Reflective – thebeard

Core Value I. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

This class helped me a lot with the ability to go in depth about a topic and thing about things that I would never have thought about. In my visual rhetoric assignment I was able to analyze each second of a short commercial and what I thought it all meant. I was able to make predictions about what might happen and what certain things might actually mean with using context clues. We talked about different ways to look at pictures and videos in class, this helped me a lot with being able to look at something in a different way and not the typical way someone would look at a video about Drunk Driving.

Core Value II. My work demonstrates that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities.

When writing my research paper I basically just put in my definition and causal argument essay and had to make them flow from one another, this was a little bit tricky because each had their own opening and ending but it really just went with each other. Some of the ideas that I originally had for my causal essay actually fit better with my definition because they helped define my topic.

I also did this in stone money, at first it didn’t flow that well together but with some feedback I was able to make it sound a lot better in my rewrite. It also helped that we talked about theses topics in class a little bit so that helped me when I would go home and try to fix what I wrote originally.

Core Value III. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

When finding sources and writing my assignments for my research paper I had to realize who my audience was and what the purpose was. In my definition argument, I had to find a way to define something that in way people would think of it as. I had to describe what a hockey injury was to that may have never played hockey or has gotten an injury before.

Core Value IV: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

During the semester I had to find different sources to support and refute my argument. I used theses sources to back up my arguments with great evidence. I started by putting these sources in my Proposal+5 and then I used a few of them in my arguments. I later found more sources to help my research topic that I collected and eventually put into my annotated bibliography. The small descriptions that I wrote were about the articles and how I was going to use them in my papers. At first I started in my proposal of how I intended to use the sources, then in my annotated bibliography I explained how I used them.

Core Value V. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation.

In all of the things that I wrote for this class I explained my information and clearly cited where I got it from, the best example of this would be to look at my annotated bibliography. This shows all the sources that I used in my final research paper and in my shorter argument papers. All 10 of the sources that I used were clearly cited in my paper and in the works cited in each of my papers. All of these articles that I used helped me create the research paper that I did. They each gave me different information that explained my topic. Each time I used a new source I would say where I got the information from.

Research Position Paper- Killroy513

Prohibition, The Birth of Illegal Activity and NASCAR

The year is 1920 and the location is the United States of America. The country is at peace, just getting out of one of the first major World Wars. Many soldiers just returned home from war-torn Europe and were starting their new lives. Everyone, for the most part, was happy and the roaring twenties were off to a good start. The economy was at a high and people were partying. The Prohibition, also known as the “noble experiment” would be activated that year. The legislation was implemented to reduce crime and poverty. The boost in illegal activity and the creation of NASCAR would be born through the black market, gangsters, the medical field, and moonshiners.

The American Prohibition was enacted in the year 1920 and would last until 1933. The eighteenth amendment was enacted to enforce the restriction of alcoholic beverages. This included liquor and beer products. This turned America “dry” and people did not like that. At the time these products were in high demand since it is a major part of society, its iconic and everyone, for the most part, enjoy them. This being said, the market would go from legal to illegal very quickly. The black market would supply these products to people who were willing to pay.

Many aspects contributed to the boost in illegal activity during the Prohibition. At the time people realized that large amounts of profit could be made at the time. Alcohol was in demand, and people did almost everything to get it. The black market at this time was a money making machine, being that large amounts of money could be made extremely fast. In essence, the black market would jump-start the illegal activity of many during this era.

The transition from the nineteenth to the twentieth century was widely apparent. Cities grew to record sizes and the people changed for the good and bad. During the roaring twenties, some people acted on this black market, either adding to it or trying to “bust” it. The people who wanted to control this surge of money were primarily the big time gangsters in cities like Chicago, New York City, Boston, etc. Gangsters back then are nothing like the ones of today. They had class but also thought on their feet. One of the most famous ones from this time period was Al Capone, working in the midwest. Since the distribution of any alcoholic product was outlawed aside from medical use, it would be harder and harder to sell it. The gangsters of this time thought of extremely clever ways to make money and ensure their customers had what they wanted. The creation of “underground” bars and clubs would begin. These types of clubs and bars would be known as a speakeasy. These clubs would be hidden and passwords would be used for access. People had fun, and the gangsters made money. It was a win-win. In the big cities, the alcohol trafficking was done mostly by gangsters. “The people involved with speakeasies mainly revolved around gangs, who supplied the liquor, in particular, Al Capone and his gang” (Jen S, Ceyana A). These gangsters would form organizations and create bars and clubs. Being a very lucrative business and highly illegal, the police would step in and shut them done. Eventually, the businesses went “underground.” Alcohol trafficking was a great way to make money doing this time, assuming the person would not get caught.

Doctors would jump on the bandwagon as well. The medical field was not subject to the alcohol ban because that is used widely in the practice. Alcohol was used as medicine back in this time period. Doctors could prescribe the alcohol for specific ailments. When the eighteenth amendment was established, the medical field created special cards so that alcohol could be given to the people that needed it. “Presumably, doctors were doing examinations and diagnoses, but it was mostly bogus,” says Daniel Okrent, some doctors looking to make money would sell these cards filled out for the people who bought them. They would take these cards and purchase the outlawed alcohol. Doctors would be able to profit from the amendment because they would be paid off to write prescriptions. This again was highly illegal and generated large sums of money.

People never think of the other counties that benefited from the American Prohibition. Canada and Mexico gained the most wealth. The countries citizens would either produce or distribute alcohol across the United States border. During the winter, the great lakes would freeze and cars would be able to drive over them with the alcoholic goods. “Americans could, however, consume alcohol in Mexico, but most Americans were not willing to cross the border to obtain alcohol, so smuggling developed rapidly as an illicit occupation in the 1920s.” (Paredes, McDowell). The Mexico/ American border was not as built up as it is today, so trafficking was easier. People would bring over the products through customs or drive over. Both countries used ships to smuggle the alcoholic goods also. The products would be hidden and taken out when they reached their destination. The nations themselves did not benefit from this, BUT, their citizens did.

Fast cars and alcohol are one hell of a combination.

Cars were just introduced ten years prior to the 1920’s. They would be used more than horse and wagon for the simple reason of practicality. The horse and wagon would be fazed out of use and would be primarily found in farms or rural areas. During this time many saw the automobile as a money-making machine. Originally the use of car and truck was new to the public since they became widely available at this time, they were used for anything, especially transportation of alcohol. What started out as moving illegal goods became much more. The police would catch on to this, and many people would fall victim to the black market craze. Humans are always learning, so people began to devise ways to modify their cars. They would make them faster. The cars would be modified to outrun the police and help cut down on the “busts”.

Cars were in demand being the new thing. During this time many alcohol products would be brought in by cars or trucks and sold to the public “under the table”. Eventually, this would be found out by the police and the transportation of goods this way had to be more crafty. This would lead to the modification of these automobiles. Having a car or truck that could evade the police, for the most part, fixed this issue. This, some may say, laid the foundation for the beginning of NASCAR, and modification of cars.

With the high demand for the illegal drinks, transportation of the alcohol for sale would evolve from simple transportation to the use of the newly adapted automobile. They were beginning to be widely used and it transformed the transportation system.

The American Prohibition helped create NASCAR because the cars used were modified. The cars were made to be faster than the police and made to handle better as well. Eventually, the people who illegally transported the alcohol would begin to race the cars they modified. This would lay the foundation for NASCAR since it is a sport based on racing high-performance cars. The engines were modified along with taking out the unnecessary weight.

BUT, many can argue that the art of racing was around way before the American Prohibition. At the time, especially in Europe, racing cars would be the newest craze. The races would be called the Grand Prix. This originated in France and involved in its own “sport.” Eventually, the Grand Prix would become Formula One racing. The roots would begin in the 1920’s but would not be recognized until 1950. For the most part, these European races involved gambling on who would win and watch the races unfold. During this time cars in America were used for a completely different purpose. Making money. Eventually, racing would become popular.

Racing in America went from Horses at the local derby to cars on the race track. After the discovery of car racing, the sport took over the track. Racing started off as Rally Cross, off-road racing. This form of racing is widely popular and carried onto Europe where most of the races are held. After Rally Cross, the cars and the sport evolved to road racing, very similar to the Grand Prix. Here the races would only be held on roads that were paved making the races more fast paced. Finally, NASCAR would come into play. The races are held on an oval track. Hard to believe that this iconic American sport evolved from the prohibition. At the time no one really knew that having fun racing cars would evolve into such a big thing. People simply had fun.

The foundation of NASCAR and other sports like it would be laid during this era. People began to modify cars not only to evade the police but to race. This would give birth to a whole new sport that many enjoy. The story goes, that the moonshiners down in the southern states would get together and race their modded cars. After the Prohibition, the races would continue and eventually be recognized as a sport.

Essentially, the prohibition boosted illegal activity within the United States and with that created one of America’s greatest sports.

NASCAR is a sport that involves the racing of modified cars around a track two hundred times, whoever comes in first at the last lap wins first place. The cars are heavily maintained and need extensive care to operate. The drivers are highly skilled and learn how to adapt to any situation that may occur. Many men have died in this sport, being one of the most dangerous. The car crashes can result in the drivers being severely hurt or dying on impact. With a fast car comes modifications, the cars in NASCAR travel extremely fast due to the extensive changes made. Most of the car is taken out and the bare minimum is left. This makes the car faster. Safety measures very seriously and ensures the driver, for the most part, is protected.

Not all cars can be converted to be fast. There was a small selection of cars back in the 1920’s and choosing one to modify was an easy task. Most cars back in the day that was used were the basic coupe. A coupe is a car term that describes a two-door car. These types of cars were the best suited for the smuggling job. The cars were smaller than most types and easier to make fast.

The engine is one of the most important parts of a car. It makes it actually drive. There are a vast amount of modifications that can be done to an engine to achieve its full amount of horsepower. A horsepower is a unit of measurement that is based on five hundred and fifty pounds a second. The cars back in the day are nothing like the cars of today but like all cars, they have an engine. ““Soon they had to go to other engines, they would swap in the Cadillac engines to get all the horsepower they could, or even swap in old ambulance engines for long and fast hauls” (Parsons). The cars were modified back in the day by ripping the old engine out and putting a more powerful one in or changing the parts used. Most of the time, the bigger the engine the faster a car will go. With that being said, cars were stripped down for weight reduction and equipped with larger engines.

People wanted to “max out” their engines. This meant to get the full potential out of the block. The best and easiest way to do so was to upgrade the intake manifold, the part of the engine that controls the gas consumption. This would make the car run more efficient but the miles per gallon would drop drastically. The earliest forms of superchargers and turbochargers were found in these cars. A supercharger is basically a high-end air compressor that throws more air into the engine making it run faster after ever combustion. These are fairly simple to build, putting the modification on is another story. A turbocharger is a small “turbine” that speeds up the combustion rate in the engine. In most cases, the engine blocks would be over bored out to increase the displacement making them faster. Many moonshiners claimed that their booze running car produced five hundred horsepower with these high-end modifications.

Speed sometimes is not always the key. Since the cars were used to transport large amounts of alcohol, the weight would affect the cars drastically. “In order to handle heavier loads at higher speeds, moonshiners would also get creative with the suspension, adding more leaf springs to stiffen it up and help with load weight distribution” (McElroy). Since they did not have the modern day coil springs, the cars were shimmed with extra leaf springs. These springs made the car easier to handle and made it so more product could be transported.

One thing that many do not think about is the brakes of a car. The brakes are the second most important part. The brakes slow and stop the car, without them it is life-threatening. The brakes were heavily worked on, on these cars. It is extremely important to stop than to not be able to. The modifications would involve “beefing” up the shoe brakes and e-brake. The cars at this time used a different style brake than the ones of today. The shoe brake requires pumping of the brake pedal while almost all cars use disc brakes. Along with brakes, the tires would play an important role as well. There are specific types of tires for specific types of work. On many of these cars, the tires were wider than most. This gave better traction to the car. Adding bigger tires makes the car less stable at higher speeds. The use of sway bars would come into play. Sway bars are parts of a vehicle that reduces the movement of the car from rocking side to side. With this being implemented cars could then go faster and travel safer.

Cool modifications were added as well. Many people started to be creative and make the cars have secret compartments, extra lights, changing license plates, and many more options. This would start a trend that exists up to today. A widely used modification was the installation of hidden tanks under or in the cars themselves. “Having to distribute their illicit products under the radar quickly, moonshiners were forced to develop and modify their cars in order to avoid getting caught by lawmen” (McElroy).The hidden tanks would be filled with alcohol and were transported “under the radar.” The “coolness” of these modifications would later be seen on the big screen, in many different spy movies and TV shows. Some of the most common were the James Bond films and Dukes of Hazard.

The risk was worth the reward. The cars were not nearly as safe as the ones used today. The seat belt was not invented yet and the only safety feature in a few of the cars was a custom roll bar. The roll bar prevents the occupiers of the car from being crushed if the car were to roll. Knowing how to drive became a huge factor.

Learning how to drive was extremely important. Having fast cars and carrying illegal drinks was not a good combination. “Those kids knew every damn curve in the county and how much speed they could take it at in certain weather conditions” (McElroy). Being able to control the car while performing invasive maneuvers is no easy task. It is very difficult and hard to master. The drivers of these cars would eventually use their skills on the race track. Thus creating a sport that the average driver can not partake in.

The sport of NASCAR requires a lot of training. Most drivers in today’s sport started training at an early age. Special courses and classes are set up to teach drivers how to drive safely and compete.

NASCAR as a whole is a sport based on the actions of everyday people in the 1920’s. Throughout time, many things were created by accident or because of the effects of an event. At the time, people thought nothing of the racing, but eventually, the races would turn into a sport loved by many. The argument stands however that the sport may have been around before the Prohibition.

In the end, a lot of good and bad things came out of the prohibition, the most obvious good thing was the removal of the actual amendment. Getting rid of alcohol made people more creative, and people had fun. An American sport was born, and with that came one of the most expensive hobbies, modifying cars.

Work Cited

“Prohibition in Canada.” Smuggling, Bootlegging and Speakeasies, prohibitionincanada.blogspot.com/p/smuggling-bootegging-and-something.html.

Sandbrook, Dominic. “How Prohibition backfired and gave America an era of gangsters and speakeasies.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 25 Aug. 2012, http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/aug/26/lawless-prohibition-gangsters-speakeasies.

McElroy, Ryan. “The story of how moonshiners created the performance car.” Car Keys, Car Keys, 31 Oct. 2017, http://www.carkeys.co.uk/news/the-story-of-how-moonshiners-created-the-performance-car.

“History of the Roaring Twenties.” Prohibition and the Speakeasies, theroaringtwentieshistory.blogspot.com/2010/06/prohibition-and-speakeasies.html.

Gambino, Megan. “During Prohibition, Your Doctor Could Write You a Prescription for Booze.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 7 Oct. 2013, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/during-prohibition-your-doctor-could-write-you-prescription-booze-180947940/.

“Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Dec. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution.

Paredes, Américo. A Texas-Mexican Cancionero: Folksongs of the Lower Border (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1976).

Paredes, Américo. “Conventions which the Border corrido had borrowed from Greater Mexico,” With his Pistol in His Hand: A Border Ballad and its Hero (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1958): 224-40.

McDowell, John H. “The Corrido of Greater Mexico as Discourse, Music, and Event,” “And Other Neighborly Names”: Social Progress and Cultural Image in Texas Folklore, ed. Richard Bauman and Roger D. Abrahams (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981): 46-75.

McDowell, John H. “The Mexican Corrido: Formula and Theme in a Ballad Tradition,” Journal of American Folklore 85.337 (1972): 205-220.

“Black market.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Dec. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_market.

Thompson, Neal. Driving with the devil: southern moonshine, Detroit wheels, and the birth of Nascar. Three Rivers Press, 2007.

Okrent, Daniel. Last call: the rise and fall of Prohibition. Scribner, 2011.

Research – collegegirl

Help the Sister’s Too!

Over the past few years, there have been increasing rates in the number of police brutality incidents against men and young boys of color. In February 2012, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed while walking home from a convenient store. George Zimmerman, Martin’s murderer, was found not guilty after a long trial. This was the beginning of the unjustifiable acts performed by law enforcement against young males of color. Nothing in the justice system remained peaceful after they set a guilty man free. Since then, there have been numerous police brutality cases where an innocent black male was killed and the police men were found not guilty. Unjustified shootings, beating and harsh treatment by law enforcement has caused black communities to feel furious, afraid and concerned. These acts of violence have led black males to believe that they are more likely to be victims of police brutality over other races. The effects of police brutality have brought black communities together for movements such as Black Lives Matter. Influencer Barack Obama decided to initiate a movement as well named MBK which is short for My Brother’s Keeper. Although this movement is to help black communities with the problems they face, it is exclusively for young males, and men of color. It seems counterintuitive for our recent President, Barack Obama, to express gratitude towards one half of the young community but not the other. Our female influencer’s such as Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Gabrielle Union should send a helping hand out to the young black females in smaller communities who are having difficulties with their everyday lives.

Four years ago, the popular Black Lives Movement organization was founded. The organizations mission was and still is to build local power and to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state. The organizations ultimate goal is to have a world where black lives are no longer a target for police officers. Like every movement, the BLM wants to be heard. On the other side of the Black Lives Movement, there is a movement called All Lives Matter. The white activists in the All Lives Matter Movement believe that blacks shouldn’t highlight that only black lives matter. They point out that in fact, all lives matter. The problem is that the black community has been targeted from the beginning of time going back to slavery and now, being targeted by law enforcements that are supposed to help the community, but instead are tearing it down by killing innocent black males. The list goes on of how many other movements there are just like these, but the real question is, what movement is actually successful and making a change in not only how the justice system rules their cases but starting from the root. Obama does just that in his My Brother’s Keeper movement in helping young black males, and now someone needs to take on the role in helping the young black females who are also struggling.

Shortly after the death of innocent Trayvon Martin, Barack Obama began a movement called My Brother’s Keeper. The MBK movement is exclusively for young black males of color leaving out the other half, females. On February 27, 2014, President Obama quotes that My Brother’s Keeper is “all about helping our young people stay on track. Providing the support they need to think more broadly about their future. Building on what works – when it works, in those critical life-changing moments.” Also given in his speech that day, Obama states that the group that is facing the most crucial challenges in the 21^st century are boys and young men of color. Because the aftermath of the Trayvon Martin sparked so many emotions and controversy among communities, it caused Obama to feel the need to speak about how important it is for young black men to know that their country cares about them. But, in order for the movement to be successful, parents, teachers, and leaders need to be a part of helping these young men.

Prior to the death of Trayvon Martin, if there were consistent programs in every black community that provided support and guidance for young black males, Martin could still be with us today. Not only could Obama have come up with the initiative to help young males of color before the death of Martin, but other community leaders could have done the same as well. Author Sean Grover, wrote about the struggles that boys face who grown up without a male figure during their childhood. In Grover’s article he states that, “Once again, the quality of the relationships in a child’s life determines his or her mental well-being.” Young males who grow up without a male figure in their lives can suffer from anger issues and forms of depression. This statistics explains why there is so much gang violence is communities. Young black males need male figures in their lives from the moment they are born. Each community should have programs and organizations that have positive male role models that provide young males with the guidance they need for a better life.

Barack Obama and his team have come up with six milestones that the My Brother’s Keeper is focused on. It is important for children to have a healthy start when coming to school. They should be ready and eager to learn physically, socially, and emotionally. All children enrolled in school should be able to read to understand by the age of eight of by third grade. Of course, children should receive a quality education which leads to them graduating from high school and ready for a fresh start at college. The next step of course after applying and getting accepted into college is physically completing postsecondary education to enter into the career they worked hard to get into. Everyone that has a job should be able to provide the support they need for themselves and their families. Lastly, Obama’s program wants to focus on keeping the youth safe and away from violent crimes. Communities must come together as a whole and work together to keep these milestones their ultimate goals. If leaders Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Gabrielle Union enforce these milestones on young black females, the young black community can only be filed with greatness after these children have committed to and followed these six milestones. Working with young black females too, will allow the entire young black communities strive as a unit, and not just one half striving over the others. If we bring the entire community to perform one successful mission, it will ultimately improve our future.

Women such as Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama and Gabrielle Union would be the perfect candidates to take on the roles of aspiring young black females in small communities. Oprah Winfrey who has helped young black females in South Africa by creating a school called the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. This academy strived to raise future leaders by helping girls with their confidence and leadership skills. Michelle Obama, our previous first lady, did an interview in 2016 with CNN stating that “For me, education has never been simply a policy issue — it’s personal.” Michelle Obama believes that every young girl should have the opportunity to get an education they need to fulfill their potential and support their families. Actress Gabrielle Union spoke about the issue of sex trafficking amongst young black females during an interview with Essence. The actress claimed how important it is to have compassion for the pain that young girls of color experience. These women need to come together as one, to provide the necessary guidance and support those young girls of color need in order to have a better future. Between Oprah Winfrey’s love for teaching young girls confidence, Michelle Obama’s love for girls education, and Gabrielle Union’s love for compassion these women can all come together to conquer the goal of creating a better future for young black females.

Marc Mauer, the author of Young Black Men and the Criminal Justice System: A Growing National Problem indicated in his journal post that “almost 23% of black males between the ages of 20-29 end up in prison, jail, on probation or parole on any given day.” What black communities have struggled with in the recent years has been the effect of injustice actions caused by law enforcement officials. Biased and unfair treatments from law enforcers are usually towards black males rather than black females. When watching the news and when searching around on the different social media sites, we find that police brutality victims are males and not females. Some may believe that in order to help prevent future police brutality event from happening, we have to start with our young men who suffer in lower class communities.

There are obvious facts that show how police brutality affects more men than women. The MBK movement that Obama has exclusively for males has again caused women to be infuriated because they, too, need guidance and reassurance from leaders. In fact, studies have shown that African American males make more money than an average African American female. It is understandable that young black males need influencers and leaders because of what is going on around the world today such as police brutality. Young black males have been the highest target for police brutality. But, at the same time, our young black females need as much attention as they can get too!

In order for communities to be successful in completing common goals, everyone in the community must participate. A community can general be defined as a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common. Found in a recent article, the author stated that in order for a community to be successful, it needs to fulfill five roles. Every community needs a host. The host is in charge of entertaining the guest. In this case, the host of the MBK movement in each individual community is in charge of making sure that all of the young men are being properly entertained and engaged on what the goal of the movement is. The facilitator, who is in charge of making sure that everyone in the group, is conversing. In every group, you’ll find the popular one. Kevin Durant recently announced his partnership with the MBK movement to help decrease the absenteeism in schools. With the joining of Kevin Durant, the movement will increase in numbers since Durant is such an inspiring individual to young men. Opposite of popular, there’s the instigator. The MBK movement needs to have someone who isn’t afraid to tell the truth to the young men even though it may hurt. Lastly, every community needs to have a voyeur, the one who lends a hand to everyone. Having a variety of leaders play these roles can be extremely helpful in bringing the community together in helping young males and females.

In spite of the fact that white politicians are part of the My Brother’s Keeper movement, there are positive statistics that have come out of the movement in the past few years. Author Jason Parham wrote some accomplishments that the MBK movement has had in hundreds of neighborhoods across the country. In his article, Parham stated that “In raising more than $600 million private sector and philanthropic grants and $1 billion in low-interest financing, MBK helped cut Compton’s homicide rate by 64 percent in 2015, sparked employment for 10,000 young men in Philadelphia as part of the 2015 Summer Jobs Challenge, and empowered 12,000 incarcerated men to pursue postsecondary education and workforce training with the help of Pell Grants” (Parham pg. 4). These are just some statistics that reached the milestone goals that Obama had intact for the program. Author Yohannes Abraham also explained another success story which discussed a financial service partnering with an 8^th grade mentoring program which teach the young men of color how to fill out applications and go through mock interviews. The My Brother’s Keeper movement is sparking interest in communities all around the world. Community leaders and companies are taking the initiative in helping the younger aged males become better individuals in helping them with things that will help them postsecondary education and careers.

Since the Obama’s initiative to help young black men of color, there have also been positive comments that people have made regarding the movement and its importance. Patrick from New Jersey works in the Newark Public School district and most of his students come from poverty, are in gangs, and are involved in crimes that happen throughout the city. He believes that Obama’s initiative is a good first step in helping the youth in black communities. Another comment made by a woman in New England agreed that poverty is the main cause as to why young males struggle in the educational settings. Poverty can affect not only the parent’s well-being, but the child’s too! When children a born into poverty, all they know is struggle. Studies have also shown that communities who suffer with poverty are the main communities who have gangs and violence.

Despite the fact that the My Brother’s Keeper is a positive movement, it is exclusively for males. Black women have questioned Obama’s initiative. As soon as the MBK movement was released to the public, over 1,000 women from all different backgrounds all around the world wrote letters to Obama addressing the exclusiveness of the movement. Paul Butler, wrote an article for CNN, Why did President Obama leave out the girls? The women’s letters were sent out to urge him to include the sisters just as much as he did the brothers. One writer, by the name of Legertha Butler, wrote that “she didn’t march with Martin Luther King Jr. to get the “white only” signs taken down, only to have the nation’s first black President put up a sign that says “men only” (Butler pg. 2). In the last few years, the teenage pregnancy rate has sky rocketed. I look around the people I have graduated high school with back in 2015 and I can name at least 10-15 females who are either pregnant now, or already have their first child. I only graduated with 63 people. Programs for young black females are just as important as they are for young black males. Like boys, girls are too born into poverty and go through the same struggles males do when growing up in single-parent households. Like Obama’s MBK movement, women need to take on the role with affiliation of young females too! Providing support and guidance for young females and males of color can only improve small communities. Girl’s fates are just as important as boys are. In an article called “Dreams from My Mother” the author, Natalie Hopinson, states how boy’s fates are completely linked to the fate of his mother, and also to the fate of his female’s peers. Young girls of color will then be the next generation of black mother’s to young black boys. It is important that they are raised to take on responsibilities and to get an education so they can support their families just as much as males do. What’s ironic is the fact that Obama was raised by his single mother. We would think that seeing his mother’s daily struggles would lead him and inspire him to create a movement for young girls to provide guidance and support.

The ultimate goal of Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper movement is to provide support and guidance to men and young boys of color. But, can we really say that Obama is helping the black communities, when in reality, he is only helping out half of the young community. Young black females also need attention to when it comes to them having a better future. With the coming together of Oprah, Michelle Obama, and Gabrielle Union, the young black community can strive as a whole. Although, females have not been a main target to police brutality, they too deal with every day struggles. Communities need to focus on providing support and guidance to both young black males and females because they are our future. They are our future doctors, our future educators, and our future leaders and we want them to be able to take on the important responsibilities of adulthood.

Works Cited

“My Brother’s Keeper.” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/node/279811.

“The 5 Types of Roles You Need in Your Community.” Salesforce Blog, http://www.salesforce.com/blog/2013/12/the-5-types-of-roles-you-need-in-your-community.html.

JustinTinsley. “Mr. Reliable: Kevin Durant Is My Brother’s Keeper’s Secret Weapon.” The Undefeated, 6 July 2016, theundefeated.com/videos/mr-reliable-kevin-durant-is-my-brothers-keepers-secret-weapon/.

“The New York Times Company.” The New York Times, The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/03/12/the-assumptions-behind-obamas-initiative/the-risk-of-playing-down-racism.

“Building on What Works With My Brother’s Keeper.” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2014/04/17/building-what-works-my-brother-s-keeper.

“The Academy.” The Academy | OWLAG, www.owla.co.za/owlag_academy.

Obama, Michelle. “Michelle Obama: This Issue Is Personal for Me.” CNN, Cable News Network, 13 Oct. 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/11/opinions/cnn-films-we-will-rise-michelle-obama/index.html.

Butler, Paul. “Opinion: Why Did President Obama Leave out the Girls?” CNN, Cable News Network, 18 June 2014, http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/18/opinion/butler-obama-girls/index.html.

Grover, Sean. “Boys Without Fathers: 3 Myths, 3 Miracles.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 4 June 2016, http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/when-kids-call-the-shots/201606/boys-without-fathers-3-myths-3-miracles.

Research – theintern

Business “Definition” of Ethics

The business world is a battleground between good and evil, ethical and unethical, moral and immoral behavior. While some businesses have found it easy to increase profits by using unethical practices, many have lost everything by doing so and getting caught. Business ethics are not the same as the moral principles or habits that we learn from birth that help us determine what is right or wrong. They’re more practical and local; they’re rules of conduct recognized as appropriate to a particular class of human actions or a particular group or culture; they’re what “society thinks is right to do.” As such, they differ from company to company.

For example Enron was once a successful company but down the roads they suffered a horrible loss that later on became one of the biggest scandals of Wall Street history. Inside Enron, what was determined “appropriate” was very different from moral behavior. This natural gas company named Enron who was first founded in Houston, Texas in 1985 by Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay was a fast growing American energy, commodities, and services company. Enron was a great business and everything they did was perfectly fine and when everyone was listening to their moral ethics. Before Enron’s scandal the company was worth a decent amount of 13.3 billion dollars in 1996 but the revenue lies didn’t start until 1998 when Fastow was promoted. Enron was also part of the stock market which was used by the new CFO to his advantage which would change the company forever.

The new CFO of Enron was Andrew Fastow he thought that Enron could be making more profit/revenue so he decided to “cook the books” which meant lie on the books about how much money Enron was making annually. He thought if he lied on the books Enron would increase value which also meant in shares in the stock market. This all came from what is known as business ethics; the stock market is a place where people buy stocks/shares of businesses in which case they are considered part ownership of any shares they bought from a particular company, they own only a small percentage of the business as well as gain a bit of income on the side. So what Andrew Fastow do was drive Enron high in revenue to let more income come his way with the help of Arthur Andersen one of the big 5 accounting firms.

Arthur Andersen was also another case that fell into the arms of unethical decisions who helped Enron commit fraud. Both of these companies worked to together so Enron would not be noticed by the S.E.C (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) and be in a lawsuit for falsely writing high profits on their books. At the same time Arthur Andersen was not following their morals which they knew this was a wrong decision and that they should have declined the offer but because of greed and money, every decision was made without thinking. In reality Enron was in debt and losing money even though they were worth like a few billion. The only way that Enron was ever getting away with this scandal was paying auditors from Arthur Anderson to make Enron look better to the public; as a growing and upcoming business to consider working for. Arthur Andersen not only helped Enron with a better image to the business world but financially they wrongfully reported their books falsely to cover Enron of getting caught by the SEC.

Eventually the SEC caught up with Enron and their unrightfully acts of stock shares increasing from $20 to $90 in just 3 years which is a valuation of $70 billion dollars with the unethical help of Andrew Fastow. The SEC had to do an investigation on Enron and found out that they were committing one of the biggest frauds in the United States. Enron could easily have done fine without lying about their profits and asking for help to improve their company. They decided to take the risky route and achieve greater money in the least amount of time by committing fraud, disobeying the rules, and not sticking to their business ethics of following the rules to success without cheating. Cause of cheating Enron shut down in 2001 after being 16 years in service, and the CEO’s whose income were like millions of dollars each year, were fined a killer amount of money that each one of them went broke. Jeffrey Skilling was one of the principal CEO’s who was sentenced to 24 years in prison but recently was reduced to only 14 years in prison. Sources say he will be released in 2017.

Not only did the SEC investigate Enron they also investigated Arthur Andersen because the auditor’s job is to find any fraud or errors in books. Once the SEC found dirt on Enron, Enron called the auditors, “The fired partner, David B. Duncan, called a meeting of auditors at the firm’s Houston office and ordered ”an expedited effort to destroy documents” on Oct. 23, the day after Enron disclosed that the S.E.C. had begun its inquiry, the firm said. The destruction apparently did not end until Mr. Duncan’s assistant sent an e-mail message to other secretaries on Nov. 9 that said ”stop the shredding,” the firm said. Andersen had received a subpoena from the S.E.C. the day before.” Now why couldn’t Andersen just give in to the SEC and surrender that they helped Enron instead of trying to shred all the evidence. Andersen could have been given a less painful punishment but since they messed up they paid the consequences. Andersen was one of the big 5 auditing firms in the world next to Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst and Young, and KPMG. Now 2017 Andersen is no longer in existence because after this great big scandal no other companies wanted to associate with a firm who were disloyal.

“Every business lies about its ethics” there are many explainations why companies do so. Enron was founded in 1985 but then in 2001 they were finally caught by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for knowingly manipulating accounting rules and masking the enormous losses and liabilities of the company. When a company does not establish rules of ethics that company like Enron will no more be in business. If Enron were to play by the rules their company would have still been in business and so would have Arthur Andersen. Enron lied about being ethical we could tell by the profits that Enron was making within a small span of time. Once the company Enron knew that they had made committed too much fraud they tried to cover it up with bringing Arthur Andersen, one of the big five accounting firms in the world. Enron convinced Arthur Andersen to money launder their money but since their profit margins were too high the SEC became very suspicious of this amount of money Enron was profiting. In the business world no one is forced into committing these crimes; Arthur Andersen had the choice to decline the offer from Enron to help them with money laundering but because they had no ethics they joined alliances with Enron. Once Enron fell apart they brought Arthur Andersen down too. Enron went bankrupt because of all the dues and imprisonment of the CEOs and Arthur Andersen was destroyed with the bad reputation that no company wanted them to do check their books.

Why the readers might ask is Enron so important, well it is important to know that businesses lie about ethics especially a well-known company that was located on Wall Street and was one of a few companies that Forbes magazine could brag to the United States. Sure there are other companies that have committed a unrightfully act of ethics for instance we have Wells Fargo & company which is an American International banking and financial services holding company located around the whole United States. Recently about one year ago Wells Fargo had a big scandal for phony accounts. As a well trusted bank that many people thought had ethical employees was not true. CNN covered the story saying that 5,300 Wells Fargo employees fired over 2 million phony accounts. These employees secretly opened unauthorized accounts under many of their customers to meet their sales target and receive bonuses. Wells Fargo CEO Timothy Sloan knew that these phony accounts were being made but because of his business ethics he did not stop his employees. I understand that Wells Fargo needs to make profits and meet their margins but having an unethical way of making money it’s just heartbreaking that people don’t care about others and just themselves. Tim Sloan is the one to blame for all this commotion; he even got rich off of these 3.5 million phony accounts that would charge fees to clients for having another open but unknown account. Elizabeth Warren suggested he’d be fired but instead congress let him remain where he is but gave him a big fine of $185 million dollars along with $5 million refund to customers.

Corporations find ethics to be a drain on profits; but every corporation claims to promote strong business ethics. Many businesses have rules of Corporate Social Responsibility that states we must be committed employers, be an outstanding partner to customers, be an environmentally friendly player and service civil society. These are the four pillars every business must stand by but for the most part corporations have the rules to promote but will never follow through because profits don’t come as fluidity like being unethical. Businesses promote that they are truly ethical but how can we believe and trust big time companies when their fraud crime scandals were announced to the business world. Forbes releases a list of most ethical businesses every year which does help a customer if we want the best service without any surprise fees. Most companies that are usually more trustworthy are those that are small businesses because what they want is to make their customers satisfied with the little they have to offer. If we were to trust a company I’d say it would have to be a small one because all the big companies get away with almost anything just like Enron did for 12 years. My point proven, the bigger the companies are, the more unethical they become. Big companies have so many clients that if they lose one they still have others to attend and more so other companies will keep coming to make business relations with other big and superior companies.

If we take a look inside small businesses we tend to see exactly what they provide and have to offer unlike other big businesses that have many hidden fees and tactics. According to a journal by Heledd Jenkins she illustrated and discovered that given the significant scale of small business in nearly every economy, their aggregate achievements have a major effect worldwide. Researchers are now also recognizing the importance of business ethics and social responsibility as they apply to small firms. Take a look at Hasbro Inc, it’s a small manufacturing toy business that ensures great quality products for younger children and takes ethics very serious because they would rather be worried about the child’s safety than the gross income they are receiving and that’s why Hasbro Inc is one of the companies to be selected in Forbes article “Most Ethical Companies 2017”.

People say that business ethics and moral ethics are the same but they aren’t. Moral ethics are what you learn from your parents. While business ethics is more of a one way streak there we must follow it one way however the rules are of that certain company. There is no other way to follow it because of how your parents taught you differently that does not fall into place within the business world. If an employee does not want to follow the firm’s rules the outcome is usually to be fired. This is when employees start to realize how the world really works.

People don’t realize but their so-called “ethics” change once they get exposure to the business world. Morals ethics are different from business ethics. Moral ethics are the principles or habits taught by our parents/guardians to understand and state what is the right and wrong choice to make or do. While business ethics falls under different standards; it is mostly the rules of conduct that a company gives to their employees which usually affect their morals because sometimes we are unwilling to do the tasks of what the company we work for ask us to do. We ask ourselves why do we follow these unethical rules the reason is why we want to keep our jobs and keep supporting our families. The effects of telling the company we work for that we will not follow these unethical rules will end in either getting fired or told that there will be changes but most likely lose the job.

In the business world we won’t hear too much about business ethics, though another term we do hear is corporate social responsibility which is somewhat like ethics just a more narrowly concern about the company’s obligations. CSR plays an important role in every firm or company in the United States. CSR and business ethics go hand in hand if either of them are tampered with or in other terms, people change the rules and make it their own so their business would prosper. Word gets out when businesses do not perform well and lack in any of the four axes such as being a committed employer, build relationships with our customers, serve civil society, being an environmentally friendly player. I believe that the CSR is like an insurance for business ethics, CSR is there to provide people with guidance on how to act within the firm with everybody. However if CSR starts to lack no customer will seek guidance from that firm/company again because of how their service lacked. This affects the business tremendously for example if customers stop recommending others to come to our firm we can not make profit and worse run of our business. That is why having the right kind of ethics is important and should always be looked upon and checked every now and then.

According to a study made my Peter Arlow a journalist who found out which group of people would be more likely to cheat and be negative orientated towards social responsibility. He made tests with the following information: first off he included the major whether they were business majors or non business majors, second he included the sex male or female, third their age either under the age of 24 or equal/over the age of 24. Arlow decided to conduct this test with surveys and then using t tests and correlations to figure out which group was more reliant to follow the rules. Overall the nonbusiness majors scored higher on all five ethical dimensions. Each ethical dimension were based on (Aldag and Jackson, 1977): (1) Traditional Orientation – sees efficient production as the key social responsibility and profit maximization as the corporate goal. (2) Negative Orientation Toward Alleged Social Responsibility – sees social responsibility as a gimmick and a cover for mismanagement. (3) Demander Orientation – calls for diversion of shareholder resources to society in general. (4) Constrainer Orientation – favors tightened control of government over business. (5) Negative Orientation Toward Adequacy of Corporate Social Efforts – sees current corporate social effort in a negative light and sees negative consequences of a lack of social effort. This data was determined under all five of these dimensions of social responsibility and then followed through to which was one would be the most adequate to choose from depending on the score. These were the measurements to access business ethics based on the work of Miesing and Preble (1985): (1) Machiavellianism – moral actions are justified to serve some purpose, (2) Objectivism – the focus is on rational self-interest and avoiding ethical judgements based on feelings, (3) Social Darwinism – accepts percepts of “survival of the fittest, and the strong are morally superior, (4) Ethical relativism – ethical judgements are based on social convention and that which is sanctioned by group norms at a given time and place, (5) Universalism – rules of behavior are absolutes, and apply equally to all places and times. Within the process there were two measurements to be measured it was the business ethics and social responsibility.

As for the results Arlow figured out that business students may not be as self-centered, selfish and opportunistic as the stereotypical view of individuals. Within the business ethics of Meising and Preble the two were Machiavellianism and Darwinism. Which meant that these business students are willing to do business but with a purpose however they would do anything to get to the top, survival of the fittest. When the business and nonbusiness students were compared using the social responsibility measure of Aldag and Jackson there was a significant difference found on the dimensions of Negative Orientation Toward Social Responsibility and the Demander Orientation. These results suggest that non business students are more negative toward current efforts at social responsibility, seeing it as a cover for mismanagement, and the lack of upholding and keeping any company they work well-connected.

Sex wise the data showed that females were less likely to do commit fraud or do anything that would be considered as unethical. The results say that females would want to keep the company from falling and keep it balanced but the males seemed like they didn’t care if the company would collapse as long as they would make profit and have something to live from. That’s why females are considered more passionate and considerate other than males.

While the age group of higher than the age 24 were considered to show a greater negative orientation because of their lives being more ahead of the other people. Older people are considered the most target audience to commit any type of business crime because of them considered to have a family to take care of without a great income it would totally be impossible to maintain a family.

The people who were surveyed mostly students are determined to be influenced by peers from the exposure of the larger sociocultural norms than by education in specific disciplines.

Works Cited

That’s exactly what happened to Wells Fargo customers nationwide. “5,300 Wells Fargo Employees Fired over 2 Million Phony Accounts.” CNNMoney, Cable News Network.

“The Rise and Fall of Enron.” Journal of Accountancy, 1 Apr. 2002,

Investopedia. “5 Most Publicized Ethics Violations By CEOs.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 5 Feb. 2013.

Arlow, Peter. “Personal Characteristics in College Students’ Evaluations of Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility.” Journal of Business Ethics 10.1 (1991): 63. ProQuest.

Ackman, Dan. “Enron The Incredible.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 06 June 2013.

“How Corporate Social Responsibility Pays Off.” Long Range Planning, Pergamon, 26 Feb. 1999.

“Ethics vs Morals.” Ethics vs Morals – Difference and Comparison

Jenkins, Heledd. “Small Business Champions for Corporate Social Responsibility.“SpringerLink. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 02 Sept. 2006. Web. 03

PBS. Public Broadcasting Service,Web. 02.

Tribune, Chicago. “Ties to Enron Blinded Andersen.” Chicagotribune.com, 12 July 2008.

research–todayistheday

Family Fun and the Feeding Frenzy

It’s a very unnatural occurrence when the predator becomes the prey. The hunter becoming the hunted, the victim stalking the killer. It crams individuals into a category they don’t fit into, they are forced to adjust or else they die.

Orcas, also known as killer whales, are one of the most powerful predators in our ocean. NECSI describes predator/prey relationships, “Predator and prey evolve together. The prey is part of the predators environment, and the predator dies if it does not get food, so it evolves whatever is necessary in order to eat the prey.” Orcas have evolved to be sophisticated strategists and dedicated hunters. Orcas stick together in pods, consisting of up to 40 killer whales. They communicate with each other when prey is spotted, detecting the prey with echolocation, determining the size and location. Depending on the prey, they deploy intelligent designs of tactic based on species, their strategy is effective and deadly. With razor sharp teeth and dozens of killer whales, the odds are in the orcas favor.

Predators, such as orcas, in an ecological sense are defined as being larger than their prey and killing their prey. Predators and prey are a part of the same environment and evolve together. The predator evolves to kill the prey; meanwhile the prey evolves to avoid being killed by the predator. Both are key to each other for survival. The categorizing of predator and prey relationships is defined by consumption, who is eating who.

Predators rise to the top of the food chain because of certain skills or characteristics they maintain. Most predators are stealthy, they approach an attack with careful precision. Predators have dominating physical features, their size is typically larger than their prey along with their sense of sight, smell, and taste that must be greater than their prey. Bradford in her Live Science article establishes,”They weigh up to 6 tons (5,443 kilograms) and grow to 23 to 32 feet (7 to 9.7 meters). That is almost as long as a school bus.”

But outside of the animal kingdom, predators are still lurking in the shadows waiting for the right moment to pounce on unsuspecting prey. In society we categorize pedophiles as child predators. They are larger individuals waiting to feed off a child’s innocence, killing their purity. We can see government as a dangerous predator with all the power. The citizens are the pawns, individuals are so easy to sweep away and stomp out. Predators are killers, feeding off the prey.

When a pedophile is arrested and locked away in prison they are no longer a predator. They are confined behind concrete walls and shackled; they are cast away from their community. They were caught and imprisoned; the predator then becomes the prey. The predator than becomes the prison guards or the criminal justice system or their fellow inmates. The pedophile’s fate is determined by the criminal justice system that sends him to prison. The pedophile’s fellow inmates could have a distaste for perverts and beat him until he dies; he came the prey.

So, when orcas are captured and locked within concrete enclosures they are no longer the predator. They’re ripped away from their food chain and placed in an entirely different environment. Once at the top of the food chain, they plummeted to the bottom. Their fate lies in the hands of SeaWorld. They rely on their kidnappers for their survival.

But SeaWorld doesn’t become the predator. SeaWorld is something different entirely. SeaWorld wouldn’t benefit from killing their prey. SeaWorld needs to feed off their prey and reap the benefits for as long as possible. SeaWorld is a parasite.

Parasites leech onto their host, either clinging to the body or digging their way inside. They feed off their host, stealing from them. NECSI explains to us the parasite and host balance, “A parasite and its host evolve together. The parasite adapts to its environment by living in and using the host in ways that harm it.” Parasites harm their hosts, or prey, but rarely kill them. And if they do kill them it wasn’t intentional. They can cause sickness in their hosts that can ultimately lead to their death. Tapeworms, for example, live within the intestines of their host. They feed off the partially digested food, robbing the host of that nutrients. Ticks dig their heads into their host and stuff themselves full of blood.

The Toxoplasma gondii, also known as the mind control bug, infects, most commonly, rodents. It infiltrates the brain, erasing the fear of cats from the rodent’s brain. This then causes the rodent to be captured and killed by the cat. Toxoplasma godnii can also infect humans. In severe cases, brain and organ damage occur.

SeaWorld leeches onto the orcas and refuses to let go. True to parasite nature they cling onto their hosts until they, themselves, are exterminated or until their host dies. SeaWorld, the ultimate parasite, opts for the latter. They ignore any suggestions of seaside sanctuaries where the orcas can live free. Because without their host, they wouldn’t survive.

Like Toxoplasma, SeaWorld, slithers into the host’s brain and takes control. It overrides the hosts natural instincts, instead, they insist on unnatural performances.

Parasites can cause several alarming symptoms in their host. They can cause abdominal pain, fatigue, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, dysentery and weight loss. Parasite’s are detrimental in the health of their host.

Orcas suffer from poor dental health from chewing on cement walls and metal gates. Closed quarters lead to fighting among the orcas , which can cause raking (teeth on skin) marks. They offer suffer from poor eyesight, due to increased light sensitivity. Collapsed Dorsal fins due to restricted diving capabilities. And to their demise orcas easily develop pneumonia in their lungs due to their chemically treated water and insufficient diet. Orcas suffer greatly as the parasite continues to gnaw on their cash “cow”.

SeaWorld digs into the orcas, draining them of any nutrients they can. The only nutrients SeaWorld needs are the crisp dollar bills lining their pockets. They push the orcas to perform tricks for audience members. They even force conception so that more baby orcas can be apart of the SeaWorld cult. SeaWorld’s best interest is to keep the orcas alive so that they can benefit from them. They showcase the orcas and open their parks so that people can witness the blood sucking frenzy disguised as a family friendly marine park.

There is a player we didn’t factor into the game; the audience. The killer whales once predators now the prey. SeaWorld, a monstrous company, is the parasite feeding off the prey. When factoring in the new addition the roles change slightly. The orcas become bait to us. We see happy faces on SeaWorld commercials as Shamu swims joyful laps. We watch as children hug fluffy Shamu’s to their chests, holding it close to their heart. That is when we bite down onto the brilliantly appealing bait. We are hooked. SeaWorld begins reeling us in, slowly with stealth so they don’t alarm us to their trickery. Their lure is embedded into our mouth, pulling us closer toward their greedy gates, like open arms waiting for an embrace. We, the audience, buy tickets to walk through the gates of the park. Wonder filled eyes gaze at tanks filled with animals more majestic than we could ever dream of. We clap, cheer and laugh as we watch the orcas flip out of the water and wave their fins. Behind closed doors SeaWorld counts their cash and smiles knowing their hook is sliced into our mouths, holding us tight.

SeaWorld continues to be the parasite feeding off any entertainment drained out of their hosts and from the audiences gullibleness. They rely off of the orcas helplessness and the audience’s blindness. Without the orcas, there is no audience, and vice versa. Seaworld chomps down onto any vulnerable flesh, and they suck, until their pockets stuff themselves with crisp dollar bills and coins with a distinctive iron smell.

The 1993 Warner Bros film, Free Willy, sparked a national outrage over the injustice of keeping orcas captive. Free Willy is the reason the fight for captive orcas was acknowldeged. The film continues to be a push to open our eyes to the compassion and magic of orcas. The family friendly film highlighted the special bond between a teenage boy, Jesse, and a young majestic orca named Willy. Audience’s hearts warmed and they rooted for a happy ending for both Jesse and Willy. The movie ends in bitter happiness, Jesse succeeds in freeing Willy to reunite with his family. As much as Jesse loved Willy it was only right for Willy to return home.

When released the film inspired thousands of people to strike against marine parks that keep orcas captive. In his article describing the impact of Free Willy, Dylan Powell states, “Having a massive corporate media outlet behind the film, and providing coverage for much of this ‘effect’, has made all of this advocacy impossible to ignore.” A letter campaign, Free Willy-Keiko Foundation, succeeded in freeing Keiko, the whale that ‘played’ Willy. Keiko was taken out of a marine park in Mexico and first brought to Oregon to be treated for health problems. Once in the clear, Willy was flown to Iceland to be kept in a seaside sanctuary where he could relearn his natural instincts and environment. Keiko was released into the wild, and thrived until he died of pneumonia not long after his release. Regardless of his sudden death, Keiko was 27 years old when he died, still living longer than SeaWorld’s average.

The film made over 100 million dollars, some of which was donated to releasing Keiko. Schellenberg in her article informs us, “As the credits appear in front of a video of whales frolicking in the wild, a note says, ‘You can personally help save the whales of the world by calling 1-800-4-WHALES.’ This number was called by millions who wanted the real-life Willy to be freed, and a plethora of donations were collected.” Keiko, along with other captive orcas, had a similar story line to Willy. In 1961, the first captive orca was brought to a marine park. Orcas were hunted and surrounded, the youngest orca ripped away from its family. The orca’s pod has been known to follow the boats as long as they can. I’m sure that if we could understand their cries, we wouldn’t rip them away from their home and force them to live inside a concrete prison.

Willy was ripped away from his family and placed in a marine park. His cries were heartbreaking and lonely. He refused to perform and was stubborn to eat. Willy would cry long high pitched vocals, the Washington state waters cast in the background. Kasatka and Katara are a mother daughter pair of orcas that were inseparable. Katara wouldn’t leave her mothers side and Kasatka protected and loved Katara unconditionally. Katara was sold to a park in Florida, they loaded her onto a shipping truck. Kasatka was left in the pool, crying high pitched vocals. They were never heard before. A specialist was brought in and revealed that Kasatka was crying long range vocals. She was trying to locate her daughter.

SeaWorld rips family units apart like they are simply plastic pieces in a game of Life. We must come to understand that humans are not the only individuals on Earth that feel emotions. Orcas have strong family ties, they continue to be with their family units their whole lives.

They have a part of the brain, humans are deprived of. It is believed to be the center for their strong love and devotion to their family. The thought of ripping a human child away from her mother and tossing her into a cage is repulsive. Replacing the word human with orca does not make that statement any less horrifying.

Free Willy sparked a movement to free orcas from captivity that lead to the first orca release. SeaWorld and other parks like it, announced they wouldn’t capture orcas from the wild any longer. The Free Willy movement lead to Blackfish which fueled another generation. Blackfish shocked people across the globe and flipped SeaWorld upside down, exposing the corrupt business.

SeaWorld then announced its end to the orca program. SeaWorld would end its breeding program and allow the current orcas to be their last generation. Although, this is a win for future orcas; the current orcas are still imprisoned. Kyara, the last baby orca, was supposed to be SeaWorld’s last pawn. Kyara became another tombstone in SeaWorld’s cemetery. At only three months old Kyara succumbed to an unfair and early death. In the National Geographic article Kyara’s cause of death is established, “Park officals suspect the three-month-old calf died from pneumonia, the same infection that killed the infamous captive whale Tilikum.” SeaWorld’s response, “Kyara’s infection had not been caused as a result of being kept in captivity.” Pull up google, type in pneumonia in killer whales, every single link on the first page leads you to results and articles written for only captive whales with pneumonia. Wild orcas suffer rarely from pneumonia but mostly from humans, who pollute their waters and hunt them.

Kyara shared the same ill fate as Tilikum, SeaWorld’s most famous killer whale. Tilikum, two years old, was swimming next to his mother when he was ripped from his home waters. Tilikum was eventually carted off and dumped at SeaLand in British Columbia. For fourteen hours of the day Tilikum was imprisoned in a tiny sea module, not much bigger than he was. Fourteen hours of mind dulling solidarity and then the rest of the hours were spent being attacked by two dominant female orcas.

A trainer slipped and fell into the orca waters, Tilikum dragged her and refused to let her go, even when the girl’s body was limp and lifeless. That was the first person Tilikum killed. The second was a homeless man who snuck into Tilikum’s tank. The dead man’s body, or what was left of it, was proudly draped across Tilikum’s back when trainers came in the morning. Tilikum’s final victim was a highly respect trainer at SeaWorld. Tilikum scalped her and continued to hold onto the corpse for hours after.

The first years of his life were spent free alongside his family. Then he was plucked from his home and tossed into a tank. Majority of his life spent alone, endlessly lapping his small tank or floating lifelessly. He died of pneumonia after a long suffering life. WDC published an article explaining Tilikum’s life and the effects of it, “The true and only legacy from his sad, tragic existence is that a much wider audience now appreciates and understands that these noble creatures deserve better.”

The memories of Free Willy and facts embraced by Blackfish push people to say no to SeaWorld. Keiko and Tilikum represent every orca in captivity, we should listen closely to their heartbreaking cries. It has thousands, refusing to buy a ticket and support the injustice of imprisoning orcas. The first legendary orca film, Free Willy, lead to a fight for justice. People are now hoping to empty the tanks, to free SeaWorld’s captive orcas into seaside sanctuaries. We have hopes of them living happy lives reunited with their long lost family. We have hopes to Free Willy, once and fore all. Yet with every hero there is a relentless enemy battling us.

We are told, at a young age, to never talk with our mouths full. Jim McBain and Brad Andrews ignore that pleasantry and common formality; their mouths overflow with well-constructed lies. Jim McBain, director of veterinary medicine at SeaWorld and Brad Andrews, vice president of zoological operations at SeaWorld, released a detailed pro-captivity statement during the time Keiko, the star of Free Willy, was in the public’s attention.

McBain and Andrews are well-educated and successful individuals who make a hefty salary each year at SeaWorld. Their experience and knowledge of SeaWorld would be invaluable if it wasn’t flooded with lies and half-truths.

In their PBS announcement, McBain and Andrews defend SeaWorld and its commitment to love and care for their orcas. It is obvious they care, but they care for the money orcas rake in rather than the orcas themselves. If you took the profit away, SeaWorld would be quick to sell their orcas. Money over matter.

McBain and Andrews start their defense by justifying captivity for the sake of education. As we grow and urbanize we should find ways to stay in touch with nature. They claim it is irrational for every person to experience nature by going out into the wild. They claim it is more beneficial to drag animals to us rather than go to them.

They calculated how many people visit SeaWorld yearly and crunched some numbers to see the consequences of those people visiting “Robson Bite” instead. There would be over 2,000 boat trips a day, which to McBain and Andrews would be “ludicrous”. What is truly ludicrous is that they couldn’t bother to spell the location, they’re referring to, correctly. Its correct spelling is Robson Bight which promotes experiencing the majesty of orcas in the wild. They don’t use boats to observe orcas, they use kayaks to avoid endangering orcas with boats. McBain and Andrews don’t provide numbers to refer to, to ensure their creditability. It is highly unlikely all SeaWorld goers would flock to one orca sighting location while dozens exist.

McBain and Andrews claim in the PBS announcement, we’d “destroy what little habitat is left by trying to do that.” They seem to be repressing the fact that SeaWorld destroyed natural habitat to build their marine prison. They choose to crucify getting informed of animals naturally and praise artificially learning about animals.

McBain and Andrews believe people need to be educated and connected with animals. We all agree it is important to appreciate, understand and value the animals we share the planet with. It is crucial to witness the strength, beauty, and intelligence animals in case, for us to understand our human lives are not the only ones that matter. SeaWorld teaches the opposite lesson under the guise of education. SeaWorld doesn’t teach truth.

SeaWorld also claims they appreciate the social and familial bonds orcas have with their family. Yet, they built a company of the deed of ripping young orcas away from their families. They advertise they keep a mother and her baby together because in the wild an orca stays with her mother her whole life. Behind closed doors, babies are ripped away from their mothers and moved to different parks to benefit breeding programs. It’s an endless cycle of pain, but they don’t inform their guests of those facts.

SeaWorld’s website claims that their orcas live life spans equal to those in the wild. Wild orcas thrive in the open waters of the wild for an average of 60 years. Some, on record, prosper for over a 100 years. SeaWorld’s orcas perish at 13. The expiration date is cut down over 40 years. SeaWorld robs orcas of their lives.

McBain and Andrews seem to have good intentions when they strive to have education and connection to animals without destroying habitats. They should take off their rose-tinted glasses and see the damage SeaWorld inflicts. More than habitat is destroyed, lives are devastated.

McBain and Andrews claim that “over 90 percent of the American public feels that what zoos and aquariums are doing the right thing.” I searched to find validation for this statistic. I found only one survey from Debate Organization, that showed only 41 percent of people believe zoos and aquariums are doing the right thing.

Majority of people see through SeaWorld’s façade and recognize it for the sham it is. Now, it is time for SeaWorld to recognize their faults and take accountability for the damage they has done.

SeaWorld is not educational. One cannot force feed lies and label them as education, its blasphemy. “If want a public that’s knowledgeable about wild animals and some sensitivity about them, if we want our children to have a chance to see many of these animals, it’s gonna have to be places like SeaWorld.” SeaWorld doesn’t provide the public with knowledge, they provide entertainment. They also aren’t educating the public on “wild” animals, these orcas were stripped of being wild. Once they were dumped in those tanks they became captive orcas. There is a strong distinction between wild and captive, one is free and the other is a prisoner.

SeaWorld recognizes its company as a place where people can gain sensitivity towards animals. Sensitivity is an ironic word for McBain and Andrews to choose. SeaWorld is the opposite of sensitive, they ripped orcas from their families to make a profit. They ignore the blood on their hands and shove the skeletons deeper into the closet.

Regardless of the corrupted truths SeaWorld chooses to ooze out from the closed doors, the message they convey is that we should be allowed to do what we want, if we make a profit. SeaWorld promotes inflicting pain to make a profit. Children should be taught to recognize and understand imprisoning an animal, depriving them of their natural habitat and sentencing them to a life inside a concrete pool, is wrong. We wouldn’t buy tickets to visit a cotton plantation, watching the slaves work to survive. We should be horrified at the thought of endorsing such inhumane conditions.

Slavery was common when first started off as the United States. The few that fought against slavery became the many, and then as a country we abolished slavery. Today, it is horrifying to look back and read the details of what slaves endured. Confined to small shacks, separated from family, malnourished, and forced to work under inhumane conditions.

The similarities to what we did to people with a darker skin color and to the orcas we keep enslaved at SeaWorld, are repulsive. Confined to shared, overpopulated areas much too small. Ripped away from their children and siblings. Fed diets heavily lacking nutrients. And poked and prodded to produce work unnatural and inhumane.

The end to the African slave trade, left slave masters with little options. They could no longer rip people from Africa and force them into slavery. They began to rely on trading amoung fellow slave masters. They relied heavily on natural reproduction, children being brought into the world by rape. Women were, commonly, raped by their slave masters. Slave masters depended on the offspring produced by such horrifying actions. This must be how SeaWorld felt when their program, to remove wild orcas from their home and place them in their tanks, came to a screeching halt.

SeaWorld scrambled for options. They bought orcas from other parks to fill in their empty spaces, left by prematurely deceased orcas. But most importantly they impregnated their female orcas with hijacked male orca sperm. Baby orcas bring in a good crowd. The pick and choose family structures, forcing young orcas to become mothers. They impregnate their orcas at half the age they conceive in the wild. Artificially impregnated orcas causes miscarriages, still births, and early deaths. SeaWorld is no Mother Nature, but they are the Grim Reaper.

Nat Turner’s rebellion, a slave rebellion that resulted in white peoples deaths, caused national uproar. Nat Turner was crucified and his sins were well documented. But what was commonly ignored was what lead him to kill so many people. His whole life was spent being a slave, whipped until he bled, and worked until he dropped from exhaustion. Tilikum was labeled as a monster for the people he killed. But taking a closer look it is clear he was driven to this psychotic break. His whole life was spent as a slave.

We must see Seaworld as the same disgusting construct as slavery. We must abolish orca captivity like we did slavery.

Works Cited

“The Debate- Pro-Captivity.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service.

“Are Zoos Good (Yes) or Bad (No)?” Debate.org.

Powell, Dylan. “The Free Willy Effect: Perspective and Time in the Anti-Captivity Movement.”Dylan Powell, 12 Mar. 2014.

Schellenberg, Carlyn. “Free Willy: ’93 Film Propels Anti-Captivity Movement.” The Manitoban, 22 Apr. 2016.

“Parasitic Relationships.” NECSI Evolution.

“Predator-Prey Relationships.” NECSI Evolution.

Morell, Virginia. “How Orcas Work Together to Whip Up a Meal.” National Geographic.

Barrie, Nell. “10 Deadly Parasites.” Science Focus, 16 Aug. 2017.

Holm, Gretchen, and Erica Roth. “Toxoplasmosis.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 10 Feb. 2016.

Schelling, Ameena. “SeaWorld Orcas Have ‘Alarming’ Number Of Injuries, Vet Reveals.” The Dodo, The Dodo, 11 Aug. 2015.

Bradford, Alina. “Orcas: Facts About Killer Whales.” LiveScience, Purch, 20 Nov. 2014.

Gibbens, Sarah. “Sea World’s Last Captive-Born Baby Orca Dies.” National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 25 July 2017.

“Tilikum – the Death of a Dark Star.” WDC, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, 6 Jan. 2017, us.whales.org/blog/2017/01/tilikum-death-of-dark-star.

Google search

Research- alaska

Depression: The Bad Sides

Depression is common around the world today. Depression can mean different things for different people. For example, I view depression as having an off balance of chemicals in your brain. If you look up depression on Merriam Webster website, the definition is “a mood disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal tendencies.” That definition gives you a list of signs and symptoms to be aware of. I believe there are different levels of depression, for example, depression only and then depression combined with mental illness. To me depression is when you are depressed for no reason like just being sad. While at other times you are depressed for a long time but you are perfectly fine. When you start to spiral out of control, you may suffer from depression with mental illness. Everyone will suffer from depression at some point in their life. But, when a person is depressed all the time, it can be a sign of mental illness as they are frequently intertwined. Depression can make you think that you aren’t good enough or that you did something wrong. Society today makes it seem that mental illness isn’t a real problem. Its view is that people who have mental illness or depression need to get over it and get on with their lives. Sadly, depression sometimes leads people to thoughts of taking their own lives. Many kids, teenagers, young adults and elderly people are committing suicide every day because they feel lonely and depressed and are afraid to ask for help from anyone. There needs to be more awareness and acceptance of depression and depression combined with mental illness.

Personally, I have known some people who have taken their lives from dealing with depression or depression combined with mental illness. At one point they were completely fine and then suddenly they aren’t here anymore. It is a terrible thing to think how they got so sad and depressed that they thought that choosing to take their own life was easier than seeking help. Sadly, they think that’s their only option at that moment in their life. They didn’t realize the devastation, hurt and sadness that will be left behind for family and friends; those people who loved them. It hurts because when you know that person you feel terrible because you didn’t realize they were going through such a hard time. The guilt that family and friends have is hard to deal with as you feel as though you let that person down. My favorite quote is “Sometimes the happiest people are the people who are hurting the most.” The most depressed people could be the ones that always make you laugh or smile and they always try to make you feel happy when they aren’t.

As a society we need to be more accepting and to not shame people who struggle with feelings of depression. Also as a society we need to be more accepting and to not shame people who struggle with mental illness. Society is so hard and judgmental against how people feel. From personal experience I have had my friends say that I could talk to them but I don’t because I don’t want to bother them or get judged for not knowing what is wrong. Our mental health is just as important as our physical health. Doctors and therapists need to know the symptoms of depression and depression with mental illness to be able to help everyone. They need to experiment with different kinds of medicines and alternative medicines. I think maybe there should be study groups of depressed people. Place those people in situations that make them depressed, study what triggers it and find solutions for those triggers. Then the people in those groups can learn how to cope by putting plans of action in place to get them through the hard times.

The bottom line is that depression and depression with mental illness need to be recognized as true illnesses. This will be difficult but my hope is that once we recognize this, the medical profession can begin to find answers and people can begin to get the help they need. Also, it would be great to find ways to prevent depression from happening just as they are trying ways to prevent cancer from happening. Maybe in the future depression will be nonexistent.

At some point in our life everyone is going to deal with depression after all its human nature. There are many different causes for it, such as traumatic events, physical and mental abuse, bullying, etc. The list goes on and on. In a perfect world, we would all be much nicer to each other. But since this isn’t a perfect world, we all need to learn to treat each other better. After all, the golden rule is treat people the way the way you would want to be treated.

There are many ways to prevent depression. For example, if a person has depression in their family they need to be aware of the signs and symptoms and take measures on how to deal with or treat themselves if they feel they might have depression. Also, if young adult or a child shows signs to a teacher or a person in authority, that person needs to help them. It’s okay to ask someone if they are okay or ask them or if something at home is going on. Young kids might not know that what they are feeling is signs of depression. They might not know what depression is or how to deal with these feelings. So, having someone who recognizes signs of it and mentioning depression, it can open up the lines of communication and they can get the help they need. All it takes is for one person to speak up. So, for a person they look up to helps them they will sure get through it.

In “Causes of Depression: What Causes Depression?” Natasha Tracy says that more than ten percent of the population will at some point have experienced depression in their life. There are many different factors for the causes of depression. Depression can be caused by different things for different people. Depression can lead to suicide if it is bad enough for that person.

For example, I know someone that took their life because they felt that they couldn’t fix what was broken in their life and they didn’t know what to do anymore. Other examples of depression could be losing someone you love or losing a job or having financial troubles. Also, alcohol and social media can be influenced to cause depression. Natasha Tracy says that there are many causes of depression that could be physical or genetic or psychological. If a couple people you are related to were diagnosed with depression you are more likely to be diagnosed with it too but you can also not be diagnosed with it.

When I was six years old I snapped my elbow in half at my neighbor’s house. During this time the neighbor wouldn’t give my parents their homeowner’s insurance. My parents went to a lawyer and the lawyer said we had to sue because our insurance wouldn’t pay the hospital bills. When my parents decided to do it, my neighbors got angry and started get everyone around us against us. They started to threaten them, my brothers and my dog. Also saying they were going to hurt me even more. We were forced to move because my parents were scared our neighbors were actually going to do something horrible. To this day when I think about this event I feel like it’s all my fault even though I know it’s not. My family suffered through this because of me and I know that they love me. The whole event changed the lives of my family.

In middle school I had a best friend. We were so close. We loved going to class together and hanging out at our brother’s football practices and just playing around. One month in fifth grade she barely came in and I was so confused on why she wasn’t there. I just thought she was on vacation or with her family. Then one random day our teacher told my class that she had terrible news to tell us. She told us that one of our peers has been in the hospital for the past month with cancer and has recently lost the battle with it. Once she told us the name of our peer I was so upset, it was my best friend. I couldn’t eat lunch that day and I barely talked to anyone in school and when I went home I cried so much and told my parents. The next week or so I was barely myself and my parents noticed. They ask if I wanted to see the school counselor, I didn’t want to, I just wanted to be by myself. Her funeral went by and I couldn’t get myself to go I was so upset and young. I regret it to this day not going to her funeral, I should have gone. Every time I think about her I get so upset. I miss her so much.

I was a about ten years old I had a kidney stone and a kidney infection which got worse by the minute. I was in the hospital for about a week but it felt like years. This happened in the winter and there was blizzard. My mom was home alone because my dad stayed with me at the hospital that night. My mom has told me that she never got any sleep that night and just walked the floors of our house because she was so worried about my condition. I was in very bad shape and because of that I didn’t think I would ever go home. I got very depressed and sad but I tried my hardest to get better. It was December and my brother’s birthday was coming up and I felt terrible because my brother had to spend his birthday in the hospital because of me. I felt like a terrible sister. He couldn’t even have a nice birthday dinner, he had to have pizza in my hospital room.

Another event that has happened in my life is my cousin dying so young. It was my birthday and I came home from school to find my mom crying her eyes out. She told me that my cousin had died of a drug overdose. It hit me hard because he was such a great person and he was only twenty-five but just got mixed up with drugs after his father died when he was a kid. The entire family, his mother and brother and sister along with him were devastated when their father died and they all didn’t know what to do. My cousins were really young when this news was brought to them. To this day my aunt, his mother, believes that if she hadn’t gone to the store and she was home with him that she could’ve saved him with Narcan. It is commonly used now to treat overdoes but it has to be used within a certain time period for it to be effective. She is so depressed about losing her son but she rarely shows it and I think she should because that is a hard thing to go through. She needs to talk about it more to help not feel as guilty and not to feel as alone.

Many women have depression when they have children or go through menopause. This is believed to be the result of having hormone changes. My mom has talked to me about her postpartum depression. She said that she felt so alone even though she had a baby right in front of her. This is caused by the drastic change in hormones. There have been many cases of where a mother is so depressed that she kills the baby because they just don’t know what to do with the changes. Society today is a mean place. When I was in high school there was a lot of bullying and break ups that lead a couple of my fellow classmates took their lives. It’s a horrible thing to go through and we should all be aware of the people around us and help them if they need help. If they show signs of suicide or depression we need to help and not stand around. Causes of depression or mental illness could be a chain of events that led up to it. For example, bullying can cause depression.

Natasha Tracy says there are two factors that cause depression; such as biological and environmental effects. Tracy says that in the biological effects she believes that hormones, physical changes to the brain and neurotransmitters are the most common biological causes. For the environmental effects, Tracy believes that death of a loved one, loss of a job, or financial troubles are the most common environmental causes. There are differences with women and men that have depression. For example, Tracy says that men usually are depressed because of job related problems and also because of low testosterone. While women usually are depressed because of social relationships and also because of pregnancy and menopause. Depression can cause a serious case of mental illness. Mental illness can cause people to make bad decisions.

Depression is often thought to be an easy get over and move on type of deal. People in society see people with depression as attention seekers and that they are just upset and they will get over it in a minute. Depression might be a one-day thing then the next day is great but then it comes back. Also, depression can be a month or more, which can lead to being a sign of mental illness.

For me, I can’t easily get over it. One minute I am fine then the next minute my mind is telling me all these bad thoughts. Like when I am laying in bed and it’s all quiet, that’s when my mind gives me these thoughts. I tried talking to one of my friends and she told me to cheer up, that I will be okay in a few minutes and that my life isn’t bad. She left it at that. She didn’t say anything else. She doesn’t know how it feels to have these thoughts running through your mind. I have sought help and it is hard to own up to it and ask because I felt like people would judge me for it. It was hard to get over all this trauma and my parents saw that I needed help and I saw someone for it. Seeing someone didn’t help me because I am so shy and don’t usually like meeting new people. So, after trying this I became close to my mom and now I go to her whenever I feel it come back up again. My mom helps me so much and I am so thankful for her. My dad is the same way, he helps me no matter what and makes me feel like I’m okay. Parents are great to talk to because they understand and could have gone through the same thing. My parents have had a lot of trouble in their life so I look up to them and I appreciate them when they help me. Some people don’t seek help because either they are scared to be judged and sometimes they don’t know how to ask for help and I understand why it is a scary thing. Being judged is terrible because you can’t help that you feel depressed and people are just mean; they don’t care and they see you as a problem so they don’t want to be near you at all.

In the article “Depression In Teens,” the author gives suggestions to help prevent depression for teens. For example, they can go to therapy or they can take medication that is prescribed to them. If a teen asks for help or say that they are depressed society turns and says to them that they are overreacting. That they are just feeling down they will be okay soon. Society shouldn’t turn away and say these things because it makes the teens feel even worse about themselves. The teens feel as though everyone is against them and no one cares about them. If a teen is refused of help or is made fun of for being depressed it can worsen to a point where they can harm themselves. Almost five thousand young people kill themselves each year from depression or depression combined with mental illness.

Whenever someone asks for help whether it be a young person or an adult or an elder, we should help. Seeking help isn’t a bad thing and saying that you have a problem isn’t either. Society makes it seem like it is. Society needs to learn to be quiet and keep their opinions to themselves if it can hurt another person. There are many ways to prevent depression from getting out of hand and having anyone of any age kill themselves because they think it’s the only way to solve their problems.

In the article, “Residual symptoms at remission from depression: impact on long-term outcome”, the author states that, “Patients who remit from depression with residual symptomatology continue to have more depressive symptoms and impaired social functioning long-term and may need more aggressive treatment.” So, patients that deal with depression and get treated for it, the depression usually comes back. The patients usually need more powerful treatments to help them cope with the powerful depression.
Depression needs to vocalized and recognized that it is there. Depression needs to have awareness bought to it. No one should suffer. No one should kill themselves. People need to know that there is help out there.

Works Cited

1. King, Deborah A. and Kenneth Heller. “Depression and the Response of Others: Is the Effect Specific?.” Journal of Abnormal Psychology, vol. 95, no. 4, Nov. 1986, pp. 410-411. EBSCOhost.

2. Beck, Aaron T., and Brad A. Alford. “Depression: Causes and Treatment.” 2nd ed., Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009. JSTOR.

3. “Residual Symptoms at Remission from Depression: Impact on Long-Term Outcome.” Journal of Affective Disorders, Elsevier, 11 Apr. 2003.

4. Muñoz, R.,F., Yu-Wen, Y., Bernal, G., Pérez-Stable, E.,J., Sorensen, J. L., Hargreaves, W. A., Miller, L. S. (1995). “Prevention of depression with primary care patients: A randomized controlled trial.” American Journal of Community Psychology, 23(2), 199-222.

5. Zimmerman, Mark and William Coryell. “The Inventory to Diagnose Depression (IDD): A Self-Report Scale to Diagnose Major Depressive Disorder.” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, vol. 55, no. 1, Feb. 1987, pp. 55-59. EBSCOhost.

6. Tracy, Natasha. “Causes of Depression: What Causes Depression? – Causes – Depression.” HealthyPlace.

7. Tracy, Natasha. “What Caused the Depression? – Causes – Depression.” HealthyPlace.
8. “Depression In Teens.” Mental Health America, 8 Dec. 2016.

9. Gregory N. Clarke, Mark Hornbrook, Frances Lynch, Michael Polen, John Gale, William Beardslee, Elizabeth O’Connor, John Seeley. “A Randomized Trial of a Group Cognitive Intervention for Preventing Depression in Adolescent Offspring of Depressed Parents.” Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2001;58(12):1127–1134.

10. Reivich K., Gillham J.E., Chaplin T.M., Seligman M.E.P. (2013) “From Helplessness to Optimism: The Role of Resilience in Treating and Preventing Depression in Youth.” In: Goldstein S., Brooks R. (eds) Handbook of Resilience in Children. Springer, Boston, MA.

11. “Depression.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster.

Annotated Bibliography- Killroy513

“Prohibition in Canada.” Smuggling, Bootlegging and Speakeasies,

Background: The source talks about how the use of smuggling, bootlegging and speakeasies was apparent during the Prohibition. At the time these were the three main ways to get alcohol.

How I use it: In my essay, I use the information I found with this source to back up my claims that the use of these three things helped create NASCAR. Bootlegging and smuggling greatly impacted the creation of the sport, mostly because it involves the use of cars. The article supports my argument.

2.Sandbrook, Dominic. “How Prohibition backfired and gave America an era of gangsters and speakeasies.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 25 Aug. 2012,

Background: The source talks about how gangsters ruled the large cities in this era. The gangsters took advantage of the law and made a lucrative business off the illegal drinks. The article talks about the gangsters and how they were able to avoid the police and make the money that they did.

How I use it: In my essay, I use the information I found with this source to back up my claims that the Prohibition leads to a boost in illegal activity. This article backs up my claim because it talks about how people became involved with the illegal drinks.

3. McElroy, Ryan. “The story of how moonshiners created the performance car.” Car Keys, Car Keys, 31 Oct. 2017,

Background: The source talks about how the use of smuggling and bootlegging with transportation helped create the sport of NASCAR. The article explains how the moonshiners created the first types of performance cars and how they were the great grandfathers to the ones used today.

How I use it: This source backed up the claim of how the Prohibition created the sport of NASCAR and how it was done.

4.“History of the Roaring Twenties.” Prohibition and the Speakeasies,

Background: The source talks about how the use of speakeasies. This was apparent during the Prohibition. These were hidden bars and served the general public with alcohol. This generated a lot of money for both private and gangster-run bars.

How I use it: This article backed up my claim that illegal activity was boosted during this time. It shows that the general populous were involved with these illegal bars and that by doing so made them affiliated with the same illegality.

5. Gambino, Megan. “During Prohibition, Your Doctor Could Write You a Prescription for Booze.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 7 Oct. 2013,

Background: The source talks about the corruption in the 1920’s medical field. It provided proof that doctors would commit illegal actions to make money.

How I use it: The source helped me prove that illegal activity was boosted during this time by proving how the medical field in America would be corrupted and how selling alcohol prescriptions did it.

6. “Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Dec. 2017,

Background: The source talks about the 18th Amendment.

How I use it: In my essay, I use the information to have the knowledge and back my claims about Prohibition.

7. Untitled Document, http://www.laits.utexas.edu/jaime/cwp4/esg/smugglehistory.html.

Background: The source talks about how the use of smuggling helped other countries during this era. Both Mexico and Canada made money by smuggling across the border to the dry towns of America.

How I use it: This provided me with a good amount of information about how Americans were not the only ones involved at the time.

8. “Black market.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Dec. 2017,

Background: The source gave me a basic rundown on how the Black Market works and how it was back in this era. Understanding this made writing the paper easier because having the knowledge of this simplified my topics.

How I use it: Understanding this made writing the paper easier because having the knowledge of this simplified my topics.

9. Thompson, Neal. Driving with the devil: southern moonshine, Detroit wheels, and the birth of Nascar. Three Rivers Press, 2007.

Background: The source gave me a basic rundown on how cars were created and used during the Prohibition. The article talks about how the cars were changed and made to go faster to evade the police.

How I use it: ]This article helped back my claim on the modification of cars and how that resulted in the races that would become NASCAR. The book explained the correlation between the two and made it easier to link both together.

10. Okrent, Daniel. Last call: the rise and fall of Prohibition. Scribner, 2011.

Background: The source gave me a basic rundown on what happened during the Prohibition. From start to finish the Prohibition did not work as planned. The book helps explain what occurred and how it ended.

How I use it: The book made it easier to learn about the Prohibition and what it really was. The book talked about the start to finish product and lead me to understand that the Prohibition looked good on paper but did not work out as planned.

Research – thebeard

Hockey is one of the greatest sports ever; it has been around for over 100 years and consists of many different aspects that make it a great game. Hockey has things such as amazing dekes and dangles, big hits and most importantly fighting. Fighting has been in the NHL basically since it started and has changed over the many years the game has been played. More rules have come out to enforce the game and penalize players for fighting. Players such as enforcers were introduced to the game to basically protect the star players and fight people in general.

Normally going to a hockey game, seeing a fight is one of the best things to happen, aside from the home team winning. Fighting has been part of the NHL since the rules of the sport were first written in the 1800s. The “Original Six” era saw fighting established as an ordinary part of the NHL game according to Jamie Fitzpatrick in the article “History of Hockey Fights.” Throughout the years there have been many “goons” who have been the tough guys on teams. Teams such as the Philadelphia Flyers have used fighting and intimidation as core tactics during the 70s.

Many NHL teams have had “tough guys” on them for many years, these players are meant to harass players on the opponent team to try and get some penalties called or even to pump up the crowd. These players are still on teams these days, they go out on the ice to fight someone to give their own team some motivation. These players were also known as “goons” and they were really big during the 70s. Many fights during those years involved several players and a few were even bench-clearing brawls. Because of all the fights during this era it caused the NHL to create a rule that any player joining a fight in progress would be ejected from the game. Not to long after that the league also decided that a play leaving the bench to join a fight would receive a 5-to-10 game suspension.

There are several different ways that fighting it still a good thing to have in the game. In the article “Top 10 Reasons Why the NHL Needs to Keep fighting in the Game,” Andrew Maggio talks about how no one will ever question a player for defending a teammate and having to fight someone. This is in every sport not just hockey, teammates defend each other, it happens in baseball with dugouts emptying and full teams running at each other. It also happens in football when offensive linemen pull down defensive players for getting a late hit on their quarterback. Fighting is also a huge momentum shift in hockey, winning a fight can pump a team and the crowd. Fighting is unique to hockey, it is one of the main aspects of the game and has been in it for many and many years. The physicality of the sport is what differentiates t from the other big professional sports, aside from the NFL that is. But you never really hear any football fans complain that they shouldn’t be allowed to hit each other.

If fighting wasn’t a part of the NHL the alternative would be much worse, more people would get injured from dangerous hits and vicious hacks with a players stick. Some players would find different ways to injure certain players and there will be no was to retaliate if there is no fighting for a bad hit on a top player. Most, if not all, NHL teams have players that are literally on the team to protect the star players and basically be a bodyguard when they are needed. When most people go to a hockey game they talk about hoping they will see a fight happen. Years ago you could go to every game and expect to see a fight or at least some type of big physical argument. It doesn’t happen as much anymore but when you go to a game and see a fight its one of the best things in the sport in my opinion. It makes you think what the game would be like if there was no fighting. Sometimes it is nice to go to a big game and see a nice clean hockey game where its just constant skating and great moves but the fighting pumps up the crowd and the teams.

Now one of the worst things that can happen when you go to a hockey game is when a player gets injured. Hockey players can get injured from a number of different things such as getting hit into the boards from behind or just a lower body injury from pushing themselves to hard. An injury is defined as a particular form or instance of harm, so technically an injury could just be a player missing a game. Players miss games every night, it could be due to a physical injury or even just sickness. An injury is defined as a particular form or instance of harm. A study was done by Laura Donaldson during the 2009 – 2012 seasons on how many players were injured. This study was on all 1307 NHL players participating in regular season games. Within the 3-season time period, 825 of the 1307 NHL players missed at least 1 game due to injury. That is about 63% of the players. Within a single 82 game regular season, 50.9% of all players were out for 1 game or more.

The big thing with injuries is that they cost the teams a lot of money. The total lost salary costs due to injury over the 3-year study was $653 million. Of that $653 million, $128.5 was for injuries of concussions. Concussion are a huge injury in most sports, during this study 323 concussions or suspected concussions were recorded.

A smaller study was done during 10 weeks from each of the three seasons to determine the most costly injury. During those 30 weeks 870 injuries occurred. The injury that occurred the most was a leg/foot injury. Those were 241 of the 870 injuries that happened in that period, which was 30% of all the injuries that occurred during the 3 weeks. Those 241 injuries cost about $68 million.

In the NHL there are also many players that have rarely ever missed a game. From the article “Ranking the 10 Most Durable Players in the NHL,” written by Rob Vollman, he states that one of these players that rarely misses a game is Jarome Iginla, during his 1299 games played he only missed 1253. A few of the games that he missed were because of a knee injury in 2006-07 season. Another player that has hardly missed a game is Henrik Sedin, out of his 973 games played he only missed 963. At the age of 33 Henrik Sedin had the second-longest active iron man streak, this means he has played a consecutive amount of games without missing any. His streak, at the time of this article, was 652 consecutive games. One amazing thing that Henrik Sedin did was play most of the 2011 playoffs with a major back injury. This just shows that some players love the game and the fans so much that they play through injuries just to try and win.

Players miss games almost every night in the NHL and other professional sports. This could be from a physical injury or possibly just a simple cold. It is possible that they may also have a family emergency and they would miss a game. Technically all of these are types of injuries and cause players to not be able to play on a specific night.

Fighting is one of the biggest parts of the NHL and if it wasn’t there the game would be completely different. Some players wouldn’t have jobs anymore because they are on teams to be enforcers. If fighting was not in the NHL there would not be much to pump up the crowd aside from scoring goals. Players would not motivate their own team if they get in a fight and win it. You can’t protect your teams star player when he gets hit really bad if there is no fighting. Fighting is a crucial part to the game and should never be removed.

One of the biggest modern game’s true enforcers, John Scott would be praised by his teammates for protecting them on the ice. But he also got so much hate for fighting because that was basically all he was on many teams for. In the article by Chris Kuc called “Why is fighting vanishing from the NHL?” he talks about how hard it has been for Scott to find someone willing to drop the gloves with him. Opponents would often turn down his requests to fight during his time playing for the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010-12. Fighting is already starting to decrease, in 2016 fighting was down 16 percent from the year before and 40 percent from the 2012-13 season.

The NHL stated that through February 4th, 2016 there was a total of 212 fights in a combined 767 games for an average of .28 per contest. Through the same number of games in the 2013-14 season there were 332 fights which was .43 per game. Over the years fighting has definitely decreased and is slowly decreasing more and more. Years ago team would usually use their fourth line to be enforcers and just go out on the ice to rough some people up. Nowadays, with the game becoming so competitive, many teams are focusing more on skill and having four line that can help with a game.

In the same article by Chris Kuc, NHLPA Executive Director Tonal Fehr said “This is a very physical game where guys are expending a lot of energy and a lot of adrenaline, It can get really heated because at the elite level of this sport, if you’re not emotionally involved in the game and want to win as much as you can breathe, you’re not staying in this league.” Many players these days don’t have enough energy to push themselves as much as they do playing to also be bale to get into a fight. Majority of the time when a fight does occur these days its because of a big hit or as a way for players to police the game. When I was growing up and going to hockey games and watching them on TV many players would just skate up to each other and say “You want to go?” This happened pretty often and it was really meant to pump up their team or get the crowd going. It was always one of the best things to see two players behind the play just talking and then start throwing punches. It really got everyone going but in the last couple years I haven’t seen that and if so its very rare.

Nowadays an enforcer is a rare sight on the ice. Tie Domi, who spent 16 years establishing a reputation for being one of the NHL’s fiercest enforcers, talks about his worry about his son Max Domi who plays now in the NHL in the article written by John Wawrow. Domi talks about how he is concerned about his son since the league has basically eliminated the role of on-ice police. Back when he played they used to make people accountable for what they did to other players but now its such a different taste. It has really only taken one generation to change the era of the game, ending the tough guy era and becoming a faster, leaner and far less gap-toothed era.

One of the greatest known goons was Dave “The Hammer” Schultz, he played for the Flyers in the 1970s and stood out as an enforcer on a team that was already physical and aggressive. According to the article by Ben Alberstadt, during one playoff campaign, Schultz spent 139 minutes in the penalty box in 17 games. During the Flyers cup-winning 1974-75 season he spent a ludicrous 472 minutes in the box. Another great enforcer was Dave “Tiger” Williams, who spent more than 4,400 minutes in the penalty box during his 14- year career. Williams averaged 4.12 penalty minutes per game in the box. He crossed 300 penalty minutes in a season six times during his career. He also crossed 250 penalty mark 10 times, which is very impressive. In 1987 Williams also did something very unique for being an enforcer: release a cookbook entitled Done like Dinner: Tiger in the Kitchen. If fighting was never a part of the game these guys like many others would have never played and never have the achievements they had in their careers.

If fighting was never put into the NHL theses players that are meant to be enforcers may have never played the game. Many of these players did not have the skill to be a normally skilled player that would go out on the ice and score goals, they instead would go out on the ice to lay a big hit on someone or get into a fight. Some of them were on a team to protect the star players and police the ice and make people accountable for what they did to other players and got away with it.

Although hockey is one of the greatest sports in my opinion, it does have so bad aspects to it. Fighting is partially one of them. Although fighting is awesome and one of the greatest parts of the sport, it has some cons to it. Several players have been really injured from fighting and being an enforcer in the game.

Players such as Robert Frid who fought hundreds of times over three years of junior hockey and eight seasons in the minor leagues. In the article by Arthur Caplan he talks about how Frid has had at least 75 concussions and was knocked unconscious many times. Frid has also been declared permanently disable in his 30s. Frid, now 41 at the time of the article, doesn’t think he has much time left. This is insanely sad for a man that played the sport of hockey. He is most likely suffereing brain damage from all the hits he took, his long-term memory is poor, he has anxiety disorder and headaches. He is not alone either, many players who were enforcers now deal with thing such as depression, pain and even suicides.

Most people don’t know that hockey fights are illegal in European leagues, the Olympics, at the collegiate level, and in Women’s leagues, this is stated in the article written by Ben Kreiger “Death of the Enforcer: 4 Reasons Why fighting In Hockey Should be Banned.” The NHL and some of its subsidiaries are the only leagues in the world that condone fighting. While in collegiate and European leagues fighting is punished by ejection and suspension, the NHL only gives a five minute penalty. Fighting in the NHL reflects how American sports tend to value violence, as an athletic ability. Many people think that fighting helps the attendance for a team, statistically, it doesn’t. Over the last two decades as fighting has decreased attendance has surprisingly increased. In the 2015-16 season there were 0.28 fights per game, which is the lowest ratio since the 1967-68 season.

One of the most well-respected, toughest men in the game George Parros hung up the skates on December 5, 2014. In the article written by Katie Strang she talks about how Parros had 1,092 penalty minutes over his nine years in the NHL but he was also know as a terrific teammate and one of hockey’s most thoughtful articulate ambassadors. Sadly his career ended because of an injury in the prior season, although he had since recovered but no teams wanted him along with many other enforcers that were still in the league.

A team such as the Flyers who have always been known to be the enforcers in the league, cut Jay Rosehill who was the last real enforcer the team had. Its crazy to think that the team nicknamed “The Broad-Street Bullies” could not be bullies anymore. Even Rosehill said himself, “They’ve always had a guy in that role, ever since Dave Schiltz, its just head-spinning how fast it happened.” He is probably talking about how quickly fighting has decreased in the league in general. Even the Columbus Blue Jackets president of hockey operations John Davidson states in the same article, “The game is officiated differently now. You can’t do what the Flyers did years ago, you can’t intimidate teams. Intimidation doesn’t work.” The Flyers have always been known as the team to be afraid of, as the nickname states, they were the bullies.

Anymore, teams need to have four lines that can all help the team win. The way players intimidate the other teams these days are by scoring goals and displaying crazy amounts of skill. With fighting you get penalized and sit in the penalty box or sometimes in the locker room while your team still tries to win. But with skill you score a goal and sit back on the bench and 2 minutes later you are back out on the ice ready to try and score again. Being able to step up for a teammate and fight sometimes is still necessary, but as a player you need to be able to go out and score a goal or dish a sick pass so your teammate scores. Nowadays, players need to have extensive amounts of skill to play, as the game get faster every year, the players need to advance with it.

Hockey has changed over the last 100 years since it has been a professional sport, it went from being just six teams to now 31 with the newest team starting this year. The rules and way it is played have also changed since it has started as well. Fighting was one of the biggest parts of the game but now you could watch 10 games before a fight might happen. I do believe it should still be a part of the game because of how fun it is to watch two men in full equipment throw punches at each other until one hits the ice. I grew up watching the Flyers who have also been the team to be scared to play against because of the hard hitters and enforcers they had on the team. Now the last time I watch a Flyers game that had a fight in it was months ago it feels. Fighting does have its disadvantages though, many of these enforcers have been several injured from what they did during their careers. Maybe it is a good thing that fighting doesn’t occur as much anymore, not as many people get injured from getting punched in the face theses days. But what happens when someone takes a run at your teams top player, should his teammates just stand around and look like they wish they could do something or would you want them to get revenge and maybe make some guy lose another tooth.

Works Cited

Alberstadt, Ben. “The 10 Greatest Enforcers in NHL History.” TheRichest, 1 Jan. 1970

Caplan, Arthur. “Why Hockey Should Ban Fighting.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 7 Mar. 2016

Donaldson, L., Li, B., & Cusimano, M. D. (2014). Economic burden of time lost due to injury in NHL hockey players. Injury Prevention, 20(5), 347.

Fitzpatrick, Jamie. “History of Hockey Fights.” ThoughtCo, 18 Mar. 2017

Krieger, Ben. “Death of the Enforcer: 4 Reasons Why Fighting In Hockey Should Be Banned.”Medium, Medium, 26 Apr. 2016

Kuc, Chris. “Why Is Fighting Vanishing from the NHL?” Chicagotribune.com, 8 Feb. 2016

Maggio, Andrew. “Top 10 Reasons Why the NHL Needs to Keep Fighting in the Game.”TheSportster, 20 Nov. 2014

Strang, Katie. “Catching up with Enforcers in Exile.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 26 Dec. 2014

Wawrow, John. “Tie Domi Concerned about Lack of NHL Enforcers.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 7 Jan. 2017

Vollman, Rob. “Ranking the 10 Most Durable Players in the NHL.” Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, 12 Apr. 2017

Annotated Bibliography – thebeard

1. Donaldson, L., Li, B., & Cusimano, M. D. (2014). Economic burden of time lost due to injury in NHL hockey players. Injury Prevention, 20(5), 347.

Background: This article discusses the different injuries that happened within a span of three seasons. It talks about statistics on what type of injuries occur more often and also how much these injuries cost teams when players miss games. It says that about 63% of NHL players missed at least one game within the span of 2009-2012 seasons.

How I used it: I used this article to explain what type of injuries occur more often and how often they occur. I also used it to show that when players get injured it costs the teams they play for a lot of money.

2. Fitzpatrick, Jamie. “History of Hockey Fights.” ThoughtCo, 18 Mar. 2017,

Background: This article talks about the early days of ice hockey and how the game was so physical and it appealed to spectators. It also talks about the “Original Six” era where fighting was established as an ordinary part of a NHL game.

How I used it: I used this article to describe what the NHL started like and how fighting became a huge part of the sport. I also talked about how there are players that are meant to go out on the ice and be an enforcer and intimidate other players. These type of players are meant to fight and pump up their own team and possibly the crowd.

3. Maggio, Andrew. “Top 10 Reasons Why the NHL Needs to Keep Fighting in the Game.”TheSportster, 20 Nov. 2014

Background: This article talks about different ways that the NHL need to keep fighting and how much it helps the game. It talks about how unique fighting is to the sport and how it is a way for players to stick up for themselves.

How I used it: I used this article’s information to show all the things that fighting does for the game and how it would be different if there wasn’t any fighting. I talked about how odd it would be to go to a hockey game and not really see any fighting if a star player was to get injured or someone hit them.

4. Vollman, Rob. “Ranking the 10 Most Durable Players in the NHL.” Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, 12 Apr. 2017,

Background: This article describe some of the most durable players to play in the NHL and how many games they have played in their careers. It talks about some players that are on the iron man list with different amount of consecutive games played.

How I used it: I used this article’s information to talk about how tough some players are and how certain players can play so many consecutive games. I also used it to show tough some players are that they can play with injuries.

5. Kuc, Chris. “Why Is Fighting Vanishing from the NHL?” Chicagotribune.com, 8 Feb. 2016,

Background: This article talks about how fighting has decreased in the last several years and how there is not much of and enforcer role anymore. It also talks about how much harder it is to find a fight these days and how often fights actually occur during the last so many seasons.

How I used it: I used this article’s information to talk about how the enforcer role is starting to disappear and talked about the last big enforcer in the game. The game has become so much more competitive these days that many teams don’t have an enforcer or a whole line that would go on the ice to challenge the other teams top line and stop them.

6. Wawrow, John. “Tie Domi Concerned about Lack of NHL Enforcers.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 7 Jan. 2017

Background: This article is about one of the greatest enforcers to play the game and how he feels it has changed so much since when he played and now his son is playing. There is no one to hold people accountable on the ice anymore for what they do.

How I used it: I used this article to show what a former enforcer feels the game has really turned into and how he is concerned for his own sons safety because there is no one to really go out on the ice just to fight someone or to make players pay for a big hit on a top player.

7. Alberstadt, Ben. “The 10 Greatest Enforcers in NHL History.” TheRichest, 1 Jan. 1970

Background: This article is about some of the toughest enforcers to every play the game of hockey. It talks about how enforcers are players who can skate a little bit, will maybe pop in a goal or two, but are there primarily to protect his teammates from the other team’s goon.

How I used it: I used this article to talk about two of the more know enforcers, that I know at least. I talked about Dave “The Hammer” Schultz and how he had so many penalty minutes in his career and Dave “Tiger” Williams and how he wrote a cooking book.

8. Caplan, Arthur. “Why Hockey Should Ban Fighting.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 7 Mar. 2016,

Background: This article talks about players such as Robert Frid who has had countless concussions and how it has affected his life in the worst way possible. The sad thing is that he isn’t the only person that this has happened to. Many former and current players have dealt with depression, pain, and brain damage.

How I used it: I used it to show that fighting can be a bad thing and how much it can effect people.

9. Krieger, Ben. “Death of the Enforcer: 4 Reasons Why Fighting In Hockey Should Be Banned.”Medium, Medium, 26 Apr. 2016

Background: This article talks about why fighting should be banned and how much it doesn’t help the NHL or its fans. The NHL is the only professional hockey league that allows fighting, it also talks about how fighting may lead to traumatic brain injuries. The article also mentions that fighting does not actually affect attendance.

How I used it: I used this article to show that no other hockey league, aside from the NHL and some of its subsidiaries, allow fighting. I also showed that fighting has decreased over the last two decades and attendance has actually increased, which means that despite fans still love watching the game live don’t care as much about seeing fights anymore but really just a good hockey game.

10. Strang, Katie. “Catching up with Enforcers in Exile.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 26 Dec. 2014

Background: This article is about how the enforcer role has basically disappeared in the NHL and how all of those players are losing jobs if they are not adapting to the current way the game is played. Players have been sent down to the minors or not resigned because they are not needed anymore on a NHL team because you can’t intimidate players anymore with your fists.

How I used it: I used this article to show that players such as George Parros lost his job because the game adapted to not have fighting in it as often, but that was what he was on a team for. I also used it to show that they Flyers can’t be the bullies in the league anymore if no one is afraid of you when you drop the gloves. You need to scare the other teams with skill in the current state of the NHL.

Research paper-Jadden14

Creatine: A Questionable Supplement

Two of the greatest developments of supplements in the Industry for natural athletes is whey protein powder, and creatine. As time progressed, science evolved and certain supplements (creatine, whey protein, branch chain amino acids, etc) became more affordable to consumers. The price of whey protein became much cheaper and more accessible to consumers. Supplement companies started selling many different forms of creatine, all of which did the same thing: create an overall increase the lean muscle mass an individual puts on while exercising. It is one of the most effective supplements that any natural bodybuilder can take. So why are some people so worried about taking it? Creatine is often considered a questionable topic as people do not know what the side effects of taking the supplement are. Now, there are a few forms of creatine known, but in this case the creatine I will be talking about is creatine monohydrate. It’s one of the cheapest forms, and the most effective.

Creatine is a naturally occurring molecule produced in the body. It is commonly found in fish, meat, and is also made by the human body. We all manage to get creatine from eating food everyday, in fact, there is probably a small trace of it in your system right now. A study from Examine.com found that creatine stores phosphocreatine in the body, which is then released into the body, causing the strength increase after the use of creatine as a supplement. As far as athletic performance is concerned, creatine is one of the best supplements an athlete can take, next to protein. creatine is known to increase strength and lean muscle mass, and is found to be most effective in young adults. Creatine will heavily benefit weight lifters, as it provides strength improvements with short-duration exercises. Creatine’s strength benefits alone would make it great for football players. Over time, they would gain mass slightly better and be much stronger, fully utilizing their muscle’s potential. They would be more efficient on the field, and be much more alert. Most natural athletes will add about 5 to 10 pounds to their lifts each month with an optimal diet and training regime. creatine can in some cases increase that rate by 5 pounds, which is astounding for a non-anabolic supplement. Athletes will need to be careful with their dosage on these supplements, as there is a good medium with creatine and shouldn’t be misused. Athletes have the option to load creatine, taking up to 20g a day, spaced out over a period of up to 5 days, or could just take 5-10g a day. Any more than this amount in the maintenance phase is unnecessary and can lead to problems.

Another benefit to taking creatine is that it will increase the amount of work muscles will do. It puts more energy into the muscles as phosphocreatine, this energy becomes readily available during your workout, as long as creatine is present in the body. Many studies can back up this, as well as the fact that creatine has some long term health benefits as well. One of the minor effects creatine has is that it can increase an athlete’s overall aerobic ability. It can be shown to overall improve body function, as its design improves muscle energy, so not only are your muscles used in making you move receiving energy, all muscles(Heart, Kidney, lungs) are receiving this as well. While creatine benefits lifters the most, it also proven effective with those who have syndromes that involve issues metabolizing creatine. People suffering from these creatine deficiencies in their bodies, issues like mental retardation and movement disorders, if given creatine daily, can see vast improvements to their health. In a study done by WebMD, results showed that “taking creatine for up to 8 years seems to improve attention, language, and academic performance in children with the creatine deficiency syndrome called arginine-glycine amidinotrasferase (AGAT) deficiency.” Brain function will overall improve and seizures will begin to stop. Creatine can also be applied to the face in cream form for aging skin. In an article from MedlinePlus, a study reported that “Early research shows that applying cream containing creatine, guarana, and glycerol to the face daily for 6 weeks reduces wrinkles and skin sagging in men.” This can be used to treat older men and when combined with folic acid can revert sun damaged skin. If taken in the proper dosage of around 5g, it can be proven to be a great bodybuilding or athletic supplement.

Creatine supplementation can give the consumer many other great health benefits. Some studies have shown that creatine can counteract fatigue, very helpful in running and other sports that are cardio-intensive. This study tends to have mixed results, so it is safe to say that it can possibly benefit runners/sprinters. It also leads to the possible spike in testosterone levels, naturally of course. This increase in testosterone will undoubtedly benefit weight lifters, as it will ultimately increase strength and muscle mass. Creatine can also be used as a cure for traumatic brain injury patients, children and adolescents are shown to get reduced frequency of headaches when taking the supplement. Due to its strength increase and mass increasing nature, it can help treat people with diseases related to muscle weakness, like muscular dystrophy.

The controversy behind creatine and the effects it has on the body are directly related. Many people do not know the full story behind the supplement, mainly due to the media. They also could be suspicious of the studies that don’t have enough proof but are revealing some harmful effects in certain cases. However, science tends to lean towards the side that creatine is a great supplement, and should be taken by athletes to improve their sport. Some even recommend the supplement, like Kurtis Frank, a lead researcher writing for Examine.com says that “It’s safe, it’s healthy, it’s cheap, and for most people it just works.” Bodybuilders benefit the most from this supplement, but any exercise in general will utilize the effects of the supplement. As far as athletes are concerned, this will make them much stronger and more effective on the field, especially football players and wrestlers(due to the direct contact the sport entails). Creatine as a whole is an excellent supplement, and even though the NCAA does not allow the funding of schools to give their athletes creatine, they should take the initiative themselves to help better their abilities, and become a better athlete.

One of the major causes of creatine receiving a bad name may be due to the increasing reports of bodybuilders overdosing on supplements. In recent years, many bodybuilders taking creatine, and various harmful drugs, such as anabolics or synthetic oil, run the risk of dying at a younger age than normal. They obviously are using various unregulated anabolic substances, and due to the rising popularity from doing shows, the media focuses their attention on them. This brings lots of attention to what they’re taking(their “stacks”) and people freak out when they find out someone who was using creatine died of liver failure or a heart attack. This wasn’t as prominent until about the 80’s or 90’s, as anabolics(steroids) weren’t as potent or developed before. This increase of stacking supplements, led to the media reporting everything that they took. This ultimately led to creatine being looked at as a controversial supplement. Another leading cause could be that these bodybuilders were taking over the recommended dosages of creatine for exercise. A normal dose for someone who is taking creatine is about five grams per day. Bodybuilders have in some cases taken up to thirty grams per day, more than six times the recommended amount. Doing so can cause much worse side effects, and will ultimately tear up the liver. If the media started revealing the amounts they were taking, this could have lead to people getting too much and experiencing the harmful effects in high dosages.

Due to the recent popularity of the supplement, scientists began to start researching creatine to see if it is safe. The results were very mixed, as in some cases, creatine revealed many good effects on the body, while at the same time reporting many various harmful effects. Today, creatine is not allowed to be recommended or offered by coaches to athletes. In a study from the University of Maryland, a study reveals that the “NCAA prohibits its member schools from giving creatine and other muscle-building supplements to athletes, although it doesn’t ban athletes from using it.” Creatine itself is a very controversial supplement. For some reason, as creatine developed and became widely used, it gained a negative hype over time.This could also be due to the studies revealed by doctors and scientists, however, most studies can’t point to any detrimental side effects. The only major side effect only occurs if the consumer has a genetic trait for baldness, and in some cases can bring that trait out (speed up the balding process). This is greatly outweighed by the overwhelming support from scientists and numerous studies about its benefits.

So how can taking creatine make you go bald? One of the biggest issues surrounding the creatine supplement is that it can produce more DHT in the body. For those who don’t know, DHT is an androgen that gives males their male characteristics. Too much of this can lead to male pattern baldness, making creatine seem a little more harmful than it’s made out to be. In a study done by Stellenbosch University, rugby players were given creatine and had their androgens watched over a period of three weeks. The study astoundingly revealed that the athlete’s DHT levels sat at around 56% after seven days of creatine loading and around 40% above baseline during maintenance. This is quite a large jump from when the subjects were not taking creatine, and a scary amount to increase over such a small time period. This is a serious issue as this is a widely used supplement by many athletes and bodybuilders. This issue will affect the people who have the genetic trait for this indefinitely, as there early hair loss will come even sooner. This issue in young adults who take the supplement could branch off into other issues, like depression. With a serious condition like male pattern baldness, supplement companies should be warning their users and labeling their products to show this.

Another major side effect from taking creatine is that it is very water retentive. Depending on the dosage, creatine makes you retain water, generating an increase in body weight. Almost any dosage of creatine will make you water retentive, but the severity varies on the dosage. Due to this, if the user does not drink enough water, this can lead to stomach cramps. The fact that it adds on weight might not affect athletes, as they are constantly active and will probably be burning it off anyway, however, to the normal person this weight gain may be a problem. Another plausible side effect is the fact that creatine increases DHT in the body. This DHT increase can be linked to male pattern baldness, but make note that genetics play a key role in that as well. Depression may also come as a side effect of creatine, as it relates to serotonin. For those looking to lose weight, creatine may not be the supplement for you. In a study from the University of Louvain, “A review of the literature reveals a 1.0% to 2.3% increase in body mass, which is attributed to fat-free mass and, more specifically, to skeletal-muscle mass.” Some people will argue that creatine doesn’t affect weight loss or gain at all, but studies in most cases show that creatine adds weight. Creatine in athletes usually only adds about 2-5 pounds of weight varying per individual, but this can be seen as a negative effect for middle aged men and women who have difficulty losing weight, and don’t want to be excessively muscular. For bodybuilders and athletes, this will not be as big of an issue, as slimmer athletes will bulk up. This issue varies individual to individual, as some will care that they gained weight while with others it won’t even phase them. Regardless of what category you fall into, supplement companies make sure to label their products stating that water retention may occur and that you should drink lots of water while taking this supplement.

A serious issue is that in some studies, researchers found that in large doses it can cause kidney damage. This was found mostly in cases where the subject took an excessive amount of creatine(20+ grams a day). Another prominent issue with taking creatine is found in subjects with bipolar disorder. In a study from WebMD, researchers found that creatine causes people with bipolar disorder to have manic episodes, and can “make mania worse in people with bipolar disorder.” This also revealed that in high dosages can lead to diarrhea and severe dehydration. This issue is present as creatine forces the body to retain water weight. These issues were found when the user took more than 10 grams a day. On the labels of most creatine brands, it shows this and tells consumers not to exceed certain dosages, however, that doesn’t always stop them from doing so. Creatine leads to dehydration also can chain off into muscle cramping, which will greatly hinder your muscular strength and may often need to be massaged. These issues can cause dizziness in the gym, and in some cases people can black out from dehydration. The easiest way to prevent these symptoms from occurring is to drink lots of water while supplementing creatine. We can’t have our athletes passing out in the field. People will complain, games will have to be halted, and parents will freak out. But this for the most part can be avoided if used in normal dosages. Creatine, in a much larger dosage, can also lead to heart issues and liver issues as well. This will ultimately affect the athletes later in life, but early signs of issues such as heart palpitations could be present. These are the types of issues we don’t want our athletes to face, especially with their bodies under the high load from sports.

Another serious issue backed by this supplement is it’s links to depression. A study from examine.com says that creatine slightly decreases serotonin, a neurotransmitter found in the body. Serotonin can be linked to regulating a person’s mood or social behavior, and when there is a deficit, causes depression. This can really negatively affect athletes as if these symptoms take effect they can greatly hinder the player’s mindset and their performance, ultimately undoing the purpose of creatine altogether. This depression in time can also chain off into many other harmful side effects. Depression overall hinder a person’s willpower, and can lead to athletes losing interest in their sport. This is another reason why the NCAA banned creatine from being handed out, as they knew if these symptoms were to occur, there would be no games to watch, just a bunch of sad players in a field.

The main issue with creatine is deciding whether or not it’s possible side effects make it unsafe for athletes. One of the biggest issues is the fact that it could possibly enhance male pattern baldness, but only in those who have the genetic issue. Weighing out all of the pros and cons of taking the supplement, creatine really is more effective than it is harmful for the user. In the case of athletes, I argue it is beneficial for them. Even though it is prohibited by the NCAA to be given to athletes, I highly recommend that they take it as it will help them in their athletic careers. Studies vary in which set amount should be taken, like in a study done by the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, they recommend “a typical loading dose in exercise performance (for adults ages 19 and older): Take 5 g of creatine monohydrate, 4 times daily (20 g total daily) for 2 to 5 days maximum” with a “Maintenance dose in exercise performance (for adults ages 19 and older): Take 2 g daily.” While other studies like from Examine.com state that 5g is the optimal dosage. The best recommendation would be to take 5g a day, as a majority of studies point to this as the effective dosage. By just taking 5g a day, athletes will become much stronger and retain lean mass, not to mention the endurance benefits. In this case, such a small dosage minimizes any side effects, and probably will be the safest and most effective dosage. I personally have used creatine in this dosage for months, and reaped the rewards with no side effects whatsoever. It really matters what the dosage is, as the reasons behind why there are issues surrounding the supplement are due to the fact that people take such large dosages. Creatine as a whole has many good qualities, but after the research was done, also revealed many plausible bad qualities as well. Most of these issues are associated with incorrect dosages, but there are still some side effects present if correctly dosed. Not to mention, there will always be people who will carelessly take it, and think that by “taking more” it will just enhance the effects. Based on the fact that creatine can still be taken by athletes, but not given by coaches, athletes may still take creatine if they think it will help them. Yes, you are more susceptible to liver issues if you take 20g of creatine every day. You can also die from eating too much sugar in life, and get issues like heart disease. As it stands now, I understand why the NCAA had to step in, creatine is a supplement that if taken, must be taken correctly, and carefully.

Works Cited

Ganguly S, et al. “Creatine.” MedlinePlus Supplements, Medline Plus, 14 Mar. 2017.

Cooper, Robert, et al. “Creatine Supplementation with Specific View to Exercise/Sports Performance: an Update.” Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, BioMed Central, 20 July 2012.

“Creatine: What It Is, What It Does, and Its Side Effects.” Men’s Health, Men’sHealth, 25 Aug. 2016.

Examine.com. “Creatine Supplement – Unbiased Review on Usage, Dosage, Side Effects.” Examine.com, Examine.com, 4 July 2017.

“Creatine.” University of Maryland Medical Center, University of Maryland Medical Center, 11 Nov 2017.

van, J, et al. “Three Weeks of Creatine Monohydrate Supplementation.” Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine : Official Journal of the Canadian Academy of Sport Medicine., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 19 Sept. 2009.

Francaux, M, and J R Poortmans. “Side Effects of Creatine Supplementation in Athletes.”International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Dec. 2006.

Adhihetty PJ, et al. “Overview.” Penn State Hershey Health Information Library, Penn State Hershey, 1 Jan. 2017.

“CREATINE: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions and Warnings.” WebMD, WebMD, 11 Nov 2017.

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