are very well done. That includes online games. They can be very alluring and once you get involved they can be very absorptive. Many of them are fun and very realistic. They should be treated like any activity and done in moderation. They can be huge time wasters so anyone playing them should be aware of that. As a counselor I wouldn’t discourage playing games. I would ask the person how involved they are how they interact with them. If they spend too much time, I would advise they look at that behavior. If I had a student who what adicted to playing games, I would treat it like all adictions. People can get hooked into these games because they provide a challenge; they are very realistic; and they are an opportunity to â€Å"pour† yourself into something. The positives are that they are an excellent change of behavior if you need that. The negative are that someone can let them get out of control and control their life. They can spend too much time playing. They can loose sleep. They can get addicted. I do not believe there is any long-term affects to playing the game itself. They are very real but they are not reality. If someone confuses them with reality, they have a worse problem then playing the game and that should be addressed. The long-term affects might be the residual behavior arising out of abusing them such as addiction, sleeplessness, other social problems related to too much activity. If you need further info or clarification, please write again. Graig :>) ———- FOLLOW-UP ———- QUESTION: 1. In your own words, how do you define online games or video games? 2. what can you say to those people or students who are playing online games?observation about thier manners and behavior? Case For Several research studies have been conducted that indicate video game addiction is real in around 10% of gamers who meet criteria for video game addiction. Grà ¼sser et al (2007) found that pathological gamers differed from regular gamers in terms of daily time spent playing, and had higher â€Å"expected relief of withdrawal symptoms when gaming,† and higher â€Å"craving due to the expectation of a positive outcome of gaming.† These are all characteristics which mirror those of of substance dependence. Skoric et al (2009) showed that video game addiction is independent of simply how much time is spent playing, and how engaged children are with the game. In their study, addiction tendencies were negatively related to scholastic performance, while no such relationship was found for either time spent playing games or for video game engagement. A similar pattern of video game addiction being negatively related to scholastic performance was previously found in a separate study by Chiu et al (2004). Charlton’s (2002) factor analysis provided support for computer addiction as a unique concept. This research demonstrated the importance of recognizing the specific characteristics of computer addiction, rather than simply adapting measures of pathological gambling, which are likely to overestimate the occurrence of computer addiction. Recognition of video game addiction would allow support services to be integrated into community addiction settings, and specific training to be provided to staff. This is particularly important given the high incidence of concurrent disorders among those with video game addiction. Case Against Video game playing may have several advantages. Proficiency in video games can develop the self esteem of the player. It can develop eye-hand coordination, and can have other educational features. More sophisticated games can help players to develop other skills, and recent developments have built in aspects of physical exercise — although this may have limited appeal to gamers. The reality of popular culture is that we are more and more dependent on technology. A generation ago, computers were complicated and difficult to use, but modern computers are more user-friendly, and are relatively easy and enjoyable for the majority of people to use. Video games allow people to have positive experiences of using computers, that can provide transferable skills for using computers for a variety of purposes. Bearing in mind the potential positive effects of video game playing, to label the activity an addiction without sufficient evidence and interpretive guidelines about what constitutes addiction (as opposed to benign or positive game playing) could deter many children and their parents who could possibly benefit from video games. This would be a mistake. There is wide variation in video games, and although some appear to have harmful effects, particularly through the promotion of violence and other anti-social behaviors, this is a function of the content of specific games, rather than a characteristic of video games per se. Video games as a medium have equal potential to develop positive social skills, or to provide benign forms of entertainment — although these may not be as easily marketable to kids. As with other addictions, there is a risk that a label like video game addiction could be used too liberally, without paying attention to other concurrent or underlying conditions, such as attentional problems, autism spectrum disorders, depression and anxiety disorders. These conditions have different treatments which might more effectively help the excessive game player. And video game addiction is vulnerable to the same criticism that all behavioral addictions are — that addictions are a chemical problem resulting from the intake of addictive substances, not a pattern of behavior. Where It Stands The APA is not saying that video game addiction does not exist, nor that it is not addiction, but simply that they are looking at the issue and won’t make a decision until the next edition of the DSM comes out in 2013. In the same release in which they withdrew their recommendation that video game addiction be recognized, the APA expressed serious concern about the consequences of excessive video game playing in children, stating: â€Å"Psychiatrists are concerned about the wellbeing of children who spend so much time with video games that they fail to develop friendships, get appropriate outdoor exercise or suffer in their schoolwork. Certainly a child who spends an excessive amount of time playing video games may be exposed to violence and may be at higher risks for behavioral and other health problems.† Therefore, whether or not video game addiction is acknowledged as a real addiction, or even as a mental health problem in and of itself, the APA is clear that excessive video game playing in children can be unhealthy, and can lead to other problems.

Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder

In the sass's so many terms were being thrown around trying to explain what Schizophrenia was. It took till the early sass's for a man named Emil Kremlin to truly â€Å"discover† what the disease was and bring together the earlier descriptions (Berries, Lulus, & Joss, 2003). . He decided to call it â€Å"dementia praecox† which meant dementia paranoids. It was partially taken from latten version off man names Morel (Berries, Lulus, & Joss, 2003).Kremlin was able to make the discovery cause he biased it on empirical observation through observing and recording thousands of case histories, then by following up with his patients. He was able to fugue out the dementia praecox and manic depressive insanity were able to be separated by symptom, course, and outcome (Berries, Lulus, & Joss, 2003). Schizophrenia is still one of the most mysterious and costliest mental disorders in terms of human suffering and societal expenditure (van So, 2009). In the earlier history of Schizoph renia treated through cryosurgery.Cryosurgery is the treatment Offs psychiatric disease through neurological treatments. While is has a controversial history it was widely used in the early to mid 19th century. One of the first accounts happened in the mid 18th century when a man named Phonies Gage was hurt at work. A tamping iron was shot through the frontal lobe while working (Creighton, 2001). While most would think this would kill a person, he gained consciousness soon after the accident. Gage went from being an intelligent well- liked man to being an angry and hostile shut in.This left the psychology field on its toes. They realized there was a disruption in his frontal lobe that affected his rationality, and that this could be duplicated in hopes of helping others. The frontal leucotomy was proposed as a potential treatment for schizophrenia because, by creating lesions in the frontal cortex, abnormal activity, presumably originating in this region, would be prevented from spr eading to other areas of the brain, which could worsen the symptoms of the disease (Mathews, Wellington, Dead, Robinson, Luck, Jose, & Erich, 2013).During the sass's a procedure was developed called the closed lobotomy, however by the sass's these practices were stopped because the surgeries caused extensive brain injuries and the pressure of the public. Schizophrenia was one of the conditions for which these treatments were used (Mathews, 2013). Then the use of antispasmodic came into effect and these practices were no longer needed. Like many other neuropsychiatry disorders, there is a typical onset age of late adolescence and early adulthood.The thinking is that this could be a critical period in brain development, which would make the person vulnerable to the onset of psychopathology. While the incidence of schizophrenia varies across environments and different migrant groups, symptoms, course, and treatment response do so as well. Genetic vulnerability is shares in part with bi polar disorder and recent molecular genetics findings indicated an overlap with developmental disorder such as autism.Doctors are using nonrecurring studies to focus on this age range, which will in turn provide helpful insight into the actual insight of the disease (Goat, Was, Taste, Wood, & Panatelas, 2011) There has been evidence that patients suffering from schizophrenia end up experiencing more life events when healthy individuals. These life events could be because of the patients behavior, or totally environmental (Farrago, 2008). When looked at these events could be because of the presence of psychiatric condition. However, the quality of interaction between patient and family affects the patients relapse rate (Farrago, 2008).While a positive and loving attitude towards the patient may be productive, it is sometimes hard for a family to respond well to the illness. If the person suffers from paranoid schizophrenia then they will lash out at the family and have hallucinations involving the family. This makes it hard for the family to handle. Also, when the patient goes off meds these things get worse. There is so much stigma surrounding schizophrenia. Will the person hurt me? When are they going to go crazy? Can I catch it? Even to the point that there is a lower priority of mental health services and care received.At times there is a hard time getting good quality of staff to work in these services. Then there is the issue of finding proper housing for people who suffer from this disease, not to mention the social isolation patients feel. There is a long history of intolerance towards mental abnormality. As well as the reaction, others have towards it. This has only progressively gotten worse over the past two centuries. However this is only part of he story, mental illness has also been linked to discrimination as well.While schizophrenia affects about 1% of the world's population, the cause is still unknown (Nines, 2010). The easiest way to combat th e fear is with education. Teaching people as well as families how to handle a patient, and that they often have more lucid moments then not. Bipolar Disorder The ancient Greeks and Romans were responsible for the terms â€Å"mania† and â€Å"melancholia,† which are not the modern day manic and depressive. They discovered that using lithium salts in there baths calmed manic patients and lifted there sprits Cranks, 2012).Today, lithium is a common treatment for bipolar patients. While it is thought that many people were executed because they had a mental illness, being that religious people believed that these people were possessed by demons and should therefore be put to death (Cranks, 2012). Bipolar is most often diagnosed in young patients showing first major depressive episodes. In these cases, diagnosis normally only based on psychiatric history taken, not on the patient's current state (Holman, Goth, WГ ¶keel, Postal, & BГ ¶let, 2008). These patients al so suffer with hypotonic episodes.Hypotonic episodes are characterized by a distinct period of persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood, lasting throughout at least 4 days and present for most of the day nearly every day. These Patients are normally diagnosed with Bipolar II (Psych Central Staff, 2013). While Bipolar, or manic- depressive disorder is a frequent, sever, mostly recurrent mood disorder it is also associated with great morbidity. The lifetime prevalence of bipolar disorder is 1. 3 to 1. 6% (Mueller-Airlessness, Forgoer, & Bauer, 2002). The death rate of bipolar is two to three times higher than that of the general population.On average about 10-20% of individuals suffering from Bipolar disorder will take their own lives, with one third of patients saying they have attempted it (Mueller-Airlessness, Forgoer, & Bauer, 2002). Bipolar is not a sexist disease, it does not discriminate. Except for the diagnosis of rapid-cycling, while being the most sever variant o f the disease, it is more common in women (Mueller-Airlessness, Forgoer, & Bauer, 2002). The peak age of onset falls between age 15 and 24 years, although there is often a 5-10- year interval before treatment is finally sought.Living with a person who has Bipolar disorder involves learning how to deal with the disruptions that their symptoms can cause, supporting that person through their recovery, and finding ways to cope with the effects on the family (Heretofore, 2013). Bipolar can really cause a strain on a family, depending on well managed the illness is (Heretofore, 2013). When the patient's mood swings are mild, the family may experience some distress, but over time and with proper education about the illness, they can learn to manage. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than 5 million Americans eave bipolar disorder (Dickinson, 2007).The illness, which affects not only your own personal health and well-being but also your relationships with friends and family, can respond well to treatment (Dickinson, 2007). Stigma is debilitating for mental illnesses for any disease across the board. While the patient is struggling with the symptoms and disabilities that result from the disease, they are challenged with the stereotypes and prejudices that result from the misconceptions about mental illness (Shame, Chairmanship, Vivian, & Woolworth, 2013). These people face challenges tit everyday life, Jobs, housing, health care, as well as dealing with people.Even the people that are family or caregivers have reported being stigmatize, 43 to 92% (Shame, Germans', Vivian, & Woolworth, 2013). Article Journals Summaries Facial expressions of emotions and schizophrenia: A review. Schizophrenia Bulletin This Journal explains how three studies were performed on patients with Schizophrenia. They were interested to see how patients showed a reduced ability to perceive and express facial emotions. They looked at decoding studies and their ability to per ceive universally recognized facial expressions.It was found that while Schizophrenics have a harder time displaying positive facial expressions, they were able to show negative feels, such as fear. Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders in Persons Exposed to Ionizing Radiation as a Result of the Coherency Accident This study was performed on 100 workers of the Coherency EX how had worked as â€Å"Liquidators-volunteers† for 5 or more hearsay's and 1987. This was brought about because in 1990 there was a spike in the amount of patients being diagnosed with Schizophrenia. This was compared against the general population.The thought was hat ionizing radiation may be working as an environmental trigger and causing a predisposition to schizophrenia, or cause schizophrenia-like disorders. The study says that a person exposed to 0. 30 SF or more are at a higher risk of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. A Prospective Cohort Study of Genetic and Perennial Influences in the Etiology of Schi zophrenia This study was preformed to figure out whether or not fetal hypoxia and other obstetric complications are related to the risk of adults developing Schizophrenia, also to see if whether each case is specific to early onset.They used 72 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, 63 of their siblings not diagnosed, and 7,941 non-psychiatric controls. They used longitudinal based study. They were able to find that there was an increased risk with patients that had suffered hypoxia during birth. However, there was no relationship between low birth weight and other obstetric complications. Burden of Caregivers of Patients with Bipolar Affective Disorders This study was conducted on 32 problem-oriented interviews with caregivers of patients with bipolar affective disorders, they were analyzed using content analysis.The 722 statements even about the burdens that these caregivers had were summarized into 49 global statements. The caregivers discussed how they felt helplessness when dea ling with the ever-changing depressive and manic symptoms of the ill family member they were caring for. Also how they felt they suffered great burden. The findings of this study highlight that an appreciation of caregivers' own consternation and information about how best to handle the (uncooperative) behavior of the patient should be taken into account in psycho educational groups as well as in the daily work routine of professionals.Are Working Memory Deficits in Bipolar Disorder Markers for Psychosis Doctors have found that many people suffering with bipolar disorder have been identified as having working memory deficits, however, there has been evidence that has linked this problem as being a marker for psychosis rather than affective disorder. When doing the study they looked at two groups with board, one with psychotic features, one without. With this study they were able to conclude that while some aspects of working memory performance are markers for psychosis, others were more general markers for bipolar disorders.Negative Life Events and Time to Recovery from Episodes of Bipolar Disorder While it is known that negative life events have been shown to cause relapse in patients with bipolar disorder, these doctors were looking at how severe negative life events effect the recovery time of someone with bipolar disorder. They recruited 67 individuals with bipolar disorder during hospitalizing and conducted monthly assessments for at least one year. They were able to find that patients with severe negative life effects took three times longer to recover then patients without negative life situations.Which leads us to live that psychological environment may play a much bigger role in the course of bipolar disorders then previous suggested.