Sunday, November 10, 2019

Analysis of a news story Essay

The article that I am analysing shows how a newspaper presents a story. The article I am studying is about ‘The War on Terror’ the article, being about a man named Kerim Chatty, whom was caught, whilst under a routine security check, with a gun in his wash bag was published in The Sun paper. Kerim Chatty is believed to have been planning on hi-jacking the flight air-born from Sweden to England, Stanstead. The Sun paper is a tabloid, which is more suited to people who enjoy reading ‘dramatic’ and ‘over-exaggerated stories. ‘ The Sun is aimed at people who prefer ‘easier reading. ‘ By this I mean that the papers stories are short, too the point and simple. The newspaper has sensational stories, which attract readers between the age group of 16-30. The tabloid uses interesting pictures and eye catching headlines. Also by using emotive language, it grabs the readers’ attention. The headline consists of the title ‘War on Terror,’ as the reader I was attracted to this article immediately as I wanted to see what it is about. The sub-heading reads, ‘Face of Jet Hi-jack Thug’ this is where the story begins. A good publisher knows that you should never tell your audience what the piece of writing is about, in the headings because if you do then they may not want to continue reading your story. The first sub-heading is used to briefly tell the reader of what is going on. The following sub-heading leads you onto more information, but still doesn’t give the story up. ‘Violent Crook Obsessed by Weapons. ‘ By using emotive language such as; crook, obsessed and thug, the readers build a self image of Kerim Chatty as being even more of a criminal and horrid man, this is what the tabloid paper wants you to do. The first section of the article is based on the hi-jacker and what he had done and in the main picture it shows the scene of the crime. The picture has a lot going on it; you can see the hi-jacker with his weapon, walking towards the armed police who appear ready for any sudden action from the hi-jacker. Also in the background of the picture you can see the hi-jacked plane, from a leading company Ryannair. There is a smaller caption below with a clear face of Chatty; this is put there so the readers can see who the hi-jacker is. Analysing the Picture If I saw the picture of the man without knowing he had committed an offence, I wouldn’t look at him as though he was a ‘thug’ or ‘crook’ instead Id see him as being a perfectly normal guy, who could of maybe been in the paper having been involved in a racist attack.. Below the picture of Chatty is a caption stating: ‘Gangster†¦. Kerim Chatty’ Once you see this you start to imagine an evil side to him and then turn against him. Emotive Language & Formal Language The paper immediately wants the reader to turn against Kerim, even before they manage to read the whole article, so emotive language is used to slip in words such as Crook, Thug, Violent, Obsessed and Gangster to enhance the stories features. The Sun uses informal language such as; Cops and Common Nuts! The more informal the English is the easier the article is to read and understand. ‘Simple Reading’ is what I believe The Sun is known well for. Summary: The presentation of the story is smart and The Sun did very well to express and explain the story. It has done well on telling the story, using typical tabloid tools. I don’t think Kerim Chatty, would really appreciate how The Sun have spoke about him and no doubt some of it may not be true. The Sun is a good tabloid newspaper but the stories are exaggerated in a big way, although the exaggeration does bring excitement to the story, Kerim probably wouldn’t enjoy reading it.

Real Estate Data

68. Refer to the Real Estate data, which reports information on homes sold in the Phoenix, Arizona, area last year. a. Select the variable selling price. 1. Find the mean, median, and the standard deviation. 2. Write a brief summary of the distribution of selling prices. b. Select the variable referring to the area of the home in square feet. 1. Find the mean, median, and the standard deviation. 2. Write a brief summary of the distribution of the area of homes. Price| Bedrooms| Size| Pool| Distance| Twnship| Garage| Baths| 263. 1| 4| 2300| 1| 17| 5| 1| 2| 182. | 4| 2100| 0| 19| 4| 0| 2| 242. 1| 3| 2300| 0| 12| 3| 0| 2| 213. 6| 2| 2200| 0| 16| 2| 0| 2. 5| 139. 9| 2| 2100| 0| 28| 1| 0| 1. 5| 245. 4| 2| 2100| 1| 12| 1| 1| 2| 327. 2| 6| 2500| 0| 15| 3| 1| 2| 271. 8| 2| 2100| 0| 9| 2| 1| 2. 5| 221. 1| 3| 2300| 1| 18| 1| 0| 1. 5| 266. 6| 4| 2400| 0| 13| 4| 1| 2| 292. 4| 4| 2100| 0| 14| 3| 1| 2| 209| 2| 1700| 0| 8| 4| 1| 1. 5| 270. 8| 6| 2500| 0| 7| 4| 1| 2| 246. 1| 4| 2100| 0| 18| 3| 1| 2| 194. 4| 2| 2300| 0| 11| 3| 0| 2| 281. 3| 3| 2100| 0| 16| 2| 1| 2| 172. 7| 4| 2200| 1| 16| 3| 0| 2| 207. 5| 5| 2300| 1| 21| 4| 0| 2. 5| 198. | 3| 2200| 1| 10| 4| 1| 2| 209. 3| 6| 1900| 1| 15| 4| 1| 2| 252. 3| 4| 2600| 0| 8| 4| 1| 2| 192. 9| 4| 1900| 1| 14| 2| 1| 2. 5| 209. 3| 5| 2100| 0| 20| 5| 0| 1. 5| 345. 3| 8| 2600| 0| 9| 4| 1| 2| 326. 3| 6| 2100| 0| 11| 5| 1| 3| 173. 1| 2| 2200| 1| 21| 5| 1| 1. 5| 187| 2| 1900| 0| 26| 4| 0| 2| 257. 2| 2| 2100| 0| 9| 4| 1| 2| 233| 3| 2200| 0| 14| 3| 1| 1. 5| 180. 4| 2| 2000| 0| 11| 5| 0| 2| 234| 2| 1700| 0| 19| 3| 1| 2| 207. 1| 2| 2000| 0| 11| 5| 1| 2| 247. 7| 5| 2400| 0| 16| 2| 1| 2| 166. 2| 3| 2000| 1| 16| 2| 1| 2| 177. 1| 2| 1900| 0| 10| 5| 1| 2| 182. 7| 4| 2000| 1| 14| 4| 0| 2. | 216| 4| 2300| 0| 19| 2| 0| 2| 312. 1| 6| 2600| 0| 7| 5| 1| 2. 5| 199. 8| 3| 2100| 0| 19| 3| 1| 2| 273. 2| 5| 2200| 0| 16| 2| 1| 3| 206| 3| 2100| 1| 9| 3| 0| 1. 5| 232. 2| 3| 1900| 1| 16| 1| 1| 1. 5| 198. 3| 4| 2100| 1| 19| 1| 1| 1. 5| 205. 1| 3| 2000| 1| 20| 4| 0| 2 | 175. 6| 4| 2300| 1| 24| 4| 1| 2| 307. 8| 3| 2400| 1| 21| 2| 1| 3| 269. 2| 5| 2200| 0| 8| 5| 1| 3| 224. 8| 3| 2200| 0| 17| 1| 1| 2. 5| 171. 6| 3| 2000| 1| 16| 4| 0| 2| 216. 8| 3| 2200| 0| 15| 1| 1| 2| 192. 6| 6| 2200| 1| 14| 1| 0| 2| 236. 4| 5| 2200| 0| 20| 3| 1| 2| 172. 4| 3| 2200| 0| 23| 3| 0| 2| 251. | 3| 1900| 0| 12| 2| 1| 2| 246| 6| 2300| 0| 7| 3| 1| 3| 147. 4| 6| 1700| 1| 12| 1| 0| 2| 176| 4| 2200| 0| 15| 1| 1| 2| 228. 4| 3| 2300| 0| 17| 5| 1| 1. 5| 166. 5| 3| 1600| 1| 19| 3| 0| 2. 5| 189. 4| 4| 2200| 0| 24| 1| 1| 2| 312. 1| 7| 2400| 0| 13| 3| 1| 3| 289. 8| 6| 2000| 0| 21| 3| 1| 3| 269. 9| 5| 2200| 1| 11| 4| 1| 2. 5| 154. 3| 2| 2000| 0| 13| 2| 0| 2| 222. 1| 2| 2100| 0| 9| 5| 1| 2| 209. 7| 5| 2200| 1| 13| 2| 1| 2| 190. 9| 3| 2200| 1| 18| 3| 1| 2| 254. 3| 4| 2500| 1| 15| 3| 1| 2| 207. 5| 3| 2100| 1| 10| 2| 0| 2| 209. 7| 4| 2200| 1| 19| 2| 1| 2| 294| 2| 2100| 0| 13| 2| 1| 2. | 176. 3| 2| 2000| 1| 17| 3| 0| 2| 294. 3| 7| 2400| 0| 8| 4| 1| 2| 224| 3| 1900| 1| 6| 1| 1| 2| 125| 2| 1 900| 0| 18| 4| 0| 1. 5| 236. 8| 4| 2600| 1| 17| 5| 1| 2| 164. 1| 4| 2300| 0| 19| 4| 0| 2| 217. 8| 3| 2500| 0| 12| 3| 0| 2| 192. 2| 2| 2400| 0| 16| 2| 0| 2. 5| 125. 9| 2| 2400| 0| 28| 1| 0| 1. 5| 220. 9| 2| 2300| 1| 12| 1| 1| 2| 294. 5| 6| 2700| 0| 15| 3| 1| 2| 244. 6| 2| 2300| 0| 9| 2| 1| 2. 5| 199| 3| 2500| 1| 18| 1| 0| 1. 5| 240| 4| 2600| 0| 13| 4| 1| 2| 263. 2| 4| 2300| 0| 14| 3| 1| 2| 188. 1| 2| 1900| 0| 8| 4| 1| 1. 5| 243. 7| 6| 2700| 0| 7| 4| 1| 2| 21. 5| 4| 2300| 0| 18| 3| 1| 2| 175| 2| 2500| 0| 11| 3| 0| 2| 253. 2| 3| 2300| 0| 16| 2| 1| 2| 155. 4| 4| 2400| 1| 16| 3| 0| 2| 186. 7| 5| 2500| 1| 21| 4| 0| 2. 5| 179| 3| 2400| 1| 10| 4| 1| 2| 188. 3| 6| 2100| 1| 15| 4| 1| 2| 227. 1| 4| 2900| 0| 8| 4| 1| 2| 173. 6| 4| 2100| 1| 14| 2| 1| 2. 5| 188. 3| 5| 2300| 0| 20| 5| 0| 1. 5| 310. 8| 8| 2900| 0| 9| 4| 1| 2| 293. 7| 6| 2400| 0| 11| 5| 1| 3| 179| 3| 2400| 0| 8| 4| 1| 2| 188. 3| 6| 2100| 1| 14| 2| 1| 2. 5| 227. 1| 4| 2900| 0| 20| 5| 0| 1. 5| 173. 6| 4| 2100| 0| 9| 4| 1| 2| 188. 3| 5 | 2300| 0| 11| 5| 1| 3|

Friday, November 8, 2019

The History of the Snowmaking Machine

The History of the Snowmaking Machine By definition, snow is crystallized ice particles that have the physical integrity and the strength to maintain their shape.† It’s normally created by Mother Nature, but when Mother Nature doesn’t deliver and commercial ski resorts or movie makers need snow, thats when snowmaking machines step in. The First Machine-Made Snow Manmade snow started out as an accident. A low-temperature laboratory in Canada was studying the effects of  rime icing on the intake of a jet engine in the 1940s. Lead by Dr. Ray Ringer, the researchers were spraying water into the air just before the engine intake in a wind tunnel, trying to reproduce natural conditions.  They didn’t create any rime ice, but they did make snow. They had to repeatedly shut down the engine and the wind tunnel to shovel it out. Attempts to commercialize a snowmaking machine began with Wayne Pierce, who was in the ski manufacturing business in the 1940s,  along with partners Art Hunt and Dave Richey. Together, they  formed the Tey Manufacturing Company of Milford, Connecticut in 1947 and sold a new ski design. But in 1949, Mother Nature got stingy and the company was hit hard by a slump in ski sales due to a dry, snowless winter. Wayne Pierce came up with a solution on March 14, 1950.  I know how to make snow! he announced when he  arrived at work on that March morning. He had the idea that if you could blow droplets of water through freezing air, the water would turn into frozen hexagonal crystals or snowflakes. Using a paint spray compressor, a nozzle and some garden hose, Pierce and his partners created a machine that made snow. The company was granted a basic-process patent in 1954 and installed a few of their snowmaking machines, but they didn’t take their snowmaking business very far. Maybe they were more interested in skis than in something to ski on. The three partners sold their company and  the snowmaking machines patent rights to the Emhart Corporation in 1956. It was Joe and Phil Tropeano, owners of the Larchmont Irrigation Company in Boston,  who bought the Tey patent and began making and developing their own snowmaking equipment from Pierces design. And as the idea of making snow started catching on, Larchmont and the Tropeano brothers began suing other makers of snowmaking equipment. The Tey patent was contested in court and overthrown on the basis that the Canadian research led by Dr. Ray Ringer predated the patent granted to Wayne Pierce. A Flurry of Patents In 1958, Alden Hanson would file a patent for a new type of snowmaking machine called the fan snowmaker. The earlier Tey patent was a compressed air-and-water machine and had its drawbacks, which included loud noise and energy demands. The hoses would also occasionally freeze up and it wasn’t unheard for the lines to blow apart. Hanson designed a snowmaking machine using a fan, particulate water and the optional use of a nucleating agent such as particles of dirt. He was granted a patent for his machine in 1961 and is considered the  pioneering model for all fan snowmaking machines today.   In 1969, a trio of inventors from Lamont Labs at Columbia University named Erikson, Wollin and Zaunier filed a patent for yet another snowmaking machine. Known as the Wollin patent, it was for a specially developed rotating fan blade that was impacted with water from the rear, resulting in mechanically atomized water leaving the front. As the water froze, it became snow. The inventors went on to create Snow Machines International, manufacturers of the snowmaking machine based on this Wollin patent. They promptly signed licensing agreements with the Hanson patent holder  to prevent an  infringement dispute with that  patent.  As part of the licensing agreement, SMI was subject to inspection by a Hanson representative.   In 1974, a patent was filed for the Boyne Snowmaker, a ducted fan which isolated the nucleator to the outside of the duct and away from the bulk water nozzles. The nozzles were positioned above the centerline and on the downstream edge of the duct. SMI was the licensed manufacturer of the Boyne Snowmaker. in 1978, Bill Riskey and Jim VanderKelen filed a patent for a machine that would come to be known as the Lake Michigan nucleator. It surrounded the existing nucleator with a water jacket. The Lake Michigan nucleator exhibited none of the freezing problems that earlier fan snowmakers sometimes suffered from. VanderKelen received a patent for his Silent Storm Snowmaker, a multiple speed fan with a new style propeller blade, in 1992.

Capstone Project on Audio Production

Capstone Project on Audio Production Capstone Project on Audio Production: Many people are now thinking of making a career in media entertainment, which is mostly due to fast money, fame and power. However, little do most of the people entering into the entertainment industry know about the industry itself? It takes natural talents to emerge as a good entertainer in which if you are lacking then by trying will be like pushing a wall. It will not be correct to point out that, having a career in audio presentation and recoding is without any challenges however, being good at it encouraging enough to face its challenges. Having gone to school in a multi-media college, the ability to differentiate sounds has been an encouraging factor as it has been easier to know what the ears can categorize as music and a random noise. it has been to my concern that many producers lack this ability, and while most of them have considered their careers successful, they have gone as far as choosing music at random for their production not because they lack the ability to choose but due to the fact that, as more they produce the more they get richer. This is not the case being discussed here, music may be seen as just a rhythmical sound but when you look at it deeper you find that, it has to follow a certain path. And while theoretically it will be hard to get this path, practically it is easier as one continues to learn through experience. Becoming a professional in music career requires adaptation to the different sounds that will be directed toward ones ears. It is important that one learns how to trust his own ears as well as make judgment from what he has heard. This is important to ensure the possibilities for correction. In addition to that, learning how to overcome the weakness of trusting one own ears ensures or comes with the strength that is required to have in order to know how somebody would lay down a particular mix. In addition to that, by taking several courses in music instruments such as guitar playing enhances the experience as well as the ability to know which sounds should be combined for one to come up with a good musical sound. While this is important it is also good that one should acquire knowledge of how he is going to approach live music such as FOH. It is important to understand the fact that live music is different from music being developed in a studio. The sounds are much louder while monitoring it requires better understanding of how to tune the equipment being used. On the other hand, studio music is constrained to a particular sound prof room while its monitoring is done by the use of a computer that is connected to special equipment. While one learns on how to become a music producer, it is also essential for him to gain information on how broadcasting studios work. Most of the music produced is made public through the broadcasting studio and thus it is important for one to have the required knowledge on how to broadcast an audio. The same goes for multi tracking and recoding levels required on a CD. This will ensure that one has all the aspects of a good music producer while trying to overcome challenges in the production industry being a major aspect of his career.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Social Media And Marketing The WritePass Journal

Social Media And Marketing Abstract Social Media And Marketing ). The recruitment team has taken a strategic role of supplying talent. The team has contributed to a highly attractive employment as well as compensation scheme development. The impact of this is that RasGas has been put in a competitive position where the labour market is challenging. Qualified employees with talent are likely to join the company because of the good reputation it has. An employee development project is being developed steered by the managing director with the aim of carrying out the following tasks. Succession planning, personal career development plans, an approach to appraise performance and develop careers. The philosophy aims to set the pace program for employee development (RasGas 20122012). Use of Social Media in Recruitment The use of social media for recruiting has become a powerful tool in recent years with recruiters searching for employees using social media sites while employees are searching such sites to check for new job postings. Employers are using Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter to attract qualified employees because there is a belief that social media can exceed the key factors that makes the difference between an average recruiting tool and a dominant tool. Though social media is a complicated tool for hiring, it has unrivalled capabilities. The cost implications of using social media are far lower than other forms of media tools used for recruiting purposes. Since the visitors of social media have not intentionally visited the sites in search of job postings, it is possible to get paramount employees (â€Å"Social Media† 2012). The following are the main factors that make a social media suitable for recruitment; a huge and varied audience of ideal users with a large number of qualified prospects, all of the social media audience will be dominated by working, working and not necessarily searching for a job as well as the unemployed and that RasGas can make use of this to search for the best talent in potential employees before deciding on a given employee (Headworth 2012). It enables the shifting of workloads to others and the employees of an organisation would be useful in selecting and relationship building. Social media can help in relationship building through the development of trust and social interest. Messages through social media are mostly authentic in nature compared to other forms of media such as emails that may contain spam. Within the social media, accessibility is easier because there is widespread of mobile phones and personal computers, all with access to social media sites. Messages favoured by the target audience can be sent in the form of multimedia messaging. Quality recruitment can be achieved while using social media at low costs compared with other forms of recruiting media. It is therefore possible for RasGas to acquire the best, whilst facilitating the lowest capital thus saving on the company cost structure to increase profits (â€Å"Social Media† 2012). Marketing and Social Media Marketing can use social media to capture the most talented and brightest people in order to achieve high sales for RasGas liquefied natural gas. By using social media the company can select and recruit sales people all over the world reducing costs associated with such activities if the company decided to use other media. RasGas, with its international operation, requires that employees with varied cultures are employed. They must have the required skill to increase the performance of the company in different countries where RasGas sells its products. To increase the market share of RasGas qualified, as well as talented, employees must be engaged in line with the company’s goal of recruiting trained employees. By applying the best recruiting policies, the company is in a position of retaining the employees by employing candidates who are self motivated and ambitious towards increasing their sales (â€Å"Social Media† 2012). Types of Social Media that can Be Used by RasGas RasGas can use the following social media in its objectives of recruiting and retaining the best.   Referral hiring has been enhanced by social media where recruiters have access to a wide range of talent through referrals by employees on social media. Employers pay bonuses to employees who refer suitable candidates to them (Liska 2012). Recruitment marketing through social media has enabled employers regardless of their size to access a large pool of data. The investments by prospective employers are lower alongside a reduction in time and other resources. Employers are able to access social media for attractive career pages with a rich and dynamic content. Recruiters can attach blog articles, photos or even embedding videos top create an engaging career content. Facebook delivers the widest talent pool compared to other social media. With a large number of subscribers, throughout the world, RasGas can make use of this platform to recruit the best employees possible. Facebook has a very large engagement of users who are both potential and non-potential employees making it possible for RasGas companies to identify talent more easily. RasGas can utilise the Facebook timeline that displays personal information as well as up to date professional qualifications to hire potential employees (Liska 2012). RasGas has an option of using Google + which is growing at a very fast pace. Google + enables users to maintain professional and personal lives, all in one place. Like other social media, Google + has a large following of professionals whom RasGas can find valuable in their recruitment. Google + is actively competing with Facebook with its unique hangouts feature that taps into video interviewing making it possible for RasGas to interview potential employees who are based in other countries. Google + also has circles that allow recruiters to message candidates and influencers (Liska 2012). Another form of social media that can be used by RasGas is Twitter which has grown in terms of features revenues and users. Having a following on Twitter, RasGas can grow its Twitter followers and get potential employees from this following. Employment officials from RasGas can be directed into other recruiter accounts making it possible for the company to recruit the best. LinkedIn is another form of social media that RasGas can facilitate in search of talent, however it is experiencing immense competition from other social networks like Facebook and Twitter and it offers a platform for more talent within a company (Liska 2012). Conclusion RasGas, being an international company, is required to adopt modern cost effective means of achieving its goals on maintaining the best employees in the company. Marketing play an important role in ensuring that the company’s products reach the market while at the same time making sure that customer expectations are met by the company through continued improvement. This can only be achieved through a potentially good workforce that is correctly trained and maintained. The global economic conditions of the world are changing fast and companies need to maintain a competitive advantage over their contenders if they want to survive. Bibliography Headworth, Andy, 2012. Smart Social Media Recruitment Strategies,   [Online] Available at: http://blog.sironaconsulting.com/files/ark1721smart-social-media-recruitment-strategies_samplechapter.pdf [Accessed 8 May, 2012]. Liska Jindrich, 2012. Social Recruiting Trends in 2012, [Online] Available at : recruiter.com/i/social-recruiting-trends-in-2012/ [Accessed 8 May, 2012]. â€Å"Social Media: the Most Powerful Recruiting Tool Since the Telephone,† 2012. [Online] Available at: ere.net/2010/10/04/social-media-the-most-powerful-recruiting-tool-since-the-telephone/ [Accessed 8 May, 2012]. â€Å"RasGas Careers† 2012. [Online] Available at: rasgas.com/rg/L_2.cfm?L2_id=3 [Accessed 8 May, 2012].

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

How to Figure Out if You Can Patent Your Idea

How to Figure Out if You Can Patent Your Idea A  patent  is a set of  exclusive rights  granted to an inventor for a limited period of time in exchange for detailed public disclosure of an  invention. An invention is a solution to a specific technological problem and is a product or a process. The procedure for granting patents, requirements placed on the patentee, and the extent of the exclusive rights vary widely between countries according to national laws and international agreements. Typically, however, a granted patent application must include one or more  claims  that define the invention. A patent may include many claims, each of which defines a specific property right. These claims must meet relevant  patentability  requirements, such as  novelty,  usefulness, and  non-obviousness. The exclusive right granted to a patentee in most countries is the right to prevent others, or at least to try to prevent others, from commercially making, using, selling, importing or distributing a patented invention without permission. Under the  World Trade Organizations (WTO)  Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, patents should be available in WTO member states for any invention, in all fields of technology, and the term of protection  available should be a minimum of 20  years.  Nevertheless, there are variations on what is  patentable subject matter  from country to country. Is Your Idea  Patentable? To see if your idea is patentable: First, check to see if your idea qualifies.Second, learn the basics of the patenting process.Next, do a search for of all previous public disclosures that concern your invention. These public disclosures are called prior art. Prior art includes any patents related to your invention, any published articles about your invention, and any public demonstrations. This determines if your idea has been patented before or publicly disclosed, making it unpatentable. A registered patent attorney or agent can be hired to do a patentability search for prior art, and a big part of that is searching for U.S. and foreign patents that compete with your invention. After an application is filed, the USPTO will conduct their own patentability search as part of the official examination process. Patent Searching Conducting a thorough patent search is difficult, particularly for the novice. Patent searching is a learned skill. A novice in the United States could contact the nearest Patent and Trademark Depository Library (PTDL) and seek out search experts to help in setting up a search strategy. If you are in the Washington, D.C. area, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) provides public access to collections of patents, trademarks, and other documents at its Search Facilities located in Arlington, Virginia. It is possible, however difficult, for you to conduct your own patent search. You should not assume that your idea has not been patented even if you find no evidence of it being publicly disclosed. It is important to remember that a thorough examination at the USPTO may uncover U.S. and foreign patents as well as non-patent literature.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

The Relationship Between Smoking and SelfEsteem Essay

The Relationship Between Smoking and SelfEsteem - Essay Example In "Relationship Between Self-esteem and Smoking Behavior Among Japanese Early Adolescents (1999)," the authors define self esteem as "an evaluative term that reflects a persons perceptions about his or her personal characteristics and abilities" (p.1). In keeping with this definition, it is appropriate to discuss the ways that "self perception" is most unstable and negative during adolescence. Because this is the case, many studies focus specifically on self-esteem and its influence on one's decision to smoke during adolescence. Because studies have adequately demonstrated that long term smoke use often starts in the teen years, it is appropriate to focus on adolescent smokers and on why they were initially drawn to the habit, even with the understanding of its health risks and taboo-like nature. Although my own research will seek to demonstrate the connection between low self-esteem and smoking in college students rather than adolescents, it still remains relevant to explore the re asons why individuals initially take up smoking. Typically, these are many of the same reasons that these same individuals continue to smoke, and so this research will remain relevant through these same individuals' college years, giving way to my own research, which seeks to prove this connection among college students. So, given these reasons, this paper specifically explores smoking and self-esteem in adolescence in terms of the correlation between low self-esteem and initially starting to smoke. In their article, authors' Kawabata, Cross, Nishioka, and Shimai (1999) echo this idea when, after conducting in depth studies about self esteem and smoking, they report that, "One of the most important findings from this study is that self-esteem may be a factor associated with the initiation of smoking among early adolescents of both genders" (p.4) Many studies have proven that low self-esteem is linked to several risk taking behaviors. Perhaps this is because, as authors Luhtanen and Crocker (2005) state, "Low self-esteem is associated with negative emotions which may lead to behaviors that offer an escape from self awareness" (p.1). Like alcohol, drugs, and other types of addictions, smoking often offers adolescents an escape from the pressures that life inevitably brings during the difficult teenage years. Clearly, when an adolescent is dealing with issues such as self image, depression, stress, and low self worth, he or she is going to have less of a problem entertaining the idea of something that might be hazardous to their health. At this point, he or she is worried about issues that seem larger than the dangers of smoking and addiction. Specifically, if the smoking offers them some kind of solace from the world they are fighting with, of course they will be inclined to take the immediate escape. They are not thinking of long term consequences, but rather of the temporary feeling of relief that the cigarette can offer them. Of course, this type of thinking can become dangerous because there is no concern with potential dangers and/or consequences. It is simply immediate gratification that is sought. The idea is that perhaps if an adolescent was taught to value him or herself more, and led to have higher self worth, then this dangerous