The Effects on Cyberbullying Essay Example for Free

The Effects on Cyberbullying Essay Studies show that cyberbullying incidents have quadrupled in past five years (Ross). Cyberbullying has become a huge issue recently. Every time you turn on the news there is another bullying, or a suicide related to bullying, incident being reported. â€Å"Love is louder† has been a common phrase among celebrities and influential figures lately. They are trying to send out a message to their followers saying that bullying is not right and should not be tolerated. The growth of communication technologies is widening the way bully’s can torture their victims. The fact of the matter is, technology is not going anywhere, so we need to figure out a way to put an end to cyberbullies. Cyberbullying is becoming a major problem and we all need to do our parts in figuring out what can be done to stop cyberbullies in their tracks. Cyberbullies will continue to be a threat to today’s youth until we take preventive measures against them. Before putting a stop to cyberbullying we must understand why and how a cyberbully works. After researching and analyzing informative articles on the topic, this research paper aims to inform and answer questions such as: what a cyberbully is, how they work, whom they target, and how to stop them. By understanding how a cyberbully works we will be able to better protect youth populations as technology grows. Just about half of U. S. students are impacted by traditional bullying each school day (Ross). Cyberbullying is technology powered and as technology expands it is getting harder and harder to see and prevent bullying from happening. Bullying over the Internet makes it easy for the bully to get away with their destructive behavior without any consequences. The article, â€Å"What is Cyberbullying: Bullying Comes Home† states, â€Å"Bullying is not new but thanks to the Internet teens are now being bullied at home. Online harassment is a serious problem† (Hardcaslte). Although the Internet has opened many doors to new opportunities, it has unfortunately taken bullying to another level. As the article, â€Å"Cyber Bullying Facts† states, â€Å"as the number of households with Internet access approaches saturation and cell phone ownership expands to the 100 million mark, so do the ways kids bully each other† (Ross). Anything sent out into cyberspace is very difficult, sometimes impossible, to remove. Therefore, being cyberbullied can sometimes be much more severe than traditional bullying. Ann Frisen in he article, â€Å"Cyberbullying: A Growing Problem† states, â€Å"This type of bullying can be more serious than conventional bullying. At least with conventional bullying the victim is left alone on evenings and weekends† (ScienceDaily). What exactly is ‘cyberbulling’? The author of the article, â€Å"What is Cyberbullying: Bullying Comes Home† explains it as, â€Å"any harassment that occurs through the Internet† (Hardcastle). Cyber-bulling messages can be sent through text, e-mails, instant messaging, web pages, blogs, chat rooms, or any other information communication technologies. For example, Michigan’s assistant attorney general, who is a grown adult, has been harassing the University of Michigan’s openly gay student body president. Andrew Shirvell, assistant Michigan attorney general, created a blog in April of 2010 targeting Chris Armstrong, University of Michigan’s student body president. On this blog he has posted many rude, untrue, and unnecessary comments towards Chris Armstrong, along with distorted pictures. According to the article, â€Å"Assistant Michigan AG targets openly gay college student† the author states, â€Å"Shirvell has published blog posts that accuse Armstrong of engaging in ‘flagrant sexual promiscuity’ with another male member of the student government; sexually seducing and influencing ‘a previously conservative male student’ so much so that the student, according to Shirvell, ‘morphed into a proponent of the radical homosexual agenda’† (Steward). Mr. Shirvell is clearly a first-hand example of a cyber-bully and this article goes to show that it’s not just kids bullying each other in school anymore; it’s much bigger than that. There have been at least three teen suicides in September after experiencing homophobic cyber-bullying. Who are the main victims targeted by cyber-bullies? According to the article, â€Å"Cyber-bullying Facts† Middle school and High school girls are twice as likely as boys to display cyber-bullying behaviors in the form of email, text, and chat, and only 20% of cyber-bullying victims tell their parents about the incident (Ross). Cyber-bullies target students, coworkers, neighbors, and even friends. Lately, there have been many reports of suicides related to bullying. For example, the recent death of Tyler Clementi, a freshman at Rutgers University, is an extreme case of cyber-bullying. The article, â€Å"Rutgers student death: Has Digital Age made students callous† informs, â€Å"Mr. Clementi killed himself on September 22nd, 2010. According to prosecutors, a few days earlier his roommate, Dharun Ravi, and another student, Molley Wei, used a Web cam to secretly transmit images of a sexual encounter between Clementi and another man. They intended to do so again on September 21† (Khadaroo). With cyber-bullying a bully can pick on people with less risk of being caught. People who you would not see bullying someone in school don’t have a problem using the Internet to bully their victims because you can’t see their initial reaction. Bullying cannot only hurt the victim emotionally it can also cause them to have frequent headaches, indigestion and vomiting, loss of sleep, loss of appetite, paranoia, and suicide. In Tyler Clementi’s case he was so overwhelmed by what had been done to him that he jumped off of the George-Washington Bridge. It is important for college campuses to promote tolerance for differences, including homosexuality. From the article, â€Å"Rutgers student death: Has Digital Age made students callous† the author states, â€Å"We are tempted to think that social-media technology drove the behavior, but as a truly ethical matter, the behavior has to be and should be considered human-driven, not technology driven† (Foulkrod). Harrisburg University of Science and Technology in Pennsylvania recently blocked the use of social media for a week to prompt discussions about its role in everyday life. Nobody wants to see this happen again; therefore, we need to come up with a solution to the problem. Some observers of today’s youth and media culture believe that today’s media environment could be desensitizing young people to the hurtful effects of their actions. What can be done to prevent cyber-bullying? Parents can start by talking specifically about cyber-bullying and explain that is harmful and unacceptable behavior. Talk regularly with your child about on-line activities he or she is involved in, keep your home computer in easily viewable places, such as a family room or kitchen, and consider installing a filtering or blocking system (Ross). Also, you can â€Å"outline your expectations for responsible online behavior and clearly explain the consequences for inappropriate behavior† (Ross). The most important thing that can be done to stop a cyber-bully harassing you is to just not respond to the bully. Do not play into the bully’s games. Ignore the bully and tell a parent or teacher. While ignoring the bullying make sure to save all of the evidence so that if police need to be involved you will have it ready. In the article, â€Å"What is Cyberbullying: Bullying Comes Home† states, â€Å"Repeated or excessive harassment via email, forums or chat rooms is harassment and should involve the police. Threats of violence should also be reported to the police. Try to save all messages as evidence† (Hardcastle). Treat a cyber-bully like you would any other bully and they will lose their power. Another important way to prevent cyber-bullying attacks is if you see something going on don’t just be a bystander and let it happen, report it before anyone gets hurt. In conclusion, with the expansion of the Internet and social networking technologies cyber-bullying is becoming more common and more severe. The information presented in this research paper should give people a better understanding of what a cyber-bully is, how harmful they can really be, and how to prevent cyber-bullying from happening. This paper can be used to help victims realize they are not alone and should not give into a bully’s dangerous behaviors. This research paper is to inform society about what has been going on lately and how unacceptable and dangerous it is. Kids are killing themselves over photos, web posts, and videos posted by bullies using the Internet. Cyber-bullying is technology powered and will only get worse as technology becomes more widespread. Hopefully, this paper will help to inform today’s youth and parents. If you see any kind of bullying happening in front of you, stop it if possible, and then report it.

Racial Ethnic And Religious Profiling in the U.S. Essay Example for Free

Racial Ethnic And Religious Profiling in the U.S. Essay In the United States, ‘The land of the Free’, racial profiling of minority groups seems all too common. Many Americans believe that law enforcement as well as many other people often discriminates on minority groups simply because of their color of their skin. Civil rights activist and many leaders of minority groups are pressuring Enforcement agencies to eliminate racial and ethnic profiling during traffic stops and supposed random pedestrian stops. However, many law enforcement representatives claim that the complaints about these activities are overstated and are simply in the heads of the accusers. As a nation with a history of racial slavery and racial segregation, particularly towards any group that is not Anglo-American or fair skinned, African-Americans have long complained of racial profiling. Although racial slavery has been over for over one hundred years, and segregation that ended over fifty years ago, there is still tension between many people over race. Hispanics and Muslims are two other ethnic groups that feel the racial profiling, often being suspected of being terrorists or being illegal immigrants. Racial profiling is not a new subject in America. Racial profiling dates back to the colonial days in America. The revolutionary era there was religious profiling of Quakers because they were seen as being unfaithful to the revolution. African Americans have been racially profiled since the days of Slavery. Mexicans and Latinos have been scrutinized and called out by law enforcement since around the time Texas gained its independence. 19th century immigration laws created ethnic and racial profiling against Asians and southern and eastern Europeans. In August of 1777 the Continental Congress ordered the arrests of multiple Quakers that were supposedly disloyal to the Revolution. The Continental Congress had no evidence, and there were no trials. Many of the prisoners were exiled to a Virginia jail. The captives were released from the imprisonment because of pleas from their families and from a few political leaders. During the Pre-Civil War era African-Americans made up about one sixth of the country’s population. The majority of those African-Americans were slaves, with the majority of them slaves in the South. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 had only a few things that protected actual free African-Americans. Slave hunters could legally capture the slaves that were able to escape. Free African-Americans had almost no immunity from being captured and treated as if they were runaway slaves. The new movie â€Å"12 Years a Slave† that recently came out in theatres shows how a free black man could be captured and sold into slavery without being able to prove their freedom, because of profiling any African-American as a slave. The end of slavery did not end the profiling of African-Americans. The Jim Crow era made segregation legal and seemingly right because of laws. The Jim Crow laws reinforced the belief that African-Americans were inferior to whites. Any African-Americans accused of committing a crime could be subject to unjust treatment by law enforcement and even unfair trials in court. One of the most heinous acts of racial profiling was the threat of racist vigilantes. According to the Tuskegee Institute, more than three thousand four hundred African-Americans were lynched from 1880 to 1950. Mexicans and Mexican-Americans were also victim to racial profiling since the days of the annexation of Texas from Mexico. In 1845 the Texas Rangers were formed and served as the nations first statewide police organization. According to the University of Texas’ del Carmen, the Texas Rangers committed many â€Å"brutal acts against Comanche tribes and thousands of Mexicans†. Many Mexican-Americans throughout the southwest United States and throughout most of Texas suffered from the same kind of racial segregation as African-Americans. In the 1930’s nearly 2 million Mexican-Americans were forced and aggressively pressured to leave the United States. In the late 19th century Federal immigration laws portrayed racial profiling by the national government. In 1875 one of the first Federal Immigration laws banned the entry of the country to many undesired Asian immigrants brought to the United States for forced labor and prostitution. In 1882 the Chinese Exclusion Act banned all immigration of Chinese laborers. Decades later the United States government put in action literacy tests to gain citizenship that were swayed to only help Europeans and not Asians or Latinos. On February 19th 1942 one of the most well known acts of racial profiling was committed. Under an executive order of president Franklin D. Roosevelt, the president ordered the internment of over 110,000 people mostly of Japanese descent following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The federal government believed that anyone of Japanese descent could be a threat to national security. Hundreds of thousands of innocent honest American citizens were forced into internment baffles me, considering that the government would never do that to White German-American citizens even though the main enemy of World War 2 was Germany. In the late 20th century racial and ethnic profiling became an important issue in the public eye. The African-American civil rights movement embodied the desire of African-Americans to be treated equally socially and under the treatment of law. After the Civil Rights movements, African-Americans and other minorities were being treated more fairly but still falling victim to racial profiling. The FBI and DEA perfected the â€Å"formal† art of racial profiling in the 1970’s. The DEA created a â€Å"profile† for supposed drug traffickers, which targeted African-Americans and people of Hispanic descent. The list of characteristics gave agents the right to randomly stop and search people matching the profile; legal racial profiling. In 1989 the Supreme Court granted permission to use those characteristics as probable cause to stop and search someone. Throughout the 1990’s racial profiling was an epidemic with law enforcement stops in the United States. Statistics show that African-Americans were the great majority of police drug stops. In Maryland during 1995, a man with the last name Wilkins filed a lawsuit against law enforcement to uncover hard evidence that African-Americans were being unfairly profiled. After a thorough investigation of the Maryland law enforcement, a state police â€Å"Criminal Intelligence Report† showed that there was a explicit profile for targeting African-Americans. The investigation actually uncovered that African-Americans were 72 percent of the stops made in the state. After the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 there was a new group in the United States being racially profiled, Middle Easterners and Muslims. The federal government, as well as the many of the American public became suspicious of anyone of Middle Eastern descent or anyone who practiced the Muslim religion. Although the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful, many people as well as law enforcement began to racially profile them as â€Å"terrorist†. Even African-Americans and Latinos began to scrutinize innocent Middle Easterners. Although President George W. Bush promised to help end racial profiling because it was unconstitutional, following 9/11 the law enforcement began to profile even more than ever. The government focused on Arab Nationals and anyone who could possible have links to the terrorist group Al Qaeda. Immigration Authorities began rounding up hundreds of Middle Easterners for thorough questioning. Although they denied it, Airport screeners began giving special attention to anyone who appeared to be of Middle Eastern or Arabic descent. In 2003 the Bush administration issued a Racial Profiling guideline that stated racial profiling is okay as long as it is related to National Security. In 2008 the Barrack Obama administration and critics of racial profiling began to push for more legislation to prevent racial profiling. Being the first African-American President, it seemed as if times were changing as far as racial profiling stands in the United States. In 2009 the murder of African-American teenager Trayvon Martin griped the nation. The murder was a pure case of racial profiling by a vigilante in a predominantly white neighborhood. Martin’s murder George Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watchman was suspicious of Martin walking around his neighbor hood one evening. Zimmerman armed with his handgun, began stalking Martin and eventually confronted Martin, even though police dispatchers told Zimmerman not to. On Zimmerman’s 911 call he used racial slurs and clearly profiled Martin as a criminal because he was African-American. Eventually Zimmerman confronted Martin, the two got into a scuffle, and Zimmerman shot and killed the unarmed teen. After years of trial, the jury eventually acquitted Zimmerman of the murder charge claiming it was â€Å"self defense† even though Law enforcement told Zimmerman to not follow Martin and Zimmerman did anyways. The Trayvon martin murder is still a current issue that has the nation divided. After doing extensive research on the topic of Racial Profiling in the United States I have learned a lot about how far back and diverse racial profiling is. I believe that there will always be racial profiling as long as there are multiple races living in one country. Racial Profiling is simply human nature and cannot be undone by making laws or legislation. People subconsciously profile individuals based on their individual history and knowledge. People say â€Å"I don’t see color† but the fact of the matter is, everyone sees color. Even the victims of racial profiling are guilty of racially profiling others; whether or not they say it out loud people still think it. The only thing people can do is try there best to not act upon their assumptions of others based on race, and try their best to treat everyone equally regardless of what you may think initially. Its like the old saying, â€Å"Don’t Judge a book by its cover†.

Authority As Reflected In Antigone English Literature Essay

Authority As Reflected In Antigone English Literature Essay In comparing the classical plays Antigone and The Inspector General I propose to examine the concept of authority meaning sovereign, arbiter in relation to a, or in conflict with a character representing law of natural justice personifying moral authority in the two different periods and societies of human civilization, the ancient City of Thebes and a typical provincial Russian town. The two plays are more than two millennia apart; one is a tragedy while the other is comical. Both the plays, in their unique ways reflect the ruling authority and the moral order of their times. Antigone true to her name as the one who goes against defies the authority of a despotic ruler Creon. She acts based on her conviction that the laws of right and wrong are to be obeyed above the authority of a sovereign. If in defiance of the law we cross a monarchs will? Weak women, think of that, not framed by nature to contend with men. Remember this is too that the stronger rules; we must obey ordersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. says Ismene, the response of Antigone is, I shall abide forever the eternal laws of Heaven. Ismene and Antigone represent diametrically opposed characters, one of passive submission and the other of courage. Creon is obsessive in his concern for order and defense of the City of Thebes, convinced that absolute and unchallenged power alone can protect his kingdom and its laws. In his world nothing and nobody is above the State. The issue of natural justice and moral principles do not exist in his rulebook. In the pursuit of his power to enforce the laws of the kingdo m he is merciless and dictatorial. The obsessive concern for the laws of Thebes to be observed by everyone for its survival makes him highly insecure; he is frightened by any kind of challenge to his authority real or imaginary. My guards have been bribed, men in the city have been muttering against me. Sophocles dexterously uses the chorus in the play Antigone partly as a narrator. On the other hand in Gogols play the broad landscape of the nineteenth century Russia, radically different from a small city state of Thebes, is described through the life of an anonymous provincial town. If, for Creon bribes were the worst evil, in The Inspector General bribery is a way of life, Dont graft higher than your rank sounds like a statement of virtue. The Russian Tsar presiding over the largest landlocked kingdom on Earth wielded unchallenged and absolute power. His dictatorial writ in the vast land of Russia is implemented through an elaborate bureaucratic structure where a towns governor is the despotic authority, ruling his fief in collaboration with other equally corrupt functionaries like a judge, police, hospital head and even charitable organizations in the town are in sync with the corrupt system. If Creon speaks with contempt for a woman, Speak, girl, with head bent low and downcast eyes, does thou plead guilty or deny the deed? Gogols governor is a vulgar and funny caricature, though tragic for the society. In those two weeks I have flogged the wife of a non commissioned officer, the prisoners were not given their rations, the streets are dirty as a pothouse a scandal, a disgrace! exclaims the governor in a rare moment of silent introspection. While Creon is scared of any challenge to his authority, more so if it comes from a woman, the governor of Gogol is a woman beater, disdainful of women in general, To say women and enoughs said. Everything is froth and bubble to you. The worst you would get would be a flogging; but it means ruination to the husband. Creons sentry displays wisdom greater than his master. He says that a wrong judgment by a person in power is disastrous for the society. Such a sentrys equivalents for the Russian Governor are Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky. They are totally servile and spineless creatures, even more stupid than the Governor himself. Their greatest ambition is to be mentioned to the Tsar, I beg your highness or your Excellency most worshipfully, when you get back to St. Petersburg, please tell all the high personages there, if you should happen to speak to the Tsar, then tell him too, Piotr Ivanovich Bobchinsky lives in this town. Creon is convinced that punishment for disobeying his authority should be severe and exemplary There is nothing worse than disobedience to authority. In Gogols world of the authority each official, be it the governor or the postmaster lives in eternal fear of the central authority in the Capital of Russia. At the same time the powers delegated under the Tsarist absolute rule are manipulated and misused by them for their own individual benefits. Their apathy is tragically comic. The caricature and tragedy of this absolute power is reflected in the personages of the governor and his team on the one hand and Khlestakov on the other. Khlestakov boastfully holds forth to his frightened audience of the all powerful town authority, Even the Imperial Council is afraid of me. I dont spare anybody. I am everywhere, everywhere. The great authority trembles at his empty words. The eternal conflict between the right and wrong is reflected broadly in every great classic of the World be it, Antigone with its highly dramatic conflict between the rules of the State on the one hand and the center of moral authority on the other as reflected in the powerful character of a vulnerable young woman who throws a challenge to the kings orders Whoeer transgresses shall be stoned to death. However, Antigones conviction is mightier than Creons authority The immutable unwritten laws of Heaven. They were not born today nor yesterday; they die not; and none knoweth whence they sprang. I was not like, who feared no mortals frown to disobey these laws and so provoke the wrath of Heaven. I knew that I must dieà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. The impotent anger of the sovereign Creon the greatest authority in the kingdom is expressed in his reaction to Antigones revolt Now if she thus can flout authority, unpunished, I am woman, she the man. Gogol was a supporter of the Tsarist order. It is the monarch who generates love towards himself and he alone can reconcile all classes and turn the nation into a harmonious orchestra. Thus, the Tsar is Gods earthly image and representative. wrote Gogol. How he described the life of Russia under the Tsarist order, in effect is in contradiction with his belief in the Tsars authority. His Governor is far from being Gods image on the Earth who rules with total contempt, not only for women, but for all citizens. He is corrupt to the marrow of his bones and his fear results in stupidity. The conditions in the court, school and hospital underline moral bankruptcy of the Tsarist authority. The insecurity of the powers that be leads them to become subservient to a young twenty three year old crook, Khlestakov. This is in deep contrast with the conflict depicted by Sophocles. The two plays not only belong to different ages and civilizations, one is a tragedy in form, while the other is a del ightful satire. No civil society can do without an active rule of law and authority, at the same time, a dictatorial rule destroys the foundation of a civil society. The ruler of Thebes lives in fear of his authority being sabotaged. Whereas in the vast Russian empire, the Governor of the town, exercising dictatorial powers lives in morbid fear of being exposed in his corrupt ways and losing his authority. In Gogols The Inspector General there is no Antigone to challenge the authority of the state and assert moral authority. Gogol uses satire and achieves the same result in depicting bankruptcy of immoral State power as Sophocles did though depicting a tragic conflict. Word Count Æ’Â   1,308 Words

Organ Donation and Forest Depletion Depicted in Fitzhugh’s The Organ Gr

Organ Donation and Forest Depletion Depicted in Fitzhugh’s The Organ Grinders On the back of my drivers license there is a box which will allow me to donate organs if I wish to do so. Upon first receiving my license I didn’t know whether to sign it or where I could find three witnesses to watch me sign. Modern science is allowing people to live longer than ever before, and transplanting failed organs is another method to preserve our frail lives. The problem with human organ transplantation is there is never enough supply to meet the high demand. With organ transplants being a problem in our society, the diminishing rain forest is another pressing issue. It has been estimated that our rain forests could disappear within 40 years at our current logging rate (Raintree, 2004). The reason we were always told to recycle and ‘save a tree’ is because the rain forests provide our breathing air. The rain forests provide a home for many animals and removing the animals from their home will cause extinction. In the novel The Organ Grinders, P aul Symon the main character, observes the apparent problem that exists in rain forest depletion and with organ transplantation. With a few significant changes, the damage done by these technologies can be minimized and life be treasured. As an adolescent Paul Symon proposed a plan to Jerry Landis who was the owner of Landaq, a biotechnology corporation. Once Landis got a photo with Paul to make him feel good and got him to leave, Landis and his photographer burst into laughter. â€Å"Then he saw Jerry Landis drop his proposal into the wastebasket. And with that simple act, Jerry Landis taught Paul a painful lesson†¦it wasn’t the worst thing Jerry Landis would ever do to him.†(Fitzhugh,... ...e Organ Grinders. New York: Avon, 1998 â€Å"John J. Fung† Transplanting Animal Organs Into Humans Is Feasible 1999 Nov http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_2654_128/ai_57564084 â€Å"Alan H. Berger† Xenotransplantation: The Ethics, the Science, the Risks 1996 March 15 http://articles.animalconcerns.org/ar-voices/archive/xeno_risks.html â€Å"Alexander Tabarrok† A Moral Solution to the Organ Shortage 2001 February http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?ID=283 â€Å"savetherainforest.org† Facts about the rainforest http://www.savetherainforest.org/savetherainforest_007.htm â€Å"wikipedia† Rainforest 2004http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainforest â€Å"rain-tee.com† Rain forest facts 2004 http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm â€Å"Robert E. Michler† Xenotransplantation: Risks, Clinical Potential, and Future Prospects 1996 March http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol2no1/michler.htm

History Of Racquetball :: essays research papers

HISTORY OF RACQUETBALL   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the 1940’s a man named Joseph G. Sobek got tired of how hard handball was on his hands. He was dissatisfied with the indoor sports. He worked at a rubber factory in Bridgeport, CT when he decided to start a new sport. He lived in Greenwich, CT and was professional tennis player and a pro squash and handball player.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is said that in 1949, Sobek and a partner began playing with a paddle and combined the rules of handball and squash to play what they called â€Å"paddle racquets.† He then decided to change from a paddle to a racquet itself using a tennis racquet as a model. He made 25 to sell to his friends to start the sport. There was one problem though; there were faults in the ball. Sobek then found a Spalding ball made for children that work well. He bought a lot of them and sold him to his friends in 1950 to keep his sport from dwindling out. Sobek eventually started his own company to make his own ball to his exact specifications for the game.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1952 Sobek started the Paddle Racquet Association. He then put together a set of rules and printed them out and started putting together a promotional package for his Paddle Racquet to different YMCA’s to promote the sport. He also set up clinics so that new players could learn how to play the sport.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1968, Sobek started talking to the head of the US Handball Association, Robert Kendler. In 1968 the National Paddle Racquet Association held the very first racquetball tournament called the Gut-Strung Paddle Rackets National Championship. It was held in Milwaukee. The next year Kendler started the International Racquetball Association, and racquetball got its official name.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To help get the name of the sport out and bring more players in Sobek kept doing his clinics to teach the new players. Kendler used the Handball magazine, ACE, to advertise the sport and tell people about the game in articles and advertisements. Then the International Racquetball had their first tournament in St. Louis in 1969. Then after the tournaments the sport saw a lot of new players in the 1970’s. The games equipment sale went through the roof and more and more companies began making the equipment. By 1974, there were over 3 million racquetball players in the U.S.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1973, Kendler separated himself from the IRA, do to disputes in the board, he went on to start the National Racquetball Club and the US Racquetball Association, which both of them went bankrupt in the early 1980’s though.

Climate Change and Air Pollution in Australia Essay -- Global Warming E

Climate Change and Air Pollution in Australia Air Pollution Fortunately for Alice Springs and much of the Northern Territory, its remote location and low population density mean that the city is not a large source of air pollution. In fact, in a report issued by the Northern Territory Minister of Infrastructure, Planning, and Environment, it is said that while doing testing for the National Environmental Protection Measure the government only tested for particulate matter in Alice Springs, instead of the whole slate of air pollutants, which would have included Carbon Monoxide, Ozone, Sulfur Dioxide, and Nitrogen Dioxide. These other pollutants were not a concern, because of the location and low population density of Alice Springs. While testing for particulate matter, the study found only two days over the entire year where particulate matter levels exceeded the National Environmental Protection Measure standards. This was attributed to bushfires and households burning wood for heat in the winter. Although this particula r study did not test for them, Alice Springs does produce significant amounts of greenhouse gases. In June 2006, the Alice Springs Town Council issued the Local Action Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, in which they explain how much CO2 the town emitted in 1996, and exactly where the emissions came from. In 1996, the city was responsible for 325,370 tonnes of CO2 emissions. Electricity is responsible for the majority of the emissions, while fossil fuels and waste account for the rest. The Town Council’s plan to reduce these emissions hopes to cut them to 80% of 1996 levels by 2010. They plan to focus on reducing electricity consumption. Within buildings managed by the c... ...n Alice Springs. http://www.alicesprings.nt.gov.au/astc_site/your_council/council_publications/plans/local_action_plan_to_reduce_greenhouse_gas_in_alice_springs. June 2006. Australian Government Department of Climate Change. Australia’s Solar Cities. http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/solarcities/alicesprings/index.html Linacre, E. The last ice age in Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea. http://www-das.uwyo.edu/~geerts/cwx/notes/chap15/lgm_oz.html Peatling, Stephanie. Australia tops greenhouse pollution index Sydney Morning Herald. 19 June 2004. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/18/1087245110190.html Vatskalis, Kon. Report to the NEPC on the implementation of the National Environment Protection (Ambient Air Quality) Measure for the Northern Territory. http://www.ephc.gov.au/pdf/annrep_01_02/179-181_Jur_Rep_AAQ_NT.pdf

Computers in the Workplace: Are They Used Ethically? Essay

Today’s offices look very different from those in the late 1970s. Then typewriters, filing cabinets, and correction fluid were the norm. Today these items have been replaced by desktop and portable computers, database management systems, and word processing software. You are already familiar with some of the benefits of using computers in the workplace—for example, computers make it easier to manage the company database, accounting, and finance-related activities, and communications among different departments in a company—but what are some of the ethical issues that have arisen as a result of using computers in the workplace? Information technology is replacing energy as society’s main resource. Many people are concerned that too much emphasis has been put on what the computer can do to streamline business and too little on how it may be affecting the quality of our lives. For example, is it distorting the meaning of thought? That is, is it absurd and dangerous to attribute the capabilities of thinking and creativity to a computer? People have experience, convictions, and cultural traditions. Are these qualities being devalued? If so, perhaps we are heading into an era in which machinelike qualities of speed and problem solving will be valued more highly than what used to be called humane qualities. As a result, many people believe computers have the potential to contribute to worker dissatisfaction. Consider the potential for computer-based systems in business to be used to monitor employees. What if computers were (and some are already) programmed to check your speed, the pauses you make, the breaks you take, the rate of keying errors? Would it be fair for the company to do this to make sure it retains only the most efficient workers, and thus increase the value of goods and services it has to sell? Or would this detract from your dignity as a human being—your right to do some things better than you do others? And would this type of company get high-quality decisions from its employees—or would the employees be too afraid to work creatively? In addition, a growing percentage of the work force is working at home. Workers can communicate with their offices via a microcomputer and special communications software. In many cases, this arrangement enables workers in metropolitan areas to get work don instead of sitting in traffic. However, how does working at home affect employee morale, efficiency, and motivation? How does the employer maintain control over the employee? With these issues in mind, is the employee who works at home really more productive? Or not? Another important issue relates to the disabled. For most of us, computers make our lives more convenient. But for some people with disabilities, computers play a much greater role. Computers have the potential of equalizing the workplace by enabling people with mobility, vision, and hearing impairments to do the same work as someone who isn’t handicapped. Some disabled workers have difficulty holding down more than two keys at once or using a mouse. Blind workers need special translator hardware so they can read text and numbers. Fortunately, many add-on products are available to adapt standard microcomputers to the needs of the disabled, including voice translators for the blind and software that modifies the way the keyboard and the mouse are used. However, products such as these vary in sophistication and are usually quite expensive. As a result, very few companies make these purchases. Aren’t these companies discriminating against the handicapped? Many legislators are actively working to pass a bill that will make this form of discrimination illegal. In addition, software piracy, or theft, has become a major concern of software writers and manufacturers. The act of piracy is not as dramatic as it sounds; in most cases, it simply means illegally copying private-domain (copyrighted) software onto blank disks. Because some of this software—from games to heavy-duty business publishing programs—is expensive, it’s tempting to avoid purchasing an off-the-shelf package by accepting a friends offer to supply free copies. But, according to the Copyright Act of 1976 and the Computer Software Piracy and Counterfeiting Amendment of 1983, this practice is illegal. It is also unethical. Computer programmers and software companies often spend years developing, writing, testing, and marketing software programs only to lose many royalty dollars to software pirates. If you spent several years writing a book only to lose royalties through the distribution of illegal copied volumes, how would you feel? The issue is the same. Some software manufacturers write copy-protected programs into their software to prevent illegal copying; other software authors offer free (or inexpensive) copies of their programs (called shareware) through computer-user clubs and publications. Just remember: Before you consider making a copy or accepting a copy of a software program, make sure it’s legal—its theft can result in severe penalties. These are only a few of the many computer-related issues that are being discussed today. Keep in mind, however, that although these problems certainly deserve everyone’s attention, they should not obscure the opportunities that will be opened up if you know how to use computers in your chosen occupation.