Category: Definition Rewrite

Definition rewrite- veleze22

Get your head in the Game (Definition)

Although professional football players are aware of the dangers of playing the game, they still continue to play. It’s a lifestyle for them. Today the game of football has grown to be much more physical and aggressive than in the past. Players of young age are coming into the league much bigger, stronger, and faster than your average veteran. It’s like a new generation of football. With that being said more injuries to the head are being reported and more players are in need of time off because of them.

A concussion is a mild form of traumatic brain injury that affects how your brain functions. These effects can be short-term, lasting only a few hours or a couple of days, or cause long-term problems (Utah Health, 2016). When players trade blows to the head it causes the head and brain to move back and forward rapidly causing the brain to hit the skull and twist. It damages the delicate cells and structures inside the brain which can cause physical and chemical changes in your brain to affect how it functions.

 

Approximately 300,000 sport-related concussions occur in the United States annually, and the likelihood of serious injury may increase with repeated head injury (NCAA Concussion Study, 2003). A prospective cohort study of incident and recurrent concussions in a defined group of collegiate athletes was taken place for 3 football seasons, a total of 2,905 players were studied.

 

The study resulted in 196 reported concussions among 184 players. Of the 196 incident concussions, 94 were included in the assessment group. The overall rate of incident concussion was 0.81 per 1000 athlete exposures. The rate in Division III was also higher than the rates in Divisions I and II (NCAA Concussion Study, 2003).

 

If serious, concussions may also cause headache, a temporary loss of consciousness, feeling as if your brain is in a fog, delayed response to questions, dizziness, ringing in your ears, nausea and vomiting, fatigue, blurred vision, and sensitivity to light and sound (Utah Health, 2016). Concussions have an effect on the human brain that is unlike any other injury. Those involved in sports that engage in the most contact are more likely to suffer from injuries such as a concussion. Players who have experienced a concussion for themselves are sometimes hesitant about going back on the field to potentially relive the horror moment that put them out of the game in the first place.

 

Concussions can also have long-term effects on an individual. Some symptoms of a concussion develop hours or even days after the traumatic brain injury. Although, most people that suffer from a concussion only see short-term effects there are cases where people have to suffer long-term. Long-term effects of a concussion can include trouble concentrating, memory problems, irritability and other personality changes, sensitivity to light and noise, sleep disturbances, depression and other psychological problems, and disorders of smell and taste (Utah Health, 2016). Some people even suffer from post-concussion syndrome, which is where they seem to still experience symptoms even after it has been six weeks since the injury has occured. What some may fail to realize is that, the more concussions a person has than the more long-term effects an individual may suffer from. This can also occur if one rushes into returning to the same activity that landed them with the concussion itself in the first place (football) without letting their brain fully heal. It is important to let your brain heal to the fullest, because one wrong move can potentially set that person back even further than before.  

Concussions: How They Can Affect You Now and Later  . (n.d.). Retrieved from https://healthcare.utah.edu/healthfeed/postings/2016/11/concussion.php

 

Guskiewicz, K. M., & ATC. (2003, November 19). Cumulative Effects Associated With Recurrent Concussion in Collegiate Football Players. Retrieved from https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/197667

Definition Rewrite- Peter Bomersbach

Kids Should Not Be Allowed to Play Violent Video Games

Kids have been taken over lately with the distraction of video games such as Fortnite and Call of Duty. Violent video games thrown in to the mix makes it even worse due to changing of behaviors such as aggression, thought process, social interaction and education which later has great effects on their mental health and their ability to learn in their adolescent years. Parents need to pay attention to their kids in which they know what game they are playing and for how long because it can easily get out of hand. Nothing good comes from kids Violent video games except wasting good time to focus on school or have a social life.

An article “Study confirms link between violent video games and physical aggression,” written by the author Mike Snider says, “An international study looking at more than 17,000 adolescents, ages nine to 19, from 2010 to 2017, found playing violent video games led to increased physical aggression over time.” This study shows that there is a direct correlation with violent video games and kid’s aggressive behavior towards others. Video games such as Call of Duty and GTA are perfect axmples of violent video games kids should stay away from and parents should be aware of. My brother Nicholas gets very agitated when he plays violent video games such as Call of Duty because it’s a violent video game and aggressive actions are portrayed toward his friends or family.

Violent video games have more of an effect on just children’s bahvior but other things such as emotions and exposure to graphic images like gore and shooting. Authors Lauren Goldbeck and Alex Pew wrote an article, “Violent Video Games and Aggression,” which states, “In 2017, the APA Task Force on Violent Media concluded that violent video game exposure was linked to increased aggressive behaviors, thoughts, and emotions, as well as decreased empathy.” This explains violent video games lead to decreased empathy due to increased exposure to blood and gore, violent language etc.. Thoughts and emotions can lead to mental health problems as a kid grows up which can be deadly to the family if not taken care of properly.

Violent video games can easily be avoided by playing the correctly rated game and with a managed time for other activities like playing sports or hanging out with friends or even studying for school. If kids dedicate their lives to video games in general they have a very small chance of going somewhere with that as a career or going no where at all. There are plenty of other opportunities to take on at such a young age, they can’t let it damage their mind at this young when that have so much to live for.

Citations:

Goldbeck, L., & Pew, A. (2018, March 27). Violent Video Games and Aggression. Retrieved October 17, 2018, from http://www.center4research.org/violent-video-games-can-increase-aggression/

Snider, M. (2018, October 1). Study confirms link between violent video games and physical aggression. Retrieved October 17, 2018, from https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/1486188002

Definition Rewrite- misterfries19

Earth is an unforgiving place to live. Over time, the world has chewed up and spit out almost every species it has come into contact with. No predator is too big, and no prey is too fast to avoid the certainty that time can bring them; extinction. Even humans will one day (Most likely) meet their demise. Humans have survived for a substantial amount of time on Earth, but they have also made this world their own. Cities and civilizations fueled by humans consuming the other subordinate species around them for energy. ?  Humans have been able to sustain themselves for as long as we can remember simply because of their pragmatism. The ability to take what the world gives you and still adapt has set us far apart from other species. When the cold sets in, animals that cannot adapt freeze to death. Humans have learned to create and maintain heat. We truly see our dominance take place in the medical field. Whereas injuries or diseases can be fatal to an animal, the human has developed medicine. Our unique ability to continually adapt to any situation leads to tiny increments that, over time, amount to gargantuan progress in the field of Medicine. 

The progress we have made in the field of medicine is not limited to the past 100 years or so, either. The earliest accounts of humans actually using medicine date back to the Old Testament, but it is possible they go even further. There is no known paper origin of medicine, but humans have been known to experiment with herbs and spices as remedies for different problems for thousands of years. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines Medicine as “a substance or preparation used in treating disease”. By the transitive property, we can assume that for something to be “medicinal”, there must be a disease at hand to fight.

But what is a disease? Words like Influenza, Polio, and Parkinson’s come to mind. Crippling illnesses associated with a weakened body. To treat or cure these diseases, medicine in the form of an injection, pill, or physical therapy can be applied to the situation. A disease can be defined as “a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms”. By this definition, something can be called medicinal if it is a substance or preparation used to fight any symptoms or signs that may show that something in the body is not functioning properly.

Like stated earlier, Doctors may now suggest to a patient the use of medicine to deal with a physical ailment, like a headache A headache should require no definition, but in my own words, it is physical pain in the head. So, what about psychiatric diseases and mental illnesses, such as PTSD or Anxiety? Although not particularly “headaches”, these illnesses effect the mind, so a comparison of how Doctors treat the two different diagnoses can be important in determining any similarities. In a 2012 report by U.S. Medicine, it was recorded that 141,000 Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans were diagnosed with noncancer pain. 32% of them were diagnosed with PTSD. Of the 141,000, 11.7% were prescribed Opioids to deal with the pain. Among the pool of the 32% diagnosed with PTSD, 17.8% of the Veterans were prescribed opioids. In this instance, the PTSD, although considered mostly psychological and not physical, was categorized as a disease, because a substance was prescribed to treat the impairments it may bring on.

Besides the fact that Veterans with PTSD were getting prescription medication at very high rates, this study also shows that Doctors treated mental illnesses the same or similarly to how they deal with physical illnesses. This means that Doctors were in fact acknowledging these psychological dilemmas as medical problems. Now, the definition of Medicine defines it as a “substance or preparation”. Having focused on the substance, let us look at what a preparation implies. Alternative ways of healing other than ingesting a substance include things such as therapy, acupuncture, and meditation. In a 2014 article published by Julie Corliss of Harvard Health Publishing, the results of an extensive study conducted by John’s Hopkins Medical School could show a possible link between Meditation (a preparation) and a decrease in Anxiety (an illness). 19,000 meditation studies were sifted through until 47 unbiased studies could be evaluated for effectiveness by the school. The results of the 47 different studies showed that Meditation, although not a substance of any kind, can be used to lessen anxiety. This would allow us to define Meditation as being a form of medicine.

The fact that people are finding results through Meditation is absolutely groundbreaking. A practice that includes the ingestion of no substance, no movement, and no stimulation is actually yielding results. So, if Meditation (which includes doing nothing but thinking and breathing) can be considered medicinal, then what other preparations can be considered Medicinal? The APA (American Psychological Association) published a report in 2013 on the psychological effects of Music. In the article, a meta-analysis conducted by Dr. Daniel J. Levitin and Dr. Mona Lisa Chanda of McGill University in Montreal focused on 400 studies involving music and it’s health effects. The studies showed that Music can actually improve the body’s immune system and decrease stress levels. The same study showed that in patients preparing for a surgery, Music was more effective than prescription drugs at relieving pre-surgery stress levels. 

Studies have given the APA reason to endorse the use of Music when treating psychological illnesses or conditions, such as Anxiety and Depression. If these psychological conditions or illnesses cause impairments to the body or parts of the body that can be identified through signs or symptoms, then these psychological illnesses can be defined as being diseases. In conclusion, if these psychological illnesses or conditions can be defined as diseases, and if Music is endorsed as a helpful remedy that combats said diseases, then we can define Music as a form of Medicine, because it is a practice that helps fight disease.

 

References

Corliss, Julie. “Mindfulness Meditation May Ease Anxiety, Mental Stress.” Harvard Health Blog, Harvard Medical School, 3 Oct. 2017, http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/mindfulness-meditation-may-ease-anxiety-mental-stress-201401086967.

Novetney, Amy. Monitor on Psychology, American Psychological Association, Nov. 2013, http://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/11/music.aspx.

usmedicine.com. “More Opioid Prescriptions Adverse Effects for Vets With PTSD.” U.S. Medicine, U.S. Medicine, 21 Apr. 2015, http://www.usmedicine.com/agencies/department-of-veterans-affairs/more-opioid-prescriptions-adverse-effects-for-vets-with-ptsd/.

“Medicine.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/medicine.

“Disease.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disease.

Definition Rewrite – CarsonWentz11

  How community factors can effect gun violence.

Gun control laws and their relation to the amount of gun violence is a significant issue in today’s political spectrum.  Gun laws are different for every state and the amount of gun violence varies all over throughout the country.  Therefore, it is very tough to discover hard evidence whether gun control laws do decrease gun violence or if they don’t.  Besides of gun control laws, one can look at factors in the community and see how they effect gun violence.  There are many community factors that could play a role, such as, economics, gender, race and location.

The largest amount of gun deaths, in our nation, come from suicides.  The amount of suicides is already very high in our country, but during The Great Recession suicide amount increased drastically, according to a study from Oxford University.   Oxford University’s Dr. Aaron Reeves stated, “There has been a substantial rise in suicides during the recession, greater than we would have anticipated based on previous trends.”  The study from Oxford University discovered that about 10,000 suicides from North America and Europe were linked to the recession that started in 2007.  This time of troubling economics where people lost their jobs, lost their homes, and fell in deep debt, brought people to where they felt they didn’t want to suffer through it anymore.  The recession was a troubling economy for the whole country, but if we now discuss smaller communities that are having economic problems, the same results of suicides could happen.

Besides of suicides, community economics also play a role in gun violence.  Low income communities tend to have higher violent crime and gun deaths.  In a journal, by Mike Males’ from the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, called “Age, Poverty, Homicide, and Gun Homicide: Is Young Age or poverty Level the Key Issue,” examined “the 54,094 homicide deaths, including 41,123 gun homicides, victimizing California residents ages 15 to 69 during 1991 to 2012 by poverty status.”  This study states that the gun homicide deaths per 100,000 population (average annual) for all ages, increased in each higher poverty bracket.  The gun homicide deaths per 100,000 population, in the “less than 10%” poverty bracket, was only 2.0, but continued to increase all the way to 27.9 gun homicides per 100,000 population in the “more than 25%” poverty bracket.  Inner cities across the country, unfortunately, have the lowest income rates, while also having the highest homicide rates.  Detroit Michigan, which was considered the poorest city in America in 2014 according to Bruce Kennedy, CBS News, also had the third highest homicides, at 295, in 2015.  Other factors that come into play, are crowded populations and gang violence, and According to the National Gang Center, “highly populated areas accounted for the vast majority of gang homicides: nearly 67 percent occurred in cities with populations over 100,000,” and “the total number of gang homicides reported by respondents in the NYGS sample averaged nearly 2,000 annually from 2007 to 2012. During roughly the same time period (2007 to 2011), the FBI estimated, on average, more than 15,500 homicides across the United States. These estimates suggest that gang-related homicides typically accounted for around 13 percent of all homicides annually.”  This trend of low income inner cities having very high homicide rates continues in all major cities across the nation.  The inner cities of America have been struck with poverty for generations.  Causes for the poverty include, racial and gender discrimination, structure shifts in the economy, racial and income segregation, crowded migration, and simply not enough jobs.  Another main cause for high poverty rates is people not getting high enough education.  People who drop out of school before finishing high school, tend to struggle to find steady jobs that will pay enough standard living cost.  These are just a few causes of the high amounts of poverty in the inner cities.

Another factor that can effect gun violence is gender and race.  According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics,  “In 2010, the rate of firearm homicides for males was 6.2 per 100,000 compared to 1.1 for females.”  This is a very large margin between homicides by male and females and this can play a role in communities.  If one community is way more outnumbered by males to females, one can suspect that there will be a higher firearm homicide rate compared to a community that females outnumber the males.  Another stat from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics is, “In 2010, the rate of firearm homicides for blacks was 14.6 per 100,000, compared to 1.9 for whites, 2.7 for American Indians and Alaska Natives, and 1.0 for Asians and Pacific Islanders.”

An important factor that can effect gun violence is gun ownership.  Gun ownership is highly correlated to gun violence and suicides.  When looking a specific area or community for the amount of gun violence, it should be taken in account how highly populated the area is with gun owners.  In a larger scale, one could even look at the different parts of America.  Parts like the southeast, south, and southwest have a higher gun ownership rate than the west coast and the northeast.  Location is very important because in different parts of the country people tend to have different views on guns.  In the Southern parts of America, where gun ownership rates are the highest, people don’t really care about people arming themselves, while in other parts, many people don’t believe gun ownership should be allowed.

With all these factors in different communities, it can allow one to look more into which community factors play a role in gun violence, especially homicides and suicides.  There are many studies that are very broad in what they are looking for, in accordance to gun violence and gun control laws.  Some will say these gun laws are lowering gun violence, while other studies will show they don’t.  Instead they could look into what the economic situation of that community is like, whether it is a populated urban city or a rural area, the gender and race percentage, and the gun ownership rate.

References

ReferencesMales, Mike. “Age, Poverty, Homicide, and Gun Homicide.”SAGE Open, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015. https://doaj.org/article/0bac3455534640e389dea20ec8acfbf1

Kennedy, Bruce. “America’s 11 Poorest Cities.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 18 Feb. 2015,

Dallas, Mary Elizabeth. “Recession Linked to More than 10,000 Suicides.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 12 June 2014

“Firearm Violence, 1993-2011.” Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), May. 2013.

“National Youth Gang Survey Analysis.” Measuring the Extent of Gang Problems, http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/survey-analysis/measuring-the-extent-of-gang-problems.

Definition Rewrite- muggastackz

American singer/songwriter and political activist Ted Nugent said, “Where you have the most armed citizens in America, you have the lowest violent crime rate. Where you have the worst gun control, you have the highest crime rate.” There is crime happening all over America, whether it may be a small or a more significant crime. But what is the true meaning of crime? Crime is the illegal act that someone commits and is punished for the crime by the government. There is also a difference between a crime and a crime rate. A crime rate is based on the number of crimes per 100,000 population. Many people in society find that crime in urban areas is more frequent than it is in the suburbs or in rural areas; which could be right. There are different categories and classifications for each crime and the criminals doing the crime. As years go on, crime could be hard to fight in urban areas because it is uncontrollable. Criminal activity is a chain effect; once it happens, it continues to occur prevalently.

Over the past decade, crime rates and crime have been a massive problem in the United States. Violent crime has been around for as long as people can remember. Violent crimes would be considered murder, manslaughter, rape, aggravated assault, etc. There was a significant increase in violent crimes between 1985 and 1990, right around the time Reagan was elected president. During this time, crime rates and crime played ‘hand and hand to show that there was an incline in crime and incarceration. The U.S. breaks the charts in murder rates and other crimes than other affluent countries. Christopher Jencks, a writer for The American Post, writes murder rates are far higher in the United States than in Europe, Japan, or even Canada.” Jencks states that the United States also has more rapes, robberies, and assaults than other rich countries. All of these crimes are considered violent offenses. Looking at other countries compared to the United States, it gives people in society reasons why our crime is increasing and why this continues to skyrocket throughout the years. What makes other serious crimes like homicide or murder nonreportable?

Along with violent crimes, property crimes are also committed very frequently in the U.S. Joe Gorman, author for The Vindicator, shares statistics from a local town whose property crimes were reported during this period. “The local numbers for property crimes – which the FBI classifies as burglaries, motor vehicle thefts, vandalism, and shoplifting – decreased slightly for local police departments. Nationally, the FBI said property crimes decreased 3 percent in 2017 from 2016.” According to US Legal, Burglaries/total population is the standard “crime rate” reported by the FBI and used by social scientists. These may be small crimes, but they are reported more often because these are personal items owned by homeowners or business owners. Property crimes happen to individuals during the night hours. Sam Thompson, Global News writer, interviewed police officers regarding a property crime incident. “The main thing is, we’ve had an increase in some minor property crimes, vandalism at night, theft from vehicles, theft from sheds, bicycle theft from yards, stuff like that,” he said. Smaller cities are known to have more property crimes than violent crimes. Thompson quotes a staff sergeant of Brandon Township saying, “Brandon’s a smaller city, around 50,000 people, so we have a little bit of that small-town attitude in some areas.” Officers in small suburban or rural areas aren’t patrolling streets that much because they feel that nothing would be expected to happen in their town. All crime should be reported regardless of how much damage is done; this only helps the community better.
Crime rates and crime differ in some regions of the country. Every city and town do not commit the same crime or have similar crime rates. Different areas of the country will have a higher crime rate or even high crime in that area than an another. Most urban cities have more crime and crime rates. Popular metropolitan cities are bound to be talked about for crime rate, low employment, and impoverished areas. Violent crimes and property crimes are both happening a lot in those communities who need help the most. According to Statista, St.Louis had the highest violent crime in 2017. 2,082 crimes per 100,000 residents were recorded, and Detroit is running a close race with 2,057 crimes per 100,000. The statistics given are four violent crime categories: murder and non-negligent manslaughter; forcible rape; robbery; and aggravated assault. The major urban cities that are known for their ‘crime,’ there isn’t much business coming in and out because no one wants to be around a crime infested area. No business results in low employment rates and when people in that area have no job; they find their self-doing criminal activity. A chain effect continues.

There are at least a couple states in each of the five regions which have high crime and crime rates in the U.S.In 2017, Lousiana had the highest murders in the country with a manslaughter rate of 12.4 which is twice the national average. Smaller states like Vermont or New Hampshire have murder rates of 1. A tremendous amount of cities in the U.S have reported an increase in crime in their cities. New York Times writers Monica Davey and Mitch Smith state that “ In New Orleans, 120 people had been killed by late August, compared with 98 during the same period a year earlier. In Baltimore, homicides had hit 215, up from 138 at the same point in 2014. In Washington, the toll was 105, compared with 73 people a year ago. And in St. Louis, 136 people had been killed this year, a 60 percent rise from the 85 murders the city had by the same time last year.” Crime has changed over the years. Some of the crimes happening today are senseless crimes or crimes that have occurred on accident.

Davey, Monica, and Mitch Smith. “Murder Rates Rising Sharply in Many U.S. Cities.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Sept. 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/09/01/us/murder-rates-rising-sharply-in-many-us-cities.html

Jencks, Christopher. “Is Violent Crime Increasing?” The American Prospect, prospect.org/article/violent-crime-increasing.

“Number of Murders: U.S. Homicide Rate.” Statista, www.statista.com/statistics/195331/number-of-murders-in-the-us-by-state/.

Thompson, Sam. “Brandon Police Encourage Residents to ‘Lock It up’ as Property Crime Climbs.” Global News, Global News, 19 Nov. 2018, globalnews.ca/news/4676675/brandon-police-encourage-residents-to-lock-it-up-as-property-crime-climbs/.

US Legal, Inc. “Crime Rate Law and Legal Definition.” Fraud Law and Legal Definition | USLegal, Inc., definitions.uslegal.com/c/crime-rate/.

 

 

 

 

Definition Rewrite – eaglessb52

Definition: Governmental Policies/ Government’s impact on society

Government policy makes up a significant chunk in our lives, whether we notice it or not. Some of us also think that they tend to just argue all the time without any real change in our everyday lives. In most cases that isn’t true. To understand why, we need to understand what exactly goes into making a governmental policy and what it does to impact us.

In the article, “What is government policy?” on the site nidirect. They state that it is any course of action which intends to change a certain situation. When defining government policy, it is actually pretty simple. Some basic examples are things that could change how much tax we pay, parking fines, immigration laws and pensions. Laws that are already in place can also be changed by government policies. An example of a law that is in place but has slowly been changing is the laws behind marijuana reform. Marijuana for recreational use is illegal federally but a small number of states have overturned this individually. This is an example of laws being changed through government policy, though just at the state level.

One thing the government can do is provide things like subsidies to consumers and taxpayers. Some government programs offer grants and subsidies to first time home buyers. Things like the FHA, USDA, and even Veterans Affairs offers varying assistance to people buying homes for the first time. Imagine, if you would, that you are a veteran or even an active duty service member returning to the country after a long tour of duty and you’re looking to buy your first home. The ease of mind that comes when they guarantee part of the loan goes miles for people so they don’t have to struggle to pay back on the loan as much. VA loans also offer things such as competitive interest rates and generally require no down payment.

Another type of policy in the U.S. is our policies on drugs. The Office of National Drug Control Policy is usually the head of all decisions regarding our nation’s standings on drugs. The main purpose of The Office of National Drug Control Policy is to combat illegal drug use, manufacturing, and stop drug related crime in the country. Some ways that they fight these issues are, to strengthen efforts to prevent drug use in communities, seek early intervention opportunities in health care, and integrate treatment for substance use disorders into health care, and expand support for recovery.

In recent years the threat of global warming is an ever pressing issue. The pollution of our waterways, overproduction of greenhouse gasses, and reliance on nonrenewable fossil fuels has caused serious problems to our country’s ecosystems. In order to slow this degradation of our natural resources and habitats the government has made it illegal for factories to dump waste anywhere they want. The government also may put taxes and fees on businesses that tend to rely on unclean energy. This is done in order to incentivise businesses to develop cleaner means of production. The government may also provide businesses with tax cuts or subsidies if they promote clean energy use and promote an ecofriendly work environment.

These policies also effect the economy and visa versa. Government regulation on businesses  are frequently used to engineer economic growth or prevent negative economic consequences. The article, “What impact does economics have on government policy?”  by investopedia, explains that in periods of weak economic growth, economists recommend lowering interest rates to encourage borrowing and restore economic growth. When interest rates are lowered businesses can borrow more money to invest in their businesses. The article also goes into detail about how banks are offered a discount rate on funds borrowed so that they can re-lend to consumers. We borrow money in order to put a down payment on a car, buy a house, and start up a business, just to name a few. Banks are crucial in the direction the consumer economy goes given that they are the “gatekeepers,” as the article put it.

On another hand, researchers such as, Richard Layard, state that the government should make policies that effect our happiness their top priority and not just economic prosperity. He promotes the idea of using data-driven methods in order to determine what policies make the American people the most happy. In an interview with him where he describes his book, “The Origins of Happiness,” he told the interviewer that his main goal of the book was to describe certain policy changes and their effects on the overall happiness of the people. His goal was to give policymakers exact numbers that they can use to make their decisions. He took data on levels of happiness in a normal population, from rich to poor, single to married, young and old, etc. He found that though income was a factor in every category he studied it wasn’t a significant enough impact on overall happiness of the people. Income in the end only accounted for a fraction of variation between overall happiness levels and in the end when the government passes laws that promote the happiness of the citizens first more people prosper. He also points to the happiness levels of Scandinavian countries in comparison given that since their people are happier their society tends to be much better in the long run.

I believe Franklin D. Roosevelt puts it best when he said, “Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.” We are the ones that allow these policies to be put in place. As these policies are put in place it ultimately effects us as citizens and consumers of goods, whether we realize it or not. It is important for us to understand what policies are put into place and how it does effect us in the end. When we are knowledgeable about our government we can vote for people who will put in laws that will make us all happier in the end.

References:
Can Government Policies Make Us Happier? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/can_government_policies_make_us_happier

Government policy. (2016, September 19). Retrieved from https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/government-policy

Investopedia. (2018, August 03). What impact does economics have on government policy? Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/031615/what-impact-does-economics-have-government-policy.asp
 

Definition Rewrite — Wiseman101

Right to Physician-Assisted Suicide

According to Kopelman’s article, “Does physician-assisted suicide promote liberty and compassion?”, physician-assisted suicide is an exercise whereby the doctor helps a patient with the faster means to end his or her life due to overwhelming pain or suffering. A suffering patient requests the physician typically to assist him or her to end his life. It is called physician-assisted because the doctor supports in dying and hastening the death of the patient. In this case, the doctor takes the step knowingly and ready to make the patient die. There is a difference between physician-assisted suicide and the euthanasia. In euthanasia a doctor, assist the patient to die through the administration of a lethal drug while in physician-assisted dying, the doctor deals with a sound mind individual who requests voluntarily to die by requiring a dose of barbiturates that will kill him or her. The state of the art palliative care should be established to treat these people suffering and almost ending their lives. Physician-assisted suicide should be an option when only the last means of treatment has failed to work out (Kopelman, 87). However, even though physician-assisted suicide for some appears unethical, there is a need to recognize the right for a physician-assisted suicide since it gives individual their constitutional liberty. Nobody should control how someone should die; therefore, patients should be given a right to die anytime they will.

Many states have illegalized physician-assisted suicide. However, there has been a recent flurry of legal implications in this case. Kopelman also claims that, the issue of whether of whether to legalize physician-assisted deaths (PAD) has been on debate for a long time now. In the United States, most of the states have prohibited PAD and terming it as unconstitutional, but it the real sense it constitutional. Individuals should be given their liberty under the constitution.  She says that there have been several attempts to change this law. One of the federal challenging the constitutionality of these prohibitions of PAD includes two Supreme Court cases, Washington vs. Glucksberg and Quill vs. Vacco. After several attempts to legalize PAD failed, then the Death with Dignity Act was passed in Oregon in 1995 and also in Washington state in 2008. These laws allow an individual who wishes to die through physician-assisted practice to do so freely.

There has been a controversy on how to recognize the right of PAD individuals. According to Kopelman, some people associate the word suicide with some mental illness and some irrational behavior. However, these people should be given a right to control their lives because there is a point a patient realizes that death is the only best option for the illness, this is a self-preservation means. That is why when the states legalized this means of dying called is physician-assisted suicide.

There are various reasons why the right to physician-assisted suicide should be recognized. The first reason is patient autonomy. A patient should be guaranteed a right to control any possible circumstances surrounding his death. Respect of the patient is one duty of a doctor. The sole responsibility is to relieve pain the patient is undergoing, physician-assisted suicide is one of the approaches used. This practice was practiced in Oregon whereby over 100 patients obtained a prescription for lethal doses under the law, which was passed in 1997. 850 patients die after taking such doses. Most of these patients had critical and acute diseases like cancer whereby death was the only remaining option. It should also be noted that physician-assisted death is a personal choice; therefore, people should be given their right to choose what suits them. Sometimes the pain in the patient can be too much to contain, therefore when the patient recognizes it is better to die, nobody is supposed to prohibit that, secondly, there is an aspect of mercy. If the pain and suffering the patient is undergoing cannot be relived through the palliative care, then the doctor has the powers to do anything possible to assist the patient to relieve the pan, even if it means hastening patient’s death. Because, honestly, sometimes pain can be unbearable.

Kopelman also points out that, not all medicine can relieve human suffering. The pain and suffering of a dying patient can be too much. The suffering is caused by somatic symptoms like nausea, pain, depression, anxiety and even hopelessness. For most of the patients, when they feel to have the control over their death timing, they get comfort. However, it is reasonable to ask for medicine before opting for death directly. As much as there should be a right for physician-assisted individuals, nobody wants patients to die but have freedom and a right to remain alive and in good health. However, it should be noted that PAD is controlling suffering on terminally ill patients.

There is an unexpected benefit of allowing patients to have a right to physician-assisted suicide. However, it should be noted that the laws and rights for physician-assisted right do intend to kill a patient but to assist in pain relieving. In the study by Boudreau, Donald J., and Margaret A. Somerville, “Physician-assisted Suicide Should Not Be” in this exercise, patients have the opportunity to die with dignity; they experience less trauma and pin when dying. In addition, the patient has all the time to say goodbye to the friends and family members. It should be noted that when the patient requests to die early, he saves the financial burden that the family would have used to treat a disease, which will not get ill at the end of the day. The other most crucial benefit of such a death is that some useful organs like the kidneys can be saved for that patients and be used to save the lives of other patients. In addition, one can imagine if there were not physician-assisted suicide, many people could have committed suicide in a mess and horrifying, traumatic manner.

The other most important reason for legalizing physician-assisted suicide is that it gives patients freedom of choice. The capability to control your mind and body is fundamental to any human being. Boudreau and Somerville agree that, a patient should not be allowed to continue suffering for long in this world when in the real sense there are no hopes for healing members. Death is never enjoyable to witness, but also it is more saddening to see your loved one struggle in pain which will not end any time soon members .Therefore, physician-assisted death helps the terminally ill patient to end his life without necessarily undergoing agony for a long time. Physician-assisted suicide is the best method to determine the right time and manner of a terminally ill patient. This liberty grants the patients alternatives to choose. The constitution provides this liberty and makes it clear for everyone. However, some proponents can argue that physician-assisted suicide should be illegalized since the doctors have no right to determine the right time for a patient’s death.

 

 

Works Cited

Boudreau, Donald J., and Margaret A. Somerville. “Physician-assisted Suicide Should Not Be

Permitted: option 1.” The New England Journal of Medicine 368.15 (2013): 114-145.

Kopelman, Loretta M. “Does physician-assisted suicide promote liberty and compassion?.”

Physician-Assisted Suicide: What are the Issues?. Springer, Dordrecht, 2001. 87-102.

Definition Rewrite-Marvel

Current hygiene practices increase our contraction of infectious disease. We have all seen the signs on the bathroom door or next to the sink that reads “employees must wash hands.” This signifies that OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) recognizes the importance of washing our hands after using the restroom. If this sign is abided by, customers are put at ease when eating at their favorite restaurant or buying muffins from their local baker. Customers can be rest assured that they are not going to contract some vile food bourn illness that will knock them out of commission for days. We forget about the dish rag that has been used all day to wipe the counters, or the bench seats at the diner that haven’t been cleaned properly.

There is a growing need to address the way we clean and the products we use to clean. This extends to the antibiotics we take to “clean” our bodies and the antibiotics we use to treat the animals we eat.The invention of penicillin awarded Alexander Fleming the Nobel Prize. Fleming warned during his acceptance speech that the overuse of antibiotics would lead to a decline in their effectiveness. This overuse happens when bacteria evolve to have stronger defenses against certain antibiotics. The overuse is dangerous because as we take more antibiotics, bacteria are getting stronger and more likely to have a defense against the very thing meant to kill them.

Today we are seeing an increased awareness to antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. Immuno-compromised persons are at an increased risk due to their susceptibility to bacterial infection. This population consists of elderly and children as well as any people with existing conditions that would weaken their bodies ability to fight infection. Compounding these issues are those of improper hygiene among people that service these immune-compromised people.According to The American Journal of Infection Control we should be taking a “risk-based approach” to hygiene. Knowing which cleaning products to use and when to use them is crucial to appropriate hygiene. Author, Sally F. Bloomfield says, “detergent-based cleaning can be used to break the chain of infection, in some cases an antimicrobial agent is required,” in an article titled, “A Risk Assessment Approach to use of Antimicrobials in the Home to Prevent Spread of Infection.”

At one time the idea of using an antimicrobial agent in the home was unnecessary but with a growing immune-compromised populations that is receiving similar care in home as they once saw in a hospital it is becoming more crucial. This crucial step breaks the chain of the bacteria and allows for the person in contact with a once infected surface to know be safe from any bacterial infection. In addition to this step being crucial for the reduction of an infection, it also limits the use of antibiotics to treat an infection. By limiting the use of the antibiotics, we see a reduction in the risk for antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria.

Along with direct use of antibiotics in humans for treatment, the United States meat industry began using antibiotics both as a tool to keep animals from getting sick and as a tool to aid in weight gain. This practice is adding to the inappropriate hygiene practices. Maryn Mckenna writes in an article titled Drugs: gut response?, that “By saturating the environment with antibiotic residues, Blaser argues, we have effectively recreated that weight-gain programme in humans — and the result has been the seemingly unstoppable increase in obesity, especially in children.” This article is from the International Journal of Science. Mckenna is reviewing an article written by Martin J. Blaser on how the overuse of antibiotics is “Fueling our modern plagues”.

Essentially, we are contaminating our food now with a product that was meant to treat infection. In doing so we are seeing a similar response in humans that these farmers see in their animals such as weight gain. Weight gain has many health repercussions on its own and now add to that the use of the antibiotics effecting efficiency when a person is ill. On top of the now sometimes inefficient antibiotics, Blaser discusses the idea that the overuse of antibiotics is destroying healthy benign bacteria that are necessary for normal, healthy, human function.

It appears that we are at a boiling point. With things like resistant bacteria and a growing immune-compromised population it is crucial that we begin to make strides in practicing appropriate hygiene. Don’t let that sign in the bathroom fool you. Just washing your hands is not enough. Appropriate hygiene goes beyond hand-washing.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196655313000217

https://www.nature.com/articles/508182a

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/viral-gastroenteritis/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20378852

Definition Rewrite- KinggKunta

The safety of our society has and always will be one of the concerns of ours. Crime rates were introduced to help us keep track of the number of crimes committed in a neighborhood. But before we talk about crime rates, let’s establish the legal definition of a crime. According to For Law Dictionary by John Bouvier, crime is “a violation of a law in which there is an injury to the public or a member of the public, and there is a term in jail or prison, and/or a fine as possible penalties.”  In other words, all  John Bouvier is saying is that a crime is an action that breaks the rule of law, or the laws of a community.

Now back to crime rates and how they come up with the numbers. In the United States, the mathematical definition of crime rate, according to the “Computational Formulas” of California’s government, is the number of crimes reported to law enforcement agencies per 100,000 total population. This simple formula involves dividing the number of crimes reported by the entire population of the town and multiplying it by 100,000. This is a great general formula but it provides an inflated data when the crime rate for towns with a population less than 100,000 people. According to Crime Rate Law and Legal Definition, a post on USLegal website, we understand that “crime rates help law enforcement agencies access the effectiveness of a crime control policy…” That’s a nice way of saying crime rates also reflect on the impotence of law enforcement agencies in a community.

For instance, Glassboro, a small suburban town in south New Jersey, has a high crime rate in comparison to most other suburban towns in both New Jersey and the nation. Can this be the result of ineffective policing in Glassboro, or failing safety policies and procedures in Glassboro? The answer to that is neither, but one thing for sure is, the police officers in Glassboro are responding to lots of 911 calls. Crime rates as previously discussed can be calculated only if our officers are made aware of the “crime” that has been committed, and after assessing the situation, the incident is logged and decided [the incident is not decided] if further action needs to be taken. But what if our law enforcement officers aren’t made aware of certain crimes that occur in a neighborhood? In this case, there will be no record of those offenses, and they may never be reflected in the city’s crime report. Even better, certain crimes can be categorized in ways that can mislead viewers or inhabitants that their community is safer than some other town, which can create a false sense of safety relative to other towns.

Regardless of that, how does that define Glassboro’s rising crime rate? Well, understand that even though there is a legal definition of crime provided, there are slight variations in the definition as we go from town to town and even generation to generations. What might be a crime in Glassboro, may be overlooked in another city, or the criminal being let off with a warning or no legal implications. Also, cases that might be deemed as serious offenses may be viewed as misdemeanors or “light” crimes. Either way, it varies in communities. So comparing the crime rates of different communities can be misleading. The better way to determine if a city is getting safer or worse is to compare the stats from its previous years because every city has its own different culture, and make-up. Glassboro, for the most part, harbors Rowan University with about 15,401 students, with the remaining 4,610 as Glassboro residence. This leaves Glassboro with about 20,011 residents, with some Rowan students as residents. Rowan University is known for its wild weekend parties and “crazy” frat activities. According to student A from Rowan University, whose identity won’t be disclosed for privacy reasons, claims that he is “living” his best life. When asked about it, he said, “Bro there is always a party going on somewhere in Rowan.” Curious enough the question about cops shutting down parties and arresting students rose, and he responded, “Yeah, all the time. I got a citation for pissing outside the other time. To be honest, I was glad they did not get me for being drunk, and the weed that was in my pocket.” That statement intrigued me and got me to thinking, what if Rowan is part of the reason Glassboro has high crime rates.

According to Neighborhood Scout, areas harboring and neighboring Rowan University have the highest crime potential. It’s also marked as the most “dangerous” part of Glassboro. This may be due to the activities that go on at Rowan University. Just like every college, Rowan attracts outsiders into its environment and the presence of outsiders should be should be taken into account when calculating the crime rate of Glassboro. Well, for starters, we don’t know if these crimes were committed by Glassboro residents or “troublemakers” stopping by Glassboro, more specifically Rowan University for a party. If our law enforcement agencies separate crimes committed by Glassboro residents from non-residents, there will be a decrease in the numbers that are reported yearly by our police officers. From Rowan’s 2018 Annual Security and Fire Safety data, There were 1,053 instances of a crime at Rowan’s main campus alone in the year 2017. This stat is included in Glassboro’s crime report regardless of what the crime was.

 

References

“Crime Rate and Legal Definition.” U.S Legal, Retrieved 4 December 2018, https://definitions.uslegal.com/c/crime-rate/.

[Computational Formula]. State of California Department of Justice, https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/cjsc/prof10/formulas.pdf . Accessed 17 October 2018.

crime. (n.d.) A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States. By John Bouvier.. (1856). Retrieved 4 December 2018, from https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/crime
Neighborhood Scout, Accessed 17 October 2018,   https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/nj/glassboro/crime .

2018 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, Rowan Campus Securtity. Retrieved 5 December 2018, https://sites.rowan.edu/publicsafety/_docs/annual_security_report.pdf

 

Definition Rewrite- beachgirl6

The Real-life Problems of Online Activity

Society has never been so fortunate to live in such a technologically advanced world. Being able to access any information within seconds, along with having the ability to be in contact with friends and family who live anywhere in the world has shaped everyday life. Raising the next generation of kids has its new challenges to it since their lives now are heavily influenced by the internet. However, internet and social networking sites can impact how kids live their own lives and find their own sense of self. Adolescents can develop problematic internet use to create a fake persona of themselves online that lead to negative consequences with their offline relationships.

More kids are using technology than ever before. In fact, on average, adolescents spend at least 9 hours on social media. Furthermore, a study done by the Pew Research Center from March 2018 to April 2018 of 743 U.S. teens and 1,058 U.S. parents of teens found that 54% of teens spend too much time of their cellphones. As for social media, 41% of these teens think they spend too much time on it. Almost three-quarters of the parents in the study felt that their teen is too directed by their phone to even hold a conversation. Even more shocking is that 56% of teens feel “loneliness, being upset or feeling anxious” when they are not around their phone. These feelings can become so intense that teens can show signs of internet addiction.

Adolescents who develop an addiction to the Internet can be compared to those with an addiction to substances like alcohol and drugs, according to The Council’s Blog. The Internet can give off “some of the same dopamine rewards” that effects “the pleasure systems of the brain.” Social media can also alleviate any stress teens may be having as it is an easy way to fill the “human need for stimulation,” thus making it addictive. In addition, CNN reports that a study done by UCLA scanned 32 teenager’s brains when using an app that was like Instagram. It found that “certain regions of the brain became activated by ‘likes’, with the brain’s reward center becoming especially active.” This ultimately motivates teens to use social media more. Furthermore, Lauren Sherman, the lead author of the study explains how the reward center is more sensitive in adolescents, which explains why social media is so popular.

More importantly, children who have experienced childhood abuse are more likely to problematically use the internet as a coping mechanism to feel a connection with others. These children who have experienced emotional abuse or physical or emotional neglect are more at risk of developing an insecure attachment or avoidant attachment anxiety.  This can deprive these kids of developing healthy relationships in their offline lives, thus making them susceptible to develop a problematic internet use that enables them to create a false persona to connect to others.

Childhood maltreatment, according to a research report from Springer Science and Business Media called “Growing Up Wired: Social Networking Sites and Adolescent Psychosocial Development,” can cause future anxiety and even PTSD. These feelings can overwhelm adolescents, and they may feel that the internet is the only way to cope with their feelings. Since these kids don’t have the ability to go to a trustworthy adult to confide in, they will use social media to escape their hardships. In order to find some sort of connection with others, they will create a false persona of themselves to build a more sufficient self-image. Creating a fake persona does not take hard work, but it can be harmful to the individual. The main reason a fake persona is created is to be relatable to others so that friendships and relationships can be formed. Social media sites allow adolescents to post whatever they want, therefore it is easier to share whatever they want, even if it is false information. Moreover, this misinformation may not be linked to their true feelings.

According to Springer Science and Business Media, if teens don’t share false information online, they may just self-disclose only the information they want. Teens can decide how they want to present themselves, and this can lead to how high or low their self-esteem is by the reactions of others. Furthermore, Springer Science and Business Media explains how online self-disclosure is a “rehearsal” for offline self-disclosure. Depending on who the teen’s audience is, they will practice what information they want to reveal about themselves. So, if they are taking to a close friend online, they will most likely to reveal more information about themselves face to face. However, in general, their own profiles overall do not “portray their ‘ideal selves’.”

Although adolescents can spread false information about themselves to make themselves more extroverted and appealing to others, social media can actually be a good way to interact with others as long as it’s used appropriately. It can help their self-identity by allowing them to “join Internet ‘groups’ reflecting on the aspects of their identity that they wish to explore or deepen” according to Springer Science and Business Media. When teens use these social networking sites for good, they can develop new and authentic friendships. They can even connect with others who come from different backgrounds to create deeper connections.

Adolescents need to find a way to connect to others without fear of rejection. Whether this fear is because of not having similar interests to their peers or because of past traumas, social media use is starting to become a problem. The internet is supposed to be a place where people can share their lives with one another, but it slowly but surely is becoming an outlet to ignore one’s true feelings by creating a fake identity to create a whole new person they want to see themselves as. There needs to be a better support system for all children and young adults, regardless of their past experiences of trauma or mental illness. Social media is a part of everyday life, but the fact that it is starting to harm the next generation of kids is becoming dangerous for the future. The internet should be a place where adolescents are free to express themselves and not feel the pressure to act like others around them. Creating a sense of self is essential to the way each child develops, and social media may be a harmful place where false personas are taking over.

References

East, S. (2016, August 01). How does social media affect your brain. Retrieved November 29, 2018, from https://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/12/health/social-media-brain/

Jiang, J. (2018, September 14). How Teens and Parents Navigate Screen Time and Device Distractions. Retrieved November 29, 2018, from http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/08/22/how-teens-and-parents-navigate-screen-time-and-device-distractions/

Lester, H. (2018, February 09). Technology Misuse, Abuse, & Addiction Among Teenagers. Retrieved November 29, 2018, from https://www.councilonrecovery.org/technology-misuse-abuse-addiction-among-teenagers/

Shapiro, L., & Margolin, G. (2013, May 04). Growing Up Wired: Social Networking Sites and Adolescent Psychosocial Development. Retrieved November 29, 2018, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10567-013-0135-1