The Public and Private Life Essay

In William’’ Shakespeare’s â€Å"Julius Caesar,† there is a conflict in the characters public and private lives. The major characters, Julius Caesar, Brutus, Cassius and Antony, all experienced these conflicts. All actions these characters perform represent conflicts between the benefit of Rome and their own sense of honor, emotions and love for each other. Caesar is trying to form a new political system in Rome called dictatorship. Even though he has the ambition to become the emperor of Rome, he understands it is not the right moment to do so. He refuses the crown in front of the public and he cannot hide his big desire of being a king. His ambition has been shown through his actions. Although his refusals have earned him the public’s adoration, Cassius and Casca are disgusted by the spectacle. Casca reports that the â€Å"rabblement hooted . . . when Caesar refused the crown† (1, ii, 254-258). The conspirators who decide to stand up agains t him have caught his personal ambition. Even though Calpurnia’s dream about the beast providing an omen to warn Caesar, â€Å"When beggars die, there are no comets seen; the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes†(2, ii, 30-33) she tries to convince him to stay home by the beliefs in their time that her prediction would come true. He still doesn’t listen to his wife and refuses to stay home. Calpurnia didn’t give up and tried to warn him several times. He was almost getting convinced but when Decius comes and says, † Senate have concluded to give†¦crown†(2 ii 93-94). Decius manipulates Caesar in saying that so he decides to go. Caesar’s public self takes priority to push him to go. Also, his decision to take care of public first keeps him from reading Artemidorus’s letter. Because of his act of putting the public interests first that made him deal with real consequences afterwards. At the end, Caesar’s last word is â€Å"Et Tu Brute?†(3, i, 84-85). Because he realizes that he has shown his ambition too much. Ignoring his private sentiments to follow public concerns brings Caesar to his death. Brutus shows that his personal life is not as important as Rome by not telling about the conspirators to his wife Portia. She suffers because of his actions. Portia says, â€Å"and could it work so much upon your shape as it hath much prevailed on your condition, I should not know you, Brutus† (2, i, 273-75). She claims that his behavior is strange and he has been acting bizarre. So she begs to know his secret but he decides to keep that secret. He believes that he has  to act on the people’s will -â€Å"shall Rome stand under one man’s awe†(2, i, 54-55). He goes ahead with the murder of Caesar, despite their close friendship -â€Å"Not that I love Caesar less, but I love Rome more†(3, ii, 19-20). Brutus puts aside his personal loyalties and personal thoughts of Caesar. He acts on what he believes to be the public’s wishes and kills Caesar. Brutus puts himself in danger by believing that his public self is important than his private will. After Caesar’s assassination, Brutus believes they are â€Å"sacrifice’s, not butchers†(2, i, 171-177) , so his self-morals impel him to give up his private self again. He shows mercy to Antony and allows him to do the funeral oration. Ironically, by killing Caesar, Brutus had a visit from Caesar’s spirit as he takes the lead of conspirators and Cassius. At the end, Brutus chooses to die honorably, sacrificing himself to reconcile his public and private lives. Not only Brutus cannot balance his public and private life but also Cassius cannot. Cassius lacks all sense of personal life and his motivations are based on his envy and jealousy. He allows Brutus the leadership of the group and that is a big mistake. Especially when Brutus decides to not think of Mark Antony with the funeral oration, that he is allowed to make. Brutus let Antony do that he makes the entire city be against the conspirators. Cassius has so much admiration and respect to Brutus that he concedes Brutus to the military strategy in marching along to meet the army Antony and Octavius during the Philippi war. Even if Cassius is smarter and more observant, he has to sacrifice his principles and compromise â€Å"with your will, go on†(4, iii, 220) as he is unable to challenge the authority and moral rights of Brutus. Antony is the only one who can adjust his public and private selves perfectly. However, Mark Antony admires Brutus personally and praises him as â€Å"the noblest Roman of them all†(5, V, 73). He fights against Brutus to revenge Caesar’s death. Antony chooses to give up his public life, like his loyalty for Caesar. Antony is the only one who deserves the success because even though he admires Brutus he shows no hesitations on which side he wants to stay. The tragedies that occurred with the characters resulted in disaster because they refused to balance their both private and public feelings in favor of what they believed to be the public good. The apparent experiment of attempting to mix their private and public lives does not bring them any favor because they cannot adjust to a new way of life. Caesar’s ambition took over him, leaving his wife, Calpurnia, who dreamt about his murder, in distress as she finds the news of his downfall to happen because his public persona lead him to his death. Caesar did not suffer his demise alone as Brutus falls from great heights as well when he refuses to tell the secret to his wife, Portia, when she begs him to tell her. He pushes aside his personal loyalties and decides to kill Caesar. However, Brutus and Caesars’ altering lifestyles seems to be no matter for Cassius as he has no private life but still refuses to admit his own sensibilities. Moreover, Antony didn’t suffer a downfall because he knew how to balance separate both his public and private life.

Minimum Entry into Nursing

The minimum entry perquisites for nurses have been a hot issue for the last three to four decades. All through this era, position proclamations have been frequently impending from a variety of specialized associations, undoubtly the most considered being the ANA â€Å"First Position on Education for Nursing† of 1965. These statements have lead to arguments and debate, in particularly within the area of registered nurses. The argument of these diverse proclamations have been to shift official nursing education out of the service division and into educational spectrum, to propose the nature of education desired for the coming years, and to deal with projected future of the profession of nursing. In general, entry into practice has been one of the most controversial subjects regarding nursing. (Gosnell, 2002) Disagreement concerning associate degree nursing as an entrance level for registered nurses has been surfacing from the time when it was initiated. Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) education offers a vibrant trail for entry into registered nursing practice. ADN provides handy, inexpensive, excellence teaching to an assorted populace. Commenced as a research assignment in reply to communal requirements, this instruction is repeatedly developing to be a sign of confined society needs and present health care inclinations. Graduates of this program are equipped to function in numerous health care circumstances, together with societal practice sites. In spite of the pertinent important impact this teaching has had on the entry into nursing subject, Mahaffey tells that assessments were occasionally made with no noteworthy demonstration of all curriculum categories. There is a necessary requirement for addition of the influence of ADN mentors, with nurses on job, in the groupings who are conniving an apparition for nursing. (Mahaffey, 2002) References Gosnell, D. (May 31, 2002)   Ã¢â‚¬Å"The 1965 Entry into Practice Proposal – Is It Relevant Today?† Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. Vol. #7 No. #2, Overview and Summary. Available: http://www.nursingworld.org/ojin/topic18/tpc18ntr.htm Mahaffey, E. (May 31, 2002)   Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Relevance of Associate Degree Nursing Education: Past, Present, Future† Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. Vol. #7 No. #2, Manuscript 2. Available: http://www.nursingworld.org/ojin/topic18/tpc18_2.htm   

Theory Paper Three Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Theory Paper Three - Essay Example ssful situations such as economic, career, family or religious problems, hormonal changes such as the onset of menopause in women among others (Stein, 2013). This paper provides a theoretical analysis of mental disorders such as depression and anxiety among young adults and middle aged Groups based on the theoretical constructs of the theory of planned behavior. According to Glanz, Rimer and Viswanath (2008), the theory of planned behavior is one of the most widely used theories in understanding health behaviors such as mental illnesses. Some of the main constructs of the theory of planned behaviors that can effectively be used to explain the occurrence of mental health disorders among the young adults and middle aged persons include: The construct of attitude in the theory of planned behavior argues that individuals often perform self evaluation of their performance or achievements either negatively or positively based on their individual expectations, attributes or targeted outcomes. Armitage and Conner (2001) particularly suggest that young adults and middle aged individuals may under go a number of stressful situations based on the degree of their evaluation of their goals. This may consequently result in work related stresses such as remorse for unaccomplished goals and fear of being humiliated by their successful friends. The concept of social norms under the theory of planned behavior generally refers to the accepted normative or standard codes of behavior within a particular group of people based on the collectivistic cultural or social related variables. For example, individuals often develop perceptions on what they are expected to be by their friends, families or the society. In this regard, the prevalence of mental disorders such as anxiety and depression may be explained by the fact that most people in their middle ages normally experience a number of social changes and may soon found they are unable to conform to the expectations of their

Mega Simulator Game Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Mega Simulator Game - Research Paper Example According to the findings, it can, therefore, be said that Kolb’s theory of reflective learning entails a four-stage cycle. The processes involved are concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation (Atkinson & Murrel, 1988, p. 15). Concrete experience entails the subject undergoing a learning activity for instance in fieldwork. The subject is faced with a situation that will ultimately shape his future perceptions. Reflective observation entails the subject making sensible reflections concerning the experience. The subject looks at the influence that the experience he/she has undergone has on him/her. Abstract conceptualization entails the subject’s attempt to intellectualize the perceived model. The person tries to comprehend the theories underpinning the experience he/she has undergone. Active experimentation entails the subject’s attempt to apply the model. The person then tries to apply the lessons learned in the experience in his/her situation. There are other reflective techniques and models, for instance, Schon’s model. This model has two fundamental concepts of reflective thinking. That is the reflection in action and reflection on action (Schon, 1991, p. 45). Reflection in action entails experiencing an event, thinking about the next step and acting instantly. Reflection on the action on the hand entails thinking about an event that already occurred, thinking of a different strategy and taking time to implement it (Schon, 1991, p. 78).

Critique of Research Article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Critique of Research Article - Essay Example In Australia, rural nurses represent an impressive percentage of the nursing community. According to the Association for Australian Rural Nurses, Inc. (Mission and Objectives), there are 90,000 Australian rural nurses. Drury (Online) commented that nurses in rural and remote areas of Western Australia are often sole practitioners, and that community mental health nurses were often sole care providers, responsible for coordinating all aspects of the clients’ care. Therefore, research relating to these 90,000-strong women and men is important to nursing and clinical practice. Topical research, such as treating patients with mental health problems, an area that challenges not just generalist nurses but also well-schooled mental health professionals, is certainly welcomed. The interest is not just theoretical, it is financial, too. The Australian Medical Association’s Submission to the Senate Select Committee on Mental Health (April 2005) noted that between 2000-2001, four mental health-related concerns (Mental Disorders, Nervous System Disorders, Alzheimers/Dementias, Other Nervous System) were responsible for over 25% of the health spending in Australia. The raw figure for spending is in the untold millions. Thus, the provision of timely, appropriate, mental health care is not just an ethical or social imperative, it is a financial one, too, and information pertaining to such care is valuable. Clark et al.’s (205-213) article, â€Å"Rural generalist nurses’ perceptions of the effectiveness of their therapeutic interventions for patients with mental illness,† according to the title, states it will discuss the nurses and â€Å"perceptions of the effectiveness of their therapeutic interventions for patients with mental illness† (205), certainly an important topic. This content description is echoed in the last paragraph of the Introduction, also. However, after reading one or two pages of the article or reviewing the

The assignment should be presented as a Journal opinion article and Essay - 1

The assignment should be presented as a Journal opinion article and address an economic issue of current interest to Wall Street - Essay Example A recent report showed that around 155,000 jobs were added in December in order to handle the unemployment situation in U.S economy. However, the rate of unemployment remains unchanged and stood at 7.8%. Faster job creation is required that is around 300,000 or more in order to bring the rate of unemployment at desired level. Policy makers are enjoying sweet repose as annual inflation stays at satisfactory level. Over the past 12 months, only an increase of 1.8% has been seen in consumer prices. When it comes to Household Debt, it has been observed that credit card debt has declined to 16.5% and consumers remain cautious. It will enable Americans to spend a little, as economy gets better. Despite of it, certain types of debt are still rising such as student loans. Fresh graduates are not being able to find well-paying jobs. Prices of Homes continues to move up as market condition of real estate improves. As unemployment goes down, there is more chance of further improvement. As far a s Gas Prices are concerned, although they fell last year, they have again started to back up. Gas prices rely on cost of oil, which has increased to double after the recession has ended. As economic conditions get better, there would be an upsurge in demand of oil, which will ultimately increase the prices of gas. For Equity Markets, the combination of low inflation and slow growth is usually good for stocks. Forecasters seek adequate gains from blue chip companies. Certainly, it will lead investors to continue to invest in stocks. Critical Analysis In this article, the author has mentioned the impact of post-recession economic conditions on American families. Several areas have been highlighted in order to provide brief insight of how this area affects American families. In this article the author states that the economic condition in United States has been improving for the past 3 years yet, it does not stand at the point where it should be. I believe that this point is not valid because the economy of United States experienced worst recession in 2008. Usually after recession, the economy gets stabilize but in this case, it was referred to as Double-Dip Recession. It means that after the initial recession, there was very slowly recovery, which was followed by another recession. Analysts predicted that there is threat of United States getting bankrupt. If it happens then it will drown many another economies with itself. Therefore, after all such chaos, even if the economy is heading towards improvement then it must not be criticized. Despite of discussing all the integral components of an economy, the author showed least linkage of these factors with American families and their influence on them. Brief information was given on the concluding note that outlook is encouraging for people having stable housing, good credit and secure jobs. The author concluded that recovery will be weakening and there will be less help for those who are underemployed or unemploye d. It would not do well to them who have lost their homes. At the end, the author transits to building more ambitious budget reforms. Without such reforms, there is a threat that current slow growth will become entrenched in the form of economic stagnation. Thus, by the analysis of this article it can be concluded that as mentioned by the economic indicators, the economic cond

Building of professional competence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Building of professional competence - Essay Example According to the research findings it can therefore be said that communication remains one of the vital elements to every professional in conducting his daily activities. Communication needs to be very effective in businesses in order to create a mutual exchange of understanding between the conveyer of the information and the readers. Business communication ensures that there is constant flow of information. More than often, communication plays an important role in giving information to the interested parties of an organisation including employees and shareholders notwithstanding the general public. In the presentation on Harrods holdings, effective communication was made to various parties. This comprised of the customers who were served in Harrod holdings and investors who were the key shareholders in the company. With regards to the customers the report gives information based on the location of Harrod holdings within its business actual position in the market. In addition, the co mpany’s managers give a convenient highlight on the presence of other boutiques that Harrod holdings have around other parts of the world. The report given based on Harrod holdings also shows the owners of the company thus, giving the public the image of the company. year that it was founded as well as the year and place of incorporation; this shows the depthness and clarity of giving information. Through the report we have learnt on the significance of improving our interpersonal communication skills. Working with others In coming up with a report on Harrods holdings the staff worked together in groups to manage the company’s sales portfolio. In this group every individual exhibited a high level of corporation as it is highlighted by the high volumes of sales. Working in a team combines the skills and the creativity of a diverse number of individuals in the group. Teamwork is the key to the success of every team. During our reporting on Harrod holdings we devised a te am process, roles and behaviours. In managing a team all members occupational obligations are supposed to be considered, thus, working out the time into each member busy schedules remains important in working as a group. In the meeting, determination of members strength and weaknesses assisted greatly in task allocation. We owe the success in our team to our abilities to compliment each other and distribute tasks accordingly. In the team we had cohesiveness and productivity given that our final common goal was set. Improving own learning performance More than often, individuals set out standards that are geared on improving the learning performance. As a result, the study on Harrod Holdings was able to set out standards based on key skill that we identified over time within the activities carried by employees. These skills have assisted the company in developing themselves as independent learners from within the group members especially, as the employees focused on achieving the goa l of giving an increased sales production to Harrod Holdings. This is relevant in the presence of process skills that focus on target-setting through effective planning. Later on, we focused on process skill advanced to learning of new techniques

Creating a Decision Making Matrix for Four Restaurant Alternatives Essay

Creating a Decision Making Matrix for Four Restaurant Alternatives - Essay Example Eventually, a two dimensional matrix is generated. Decision matrixes are common in procurement procedures where they are used to choose the best bid among the many proposals that have been received. A decision matrix has four major components which include; criteria, options/alternatives, weights and scores/rating (Hammon, Keeney and Raiffa, 2002). The purpose of this paper is to design a decision matrix and the scores for selecting the best restaurant from among four alternatives A, B, C, D using cost, convenience, service, taste and nutrition as the decision criteria. Creating the matrix The restaurants A, B, C, and D shall be ranked according to the following five criteria; cost, convenience, service, taste and nutrition. These criteria have been selected since they are the major determining factors ion the final decision making regarding the most suitable restaurant. The weights for the criteria are assigned in such a way that the total weight is 1.0. In this case, the weights fo r the criteria are as follows; Cost= 0.30, service=0.25, taste=0.2, convenience= 0.15, nutrition= 0.10. The total for the criteria = 1.0. The criteria ranking for each of the restaurant alternatives A, B, C and D are designed in such a way that the highest rank is 4. The score for each alternative is calculated as follows; Score = (Rating * assigned weight). The total score is obtained from the sum of all the scores. Based on the cost, convenience, service, taste and nutrition criteria, the restaurant options A, B, C, and D are ranked as follows; Criteria Ranking/Ranking Restaurant Options Cost Service Taste Convenience Nutrition A 3 4 1 3 2 B 2 1 2 4 4 C 4 2 3 1 3 D 1 3 4 2 1 The scores are calculated and tabulated as follows; Alternatives A B C D Criteria Weight Rating Score Rating Score Rating Score Rating Score Cost 0.30 3 0.9 2 0.6 4 1.2 1 0.3 Service 0.25 4 1.0 1 0.25 2 0.5 3 0.75 Taste 0.20 1 0.2 3 0.6 3 0.6 4 0.8 Convenience 0.15 3 0.45 4 0.6 3 0.45 2 0.3 Nutrition 0.10 2 0. 2 4 0.4 3 0.3 1 0.1 TOTAL 1.0 13 2.75 14 2.45 15 3.05 11 3.15 NB: Score= Rating* Weight. Explanation of ratings and scores After summing up the ratings for the four restaurant alternatives, alternative C has the highest rating of 15 followed by B with 14 while D has the lowest sum rating of 11. However, when the total scores are calculated from the rating and the weights, D has the highest score of 3.15 while B has the lowest score of 2.45. The total weighting for the criteria was calculated as 1.0. In terms of the cost criteria, restaurant alternative C attains the highest score of 1.2 while D receives the lowest score with a 0.3 score. In terms of service, alternative A receives the highest score with 1.0 while alternative B receives the lowest score with 0.25. Alternative D scores the highest in terms of the taste criteria with a score of 0.8 while A scores the lowest with 0.2. Alternatives B and C receive the same score in terms of convenience though they differ in other criteri a. Alternative B is the best in terms of convenience with a score of 0.6 while alternative D is the worst with a score of 0.3. Alternative A and C attain the same score in terms of convenience with a score of 0.45. In terms of the nutrition criteria which has the lowest weight among the other criteria, alternative B receives the highest score with 0.4 while alternative D receives the lowest with a 0.1 score. Choosing the best alternative The

Contemporary Debates in Food and Farming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Contemporary Debates in Food and Farming - Essay Example gases and climate change: whereas growing population and globalization stimulate industrial and economic growth, the side effects of it are disturbing in terms of greenhouse gases emission and hence climate change. According to Rust & Rust (2013, p. 255), â€Å"climate change and its effects on existence on earth are becoming more and more relevant as physical evidence of change in our climate is beginning to mount†. Among numerous economic areas affecting condition of the atmosphere, agricultural sector is one of rather influential factors. Agriculture is the sector aimed at production of food products and raw materials for other industry branches and employing about 1 billion people all over the world. As far as this sector is crucial for economic well-being, it is present almost in all countries of the world. Thus, due to economic reasons, environmental effect of agriculture is literally unavoidable for each of the countries with agricultural sector. The map presented in the Figure 1 illustrates that almost all the countries are engaged in agricultural activity to certain extent. With the population growing rapidly, scientists of agricultural sector, demand for products of agricultural sector and particularly of animal origin is increasing worldwide (Webb & Erasmus, 2013, p. 413). Considering growing demand, specialists do their best deploying their scientific knowledge and developed technological means in order to intensify production of food. However, economic growth is connected to volumes of CO2 emissions produced by different industrial and agricultural enterprises. In the recent fifty years, amounts of greenhouse gas emissions in the sectors of forestry, fishery, crops cultivation and other agricultural segments have increased twice and are likely to keep increasing at a fast pace in future. As it is shown in the Figure 2, agricultural sector in the United States accounts for 10% of greenhouse gas emissions (EPA, 2014). On the global scale, agricultural

The End of the Vietnam War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The End of the Vietnam War - Essay Example Nixon declared in 1969 that he would prolong the American involvement in the Vietnam War, in order to conclude the conflict and acquire â€Å"peace with honor† for the United States and for its partner, South Vietnam (U.S. Department of State, no date). Nixon defined his policy as â€Å"Vietnamization,† where the South Vietnamese aimed to attain greater combat functions, as Americans slowly withdrew from Vietnam (Simon, 2002). Vietnamization needed time, however, and to buy time, Nixon convinced the American public that the war had to be extended to attain peace. His popular vote margin in the 1968 election was â€Å"razor thin,† but to his advantage, the Democratic coalition was devastated in 1968 and political opportunities abounded (Simon, 2002). The administration maximized these opportunities through a â€Å"politics of polarization,† where they tapped the â€Å"silent majority,† while trying to isolate opponents and categorize them as differen t forms of extremists (Simon, 2002). This included defining the efforts of the anti-war movement in negative ways and maligning the media, whose role in influencing the support for the war had increased. America prolonged the war through bombing North Vietnam after failed negotiations efforts. Communist North Vietnam's leaders believed that they had time enough to delay the negotiations, which they did. In March 1972, they tried to sidestep negotiations altogether with a full-scale incursion of the South (U.S. Department of State, no date). The United States called it as the Easter Offensive and the North Vietnamese seemed to win. By late summer, nonetheless, Nixon's used American air power to dent the offensive. In response to this air power, the North Vietnamese started to negotiate once more (U.S. Department of State, no date). In early October, American and North Vietnamese representatives had a meeting in Paris. By October 11, they generated a peace agreement. The key component s included a cease-fire in place 24 hours after signing the agreement; U.S. forces and all foreign troops would pull out from South Vietnam no later than 60 days after signing the agreement; and American prisoners would be released concurrently with the pulling out of American and foreign forces. On October 22, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu stopped the talks. He did not support the cease-fire agreement, because it left thousands of North Vietnamese soldiers in South Vietnam, who could strategically continue the war, as the Americans departed (U.S. Department of State, no date). To get Thieu’s support, the Americans restarted negotiations with the North Vietnamese. The North Vietnamese got offended and negotiated other issues too and by December, the talks caved in. The War Raged On Nixon argued that with failed diplomacy, only force can be used to force Hanoi to negotiate with the United States. The President instructed his military commanders to mine Haiphong H arbor and to begin a nonstop air campaign in the Hanoi-Haiphong region. On December 26, the North Vietnamese decided to renegotiate with the U.S. on early January. On January 1973, the Americans and North Vietnamese reached a settlement and all parties signed the final agreement in Paris on January 27. America, however, was the only one who

Activities of Investment Banking Essay Example for Free

Activities of Investment Banking Essay The Investment bank is the financial institution which assists the governments, corporations and the individuals in raising the capital by acting or underwriting as the agent of the client in issuance of securities. The investment bank can also help the companies which are involved in acquisitions and mergers, and offer ancillary services like the trading of the derivatives, market making, foreign exchanges, instruments of the fixed income, equity securities and commodities. Unlike the retail banks and commercial banks, the investment banks dont take the deposits. There are commonly two main channels in the process of investment banking. Trading the cash for securities like market making, facilitating transactions or for cash or for the promotion of the securities like research, underwriting is known as the sell side, while correlate with the mutual funds, hedge funds, pension funds and investment public comprises the buy side. Various companies have sell and buy side components. What are the main activities of the investment banking? The investment banking is generally split into back office, middle office and front office activities. While the big service investment banks provide all the channels of the business both buy side and sell side. The little sell side investment companies like as the small broker dealers and the boutique investment banks focus on the trading/sales/research and investment banking respectively. The Investment banks also provide services to both the investors buying securities and the corporations issuing securities. For the corporations, the investment banking provide information on how and when to place the securities on the open market, this activity is very much important to the reputation of any investment bank. Thus, the investment bankers play a key role in issuing the new offerings of the securities. Other activities of the investment banking: Apart from the main activities, there are some additional activities, in which the process of investment banking is involved. These are: †¢ Global transaction banking: This part is the division of investment banking which offers custody services, cash management, security brokerage and lending services to various institutions. Hedge funds with Prime brokerage is especially a risky as well as profitable business. †¢ Merchant banking: This process is also known as the very personal banking. The merchant banks provide capitals in exchange for the share ownerships and also provide information on strategy and management. The term merchant banking is also used to define the private equity part of any company. †¢ Investment management: This service offers professional management of several securities like bonds, shares and of other assets like real estate to meet with certain goals of investment for the profit of the investors. These investors can be institutions like pension funds, insurance companies, corporations and many more or the private investors. †¢ The investment management division of an investment bank is generally divided into separate groups, often known as Private Wealth Management and Private Client Services. †¢ Merchant banking is also a name used to describe the private equity side of a firm.Merchant Banking: Past and Present Current examples include Defoe Fournier Cie. and JPMorgans One Equity Partners and the original J.P. Morgan Co. Rothschilds, Barings, Warburgs and Morgans were all merchant banks. (Originally, merchant bank was the British English term for an investment bank.) Reference: http://classof1.com/homework-help/finance-homework-help/

The Effects Of Speed Humps On Vehicles

The Effects Of Speed Humps On Vehicles Abstract This project will examine the effects of speed humps on vehicles within the United Kingdom. Intensive investigation and reviews will be carried out on traffic calming measures used in the UK and a number of different aspects within the topic such as those currently in use and how improvements can be made to reducing traffic. The report also takes a close look at how speed bumps have affected commuters and its impact on the environment as a whole and businesses around the country. As the number of vehicles on the roads increase faster than new roads that can be constructed, a serious problem has been created that is highly visible in urban and residential areas around the country. This problem is caused by fast driving motorist who do not take care on the road and it occurs on a daily basis. Conceding the fact that there are no single solutions to this problem and no quick fix, it is very important in assessing the success of the project. The understanding of why speed bumps were put in place on the road is a major factor in tackling the issue of speeding. To do this, time was invested in collecting data information from urban roads and residential roads in Islington and Hackney. This was very important as it helped me to provide an insight into how different motorist approach speed bumps and speed cameras, and what speed they approached the bumps and camera at different times of the day throughout the day. Three major problems were identified with speed humps, the first being effectiveness of speed bumps. On residential roads the speed limit is 20mph. Although many motorist were at constant speeds of approximately 20mph, many vehicles had to alter their speed limit whilst travelling over the speed bumps as they are unaware of which bumps are too high of the required speed limit. Drivers, who did not take the precaution of slowing down, would result in them scraping underneath their vehicles. Motorist are unable to identify weather a bump is too high or weather a constant velocity can be applied. The second problem was the damaged caused to vehicles when drivers make the wrong judgement of speed when approaching the speed bumps. Third being modern speed cameras on urban roads. Although they incorporate the latest in detection technology, the system were unable to provide efficient co-ordination of the direction of speeding vehicles. Vehicles speeding from the opposite side of the speed camera still get flashed, even though the motorist is aware that no potential speeding fines would occur as its the opposite side. The result of the review is a concept which imbeds intelligence into the current traffic signalling system. Introduction Speed Bumps (sometimes called a sleeping policeman) are a traffic calming tool designed to slow traffic. A Speed Bump is a bump on a roadway that may be circular, parabolic, or sinusoidal, and it may have gaps near the curb to allow drainage. Speed bumps are widely used across the United Kingdom, and are gradually increasing on the roads year by year. Speed Bump heights range from as little as 50 mm, to as much as 152 mm and they can vary in length from less than 300 mm to as much as 3x103mm. Speed Bumps longer than 3103 mm are usually called speed humps, and they are often used to slow traffic in residential neighbourhoods. Some drivers could say that they prefer to go over these types of traffic calming tool as it is easier on the car. Although Speed Bumps are very effective in keeping vehicle speed down, their use is sometimes controversial as they can cause noise and possibly vehicle damage. Poorly designed Speed Bumps are too tall, too sharp an angle for the expected speed and can be hard to negotiate in vehicles with low ground clearance, such as sports cars, even at very slow speeds. The driver can sometimes hear the Speed Bumps scrap the bottom of the car. Project Aims The aim of this project is to design an effective and efficient speed hump system that can be used in the United Kingdom. The design must be futuristic in its approach and incorporated a wide range of different technologies, both present and those in the development stage. These technologies must not only perform the role of slowing down vehicles but also reducing the effects on vehicles and to those who drive the vehicle. The speed hump design must be able to differentiate between high and low velocity and small and large vehicles i.e. (cars, buses, lorries). The dimensions of the hump must be within the UK regulations. People tend to approach speed-bumps in one of three ways. They remain at their current speed and drive straight through without a care or thought for the cars undercarriage or suspension. They slow down to an appropriate speed and glide over the top. Or they slow down so much they cause drivers behind them to break. A new design will change the way drivers approach speed humps in general. The design must allow drivers who are travelling at the right speed limit to pass over the hump without difficulty but will remind drivers travelling above the limit to slow down by creating the same feeling that they get when passing over a speed-bump but without the usual speed-bump impact. (Jude Garvey, The Bumpfree Dynamic Speedbump gives drivers a smooth ride,2010) The speed hump will be design to reward drivers who are travelling at the correct speed by offering an almost unnoticeable pass. Internal cells within the speed bump will contain non-Newtonian Thixotropic fluids which will instantly react with the speed at which a driver makes contact with the speed-bump immediately reminding them if they are going too fast. for the speed hump to be effective, A double-layer bladder protection will help to ensure a long product life and allow the speed bump to be used in various conditions. if this is not done, the speed hump will not be durable and would need to be replaced regularly. this is not cost effective. The design of the hump is expected to be most useful in environments where speed needs to be kept at a safe level, for example hospitals, school zones, or where vehicles are entering and exiting with precious cargo or people onboard. It can be placed against a piece of shaped bitumen or be in a bolt down form of plastic. Made mostly from recycled rubber, the design will be textured and suited for the environment in which they are placed. (. (Jude Garvey, The Bumpfree Dynamic Speedbump gives drivers a smooth ride,2010) Historical development Traffic humps have been in existence in the UK since the early 1970s, but following criticism of the speed deterrents, lead to a new way of alternatives being developed. There are currently around 50,000 traffic humps on British roads today, which can be said to be a lot. however, there are a lot of vehicles on the road and if they were not there as a deterrent, there would have been a lot more accidents on the road due to drivers who do not follow the rules of the road. The round-top hump can be said to be the most familiar in the hump family. The round-top was developed in the Netherlands and landed on British roads in the early seventies. Still the most common, the round-top hump is between 25mm and 100mm high and up to 3.7m long. (Dave Wilson, 2001 Inflatable rubber policeman gives drivers the hump) To pass over speed bumps without causing any damage to the vehicle or causing discomfort to the driver and passengers, the driver must slow down almost to a complete stop. Speed humps are 76-100 mm high and 3.5 to 6.5 m long, therefore to avoid driver discomfort, the driver slows to a speed of 15-20 mph. Unlike speed bumps, at excessive speeds, the effects of speed humps are increased sometimes to the point of acting like a bump and jolting both the driver and their cargo. This causes discomfort to some drivers and could even lead to the damage of the products which they may have in their vehicle. There is nothing that they can do about it unless they have insurance for the products on board. An example of a type of business that uses a vehicle all the time is removals. When having expensive and precious objects in the car, it is very important that time and care is taken over speed humps and speed bumps. Otherwise it could lead to damages which could affect the business and its reputation. Location The first speed hump in a series should be placed 15-60 meters from a small radius curve or stop signs assuring that vehicles are not approaching at high speeds. If installed on a street with a significant grade line, the first hump in a series should be placed at the top of the grade. Research has shown that speed humps, when designed and installed properly, reduce vehicle speeds to 15-20 mph when travelling over speed humps and 25-30 mph in between properly spaced speed humps. When travelling over a speed hump, the vehicle experiences a gentle rocking motion that increases with speed. This enables the speed humps to be self-enforced because the vehicle occupants will experience discomfort when passing over a hump at higher speeds and a jolting when passing over at excessive speeds. (Duane E. Smith, P.E. Karen L. Giese, 1997, effects of speed humps) Although speed humps have been proven to be effective at reducing speeds, they also come with their own drawbacks. Installed speed humps have actually been removed in response to resident complaints. The major complaints have been aesthetics of having speed humps and the increased noise level at each hump although the net noise change throughout the controlled strip is insignificant. Speed humps are not the best thing to have own ones road. Also if people are not happy, the council have to hear the complaints of the residents. It would not be nice to be living on a road where you can hear cars going over speed humps and scratching the humps as well as their car. It is not aesthetically pleasing when you leave your front door and see scratches on your road. Although they are the most important group, more than just the residents are affected by the installation of speed humps. Other groups such as emergency service providers, street maintenance providers, school districts, transit operators, refuse collection agencies will be affected and should, therefore, be informed and consulted concerning the installation of speed humps. Emergency providers may have casualties in their vehicles and going over the humps may affect the injuries which the casualties have. Especially if they are in life threatening situation, they may need to move as far as possible. CHAPTER 1 REVIEW OF TRAFFIC CALMING The design used in modern speed humps is not as advanced as it should be although it has been around for many years. With not a fair amount of improvement in terms of design a constant review of the system is always required. Speed hump plays it toll with traffic and congestion and the effects are mostly visible at peak time. Traffic congestion has many side-effects and does not just impact on motorist. The impact of growing congestion can be felt by businesses, local councils and mostly the environment. Huge efforts are being made to ease traffic congestion in the United Kingdom and where introducing congestion charges, building new roads and improving the public transport are all viable solutions. Recent studies have shown that the general public prefers to own their own form of transport i.e. car as current public transport systems are unreliable. Building new roads is very costly and is not an option in major cities, and although congestion charges have seen a decrease in the amount of motorist on the roads in central London, traffic jams is still a regular occurrence at peak times. Although forecasted figures shows the road traffic will rise in coming years. My project aims to comprehensively review the current speed humps system in the UK and to develop accordingly, a system that increases efficiency and maximise the flow of traffic as well as reducing impact. My project will also form a comprehensive review of congestion, looking at how traffic builds up at speed humps. Types of speed hump currently used. The flat-topped hump This squarer version became fashionable in 1990 when traffic humps became regulated by the Highways (Road Humps) Regulations Act. Between 25mm and 100mm high and a minimum length of 2.5 m the optimum angle of tapered sides is a gradient of 1 in 4. Thumps Thumps are hard, triangular, thermoplastic strips approximately 37mm high and 900mm wide. Speed cushions Speed cushions are rectangular humps which laid across roads in twos or threes. Cushions are wide enough to slow cars but not buses and emergency vehicles. Rumble strips Not really a traffic calming measure, more a warning to drivers of something ahead. Chicanes Is a single lane sections and road markings represent a more recent attempt to slow down speeding motorists and modify the original traffic hump into a more comfortable disruption. Congestion Traffic and congestion caused by speed hump is a problematic condition on road networks that restricts the flow of traffic to extremely slow speeds. The problem occurs as the volume of vehicles increase to within close proximity of maximum the road network capacity. Traffic condition can be characterise by a number of different factors, namely increase queuing, increase journey time and relatively slow speeds. This problem is a regular occurrence in modern urban cities, where the demand is at its highest. The demand in these areas is such that the interaction between vehicles causes the average speed of traffic to fall noticeably. Figure 1 (UK figures for road traffic)  [i]   Figure 1.2 (Graph showing the trend of car ownership in the UK)  [ii]   The level of traffic congestion in the United Kingdom is considered to be one of the worse in whole of Europe. More worrying is the fact that it continues to get worse year after year. The increase rate of new vehicles on the road is considered to be unsustainable, as the increase rate is faster than the rate of which new road infrastructure can be constructed. The issue is a long term one, the solution to which cannot be seen due to lack of feasible measures to combat or event control the problem. It has already been conceded that it is infeasible to match a roadwork infrastructure program to the unconstrained inclination of current and future traffic growth. Figure 1.3 (Central Forecast Figures Made By the Department Of Transport for the UK)  [iii]   Figure 1.4 (Graph Shows Trend of the Number Vehicles Licensed Each Year in the UK)  [iv]   causes of congestion A major issue in modern times is travel efficiency. Speed humps clearly make travel less efficient. A particular problem is traffic that has diverted to avoid a scheme of humps. Such diversions tend to exacerbate congestion on through routes where there are less likely to be humps. Apart from the rapid increase in the number of vehicles on the road, there are several other factors contributing to the problem. Some of which are can be solved with time, while some are control by financial constraint. Other solutions are not considered to be feasible in terms of the level resources needed as they involve relocating home owners and local businesses. More often than not traffic congestion due to speed bump but propagates from junction and roundabouts. environmental impact Humps cause wider variations in vehicle speeds, with many vehicles slowing to a crawl to negotiate each hump. A natural consequence of a wider variation in speed with more acceleration and more braking is that more fuel will be used. If more fuel is used then more pollution is created. If traffic speeds are reduced journey times will increase and a baseline level of pollution will be delivered for longer periods. The impact on health via polluted air the most common, as vehicles emissions contributes up to 40% of the total amount toxic gases emitted each year. Emitting a wide a variety harmful gases, such as carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide and other bi-products of partial contribution. Humans as well as animals are directly affected by the immediate environment and being exposed to polluted air on a regular basis can lead to short and long term health related illnesses such as lung decease. economical impact Estate agents say there has been a decrease in property value due to speed humps, many potential buyers who notice many speed humps within the neighbourhood are less welling to purchases the property as they feel that speed hump make the neighbourhood unattractive. Different types of businesses are affected in different ways, business that relies on delivery of goods looses out as deliveries arrives late, causes delays in the time products can be process and put out shop floors. Late deliveries increase shift duration adding extra cost to employees wages. A BUS operator says the increasing number of speed humps in the town is costing the firm  £500 a month in repairs. Bosses at the Stagecoach Midland Red depot, say their vehicles are being repeatedly damaged by the humps. Fuel tanks have been knocked off buses, causing diesel to spill across the road, something which the company believes could leave them liable to bills running into thousands of pounds if it were to cause an accident. Engineering staff understand the speed reduction measures installed by Warwickshire County Council need to be taken but feel cameras would be more beneficial. Mick Merriman, engineering manager for the firm, said: The spate of damage from road humps is an on-going cost. Speed cameras would be preferable, certainly as far as our buses are concerned. The humps also cause discomfort to passengers and drivers, who would be pleased to see the end of them. Manager Bill Breen added: Weve written to the county council about this issue and our operations director is in talks with the council. Dec 18 2001 Coventry Evening Telegraph www.coventrytelegraph.net/new Experts have estimated the annual maintenance cost of speed humps to road to be in the region of 1.3 million pounds, the majority of which is related to repair cost and maintenance. There are also indirect costs of speed humps associated with the effectiveness of logistical operations at either ends of the transportation process. These additional costs are estimated to be very significant however they are considered to be intangible variables like additional scheduling costs and journey reliability are very difficult to quantify. Figure 1.5 is a photograph taken by myself, which illustrates a speed hump under different weather condition and vehicle weight. A large quantity of speed humps in the UK are damaged, where one of the major reasons is weather conditions; whenever rain falls on to speed humps creaks that have been created by frequent hard impact on the hump, then get filled with water, as temperature decreases this water then turn into ice, causing the hump become fatigue, ev entually the creak will spread and can cause the hump to completely separate in this case a huge portion of the hump has been worn away, as its internal properties has weaken due to separation vehicles have continuously driven over this weak area and has eventually got to this stage of completely deterioration on one side of the hump. C:UsersPublicPicturesSpeed bumpDSC01888.JPG Figure 1.5 (Picture Shows damaged speed hump due to weather change and vehicle impact.) measures to reduce congestion Tackling congestion is very difficult both in theory and in practice. Theoretical concepts are very difficult to implement as they can sometimes damage public relation which can lead to protests. These concepts sometimes derive from models and computer simulated data and analysis which does not always reflect the unpredictability of the real world situation. Since congestion is judged on cost, ample efforts have been concentrated on reducing the annual cost. Some efforts tackle the problem head on by addressing the main issues where as other aim at charging motorist to balance the annual cost. Congestion charge is one such method that aims to cut congestion by cutting the cost. The cost of which is worth approximately 6 billion pounds per year. A large proportion current and futuristic solution to ease traffic congestion, are aimed directly at reducing the number of vehicles on the roads. The focus of major campaigns has been on persuading motorist to utilise other forms of transport. The difficulty in this is that substitutes to the car are not considered to be feasible as public transport one of the main and only substitute is not very reliable. For this to be seen as a suitable substitute there must be an increase in arrival and departure times for both buses and trains. The service must also be reliable cost effective to customers and operators alike. Two areas that have seen reasonable levels of success and support are cycling for those making short journeys and transferring road freight to the rail. The combined effects of numerous supportive complementary solutions represent the best way forward in the short term and could slow the rise of road traffic y 25% 45%. CHAPTER 3 RESULTS AND FINDINGS Traffic Data Gathering Gathering real time data is vital in understanding the flow of vehicles passing over speed humps, on residential road and urban roads. The data will help to understanding and identifying the factors affecting speed humps in more details, such as time of the day and days of the week. Understanding how the speed bump deals with fluctuating weight and speed levels at peak and off-peak times also provide an insight into how efficient the design is. The main reason for conducting investigation in this form is mainly to identify flaws in operation if any. Hump profiles The dimensions of the profiles chosen for evaluation are shown in Table 1. The five hump profiles used in the trials included three profiles not commonly used: a 3.7m long sinusoidal profile, a 5m long round-top profile and an 8m long flat-top with sinusoidal ramps. Two standard profiles were included for comparison: a 3.7m long round-top profile and an 8m long flat-top hump with straight ramps. All the hump profiles were 75 mm high. Fig 2: Profile dimensions Vehicles tested A range of vehicles was used in the trials to assess discomfort, noise and ground borne vibrations. These included five different bicycle types, a small, medium and large car, five different buses, including a low floor bus, three different goods vehicles with steel or air suspension, a fire appliance and three different ambulances. Figure 2.1 Unladen cyclists Figure 2.2 Motorcycles combined results from small, medium and large motor cycles Figure 2.3 Minibus (Optare City Pacer all passengers sitting) Figure 2.4 large single-deck buses (Optare Low Rider Low floor bus) Figure 2.5 Double-deck buses (Optare Spectra) Discussion Analasys Of Resusts For cyclists, motor cyclists and all occupants of cars, buses, goods vehicles and emergency service vehicles, a subjective assessment of discomfort (DR) was made on a scale 0 to 6. A discomfort rating of0 means comfortable, and 6 very uncomfortable. Additionally, for all but cyclists and motor cyclists, an accelerometer was used. For each of the tests, this measured the vertical acceleration experienced by one occupant in every vehicle. Cyclists In promoting an increase in cycling it is important that, as far as possible, cyclists are offered a comfortable ride. Figure 1 shows the average discomfort ratings for unladen cyclists crossing the various hump profiles at 10 mph and 20 mph. similar results were found for laden cyclists (5kg load). It can be seen from Figure 1 that cyclists experienced the most discomfort when crossing the flat-top humps and that the 5m long round-top profile gave the least discomfort. This profile also gave the least discomfort to the car occupants but its use would be likely to result in higher car speeds than with the other hump profiles. For humps of a similar length (3.7m), the sinusoidal hump was more comfortable for the cyclists than the round-top profile. Motor cyclists Stability and comfort are important to motorcyclists, but where motorcyclists report discomfort crossing road humps; this may be due to inappropriate speeds. The tests were made using carefully controlled speeds, judged to be appropriate to the circumstances. Average discomfort ratings (DR) for motorcyclists are shown in Figure 2.2. For motor cyclists, there was less difference in the discomfort experienced between the hump profiles than for the cyclists. However, the 5m round-top hump was clearly the most comfortable and the flat-top humps were the most uncomfortable. Buses The average discomfort rating experienced by passengers sitting in a minibus, a low floor single deck bus and a double-deck bus is shown in Figures 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5. These illustrate how a small change in speed can lead to a large increase in discomfort, particularly in minibuses and double-deck buses. There was less variation in the discomfort experienced when crossing the different profiles in the double-deck bus than for other bus types. For all three bus types at speeds of 15 mph or less, passengers generally experienced less discomfort with the round-top and sinusoidal profiles than with the flat-top profiles. At speeds above 15 mph, general levels of discomfort were unacceptable for all the profiles tested. Low floor buses Low floor buses are of particular interest, as it has been claimed that these vehicles are more susceptible to grounding when passing over road humps. In fact, the clearance of low floor buses above the carriageway was found to be very similar to that for other buses. The main problem would seem to occur where there is a greater overhang at the front and/or rear of the vehicle. With the bus used (Optare low-rider) the track trials did not reveal any grounding problems with the 75mm height humps used, although the driver declined to cross the flat-top profiles at 25 mph because of concern about possible damage. As pointed out above, this speed would generally be considered unsuitable in terms of the discomfort likely to be experienced. Noise Light vehicles For the passenger cars tested, the differences in the maximum A-weighted noise levels generated alongside the different profiles were relatively small, and were not likely to be of practical significance. Noise levels when crossing humps generally increased as the speed increased, and tended to be slightly less than that measured on a level surface. For light vehicles, maximum noise levels would not be expected to increase as a result of installing any of the profiles tested. Double deck bus The double deck bus also showed a general increase in the maximum noise level with increasing speed. There were differences, with the sinusoidal profile giving lower noise levels than the non-sinusoidal profiles. The highest noise levels were measured alongside the flat-top (straight ramp) profile. All the profiles gave lower noise levels at typical crossing speeds than measurements taken next to the level surface, where speeds were higher. Large Goods vehicles At typical crossing speeds, the noise levels for goods vehicles tested were highest alongside the flat-top profiles. The noise levels for sinusoidal profiles were slightly lower than their non-sinusoidal equivalents. The 5m long round-top profile was similar to the3.7m round-top profile with respect to noise generation. Large goods vehicles may have either air or steel spring suspension. The maximum noise levels generated along the hump profiles by the 38t articulated tipper vehicle with steel spring suspension were higher than the equivalent vehicle with air suspension. For air suspension vehicles, the unladen state generated higher noise levels than the laden state, for all the profiles tested. For steel spring suspension vehicles, the difference between the laden and unladen states was less distinct: the sinusoidal profiles generated higher noise levels for the laden vehicle, and the 5m round-top profile and the flat-top profiles resulted in higher noise levels for the unladen vehicle Ground-borne vibration Levels of ground-borne vibration generated by light vehicles showed no distinct difference alongside the different profiles. For the double-deck bus, the highest vibration level obtained at typical crossing speeds was for them flat-top (straight ramp) profile. For heavy goods vehicles, the highest mean and maximum ground-borne vibration levels at typical crossing speeds were also at the flat-top (straight ramp) profile. The flat-top (sinusoidal ramps) was slightly less, and the round-top and sinusoidal profiles had significantly lower levels. Higher levels of vibration were noted for the heavy goods vehicles running unladen, than when loaded. C:UsersPublicPictureshumpsHPIM0971.JPG Discussion Analasys Of Resusts The charts bellow are constructed from data celected from speed humps on a residential road, the first of which looks at the link between number vehicles passig over speed hump at speccfic time intervals during the day. The second graph looks at the influence on traffic levels, which shows connection between the number of vehecles and the day of the week. Figure 3 (Pie-Chart, Showing Variation of vehicle passing over speed humps In Relation To Time of Day) From the pie-chart it is evident that there are two periods during the 12 hours traffic levels are high. This is to be expected as peak times in the United Kingdom are between 7 11am, and 3 7pm. These two periods highlight a high level of activity that can be attributed to morning an evening school runs as well as commuters travelling to and from work. Figure 3.1 (Pyramid Chart, Showing Variation Traffic Level In Relation To Day of the Week) From the tables of results and the chart is clear that traffic fluctuate for reasons already stated. There are several other factors affecting the flow of traffic; however these variables cannot equated for in the data collection. Variables such as accidents and special events like football matches can also affect these figures. Road works is another of those variables that cannot be accounted for and can affect the figures. It is unclear of the role played by the weather on the figures as the weather can affect traffic in two different ways. Bad weather causing difficult driving condition can reduce traffic as motorist can decide not to travel if the journey is compulsory. Conversely it can also increase queuing as the average speed falls there by affecting traffic. Commuters cycling to and from work can also be affected prompting the switch from bicycle to car. <

The Compass of Pleasure by David J. Linden | Review

The Compass of Pleasure by David J. Linden | Review The Compass of Pleasure Omobolanle Ajose Humans have a complicated relationship to pleasure which we spend a considerable amount of time pursuing. Certain forms of pleasure such as rituals involving prayer, music, dance, and meditation are accorded special status. Intrinsic pleasures that can be initiated or increased by artificial activators like cocaine, heroin, or modest doses of nicotine or alcohol, are located in our brains transmitting a pleasure buzz from a wide variety of ex ­periences. I chose the book, The Compass of Pleasure because neuroscientist David J. Linden the author, explored the dark side of pleasure. He explained how the human brain can turn pleasures into addictions and habits so overpowering and pervasive that people will sacrifice almost anything just to get a fix. This kind of behavior makes us wonder why anyone would ruin their health, neglect their family, and spend themselves into poverty all in pursuit of an addiction. Linden says it all comes down to a single neuro-chemical dopamine. The terms I learned while reading this book includes: Stoic, meaning ability to endure pain or hardship without showing feelings or complaints. Painasymbolia, also called pain dissociation which is a condition in which pain is experienced without unpleasantness.Ventral tegmental area (VTA), which is a collection of neurons situated at the center of themidbrain that sends dopamine releasing axons to other regions of the brain such as the amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, dorsal striatum and hippocampus. Neuroleptics, meaning dopamine receptor antagonists. Linden (2011), describes most experiences in our lives that we find as transcendent, whether illicit vices, socially sanctioned ritual or social practices as meditative prayer to activate an anatomically and biochemically defined pleasure circuit in the brain. He used past research studies as references. Two postdoctoral fellows at McGill University conducted experiments that involved implanting electrodes in the brains of rats to activate their pleasure circuits. The electrodes were placed in positions that stimulated the medial forebrain bundle, the axons that excite the dopamine neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA). The electrode locations that produced the strongest pleasure were those that most effectively activated the dopamine neurons of the VTA. Another experimental design from the book focused on the stimulation of the brain of a homosexual psychiatric patient using surgically implanted electrodes. Before the patients brain stimulation, he was made to view a film that featured sexual intercourse between a male and a female. He was sexually indifferent and angry about being made to view the film. After the pleasure circuit self- stimulation, he agreed to view the film again during which he became sexually aroused, had an erection and masturbated to orgasm. After he was discharged from the hospital, he had a sexual relationship with a woman for several months. During this period, his homosexual activity was reduced but did not stop completely. In humans, rats, and other mammals, the reward circuit is interwoven with brain centers involved in decision making, planning, emotion and memory storage. When we find an experience pleasurable, it sets in motion several processes such as liking the experience and we associate both external and internal cues with the experience. These associations allow us to predict how we should behave to repeat or assign a value to pleasurable experience so that in future we can determine how much effort we are willing to expand and the risk we are willing to take to get them. Linden (2011) defined addiction as persistent, compulsive drug use in the face of increasingly negative life consequences. He explained that the scientific definition of addiction is actually rooted in the brainsinabilityto experience pleasure and that the dark side of pleasure is addiction. Addiction is associated with long-lasting changes in the biochemical, electrical, and morphological functions of connections within the medial forebrain plea ­sure circuit. These changes underlie many of the dark sides of addiction, including progressive tolerance, craving, withdrawal and relapse. Therefore, pleasure, addic ­tion and memory are closely related, and directly interconnected. Psychoactive drugs can be used in different social contexts; as medicine, religious sacrament, pure recreation, or to define oneself as part of a subgroup. Across cultures and over thousands of years of human history, people have consistently found ways to alter the function of their brains. Psychoactive drugs like cocaine, alcohol, and opiates strongly activate dopamine action in VTA target regions. Pleasure is central to some but not all psychoactive drugs. Certain foods and certain drugs can activate the pleasure circuits. While obesity results from food addiction, food addiction shares many properties and biological substrates with drug addiction, including a strong heritable component and triggering by stress. Orgasm is another pleasure buzz that may be weaker than cocaine but stronger than food. ( Cite page here) It is a multifaceted experience with dissociable sensory and affective, emotional, and rewarding components. It is fiery, transcendent and unique. Orgasm strongly activates the dopamine-using medial forebrain pleasure circuit. Drugs that modulate dopamine signaling in the brain can regulate libido and orgasm. Epileptic seizures or brain stimulation with electrodes can produce orgasms that are devoid of pleasure or emotional feeling. Gambling addiction is associated with reduced activation of the medial forebrain pleasure circuit. Genetic variants that suppress dopamine signaling, particularly in the medial forebrain, are associated with high rate of gambling addiction. For people who carry these gene variants, their muted dopamine systems lead to blunted pleasure circuits, which in turn affects their pleasure-seeking activities. Intensive exercise can bring about short term euphoria, reduction of anxiety, and increases in pain threshold. Long term painful stimulus is associated with increased dopamine. Interestingly, charitable giving produces an activation of the pleasure circuit. The interaction of pleasure and associative learning in the medial forebrain pleasure circuit yields both beneficial and detrimental rewards. The ability of experience to produce long-term changes in the pleasure circuit enables arbitrary rewards and abstract ideas to be felt as pleasurable, a phenomenon that ultimately underlies much of human behavior and culture. This same process is responsible for transforming pleasure into addiction. Reading the compass of pleasure gives an insight on the function of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain and how the dopamine systems in the brain play an important role in pleasure seeking and addictive behaviors. I also learned that dopamine is responsible for most of our immoral behaviors and secret cravings. It is responsible for love, lust, adultery, motivation, attention, and addiction. The denial of pleasure can yield spiritual growth. In practice, one can see beyond a persons behavior, personal history, and environment to understand what goes on in the brain when uncontrollable habits such as addiction present themselves. Understanding the interaction between the pleasure circuits and dopamine in the brain help us as health care professionals to understand that addicts are not weak, defective human beings lacking in willpower but are rather people with brains that are chemically deficient. According to Lundy-Ekman (2013, p.239), Parkinsons disease is the death of dopamine producing cells in the sustantia nigra. Occupational therapy improves mobility and functional status in people with Parkinsons disease. Intense resistance training produces greater muscle hypertrophy and functional gains than are produced by standard exercise. According to Linden (2011, p. 127), there are variations in genes turning down the functions of dopamine signaling within the pleasure circuit. These variations in genes let people seek pleasure through different activities. These activities may be meaningful to a client while others may be addictions they may want to stop. Understanding the biology of pleasure circuits may help clinician’s such as occupational therapist better understand what an individual deems meaningful or pleasurable. Knowledge of forms of pleasure such as rituals, routines , music, dance and even meditations that are of meaningful to a client obtained during an occupational profile, helps therapist in planning interventions for clients. On the other hand, the therapist can also help create therapeutic interventions to help with addictions. Linden (2011, p.150), further explained that exercises has an anti-depressive effect, shows long term improvement in mental functions and slows cognitive decline that accompanies normal aging. Occupational therapists work with a variety of population and this piece of information makes it interesting to know that range of motion exercises and other forms of exercises provided during therapy may be able to improve mental functions and slow cognitive decline in normal aging. Dopamine and serotonin are important neurotransmitters in the brain that influence many behaviors and movement patterns such as walking and coordination. Dopamine levels are associated with many neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, psychosis and even attention deficits hyperactive disorders. Too much or too little dopamine can interfere with cognition, behavior, or motor skills. In practice, occupational therapists work with clients with various neurological conditions by evaluating and analyzing the client, the environment and their meaningful occupational performance. Having insight into a clients deficits and its effect on occupational performance is important to therapist because it helps the therapist to be able to plan and provide therapeutic interventions aimed at improving cognition, coordination, mobility and functional status in clients. References Lundy-Ekman, L. (2013). Neuroscience: Fundamentals for Rehabilitation. St. Louis, Mo: Saunders/ Elsevier Inc. Linden, D. J. (2011). The Compass of Pleasure: How our Brains make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, learning, and Gambling Feel so Good. New York, NY: Penguin Group Inc. Sturkenboom, I., Thijssen, M., Gons-van, J. E., Jansen, I. (2011). Guidelines for Occupational Therapy in Parkinsons Disease. Retrieved July 14, 2014, from National Parkinson Foundation: http://www.parkinson.org/NationalParkinsonFoundation/files/a5/a5c7ef92-a101-4485-96b2-7d81b31a42c9.pdf

The Necklace by Guy De Maupassant Essay -- Literary Review

â€Å"The Necklace† The late Irish poet Oscar Wilde once stated, "In the world, there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.† This quote accurately describes human nature to the extent that man is never fully satisfied with his current possessions. In fact, most people who rely on materialistic items for happiness are typically desolated and miserable. This story is based on an archaic view on women, where women have no caste or hierarchy. The people grade women based off their looks and beauty. Money â€Å"practically makes nobility† (Shmoop). It â€Å"enables the user to pay for the high life† (Shmoop) and confine the person with luxurious items known to man. Money controls the life of people, rather than vise versa, causing greed. Malthide, who is the wife of a minor clerk, has immense greed to live a sumptuous life. Malthide’s greed led to her destruction and turmoil, however her grief is what taught her an everlasting les son. The story opens with the description of how miserable Mathilde is. Maupassant describes her as â€Å"suffering constantly, feeling herself destined for all delicacies and luxuries† (Maupassant 4). Malthide is but â€Å"one of those pretty and charming woman, born, as if by an error of destiny, into a family of clerks and copyists† (Maupassant 4). â€Å"The reality of Malthide’s situation is that she is neither wealthy nor part of the social class of which she feels she is a deserving member of† (Sparknotes). Malthide feels like life cheated on her. She sits dreaming of silent rooms nicely decorated and her own private room, scented with perfume to have intimate â€Å"tete- a-tetes† with her closest friends. Then she is awakened, only to realize that she is in her own grim apartm... ... through life just the way it was before. She came from a simple life into a more miserable life. The greed and jealousy that she kept was a sin. One would not feel sympathy to her as she had it coming. Malthide’s greed brought a considerable amount of misery to them both, but in the end she learned a valuable lesson, where one should value themself, rather than what one possess. Works Cited Cummings, Michael J. â€Å"The Necklace.† Cummings Study Guide. Michael J. Cummings, 2010. Web. 24 February 2011. Maupassant, Guy De. â€Å"The Necklace.† Literature An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2008. 4-11. Print Shmoop. â€Å"The Necklace.† Shmoop. Shmoop University, n.d. Web. 24 February 2011. SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on The Necklace.† SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 24 Feb. 2011. The Necklace by Guy De Maupassant Essay -- Literary Review â€Å"The Necklace† The late Irish poet Oscar Wilde once stated, "In the world, there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.† This quote accurately describes human nature to the extent that man is never fully satisfied with his current possessions. In fact, most people who rely on materialistic items for happiness are typically desolated and miserable. This story is based on an archaic view on women, where women have no caste or hierarchy. The people grade women based off their looks and beauty. Money â€Å"practically makes nobility† (Shmoop). It â€Å"enables the user to pay for the high life† (Shmoop) and confine the person with luxurious items known to man. Money controls the life of people, rather than vise versa, causing greed. Malthide, who is the wife of a minor clerk, has immense greed to live a sumptuous life. Malthide’s greed led to her destruction and turmoil, however her grief is what taught her an everlasting les son. The story opens with the description of how miserable Mathilde is. Maupassant describes her as â€Å"suffering constantly, feeling herself destined for all delicacies and luxuries† (Maupassant 4). Malthide is but â€Å"one of those pretty and charming woman, born, as if by an error of destiny, into a family of clerks and copyists† (Maupassant 4). â€Å"The reality of Malthide’s situation is that she is neither wealthy nor part of the social class of which she feels she is a deserving member of† (Sparknotes). Malthide feels like life cheated on her. She sits dreaming of silent rooms nicely decorated and her own private room, scented with perfume to have intimate â€Å"tete- a-tetes† with her closest friends. Then she is awakened, only to realize that she is in her own grim apartm... ... through life just the way it was before. She came from a simple life into a more miserable life. The greed and jealousy that she kept was a sin. One would not feel sympathy to her as she had it coming. Malthide’s greed brought a considerable amount of misery to them both, but in the end she learned a valuable lesson, where one should value themself, rather than what one possess. Works Cited Cummings, Michael J. â€Å"The Necklace.† Cummings Study Guide. Michael J. Cummings, 2010. Web. 24 February 2011. Maupassant, Guy De. â€Å"The Necklace.† Literature An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2008. 4-11. Print Shmoop. â€Å"The Necklace.† Shmoop. Shmoop University, n.d. Web. 24 February 2011. SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on The Necklace.† SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.

Salem Witch :: essays research papers

Paranoia   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Paranoia is the underlying factor of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Samuel Parris had a great terror of Satan arming his foes to destroy both him and his church. He was obsessed with any sinfulness that he saw.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although it was not just Reverend Parris that had these beliefs. It was the paranoid society, which he was a member of. The Puritans were paranoid of being different. Conformity was a large part of their life because they were all driven into the same religion. Originality is a natural human characteristic that was stripped of their being. They believed that if they didn't do what society said was the right thing to do that they would be punished in the afterlife. Because of their geographical location, they could not choose what society they belonged to, whether they liked it or not. If they did try to leave, chances are they would die in the harsh New England wilderness. They also feared the natives of the area. This caused many people to grit their teeth and bear the Puritan ways. Also this was the only way of life these people knew. They had never been in an atmosphere that flourished in new ideas. Therefore, they never had beliefs of their own. They were limi ted in the choices they made. If it weren’t for the underlying fears of being different than the Witch Trails of Salem would have never occurred.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ironically the Puritans were victims of the very society that they traveled across the Atlantic to escape. The roots of evil were still implanted in them. The church was all that had changed, and it had changed for the worse. Bertrand Russell once said, â€Å"It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you don’t believe it completly.† Since the Puritans beliefs were absolute, it devestated their society. There was no room for new ideas. New ideas would directly contradict their religion. That is why anybody that was different was considered a witch and consequently killed. They died because of mass paranoia. This paranoia is what drove the young girls into their hysterical state of mind.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Their society revolved around fear, a fear of god. They feared very much what god would do with them once their time one earth was at an end. They justified the entire unknown with their beliefs of god. If they had bad luck or encounters with natural disasters, they thought god was punishing them.

Term Paper on Computer Games

Intelligence and Dexterity are beneficial gift that God has endowed us. Hence, Man has the ability to tinker with nature. It is factual and concluded. We have the greatest opportunity to manipulate things like: The Development of Medicine; Swift Transportation; Rapid Communications and the Aggrandizement of Technology. One of this is COMPUTER GAMES. Computer Games is one of the vital issues in our society to be focused on. Why? Because they say that Computer Games are one of the vices that the teenagers are been addicted, attached with.They could spend all day just to play various online or downloaded games. Seemingly, it is there cravings for them to be satisfied. Just like there days wouldn’t complete if not played just even one game. According to Surveys, Computer Games has indeed a great effect on everybody. Because, we can visualize myriad teenagers seated in front of computer set playing, enjoying, and cussing with each other. YES, CUSSING. When been fond of it, teenager s are gradually adapting the nature of a maniac player. Now, they know how to use vulgar words to express their feelings, a volcano that would about to erupt.Another thing is that, we can no longer more to see youth who plays basketball, volleyball and the rest of the Sports Games that can really helped a lot in our health and physical attributes. That’s why they also added that Computer Games is gradually defeating sports. This is why the Government should take its action to give remedy to this epidemic issue concerns our youth of today. Today, parents still worry about the effects of violent computer games and of course it also remains a popular topic for the media.However, with a growing number of children and teens spending excessive time playing computer games, perhaps parents should be more worried about teenagers addicted to computer games than the effects of violent Computer Games. An examination of the literature reveals that those who study video game addiction some times disagree on the proportion of children and teenagers addicted to computer games. However, the majority of studies suggest that approximately 5 to 10% of youth who play computer games become addicted.Compared to other psychological difficulties (such as depression and anxiety), teenage computer game addiction is obviously a relatively new problem faced by families. As such, parents may lack accurate and/or helpful information on the signs of computer game addiction, the risk factors for video game addiction, and strategies for helping teenagers addicted to computer games after the problem develops. BACKGROUND The debate on whether Computer Games have social effects and cause violence among the players, especially children, can be traced back to 1976 when a video game entitled Death Race was released on the market.The main aim of the game was to run over screaming gremlins using a car which would then turn into tombstones. The pace of the game was pedestrian and the gremlins res embled human figures. There was a public outcry over this video game and eventually its production ceased. There were other violent Computer Games that were produced later in 1993, such as Night Trap and Mortal Combat, that were followed by public outcry. In the same year, a board was established in the United States to look into Computer Games and rate them according to their content (Siwek, 2007).The board is known as the entertainment software rating board (ESRB). The other video game that attracted media attention was Rapelay, produced in 2006 (Siwek, 2007). The video game required players to rape and stalk a woman and her two girls. Such Computer Games are said to cause behavioral change among children. There are several incidents that are linked to Computer Games, such as the massacre at Columbine High School that claimed 13 lives. Laws have been enacted to ban or control the sale of Computer Games.For example, on the 27th of June 2007, the Supreme Court of the United States o verturned the law in California that banned the sale of Computer Games to minors (Siwek, 2007). The court ruled that the law violated the freedom of speech even though the state has an obligation to protect kids from harm. Another aspect that should be noted regarding Computer Games is that boys spend more time playing than girls. Not many girls are interested in playing Computer Games, hence they are not affected as much as boys of a similar age (Anderson & Bushman, 2001).The Drawbacks of Children Playing Computer Games Most of the negative effects as a result of playing Computer Games among children can be blamed on the violent scenes contained in these games. When a child spends an extended amount of time playing such Computer Games, they becomes socially isolated. This means that a child does not have enough time to interact with other members of society (Anderson & Bushman, 2001). The child who spends many hours a day playing Computer Games will have no time to meet and make ne w friends. They may in turn become more depressed and lonelier in their homes.Children will also spend little time on other activities such as sports, reading, and doing homework. The child becomes socially inactive since they do not get involved in social activities. Some Computer Games teach children wrong values (Gunter, 1998). Most of the children who spend much of their time playing Computer Games are likely to perform poorly in school. A solid number of Computer Games are addictive. Rather than studying or completing homework, a child spends time playing Computer Games. As a result, poor performance will be seen at schools. Computer Games reduce a child’s imaginative thinking as well.This means that a child who ends up spending most of their time playing Computer Games does not get a chance to think creatively or independently. Imaginative thinking is crucial in developing a child’s creativity. By fostering isolation, Computer Games may also affect a childâ€℠¢s health. Since they do not get enough bodily exercise, children who spend the majority of their time playing Computer Games are likely to suffer from video-induced seizures, obesity and skeletal, muscular and postural disorders like tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, among others.Computer Games promote children to associate happiness and pleasure with the capability to cause pain to others. They develop the feeling that in order to be happy, one has to make other people suffer. Children who play Computer Games tend to develop selfish behavior (Anderson & Bushman, 2001). Computer Games teach the player to be dependent and since the child is left alone while playing the game, they can develop selfish behavior. A certain study that was done at the Minneapolis-based national institute for media indicated that kids can get addicted to Computer Games and exhibit social phobias.The interactive quality of Computer Games is quite different from passively viewing movies or television. The games allow players to be active participants in the script. The players who are able to benefit from acts of violence are then able to proceed to the next level (Sherry, 2001). As a negative result of playing Computer Games, violence in children has shown an increase. â€Å"Anderson and Dill found that males who were high in aggression and irritability, showed the strongest association between video game play and aggressive behavior (Lillian Bensely & Juliet Van Eenwyk, 2001)†.There are many incidents of violent behavior among children who play violent Computer Games worldwide (Gunter, 1998). One of the high-profile incidents is the Columbine High School massacre that was caused by 17 year-old Dylan Klebold, and 18 year-old Harris Eric. The massacre happened on the 20th of April, 1999, at Columbine High School, located in Jefferson County. 12 pupils and a teacher were killed by two pupils. It was later revealed that the two shooters in the massacre were frequent players of w eapon-based combat games.It was also noted that the two shooters used to play Wolfeinstein 3D and Doom, games which are violent. After the incident, many newspaper articles claimed that the key cause of that incident was violent Computer Games. Another incident occurred in April, 2000 when Jose Rabadan, a sixteen year-old Spaniard, killed his parents and his sister using a katana sword, claiming that he was Squall Leonhart, the main character in the video game titled ‘Final Fantasy V111,’ on a mission to avenge. This was a consequence of playing the game too much and fantasizing about what he saw in the video game (Williams, & Marko, 2005).In 1997, there was the case of a thirteen year-old Wilson Noah, who was killed by his friend using a kitchen knife. The mother of the deceased claimed that Noah was stabbed because of the obsession his friend had with the video game known as Mortal Combat. She alleged that the child who killed Noah was obsessed with the game, and thou ght he was one of the characters in the game named ‘Cyrax’. In the game, Cyrax is using a finishing move whereby he grabs the opponent and stabs him in the chest. It was alleged that this was the move that motivated the killing of that child.There are many other incidents that were caused by the effects of playing Computer Games. A report that was compiled by the FBI in the year 2006 showed that the playing of Computer Games among children was one of the behavioral traits linked to school shootings. The report outlined several factors behind school shootings of which playing violent Computer Games was the most obvious (Anderson & Bushman, 2001). According to Gentile and Anderson, playing Computer Games increases the aggressive behavior of the player, since the acts of violence are continually repeated during the game (Gentile, & Anderson, 2003).â€Å"Although heightened physiological arousal (e. g. , heart rate, blood pressure, skin conductance) can be beneficial in ce rtain situations, physiological arousal produced by violent media (or by other sources), can be linked to an increase in aggressive behavior, especially when that arousal can be erroneously attributed to another provoking event, rather than to the violent media. Repetition of an act has been considered an effective teaching method, reinforcing learners patterns (Barlett, Harris, & Bruey, 2007). †The games encourage the players to role play or identify with their favorite character (Gentile & Anderson, 2003). The increase in physical bullying in many schools can also be linked to the popularity of Computer Games that contain violent content. A study done in 2008, indicated that about 60% or more of middle school boys ended up striking or beating somebody after playing at least one mature-rated video game. The research also showed that about 39% of boys who never played violent Computer Games were not involved in any form of violence.When playing Computer Games, players are rewa rded for simulating violence. This enhances the learning of violent behavior among the children who find pleasure in violent Computer Games. When violence is rewarded while playing Computer Games, players tend to develop aggressive behavior. As noted earlier, Computer Games desensitize players to real-life violence. The exposure to Computer Games causes a reduction in P300 amplitudes that are contained in the brain. The child will later experience aggressive behavior and desensitization to violence (Bartholow, Bushman & Sestir, 2006).After children experience violence while playing Computer Games, they are likely to develop a fear of becoming victims of violent acts. According to the report compiled by six leading national medical associations in 2000, children do not trust their fellow children and hence will develop violent, self-protective measures. The exposure to cruel Computer Games also leads to reduced empathy among the players. From a survey conducted by Jeanne Funk in 2004 , Computer Games are the only media linked or associated with low empathy.Empathy is described as the capacity or ability to understand other people’s feelings. The level of empathy plays a noteworthy role in evaluating a person’s morals. Empathy also controls aggressive behavior among individuals, especially children (Bartholow, Bushman & Sestir, 2006). After lacking empathy as a consequence of violent Computer Games, these children are likely to be violent. Repetition of actions when one is playing a video game affects the subconscious mind, hence a behavioral script is developed. A sound example of a behavioral script is that developed by drivers.It urges the driver to first get into a car, fasten their safety belt and then start the car. Similarly, Computer Games induce a child to develop a behavioral script that urges them to respond violently to a certain situation (Gunter, 1998). Playing Computer Games teaches children that violence is an acceptable way of solvi ng their conflicts. Those who play Computer Games, especially games with violent content, do not develop the belief that using non-violence means can solve a problem. They tend to be less forgiving when compared to those children who play non-violent Computer Games (Sherry, 2001).Children tend to confuse real-world violence with video game violence. After fantasizing about the violence in Computer Games, children are likely to fight in schools and in the streets. New Computer Games allow a lot of physical interaction with the players. Some Computer Games train players on how to be a killer. For example, in 1996, the Marine Corps in the United States authorized the release of Doom 11, which was a violent video game. The game was previously used to train marine soldiers. Such games can train children to be high-profile killers.Most Computer Games have portrayed a negative attitude towards women. Violence against women is likely to increase in a child who plays brutal Computer Games (G unter, 1998). Counter Arguments In any life situation and with any sort of problem, there are those who disagree with the majority. Likewise, there are researchers who present various counter arguments to support the idea that Computer Games can be beneficial for children. The first counter argument against the side effects of Computer Games is the fact that children are not isolated as they have online gaming communities.Children who are unable to associate with others do not feel isolated since they are left to play Computer Games. For example, a child who is not physically fit to play with others can turn to Computer Games during their free time to reduce boredom. It has been noted that violent juvenile crimes have been decreasing in the recent years, yet the popularity of Computer Games has been increasing. For the period 1995 to 2008, the rate of arrest of juvenile murderers decreased by 71. 9%, while the overall arrest cases concerning juvenile violence decreased by 49%.In the same period, the sale of cruel Computer Games increased by almost 4 times compared to the years before. From these statistics, one can conclude that there is no direct correlation between violent juvenile crimes and Computer Games. There has been no scientifically proven link between violent behavior among children and Computer Games. Most of the surveys carried out on Computer Games are affected by design flows. The surveys are done within a short duration of time and do not follow kids for any considerable period of time. After a short observation, conclusions are then drawn.The other counter argument against Computer Games is that children learn real life-skills when playing Computer Games. Players of brutal Computer Games are able to learn how to regulate their emotions when playing (Anderson, Gentile, & Buckley, 2007). The level of control developed while playing Computer Games in terms of directing actions and pace are prudent ways of regulating the emotional state of childre n. The perception of being in control of actions minimizes emotional and stressful responses to events. Aggressive and angry feelings can be relieved by playing Computer Games.When a child plays Computer Games, it is one of the best ways of relieving aggression and depression. Many children play Computer Games to relieve anger while others play Computer Games to relax their bodies. Children are given healthy and safe opportunities to virtually explore the rules and consequences of violent behavior when they play Computer Games (Bartholow, Bushman & Sestir, 2006). After playing Computer Games, especially ones that contain violence, children are able to develop ways of escaping violence. The form of violence can be affected by Computer Games, but does not necessarily lead to the occurrence of violence.Through the challenges faced while playing some Computer Games, children are able to learn how to avoid violence, or how to escape from violence. Those who hold the view that Computer Ga mes do not have negative effects on children indicate that Computer Games do not lead a child to violence, but instead, violent children are the ones who are interested in Computer Games (Anderson, Gentile & Buckley, 2007). Conclusion The argument about whether Computer Games have negative or positive effects on children is broad, and depends on one’s philosophical views.â€Å"Most of the research projects that have been conducted on the authentic effects of media brutality on behavior of children have included small, often unrepresentative samples and unique examples of media violence (Dietz, 1998)†. This paper has compiled some of the negative effects of Computer Games among children. Some of the negative effects include children feeling isolated from society, becoming more violent and aggressive, as well as lacking communicative skills. When playing Computer Games, children spend extended periods of time by themselves and do not have much interaction with other chil dren, except for the virtual ones.As a result, children who play Computer Games do not develop effective communication skills with others, since hours, if not all their spare time is spent on Computer Games. There has also been a rise in violence among children who play Computer Games, the Columbine High School massacre being one such example. Injuries and fighting at home and outdoors have risen because of children playing brutal Computer Games (Anderson, Gentile, & Buckley, 2007). Some researchers however argue that Computer Games can and do have positive effects on children.They point out that children are not isolated, as they develop online gaming communities. Children are also able to learn real-life skills while playing Computer Games, as well as, learn how to escape violence. However, what both sides agree upon is that parents should guide their children on the outcomes of playing Computer Games. Personally, I think that Computer Games can be allowed when selected with cauti on and are not played frequently. As long as virtual reality does not replace a child’s real-life communication, Computer Games can become a great option for a child’s leisure.