Current Event Alcohol Essay Example for Free

Current Event Alcohol Essay This article is very surprising in the fact that the understanding of binge drinking is changing. It has been apparent for some time now that excessively drinking has been a problem but it is now under the microscope of having a positive light to the young population. This study had articulated how binge drinking is being looked at and what is changing across student college campuses. The article was based within a college campus, they were studying who or why college students binge drink. They found that students that are perceived as being â€Å"high status† are socially connected and mentally happier. On the other hand those that are considered â€Å"low-status† were deemed to not being as happy, especially in terms of the satisfaction of their college life. This study is trying to show college students correlation with alcohol and what may be happening as a whole within a certain community. As college students we are known to have very high stress, alcohol, is said to help lower this stress. The national institute on alcohol abuse says,†over 400,00 students between the ags of 18 and 24 had unprotected sex as a result of their drinking† all of these statistics are worrisome. It is hard to understand why this is becoming such a problem but as it is described here, it can be directly associated with peer pressure and failure of education about the matter. Binge drinking is a major problem within our society. Even though this article is only from one university it can be multiplied and used to inform and educate other universities across the United States. If we don’t understand the effects it is making now we will not be able to control the future generations. This is particularly close to family ties considering many young adults are dying every year from excess drinking. From the article they state that, â€Å"1,700 college student deaths can be attributed to excessive drinking. † This statistic alone proves that it is a problem that could be prevented with proper education or different drinking laws. The culture within the United States put such a high emphasis on drinking. We learned and talked about how when something is illegal it makes more people want to try it or use the certain substance, I believe this can be directly connected with alcohol in teens and young adults. It I no urprise to me that the statistic of those that are classified as binge drinkers is so high, they say it is â€Å"peer pressure at its finest†, but I wouldn’t only correlate it to be from that but also from our; parents, educators, and role models not creating a clear understanding of how dangerous it can be and is. I agree with their statement that, †we want to make clear that we believe binge drinking is a really dangerous and ultimately self destructive behavior, and that a social power structure that promotes this is a bad thing†. This sentence really amplifies the need for change. This article is almost making a plea for people to understand and have knowledge of this subject. It has been passed over and if we don’t stop this power trip alcohol is having on young adults we wont realize when we have changed the older generation of society as a whole. On the other hand I believe since this was only done within one small university, in order to have collected and statistic information more studies would need to be done to find an average across the United States. This article was an eye opener for me to some of the crazy statistics that are out there and primarily tied to the use of alcohol. This study is only one example of how alcohol is affecting our society. It may makes some college students happier about their college experience but in the long run it will catch up to you and hurt not only yourself but those around you, as we have talked about this many times in class. Overall I would hope you evaluate your own personal decision and decide what is your best option. Don’t let other dictate how you should live or what they think is the best way to live.

International criminal court Essay -- essays research papers fc

ICC and America   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Over the past few years, the International Criminal Court (ICC or â€Å"the Court†) has been igniting controversy the world over. As more countries rallied behind it, more objections have been made, particularly from Americans, regarding what many view as fundamental flaws. I have chosen two papers to compare and contrast the different viewpoints taken by the authors when reflecting upon America’s involvement with the ICC. One calls for total rejection of the ICC, the other weighs the risks and benefits and calls for revision but acceptance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first article, entitled â€Å"National Constitutional Compatibility and the International Criminal Court†, is written by Helen Duffy and published in the Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law. The second article, entitled â€Å"Reasonable Doubt: The Case against the Proposed International Criminal Court†, is written by Gary T. Dempsey and published online at the Cato Institute website. Duffy’s article was published late in 2001, a contrast to Dempsey’s article which was published in 1998, just one day prior to the International Rome conference on July 17th that resulted in the establishment of the ICC. Many of the incongruencies in the ICC treaty that troubled Americans three years ago have yet to be brought into balance with American values. These two papers give similar, although at times slightly different, viewpoints on the issue. Dempsey criticizes the ICC before it has even been birthed into existence. â€Å"Specifically, the court threatens to diminish America’s sovereignty, produce arbitrary and highly politicized ‘justice,’ and grow into a jurisdictional leviathan.† He expresses his lack of faith in the Court’s ability to complement national governments and their respective judicial systems while refraining from infringing upon their sovereignty. He is explicitly clear in his position, stating in his paper that, â€Å"For those and other reasons, the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives should have sufficient grounds to†¦refuse to ratify and to fund the International Criminal Court.† Duffy brings the issue up, adding pertinent information concerning other government’s constitutions and how some other nations have gone so far as to amend their own constitution to accommodate their acceptance of the ICC’s regulations. â€Å"A small number ... ...ntradiction of terms. If the Court finds it unsatisfactory, doesn’t that imply that the Court already believes the authorities are not doing justice? How much â€Å"convincing† would they need? Duffy again points out the need for revision in the treaty.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both papers share a similar overview from remarkably different viewpoints. Many of the somewhat extremist views that Dempsey takes are tempered through Duffy’s call for consideration and revision. As the ICC moves forward with the trial of Slobodan Milosevic and others to come, it is important to cooperate harmoniously with the rest of the world’s nations, seeking justice and guidance. At the same time, we must not lose sight of those rights and responsibilities that make us one of the greatest nations on earth. Works Cited â€Å"National Constitutional Compatibility and the International Criminal Court.† Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law. Helen Duffy. 2001. http://www.law.duke.edu/shell/cite.pl?11+Duke+J.+Comp.+&+Int'l+L.+5 â€Å"Reasonable Doubt: The Case against the Proposed International Criminal Court.† Gary T. Dempsey. 16 July. 1998. http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-311.html

Analysis of two stories from Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected Essay

The story is about an old lady, Mrs. Foster, who doesn’t like to be late. Her husband teases her by always being a little bit too late, just to make her suffer. One day, she is going to Paris to see her daughter and her family, but she has to wait for her husband to be done, because he is driving with her, to be dropped off at a club. When he finally out in the car with her, he has forgot his present for her daughter, so he goes back into the house to get it. She goes up to the door of their house, but when she is about to open it, she suddenly hears a strange sound and goes back into the car. She tells the driver to go, even though; Mr. Foster is still in the house. She catches her plane and enjoys her time in Paris, but when she gets back home, after six weeks, there is no lead of Mr. Foster. Then she calls a guy, which can come and fix their lift. You would think that Mrs. Foster is the main character in this story, because we are following her life and the story starts up with an introduction of her. But at the same time, we are also introduced to Mr. Foster right after, and in the end of the story, you wonder if it actually was Mr. Foster, that we were supposed to keep up with, because he is kind of the victim in the end. Almost like we are told about how he died in their lift, because of his lunatic of a wife. And then still Mrs. Foster can be seen as the victim, because she is this sad woman, who is manipulated by her husband, and then finally does what she has always wanted to do, just in a more drastic way. So therefore I see them both as main characters in this story. Mrs. Foster is described in the text as a woman with a pathological fear of missing something, and if she feels that she is about to miss something, she gets into a state of nerves and starts to â€Å"wink† with her left eye, because of a vellicating muscle in the corner of her eye. She lives in a large six-storey house in New York City, on East Sixty-Second Street with her husband and they have four servants. She is also a modest woman, who has served his husband loyally and well, for over thirty years, but she still wonders sometimes, if his husband always is being late on purpose, just to torture her. Her biggest wish is to live in Paris, so she can see her daughter, her son in law and her grandchildren all the time. Mr. Foster is nearly seventy years old and also living with his wife in their large six-storey house. He is described in the text as a man who tortures her wife, by always being late, because he is irritated by her making a fuss about everything. And he smokes cigars. We can tell by their big house, their four servants and their rented car with a chauffeur, that they are a very wealthy couple. They don’t speak to each other like a normal couple; Mr. Foster has disciplined Mrs. Foster to not say, what she wants to say, like she is under his control. Like it says in the text; â€Å"that she would never dare to call out and tell him to hurry. He had disciplined her too well for that.† The Landlady The story is about a young man, Billy Weaver, who has travelled down from London, and now he needs a place to sleep. He was told that he should try â€Å"The bell and dragon†, but on his way down to the hotel, he suddenly catches sight of a printed notice, that says â€Å"BED AND BREAKFAST† on a boarding house. He stares at the notice and feels like the words are a large black eye that is staring at him, like he is forced to go in, so he decides to do it. A middle-aged woman invites him in and shows him where he is going to sleep, and she keeps talking about how she has been waiting for a young boy like him. He later finds out, when he is about to write in her guestbook, that only two other guys has been staying there, and the latest guest is over two years ago. He finds it strange that he feels like he has heard these two guys’ names before. She keeps getting him to drink her tee, and then he suddenly notices that the dog he thought was alive is dead and stuffed. She tells him that she has stuffed them herself. When he sits for a moment, he finds out where he has heard the other guests’ names before, he has read about them being missing, in the newspaper. The main character in this story is definitely Billy Weaver, because we are following his moves and thoughts of the weird lady. Billy Weaver is seventeen years old and he has travelled from London. He is wearing a navy-blue overcoat, a brown trilby hat and a brown suit. He is a young businessman and he is trying to do everything briskly. When he is told that there has only been two guests before him and that the last guest was over two years ago, and that they are even still living there, he is a bit naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve not to see that something is really weird. But you also know that he must be a smart kid, if he is already a businessman and he reads the newspaper. The old lady seems kind and harmless in the beginning, because she is calling him â€Å"my dear† and smiling all the time. And like it says in the text; â€Å"She looked exactly like the mother of one’s best school-friend welcoming one into the house to stay for the Christmas holidays.† But when things get more and more weird, Billy starts to think that she is slightly dotty and off her rocker. We also know that she has a bad memory, because she has a hard time remembering her guests’ names. Billy and the old lady have no relation, the old lady is a total stranger to Billy, but he somehow seems to trust her anyway. And Billy is also a total stranger to the old lady, but she keeps talking like if she knew that exactly he would show up on her doorstep, almost like if she had been watching him. Comparison of the two stories Both stories are written by an omniscient 3rd person. And in both of the stories they are using the language â€Å"dear†; In â€Å"The landlady† the old lady probably uses it, because many British old women spoke like that in the old days, but also to sound extra kind, to Billy. And in â€Å"The way up to heaven, it sounds like they are only using it because the finer families spoke like that in the old days. So both of the stories could be going on in, maybe the 50’s. Mrs. Foster and the landlady are both killers, but really different kinds; Mrs. Foster is feeling trapped in her marriage and she has a â€Å"fair† reason not to save him, when she has the chance. And the landlady is simply a lonely lunatic, who wants fake company, by stuffing her victims. The landlady is killing them herself and Mrs. Foster just didn’t save him, when she could. The main theme in both of the stories is deception, because in both of the stories, the victims have faith in their killers, but are duped by them. The ending of â€Å"The landlady† Then he said â€Å"Are you sure Mulholland and Temple are upstairs?† with a stiff look on his face. â€Å"Of course they are, my dear. I’m sure they are enjoying themselves, you shouldn’t worry that much.† She answered. Billy’s eyes flickered and his legs felt so heavy, when he tried to stand up. â€Å"Sit down, my dear. It will soon be over† she said, with a calm tone in her voice, like nothing was wrong. Billy couldn’t walk, so he sat down again and tried to hold his head still. â€Å"Something is wrong with me! What did you give me?† he yelled with a pathetic voice. She smiled and went over to the windows to draw the curtains, and when she sat down again, she started telling him, that she had been looking forward to having such a young boy in the house, and that she had been waiting for him for such a long time. â€Å"Why do you want me, you crazy woman?† he said. â€Å"You’re just perfect, my dear. So young and handsome!† she said, still witch a nice and calming voice. Billy didn’t get to say much more, before everything turned black. One month later†¦ â€Å"MISSING! A seventeen year old boy named Billy Weaver, last seen in Bath.†

10 Astonishing Facts About House Flies

The house fly, Musca domestica, may be the most common insect we  encounter. But how much do you actually know about the house fly? Here are 10 fascinating facts about house flies: 1. House Flies Live Almost Everywhere There Are People Though believed to be native to Asia, house flies now inhabit nearly every corner of the globe. With the exception of Antarctica and perhaps a few islands, house flies live everywhere people do. House flies are synanthropic organisms, meaning they benefit ecologically from their association with humans and our domesticated animals. As humans throughout history traveled to new lands by ship, plane, train, or horse-drawn wagon, house flies were their travel companions. Conversely, house flies are rarely found in the wilderness or in places where humans are absent. Should humankind cease to exist, house flies might share our fate. 2. House Flies Are Relatively Young Insects in the World As an order, true flies are ancient creatures that appeared on Earth during the Permian period, over 250 million years ago. But house flies seem to be relatively young, compared to their Dipteran cousins. The earliest known Musca fossils are only 70 million years old. This evidence suggests the closest ancestors of house flies appeared during the Cretaceous period, just before the infamous meteorite fell from the sky and, some say, triggered the extinction of the dinosaurs. 3. House Flies Multiply Quickly Were it not for environmental conditions and predation, wed be overrun by house flies. Musca domestica has a short life cycle – just 6 days if conditions are right – and a female house fly lays an average of 120 eggs at a time. Scientists once calculated what would happen if a single pair of flies were able to reproduce without limits or mortality to their offspring. The result? Those two flies, in just 5 months time, would produce 191,010,000,000,000,000,000 house flies, enough to cover the planet several meters deep. 4. House Flies Dont Travel Far and Arent Fast Hear that buzzing sound? Thats the rapid movement of a house flys wings, which can beat up to 1,000 times per minute. Thats no typo. It may surprise you to learn, then, that theyre generally slow fliers, maintaining a speed of about 4.5 miles per hour. House flies move when environmental conditions compel them to do so. In urban areas, where people live in close proximity and there is plenty of garbage and other filth to be found, house flies have small territories and may only fly 1,000 meters or so. But rural house flies will roam far and wide in search of manure, covering up to 7 miles over time. The longest flight distance recorded for a house fly is 20 miles. 5. House Flies Make Their Living in Filth House flies feed and breed in the things we revile: garbage, animal dung, sewage, human excrement, and other nasty substances. Musca domestica is probably the best known and most common of the insects we collectively refer to as filth flies. In suburban or rural areas, house flies are also plentiful in fields where fish meal or manure is used as fertilizer, and in compost heaps where grass clippings and rotting vegetables accumulate. 6. House Flies Are on an All-Liquid Diet House flies have sponge-like mouthparts, which are good for soaking up liquefied substances but not for eating solid foods. So, the house fly either seeks out food that is already in puddle form, or it finds a way to turn the food source into something it can manage. This is where things get kind of gross. When a house fly locates something tasty but solid, it regurgitates onto the food (which may be your food, if its buzzing around your barbecue). The fly vomit contains digestive enzymes that go to work on the desired snack, quickly predigesting and liquefying it so the fly can lap it up. 7. House Flies Taste With Their Feet How do flies decide something is appetizing? They step on it! Like butterflies, house flies have their taste buds on their toes, so to speak. Taste receptors, called chemosensilla, are located at the far ends of the flys tibia and tarsa (in simpler terms, the lower leg and foot). The moment they land on something of interest – your garbage, a pile of horse manure, or perhaps your lunch – they start sampling its flavor by walking around. 8. House Flies Transmit a Lot of Diseases Because house flies thrive in places that are teeming with pathogens, they have a bad habit of carrying disease-causing agents with them from place to place. A house fly will land on a pile of dog poop, inspect it thoroughly with its feet, and then fly over to your picnic table and walk around on your hamburger bun for a bit. Their food and breeding sites are already overflowing with bacteria, and then they vomit and defecate on them to add to the mess. House flies are known to transmit at least 65 diseases and infections, including cholera, dysentery, giardiasis, typhoid, leprosy, conjunctivitis, salmonella, and many more. 9. House Flies Can Walk Upside Down You probably knew that already, but do you know how they perform this gravity-defying feat? Slow motion video shows that a house fly will approach a ceiling by executing a half roll maneuver, and then will extend its legs to make contact with the substrate. Each of the house flys legs bears a tarsal claw with a sticky pad of sorts, so the fly is able to grip almost any surface, from smooth window glass to a ceiling. 10. House Flies Poop a Lot Theres a saying, Never poop where you eat. Sage advice, most would say. Because house flies live on a liquid diet (see #6), things move rather quickly through their digestive tracts. Nearly every time a house fly lands, it defecates. So in addition to vomiting on anything it thinks might make a tasty meal, the house fly almost always does poop where it eats. Keep that in mind next time one touches down on your potato salad. Sources: The Encyclopedia of Entomology, 2nd edition, edited by John L. Capinera.Encyclopedia of Insects, 2nd edition, edited by Vincent H. Resh and Ring T. Carde.Vector Control: Methods for Use by Individuals and Communities, by Jan A. Rozendaal, World Health Organization.Physicians Guide to Arthropods of Medical Importance, 6th edition, by Jerome Goddard.Elements of Entomology, by Dr. Rajendra Singh.Time Flies, a New Molecular Time-Scale for Brachyceran Fly Evolution Without a Clock, in Systematic Biology, 2003.