Category: x Archive Assignments

What’s the Difference?

Some sports can be very similar or different to each other, like softball and baseball or tennis and badminton. Sports like tennis and badminton are also a pair of sports that are modified towards each other. They both have the same concept, but many differences. The shape of the court, using rackets, hand/eye coordination, having a player on each side of the net, etc. are all aspects of the two sports that are similar. Softball and baseball both have the same general rules, like needing to get three outs and using a ball to pitch to a batter. They both have a first, second, and third base that runners run to so they can score. Though these basic and simple rules are a few aspects what these sports have in common, their differences are increased. For a badminton play to succeed in tennis would require extra skill practice and new coordinations to be formed. New skills would still be needed when a baseball hitter goes up against a softball pitcher and succeeds. The athletes, no matter how hight their skill level, are not prepared to face a kind of sport so similar, yet so different at the same time.

When baseball is compared to baseball, the obvious difference is the gender of each sport. Baseball has boys on the field and softball has girls. There is no actual law that says girls can’t play baseball and boys can’t play softball, but this is mainly just how it is. Another difference is the size of the field. Both sports have dirt and grass, but the softball field is smaller than the baseball field. In baseball, the standard base distance is 90 feet from base to base, but in softball they are 60 feet apart. The fence in softball are usually about 220 feet or so. Baseball’s fence is about 400 feet from home plate. The pitching distance from home plate is also different. They softball mound is only 43 feet from home, and the baseball mound is 60 feet. The baseball mound is also higher because of the extra dirt under the mound, where as in softball it is flat. This effects each sport’s pitching as well.

The size of the balls are a big difference as well. The baseball is only 9 inches in circumference , and the softball is 12 inches and it is yellow too. This effects the weight of each ball. The bats that each sport uses also have differences. Maximum bats for softball are 34 inched long and weigh 24 ounces. Baseball bats have the maximum length of 34 inches and weigh 32 ounces. Though the length is the same, the weight is an important factor.

Even though there is are many differences in baseball and softball, there are also many differences in tennis and badminton. These two pairs of sports are both very similar, but require different skill levels. There is also a huge difference between the sports tennis and badminton. These sports are very similar to softball and baseball because they both are sports with the same aspect, but with different difficulty levels. Tennis and badminton are both played with a racket. Though tennis is played on a 78 feet long court, while badminton’s court is only 44 feet long, they are very different.

Tennis rackets are much heavier than a badminton racket. A tennis racket may weigh about three quarters of a pound; while a badminton racket is only just a quarter of a pound. This difference might change that athlete’s need for strength in their arms. To say that one sport is harder than the other is very difficult. A tennis player having to play a badminton match will have difficulty and vise versa.

Overall, for softball and baseball, the pitching makes the most difference. The elevated mound in baseball makes the pitch have to move downward to get into the strike zone. The baseball pitch also is thrown with an overhand motion. Softball pitching is completely different. This kind of pitching is thrown with the windmill, underhand motion. The mound is not elevated in softball. Because it is a flat surface and the ball is released low, the ball must go upward to make it into the strike zone.

All of these factors are important in playing the game. These are also important to take into when a batter is up to bat. Though these sports have big differences, they have the same concepts. Due to this amount of differences, there must also be different difficulty levels as well. This would make one sport more difficult than the other.

Works Citied

CK”s Baseball 4U, B. C. (2014, February 27). What’s the Difference between Baseball and Softball? Retrieved October 30, 2016.

H. (2014). Difference Between Tennis and Badminton. Retrieved November 23, 2016

Mann, B. A. (2011, September 30). Baseball vs. Softball. Retrieved October 30, 2016.

The Difference Between Baseball & Softball | iSport.com. (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2016.

No Helmets In Football?!

In the National Football league (NFL) concussions happen a lot. Most of the players concussions comes from blind side hits by the defensive player. Hits to the helmets happen on every play for the game because of the size of the helmets and how the player tries to block their opponent. Since the outbreak of when the public actually found out about what happens to a players brain after playing professional football for years the NFL has been working to lower the rate of concussions. In the past, the National Football League was under fire when the public found that players would be put back into the game after they found that the symptoms have subsided. However, even if the symptoms have subsided it doesn’t mean the brain has completely healed because it takes at least a few days for the brain to heal completely of course it also depends on how hard the hit was and how much the brain has banged into skull. Blind side tackling is when a defensive player tackles a offensive player that isn’t in the offensive player lines of vision. It is a very dangerous hit because an offensive player can sustain a head/neck region injury depending on how hard the hit was. The symptoms for a concussion if poor balance, confusion, drowsiness or feeling sluggish, dizziness double vision or blurred vision, headache, and vomiting. When a football player usually has a concussion they lay on the ground and they look a little disoriented after a hit.

A concussion is when a persons the brain is bruised because they were hit really hard or hit something really hard. Brain injuries is a very serious decision in sports because players get injured all the time. Inside our skull we have our brain and if something happens where a players  brain bangs into the skull it could cause some harmful things depending on how hard the brain hits against the skull. Also, the brain is surrounded by spinal fluid and 3 layers (Dura mater, Arachnoid mater, and Pia mater) that’s between the brain and the skull but the layers and fluid have a limit on how hard the brain  hits against the skull. A concussion rate is how many concussions happened in a game.

A helmet is aligned with thick padding all around the helmet. It’s main responsibility (if not its only) is to protect the head from skull fractures, but head injuries do still happen. If with all of the padding in a helmet concussions come from within the brain. While the padding protects from skull fractures the brain is still moving around in our head banging against our skull and the more hits to the brain the worse it gets. Continuous hits that are making the brain hit against the skull cause the brain to function less.

Rugby is a sport that involves no pads, and older versions of the American football helmets from back in the day. Some rugby players still do receive concussions but not as much as football. Rugby is actually a safer sport than football as far as concussions go. People maybe think how but Rugby is safer because of the stricter way they tackle. Rugby tackling is strict because the defensive players can not hit an offensive players blind side. Also, Rugby player have to tackle a specific way to be able to bring their opponent down, they would have to lean in with their shoulder and wrap their arms around the player they are tackling and than they will be able to tackle the player. Rugby is played around the world from America, New Zealand, Japan to list a few. Different countries play against each other, like New Zealand versus America or Japan versus Great Britain. People say rugby is like American football but without pads, however, that is not the case the difference is:

• They use a different method for tackling a player to the ground that has the ball.
• The ball is wider in shaped than the American football.
• The scoring is different. A “try” (touchdown) is 5 point, instead, of 6 points like the NFL.
• When in the in-goal, the player has to have the ball touch the ground for the touchdown to be official, that’s called “grounding.”
• Their field goal pole is in the front and middle of the in goal line. Like American football had it in the early years of football. Plus, it’s in an “H” shape.
• The time of play is not split into 4 quarters instead it’s split into 2 halves.
• The equipment that rugby players wear is different from the NFL’s equipment.

Work Cited:

 

“Regressive Tax”

In my own words, I describe a regressive tax as a tax that affects and taxes the poor more than it does to wealthier citizens. This tax can be either income, sales, excise, or property. A regressive tax can be a tax on food, clothing, gasoline or even prescription medication.

So if the government imposes a tax on certain sales, it may sound regressive. But if the tax is only on luxury items then it is not regressive. If the sales tax does not tax  basic items that people need, the cost of essential items will not go up by being taxed.People who have low incomes will not be affected by the tax of they only buy essential items (groceries, clothing, and prescription  medication).  These items listed in the previous sentence are exempt from the New Jersey 7% sales tax, the full list is in the New Jersey Sales Tax guide.According to the article,”N.J. Gas Tax Hike Deal: Christie Demanded a Sales Tax Cut, but Will You Notice It?”, the sales tax in New Jersey will go down to 6.875% on January 1, 2017.

On November 1, 2016, the State of New Jersey raised their gas tax by twenty three cents per gallon. This is a regressive tax on the poor, because paying twenty three cents per gallon takes up more income of a person making twenty thousand a year than someone making ninety thousand a year. The reason that this new gas tax is regressive is that it taxes gasoline, which is essential for transportation. Even those without cars may have to pay more for public transportation because busses require gasoline. Most people need transportation to travel to work, stores, and to visit family.  In an opinion piece,”Op-Ed: Who Pays for New Jersey’s Gas Tax?,”Raghul Murali discusses how the new gasoline excise tax will disproportionately tax a larger percentage of income for those making less than $20,000 a year than those making more than $20,000 a year. While I do understand that the government needs revenue and taxing gasoline has been around for years, a twenty three cent hike is a lot to take in for someone who does not make a lot of money.

The sales tax only applies to to luxury items. This includes, but is not limited to: prepared meals, tobacco, alcohol, and candy.  If someone chooses to pay a tax then it is not regressive, it is voluntary. A tax only on luxury items is not a regressive tax because it does not place more of a burden on the people who can least afford to pay the tax.  People with lower incomes can avoid paying this tax all together if they do not buy taxable items which they do not need to survive because non-essential items are  taxed.I think that New Jersey should not lower its sales tax at all. People will save a penny on every five dollars they spend on taxable items, many people will not even notice the change. In the article, “N.J. Gas Tax Hike Deal: Christie Demanded a Sales Tax Cut, but Will You Notice It?,”  Samantha Marcus talk about how the sales tax cut is very low and will save people very little money that they spend on taxable items.Leaving the sales tax at seven percent is  fair because it does not place a tax burden on the people with low income. I would not define the sales tax in New Jersey as regressive. Although, I would define the increased gas tax as regressive because people with lower incomes pay a higher percentage of their income on the gas tax than those with a higher income.

Works Cited

“New Jersey Sales Tax Guide.” (n.d.): Web. 30 Oct. 2016.

What is fear?

Police whose lives are often at risk may fear for their safety even from suspects whose guns are unloaded or who brandish what looks like a weapon. The fact that they were not in mortal danger in no way diminishes their reasonable fear. Are police officer’s wrong to shoot “an unarmed suspect” or are they within their rights to neutralize a suspect whose intention was to harm? On the night of August 9, 2014, police officer Darren Wilson of the Ferguson Police Department was on patrol when he received a call about a robbery and physical dispute between an 18 year old male and a Ferguson Market clerk. A nationwide study conducted in 2013 by USA.com found that the average crime rate in Ferguson, Missouri, is 2,6885.38, which trumps the Missouri crime rate of 1,858.24 and the national average crime rate of 1,669.05. Officer Wilson spotted Michael Brown walking down the street wearing a hoodie, a red hat and yellow socks that matched the offenders description. Michael Brown’s hands were in his pockets, which perhaps gave the illusion (from a police officer’s perspective) that he could be holstering a weapon. The high crime rate alone was enough to justify officer Wilson’s feelings of uneasiness. Officer Wilson had to acknowledge that there was already a physical altercation with the Ferguson Market Clerk, so his defensiveness is valid. When officer Darren Wilson confronted Brown, Brown reached through the window of the police car, disrespecting the barrier that separates Brown from officer Wilson. Darren Wilson pleads that Michael Brown reached for his hosteled weapon forcing him to fire through Brown’s hand, which signifies the heightened severity of the situation. Because Brown’s physical gesture posed a direct threat to the safety of Darren Wilson, officer Wilson got out of his car to pursue Brown and shot him six times. While six shots seems inexcusable, we can relate to his heightened sense of perceived danger. Officer Wilson shot Michael Brown because Brown appeared to have an apparent intent to cause harm. The fact that he may not have a weapon in no way diminishes officer Wilson’s fear for his life. One of the central questions in the case of Michael Brown that was argued is whether officer Darren Wilson’s response to a situation that calls for instantaneous reactions could hold him accountable. The decision made by officer Wilson reflects an officer’s moral instinct to protect the public at any time and place that the peace is threatened.

As we learn from Chris Mooney in “The Science of Why Cops Shoot Young Black Men,” we are not “born with racial prejudices. We may never even have been taught them. Rather, prejudice draws on many of the same tools that help our minds figure out what’s good and what’s bad. In evolutionary terms, it’s efficient to quickly classify a grizzly bear as dangerous. The trouble comes when the brain uses similar processes to form negative views about groups of people.” A study conducted by Lewis Loflin, a former U.S. Army and military officer , in 2012 found that of the total 2,029 arrests made in Ferguson, Missouri, 558 were white/hispanic and 1,471 were black. It is entirely possible that officer Wilson reacted to many cues in addition to the race of Michael Brown. It has been argued that the six shots to Michael Brown’s body was both excessive and unnecessary. Perhaps police officers learn to be suspicious of individuals that the general public do not fear. Officer Wilson could have developed reflexes that we don’t have, causing him to react faster or with more force than we would.

Police officers lives are often threatened. They have an obligation to respect the rights of suspects. They also have a (sometimes conflicting) right to defend themselves against mortal danger. Under the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights, American law enforcement personnel is partially protected from investigation and prosecution arising from conduct during official performance of their duties, and provides them with privileges based on due process additional to those normally provided to other citizens. But police officers are not fully protected. This leaves them vulnerable to due process for a natural instinct. Michael Brown posed a threat to officer Wilson by neglecting to respect the barrier that separates the inside of the car from the outside of the car, while attempting to retrieve officer Wilson’s gun. As we learned from Sunil Dutta, an advocate for police safety and 17-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, in “Column defending cops in Ferguson sparks online fury,” people should  “not challenge law enforcement — save that for lodging a complaint later. Do what the officer tells you to and it will end safely for both of you.” We need to acknowledge that police officers are well trained to recognize threats and are also experts at defusing them or avoiding confrontations that might turn deadly or dangerous. If people simply cooperated with police officers, there would be fewer arrests and less violence as a result.

A study conducted by Police One showing the reaction time of a police officer when faced with different scenarios. The test subjects were 24 male volunteers recruited from an active-shooter training class at a regional SWAT conference. Each officer, equipped with a Glock training pistol, was to progress through 10 rooms in an abandoned school where an officer was to confront a suspect with a similar pistol at a distance of 10 feet. According to prior instruction, one-fifth of the suspects followed the officer’s order to surrender peacefully, whereas the rest, designated as attackers, were told to try to shoot the officer at any time they chose. Analysis showed that the suspects on average were able to fire in just 0.38 second after initial movement of their gun. Officers fired back in an average of 0.39 second after the suspect’s movement began. The officer and suspect effectively shot at similar times. Why should an officer be held responsible for a natural instinct? These numbers validate police officer’s rights to react in the way they do to certain situations. Officer Wilson shot Michael Brown’s hand out of pure response to the altercation. While the next six shots seems inexcusable, we can understand officer Wilson’s perceived sense of danger and excessive reaction to a potential violent situation. Effectively, it is either kill or be killed.

Neil Bruntrager, a lawyer for Officer McMellon, said, “According to State v. Anthony, once a defendant injects self-defense into a case, the prosecution bears the burden of disproving the defense beyond a reasonable doubt.” Self-defense is an extremely difficult burden to carry in a court of law. The fear of imminent danger in law enforcement is a reasonable defense and may outbalance the burden of proof.

Finally, police officers, as a highly scrutinized group, should not be held responsible for a potential threat to their well-being and others around them. The burden we place on police officers, to protect the safety of everyone they encounter, is incompatible with their human instinct to protect themselves from danger. When we scrutinize their actions without considering how often they place themselves in danger on our behalf, we impose an unjust burden on them. The threats they recognize, that we might not, are mitigating circumstances.

Works Cited

Cassell, Paul. “Officer Wilson under Missouri law.” The Washington Post. 26 Nov. 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

Levs, Josh. “Column defending cops in Ferguson sparks online fury.” CNN. Josh Levs. 20 Aug 2014. 28 Oct. 2016.

Lewinski, Bill. “New reaction-time study.” Police one. 26 May. 2011. 28 Oct. 2016.

Mooney, Chris. “The Science of Why Cops Shoot Young Black Men.” Mother Jones. 1 Dec. 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

“Ferguson, MO Crime Rate.” USA.com. 1 Jan. 2016. 9 Nov. 2016.