White Paper- Fatjoe

Posted on February 7, 2023 by Matt Loesche

Hypothesis: Sports psychology and life coaching can help athletes learn stress management techniques such as relaxation techniques, visualization, and cognitive-behavioral therapy to reduce stress and anxiety which can help them to avoid turning to substances as a coping mechanism

  1. https://commons.emich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1153&context=mcnair

Background: This study provides insight of why so many athletes turn to drug abuse during their careers. A specific type of drug that is discussed are PED’s (performance enhancement drugs), and how athletes do not just use them to gain an unfair advantage, but to help cope with the amount of pressure athletes can face.

How I intend to use it: Most people see PED’s as just a say for athletes to cheat, but I will use this article to sort of flip the script, and show that it can be used as a coping mechanism. I will also use this article to discuss the accessibility athletes have to drugs. I think PED’s are a good drug to talk about since there are many times athletes have used them, and athletes have been using them for some time now. With this article I can also talk about use Alex Rodriguez as an example of a world class athlete who used PED’s to cope with pressure he faced, instead of just using them to cheat.

2. https://www.michaelshouse.com/drug-abuse/injury-concerns-abuse-athletes/

Background: This article talks about proscribed drugs that athletes can be given and how athletes can become addicted to them. If an athlete does become addicted it normally happens after an injury. This article also briefly talks about how young athletes can also become addicted to prescribed drugs, along with professionals. This can help show that drug abuse can happen in athletes of a wide age range. It gives examples of athletes who dealt with addiction to prescribed drugs, also talks about how addiction can happen during, and after a athletes career.

How I intend to use it: I will use this article to discuss another aspect of drugs athletes can become addicted to. I will also use this information to talk about specific professional athletes to help provide more insight of what they actually go to if they become addicted to proscribed drugs. This article will also help me explain how the pressure athletes face can come from the teams they play for.

3. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-016-0492-2

Background: This article reviews the mental health and well-being of athletes. Some aspects that can cause disorders are things like injuries and retirement. This is interesting because injuries can be avoidable, to an extent, but every single athlete will retire at some point in their careers.

How I intend to use it: This article will help me go into more depth of how injuries can not only affect a athlete physically, but also emotionally. I can also bring in a new circumstance that can affect mental health in athletes, with the dealing of retirement.

4. https://achieveconcierge.com/blog/the-link-between-athletes-and-depression/

Background: This article discusses depression among student athletes. The article uses statistics to show the rates of depression in student athletes compared to students who do not play a sport. It is found that since student athletes face higher amounts of pressure, it can also cause higher amounts of stress and are more likely to become depressed. This article also goes into how having performance issues can cause depression.

How I intend to use it: I will use this article to provide background on depression among student athletes. I want to show that it doesn’t matter if you are a professional athlete or a student athlete, they can both suffer from depression. With this article I can talk about a new circumstance that can cause stress and depression, which is having performance issues. Having performance issues can cause extreme stress in all types of athletes because that is their passion/job. So if they are having issues performing well it can mean they will lose an opportunity, or under extreme measures, their job.

5. https://alcoholrehabhelp.org/blog/athletes-alcoholism/

Background: This article goes over the many aspects of alcohol addiction in athletes. It gives statistics regarding alcohol abuse and athletes, why athletes turn to alcohol and how it can affect the way they play. It also gets into alcohol abuse among student athletes. For the student athletes, it gives solutions for parents and teachers to use to help their young athletes.

How I intend to use it: This article gives me the opportunity to talk about another substance athletes can abuse in alcohol. And since alcohol is a easy substance to obtain I feel it is important to talk about the problems facing alcoholism in athletes. I will also use this article to talk about a variation of alcohol abuse which is binge drinking, and the many negative affects it can have on student athletes.

6. Mental Health in Athletes: Moving beyond the Stigma

Background- This article goes into a various amount of things. Some of these things are, why athletes suffer, what factors go into the suffering and why there is a stigma around the mental health of athletes. 

How I intend to use it- I will use this article to describe the reasons why athletes won’t speak up on their mental health, like the fear of judgment and disappointing others. 

7. Why Olympic Athletes Shouldn’t Try to Calm Down Before a Big Moment

Background- This article talks about the various strategies that can be used to make sure that stress and anxiety don’t get the best of us. It also argues that it is better to not stay calm before big moments.

How I intend to use it- I will refute this article. I plan to use the quotes listed as ways to show that it is better to stay calm instead of allowing yourself to remain anxious during high stake situations. 

“Alison Wood Brooks of Harvard Business School found, in four studies “involving karaoke singing, public speaking, and math performance,” that “reappraising anxiety as excitement” led to better performance.”

“recognizing that you are feeling anxious, and naming the source of your anxiety”

“the contestant who is excited rather than anxious will get the most out of their body during the action to follow.”

“the evolutionary goal of the stress response was to help boost the body and mind into enhanced functioning, to help us grow and meet the demands we face”

“The key to ‘owning’ your stress is to recognize that we tend to stress more, and more intensely.”

“and it’s as useful for an office worker as it is for an Olympic sprinter.”

“It’s better, this research argues, to embrace your anxiety”

8.  Drug Fact Sheet

Background- This article is about anabolic steroids. It goes into the specific types, both medical terms and street names, how they can get used, like injections and gels. It also goes into how they can be abused and the many effects it can have on both the mind and the body. 

How I intend to use it- I will use this article to further define what ped’ are. And this article will help me talk about anabolic steroids specifically, because those are the types of steroids that are commonly found in athletes. 

9. 7 Athletes That Have Struggled With Mental Health

10. Common Prescription Medications Used in Athletes

11. Why Would An Athlete Work With a Wholistic Coach?

12. 30 Famous Athletes Who Have Battled Drug Addiction and Alcoholism

13.

Posted in FatJoe, White Paper | 1 Comment

White Paper – gobirds115

Posted on February 7, 2023 by gobirds115

Gobirds115’s Proposal

For my research essay, I will dive into a topic that has been a big issue in Major League Baseball for decades, PED/Steroid use. In the 1990’s/2000’s, It became noticeable around the league that some players were becoming these muscular freaks of nature. It became far more noticeable when they began shattering records due to their immense strength and constant availability. Eventually, the MLB caught on to the trend and in 1991 they banned the substances from being used and in 2003 they started mandatory testing. With these rules in place, the truth of course came out and a lot of peoples perspective of guilty players changed. While I do agree with the MLB did to stop the obvious abuse of PED’s/steroids, I do believe that there is still a place for these substances to be used in a logical/practical way in baseball.

Major League Baseball plays the most games at the highest frequency rate of any American professional sport. The game also requires muscle groups to perform in ways that they never usually perform in any other sport. Therefore, injuries are bound to happen, and more strenuous injuries to the obliques, elbows, and hamstrings happen as a result of the strange, quick, and jerky motions used in baseball. Because these injuries are so serious/strenuous, most players who still get caught using PED’s get caught when coming back off the IR in efforts to expedite their rehab and prevent re-injury. Based on my research, I believe that if PED’s were used but regulated by a specific staff that these injuries that put players out for months would occur less and would be easier to recover from.

Gobirds115’s Sources

6 Benefits of Testosterone Replacement Therapy

Background: This article discusses the benefits of TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy). Not only does it discuss the physical benefits that it provides but it also improves brain functions like memory and mood.

How I Intend to use it: I intend to use this source as an introduction to performance enhancements in my paper. I believe that TRT is a useful alternative to steroids because it’s something that already is in the players. I believe that monitoring Testosterone levels of the players, setting a league wide level for testosterone and using TRT to level players could be a way to increase muscle function and improve player health.

Should We Accept Steroid Use in Sports?

Background: This article includes 6 experts on steroids and their opinions on whether or not they should be allowed in sports. The decision was split 3 for and 3 against. The 3 for steroid use in sports use reasoning that people should have control over what they choose to put in their bodies, sports itself are dangerous which make steroids a tool for safety, and that steroids only help players be the best they can be. The 3 against steroids argue that it could have long lasting health effects and influence young kids into taking these drugs because their role models are.

How I Intend to use it: I intend use this source as professional opinions/backup to my argument in favor of steroids being involved in sports. The part I intend on focusing on is the aspect that people are prescribed all kinds of drugs to help with all different kinds of ailments so it shouldn’t be treated differently when athletes are in need of help for specific ailments.

Epidemiology and Impact of Abdominal Oblique Injuries in Major and Minor League Baseball

Background: This article is full of research and statistics on oblique/abdominal injuries in professional baseball. The article goes in depth on different types of injuries, different methods of treatments, recovery times, and lots of useful information on the obliques/abdominal functions.

How I Intend to use it: The statistics in this article show that oblique/intercostal/abdominal injuries are the leading injuries for missed time. They also show that in the some methods of rehab/recovery, injections are used but the effectiveness isn’t very prominent. However, they stress that core and trunk strengthening works in prevention of these injuries. So using this information I’d position the argument that regulated and proper use of PED’s/steroids would serve as a tool to help strengthen the core/trunk at a higher rate and also serve as a rehab tool to speed up recovery.**I will find another source that on effective PED’s for core/trunks to buddy with this one, just haven’t gotten there yet**

*UPDATE 3/7*

I was able to use the statistics in from this source to provide statistics on oblique injuries which allowed me to make claims and reason based on the statistics provided in this source.

Recurrent hamstring muscle injury: applying the limited evidence in the professional football setting with a seven-point programme

Background: This article discusses different types of hamstring injuries suffered particularly in football. The emphasis of the article is on the different methods of rehab and treatments for hamstring injuries. Some methods they mention are physical therapy/strengthening, biomechanics assessment, injections, etc.

How I Intend to use it: There is a small part in this article that mentions the effectiveness of epidural steroids for Hamstring injuries and lumbar spinal injuries. This part of the article mentions the almost immediate effectiveness of the epidural steroid following the injection. This would be worth mentioning in my paper, maybe not a huge source to focus on but definitely something worth touching on because it supports my argument of a steroid being used for healing.

Androgenic anabolic steroid-induced liver injury: two case reports assessed for causality by the updated Roussel Uclaf Causality Assessment Method (RUCAM) score and a comprehensive review of the literature

Background: This article examines multiple different people who have or reportedly used Androgenic Anabolic Steroids (AAS) and their current health status. They mainly focus on the effects of AAS on the liver. They claim that mis management of AAS can lead to drug induced liver injury (DILI). There is plenty of research and statistics within their article to back this up.

How I Intend to use it: I intend to use this article as a counter argument to what I’m proposing. I have to address the possible threats that certain types of PED’s like AAS can pose and show awareness. In doing this, it allows my proposal to be more justified due to the fact that I’m addressing potential concern while still conveying my argument.

**BELOW ARE THE NEW SOURCES I USED/WILL USE IN THE DEFINITION/CATEGORICAL PAPER AND CAUSAL PAPER**

“MLB steroid suspensions (2005-2022).”

Background: This source has a list of every player suspended from PED’s since the year 2005.

How I used it: I used the statistics given in this source to give insight to my readers on how many suspensions occur because of PED’s and how many games are missed. I also used them as for facts to help create a claim and reasoning.

“What is Clostebol? the steroid Fernando Tatis Jr. took by accident and got him suspended“

Background: This article was written after Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. tested positive for clostebol. Tatis claims he took the drug because his physician prescribed it to him to treat ringworm and that he had no intention of using it to enhance his performance. Tatis served an 80 game suspension as a result of his test.

How I used it: I used Tatis’ case as an example as to why the rules should change regarding banned substances and built an argument around it which included a solution to the problem of banned substance abuse/misuse.

“Major League Baseball’s Minor League Drug Prevention And Treatment Program.“

Background: This is just a list of every banned substance in MLB and each category of banned substances.

How I used it: I used this in my definition paper to set the parameters and define what I would be arguing.

Current State of the Research Paper

I think that so far, I have some decent framework to construct this paper. I believe the 5 sources I’ve chosen so far make some good points and further down the road as I tie in some more sources, specifically sources about different aspects, my paper will begin to shape up quite nicely. What I’m hoping for eventually with this paper is to really tie together the scientific and logical reasons to allow some sort of regulated version of PED’s back into baseball along with how it will effect the culture around baseball.

*UPDATE 3/7*

I finished the definition/categorical installment of the research paper. I feel that I did well on the definition part but may have misinterpreted the categorical part. I didn’t use many of these sources as most of them didn’t quite pertain to what I was defining or fit in to the topics I was diving into. However I was able to find more sources that better served this paper.

Posted in GoBirds, White Paper | 1 Comment

Purposeful Summaries – Sunflower

Posted on February 7, 2023 by sunflower0311
  1. Mormon Baptist Targets Anne Frank

It seems counterintuitive that someone could be baptized after they have already passed away. What could possibly be even more counterintuitive is baptizing someone who has passed away in a faith that they never followed. However, that is exactly what happened to Anne Frank.

Anne Frank was baptized via proxy in a Mormon Temple in the Dominican Republic. This event directly went against a pact between Jewish leaders and the Mormon church where the Mormon church vowed to stop baptizing holocaust victims.

In addition to Anne Frank, Elie Wiesel is also set to be baptized despite the fact that he is still living. Wiesel as well as other Jewish leaders have campaigned against the practice and encouraged high ranking Mormons such as Mitt Romney to speak out against it as well. However, they did not receive any help from Mitt Romney or any comment from the church.

Despite clear protests from surviving Holocaust survivors as well as the pact made in 1995, Mormon churches continue to perform these proxy baptisms on those who have passed on and can no longer consent to it.

2. Vancouver Combats Heroin by Giving its Addicts the best Smack in the World

It seems counterintuitive that to combat a city’s heroin problem they are actually providing heroin to addicts. However, in Vancouver that is exactly what they are doing.

In Vancouver doctors are prescribing free heroin two to three times a day for certain people. This program is currently being used for twenty-six people who are described as those who were not able to take to heroin alternatives when trying to get clean.

This program benefits the city because by providing these people with enough doses of heroine to keep them comfortable helps reduce the harm caused to themselves or society. The patients would be less likely to have to use shady methods to obtain the cash they would normally need for heroin since they are being given it for free.

Surprisingly this program has no interest in helping addicts get clean. Instead, it acts as a form of blackmail to reduce the problems caused by heroin addicts.

Despite how shocking this idea of providing free heroin to addicts is, it seems like it would be a successful program.

3. Figure Skating Judges Get a 10 for Duplicity

It seems counterintuitive that there would be bias in one of the biggest sporting events in the world however, for the Winter Olympic event of figure skating there is a lot more bias and corruption then one might think.

In figure skating performer’s score tended to be higher when a judge who shared the same home country as the performer sat on the panel. In addition, vote trading often takes place. To combat this the rules were changed so that judge’s scores were made anonymous however this only increased favoritism towards one’s home country.

Some suggestions to this problem included making the judge’s scores public and have researchers look into any bias or corruption. Another suggestion is to follow what ski jumping does and have a figure skating committee choose the judges.

While this challenge with judging seems like a hard one to combat it is important to recognize that something certainly needs to change in order to make the competition fair.

Posted in Purposeful Summary, Sunflower | 8 Comments

White Paper—Cleveland Brown

Posted on February 7, 2023 by clevelandbrown03

More Guns Less Crime

Website – (What Is The Average Police Response Time in the US? | ASecureLife.com).

Purpose – I will use this website to show pro non gun that sometimes you have to take matter into your own hands when it comes to protecting yourself or loved ones from danger. Because the police are not going to get there in time.

Summary – This website shows the estimated time the police show up to a crime scene which can be 5 to ten minutes

Website – https://legionary.com/3d-printed-guns-in-2022-everything-you-need-to-know/

Purpose – I will use this to prove that even if you get rid of guns people will find a way to make their own. And this will make crime worse than before because now the criminal will know that their victims will not have any weapon that will overpower them.

Summary – This website talks about how people are coming up with the idea to make their own 3D printed model guns and they actually work like a real gun.

Website – https://www.ucf.edu/news/7-influential-protests-in-american-history/

Purpose – I will use this website to show that if the right to bare arms is taken away it will cause riots and civil war.

Summary – gives examples of riots in history when people in America have had there rights taken away by the government.

Website – https://api.politifact.com/factchecks/2015/oct/09/matt-gaetz/violent-crime-lower-states-open-carry/#:~:text=We%20checked%20his%20math%20and%20found%20the%20same,23%20percent%20lower%20violent%20crime%20rate%20that%20year.

Purpose – I will use this website to prove that open carry states have lower crime rate than non open carry states

Summary – Gives a breakdown of how crime is 23% lower in open carry states then non open carry states

Website – https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/gun-safety-and-injury-prevention/

Purpose – I will use this to show that with mandatory gun safety classes it will prevent senseless gun violent and missuses of a firearm.

Summary -Talks about the importance of gun safety classes and how they prevent people from killing themselves and other by accident.

Posted in ClevelandBrown, White Paper | 1 Comment

White Paper- QueenRandom

Posted on February 7, 2023 by queenrandom04

Hypothesis: Due to the history of Policing in America it’s impossible to rehabilitate and therefore should be abolished. 

  1. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56834733 
  • Backgrond information: The training in the US is vastly different from the way the rest of the world  trains their officers. Finland’s gun ownership per population is higher than America’s with a statistic of 32 per 100 people yet they don’t have the same issue with violence we do. We require the least amount of training yet have the largest population of police officers. The least amount of training and the highest rate of mortality within police interation. They’re allowed to decide of their own discretion how much violence is necessary. When in other countries there are concrete steps required to be met before they are allowed to use any violence at all. 
  • How I intend to use it: Finland’s policing system and country proves that violence isn’t a byproduct of the police existing in the first place. This can negate the argument that the act of policing is just such a violent career that it’s impossible for police not to end up violent in response. The fact that every country’s departments don’t have the same rate of police killings allows us to make the assumptio that there is something wrong with what the United States specifically is doing for these conditions to create themselves.
  1. https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ezproxy.rowan.edu/doi/full/10.1111/1745-9133.12536 
  • Background Information: This study takes a real police department  in America and records the data of their violence before and after de-esclation training and tatics were put to use. 
  • How I intend to use it:  This study provides more information why de-escalation and non-voilence can’t be the solution to solving the issue of the police’s brutality within America. In this study the rates of violence decreased but they did not disappear. A lesser amount of violence is not the goal. None is. 
  1. https://time.com/6181463/george-floyd-square-memorial-future/ 
  • Background Information: George Floyd was killed in May of 2020 and in response citizens took over a square block of the city where he was murdered, this came to be known as George Floyd Square. An autonomous block functioning without police or government presence. As more time passes and the significance of George Floyd’s death’s importance lessens to the general public it raises the question of how long this square will be allowed to stay and exist. 
  • How I will use it: You know what is better than less violence? No violence at all. I want to look at how the Square functioned and governed itself without a traditional police presence present and how it would look implemented around the country. Self-governing and community protection is a viable option to be engaged in community’s around the country 
  1. https://sites.uab.edu/humanrights/2021/12/08/the-history-of-policing-in-the-us-and-its-impact-on-americans-today/#:~:text=The%20history%20of%20policing%20can,first%20unofficial%20police%20in%20America. 
  • Background information: This is a definitive timeline of how policing came to be. How it’s history influences the violence and culture enforced within stations across the nation. 
  • How I intend to use it: I can make the claim in my hypothesis that police are gang like but without proper proff it’s empty words. This source allows me to point directly at why and how the police act the way they do with proof past the general populations knowledge of the police.  
  1. https://www.minnesotamonthly.com/lifestyle/business-politics/at-a-crossroads-the-evolution-of-george-floyd-square/ 
  • Background information: George Floyd Square was created in response to George Floyd’s Murder and while the square is now reffered to as just a memorial it was and continues to be a political movement. 
  • How I intend to use it: The presence of the square existing is being used as a reason for 38th being more violent but I think that the presence of the nonpoliced area only amplified the issues that were already there.  
  1.  https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/aug/15/400-years-since-slavery-timeline 400 Years since slavery Time Line by Khushbah Shu 
  • “introduction to US history is the arrival of 102 passengers on the Mayflower in 1620. But a year earlier, 20 enslaved Africans were brought to the British colonies against their will.” 
  • “The recession of the late 19th century hit the US. Knight riders went out in the dark, burning the homes of African Americans who bought their own land.” 
  • Background information In order to get people to but into my outrageous claim I must first convince them of something that is less insane. Slavery is bad. Using this artilce and the statistics it provides gives me proof I need to convince people of this moral clause 
  • How I intend to use it: America, Home of the free land of the brave. This is the ideology we’ve been taught throughout history. Within our education there have been unmistakable efforts to rewrite history with the United States always being the good guy. It’s forced us to never truly reconcile with the truth of our own history. In the article written by Khushbah Shu, 400 Years Since slavery Timeline, it’s revealed to us that despite many people’s first recollection of the British colonizer’s  migration to America being the Mayflower, “ But a year earlier, 20 enslaved Africans were brought to the British colonies against their will.” 
  1. https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/spotlight-primary-source/horrors-slavery-1805 The Horrors of Slavery, 1805 
  • Backround information. Rather than just simply saying slavery was cruel. Its more beneficial to have concrete accounts of the common practices of the time. Anyone can say anything is inhumane. So this calls into question what our society’s intrperetation of what humanity is. 
  1. Injured Humanity; Being A Representation of What the Unhappy Children of Africa Endure from Those Who Call Themselves Christians By Samuel Wood Published by Broadside  
  • From the article titled,  Injured Humanity Graphic Arts written by Julie Melby we find out that Samuel Wood was a Quaker and a New York Printer. In the midst of the political warfare that would eventually end in the criminalization of the Atlantic Slave trade Wood wrote Injured Humanity. His attempt to shine light on the injustices endured by enslaved people during their transportation from Africa to America. He wrote an article; its title which is an argument in itself is  Injured Humanity; Being A Representation of What the Unhappy Children of Africa Endure from Those Who Call Themselves Christians. Here we can find first hand accounts to a the quality of life enslaved peoples were granted, “  to divide them into different classes: the first consisting of those bought for the use of the plantations : the second of the in and out-door slaves. The field slaves are called out by daylight to their work: if they are not out in time, they are flogged.”  There’s no quality of life living outside, being reduced to a location.  
  •  but husbands and wives, parents and children, are parted with as little concern as sheep and lambs by the butcher. 
  1. https://www.princeton.edu/~graphicarts/2009/09/injured_humanity.html Injured Humanity, Graphic arts by Julie L. Melby
  • Explains who Samuel Wood is 
  1. https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/united-states/ 

According to the United States at the OECD Better Life Index, “Housing is essential to meet basic needs, such as shelter, but it is not just a question of four walls and a roof. Housing should offer a place to sleep and rest where people feel safe and have privacy and personal space; somewhere they can raise a family.”  

11.https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/slavery/experience/gender/history.html 

12. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/02/legacy-trauma 

13.https://ekuonline.eku.edu/blog/police-studies/the-history-of-policing-in-the-united-states-part-1/  

14. National Law Enforcement Officers Funds, Slave Patrols an Early Form Of Policing, NLEOMF.org, Accessed 2023

15. News, APD, Timeline of Events since George Floyd’s Arrest and Murder, 2022 

16. Potter, Gary, The History of Policing in the United States, Eastern Kansas University, 2013 

Posted in My Hypothesis, QueenRandom, White Paper | Leave a comment

White paper – Water

Posted on February 7, 2023 by Water

Hypothesis

Advancements in facial recognition are racial and gender-biased

  1. https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/rail4&id=224&men_tab=srchresults

Background: In the article “Facial recognition, Racial Recognition, and the Clear and Present Issues with AI Bias” the author announces that AI recognition has many flaws and rather than help the user it causes more conflict that can occur and ruin someone’s life. Whenever AI software goes through a run, its shows that determining the race is not always right and factors such as background can disrupt final observations.

How I Intend to Use It: As an introduction to my hypothesis it would be nice to share the opinions of others who may think similarly to this hypothesis. The goal is to downplay the power and credibility of facial recognition and to express how an expensive program can not be as useful or reliable to get information.

2. https://terra-docs.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/IJHSR/Articles/volume3-issue6/2021_36_p17_Mandis.pdf

Background: After realising the errors of facial recognition programs, the urge to fix these issues is immediately called upon. Given that numerous amounts of money get dumped on programs to detect faces and to determine what race one is must mean that they are reliable and accurate. In this article, percentages are given when comparing changes in accuracy in relation to race, skin color or hobbies.

How I Intend to Use It: I plan to use the statistics and percent change after programmers/users observe when they try to fix the program to be responsive to culture and background. Express how the more data the program is fed, the more error-prone it becomes. it can be used as a counterintuitive source where for some instances the change in percentage of how accurate the program becomes does get closer to what the person actually is.

3. https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3394231.3397900

Background: This summary is about how a group of people wanted to test the accuracy of a program when it comes to gender and sexuality. By grouping LGBTQ members along with nonbinary members, the program was given the task to point out those who are in their respective groups and to a surprise, the program got the majority of them correct. This proves that some programs can be misleading that guide those who are unaware of possible errors to a degree where it can ruin a life. Yet this survey, proves that it can be accurate given enough information and reliable.

How I Intend to Use It: In the counterintuitive aspect of my hypothesis there can be a scenario where the program completes its goal and is dependable for government forces or corporations’ use. An argumentative point could be proving that its the developer’s fault and how programs that are being sold and talked about as if it was the next big thing have a huge play in understanding. This source goes both ways to either prove right or prove wrong.

4. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43681-021-00108-6

Background: With the advancement in technology, more people become dependable on their devices. In the sense of generalizing programs comparing those with similar features to be the same race or ethnicity, kinds of information gathered from people’s faces manually update the AI to be familiar with behavioral decisions and learn new techniques for predicting one’s action. These kinds of techniques may sound nice on paper but when used in real-life situations, the program can influence cops/users to believe that person could be dangerous or falsely identify someone.

How I Intend to Use It: People give into technology and believe whatever it shows without having a slight bit of doubt. they are so confident with the response shown without fact-checking if it’s right, and solve it themself. If some investigation were to use a facial recognition program the probability of it giving a response that could throw them off are moderate to highly.

5. https://ai4da.com/ai-racial-equality/

Background: Racial biased was described in an example of how a program that hires based on someone’s face could be racially biased towards someone middle-aged and white. The math to ensure problems like this don’t occur is something numbers will be able to solve, it needs to understand the culture and the diverse side of the world. In the example where a certain program was run on 7,000 people, the final examination was that the program was directly racist and it could’ve been due to the natural instinct of a coder who thought it was a norm.

How I Intend to Use It: The dark side of the facial program can be that the reason for these racial biases is from the programmers themselves instead of the lack of cultural information. Instances like this make it hard to fix since everyone is biased towards culture and sexuality. Giving someone the job to determine what they are is an opportunity to express these biases, therefore, facial recognition programs are merely biased and not fixable.

Posted in Waterdrop, White Paper | 1 Comment

White Paper -inspireangels

Posted on February 7, 2023 by inspireangels

Working hypothesis:

Individuals with a eating disorder can enhance their metacognition using cognitive strategies, particularly by doing crossword puzzles frequently to improve their destructive eating habits and intense food cravings

When individuals use crosswords puzzles as a coping strategy to interrupt their food cravings, it can be effective in improving their destructive eating habits.

InspireAngels Proposal

I will be researching the the positive correlation and the benefits that crossword puzzles can have on eating disorders such as binge eating disorder (BED).

Five Academic Sources

  1. Thinking about internal states, a qualitative investigation into metacognitions in women with eating disorders
  • Background information: A research evaluates women’s eating disorders through interviews with regards to helping the development of Metacognitive therapy for eating disorders.
  • How I intend to use it: Since the study conducts interviews on these women’s thoughts and cognitive coping strategies I will use this information in my essay to elaborate how these participants used cognitive distraction through activities such as crossword puzzles.

NOTES on #1 Article

  • “The domain of ‘how’ thinking occurs comprises the concept of metacognition, which refers to the cognitive mechanisms involved in the knowledge, interpretation and regulation of thinking itself ” : The field of thinking is made up of the notion of a person’s awareness of their own thought process or metacognition. This can refer to the cognitive mechanisms that involve mental activities such as interpretation, knowledge, perception and regulation of oneself.
  • The Self-Regulatory Executive Function( S-REF) theory of psychological disorder model had suggested that there are two metacognitive components guiding the information processing, interpretations, and the control of thoughts
  • These two components are metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive regulation. Metacognitive knowledge states “the positive and negative beliefs which an individual holds about how to regulate internal states.” In other sense, when individuals have an understanding about themselves and various other cognitive processes. While metacognitive regulation refers how we control our thinking and use different coping strategies to facilitate our thinking. This can relate to how students are able to select the appropriate learning mechanisms for a task but can later modify or change their approach according to how well it working for them.
  • The theory of S-REF argues that in cases of any psychological disorders, the metacognitive system can “become dysfunctional” or impaired and any metacognitive processes becomes unstable that can result to Cognitive Attentional Syndrome (CAS).
  • Positive Metacognitive about internal states: In the metabeliefs, the two cases involve interpreting either emotions or thoughts as “uncontrollable and dangerous,” however the perceived position action was the same.
  • “[I focus on] not eating. I don’t know when that started but when I’m angry, when I’m sad, like I’m a bit sad today, like a bit off, and the next step is [to think] don’t go to the fridge, don’t you dare go into the kitchen, do not eat, just do not blow it, like you feel shit, there’s an opportunity that you’ll just lose control, like do not do that.” (Age 26 – EDNOS)
  • In this experiment, many of the women shared their cognitive distractions they use to help reduce distress when they were experiencing binge eating urges. They would ensure this by keeping their mind busy or engaged to manage any negative emotions or thoughts.
  • “I’d say even though distracting myself is hard to do, I tend to find that a bit more effective in terms of forgetting about the negative thoughts. Even though it might be hard to actually start a crossword puzzle or to you know make the effort to go and see someone, once I actually do then I tend to you know feel better afterwards, yeah, or less stressed about everything, even though it’s harder to actually do.” (Age 22 – AN) : People with eating disorders struggle with a great deal of stress, however when cognitive regulation or distractions such as crossword puzzles are incorporate into their daily uneasy experience, it can become effective to the individual to better ease their mind and slowly get out of the negative internal state.

2. Active learning: creating interactive crossword puzzles

  • Background information: This study discuss the positive correlation of crossword puzzles have on students with learning and how it benefits their attitude and mood.
  • How I intend to use it: The study goes over the positive benefits of crossword puzzles and with this information I can discuss the how it can assist in person’s health and mental health. Since most of time eating disorders have a correlation with mental illnesses.

NOTES on #2 Article

  • Motivation is the key to having students become involve in learning different tasks to later pursue their goal with knowledge they have attain
  • Numerous of studies have demonstrate that “incorporating active learning helps to motivate” individuals and “improves understanding and learning” (see [1] for a review). “ : By including active learning frequently a person can not only be more motivate but also improve their understanding and learning on a subject. (can connect this with individual’s eating disorders because they can benefit knowing more about their eating disorders to find new coping methods)
  • “Crossword puzzles have been shown to be effective learning tools in disciplines such as medical education ([1]), psychology ([6]), sociology ([7]), communications ([8]), nursing ([9]), or biology ([10]), among others” : Crossword puzzles are used as a learning tool for many subjects and been shown to be effective.
  • A good handful of people associate crossword puzzles as a game to play so makes it more fun for the individual when doing crossword puzzles
  • “The satisfaction derived from successfully solving one clue encourages students to continue towards completion of the puzzle.” As an individual continues to work on a crossword puzzle, they attain that satisfaction of being able to complete a puzzle after solving for one. This can positively alter the mood of the person encouraging them to continue striving to completing the entire puzzle task.
  • Crossword puzzles hold many advantages to expand one’s knowledge on vocabulary, stimulate the brain, encourages logical thinking and as well as aid in improving retention of concepts.

3. Desire to eat and its relationship with emotion regulation, what does rumination has to
do with it?

  • Background information: Discusses the relationship between emotion regulation and food and how they correlate together.
  • How I intend to use it: I will use this information because I can talk about the relationship, food and emotions such as stress has on an individual

NOTES on Article #3

  • Emotional eating is when a person tends to overeat or consume an extensive amount of food at a time due to any negative emotions they are feeling such as “anxiety or irritability”
  • “However, current research, has revealed that it is not the emotion per se that elicits a change in eating behavior, rather it is about the way individuals regulate those emotions (Evers, Stok, & de Ridder, 2010; Spoor, Bekker, Strien, & Heck, 2006).”
  • Emotional regulation corresponds with changes in eating behavior. It tends to influence people by exerting to the experience and expression of their emotions (Gross 1999)
  • In general individuals when feeling any negative emotions tend to consume less food however it quite the opposite for people who restrain their eating. An analysis revealed that only people who would restrict their eating habits intake more food when they experience negative emotions. (Cardi et al., 2015; Evers et al., 2018)
  • The restraint theory states that people who restrain their eating tend to become more vulnerable and lose control in eating after experiencing a negative feeling or situation especially under stress. This suggests that individuals might have difficulties with inhibition. This prevents the person to act relaxed after being self-conscious of themselves.
  • People experience difficulties in emotional regulation due to use of maladaptive behavior strategies rather than adaptive ones. Individuals may be using methods such as avoidance or withdrawal that are not being effective to them while also having it affect them negatively rather than effectively coping in a positive manner to a current situation.
  • Emotional regulation becomes adaptive when the psychological reactions of the negative emotion detected then assess. There are multiple emotional regulation strategies that are adaptive that can be a beneficial for individuals with eating disorders. One of these strategies are rumination.
  • Rumination is when an individual repetitively analyze their problems, concerns, or any type feelings of distress. Rumination only becomes favorable when it relates to the person is self reflecting. When intentionally turning towards solving a current problem it can ease one’s negative emotion. One of the example giving was a crossword puzzle since you have to deeply think about the words to be able to solve it.

4. Freedom From Fear: Overcoming Anxiety, Phobias, And Panic

  • Background information: This book discusses a few strategies of overcoming anxiety. The book better help the readers understand how the brain works so you have better acknowledge in how to control your mental health. It explain different methods of approaching your mental health so when episode occurs you can try these methods to see which best works for you.
  • How I intend to use it: Since the author elaborates in how the brain works and mentions that how one of the methods are cross puzzles, it could be use as evidences to my thesis of the positive correlation crossword puzzles have on eating disorders. Anxiety and depression is connected a lot to eating disorders.

5. Acute Psychosocial stress in binge eating disorder

  • Background information: The study was conducted to inspect the effects of stress on the measure of inhibitory control that could contribute to the lost of control during binge eating in individuals. The participants were assigned to a control group with either no stress or stress situation that involve the control group to use crossword puzzles to help them relax.
  • How I intend to use it: I can use this information by uses the data from the no stress situation individuals that used to crossword puzzle in order to be relax and to have less binge urges.

6. Computer game design: Opportunities for successful learning

7. Self Determination Theory and the Facilitation of Intrinsic Motivation, Social Development, and Well Being

8. Accelerating Student Learning of Technology Terms: The Crossword Puzzle Exercise

9. A personality classification system for eating disorders: a longitudinal study

Background information: This is study is based on eating disorders and the kinds of personality types that are associate with them. About 200 people participate to being interview collecting data on baseline functioning and longitudinal outcome. There were found to be 5 types of personality types associate with eating disorders.

High-functioning personality:

  • is associate with minimal personality pathology
  • were associated with positive outcomes

Behaviorally dysregulated:

  • tends to show more binge/purging symptoms
  • associate with baseline functioning however didn’t show strong ED outcome
  • impulsive
  • have physical self-damaging behavior
  • prone to manipulate suicidal gestures
  • antisocial behavior

Emotionally dysregulated:

  • tends to show more binge/purging symptoms
  • were not associate with negative outcome
  • borderline and histrionic tendencies
  • have angry outburst due to lack of control of anger
  • affective instability
  • dependent

Avoidant insecure:

  • tends to demonstrate more anorexic features
  • associate with poor functioning and outcome
  • anxious, depressed and socially avoidant tendencies
  • lack self-confidence
  • low self esteem
  • close friendships with most only 1 or 2
  • inability to relax

Obsessional sensitive

  • were not associate with negative outcomes
  • obsessional compulsive and rigid tendencies

Bulimic samples were observed to have higher impulsivity. Anorexic samples were observed to have more avoidant and compulsive pathology. Mixed samples had a range of personality types

10. Coping strategies for eating disorders
Background information:

  • Anorexic patients were presented to have more self criticism, social withdrawal, inadequate focused management. In the bulimic patients

11. Personality Characteristics and Coping Patterns

12. Difference in the use of emotional regulation strategies between anorexia and bulimia

13. Games as an innovative teaching strategy for overactive bladder and BPH

14. Derailing the streetcar named desire. Cognitive distractions reduce individual differences in cravings and unhealthy snacking in response to palatable food

15. Obesity: abandon dieting for behavioural techniques

16. Use of clay modeling to reduce chocolate craving

Topics for Smaller Paper

(Definition/Categorical Paper)

(Causal/Cause and Effect Paper)

Categories

Personalities types and their relationship with eating food/overeating/binging eating

Coping Strategies

  • Distraction
  • Self regulation
  • Negotiation
  • Self Denial
  • Mood alternation
  • Emotional regulation
  • Rumination

Behavior Dysregulated positive : rumination, negotiation

Bad outcome: self denial

Emotional Dysregulated positive: emotional regulation, distraction

bad outcome: self denial

Avoidants insecure positive: self regulation and rumination

Bad outcome: distraction

Obsessional sensitive positive: self negotiation and self denial

bad outcome: rumination

Matching those against Food Strategies to demonstrate good and bad outcomes. What’s the best approach for a Self-Regulator who tends to overeat during times of stress? 

(Rebuttal Argument)

Topics to rebuttal

  • Crosswords disadvantages and ineffectiveness
  • Crosswords puzzles being beneficial to individuals however not to eating disorder patients
  • crosswords cause anxiety and more stress than intended
Posted in InspireAngels, White Paper | 3 Comments

White Paper – chickennugget246

Posted on February 6, 2023 by chickennugget246

Hypothesis: Eliminating seatbelts from automobiles would reduce the number of auto accidents more than eliminating the law requiring drivers to wear a seatbelt while in the vehicle since drivers will become more cautious behind the wheel.

  1. https://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1564465,00.html

Background: Seatbelts could encourage some individuals to take risks. “Do seatbelts really protect us and keep us out of danger?” A risk expert named John Adams from the University College of London found that mandating seatbelts in 18 countries resulted in either no change or a net increase in accident deaths. He determined that this data was due to the risk factor meaning individuals will tend to be daring and drive a bit more recklessly when wearing the protective shield, the seatbelt. Therefore, a driver who feels safer due to a seatbelt being worn, will consequently increase their driving risk factor.

How I Intend to Use It: In this article, Adams discusses risk and the level one might go to when feeling protected by some outside source, such as a seatbelt. Here, I could use Adams’ information and statistics to help support my thesis on eliminating seatbelts from automobiles.

2. https://medium.com/@dossy/do-seat-belts-really-save-lives-74f4c0b79444

Background: In this article “Do Seatbelts Really Save Lives?” Shiobara suggests that “seatbelts don’t save lives, they just make the bodies easier to find.” The article also includes a graph illustrating motor vehicle deaths in the United States that Shiobara concluded. The graph does not show that wearing a seatbelt prevented death or injury. It showed fluctuation and inconsistency and not a representation of what one would expect, being that seatbelts prevented death and injury. Even more in this article, it was said that 47% of people not wearing seatbelts and 53% of people wearing seatbelts died in car accidents. The question here to ponder would be what other factors, besides the seatbelt, are aiding in protecting the driver from auto accidents, injury, and even death? Could it possibly be a better, more advanced technological vehicle that is designed to drive, park, and steer itself?

How I Intend to Use It: This article could help to support my thesis because it provides data, a visual graph, and evidence that a seatbelt might not be the sole answer to keeping its driver protected. This data and information will help support my claim about eliminating seatbelts since almost the same amount of people died with or without a seatbelt.

3. https://www.trantololaw.com/law-firm-blog/car-accidents/refuse-seat-belts/

Background: This article discusses the idea that seatbelts could prevent passengers from escaping the vehicle in an event of a fire or water disaster, causing injury or even death to one or more of the vehicle’s passengers. In addition, it explains how seatbelts could cause bodily harm such as broken bones, damage to internal organs, internal bleeding, collapsed lung, traumatic brain injury, damage to the chest, neck, abdomen, or whiplash.

How I Intend to Use It: Since this article suggests a portion of non-wearing of a seatbelt to possibly being harmful, it could help to provide some evidence supporting my overall thesis. This article could be beneficial with providing reasons why a driver or passenger should not have to wear a seatbelt.

4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470262/

Background: Seatbelt syndrome or injuries caused by a seatbelt range from bruising to abdominal injuries and vertebral fractures. In 1973, the three point harness which covers the shoulders, chest, and abdomen, took place of the lap belt. Due to the placement of the harness, an impact could put extreme force on an individual’s neck, chest, or abdomen. These seatbelt related injuries are usually around one’s neck, chest, or abdomen and could be quite severe. Injuries can also occur in the liver, spleen, pancreas, and kidneys. Seatbelts can impact the neck region including cervical spine, vascular injury, or clavicle fractures. In addition, thoracic injuries due to the force of a seatbelt could encompass internal fracture, rib fractures, pulmonary contusion, and even myocardial contusion.

How I Intend to Use It: This article can help support my thesis of why seatbelts could be eliminated from automobiles since so many injuries occur to individuals while wearing a seatbelt. I could talk about the progression of the seatbelt and the timeline of the seatbelt. I will also include the various injuries that can occur while wearing a seatbelt in an automobile while driving the vehicle.

5. https://www.thelemonlawyer.com/seat-belt-problems

Background: There are a number of defects and malfunctions in the seatbelt system which could leave its passengers unprotected and in harm’s way in an accident. Some seatbelt problems could be a defective buckle, old, worn-out buckles, manufacturing defects, and faulty designs. If these defects or problems occur, a passenger could be thrown against the interior of the vehicle causing serious injury or even death. Vehicle recalls, such as faulty parts, design defects, or problems with the actual seatbelt itself could result in not holding the passenger in their seat and causing serious injury to them.

How I Intend to Use It: This article could be utilized to support my thesis because it provides evidence that seatbelts are installed with defects which could put the driver and passenger in extreme danger.

6. https://www.thezebra.com

This source is used for statistic research. Information from this source was used in the paper to provide information from previous years.

7. https://www.bmcpublichealth.bioedcentral.com

This source help define “seat belt use and risk of major injuries sustained by vehicle occupants during motor-vehicle crashes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.” Injuries caused by seat belt use have been described in this article. This study “investigated the relationship between seat belt use and major injuries in belted compared to unbelted passengers.” There were “no statistically significant difference in risk of head injuries, neck injuries, thoracic injuries, upper limb injuries, and lower limb injuries between belted and non-belted passengers.”

8. https://www.fordservicecontent.com

This website gave background information on seatbelts, how to fasten them, seatbelt locking modes, vehicle sensitive mode, automatic locking mode, when to use the automatic locking mode, and how to disengage the automatic locking mode. This was used for personal and background knowledge on the various seat belt modes and positions.

9. https://politifact.com

Statistic information: There were “157 fire or explosion related fatalities in passenger vehicles in 2009 where the victims were using their seatbelts. If you add people who died by immersion in water, the number jumps to 243.”

Posted in ChickenNugget, White Paper | 3 Comments

White Paper-rowanstudent6

Posted on February 6, 2023 by rowanstudent6

Hypothesis: For my research, I will be defending my claim that the best surf spot in the world is located in Loch Arbor, New Jersey. Since I began surfing in 2016, I have been searching for the best wave and while many professional surfers look to Hawaii, California, or Western Australia for the world’s best wave, I plan to set my sights on the garbage and needle-ridden shores of New Jersey. I believe that the Northeast of the United States does not receive the attention it deserves as there is a unique surf culture that many in the area resonate with.

An Evaluation of the Short-Term Impacts of Beach Nourishment on Surfability in Long Branch, New Jersey

Background: This thesis attempts to explain the offshore dredging that occurs on the Jersey Shore annually to evaluate how this process affects surfs on a short-term basis. It provides thorough research on the process as well as how it will affect the these breaks

Use of Information: I’ll explain how the dredging essentially creates a new break every summer that surfers have to learn and adapt to each year which adds another element of adaptation to surfing New Jersey breaks

Surfability decreased for at least one month after beach nourishment. The study focuses primarily in Monmouth County which is where my hometown is and where I surf most often. The study occurs all over the county, but is centralized in Long Branch as this is where the dredging is taking place. The other beaches are under surveillance as a comparison. Long Branch was selected as it allegedly has the most consistently good surf, but in my own personal opinion that is wrong. Manasquan has the best and most consistent surf in the county.

Evaluating the Impact of Beach Nourishment on Surfing: Surf City, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, U.S.A.

Background: This text further examines how dredging is completed as well as its effects on one particular surf break in New Jersey.

Use of Information: I will use this information to explain the particulars of how waves break in New Jersey and how the dredging affects the surf every year. As a New Jersey surfer I can attest to the effects that this dredging has on the community as a spot that breaks well one year may not break well the next.

New Jersey Surf Guide

Background: This provides a background of surf breaks in New Jersey as well as what conditions create optimal surf. It also details the proper time of year to surf as well as gives some insight into the process of surfing in New Jersey

Use of Information: I will use this to provide a guide of when surfing is best in New Jersey and why this is the case as well as providing insight into New Jersey surf culture

It is not a typical surfing destination (or a destination sought after at all), but if you end up here there is potential for good wave. The quality of the water is as good as it has been for the last thirty years due to frequent testing. Most Jersey beaches close when it is dirty. While surf can be crowded during the summer, you and few buddies can always get some good rides, but when winter comes around and the herds thin, you get more and more choice rides. Crowds are not bad for those who are used to them. Dolphins and porpoises are present in summer and early fall. Beach badges and beach closings during hurricanes can prove to be problematic at times, but there are few hazards here. Seasonal surf rankings: Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer (Personally: Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring because I do not like the cold). Fall is best due to warm waters, no crowds, and good swells from hurricane season. Water temps from 50-68. Winter has no crowds, but fewer waves between swells. The days are also shorter and its bricks out here. Water temps from 33-50. Spring is still cold and the swells have died down. Summer is hit or miss with teh waves either being excellent or flat. Surfing areas are limited and lifeguards are up your ass about being in swimmer zones. Crowds and badges are an issue, but sunrise and sunset are peak.

Science of Surfing

Background: This article explains how waves form and the intricate process that allows for waves to break properly. This will provide the reader with inside of what happens below sea level that causes the production of waves and “good” waves.

Use of Information: I will use this information to explain how waves break and then to apply this to my home break while also explaining why dredging affects the process of wave generation

https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/mechanics-how-pipeline-breaks-oahu-surf/40481

Background: This article explains the mechanics and science behind the wave that many consider to be the best in the world: The Banzai Pipeline. From the reef to groundswells to wind, this article explains all that makes the Banzai Pipeline so special.

Use of Information: I will use this article to tear apart all notions of the Banzai Pipeline being the best in the world. I will use this as a comparison to show why New Jersey surf is better than that in Hawaii.

Topics for Other Papers: Why asymmetrical boards are better than symmetrical boards, why soft top boards are better for professional contests than fiberglass

Analysis of Progress: There is an amazing paper in the works here, but I am lacking in numerous categories. There is virtually no information on why New Jersey or the Northeast in general is a good place to surf which simply means I am on to a brilliant discovery but it makes the initial research process much more difficult. I need to conduct much more research, dive deeper into my topic, and grasp a better understanding of what I am writing and why. I have to believe what I am writing because it has been ingrained in me since an early age that surfing doesn’t get any better than in Hawaii, but this paper is not only attempting to disprove the ideas formed in the surf community, but my own inherent bias as well. I need to spend more time working on this project than I have in the past and truly grasp what counterintuitivity is as well as how to go about writing about a topic that has never been written about.

Water Temps

NOAA research shows a chart of average monthly water temperatures throughout New Jersey. In winter the water can reach temperatures as low as 36.4 degrees and in summer it can reach as high as 79.4 degrees with February being the coldest month in the year and July being the warmest.

Tourism

Jersey requires tourism for a large part of its economy. Jobs, state income depend on tourists flocking to beaches in the summer. Sandy destroyed the beaches, but they are back and up and running for the most part as beach refurbishments have been made to protect our shores.

https://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/why-is-banzai-pipeline-the-ultimate-surfing-wave

https://tcsurf.com/blogs/news/pipeline-hawaiis-deadliest-wave

https://www.volcom.com/blogs/truetothis/worlds-best-left-hander-banzai-pipeline-hawaii-left-handers-day

Posted in rowanstudent6, White Paper | 4 Comments

White Paper – TristanB50

Posted on February 6, 2023 by tristanb50


Thesis: The auto industry has caused more harm to the American public than any other industry possibly could, forcing a nationwide dependence on their products.

References:

Source 1: LA Transit Study Finding

Background: Study of how Los Angeles’ rail systems have effected the community, economically, socially, and through politically. Asserts that public transit projects provide communities with long-term success, but do not generate income quickly. They are also known to increase the land-value of an area, which could be seen as a good or bad thing depending on whether the people living in an area are homeowners or not.

How I Intend to Use It: Good for evidence of rail contributing to an areas success, both economically and socially. It makes powerful assertions on how rail should be implemented, providing clarity that could back up my argument. 

Source 2: Car-Centric Cities

Background: Takes a look at how cities and towns are based around accommodating cars, citing specifics like lacking sidewalks, including high speed multilane roads, and no clear crosswalks. Looks at how walkable infrastructure can be implemented, through mixed use zoning, pedestrian safe walkways, and and bike able infrastructure. Argues that living in an unworkable area inherently has a higher cost of living, as car ownership and all it’s tendrils are prerequisites for living there.

How I Intend to Use It: Good starting point for my research introducing some rabbit holes to dive into like mixed use zoning, cost of living, and decongesting rural areas. Also has some good economic information to back up my argument.

Source 3: Texas Sized Pavement Problem

Background: Investigates Collin County’s new highway widening project, breaking down the costs year by year. Collin County is one of the many counties included in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro center. They look into how much the project would cost taxpayers, an estimated $420 million/year over the next 3-4 decades, not accounting for maintenance. Argues the same talking points for walkable cities as the previous argument, and cites jobs being centralized as a way to fight congestion.

How I Intend to Use It: Arguing for centralized jobs could be useful, as this would cut commuting times a lot. This could be a useful rabbit hole, examining the benefits of centralized job, as well as plans to help implement them. The cost analysis of highway construction could be used as a way to refute any cost-based arguments against rail, showing the outrageous costs and tax dollars needed for construction of new highway infrastructure. 

Source 4: Eliminating Public Transit’s First Mile/Last Mile Problem:

Background: Takes a look at the publics view on public transport, using a case study from North Carolina, noting people are generally comfortable walking 1/4 of a mile to public transit. It introduces some possible solutions to the issue of reaching public transport, such as demand-response system, which would implement technology to allow more flexible and effective transit systems.

How I Intend to Use It: The percentage of people who use public transport and how far people will go for it could be useful for looking into the general populations views on transport. I intend to look deeper into some of the possible solutions presented, such as point-to-point and demand-response service. 

Source 5: MIT Analysis of New Automobiles:

Background: This article overviews a study comparing the emissions of gasoline vehicles to different electric and hybrid models. It studies the lifetime of the different cars to determine their emissions at all points of production, and points out that at the moment, hybrid cars are actually the best for the environment (irrelevant to my argument, as they are still personalized cars) Fossil fuel usage is not reduced to make “green” cars, just reallocated to the point of manufacturing.

How I Intend to Use It: Useful in quickly dismissing the belief that electric cars will solve all the problems caused by gasoline cars. The article portrays both as faulty, which will allow me to introduce the benefits of public transport. This topic isn’t the main focus of my essay anymore, so if I do use it, it will likely be in passing.

Source 6: Spencer R. Scott, P. D. (2021, February 17). A grand theft: Auto industry stole our streets and our future. Medium. Retrieved March 6, 2023, from https://spencerrscott.medium.com/a-grand-theft-auto-industry-stole-our-streets-and-our-future-a2145d6e10e2 

Background: Addresses how cars were implemented into cities in the first half of the 20th century. Discusses the auto industries efforts of making public transit redundant, lobbying to implement highways, and shifting city planning away from our social needs.

How I intend to use it: Provides a good historical background on how the auto industry became intertwined with modern city planning efforts. This could help portray the world before car-centric infrastructure took over, as well as providing a necessary before and after for the rise of interstate highways. 

Source 7: Alan Fisher. (2021, August 16). Electric Cars are Not Sustainable and they’re Terrible [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiI1AcsJlYU

Background: Criticizes electric cars for their pollution during production, faulty batteries that take years of ownership to pay off, leading to grader road degradation, prolonging the issues of unwalkable infrastructure, and creating a false sense of sustainability. Ultimately asserts that trains should replace cars for both personal and commercial use. 

How I intend to use it: Could be useful for denouncing the idea that electric cars can easily patch up the issues brought on by the auto industry, and the missed opportunity of investing in replacing gas vehicles with electric cars. Ultimately I want to shift my focus away from electric cars in the essay, but dismissing them could help readers follow my line of thinking better.

Source 8: Pattison, J. (2022, December 28). The growth ponzi scheme: A crash course. Strong Towns. Retrieved February 6, 2023, from https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2020/8/28/the-growth-ponzi-scheme-a-crash-course :

Background: In this reading, the expansion of roads, suburbs, and new developments in general are compared to a Ponzi Scheme. Most new projects are financed by the profits of new projects, leading to a continual growth of developments that are built on very little. It doesn’t explicitly blame the government or the auto industry for this issue, but rather views it as a flawed experiment.


How I intend to use it: This article could help prove the lasting impacts of the auto industries advances in the early 20th century, and how the issue is expanding to this day. Focusing on the governments role in this could help stress how the issue has been exacerbated. I don’t want to portray the auto industry as expressly malicious in all of it’s actions, but rather just a large factor in several modern issues. This article acts as a portal to other sources, linking several case studies and proposed solutions in the bottom.

Source 9: Weingart, E., & Schukar, A. (2023, January 6). Widening Highways Doesn’t Fix Traffic. So Why Do We Keep Doing It? The New York Times. Retrieved March 5, 2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/06/us/widen-highways-traffic.html 

Background: States the issues with widening highways, a popular response to decreasing congestion. Notes how the majority of federal funding for transport goes towards highway renovation/upkeep, leaving public transport to fend for itself with local funding. Cites a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research noting that road capacity grows 1:1 with number of cars, or in other words, widening highways eventually cancels out. Compares how certain states are adapting to the problem compared to states that are prolonging the issue.

How I intend to use it: I intend to use this article to stress how we need to stop expanding our highways and invest in mixed-use development and public transit to reduce the amount of cars on the road. Goes hand in hand with the growth ponzi scheme, looking into the inefficiencies with our highways. 

Source 10: What is A Flex Route? Tri-County Transit. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2023, from https://www.tricountytransit.org/understanding-the-flex-route.html 

Background: Discusses flex routes, bus routes that have fixed stops while being able to reach off point locations (up to a ¼ mile off the fixed route) preventing delays for the other passengers. While standard buses utilize a path with multiple fixed stops, this service circulates between popular destinations on a (in this case) ~2 hours schedule, picking up passengers along the way. Riders schedule their stops at least 24 hours in advance, allowing people in rural or unwalkable areas to reach public transit. This can be ran alongside standard bus lines, and does not necessarily need to “replace” fixed bus route systems. 

How I intend to use it:  Offers a sensible option of implementing public transport to get cars off the road, without requiring an immediate reconstruction of transportation systems. Viable solutions like these are definitely something I will need to present when writing this essay, as criticism without possible alternatives may likely to alienate readers on this topic.

Source 11: Domonoske, C. (2022, November 4). It’s not just buying a car – owning one is getting pricier, too. NPR. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://www.npr.org/2022/11/04/1133678811/used-cars-new-prices-price-costs-maintenance-inflation-expensive 

Background: A combination of supply chain shortages from the pandemic, rising insurance premiums, gas prices, and inflation are making car ownership much more expensive on average. Today, car goes for around $48,000 new, $28,000 used. The average age of vehicles on the road is 12 years, which could be a sign of dependability, as well a disinclination to buying new cars. Many used cars on the market are in good condition, but are more expensive on average. The drastic increase in car quality and size in the past 20 years combined with inflation makes their average cost much higher than ever before. Repairing new cars is also much costlier, new parts being more expensive on average as well.

How I Intend to Use It: A large part of my argument is the personal costs that private transportation has essentially locking personal transport behind a paywall. The rising prices of buying and maintaining a new car has never been more expensive, and is unlikely to stop anytime soon.

Source 12: Sparre-Enger, H. (2020, May 13). Expanding road capacity in urban areas resulted in urban sprawl, more traffic and more motorists. Nordic Road and Transport Research. Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://nordicroads.com/expanding-road-capacity-urban-areas-resulted-urban-sprawl-traffic-motorists/ 

Background: Using evidence from a Norwegian transportation study, this article asserts that road traffic increases after roads are expanded, resulting in longer commute times for work. They note that expanding roads capacity can increase urban development, which in Ålesund’s case, was a desired outcome. In south Oslo, expanding the roads lead to an increased dependence on cars, and thus sprawl occurred as more people moved into the area. Presents the idea of zero growth, which promotes strengthening city centers with dense development and access to public transport. Ultimately, expanding roads increases sprawl, making zero growth much more difficult to accomplish.

How I Intend to Use It: This article uses real evidence from multiple Norwegian cities that both prove to expand lateral development. In certain settings this can be a positive to bring growth to an area, however many places in America (especially the Northeast) do not need this kind of development. I intend to use this as the link between car infrastructure and car dependance.

Topics for Smaller Papers:

Causal: Basing living spaces around roads makes them unwalkable, increasing the pedestrian need for cars, requiring planners to better accommodate them by expanding roads and furthering the dependance on cars.

Rebuttal (Option 1): Compare the auto industries consequences to another industries, specifically one widely considered to be harmful (would give the readers a better idea of why the auto industry should be considered among the worse, give a better understanding for the scrutiny surrounding cars)
Rebuttal (Option 2): Take a closer look at how the auto industry astroturfed support (denounces the argument that roads were incorporated for public support, would have to shorten the section discussing this from my definitional argument to avoid repeating myself)

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