Causal Argument- Killroy513

The American Prohibition boosted illegal activity, and created NASCAR.

Fast cars and alcohol are one hell of a combination. During the 1920’s and into the 1930’s, America instituted the 18th Amendment, it was a time of peace but illegal activity thrived. The 18th Amendment outlawed the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages in the United States. This did not stop the average people at this time from continuing this practice. In a nut shell, illegal activity thrived and with the use of modified cars, NASCAR would be created.

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 gangsters from the 1920’s and 1930’s are some of the most iconic people of the time. Those people set the bar for the black market in the United States. The gangsters were able to control most of the alcoholic distribution and sales in the large cities. This was highly illegal but sales were crazy. Gangsters kept generating new ideas on how to profit from this amendment.

Doctors would jump on the bandwagon as well. The medical field was not subject to the alcohol ban because that is used widely within the practice. 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.

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. Cars were a new thing at this time. 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 then 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 unnecessary weight.

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

Sources:

http://prohibitionincanada.blogspot.com/p/smuggling-bootegging-and-something.html

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/aug/26/lawless-prohibition-gangsters-speakeasies

https://www.carkeys.co.uk/news/the-story-of-how-moonshiners-created-the-performance-car

http://theroaringtwentieshistory.blogspot.com/2010/06/prohibition-and-speakeasies.html

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/during-prohibition-your-doctor-could-write-you-prescription-booze-180947940/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

http://www.laits.utexas.edu/jaime/cwp4/esg/smugglehistory.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_market

Robust Verbs- phillygirl

In Vancouver, heroin addicts often commit crimes to support their habits. The “free heroin for addicts” program is doing everything they can to stop the addicts. The problem is that there is a large crime rate due to the addicts. Addicts have a hard time getting through their day to day lives. Addicts’ daily activities such as jobs, interactions, and relationships are hard to maintain because of the fact that they are using. By heroin users being addicted, they will do whatever they have to do to get their hands on the drug. Users may commit crimes such as breaking and entering as well as stealing. No limits to where they will go to retrieve this drug so that they can feed their addiction. The problem with this program is that it won’t help to ween these addicts off using heroin. The program only helps to save the city from rising crime rates that they’re up to. By providing the drug, addicts will be off the streets, which in turn will prevent them from committing minor street crimes. in addition, keep the heroin users out of the hospital. Hospitals shouldn’t have to deal with people that want to use bad drugs or unsanitary needles and find themselves being unable to afford hospital bills and hard to cope without the drug. The program gives people free heroin in the cleanest way possible. The program will in turn fix the city but not the addiction that these people face.

Causal Argument – PlethoraGaming

Collegiate Varsity Esport teams are not highly skilled

AVGL hosted a League of Legends tournament for the Fall 2017 semester. This tournament had over a hundred teams and from the results of the tournaments, I am able to state that varsity teams are not nearly high skilled as they should be. It is not that the varsity team is not equipped with proper equipment to play at the highest skillset, it is that coaches or the players are just not doing their roles correctly.

 

Coaches are an important aspect of sports and esports, they are the ones to help the player get better, however esports coaches have a lot of work to put into. This is because for esport titles or moba games, the meta changes. Meta is something we call as a ‘standard’ things to do this version of the game, so our coaches have to stay on top of it. Along with that, doing the math for building items in games and assessing player damage etc… is a very big aspect of these types of games. So that could very well be the problem for the teams, coaches not being able to coach properly just because it is very time consuming. They are students first, and athletes second.

Most varsity programs offer some type of scholarship so how does teams work for stuff like this. Most teams are compromised to fill the basic minimum slot, for example five main players and usually three subs. Eight player rosters, but in the gaming industry roster changes are very common. School and coaches should be willing to kick members from their teams if they are not performing well. This is a tough choice for gaming teams because we rely on team synergy, because this game requires heavy communication its hard to toss a player in and expect them to understand how each of their teammates play and communicate at their level. So team compositions are a huge factor for these varsity teams.  I think the best solution is to be very picky about their players, hold a much more difficult tryouts and create a higher incentive for students to enter the team.

Another cause for varsity teams not being as high skilled as they should be is they dont have enough practice. Teams practice several hours a day, but are they are not practicing at the right skill level. The problem is due to the lack of varsity teams in collegiate esports they don’t or can’t practice with other schools and if they do, they could always just be a bad team. So getting practice from playing ‘ranked’ games are not effective enough for the players, they need to practice against pro teams. And this is what pro teams do, they ‘scrim’ against other pro team, this creates an equal skill level. But as I keep iterating this over and over, the skill level for varsity teams are not high enough.  A possible solution this dilema is that they need to create multiple teams for a single school; essentially a Team A and Team B, this helps with constant practice at similar skill level, and the constant growth of several players to do player swaps if needed. Just like any other sports they need constant practice and the proper level

Focusing a bit more on team synergy, team communication is very important in esports; they need to be constantly talking and give good and relative information. With this information is up to the team captain to make calls on what to do in game. This is something that is very difficult to do, hesitating could be a serious problem. So who gets the team captain role? This is very difficult because as individual players they might be decent players but they need to be able to keep constant communication to make proper plays in game. This is different from sports because usually the calls for a play are before a game, but in esports its during it. A captain needs to be capable of making the right calls during the game, something a coach can not help with (Uuually not allowed in any competitive esports).

 

Work Cited

“Best of Mic Check – Funny & Insane Moments | League of Legends.” YouTube, YouTube, 22 June 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVoQg81JMIQ.

Causal Argument -NewEditionLover

Gun Violence & The Extreme Severity

Gun Violence is very dangerous and one of the most leading causes in American deaths. Using a gun could be one of the most cowardly actions you could ever due. When you decide you want to harm someone is when the real question Of is this person mentally ill is frequently asked . Many people who decide that they want guns are following after the United States constitution and the act of the rights to individual to bear arms. This gives individuals the rights to have a firearm for protection , hunting and other activities. Many people think that guns are bad and all they do is kill people. In fact guns do kill people  but they also serve & protect people in difficult circumstances whenever something ridiculous may happen.Changing the laws still today may not prevent criminals and others to obtain guns.

The lack of mental health treatment in these cases is shown to be a direct cause of violence. The only correct way for civilization to reduce crime would be to improve access to treatment for mentally-ill individuals, and to improve the armament of our police forces.  In addition having gun control laws may implement more higher crime rates. Although guns isn’t the only major risk of violence it is one of the most highest causes! Guns aren’t the only weapons used in crime ! Since we are going in an affect to ban guns should we should ban everything that is considered harmful. Such examples can go as followed knives , and other harmful items known to man.

Now guns are just a tool but it can be used for good and bad. Some people that abide by the laws use guns for hunting & protection. On the other hand we have the ones who don’t follow the rules and break the rules in such cruel ways by intending to harm or cause chaos. Next guns generally started off in a good manner helping to preserve land and keep our freedom! But then it suddenly turned around as our world changed it became a deadly weapon used to inflict pain or by killing. Does the possibility of guns being available serve as an advantage to gun Violence ? I believe that the ideas of guns being available and the acces being very easy gives people the urge to want to break the law.

In addition you barely hear that someone actually used there gun in an act of self defense . Changing the laws still today may not prevent criminals and others to obtain guns. The access is simply to easy & there’s nothing we can do to stop that. Does a person being mentally ill have anything to do with gun Violence ? According  to Metzelz article “Mental Illness, Mass Shooting’s  “mental illness causes gun violence, (2) that psychiatric diagnosis can predict gun crime, (3) that shootings represent the deranged acts of mentally ill loners.” In almost every incident including huge shootings mental illness is always a question of it .The perpetrators of mass shootings, and crime in general tend to be mentally-ill. These individuals commit violence even though firearms regulated.

Many people are in higher risk of being affected by gun violence due to the problems of bulk weapons. According to Giffords Law Center “Laws limiting the number of guns someone can buy within a short span of time helps reduce gun trafficking.” This is very significant because this will prevent and lower the number of victims and hopefully send a message to everyone. Furthermore I believe the restriction of bulk buying will make purchasers not feel the urge to continue to buy or even try to sell the product through an illegal way. “New Jersey prohibits licensed firearms dealers from knowingly delivering more than one handgun to any person within any 30-day period. With limited exceptions, people may not purchase more than one handgun within any 30-day period.” The new reality is that crime is slowly but surely shaping the country but is also making the world a more systematic consequence. The offenses of gun violence and illegal activities with firearms in New Jersey are becoming more of a strict haven to make this world a safe country again.

Work Cited

Bulk Gun Purchases.” Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, 15 Oct. 2017, lawcenter.giffords.org/gun-laws/policy-areas/crime-guns/bulk-gun-purchases/.

Metzl, Jonathan. Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the Politics of American Firearms. 9 Aug. 2014, http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2014.302242

 

Causal Argument-Jonhjelly

 

As the years go on Humanity has been taking shortcut after short cut and we’ve just became extremely lazy. Before smartphones and the internet people had to go out to the library to research. Before planes , trains, and cars people use to rid horse to way they needed to go. Over the centuries it has become clear that human are lazy and that we require inventions to make our lives easier. We need to take shortcuts, instead of working harder we work smarter. We find ways to do things that take a shorter amount of time instead of just doing what needs to be done the old fashion way.

Because humans are so lazy and we need a shortcut for almost everything in ours lives we have developed different inventions to help us with that, among them is the microchip. The microchip will change our work life and make it the perfect work environment. It can create the perfect work environment because of the constant tracking it will produce. This can include attendance, monitoring there movements in restricted areas. According to the Saumya Sharma this device could be beneficial to keep certain workers from getting access to certain areas of the office that are off limits. Sharma said “The system enable the organization to track and monitor selected individual to access locations, permit movement, record the important data and also enable the viewing of record via internet.”(Sharma 2). Also the device can limited what there workers are view on the internet. Another important aspect of the microchip and how it can create the perfect work environment is for the handicapped workers. Based on the article written by Sharma the RFID microchip reader can read up to 5 meter this will eliminate  the need to walk very close to the scanner will walking into work, making the life of a handicap person much easier.   Something that was very hard to control in the first place will be eliminated with this new technology. This new device can be the new innovation said the CEO of the company that provides this device to its workers. Toddy Westby stated “We think it’s the right thing to do for advancing innovation just like the driverless car basically did in recent months,”(Fox 3). Basically he is stating that this well be the new iPhone that everyone will need to have. Although the microchip main purpose in the work place is to monitor the employees it can also give the workers some advantages. One of the perks to having a microchip embedded in our skins is that we will never have to remember our passwords again to anything. With a swipe of a hand in seconds whatever we seek we will gain access to whatever we want. No more looking for your misplaced keys because with this new invention you will be able to  unlock and start your car in a matter of seconds. Also looking for your id for work, with this invention you can check in to your work place and you will be able to gain access to your office again with only a wave of your hand. A company has been offering this technology to their employees, Three Square Market has been giving out this to there employees and everyone who has received it has no complaints. ” “I don’t want to carry a wallet with me anymore. Actually, I forgot my wallet today. I didn’t even bring it to work. It’d be nice to be able to get some lunch. But you got your wallet, you got your key, your company badge. Now forget about all of that. That’s all in that implant in your hand,” Danna said.”(Merrill 4). This employee seemed to enjoy this invention because of its convince. It allows her to leave her wallet at home because the chip is linked to her bank account so there is no need to car it with her if she is only going to work.  Another business that has been implanting this device into their customers is the Baja Beach Club. This club is in Barcelona and has been offering this chip so that their clubber can be more safe when coming out to the club. This way they do not have to carry their id or money with them when they feel the need to come out. The club owner was thinking, this is a safer way to have people come out and enjoy the night without getting robbed or anything in the matter. He wants people to be safe when they leave his place of business.

Another way this device can increase productivity is using the system that the chip is programmed with. According to the article titles “Methods, systems, and media to improve employee productivity using radio frequency identification” This microchip device can increase productivity because of its programming “using the information transmitted from the RFID tags as well as other factors, such as employee location, employee skills, and expected processing or handling time for the goods.”. This is stating the microchip can calculate the employees skills and determining there skills from there they can tell whether or not that if less people is required to complete the task. Depending if another area is in need of help the system in the microchip can help tell if help is actually needed and who will be the best person to complete the task. This is just yet another reason why the microchip can create a perfect work environment.

Inventions has been making humanity life easier since the first invention was made. It is the reason we find a shortcut to almost everything we do, It is the reason why we are at the top of the food chain and the smartest animals.  Invention are why human thrive, it why some of us have billions of dollars, Technology gives us power over other and give us a new way of living. The microchip nothing different, it brings us convinces, safety and comfort.

Work cited

Johnson, Ben. “Would You Let Your Boss Microchip You?” Marketplace, Marketplace, http://www.marketplace.org/2017/07/26/tech/sitting-down-three-square-market-microchips-its-employees.

“Clubbers choose chip implants to jump queues.” New Scientist, http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn5022-clubbers-choose-chip-implants-to-jump-queues/.

Anon, (2017). [online] Available at: .https://www.google.com/patents/US8639543 [Accessed 28 Nov. 2017].

Causal Argument–todayistheday19

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.  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.  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, 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 horrifying.  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 others 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.

The memories of Free Willy and facts embraced by Blackfish push people to say no to SeaWorld.  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.

works cited

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.

 

Causal Argument- alaska

Causes Can be Ruthless

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.

Works cited

Tracy, Natasha. “What Caused the Depression? – Causes – Depression.” HealthyPlace.

 

 

Causal Argument-Jadden14

Creatine being used by athletes

One of the greatest developments of supplements in the Nutrition Industry for athletes was Whey Protein Powder, and Creatine. As time progressed, science evolved and certain supplements became more accessible to consumers. The price of Whey became much cheaper and more affordable to buy. Supplement companies started selling many different forms of creatine, all of which did the same thing: overall increase the lean muscle mass an individual puts on while exercising.

One of the major causes of creatine receiving a bad name may be due to the increasing production of dying bodybuilders. In recent years, many bodybuilders taking creatine, and other various harmful drugs, sometimes die at a younger age than normal. These bodybuilders would be doing quite a bit more than creatine though. They obviously are using various unregulated anabolic substances, and because of their popularity from doing shows, the media focuses on them. This brings lots of attention to what their 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. Today, creatine is not allowed to be recommended or offered by coaches to athletes. In a study from the University of Maryland, a doctor states that “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 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.

One of the many great effects of creatine is that it will increase the amount of work muscles will do. Creatine breaks apart in the body to create a compound known as phosphocreatine. phosphocreatine directly creates ATP, which the body uses as energy. 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. Creatine can also be applied to the face in cream form for aging skin. If taken in the proper dosage of around 5g, it can be proven to be a great bodybuilding or athletic supplement.

There are some potential negative effects of creatine use, primarily short-term and not harmful. One of the effects that can be caused by creatine is it can cause the body to retain water. This means the consumer will have to intake more water, or suffer the risk of dehydration. In the cases of athletes, they are told frequently by their coaches to constantly be drinking water, so this isn’t an issue with them. Due to it’s water retentive nature, it is known to cause weight gain. A myth going around is that creatine may cause kidney damage, but this has been disproven, and is only prevalent in extremely high dosages. This may hinder weight loss abilities for people who go to the gym trying to lose weight, and should be avoided by them. This would work best for lean athletes, as they will bulk up and put on more lean muscle mass for their sport. There are smaller studies pointing to creatine in some people can cause an irregular heartbeat, but this study doesn’t have enough backing yet to be a concern.

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 doctors even recommend the supplement, like Kurtis Frank, who says that  “It’s safe, it’s healthy, it’s cheap, and for most people it just works”. A Bodybuilders benefit the most from this supplement, but any exercise in general will utilize the effects of the supplement. 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.

 

Works Cited

Creatine: What It Is, What It Does, and Its Side Effects. (2016, August 25). Retrieved November 11, 2017, from https://www.menshealth.com/health/creatine-side-effects-what-it-is-what-it-does

Examine.com, Creatine.Retrieved November 11, 2017, from https://examine.com/supplements/creatine/

Creatine, University of Maryland Medical Center. (2017, January 1). Retrieved November 11, 2017, from http://www.umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/creatine

 

Causal Argument– Splash305

Dealing With Being an  FBI Profiler

Criminal investigators undergo a lot of pressure and stress during different cases. Matthew Leone states a really good point of what stress does to someone. He states the three-stage process identified by Selye, which connected psychological stress to physical disease, became known as the General Adaptation Syndrome. The first stage of this stress response was called the Alarm reaction. In this stage, the reaction to the onset of stress is immediate, but short-term. This is where humans would exhibit a “fight or flight” reaction to this new stress. While this stage is brief, immune system suppression was still found to occur toward the end of this stage. In the second (Resistance) stage, the body is attempting to adjust to prolonged stress. He continues by saying Metabolic changes occur as a result of these adaptations, and if the stress does not subside, the body eventually moves into the third, or Exhaustion, stage. In this stage, the physical resources of the body are depleted and the organ function is beginning to weaken due to the prolonged and unrelenting effect of these psychological stressors. When the individual has reached the Exhaustion stage, stress has been experienced for an extended period of time, and physical function may diminish gradually, or it may collapse quickly. The immune system may become corrupted, resulting in infections or other diseases due to reduced immunity. Heart attacks and strokes also become possible due to high blood pressure which often accompanies prolonged stress (Selye, 1936). With each different case comes a different kind of stress and a different way of coping with what has been seen. For example, when it comes to murder cases as Dr. Laurence Miller states the sheer magnitude and shock effect of many mass-murder scenes and the violence, mutilation and sadistic brutality associated with many serial killings – especially those involving children – often exceed the defense mechanisms and coping abilities of even the most jaded investigator. In addition to that he also goes on to explaining how problems with other cases can be very emotionally damaging. As the investigation drags on, the inability to solve the crime and close the case further frustrates and demoralizes the assigned officers and seems to jeeringly proclaim the hollowness of society’s notions of fairness and justice.

As noted above, all the more disturbing are situations where the killer is known but the existing evidence is insufficient to support an arrest or conviction. This is one of the hardest to deal with, nothing is more shameful then having eyes on the killer and knowing who he is but there is just not enough to arrest him. To know how close the suspect was to being caught but because of the lack of evidence it leaves a feeling of such guilt and as if the killer is taunting the person who couldn’t gather enough evidence to convict this suspect. Stress and self-recrimination are further magnified when the failure to apprehend the perpetrator is caused by human error, as when an officer’s misguided actions or breach of protocol leads to loss or damage of evidence or suppression of testimony, allowing the perpetrator to walk. With that being stated it is a very exhausting effort in trying to solve these murder cases. Having a perpetrator walk free because of damaged or lost evidence can cause a person’s work quality to become hurt, they could start making sloppy errors which could increase a person’s vulnerability to more stress and failure with cases. Dr. Miller explains in rare cases when it comes to no-arrest cases, and particularly those involving children, some homicide or sex crime investigators may become emotionally involved with the victims’ families and remain in contact with them for many years. Some detectives become obsessed with a particular case and continue to work on it at every available moment, sometimes to the point of compromising their work on other cases and leading to a deterioration of health and family life. When it comes to cases related to sex crime investigations there is more of a frustration or sadness when it comes to those who were more vulnerable like children or the elderly. Most cases are hard to get through on a normal basis and it takes a lot of mental strength and coping skills to finish certain assignments. But those involving children that ended without an arrest or caught criminal can be even more damaging to someone’s mental process. Causing them to spend even more time on this case than others just to bring answers to the families that lost their children.  Criminal investigators need to use coping skills regularly when doing their assignments to be able to finish them effectively. Dr. Miller has stated some strategies that criminal investigators use to cope and has gone into detail about each of them.

First, we have the defense mechanism and mental toughening, this is used as the most familiar way of blocking up unpleasant material who are used to taking a tough, suck-it-up attitude toward unpleasant aspects of the job. Next there is a strategy called compartmentalization or isolation, this affect is where negative emotions are separated out and put in a “mental file cabinet” in order to allow the rest of the officer’s cognitive faculties to keep functioning. Individuals differ in their ability to make this mental separation without undue emotional leakage into other areas of work and family life. Another strategy is intellectualization which is another strategy used to describe the process of detoxifying an emotionally wrenching task or experience by adopting the stance of detached, objective, intellectual curiosity: for example, the emotional revulsion and horror of encountering the remains of a sexually mutilated corpse is diffused and diluted by immersion in the technical scientific minutiae of crime-scene investigation and offender-profiling. Then we have the strategy of sublimation which refers to the process of turning a “bad” impulse into a socially acceptable, or even admirable “good” activity or vocation. For this strategy it can easily take the impulses that many people would consider bad or not natural and channel them into something acceptable while still getting that release. Humor is a strategy that plays a big role in coping when it comes to this job field. Being able to laugh about the horrors people see and the insane serial killers that walk this earth really helps with being able to play off that those things actually exist. Peer support and healthy humor from the people and the investigative team in the work place also play a big part in helping those in this work field stay sane.

With professionalism begins with a certain attitude that says the investigator will do his or her best because of a general service orientation and specifically because the work provides professional satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. Professionalism encompasses the physical space in which the investigator works. There is no reason for the investigator’s office to be unnecessarily grim, but bear in mind that this office will have a wide variety of professionals and civilians circulating through it – from liaison officers of other agencies in multijurisdictional investigations, to distraught family members of slain or assaulted victims – so officers should choose their decor accordingly. Certainly, explicit illustrations, crime scene souvenirs or other inappropriate decorations should not be in plain sight. Confidentiality is an essential part of professionalism. As Dr. Miller talks about, Victims and their families must be certain that their sensitive material – testimony transcripts, crime scene photographs, videotapes, property used for evidence – will be seen only by those directly involved in solving and prosecuting the case. Aside from being the right and ethical thing to do, the assurance of reasonable privacy and dignity serves the practical function of encouraging better cooperation from victims and potential witnesses, which may yield information vital to closing the case. This helps give the families a piece of mind that the whole world won’t be watching or see the things that happened to their child or loved one. In a sense the case, crime scene tapes and photographs will be kept quiet and professional.

Professionalism extends to the investigator’s language and behavior. Again, this is not to encourage undertaker-like solemnity or schoolmarmish over correctness, but maintaining a certain decorum of speech and demeanor is important for the public and for co-workers. Remember, sex crimes investigators must struggle with the “creep factor” even among their colleagues, so anything that contributes to the impression of serious professionalism – proper and respectful handling of gruesome or pornographic evidence, for example – will serve to heighten credibility. Again, without encouraging inappropriate over formality, the use of technical terms, not slang, should be policy, especially when communicating with civilians. All professionals – doctors, lawyers, engineers, psychologists – have their own distinctive terminology that serves to facilitate communication among them and highlights the fact that these are members of serious professions with knowledge and experience in what they do. As Dr. Miller discussed these strategies as stated above, there are far more that play different roles in keeping calm and level headed while working on hard stressful and emotionally draining work.

Crime scene technicians collect evidence related to crime and are therefore exposed to many traumatic situations. The coping strategies they use are thus very important in the process of facing the psychological consequences of such work. The available literature shows that crime scene technicians are an understudied subgroup of police workers. Our study is therefore the first unfolding insights into technicians’ coping strategies, post-traumatic symptomatology and somatic health, based on a sample of 64 male crime scene technicians as Tinkara Pavšič Mrevlje states. Another interesting fact Tinkara Pavšič Mrevlje states is crime scene technicians mainly use avoidance coping strategies. Approach strategies that are more effective in the long-term—i.e. lead to a larger buffering of the effects of traumatic stress—are more frequently used if technicians are familiar with the nature of the task, when they have time to prepare for it, and if they feel that past situations have been positively resolved. Behavioral avoidance strategies were found to be least effective when dealing with traumatic experiences and are also related to more frequent problems of physical health. But aside from all of those things it really means so much when people get through those hard cases without damaging or losing evidence so the criminal doesn’t walk free.

Works Cited

“Dealing with the Stress of Criminal Investigation:” PoliceOne, 6 Mar. 2008, http://www.policeone.com/archive/articles/1669755-Dealing-with-the-stress-of-criminal-investigation-It-gets-to-you/.

Causal Argument – rainbow987

     Negative Stigmas Cause Mental Illness to Intensify

        In a society where mental illness is generally not well understood or accepted, negative stigmas are highly present in daily life. Judgment is passed out like candy on Halloween regarding many different mental disorders, such as depression. In many ways, society blames a person for mental illness. Many people do not recognize disorders, like depression or anxiety, as legitimate illnesses. For example, health care insurance options for mental illness is extremely limited compared to the coverage offered for physical illness, which is discussed in detail by Dr. David Susman, in his article entitled “8 Reasons Why People Don’t Get Treatment For Mental Illness.” He explains that legislation was recently passed by the US Congress to address and correct these concerns, but that many details still need to be fine-tuned. In addition, those who suffer from symptoms of the sort often do not seek any treatment due to lack of resources or a fear of being judged by others. As reported by Fox News in an article entitled “More Than Half of US Adults With Mental Illness Don’t Get Needed Care,” approximately six out of ten young people suffering from major depression do not seek treatment in their life. Without proper treatment, many mental illnesses will develop and worsen over time. The negative stigmas surrounding depression directly impact the quality of life for those dealing with the illness. In many ways, these stigmas cause symptoms of the disorder to develop and intensify.

According to stereotypes and how mental illness has been portrayed throughout history in media, those suffering from a mental health issue are “crazy” or “insane.” The media’s depiction of a “crazy” person often stems from severely abnormal behaviors. The media is a direct factor as to why some people do not respect people dealing with mental illness, which is further explained in Patrick Corrigan’s “On the Stigma of Mental Illness: Practical Strategies for Research and Social Change.” The person who sits by themselves on the subway, mumbling under their breath at no one is “crazy.” Imagine this person, who is very alert and aware of everything going around him. His eyes are wide and he appears to be in a great amount of distress. Physically, he looks to be sweating profusely, and he is tapping his foot very quickly. He continues to mumble and scan his eyes around the subway car. His talking begins to get louder and turns into a shout as he yells at no one. In reaction, the surrounding passengers sense that he is extremely angered and frightened. To them, the man appears to be the exact definition of “crazy.” Upon further psychological inspection, it could be assumed that the man is suffering from delusions and hallucinations. He may have schizophrenia, which is believed to be caused by a mixture of genetics, brain chemistry, and environment. Many of these factors are uncontrollable, and therefore, the man could not control the onset of his illness. The passengers on the subway are judgmental and think that the man is causing a scene. However, the man is ill and cannot be blamed for “looking for attention” or “making up” his symptoms.

Now imagine Jane, who is a young women also sitting on the subway car. She was recently diagnosed with major depressive disorder. However, she is struggling to accept to her diagnosis. While witnessing the events transpose on the subway with the man, she can clearly see the hurtful judgment on the faces of the other passengers. No one seems to be concerned for his wellbeing. Everyone tries to keep their distance and avoid eye contact. This behavior angers Jane. She can sense the cruel thoughts that all of the witnesses have regarding the man. They all think that he is “crazy.” No one acknowledged his behavior as a legitimate mental illness or health risk. Jane compares this man to herself. She does not want to be labeled as “crazy” for her mental illness, so she does everything that she can to keep it a secret, even from her loved ones. She stops receiving treatment and attempts to ignore her symptoms. However, these actions cause Jane to struggle with her emotions and hinders her well being greatly. Her fear of being stigmatized and judged indirectly caused her symptoms of depression to increase.

There are many reasons why a person may not receive treatment for a mental illness. Among these are the fear of being judged and feeling as though they are a failure if they seek treatment. Social constructs in our society cause self doubt when a person is debating seeking help. Factors other than the person’s well being often overpower their health, which should be most important. Approximately 56% of people fail to receive treatment for major depression, for a variety of reasons. However, one of the most influential reasons as to why a person would avoid seeking treatment stems from fear of judgment by others, including family members, close friends, and co-workers. The pressure that many feel to be “perfect” causes many to deny symptoms of mental illness, which can lead to destructive, degenerative behavior. If the negative stigma regarding mental illness did not exist, or even if it was not so severe, many more people would seek treatment for mental health issues. In turn, by receiving proper care, the quality of life for those suffering from mental illness would increase dramatically. For many, treatment would help to reduce symptoms and daily struggles caused by the issue.

As a society, we treat mental illness as a taboo topic. It is not well understood and therefore often misunderstood. There are many negative stigmas surrounding the idea of mental health issues as a whole. Many do not even acknowledge disorders such as depression and anxiety as legitimate illnesses. In addition, those who suffer from mental illnesses are often falsely labeled with hateful and cruel words such as “crazy” or “unstable.” If someone suffers from a mental health issue, society will often blame the person. If someone is depressed, he is causing it himself. If someone is anxious, she is looking for attention. However, these stigmas and stereotypes are spread by ignorance and an overall lack of understanding of mental health. They can cause severe damage to an individual’s well being. Stigmas cast mental illness in a very dark shadow, which causes people to deny many if not all of their symptoms. Over time, the denial of symptoms due to fear of judgment can eventually lead to a decline in mental health when a person has an illness. Negative stigmas regarding mental health directly impacts a person’s management of an illness. These stigmas indirectly cause symptoms to intensify and affect people’s lives negatively.

                                                                         Works Cited

Corrigan, P. W. (Ed.). (2005). On the stigma of mental illness: Practical strategies for       research and social change.“

“More than Half of US Adults with Mental Illness Don’t Get Needed Care.” Fox News, FOX News Network, http://www.foxnews.com/health/2016/10/19/more-than-half-us-adults-with-mental-illness-dont-get-needed-care.html

Susman, David. “8 Reasons Why People Don’t Get Treated For Mental Illness .”