Legend that College Roommates Death Boosts GPA Essay -- Urban Legends

Dead Man's Curve--College Roommate's Death Boosts GPA Introduction and Background The legend I collected was one that I had heard before, although this version differed a little from the way I remember it. The storyteller was a 19 year-old male first year student at the University. He’s from Columbia, and his dad works in business while his mother is a homemaker. The telling of this story took place at the diner after we had finished eating: Well, my brother told me one his first summer back from attending University. He had heard the story one late night just before finals were supposed to begin. He was with a small group of friends and he had told him that he was worried about his grades. That was when a friend joked, â€Å"Well, if you’re desperate, you could kill your roommate.† The friend then elaborated that if his roommate died he magically would receive straight A’s for that semester. Context I had first heard of this legend when I saw movie on television called â€Å"Dead Man on Campus.† The film originally came out in the fall of 1998, but I had not seen it until 2003. I asked my subject if he had seen or heard of the movie. He told me that he had not. Although this legend may at first appear to be fairly straightforward, my research has shown that this legend exists in several forms. In the film version that I known, after hearing about a campus policy that gives a 4.0 to anyone if their roommate commits suicide, two freshman try to find a third roommate who is suicidal and push him over the edge. There are differences between the story I am familiar with and the story that was told to me by my subject. In my version, the death had to be a suicide while in my subject’s version any... .... The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends & Their Meanings. New York: W.W. Norton, 1981. Butcher, James N. "Assessment in Clinical Psychology: A Perspective on the Past, Present Challenges, and Future Prospects." Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice 13(3)(2006): 205-209. IMDb. 2007. The Internet Movie Database. 1 April 2007. http://www.imdb.com/. Mikkelson , Barbara. "Urban Legends Reference Pages: Grade Expectations." Urban Legends Reference Pages. 03 Mar 2007. Retrieved on 1 April 2007. http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/suicide.asp. Mortenson, Tom . "Suicide Among 15 to 24 Year Olds by Gender 1940 to 1998." Postsecondary Education OPPORTUNITY Number 132Jun 2003 01 April 2007. http://www.postsecondary.org/archives/previous/117302SUICIDE.pdf. Reisberg, Leo. "Hollywood Discovers an Apocryphal Legend." Chronicle of Higher Education (1998).

Review of Research Paper on Parkinsons Disease Treatment

Abstract Attempts to cure or slow down the progression of Parkinson’s disease have largely failed; researchers in this paper maintain this is obviously a direct result of the lack of insight into the pathogenesis of the disease. Parkinson’s disease is the product of the deaths of a number of dopaminergic (dopamine-secreting) neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta region (SNc) of the brain. But what causes these deaths? In the paper â€Å"‘Rejuvenation’ protects neurons in mouse models of Parkinson’s disease,† Chen and researchers find that older neurons in the SNc are unusually reliant on calcium channels and that after blocking these channels, the cells are â€Å"rejuvenated† and begin acting like their juvenile counterparts; as a result, these cells become protected from Parkinson’s disease. Their research, thus, points not only to a possible cause of neuronal death in PD but also to a possible means of curing the disease. Causes / Risk Factors †¢ Genetics 15-25% of people who have the disease have a parent with the disease. Having a parent with the disease increases a persons risk by 3 fold. There has not been enough research done on the genetic causes of Parkinson’s Disease to say for a fact that they are directly correlated. When more research is done there may be more strong evidence, but it could go the complete other way as well. The Human Genome project should open many doors with the research of this disease once the funding is sufficient. †¢ Environmental factors According to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, â€Å"Epidemiological research has identified several factors that may be linked to PD, including rural living, well water, herbicide use and exposure to pesticides.† They also state that a narc... ....org/AboutPD/causes.cfm> Mayo Clinic Staff, "Parkinsons Disease." Nervous System. 12 004 2007. Mayo Clinic. 1 Nov 2007 . Melanie, Brandabur. "Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Parkinson Disease." National Parkinson Foundation. 1 Nov 2007 . â€Å"Parkinson’s Disease.† MayoClinic.com. 12 April 2007. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. 15 Nov. 2007. . â€Å"Parkinson’s Disease." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 9 Nov. 2007. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 15 Nov. 2007. . "What Causes Parkinson's Disease." 2007. Parkinson's Disease Foundation. 1 Nov 2007 .

Media Production: Television and Radio

Analyse the selected television news extracts (from the screening) showing your understanding and ability to apply Personalisation and impartiality to your own critical discussion. In this essay I will analyse ITV 1, BBC 1 and Channel 4’s News programmes. I will give detailed definitions of impartiality and personalisation; I will investigate the concepts of personalisation and impartiality and use them to critically evaluate the news. I will examine how these three news broadcasters incorporate personalisation and impartiality into their news programmes. I will now discuss the concepts of personalisation and define what personalisation is. ‘Personalisation wherever possible, events are seen as the actions of people as individuals thus the NHS cuts may be put on an agenda by Baby X not getting the operation s/he needs,’ (Branston & Stafford, 1996: 138). Branston and Stafford, imply that personalisation within the news is reporting the news and relating it to the general public or a social issue. This example of the NHS making cuts, and effecting baby x can be reported in a certain way that it affects the general public. For example, ‘you’ the viewer can suggest an individual person or social group being affected by something in the news. In this case the subject of a baby provides a human interest in the news story. Williams claims that, ‘There is no subject, no abstract thing that cannot be translated in terms of people’ (Williams, 1958: 220). An example of this concept in recent news is in The Sun newspaper, there is a story about the recent re-imprisonment of one of Jamie Buglers killer. ‘The Sun’ have set up a petition demanding the government to reveal the official reason for his return to jail. The newspaper then encourages the readers to add their names to a petition which they had set up on their website www. thesun. co. uk. This is an attempt to directly involve and engage with the reader, emotionally pulling them in by personalising the language. Private personalisation within the news has resulted in the news becoming dumbed down and info-tainment. There is an increasing amount of news broadcasters using personalisation in the news, wether it is citing the public, polls, public opinion, texts, online forums emails, vox pops, or the use of celebrity personalities, by using Twitter, Facebook or the broadcast forums. The infotainment debate is an argument about the relationship between television and public life†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦according to the prevailing wisdom, TV news ought to conform as much as possible to the existing generic format of a serious newspaper’ (Creeber, 2001: 118-119). An example of infotainment can be seen when the news of John Terry’s affair was published. This story received more press converge than the upcoming general election. This asks the question, is the general public more interested in the sex life’s of footballers than an election that will affect their lifes? I will now move onto define the word impartiality; impartiality is defined as a, ‘sound practice that makes clear distinction between news reports and expressions of opinion. News reports should be free of opinion or bias of any kind’ (American Society of Newspaper Editors, 1923 in Allan 2004:22) In other words news broadcasters are legally required to broadcast unbiased and balance news reports. Ofcom state that news broadcasters have ‘to ensure that news, in whatever form, is reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality’. (www. ofcom. org. k/tv/ifi/codes/bcode/undue/) Impartiality associated with objectivity ‘the word objectivity is rarely used by regulators, but is substituted by words such as ‘impartially’, ‘accuracy’, ‘balance’ and ‘fairness’ ‘they use a set of devices that they can argue that their reporting is unbiased’ (Creeber, 2001: 117) Habermas (cited in Brom ley) argues that, â€Å" in social democracies such as Britain,TV news, because of its institutional position of (quasi) independence from the state and its statutory obligations towards impartiality and public service ideals,can serve to facilitate that ‘realm of social life’ which is available to all citizens and in which and through which ‘something approaching public can be formed. (2001:61) I will now move on to analyse the BBC, Channel 4, and ITV news programmes, discussing the broadcaster views and policies and how they use personalization and impartiality in their news broadcasts All the news broadcasters mentioned Andy Murrays win at the Australian open, the presenters all used words like â€Å"we† can win and it’s â€Å"our† time the news broadcasts were all very patriotic and involved the viewer in the story. I noticed how the BBC used personalisation in their story about the two children found dead in the boot of their mother’s car in east Sussex, the news reader introduced the story with a soft sympathetic voice to set the tone of the story, they showed two still images one image of the children and one of the mother which gives an insight into what people has been effected by this atrocity. The BBC also asked the neighbours opinion on the story all of these tequnices are used by the BBC to involve the viewer in the story and to make the viewer think that this could have been there next door neighbour with such quotes as â€Å"it’s the same old story you would never it would happen in a place like this. ITVs take on the murder of the two children is a great deal more dramatised than the BBCs the reporter narrates â€Å"she is a happy little girl there is no clue no sign in this picture of the fate she faces why would there be† the reporter asks questions in the narration to make the viewer answer and become more involved in the story, there is shot of a mum and a young girl walking into a nursery school which basically sends the message to the viewer that this should have been the young girl and her mother. This was a good insight into what happened to the young children as the reporter points to the house to set the scene then recreates the journey the mum took by filming inside the car as the drivers point of view. ITV also asked the neighbours about their views on the situation, and the last image was very personal as it showed a message from the public or a family member saying sleep tight little babies. I noticed the similarities between ITV and Channel 4 news as their reports were very similar and so was there running order. After careful research I found out that both their news is provided by ITN who say they are ‘the world’s leading independent content provider, producing news, entertainment and factual content across a range of platforms. I found that ITN’s news was dramatized compared to the BBCs this is due to the fact that the BBC prides its self in being impartial and the most respected News broadcaster in the world. After watching the BBC news I spotted some impartiality between the different news stories, in the first story about the war in Afghanistan, the picture behind the news reader shows the British and Afghanistan leaders standing side by side which implies that both leaders are together in their fight to have peace in Afghanistan. The first couple of minutes showed pictures of solders and the military winning the fight against the Taliban. The reporter mentions in the story the number of British solders killed at war and is Impartial because it doesn’t mention anything about any innocent civilians killed. The public views on the war in Afghanistan are mixed but I felt that the BBC were in favour of the war as the reporter said â€Å"in a country where most can’t read or write† the solders have brought roads hospitals and schools to the area. And footage of a solder saying â€Å"we’re winning†. Even though the BBC supported â€Å"the troops† they were negative against both leaders saying â€Å"the leaders can’t guarantee to deliver on what they agreed today, the past few years in Afghanistan have been littered with failures. This was very impartial compared to the story of president Obama and his great American recession and job opportunities speech. The BBC report used positive words such as â€Å"not broken but bruised† and great programs failing to mention that he hasn’t delivered on many policies that he promised in his election speech. This story also got more airtime than the segment on the recent job losses in Sunderland and Burnley which asks the question is the BBC more concerned about the American recession or the U. K recession. The Obama story got more airtime because it is infotainment as Obama is a celebrity president and is associated with celebrities such as jay Z. Galtung and Ruge conducted an analysis of newspapers in which they identified certain factors as being worthy of the news. These factors included things such as frequency, the time medium in which the event could be reported, threshold, the proximity of the story in relation to the reader; elite persons and nations, stories concerning powerful people or places and personalisation as well as others. The more of these criteria a story fills the more news worthy it is. Cited in Harcup and O’Neill,2001, p 279) This format of selecting the news is repeated regularly as an example the ITV news again selects stories about elite people The ITV had a different view on the policy against the Taliban the news report used words such as bribe and buy off the Taliban negative words to suggest that the policy is not a good idea. The first shot was footage of a dead solders coffin being laid to rest. It used words such as â€Å"the man he died for† suggesting the solder gave his life for the Afghanistan president it then showed clips of the Taliban firing rockets at the solders. This was a completely different view compared to the BBCs images of the solders winning battles and the solders being surrounded by children. The ITVs short report on the troops in Afghanistan was similar to the BBCs as it was very much supporting the troops but disagreeing with the government. With quotes from a dead solders farther saying â€Å"I don’t think all his (Tony Blair) stories about fighting for a democracy are true† it leads us to believe that the government’s decision to go to war isn’t as supported as we might believe. While watching the Channel 4 news broadcast on the ‘Taliban buy out’ as the presenter called it I noticed a lot of tongue and cheek comments against the government’s initiative, the first shot behind the anchor man was of Gordon Brown and president Hamid Karzai shaking hands which implied deal done, the main argument of the Channel 4 news was basically the war has failed for example they said throughout the broadcast â€Å"the war has failed so far† and â€Å"after marching eight years in Afghanistan to nowhere†. And that this new strategy is rubbish, by calling it â€Å"plan B† and â€Å"the big Taliban buy out† the anchor man put the question to Gordon brown saying â€Å"why should the tax payers pay the Taliban who killed their sons to stop fighting and how do you know some people won’t pretend to be in the Taliban for the money? Gordon browns response was pretty poor which led me to believe that this mandate isn’t a good idea and isn’t going to work. I found that the Channel 4 news were very sarcastic even to the extent of saying â€Å"the UN, Nato, and †¦. the USA of course† implying that the USA involve themselves in everything, yet in my opinion the USA have as much say over the war in Afghanistan as the UK. It seems that all the news broadcasters when they were reporting about the war in Afghanistan were very careful not to say a bad word about the army, yet most of their quotes from the reporters or general public were negative against the government. It is hard to be impartial when broadcasting the news due to individual believes and values, organ, culture, political and social pressures pulse the time of when the event is happing. We are all bias to opinion so there is no such thing as impartiality In conclusion In this essay I have defined both personalisation and impartiality looked in-depth into television news showing how news broadcasters show impartiality and personalisation in their broadcasts. I have given recent examples to back up my arguments and given academic quotes to back up the theories I use in this essay.

College Is Worthwhile Essay

Today in America going to college is more of a necessity than an option; however, college is expensive. Most people cannot afford the upfront cost of tuition and fees along with the additional costs of dorms, meals, textbooks, and other supplies to attend college. Because of this many students resort to taking out student loans that could potentially cost them more in the future. With the cost of attending college constantly rising many people are finding themselves asking the question of rather or not college is really worth the cost. Also, some people feel that going to college is a waste of time. Some feel this way because not all jobs require degrees, so they feel there is no purpose in spending long hours at an institution obtaining one. Others feel that they should not be required to meet the general education requirements of most colleges, but should instead be able to use the time taking classes relevant to their career field. Many people argue that because of these reasons college is not worthwhile. However, despite these facts, going to college has several benefits that make it very valuable. Firstly, college graduates make more money over the course of a lifetime and have more  job opportunities than people without degrees. College graduates on average make about one million dollars more in a lifetime than people with only a high school diploma. This is because college graduates have a better chance of getting and keeping a job, and these jobs pay more. The main reason for this is that there is less competition for jobs that require a degree so there is always a need for employees which means more job security. Secondly, in college people make lifetime connections and broaden their horizons. During college students meet a wide variety of people from different backgrounds than  themselves. The connections that students make with these individuals can prove very beneficial to them especially after they graduate. Many of these people that students meet in college could help them to advance their careers after they graduate. For example, their professors may recommend them for employment to others in their field. Also, they could be meeting future business partners, bosses, or employees. Thirdly, college helps young adults in becoming more responsible. When people go to college, for most, it is the first time most people are practically on their own. It is completely different from being in high school and being dependent on parents and teachers for everything from reminders and help with homework to finances. In college, students face circumstances that they would most likely encounter when completely on their own. College students have to pay bills, manage time efficiently, and be sure to meet deadlines. And if they don’t there may be minor and/or serious consequences that they have to deal with just like in the â€Å"real world. † Many people argue that going to college is not worthwhile because it is too expensive and  is a waste of time, but there are many advantages of going to college that prove how valuable the college experience can be. College students are able to gain stable careers with great pay after graduation, are able to network with the people they meet while in college in order to advance their future careers, and can gain a sense of responsibility to help them mature. So, even though college has its cons, it is challenging and exciting, and can be the best time of a person’s life. It is an experience that can and will set the precedent for the rest of a person’s life if they choose to go.

Improve my english Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Improve my english - Essay Example Some of the types of learners include: auditory, visual, kinesthetic and tactile. I am definitely a visual learner because I tend to remember more of what I see rather than what I hear. More specifically, if there is an image drawn with the text, I tend to remember that text in association with that image. This means that I am better at grasping those difficult grammatical points which can be diagrammed or have some pictorial information written with them. I also tend to remember those grammar or language points which are available in the form of a video. Moreover, I like texts having a lot of pictures. This means that if I have to improve my English, then the dull novels would not do me any good as I would lose concentration easily. Instead I should go for magazines which are generally colorful. We all have our own learning styles and one should get accustomed to the learning style that is suitable for

International Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

International - Research Paper Example Besides, it will help the company to build its name and have a good reputation in the eyes of the public. The staffing alternatives to be adopted by the company in a foreign country include the hiring of locals and expatriates both on permanent and contract basis. The employment of the locals is a necessary requirement for all multinationals operating in any country. Since one of our goals will be to create employment opportunities, we will have to engage the locals either as senior managers, junior managers or subordinate staff. On the other hand, expatriates are employees assigned to a foreign country to offer specialized services which may be lacking in the foreign country in which the company has established its subsidiary (Ulrich, 2011). In my opinion, high-quality mentoring system should be a necessity for international assignees. It helps in providing and equipping the expatriates with all the important information that they need to know about their new assignment. It is only through mentoring that assignees can know much about their roles, responsibilities and the challenges that they might experience in the new country in which they are attached. At the same time, mentoring can help in enlightening them on the socio-cultural and political conditions of the new country in which they are to serve (Inkson, K. et al., 2009). Such adequate preparation can help in preparing the assignees to succeed. An example of a high-quality mentoring program should be based on a solid research, be integrated and realistic. This is the only way through which it can cover all the necessary issues to be tackled. As a HRM, I would like to suggest the use of cash flow method to help in measuring my company’s ROI. It is a very simple activity that does not necessarily require a lot of training. If procedurally used as outlined, it can be useful in helping the company to quantify the value of return on its investments on services like advertising which of course, can

The Religious and Social Perspective on Living Aspects of Humankind Research Paper

The Religious and Social Perspective on Living Aspects of Humankind - Research Paper Example Lewis uses politics in the first letter to replace reason, and show the prevalence of propaganda in the current society (Lewis 8). The year 1941 has been used as a case that depicts actual propaganda, affecting religion and world politics. Screwtape’s letter stands as one of the most non-religious societies where the evils of both worlds and entities are considered outdated and logical minds do not consider them in their lifestyles. Referring to the Bible, Lewis claims that we used to encounter evils and temptations from Satan and his followers as a daily strive. The patient in the first and second Screwtape’s letters has been converted from a Christian to believing the assumptions and thoughts presented in the letters. Lewis mentions to Wormwood that they must keep on working on his mind. Propaganda is further instilled in the fifth and seventh letters with reference made to war and the condition of the human mind. The patient’s engagement is used to corrupt his thinking and adopt their culture. Implying that the World wars are still occurring, Lewis makes note of the spiritual and physical aspects of the human body. The spiritual conflict had been in our lifestyles, starting from when Christians were converted. Lewis uses full propaganda words to replace reason and explain the tribulations of the last days. The tribulations have been manipulated to overshadow the logic of Christianity and the sanity of today’s world politics (Lewis 11). According to Lewis, humankind undergoes continuous suffering phases in our lives for no apparent reason (Lewis 17).