Concussions in football Essay Example for Free

Concussions in football Essay Injuries in sports are bound to happen no matter what sport you are playing and you never know when an injury will occur. They just come with the territory and they can range from a cut to an injury that could end an athlete’s career or even worse lead to a death. A big problem in sports nowadays is that there are too many concussions in pro sports all the way down to young kids who are just starting to play a sport. Football in particular has received a lot of backlash about the safety of the sport because there tends to be more concussions in this sport than in any of the other major sports. With all this talk about concussions in football, it may become very hard to market the sport because of all the safety problems and this could lead to less participation. A concussion is when there is a blow to the head or body that causes a type of traumatic brain injury. It causes stretching, damaging the cells, and chemical changes to the brain. Basically, it is when your brain moves in the skull and hits the side of your skull. There are many different symptoms that the athlete can experience, but there are also symptoms that coaches and other players can observe if they believe someone may have a concussion. Symptoms that players experience include headaches, nausea or vomiting, dizziness or sensitivity to light and noise, and memory problems just to name a few. Symptoms that coaches can observe include glassy eyes, noticing the player is forgetting plays, answers slowly, and can’t recall what happened before or after the play. Dangers of receiving one or more concussions can include brain swelling or permanent brain damage and in some cases they can be fatal. There are also concussion danger signs, which include one pupil larger than the other, a headache that gets worse, convulsions or seizures, loss of consciousness and can’t be woken up, and can’t recognize people or places. There is no way to fully prevent concussions no matter what equipment you are wearing or how good you are. The best way to lower concussions is to teach the younger kids how to properly hit and not to use their head when tackling. Always emphasize that safety comes first. During the 2012-2013 NFL season, there were more than 160 players that had head injuries, but at the same time there were breakthroughs in brain research, a wrongful death lawsuit, and the President of the United States talked about head injuries that come along with playing football. The biggest play that would lead to concussions would be kickoffs, so this year they moved it up five yards for more touchbacks. By doing this, there was a 43 percent drop in head injuries during kickoffs. After doing this, the NFL donated $30 million to the National Institute of Health for research on head injuries. This is when all the head injuries started happening because they season was fully underway now. A Jacksonville Jaguars player suffered his second concussion on 9/30 and his second in as many weeks and his third total of the season. By receiving more and more concussions, this player is putting himself in danger of hurting himself for good. Boston University then did a study on former football players and found that there were 28 cases of CTE in players that have passed away, including 15 who played in the NFL. The most recent being Junior Seau who took many blows to the head over his career and they found that it was present in him when he committed suicide. With all these head injuries happening, it’s hard to hear the 4 in 5 NFL players don’t trust their team’s medical staff. On the upside, for the 2012 season, more concussions were being reported, which the NFL believes means teams are becoming more serious about head injuries. From practices, games, and preseason there were 154 concussions reported through week eight of the season. That was a 21 percent increase from the 127 reported in the same span for the 2009 season and a 34 percent increase from the 2008 season. It seems that every week, key players on teams are missing time on the field because they are having head injuries from their practices and games. The neck and spine committee of the NFL are continuing to meet to improve player safety and to make strides and lowering the number of concussions in the NFL. They are hoping that with the information they gain, players will now think twice about reporting head injuries and also look out for teammates that may have sustained a head injury and report it. They hope that they will stop playing through these injuries and start focusing on their own health. In November 2009, 30 out of 160 players surveyed said that they hid their symptoms or even said they weren’t as bad as they really were. New York Jets player Brodney Pool stated, â€Å"Thats one good thing (Commissioner) Roger Goodell and the NFL have been doing: The message is that if theres something wrong with a guy, especially a head injury, you dont want to rush a guy back or make a little mistake that could mess him up, possibly for life. † While players don’t trust their medical staff, the NFL is taking the right steps to increase player safety after a big hit. Next season every team will now study concussions using iPads during the games. This will help determine if a player suffered a concussion during the game. With this new app, trainers will now be able to do side by side tests of baseline and post injury tests to help determine when a player should be taken out of a game in real time. Along with this, each team will now have an independent neurological consultant on the sideline to help assist the trainers and physicians. These tests are very quick and only take between 6 and 8 minutes and will include the player’s concussion past and a 24-symptom checklist. Players will be given memory tests and will be asked the same question about 5 minutes later to see if they remember. The NFL wants the consultants to have full say in whether a player can re-enter the game because that’s what they are strictly there for, but they believe that this may not be the case. These tests still aren’t perfect, but the NFL is going in the right direction to keep players safe. This past off-season, the NFL has implemented new rules to help keep the players safe and to lower the concussion problem. One new rule is that players are now not allowed to deliver hard hits to opposing players with the crown of their helmet. New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin said, â€Å"It does reinforce the importance of getting out in front of this before something tragic happens. † Even with the new rule, helmet companies are trying new technology to help stop concussions. They now test helmets by putting them on plastic dummies and hitting them with a machine to test how safe the helmets actually are when there is a blow to it. Three sensors in the helmet test how many G forces the helmet takes when the machinery hits it. The tests cover 12 different helmet locations on 5 different velocities on the impact of the helmet. In the last three years, there have been over 200 concussions in each season and they are trying to greatly reduce this number. The study has already collected over 350,000 impacts on the helmets that contain the sensors. They have discovered that it isn’t always the biggest hit, but where the hit occurs on the body and if there is repetition of the hit. Along with the study, the NFL has teamed up with the military and have taken ideas from them including different pad lining material, stiffness, and thickness to help prevent the brain from rattling in the skull. With the NFL being sued so much now by former players, they are now pushing harder than ever for research on the brain and equipment. This has jump started scientific studies, rule changes, and investments in research including the $100 million grant by the NFL Players Association to Harvard Medical School for a ten year study of players health. Even with all the new equipment and tests and safety precautions, parents are being hesitant to let their children play football because of the risks it comes with. Terry Bradshaw, a former NFL quarterback is the latest player to say he wouldn’t let his son play football if he had one. He stated, â€Å"If I had a son today, and I would say this to all our audience and our viewers out there, I would not let him play football. † He also believes that in the next decade soccer may pass football and that contact sports will slowly decrease. He also spoke about six concussions that completely knocked him out cold and how dangerous that can be. Another former NFL quarterback, Troy Aikman, has also said that he wouldn’t stop his son from playing the sport, but he wouldn’t encourage him to play. There are also NFL players in the league now they have said they wouldn’t want their son to play the sport because of the dangers. This includes Bart Scott, Adrian Peterson, and Ed Reed who are some of the top players in the league. This even caught the attention of the President who said he would not want his son to play football and even Tom Brady’s father has said that he would hesitate to let his son, 3-time Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady, play the sport. As of right now, more than 2,000 former NFL players are suing the NFL claiming that they were never told what the long term affects of concussions were. Concerned parents have even came out and said they wouldn’t let their son play or that they want to take them out of the sport and put them into a less physical sport. In a recent study, it is estimated that there are 2,000 NFL players, 100,000 college players, 1. 3 million high school players and 3. 5 million players in the youth leagues. Over the past few years, the number of players in youth leagues has slowly decrease because parents are scared for their sons safety. The study also found that in youth leagues, most of the head injuries occur in practice and not in the games. Thirty-five states now have different types of laws that make it so players cannot return to the game until they have medical clearance if they are playing on school properties. As of right now, too many high school students are returning to the field too soon after sustaining a concussion, which could increase the potential for the athlete to receive permanent brain damage. A study conducted from 2005-2008 showed that 41% of players are returning to the field too soon. If a player receives a concussion or they believe the player may have a concussion, the rule states that if the player suffers from one or more of the symptoms for more than 15 minutes, they could be sidelined until they are symptom free for a week. The biggest and probably scariest statistic is that 16% of high school players who have lost consciousness after receiving a concussion have returned to the field the same day. This could become very dangerous and lead to fatalities if this continues to happen. Not enough high schools have certified trainers in concussions and only 42% of schools have certified trainers. By not have certified trainers, the schools are putting the athletes in danger because they won’t be told if they have a concussion and one more blow to the head could end their career or life. Concussions can be dangerous because it can slow down blood and oxygen from reaching the brain. This can cause players to become sluggish and not know what is going on in the game and can lead to other injuries or even more concussions. A neurosurgeon and concussion expert believes that someone who has a mild concussion for the first time should even be out of the game until his or her symptoms are gone for a week. The main problem with high school athletes is that they will hide the fact that they have symptoms because they want to keep playing because they love the sport and believe playing through pain makes them better and tougher. In the end, the players should be thinking of their own health and not about going back in the game. With all that said, the NFL and football in general are going to start having a problem marketing the sport. It’s already hard enough to play because equipment and playing fees keeps increasing, but with all these injuries, children are going to stop playing for their own benefit. Parents are beginning to think more and more about letting their kids play certain sports because of all the dangers that come with the territory. They are realizing that it may not be worth having the children potentially get concussions and head injuries along with other injuries that can come from sports. I believe that in the next few years, you will definitely see a drop in participation numbers just for the simple fact that it’s too dangerous a sport. Kids are getting bigger, stronger, and faster with all of today’s technology and supplements, which will lead to harder and bigger hits. They can still market the sport in a positive way by talking about the new technology and equipment, but at the same time people are going to hear about the injuries in the NFL. With the recent suicides of former NFL players, it is clear that something has to be done to help keep players safe and they are going in the right direction, but they still have a lot of research and development to do. It can also become hard to market the sport when you have former superstars and current superstars saying that they wouldn’t let or they wouldn’t want their own children to play because they know first hand how dangerous this contact sport is. There have been fatalities in high school football because athlete’s concussions are going unnoticed and I believe that this is the biggest hurdle the football in general has to overcome. It shows that schools need to get better medical staff and they need to notice when a player has a concussion and keep them out of the game. They also have to teach the athletes to know when something is wrong with them and tell them to not try to play through it because they are just putting themselves in harms way for a serious injury. Football and the NFL definitely have problems, but they are definitely going in the right direction to protect players as much as they can. Whether it is teaching how to hit or new and better equipment or taking kids out of the game after a certain amount of hits, the concussions will eventually start to decrease. I do believe the sport is going to keep losing participation and I also believe that another sport like soccer, basketball, or baseball will pass football as the biggest sport in America. Works Cited Football, USA.Heads Up: Concussion in Football. USA Football. N. p.. Web. 25 Mar 2013. Breslow, Jason. NFL Concussions: The 2012-13 Season In Review. Frontline. N. p. , 1 Feb 2013. Web. 25 Mar 2013. Battista, Judy. N. F. L. Will Expand Concussion Efforts During Games. The New York Times. N. p. , 26 Feb 2013. Web. 25 Mar 2013. McIntyre, Brian. Terry Bradshaw wouldnt let son play football now. NFL. N. p. , 14 Jun 2012. Web. 25 Mar 2013. Mihoces, Gary. Parents weigh risks of youth football amid concussion debate. USA Today. N. p. , 23 May 2012. Web. 25 Mar 2013. Shyr, Luna. NFL Looks to Helmet Technology to Combat Concussions. . N. p. , 1 Feb 2013. Web. 25 Mar 2013. Gregory, Sean. Study: Kids Competing Too Soon After Concussions. Time Magazine. N. p. , 21 Jan 2009. Web. 25 Mar 2013. Press, Associated. Concussions reported in NFL up 21 percent from last season. NFL. N. p. , 13 Dec 2012. Web. 25 Mar 2013. Corbett, Jim. NFL passes new helmet rule, eliminates Tuck Rule. USA Today. N. p. , 21 Mar 2013. Web. 25 Mar 2013.

Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald Essay -- Great Gatsby Scott Fitzgeral

Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald The 1920s is the decade in American history known as the â€Å"roaring twenties.† Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is a reflection of life in the 1920s. Booming parties, prominence, fresh fashion trends, and the excess of alcohol are all aspects of life in the â€Å"roaring twenties.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The booming parties in Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby reflect life in America during the 1920s. Gatsby displays his prominent fortune by throwing grand parties. From next door, Nick Carraway witnesses the scene of Gatsby’s fabulous summer parties: There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and women came and went like moths among the whisperings of champagne and the stars†¦On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city, between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all the trains (Fitzgerald 43). Gatsby’s house illuminates, the jazz music blares for the entire town to hear, the bubbly is served, and the guests dance until one A.M. The parties are â€Å"roaring.† Gatsby’s parties display the way Americans socialized and the lifestyle they lived during the 1920s when â€Å"Americans danced to the decades joyous music at a frantic and accelerating pace†¦Americans began to improvise leisure time activities that had no purpose other than having fun. People roared through the decade intent on enjoying every exciting moment of it†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Nash 370). Life in the twenties consisted of fun, fun, and fun. Americans partied like there was no tomorrow. Gatsby’s parties reflect the way society partied in the 1920s. Americans threw expensive never-ending galas. One result from the grand parties and riches was the gain in fame.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prominence in The Great Gatsby is imperative for life in Long Island and also reflects 1920s America. Gatsby throws magnificent parties, boasts about his car, and flaunts his costly materials. Gatsby’s materials and riches result in his vast popularity. During one of Gatsby’s parties, Nick becomes intrigued when he overhears a group gossiping about Gatsby. The gossip â€Å"was a testimony to the romantic speculation he inspired that there were whispers about him from those who had found little that it was necessary to whisper about in this world†(Fitzgerald 48). Gatsby’s fo... ...gerald 55). Nick’s perspective on the evening has changed in an instant. In 1920s America, alcohol was just as important as it is in the novel The Great Gatsby. In America everyone was rebelling to Prohibition. Despite the law, â€Å"women who had not been allowed to drink in saloons went to the new speakeasies, where men and women gulped down Prohibition’s new drink, the cocktail†(Nash 398). Americans drank liquor when they and where they could. The consumption of alcohol in the 1920s was significant just as it was in The Great Gatsby. The amount of alcohol served at Gatsby’s parties and in general is an illustration of the overindulgence of alcohol during the 1920s. The drinking, the parties, the rich and famous, and the fashion elite make up not only Gatsby’s life but the 1920s as well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lavish parties, prominence, stylish clothing, and the surplus of alcohol are aspects that frame 1920s America. The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a direct reflection of the lives of American during the time. American history will always know the 1920s as the â€Å"roaring twenties† due to the spontaneity and rebellion that existed. It is no reason the decade is known as â€Å"roaring.†

Children in the Philippines: No Time for Play Essay

Children in the Philippines: â€Å"No Time for Play’ What brand of sugar are you using right now? Where was it made? Do you know what went into the making of your sugar? It could be the blood of a child, the sweat of a child, the tears ofa child. Now, as I read about child labor, I look down at the pack of sugar I am using. I twist it around in an attempt to get a look at the tag, I can read the plain white tape into the tag: â€Å"Manufactured in Negros Occidental†. As I slowly put the sugar on the table, I think about what it means. Negros Occidental is the major producer of sugarcane and a major home to child labor. According to DOLE, an estimated 3 – 5 million working children are there in the Philippines. As likely as not, the pack of sugar I’m using is the product of some unfortunate child forced by circumstances to work away his or her childhood in a sweatshop. It feels sad that what we use as our daily commodity is the work of the poor Filipino children. â€Å"The child is the father of man. † This famous line quoted by William Wordsworth refers to the importance of the child for the development of society as well as for the all-round development of the human race. Childhood is the time to garner the best hysical, intellectual and emotional capacity to fulfill this duty towards the nation and to one’s own self. However, this simple rule of nature has been crippled by the ever- growing menace of child labor. If one conceives the idea of child labor, it brings before the eyes the picture of exploitation of little, physically tender, illiterate and under-nourished children working in hazardous and unhealthy conditions. As what we saw last Tuesday, September 7, 2010 in our film showing about Social Class at the Educational Media Center of CPL], it is very depressing that many Filipino children are under child labor. In Sudtonggan, Cebu children are carrying piles of marble stone on their head. In Diwalwal, Davao del Norte, children are laborers through the night. Children at about 12 years old are mining in deep tunnels. Mining is a very dangerous Job because going inside the tunnel is a 50/50 chance that you can get out alive. A lot has already been died inside the tunnel due to dynamite smoke, falling rocks, and avalanche. Many children also died because of mercury poisoning from the fish that they eat because in making gold the ore that the miners collect are mixed with water and mercury and the mercury deposits are disposed nto their lands leading to the sickness of their people and themselves. We also saw in the film, a girl named Angeli Cabrera, a 10 year old girl who lives at Manapla, Negros Occidental. Angeli used to work in a hacienda (a sugarcane factory) in their place and earn not as much as 50 pesos a day. Due to her work she is always absent lost one of her finger, her classmates used to tease her, she said to her classmates she got wounds not because of playing but because of hard work. There are also cases especially in Ormoc, Leyte where children are told or brainwashed by a recruiter that there is a good Job in their place. The recruiter will bring them into the ship to Manila and force them to work in a sweatshop instead of working in a good job as a saleslady. The worst part of it is that they are imprisoned. The children are not allowed to send letters to their parents. The imprisoned children struggled in the sweatshop. Hopefully the Kamanglayan Development Center retrieve the children in that sweatshop and imprisoned the recruiter behind it. Now the Kamanglayan Development Center are monitoring children that travel to Manila by the boat and the most successful organization for working children. Can you imagine that millions of children are working nowadays? It’s a mere fact and a big frustration to us all. More and more children are forced to child labor because of poverty. They had suffered hunger and thirst, pain in the body and pain in the heart. They had sacrificed their life – instead of playing they are working, instead of studying they are sweating. Working children are deprived of playing. Children are supposed to play and not to work in sweatshops because being a child doesn’t last forever. They should enjoy their childhood and be happy with his or her amily; yet it is a big wake up call to us all that not all people live within their means. Filipino families suffer the economic crisis of our country. Many parents work hard and still cannot fully support their family and that is why children are forced to work because they pity their parents and they work in order to help them. The love that the Filipino children give to their parents is very noble yet the way they help their parents is too much, child labor is not the best way to help their parents. Children are suffering and shouting â€Å"No time for play’. Yes, poverty has greatly ruled the land yet when will this suffering end?

How to Make Instant Snow From Boiling Water

You probably know that you can make snow using a pressure washer. But did you know that you can also make snow from boiling water?  Snow, after all, is precipitation that falls as frozen water, and boiling water is water that is on the verge of becoming water vapor. Its incredibly easy to make instant snow from boiling water. All you have to do is follow these steps: Materials You need only two things to turn boiling water into snow: Freshly boiled waterReally cold outdoor temperatures, around -30 degrees Fahrenheit Process Simply boil the water, go outside,  brave the frigid temperatures, and toss a cup or pot of boiling water into the air. Its important that the water be as close to boiling and the outside air be as cold as possible. The effect is less spectacular or wont work if the water temperature drops below 200 degrees or if the air temperature climbs above -25 degrees. Be safe and protect your hands from splashes. Also, dont throw the water at people. If it is sufficiently cold, there shouldnt be a problem, but if your concept of the temperature is mistaken, you could end up causing a dangerous accident. Always be careful when handling boiling water. How It Works Boiling water is at the point of changing from a liquid into water vapor. It has the same vapor pressure as the air around it, so it has plenty of surface area to  expose to a freezing temperature. The large surface area means its much easier to freeze the water than if it were a liquid ball. This is why its easier to freeze a thin layer of water than a thick  sheet of water. Its also the reason youd freeze to death more slowly curled up into a ball than if you were to lie spread-eagle in the snow. What to Expect If you want to see boiling water turn into snow before you attempt this experiment, view a demonstration on the Weather Channel. The video shows a person holding a pot of boiling water and then tossing the scalding liquid into the air. An instant later youll see a cloud of snow crystals falling to the ground. I could watch this all day, the announcer says as she introduces the video, which was shot at  Mount Washington, New Hampshire, the highest mountain in New England. The announcer notes before the video begins that the snow-making folks performed the experiment three times—once with a measuring cup, once with a mug, and once with a pot. Ideal Conditions In the demonstration video, the temperature of the water was 200 degrees and the temperature outside was a frosty -34.8 degrees. The experimenters said that they had diminished success when the water temperature dropped below 200 degrees and when the outside temperature rose above -25 degrees. Of course, if you dont want to go through all of this and you still want to make snow, or if the temperature outside  is just too warm, you can  make  fake snow  using a common polymer while staying warm and toasty indoors.