Sports And Aggressive Behavior Essays (2417 words) -

Sports And Aggressive Behavior Sport and aggressive behavior, Do sports create aggressive behavior, or simply attract people who are already aggressive? Aggression and sport have gone together as long as sports have been around, be it the players themselves, to the parents, coaches, or spectators, they just seem to be an inseparable part of each other. The term violence is defined as physical assault based on total disregard for the well being of self and others, or the intent to injure another person ( 2. Coakley). Intimidation usually does not cause physical harm, but often is designed to produce psychological consequences, enabling one person to physically over power or dominate another. These statements as defined by the author, Jay J. Coakley, is what people today have made a must part on sport. Pleasure and participation sports absolutely cannot be grouped with power and performance sports when in relation to aggression.Pleasure sports are simply played for pleasure. Score is usually not kept. The athletes p articipating are usually on occasion doing it for fun and exercise. A majority of athletes who have been playing sports since they were little, have probably been pounded into their heads that to be successful in sport, you need to be aggressive, and at some times, unnecessary. Also that to get what you want, you have to go at it with all force. Not that this is wrong but, this attitude in today's society has been a major problem factor to the athletes when they get older, to get into trouble with the law. Those long-term effects of so called discipline, patterns develops these destructive behaviors. (9. Montague) Although some people are still in belief that aggressive behaviors in all forms, are grounded into instincts, but they also relate these actions to sports. Their parents played, who were known for their aggressive behavior, so the child feels that they have to live up to that expectation.( 6. Storr) Athletes do have to be aggressive to a point, so that the team can form a strategy to win. There is also a limit to aggression when it turns into violence. People might say that it's not aggression or violence, it's just adrenaline pumping. Adrenaline isn't even similar to violence. Aggression, maybe, but nothing that would be harmful to anyone else. This might be a factor to why contact sports are so popular. For example, football, hockey, rugby, wrestling, and boxing. Contrary to predicti ons of instinct theory, several studies show that contact sports exist and thrive in the same societies that have high rates of aggression and violence. Unfortunately, another belief is that contact sports teach discipline, self-respect, and self-defense. (8. May ) Contact sports aren't a positive way to teach these things. Being physically tough helps, but it also needs to be left on the field when the game is over. This can also lead to the abuse of family, girlfriends, boyfriends, friends, and any other person who gets in their way, because athletes use these sports as a way to get their aggression and angers out. ( 10. Hauser, Powers, Noam ) Other's might argue that it's skill, and not in the least way violent. Although we really can't give a straight and to the point answer to the question Is aggression an Instinct? We can say that in man, as in other animals, there exists a physiological mechanism, when stimulated, it rises both subjective feelings of anger and to physical changes, which relate to fighting. This is easily set off, and like other emotional responses, it is very stereotyped, and instinctive. Just like one person is like a very angry person; they resemble one another at the psychological level. The way in which humans adapt to and control their feelings of rage. ( 5. Toch) The mechanisms in which these body changes, the functions that come about is still completely misunderstood. ( 5. Toch) Experiments from animal's show that it appears that there is a small area from the base of the brain in which the feeling of anger starts. This, from which is sent to the nervous impulses that cause the blood pressure to rise. This area is called the hypothalamus. Its function is to coordinate responses like anger.

Countries That Lie on the Earths Equator

Countries That Lie on the Earths Equator Although the equator stretches  24,901 miles  (40,075 kilometers) around the world, it travels  through the territory of just 13 countries- and yet the landmasses of two of these countries do not touch the Earths  equator. Did You Know? The equator is an imaginary line that circles the Earth, splitting it into northern and southern hemispheres. Any location that lies along the equator is equidistant from the North and South Poles. The 13 Countries That Lie on the Equator Of the 13 countries that lie on the equator, seven are in Africa- the most of any continent- while South America is home to three of the nations (Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil). The remaining three (Maldives, Kiribati, and Indonesia) are island nations in the Indian and Pacific oceans.   The countries of Sao Tome and Principe, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Maldives, Indonesia, Kiribati, Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil all lie along the equator. The landmasses of Maldives and Kiribati, however, do not touch the equator itself. Instead, the equator passes through water controlled by these two island countries. Latitude and Longitude The equator is one of five lines of latitude that help provide relative locations on an atlas. The other four include  the Arctic Circle, the Antarctic  Circle, the Tropic of Cancer, and the Tropic of Capricorn.  Because the Earth bulges at the center, the equator is significantly longer than any of the other lines of latitude. Along with the lines of longitude which run from pole to pole, they make it possible for cartographers and navigators to locate any spot on the globe. The plane of the equator passes through the sun at the March and September equinoxes. The sun appears to travel directly north to south over the equator at these times. Because of this, people living along the equator experience the quickest sunrises and sunsets as the sun travels perpendicular to the equator most of the year, with the length of days being almost entirely the same throughout- daylight lasting 14 minutes longer than nighttime. Climate and Temperatures Most countries that lie along the equator experience much warmer temperatures year-round than other areas of the world that share the same elevation. Thats because of the equators near-constant exposure to the same levels of sun exposure regardless of the time of year. As a result, the countries that lie along the equators include almost half of the worlds rainforest; they are concentrated in the African nations of Congo, Brazil, and Indonesia. Even so, the equator offers a surprisingly diverse climate due to the geographical features of countries that lie along it. There is little fluctuation in temperature throughout the year, though there may be dramatic differences in rainfall and humidity, which are determined by wind currents. In fact, the terms summer, fall, winter, and spring dont really apply to regions along the equator. Instead, people who live in the especially humid tropic regions refer to only two seasons: wet and dry. Equator Extremes Its reasonable and largely accurate to assume that the weather is uniformly warm or hot around the equator. But of course, weather and climate relate not only to latitude but also to geography. Some countries that lie on the equator are flat and warm but others, like Ecuador, include high mountains where the weather is extremely cold. In fact, you will find snow and ice year-round on  Cayambe, a volcano in Ecuador that reaches to 5,790 meters (nearly 19,000 feet). It is the only place on the equator where snow lies on the ground year-round.

Global Financial Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Global Financial Crisis - Essay Example Many professionals and experts around the world believe that a true economic recession can only be confirmed if GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth is negative for a period of two or more consecutive quarters. The roots of a recession and its true starting point actually rest in the several quarters of positive but slowing growth before the recession cycle really begins. While the "two quarter" definition is accepted globally, many economists have trouble supporting it completely as it does not consider other important economic change variables. For instance, current national unemployment rates or consumer confidence and spending levels are all a part of the economic system and must be taken into account when defining a recession and its attributes. An economic recession is primarily attributed to the actions taken to control the money supply in an economy. The Central Bank is the agency responsible for maintaining the delicate balance between money supply, interest rates, and inflation. When this delicate balance is tipped, the economy is forced to correct itself. In an environment where inflation is prevalent, people tend to cut out things like leisure spending. They also budget more, spend less on things they usually indulge in, and start saving more money than they did. As people and businesses start finding ways to cut costs and derail unneeded expenditures, the GDP begins to decline. Then, unemployment rates will rise because companies start laying off workers to cut more costs, because consumers are not spending like they were. It is these combined factors that managed to drive the economy into a state of recession.(Sources: Recessiom.org) The paradigm shift in the US economy was a big contributing factor. The economy shifted to a service based economy from a predominant manufacturing sector. By the year 2009, manufacturing and agriculture constituted less than 10% of the whole economic base. Decline in manufacturing took place mainly due to off shoring or outsourcing but vastly increased productivity was the bigger factor. Lack of security became an issue as the employments trend changed from a long term employment relationship to a short term attachments. The result of the shift from manufacturing to service, in short, has been a disaggregation of employment in which the attachments of workers to particular firms is more tenuous, expected tenures are shorter, and workplaces themselves are often on a smaller scale. The new portable employment included portable pensions; that is a pension plan that moves with an employee when he or she changes the employer. Pension investment became a big business dominated by institut ional investors. With a portable defined contribution systems pension is based on investment returns which created pressure for high returns and also removed employee incentives to stay with a single firm. This resulted in a vicious circle of profit pressure and employment instability. (G.F. Davies, 2009) Following a period of economic boom, a financial bubble-global in scope-has now burst. A collapse of the US sub-prime mortgage market and the reversal of the housing boom in other industrialized economies have had a ripple

Internal Policies and Procedures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Internal Policies and Procedures - Essay Example The ERP platform is designed and implemented to control majority of the business process in the company. The users in the geographically separated locations like 2 factories and 4 sales offices are connected using remote connectivity. This also enables the users to interact with the system in a secure environment to manage workflows. The company is using connectivity through leased lines with direct point-to-point (P2P) connectivity for the factory locations. However, as the sales offices are dispersed across 4 diverse locations, the company is using Internet based connectivity using Virtual Private Networks (VPN) to establish connectivity from these remote locations to the main server housed in the corporate office. As mentioned above, the network connectivity plays an important role in the successful usage of ERP package. In order to have an uninterrupted connectivity, it is important to build a secured network as well as ensuring that it is maintained well. (Kadam Avinash, 2001) Review of current networking setup. The current networking setup was build when the ERP package was implemented. The networking firewall configured at the same time. The Anti virus software was installed at the same time as well. Since, then (3 years back), no effort was spent to update the firewall configuration or anti virus software. On the customer privacy perspective, no encryption of customer data is being done which endangering it to be compromised easily. As the sales locations are using VPN, non encrypted data transfer becomes a sitting duck by the hackers who would want to steal the customer data for corrupt intentions. In certain areas, it was observed that some users are using the vendor provided default passwords and there is no password policy to access the network. The Information Technology (IT) is a dynamic field. Numerous new virus, spywares, malwares or web crawlers are being written by hackers all over the world with intentions to bring down the Information systems in any organization. Hence, a constant up-gradation of the IT systems is necessary so that any attack on the IT system with a potential to bring the business to a halt or compromise of Customer data can be pro-actively prevented. During unplanned/planned system shutdowns or network outage, the data is transferred by emailing the data packets to update inventory and complete workflows exposing the organization's data to be stolen and misused. (Kutzke Todd, 2009) A policy needs to be developed to ensure the constant up-gradation and testing of networking on regular basis so that the system is not susceptible to any possible attacks as well as an access control mechanism needs to be developed for accessing Customer Data by internal company employees. Suggestions for enhancing the current networking setup. Subsequent discussion with the professionals in the IT department has resulted in following

Local and Federal Sharing of Information for Law Enforcement Essay

Local and Federal Sharing of Information for Law Enforcement - Essay Example This plan was put together by the DHS and the FBI in order to share information between their two systems. The overall aim of iDSN is "to achieve biometric-based interoperability with a reciprocal exchange of a small subset of DHS and FBI data. The FBI subset will include information on individuals with outstanding warrants for which biometric information exists ("Wanted Person File"). The DHS subset will include information on individuals who have been denied Visas or aliens who have been expeditiously removed from the United States." (Federal Bureau of Investigation, n.d.) Therefore, this database will allow both groups to access information about the various agencies. Data will be shared between the two agencies, and this includes copies of the database's fingerprint information in order to assist with the comparison of fingerprints. Furthermore, the shared information also allows other data to be included, such as criminal history, biography, and any other relevant history which may also be significant above and beyond fingerprint sharing. All data is stored and accessible in the System of Records. Users will also be able to access the FBI maintained criminal history of each individual through the database.

Textual Analysis of TV Show

Textual Analysis of TV Show CHRISTOPHER LEA Textual analysis of the TV show â€Å"Gogglebox.†Ã‚   This analysis will look at series 2 episode13 of the Channel 4 television programme Gogglebox. This show is broadcast nationally in the UK on Channel Four and is now in its second season. This episode can be found here: http://tvshows.ec/episode/Gogglebox_s2_e13 It falls broadly into the genre of reality TV. The participants (I will call them the actors for the purposes of this analysis) watch TV and are filmed reacting and commenting on the shows. These clips are edited together within the sequential chronology of the TV show in order to compare and contrast reactions and comments. In analysing this text, I hope to look at how the text portrays the diversity of British life and promotes TV as a unifying social force for good. I am also interested in the version of reality presented here One of my reasons for looking at this text is that it is a popular TV show that is attempting to reclaim the idea of water cooler TV. In the face of competition from on demand services, such as Netflix and BBC iPlayer, broadcast TV has seen a decline in the number of people who watch a program at the same time and on the same date. I would like to look deeper into the text to look at the ways in which the show tries to offer a view of a shared reality to promote its own validity. The introduction and broadcast paradigm Through the narration, we are informed of the numbers of people who sit down and watch TV every night. The use of statistics and complete lack of modality in the language (present simple tense – used for facts) tells the viewer to think about this as reality, there is no need to watch critically, as this is all true. The references to everyday experience are explicit here. The title sequences show darkening streets and street lights being lit, indicating a return from the toil of work to the comfort and security of home. This is underlined by shots of curtains being drawn, indicating a private space. There are also establishing shots through the windows of the houses, as we see people sitting down with a cup in their hand, looking at the TV. The cup of tea is a signifier of relaxation, while the shots through the window indicate to the viewer that they are part of someone else’s private moment, they are almost spying on them, and they have been given permission to look in from the outside. This reinforces the idea that this is real life, it is not set up for the cameras, but it somehow corresponds to what you would see if you peered in to someone’s living room. The text belongs the broadcast paradigm of reality TV. There is a kind of generic realism at work here. The reality show genre is familiar and has become almost transparent. With this familiarity, viewers lose sight of the fact that there are lights, directors, producers, make-up artists, camera operators and sound recordists working in the same space as the actors. Social codes There are number of social classes and demographics covered within the show. These all conform to their tropes throughout the seasons. The main characters are as follows: The affluent couple; The working class retired couple; The gay couple; The black girl friends; The middle class families; The working class Asian family; The two elderly intellectuals. There are also various other types and tropes that appear from time to time, but these are the main ones. Broadcast codes Travelling shots of the living rooms are put in to create pauses between movements to different actors; they fulfill a similar role to establishing shots in that they help with the invisible editing of the show, which is a way of adding to the believability of the show as the viewer is less distracted by the editing. The actors are all filmed from eye-level, which serves to put them on the same level as the viewer. We have been invited into their private living rooms, and now we are sitting as their peers, friends and part of their families. We are close to them and on the same level, there is no power relationship here, this emphasizes again the inclusivity of this activity. Reaction shots of the actors are shot in close-up to add intimacy and edited in sequences to emphasise these as common reactions. There is the suggestion here that we all do this, we all react in virtually the same ways, no matter what our socio-economic context. Everyone is filmed sitting in close proximity, on a sofa or armchair. This attempts to show the closeness and intimacy of the event. In some cases this looks unnatural as the space is very limited, and this proximity is maintained, even when there are other empty chairs next to them. The shots are also constructed to show people sitting in exactly the same position in every episode. Genre and intertextuality This text contains strong allusions to a popular BBC situation comedy from the last ten years, The Royle Family. This was famously a comedy where nothing ever happened. It showed a working class family in the UK sitting together, occasionally eating, but mostly watching TV. The show was filmed in a very similar way, with the family looking at the TV and the camera mainly pointing from where the TV would be. The script followed the comments of the family on various topics of gossip and their views on the shows that they were watching. Season one was narrated by Caroline Aherne, season two is narrated by Craig Cash. Both of these are actors and writers for The Royle Family. This provides an intertextuality that suggests that this show is to be taken lightly, it is not a serious social commentary, and that it is about people, or rather characters. It asks us to look for the tropes within the text and sets them up very clearly. The narration begins each episode with the line: â€Å"More than twenty million of us choose to spend our evenings in front of the telly.† The tone here is informal and familiar, choosing to refer to â€Å"us† as it is inclusive and refers to the stars of the show and the viewers as belonging to the same group. The numbering, 20 million, shows that we are not alone, that a large proportion (around 30 %) of the population is doing the same thing at the same time. Again, this emphasizes the togetherness of the shared experience. This is followed by reaction shots, such as disgusted recoils, faces covered with hands and utterances such as â€Å"Oh, my God!† By inserting these reaction shots immediately after the narration, the producer wishes here to provoke feelings of empathy, that this is something that we all do when watching TV. It also establishes a certain narrative tension; the TV screen is not shown here, and so the viewer is led to ask what these reaction shots were reacting to, creating the desire to find out the answer by continuing viewing of the show. This is a technique that alludes to other genres of narrative, such as drama serials that hook the viewer in with unanswered questions. The narration continues with the line â€Å"We’re going behind closed doors† over the establishing shots of windows lit in flats and houses, then closer shots from outside of the windows, peering into the various living rooms, the private spaces, where the actors are shown chatting, laughing and drinking tea whilst sat on their sofas. The intended effect here is to grant the viewer privileged access to private spaces, the doors are closed and we will be going behind them, the viewer is peeking in through the windows, and then getting to go actually inside the room. The viewer is drawn in to a secret world, but one that is very similar to their own secret world. This is conspiratorial and is intended to generate intimacy and empathy with the actors. It also serves to reinforce this idea of reality, that this is genuine fly on the wall stuff, which it is not set-up in any way, this is what we would see if we just peered in through the window, and there is no artifice or p erformance here. The paradigm of reaction shots is again used, drawing the viewer further into the narrative with more questions, plus opinions expressed, such as â€Å"I love this show† between the narrator’s voice explaining that we will â€Å"find out what people really (emphasis in the text) thought†. This pushes this idea again of uncut real life, this is the real thing, this is what people thought of the shows, and it is not mediated or censored. Verbal language The show is very informal and contains expletives. The language used is mainly to agree or disagree with comments, to mock or play with someone and to make jokes. It is social bonding that is important in this context. The bonds are created through sharing the medium of TV and commenting on it, these bonds are then reinforced with the viewer as the viewer is implicitly invited to agree or disagree with the actors. There are a number of accents, portraying the idea of a range of social classes and regions of the UK. This again serves to emphasize the idea that this behavior is quite universal and therefore, real and true to life. Bodily and behavioural codes Postures are generally relaxed, and yet most of the actors do not touch at all during the show. There is only one couple who conspicuously hold hands while sitting at opposite ends of the sofa. Dress varies; some of the actors (mainly the younger ones) are very informally dressed, whereas most of the older actors are dressed more formally. This jars somewhat with the idea that this is a time when we relax, but indicates a higher level of media awareness of the older actors. There are two types of shots of the actors; the wide shot that encompasses the whole group, and close-ups. The wide shot is used to show the actors participating together in commenting on the TV. This switches to close-ups when reactions are shown. The effect of this is to become more intimate with the actors, to be really close to them when they show emotion, thereby drawing the viewer into their emotional state. The codes for food and drink vary between the actors and are clearly organized to depict a certain reality, to emphasize their character according to type. For example, the older couple drinks tea, the intellectuals always have a bottle of red wine, the wealthy couple enjoys copious amounts of alcohol from a well-stocked drinks cabinet, the Black friends always have a large quantity of take-out food, the gay couple always eats from a box of chocolates. Ideological codes While the whole premise of the show is based around the idea that we are glimpsing what really goes on behind closed doors, the reality of the show is that it is produced like any other TV show, it is just that the dialogue is unscripted. In many ways, it is more like an improvisation with amateur actors playing themselves, on the themes of whatever they are told to watch by the producers. Taken as a whole, this show falls into a broadly conservative ideology that supports the dominant ideology of the UK. The close family unit is celebrated, and while diversity is portrayed through the inclusion of the gay couple and the black friends, there are still many absences that are conspicuous. For example, single people are not portrayed, including single parent families; neither are students, the unemployed or anyone who watches daytime TV shows. The focus here is on evening TV, and this period is lionized as the time when we all watch TV. This serves to promote the idea that typical members of society have busy lives during the day, and get together in the evening to relax together with the TV. The show also promotes consumerist values. The actors are all engaged in comment and discussion, but are, in fact, passively consuming the media, along with consuming their food and drinks. The actors all have houses and we are invited to look both inside and outside of these and comment on them. Benefits of semiotic analysis By looking at how this version of â€Å"reality TV† is manufactured, I have tried to show that it is a creation of the producers. The actors are real people, who all now have managers for their burgeoning media careers. The show has become a hugely popular format in the UK and reviewers and online comments have referred to its warmth and feel good factor. However, this is a carefully managed response that is the goal of the producers, not just a happy coincidence that has popped up from filming people being themselves. References http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html (Last accessed 13.01.14) http://tvshows.ec/episode/Gogglebox_s2_e13 (Last accessed 10.01.14)

The Internet Wont Put an End to the Diversity of Style in Composition

The Internet Won't Put an End to the Diversity of Style in Composition From 1982, when the term â€Å"Internet† was first used, until today, over 520 million users have gained access to the Internet.[1] This gigantic leap in Internet usage suggests that in the coming years, even more people will be able to view material online. As more people continue to gain access, others will want to post their creations online with a greater frequency, allowing a wider range of viewers to see their work. Will this increase in compositions being made available on the Internet, however, lead to homogeneity of style? This is not at all the case. Assuming that diversity of style existed before the rise of the Internet, even as Internet usage continues to grow, the diversity of style in composition will continue to exist. To begin with, what is style, and what are compositions? Webster’s Dictionary defines style as â€Å"manner of expression in language; characteristic manner of expression, design, etc. in any art, period, etc.†[2] To make things easier, this paper will simply say that style is the particular way that one expresses oneself. Compositions are creations, especially those of literary, musical, or artistic works. The last two terms are important to remember, as many of those claiming that diversity of style is ending pay attention only to compositions created on instant messengers and chat rooms, devices which are text-based.[3] For now, however, a concentration will be made upon a claim of homogeneity brought upon by the dominance of American culture. Jonathan Rick asserts that â€Å"American culture has infiltrated even the most remote areas of the world.†[4] This contention cannot be denied. American cultural icons such as M... ...Rick, 1. [5] http://www.amnh.org/ and http://www.louvre.fr/index.html, respectively [6] Dibble, 4 [7] 544.2 million people [8] ComputerScope Ltd. Bibliography American Museum of Natural History. http://www.amnh.org/. Dibble, Chris. â€Å"Does the Internet entail an end to the cultural and historical diversity of style in composition?† 22 April 2002. http://www.duke.edu/~cfd3/essays/style.htm. The Louvre Museum. http://www.louvre.fr/index.html. Nua Internet How Many Online. February 2002. ComputerScope Ltd. http://www.nua.ie/surveys/how_many_online/ Rick, Jonathan. â€Å"Does the Internet entail an end to the cultural and historical diversity of style in composition?† 27 March 2002. http://www.duke.edu/~jhr4/writing20/essays/essay2.pdf. â€Å"Style.† Webster’s New World Compact School and Office Dictionary. 3rd College Edition, 1994.