Introduction to the Concept of Welfare Analysis

When studying markets, economists not only want to understand how prices and quantities are determined, but they also want to be able to calculate how much value markets create for society. Economists call this topic of study welfare analysis, but, despite its name, the subject doesn’t have anything directly to do with transferring money to poor people. How Economic Value Is Created By a Market Economic value created by a market accrues to a number of different parties. It goes to: consumers when they can purchase goods and services for less than they value the use of the itemsproducers when they can sell goods and services for more than each item cost to producethe government when markets provide an opportunity to collect taxes Economic value is also either created or destroyed for society when markets cause spillover effects for parties not directly involved in a market as a producer or a consumer (known as externalities). How Economic Value Is Quantified In order to quantify this economic value, economists simply add up the value created for all of the participants in (or onlookers to) a market. By doing so, economists can calculate the economic impacts of taxes, subsidies, price controls, trade policies, and other forms of regulation (or deregulation). That said, there are a few things that must be kept in mind when looking at this type of analysis. First, because economists simply add up the values, in dollars, created for each market participant, they implicitly assume that a dollar of value for Bill Gates or Warren Buffet is equivalent to a dollar of value for the person who pumps Bill Gates’ gas or serves Warren Buffet his morning coffee. Similarly, welfare analysis often aggregates the value to consumers in a market and the value to producers in a market. By doing this, economists also assume that a dollar of value for the gas station attendant or barista counts the same as a dollar of value for a shareholder of a large corporation. (This isnt as unreasonable as it may initially seem, however, if you consider the possibility that the barista is also a shareholder of the large corporation.) Second, welfare analysis only counts the number of dollars taken in taxes rather than the value of what that tax revenue is ultimately spent on. Ideally, tax revenue would be used for projects that are worth more to society than they cost in taxes, but realistically this is not always the case. Even if it were, it would be very difficult to link up taxes on particular markets with what the tax revenue from that market ends up buying for society. Therefore, economists purposely separate out the analyses of how many tax dollars are generated and how much value spending those tax dollars creates. These two issues are important to keep in mind when looking at economic welfare analysis, but they don’t make the analysis irrelevant. Instead, it’s helpful to understand how much value in the aggregate is created by a market (or created or destroyed by regulation) in order to properly assess the tradeoff between overall value and equity or fairness. Economists often find that efficiency, or maximizing the overall size of the economic pie, is at odds with some notions of equity, or dividing that pie in a manner that is considered fair, so its crucial to be able to quantify at least one side of that tradeoff. In general, textbook economics draws positive conclusions about the overall value created by a market and leaves it to philosophers and policymakers to make normative statements about what is fair. Nonetheless, its important to understand how much the economic pie shrinks when a fair outcome is imposed in order to decide whether the tradeoff is worth it.

Abrahamic Covenant Chart - 3186 Words

This chart is intended to be used as an aid to studying the Abrahamic Covenant that would be found in Genesis. It is a simple tabular formatted chart. The material is done in a logical chapter:verse order starting with Genesis 12 and completing in Genesis 50. It was attempted to show all the verses that either outright mentioned a covenant or at least implied a covenant. ABRAHAMIC COVENANT Reference:All are taken from NIV translation | Addressed To: | Circumstance Under Which it was Reiterated: | â€Å"Ingredients†Which compose the Covenant: | Development in the Book of Genesis: | Any Change in Content or Emphasis: | Genesis 12:1- Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s†¦show more content†¦ls Abraham about all the land he and his descendantas | God continues to reiterate the promise of the land | Genesis 16:9-10 â€Å"Then the angel of the Lord told her, â€Å"Go back to your mistress and submit to her.† 10 The angel added, â€Å"I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.† | Hagar | Hagar has conceived a child with Abraham and was now running from Sarah | Hagar and Ishmael are promised innumerable descendants | Ishmael’s approaching birth | Emphasis is on Abraham again violating God’s promise | Genesis 17:2 â⠂¬Å"Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.† | Abraham | Lord appears to Abraham when he is 90 years old | Promise of descendants | Abraham is 90 years old | Emphasis is on walking faithfully and blamelessly | Genesis 17:4 â€Å"As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations† | Abraham | Lord appears to Abraham when he is 90 years old | Promise of many nations | Abraham is 90 years old | God’s promise of nations | Genesis 17:5 â€Å"No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.† | Abraham | God changes his name to Abraham | Abraham is to become the father of many nations | Abraham is 90 years old | God’s promise of nations | Genesis 17:6 â€Å"I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.† | Abraham | God promises nations and kings | Abraham is to haveShow Mo reRelatedAbrahamic Covenant And The Covenant2250 Words   |  9 PagesEunice Barnett BIBL 150 Liberty University March 2, 2015 Abrahamic Covenant Chart A covenant is defined as a promise or agreement between two parties. The Abrahamic Covenant is a precise covenant between God and Abraham which can be seen in numerous events, throughout scripture. Genesis 12-50 reveals the Abrahamic covenant from Abraham to Joseph. The covenant is displayed in event and incidents throughout the history of Abraham and his descendants, which was part of God’s perfect will. God calledRead MoreThe Fulfillment of Gods Covenants in the New Testament2016 Words   |  9 PagesVincent D Dent BIB-107 11/15/2015 Dr.Valerie De La Torre The Fulfillment of God’s Covenants in The New Testament After the fall of mankind into disobedience and sin, God made the decision to deal with mankind and the problem of rebellion by establishing contracts or agreements between Himself and the people in order to communicate with and redeem his greatest creation, humanity. As we read through and study the Bible we can see that God is faithful in keeping His promisesRead MoreThe Church and the Gospels of Matthew and Luke3042 Words   |  13 Pageshow Jesus and his ministry are a continuation of the Old Covenant. I want look at the two Gospels and show how they pertain to the church and the interactions with the teachings of each. 1) Jesus’ Identification with David Matthew begins with a genealogy of Jesus mentioning two main figures in Israel’s heritage (1:1). The first person that we will talk about is David. The mention of David connects Jesus to the Davidic covenant (2 Samuel 7:1-16) as the one whom through David’s throne

Nonverbal Communication Free Essays

Introduction The saying goes, â€Å"Look into a person’s eyes, and you will see their soul. † But what is it about the eyes that hold so much? Why do the eyes embrace so much emotion, so many feelings? The eyes, along with other body aspects, are able to communicate to people in ways our words cannot, for â€Å"eye contact is an invitation to communicate. If you look directly into a person’s eyes, [†¦] they will respond in some manner† (Andersen, 2004). We will write a custom essay sample on Nonverbal Communication or any similar topic only for you Order Now Albert Mehrabian (1967) stated that 55% of communication is body language, 38% of communication is tonality, and 7% of communication is the actual words that are spoken (Misunderstanding Section, line 2). Altogether, 93% of communication is unspoken words – what we use to give or withhold meaning from our words. Communication is a complicated, ongoing process of sending and receiving messages. These messages provide both implicit and explicit interpretations depending on the synchrony between the spoken word and the body language associated with it. Body language is defined as â€Å"the gestures, movements, and mannerisms by which a person or animal communicates with others† (Merriam-Webster, 2011). Knowing 93% of communication lies in unspoken word, teachers must put forth an effort to communicate through their actions and tone of voice, â€Å"Teachers should be aware of nonverbal communication in the classroom for two basic reasons: to become better receivers of students’ messages and to gain the ability to send positive signals that reinforce students’ learning while simultaneously becoming more skilled at avoiding negative signals that stifle their learning† (Miller, 2005). Teachers need to be more concerned about their teaching-learning situations because â€Å"the pattern of behavior of the teacher affects the pattern of behavior of the learner† (Clark, 1978). With this, teachers must focus on changing the learner’s behavior by changing their own behavior. By paying attention to nonverbal communication, teachers can better manage their classroom and the learners in that environment. One major aspect of body language is eye contact, â€Å"When you fail to make eye contact with someone, you are treating her or him as a nonperson and inviting that person to  not  communicate† (Andersen, 2004, p. 6). Teachers know that students respond to how they treat them. Therefore, when they choose to interact with them, they can help regulate behaviors by maintaining eye contact. In fact, eye contact from the teacher is the most important nonverbal behavior, for â€Å"eye contact shows confidence, controls classroom interaction, and enables teachers to read the body language of their students. [†¦] Increasing [†¦] eye contact dramatically improves motivation in the learning process† (Andersen, 2004, p. 42). Review of Literature In 1507, Leonardo da Vinci revealed his now legendary painting  Mona Lisa. Studied by many and known by all, this painting was the first study to look at body language. It intrigues so many people because the painting is so complex, just like body language. The most interesting aspect of this painting is Mona’s smile. This smile portrays more than just one emotion. In addition, Mona’s gaze follows the viewer no matter the angle she is viewed from. There are many meanings and emotions hidden in this picture and that is why it arguably is the best-known painting in the world (Riding, 2005, lines 4-6). In his book,  The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, Charles Darwin (1872) looked at how our emotions express our feelings and thoughts. Through his many studies, Darwin was able to prove that our expressions of emotions portray more than words. Darwin studied the eyes, nose, arms, voice, and many other body features in order to verify a correlation between body language and others’ perceptions. Often, our facial features correlate with our tone of voice in order to express a certain feeling, â€Å"The pitch of the voice bears some relation to certain states of feeling is tolerably clear† (Darwin, 1872, p. 03). This being true, one can easily sense another’s emotion, such as high spirits, by simply focusing on the unspoken word: A [person] in high spirits, though [he/she] may not actually smile, commonly exhibits some tendency to the retraction of the corners of his mouth. From the excitement of pleasure, the circulation becomes more rapid; the eyes are bright, and the colour of the face rises. The brain, being stimulated by the increased flow of blood, reacts on the mental powers; lively ideas pass still more rapidly through the mind, and the affections are warmed (Darwin, 1872, p. 696-697). Darwin claims that our emotions are intricately intertwined with our whole body. Our emotions, mind, and body work as one to send signals to other people. People use body language to help drive interaction and keep others engaged. But what happens when our body language is not the same â€Å"language† as someone from another country? This poses a problem not only in society but in classrooms as well. Teachers are being asked more and more to create an atmosphere of inclusivity in order to accommodate for diverse populations including gender, ethnicity, religion, and ability. Debra Pitton et. al. 1993) stated teachers have a responsibility to provide the best possible educational experience day to day and this experience must include body language for many reasons: By incorporating the study of nonverbal messages into pre-service studies, teachers will more readily be able to help students become cognizant of culture, ethnicity, and gender as important variables in everyday lif e. This will also help students, as they will benefit from an increased appreciation of diversity when they assume their future roles as parents, teachers, community leaders, co-workers, employers, and citizens. An inclusive education should facilitate the changes in climate necessary to ensure ongoing change, and knowledge of culturally specific nonverbal communication patterns can enhance this process (p. 2). Teachers’ goals are to help their students be active participants in their community and in society. In order to do so, students must be able to understand verbal and nonverbal communication signals as they relate from one person and one context to the next. Nonverbal relates to the unspoken word and a means to send messages that are â€Å"not sanctioned for verbal delivery by our culture† (Wiemann, 1975). As humans, we have a particular strength to respond quickly and unconsciously pick up clues to other’s nonverbal behavior so that we can respond and react; however, we are culture-bound in what we see and can interpret those behaviors incorrectly depending on our background and experiences (Cohen, 1971). Nonverbal behavior is difficult to control or to censor. Nonverbal behavior comes naturally to an individual based on true emotions, feelings, and culture – it is less likely to be deceptive as verbal communication can be (Galloway, 1993). With this, there seems to be a necessity for teachers to have complete control over their nonverbal behaviors in order to communicate to their students effectively. Students read more from their teacher’s body language than they do their actual words. In fact, most teachers â€Å"are not aware of the ways in which they transmit nonverbal messages to pupils. Classroom culture has its own nonverbal language and pupils absorb its nuances along with the spoken language† (Spanjer, 1972). Peter Andersen (2004) claims immediacy behaviors, hich â€Å"signal approach and availability, and send warm, stimulating messages to other people,† help teachers develop a positive relationship with their students. Some immediacy behaviors include touching, smiling, nodding, facing others, showing relaxation, leaning toward others, and synchronizing our conversations; however, in the classroom, the most important immediacy behavior is eye contact, â€Å"Teacher eye contact shows con fidence, controls classroom interaction, and enables teachers to read the body language of their students† (Andersen, 2004). Being able to read body language gives teachers an advantage at recognizing their students’ true emotions, enabling the teacher to be more effective on a minute-to-minute basis. By increasing immediacy behaviors, students’ motivation in the learning process dramatically improves (Andersen, 2004). Teachers need to be aware of immediacy behaviors, such as eye contact, in order to help their students’ succeed in the classroom and, ultimately, outside of the classroom. When it comes to motivating students to complete their work, nonverbal behavior is a prime factor in teacher effectiveness. Research studies [across K-college] found that learners at all levels reacted more favorably to teachers who used nonverbal immediacy cues. [†¦] Increasing immediacy behaviors dramatically improves students’ motivation† (Goman, 2008). Andersen (2004) concluded people trust body language over the spoken word (p. 14). People trust body language because it is spontaneous, multi-channeled, and possesses redundant qualities that make it very hard to completely fake (Andersen, 2004). This is applied in classrooms as well. Students rely on the teacher’s body language in order to interpret the meaning of their words; however, teachers are not well educated in the area of body language. No prerequisite courses are offered to teachers during their undergraduate/graduate years that help prepare them in nonverbal communication because it is still a largely unexplored area (Ligons, 1973). Teachers must be aware of nonverbal communication in their classrooms because â€Å"nonverbal communication is the medium through which relationships are maintained, regulated, and guided within culturally-prescribed patterns† (Grove, 1976). Focusing on professional success in the classroom is crucial, especially at a changing time in education’s history with the passing of the Budget Bill by Governor Walker, â€Å"At a time when it is widely recognized that professional success is achieved with or through other people, the power of, nd the need for, good interpersonal skills couldn’t be greater† (Goman, 2008). Method The examination underlying this paper is a better understanding of how adverse nonverbal behavior (in relation to the spoken word) will, ultimately, negatively impact students emotionally, behaviorally, and academically that teachers find as â€Å"problem students,† â€Å"different,† and/or â€Å"difficult. This investigation b egan with the articleThe Nonverbal Advantage  (Goman, 2008) and the evidence of increasing student motivation and success in the classroom by changing behavior. Understanding the importance of body language in the classroom setting provided a pathway of inquiry related to immediacy behaviors, student motivation/success, and the classroom teacher of the 21st  century. This included reviewing research and articles from different time periods, even dating back to the late 19th  century. The information gathered proved the lack of current research existing in relation to nonverbal communication in a classroom setting; however, after reading multiple examples that verify the significance body language has in relation to student achievement, information regarding nonverbal behavior and its correlation to student motivation and achievement is imperative to know in order to progress not only certain classrooms but also schools as a whole. A short survey of nine multiple choice questions and one open-ended question (optional to answer) focused on teachers’ views of nonverbal behavior in the profession of teaching and working with children. The survey also provided information regarding their awareness of their own nonverbal behavior along with their thoughts on the ability to change their nonverbal behavior. The purpose of this research was to aid in providing valuable information to serve as a guide for teachers and administrators on how to change their behavior in order to change their students’ behavior and, ultimately, improve student achievement and motivation as well as schools’ success. How to cite Nonverbal Communication, Essay examples Nonverbal Communication Free Essays Nonverbal communication is a very large part of human communication behavior. The types of nonverbal communication can range from a simple smile to an obvious avoidance of eye contact, but each behavior carries a direct message that can be understood by all the individuals in a public communication situation. Nonverbal communication, for use in this analysis, is defined by Canary and Dindia (1998) as the form of communication that does not include words; messages expressed by nonlinguistic means, people s actions or attributes, including their use of objects, sounds, time and space, that have socially shared significance and stimulate meaning in others (Canary Dindia, 1998). We will write a custom essay sample on Nonverbal Communication or any similar topic only for you Order Now Nonverbal communication plays a role in all communication: it is impossible to communicate without sending out nonverbal clues. These clues help others determine the truth behind one’s words and their true feelings. Nonverbal communication is a powerful form of communication in that it expresses and reveals attitudes and attributes that may not be expressed by the words spoken. Through my own observation of a public communication situation, a set of rules for nonverbal communication for that situation was determined, yet it varied according to age and gender. Nonverbal communication rules may differ according to the situation. Sentence and Verbal Communication iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);" src="https://phdessay.com/sentence-and-verbal-communication/embed/#?secret=0wHcXeKf9B" data-secret="0wHcXeKf9B" width="500" height="282" title="#8220;Sentence and Verbal Communication#8221; #8212; Free Essays - PhDessay.com" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"/iframe An individuals actions are different when riding on the subway than their actions when getting acquainted at the local pub. Actions when riding in an elevator may be perceived very differently when doing business at a post office. This analysis does not assume or argue that the rules for nonverbal communication are the same for every public communication situation. Rather, each situation has its own set of rules for nonverbal behavior, and the observation and experience of each situation determines its set of rules. How to cite Nonverbal Communication, Papers Nonverbal communication Free Essays pertains to the course of communication that involves the transfer and receipt of messages that are not related to the use of words (Knapp and Hall, 2007).   The messages transferred to the listener are generally associated with body language, as well as gestures, posture, external appearance or clothing, facial manifestations and even hairstyles.   Nonverbal communication is thus strongly influenced by visual messages which symbolize particular meanings to the listener. We will write a custom essay sample on Nonverbal communication or any similar topic only for you Order Now    Other paralanguage forms of nonverbal communication include the quality of the speaker’s voice and his style of speaking.   It should be noted that any features related to stress and rhythm of the speaker’s voice may also influence how a listener receives a speaker’s message. In the workplace, nonverbal communications play an important role in the interactions among co-workers, as well as the interrelationship between supervisor and his subordinate.   It is well known that the employees at a workplace need to work together and cooperate in order to achieve the status of a productive company.   Cooperation and harmony are thus closely related to the trust and confidence of each employee to himself and to his co-workers and these factors are often influenced by both verbal and nonverbal communications among individuals in the workplace (Ottenheimer, 2007). It should be understood that even if the right phrases and words were expressed by an individual, the actual message of the spoken words and sentences are often changed by the accompanying nonverbal signals that the speaker is showing to the listener.   These nonverbal signs may or may not be consciously being shown yet it is a fact that these nonverbal signs often modify the message that is sent out to the listener. a)   In a meeting at my workplace, our supervisor was suggesting some changes to the organization and functioning of our small company.   Changes in our company are not a common occurrence, hence there was some shock among the members of the workplace as soon as the supervisor mentioned about the plan of modifying particular functions of specific members of the office.   I noticed that our supervisor was a bit uptight while he was proceeding to describe the changes that he would implement at the workplace. His voice was a bit hard and had a lower tone, which I usually do not hear during regular peaceful workdays.   In addition, the supervisor was sweating in his forehead hence this gave me two impressions.   Firstly, he was nervous, possibly because he knew that the topic he was discussing with the members of the workforce was not the best topic to talk about.   Secondly, I felt that our supervisor was not sure about his plan and he just wants to try out this new plan in order to determine whether this plan is indeed the right action to perform in order to solve the problem.   On the other hand, my co-workers were quiet while listening to our supervisor and there was not a single smile or voice from my co-workers. b)   When our supervisor finished explaining his plan of changing specific functions of particular individuals in our workplace, there were contradictions that came from some members of the office.   One co-worker asked why our supervisor came up with this plan. However, I also noticed that this particular co-worker gave out his question with a low voice, too, just the same as our supervisor and this low voice made me feel that our co-worker was not pleased and was actually upset over the changes that the supervisor was planning to implement.   At this point, the supervisor tried to explain his side of the plan with a normal pitched voice and this made our co-worker listen and understand why such changes would be implemented in our workplace, and that is to increase the sales of the company. c)   Nonverbal communications strongly influence the success or failure of communications because it provides additional senses and emotions to the messages that are being exchanged between individuals, including the sense of sight and even sound (Hargie and Dickson, 2004).   For example, it is easier to talk to a person who speaks in a soft voice than deal with a person who speaks with a very loud voice. d)   The use words in communication often involves meanings hence individuals should be careful with their choice of words because there a certain words that are linked to denotations or connotations.   For example, if a co-worker calls a female co-worker a queen, this may either mean that she is very productive and knowledgeable at work, or this may mean that she is only good for bossing people around.   Hence the use of words may be tricky and an individual should be cautious when describing specific individuals and issues at the workplace. e)   An effective listening technique that may be employed by a manager is to carry an attentive facial expression while hearing out a subordinate’s message.   In addition, a manager may also try to nod to the employee every now and then, in order to let the employee feel that he is welcome to express his ideas and concerns to his supervisor.   The nodding of the manager does not mean that he agrees to everything that the subordinate says, but it means that he is listening to what the subordinate is saying. Conclusion:   Nonverbal communication is generally associated with body language, gestures and posture as well as paralanguage forms that influence the success or failure of exchanges between individuals because it provides additional senses and emotions to the messages that are being sent out to other individuals.   Nonverbal communications play an important role in the interactions among co-workers, as well as the interrelationship between supervisor and his subordinate because it positive communications promote cooperation and harmony between individuals. Reference Hargie O and Dickson D   (2004): Skilled interpersonal communication: Research, theory and practice. Hove: Routledge Publishers. Knapp ML and Hall JA (2007): Nonverbal communication in human interaction, 5th ed. Wadsworth: Thomas Learning. Ottenheimer HJ (2007):   The anthropology of language: An introduction to linguistic anthropology, Kansas State: Thomson Wadsworth.                         How to cite Nonverbal communication, Essay examples Nonverbal Communication Free Essays Introduction The saying goes, â€Å"Look into a person’s eyes, and you will see their soul. † But what is it about the eyes that hold so much? Why do the eyes embrace so much emotion, so many feelings? The eyes, along with other body aspects, are able to communicate to people in ways our words cannot, for â€Å"eye contact is an invitation to communicate. If you look directly into a person’s eyes, [†¦] they will respond in some manner† (Andersen, 2004). We will write a custom essay sample on Nonverbal Communication or any similar topic only for you Order Now Albert Mehrabian (1967) stated that 55% of communication is body language, 38% of communication is tonality, and 7% of communication is the actual words that are spoken (Misunderstanding Section, line 2). Altogether, 93% of communication is unspoken words – what we use to give or withhold meaning from our words. Communication is a complicated, ongoing process of sending and receiving messages. These messages provide both implicit and explicit interpretations depending on the synchrony between the spoken word and the body language associated with it. Body language is defined as â€Å"the gestures, movements, and mannerisms by which a person or animal communicates with others† (Merriam-Webster, 2011). Knowing 93% of communication lies in unspoken word, teachers must put forth an effort to communicate through their actions and tone of voice, â€Å"Teachers should be aware of nonverbal communication in the classroom for two basic reasons: to become better receivers of students’ messages and to gain the ability to send positive signals that reinforce students’ learning while simultaneously becoming more skilled at avoiding negative signals that stifle their learning† (Miller, 2005). Teachers need to be more concerned about their teaching-learning situations because â€Å"the pattern of behavior of the teacher affects the pattern of behavior of the learner† (Clark, 1978). With this, teachers must focus on changing the learner’s behavior by changing their own behavior. By paying attention to nonverbal communication, teachers can better manage their classroom and the learners in that environment. One major aspect of body language is eye contact, â€Å"When you fail to make eye contact with someone, you are treating her or him as a nonperson and inviting that person to  not  communicate† (Andersen, 2004, p. 6). Teachers know that students respond to how they treat them. Therefore, when they choose to interact with them, they can help regulate behaviors by maintaining eye contact. In fact, eye contact from the teacher is the most important nonverbal behavior, for â€Å"eye contact shows confidence, controls classroom interaction, and enables teachers to read the body language of their students. [†¦] Increasing [†¦] eye contact dramatically improves motivation in the learning process† (Andersen, 2004, p. 42). Review of Literature In 1507, Leonardo da Vinci revealed his now legendary painting  Mona Lisa. Sentence and Verbal Communication iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);" src="https://phdessay.com/sentence-and-verbal-communication/embed/#?secret=w6DjlEi02R" data-secret="w6DjlEi02R" width="500" height="282" title="#8220;Sentence and Verbal Communication#8221; #8212; Free Essays - PhDessay.com" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"/iframe Studied by many and known by all, this painting was the first study to look at body language. It intrigues so many people because the painting is so complex, just like body language. The most interesting aspect of this painting is Mona’s smile. This smile portrays more than just one emotion. In addition, Mona’s gaze follows the viewer no matter the angle she is viewed from. There are many meanings and emotions hidden in this picture and that is why it arguably is the best-known painting in the world (Riding, 2005, lines 4-6). In his book,  The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, Charles Darwin (1872) looked at how our emotions express our feelings and thoughts. Through his many studies, Darwin was able to prove that our expressions of emotions portray more than words. Darwin studied the eyes, nose, arms, voice, and many other body features in order to verify a correlation between body language and others’ perceptions. Often, our facial features correlate with our tone of voice in order to express a certain feeling, â€Å"The pitch of the voice bears some relation to certain states of feeling is tolerably clear† (Darwin, 1872, p. 03). This being true, one can easily sense another’s emotion, such as high spirits, by simply focusing on the unspoken word: A [person] in high spirits, though [he/she] may not actually smile, commonly exhibits some tendency to the retraction of the corners of his mouth. From the excitement of pleasure, the circulation becomes more rapid; the eyes are bright, and the colour of the face rises. The brain, being stimulated by the increased flow of blood, reacts on the mental powers; lively ideas pass still more rapidly through the mind, and the affections are warmed (Darwin, 1872, p. 696-697). Darwin claims that our emotions are intricately intertwined with our whole body. Our emotions, mind, and body work as one to send signals to other people. People use body language to help drive interaction and keep others engaged. But what happens when our body language is not the same â€Å"language† as someone from another country? This poses a problem not only in society but in classrooms as well. Teachers are being asked more and more to create an atmosphere of inclusivity in order to accommodate for diverse populations including gender, ethnicity, religion, and ability. Debra Pitton et. al. 1993) stated teachers have a responsibility to provide the best possible educational experience day to day and this experience must include body language for many reasons: By incorporating the study of nonverbal messages into pre-service studies, teachers will more readily be able to help students become cognizant of culture, ethnicity, and gender as important variables in everyday lif e. This will also help students, as they will benefit from an increased appreciation of diversity when they assume their future roles as parents, teachers, community leaders, co-workers, employers, and citizens. An inclusive education should facilitate the changes in climate necessary to ensure ongoing change, and knowledge of culturally specific nonverbal communication patterns can enhance this process (p. 2). Teachers’ goals are to help their students be active participants in their community and in society. In order to do so, students must be able to understand verbal and nonverbal communication signals as they relate from one person and one context to the next. Nonverbal relates to the unspoken word and a means to send messages that are â€Å"not sanctioned for verbal delivery by our culture† (Wiemann, 1975). As humans, we have a particular strength to respond quickly and unconsciously pick up clues to other’s nonverbal behavior so that we can respond and react; however, we are culture-bound in what we see and can interpret those behaviors incorrectly depending on our background and experiences (Cohen, 1971). Nonverbal behavior is difficult to control or to censor. Nonverbal behavior comes naturally to an individual based on true emotions, feelings, and culture – it is less likely to be deceptive as verbal communication can be (Galloway, 1993). With this, there seems to be a necessity for teachers to have complete control over their nonverbal behaviors in order to communicate to their students effectively. Students read more from their teacher’s body language than they do their actual words. In fact, most teachers â€Å"are not aware of the ways in which they transmit nonverbal messages to pupils. Classroom culture has its own nonverbal language and pupils absorb its nuances along with the spoken language† (Spanjer, 1972). Peter Andersen (2004) claims immediacy behaviors, hich â€Å"signal approach and availability, and send warm, stimulating messages to other people,† help teachers develop a positive relationship with their students. Some immediacy behaviors include touching, smiling, nodding, facing others, showing relaxation, leaning toward others, and synchronizing our conversations; however, in the classroom, the most important immediacy behavior is eye contact, â€Å"Teacher eye contact shows con fidence, controls classroom interaction, and enables teachers to read the body language of their students† (Andersen, 2004). Being able to read body language gives teachers an advantage at recognizing their students’ true emotions, enabling the teacher to be more effective on a minute-to-minute basis. By increasing immediacy behaviors, students’ motivation in the learning process dramatically improves (Andersen, 2004). Teachers need to be aware of immediacy behaviors, such as eye contact, in order to help their students’ succeed in the classroom and, ultimately, outside of the classroom. When it comes to motivating students to complete their work, nonverbal behavior is a prime factor in teacher effectiveness. Research studies [across K-college] found that learners at all levels reacted more favorably to teachers who used nonverbal immediacy cues. [†¦] Increasing immediacy behaviors dramatically improves students’ motivation† (Goman, 2008). Andersen (2004) concluded people trust body language over the spoken word (p. 14). People trust body language because it is spontaneous, multi-channeled, and possesses redundant qualities that make it very hard to completely fake (Andersen, 2004). This is applied in classrooms as well. Students rely on the teacher’s body language in order to interpret the meaning of their words; however, teachers are not well educated in the area of body language. No prerequisite courses are offered to teachers during their undergraduate/graduate years that help prepare them in nonverbal communication because it is still a largely unexplored area (Ligons, 1973). Teachers must be aware of nonverbal communication in their classrooms because â€Å"nonverbal communication is the medium through which relationships are maintained, regulated, and guided within culturally-prescribed patterns† (Grove, 1976). Focusing on professional success in the classroom is crucial, especially at a changing time in education’s history with the passing of the Budget Bill by Governor Walker, â€Å"At a time when it is widely recognized that professional success is achieved with or through other people, the power of, nd the need for, good interpersonal skills couldn’t be greater† (Goman, 2008). Method The examination underlying this paper is a better understanding of how adverse nonverbal behavior (in relation to the spoken word) will, ultimately, negatively impact students emotionally, behaviorally, and academically that teachers find as â€Å"problem students,† â€Å"different,† and/or â€Å"difficult. This investigation b egan with the articleThe Nonverbal Advantage  (Goman, 2008) and the evidence of increasing student motivation and success in the classroom by changing behavior. Understanding the importance of body language in the classroom setting provided a pathway of inquiry related to immediacy behaviors, student motivation/success, and the classroom teacher of the 21st  century. This included reviewing research and articles from different time periods, even dating back to the late 19th  century. The information gathered proved the lack of current research existing in relation to nonverbal communication in a classroom setting; however, after reading multiple examples that verify the significance body language has in relation to student achievement, information regarding nonverbal behavior and its correlation to student motivation and achievement is imperative to know in order to progress not only certain classrooms but also schools as a whole. A short survey of nine multiple choice questions and one open-ended question (optional to answer) focused on teachers’ views of nonverbal behavior in the profession of teaching and working with children. The survey also provided information regarding their awareness of their own nonverbal behavior along with their thoughts on the ability to change their nonverbal behavior. The purpose of this research was to aid in providing valuable information to serve as a guide for teachers and administrators on how to change their behavior in order to change their students’ behavior and, ultimately, improve student achievement and motivation as well as schools’ success. How to cite Nonverbal Communication, Papers Nonverbal Communication Free Essays Non verbal communication is all aspects of communication other than words themselves. It includes how we utter words (inflection, volume), features of environments that affect interaction (temperature, lightning), and objects that influence personal images and interaction patterns (dress, jewelry, furniture). Five key points highlight the power of nonverbal communication to affect meaning. We will write a custom essay sample on Nonverbal Communication or any similar topic only for you Order Now Verbal and Nonverbal: Similar yet Different Non verbal communication and verbal communication are similar in some ways and different in others. We will identify both the similarities and the differences. Similarities Like verbal communication, nonverbal behavior is symbolic, which means it is ambiguous, abstract, and arbitrary. Thus, we can’t be sure what a smile or gesture means, and we can’t guarantee that others understand the meanings we intend to express with our own nonverbal behaviors. Also like verbal communication, our nonverbal communication behaviors are guided by constitutive and regulative rules. In the United States, a handshake counts as a proper way to greet business acquaintances. A third similarity between the two communication systems is that both are culture bound. Sentence and Verbal Communication iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);" src="https://phdessay.com/sentence-and-verbal-communication/embed/#?secret=MK1DRAm9xs" data-secret="MK1DRAm9xs" width="500" height="282" title="#8220;Sentence and Verbal Communication#8221; #8212; Free Essays - PhDessay.com" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"/iframe Our nonverbal communication reflects and reproduces values and norms of the particular culture and social communities to which we belong. For instance, dress considered appropriate for women varies across cultures. Some women in the United States wear miniskirts, women in some other countries wear veils. Dress also reflects organizational identities: Bankers, attorneys, and many other professionals are expected to wear business suits or dresses, carpenters and plumbers usually wear jeans. Lastly both verbal and nonverbal communication may be either intentional or unintentional. Sometimes we carefully sculpt our appearance, just as we sometimes control our verbal communication. For instance, in a job interview we are highly conscious of our dress and posture as well as the words we use. At other times, our verbal and nonverbal communication may be unintentional. If the interviewer asks you a difficult question, your facial expression may reveal that you are caught off guard, or you may speak ungrammatically. * Differences Perceived as honest * Multichannel (seen, felt, heard, smelled and tasted) * Continuous * Regulates interaction Establishes relational level meanings- responsiveness, liking, power/defines relationships * Reflects cultural values Types of Nonverbal communication In this section, we will consider nine forms of nonverbal behavior, noticing how we use each to communicate. 1. Kinesics ( body language) 2. Haptics( touch) 3. Physical appearance 4. Artifacts 5. Proxemics ( space) 6. Environmental factors 7. Chronemics 8. Paralanguage ( vocal commu nication) 9. Silence In this presentation, we have explored the world beyond words. We learned that there are similarities and differences between nonverbal communication and verbal communication. Next, we noted that nonverbal communication supplements or replaces messages, regulates interaction, reflects and establishes relational level-level meanings, and expresses cultural membership. We discussed nine types of non verbal communication and each form of nonverbal communication reflects cultural understandings and values and also expresses our personal identities and feelings toward others. Because nonverbal communication, like verbal communication, is symbolic, it has no inherent, universal meaning. Instead, we construct meaning as we notice, organize, and interpret nonverbal behaviors. How to cite Nonverbal Communication, Papers Nonverbal Communication Free Essays Role, Importance Principles Kinesics Proximics Body Language Paralanguage Introduction to Nonverbal Communication Definition of nonverbal communication ([Malandro, Barker Barker 1989]): Nonverbal communication is the process by which nonverbal behaviours are used, either singly or in combination with verbal behaviours, in the exchange and interpretation of messages within a given situation or context. Classes of Nonverbal Communication ([Malandro, Barker Barker 1989]): 1. facial expression and eye behaviour . We will write a custom essay sample on Nonverbal Communication or any similar topic only for you Order Now body movement and gestures 3. touching behaviour 4. voice characteristics and qualities 5. culture and time 6. environment 7. body types, shapes, and sizes 8. clothing and personal artifacts Functions of Nonverbal Communication ([Malandro, Barker Barker 1989]): A Complementing: adding extra information to the verbal message B Contradicting: when our nonverbal messages contradict our verbal messages C Repeating: used in order to emphasize or clarify the verbal message D Regulating: serves to coordinate the verbal dialogue between peopleE Substituting: occurs when a nonverbal message is transmitted in place of a verbal message F Accenting: emphasizing a particular point in a verbal message 4. 4. The role of emotional intelligence The ability of interpreting the meaning of the discourse, the messages that the speaker truly wanted to convey, does not only concern the notion of Intelligence Quotient, but also the Emotional Quotient. The Emotional Quotient stands for emotional intelligence. People who are emotionally intelligent know their strong points and weaknesses.They are able to motivate themselves and others in negative situations. They can work in teams, have leadership-capacities, a good management of time and resources, and most important, they can detect and understand their own as well as other peoples’ emotions. The Emotional Quotient and the Intelligence Quotient are two different notions. However, in the act of interpreting, they join together. Thus, the interpretive process is not only a rational, cognitive activity, but also involves emotions, which are associated with ideas.Of course, interpreters can vary in their abilities to interpret human behaviour. It can be said that sometimes they lack emotional intelligence. Though, considering that people are deeply influenced by psychological, social, cultural processes, by gender, ethnicity and age, as well as by the media, interpreters should be aware of the hidden, inner dynamics that influence behaviours. Those who are able to think critically and to investigate the behaviour of the speaker are able to ferret out the nature of those symbols. However, communicative behaviour can be studied and learned. Interpreters can become increasingly skilled at interpreting human behaviour simply by keen observation. Furthermore, the more interpreters are mindful and pay attention to details and nuances in behaviour, to gestures, intonation, facial expressions, and body signals, the more they will detect the true meanings of the speaker’s discourse. Principles of Nonverbal Communication By  Francis Duffy,  eHow Contributor updated: September 21, 2009 Reading a newspaper is easy compared to reading a person. Focus solely on a speaker’s words, though, and you will likely miss his real meaning.Accompanying eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, posture and positioning, voice characteristics, and physiological cues tell you so much more. These spontaneous, often unconscious, behaviors compliment, contradict or accentuate what people say. Eye Contact 1. Eye contact is the most direct form of nonverbal communication. How long or short the stare and how often or infrequently someone does it in the course of a conversation reveals a lot. Frank, trusting people stare directly at you. People who actively avoid eye contact make the opposite impression.Eyes rolled upward tell you someone is tired; eyes cast downward show that someone is reticent. Constantly shifting eyes suggest nervousness, while staring off into the distance can equate to boredom. Facial Expressions 2. Every time our facial muscles move naturally, a feeling momentarily ripples through us. When happy, we smile; when disappointed, we frown; when discontent, we pout; when impatient, we purse our lips; when surprised, we lift our eyebrows; when sad, we lower them; when scared, we tighten our cheeks; when angry, we jut our chins out; when amazed, we drop our jaw.We wear a bland, static expression among strangers, but show more vivid, animated ones among friends and family. Gestures, Posture, Positioning 3. By just watching the face, though, you miss many of the body’s other signals. The anger in a finger pointed accusingly and the rage in a clenched fist is unmistakable. Nail biting, hair tugging and leg tapping intensify the more anxious we feel. Sadness instinctively causes us to bow our heads and draw in our shoulders. Assertive personality-types gravitate toward the center of groups; passive ones stay more toward the fringe.But almost everyone feels ill at ease when a stranger stands too closely, invading someone’s â€Å"comfort zone. † Voice Characteristics 4. Body language is auditory as well as visual. Much can be learned about someone from how he speaks than from what she says. A simple laugh, shout, whine or sigh has the same meaning the world over. So ask yourself: is the pitch of the voice going up, down or monotone? Is it loud or soft-spoken? Is the pace of the speech rapid or slow, constant or changing? Does the speaker make meaningful pauses for effect or random ones to organize his thoughts?Changes in pitch, volume and pace bring home or cast doubt on the underlying meaning of the speaker’s words. So, listen as well as watch. Involuntary Signals 5. Humankind’s evolution has left us with a set of nonverbal reactions we have absolutely no control over. At times, simple biology asserts itself in the form of autonomous physiological responses. When embarrassed, we blush. When stressed out, we blink and swallow more frequently. When enraged, our nostrils flair out. When we feel sad or sentimental, our eyes moisten.When seized by terror, our breath grows labored and we may start trembling. Our skin turns pale and clammy when we receive unexpected bad news. Proxemics The American anthropologist Edward T. Hall who studied how gestures, posture, and other nonverbal signals were used by people to communicate their feelings and social status speaking distance developed proxemics, and other nonverbal signals were used by people to communicate their feelings and social status. People would feel uncomfortable putting most such information into words. But proxemics allows people to send and receive messages without the use of words. Kinesics Kinesics is the scientific study of the body movements involved in communication, especially as they accompany speech. These movements include gestures, facial expressions, eye behaviour, and posture. The movements studied by kinesics scientists are commonly called body  language  or nonverbal behaviour. The American anthropologist Ray L. Birdwhistell developed kinesics. He used slow-motion films of conversations to analyze the speakers’ behavior. Birdwhistell recognized that kinesics was only one of several overlapping systems that together made up human communication. He worked hard on the structure of body movement while other scientists studied the patterns of sound constituting language. He also believed that the meaning of any kinesics behaviour could be determined only by analyzing the context in which the behaviour occurred. Paralanguage  refers to the  non-verbal elements  of  communication  used to modify meaning and convey emotion.Paralanguage may be expressed  consciously  or  unconsciously, and it includes the  pitch,  volume, and, in some cases,  intonation  of  speech. Sometimes the definition is restricted to  vocally-produced sounds. The study of paralanguage is known asparalinguistics. The term ‘paralanguage’ is sometimes used as a cover term for  body language, which is not necessarily tied to speech, and  paralinguistic phenomena in speech. The latter are phenomena that can be observed in speech (Saussure’s  parole) but that do not belong to the arbitrary conventional code of  language  (Saussure’s  langue).The paralinguistic properties of speech play an important role in human speech communication. There are no utterances or speech signals that lack paralinguistic properties, since speech requires the presence of a voice that can be modulated. This voice must have  some  properties, and all the properties of a voice as such are paralinguistic. However, the distinction linguistic vs. paralinguistic applies not only to speech but to  writing  and  sign language  as well, and it is not bound to any  sensory modality. Even vocal language has some paralinguistic as well as linguistic properties that can be  seen  (lip reading,  McGurk effect), and even  felt, e. g. by the  Tadoma  method. One can distinguish the following aspects of speech signals and perceived utterances: Perspectival aspects Speech signals that arrive at a listener’s ears have acoustic properties that may allow listeners to localize the speaker (distance, direction). Sound localization  functions in a similar way also for non-speech sounds. The perspectival aspects of lip reading are more obvious and have more drastic effects when head turning is involved.Body language  is a form of  non-verbal communication, which consists of  body posture,  gestures,  facial expressions, and  eye movements. Humans send and interpret such signals subconsciously. Borg attests that human communication consists of 93 percent body language and  paralinguistic  cues, while only 7% of communication consists of words themselves[1]; however,  Albert Mehrabian, the researcher whose 1960s work is the source of these statistics, has stated that this is a misunderstanding of the findings[2]  (see  Misinterpretation of Mehrabian’s rule).Others assert that â€Å"Research has suggested that between 60 and 70 percent of all meaning is derived from nonverbal behavior. â€Å"[3] Body language may provide clues as to the attitude or state of mind of a person. For example, it may indicate  aggression,  attentiveness,boredom, relaxed state,  pleasure,  amusement, and  intoxication,  among many other cues. How to cite Nonverbal Communication, Papers

Luke Bryan Music and Physchological Expression Essay Example For Students

Luke Bryan Music and Physchological Expression Essay Oxford Dictionary defines emotion as a strong feel of emotions derived from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others. Luke Bryan is the most acclaimed name in Country today. His songs vary from good times which make people want to stand up in dance, to heartbreak of losing a loved one. Bryan has a rough life which dates back to the beginning of his career on his road to the trip. Luke’s music reflects the passing of Luke’s siblings at huge moments in his life. Luke’s songs relate to many who go through hard times with money, passing of a loved one, or having a good time through his albums â€Å"I’ll Stay Me†, â€Å"Crash My Party†, and â€Å"Tailgates and Tan Lines†. Luke also relates to the â€Å"regular Joe† or working man with his father working as a peanut farmer in the small Georgia town that he grew up in. The human emotions act different to arts, situations, and surroundings. Music gives people a emotion that we cannot feel from many other things. Luke’s songs show how emotions can change due to music and the sychology of music through strong emotional bonds and powerful lyrics. Luke Bryan’s hometown is strongly reflected in his lyrics. Luke is from a small Georgia town called Leesburg. In the song â€Å"Dirt Road Diary† on the â€Å"Crash My Party† album Luke sings â€Å"Just ride around my little town and you’ll see how I wrote my dirt road diary. † (Crash My Party, Luke Bryan) Luke is Reflecting on the Southern small town in Georgia that he hails from. Luke shows that his whole life is in that small little town and the dirt roads that he drove down throughout his life. Whether it be with his friends or his family it is like his own personal diary because of all the memories that the roads hold. The town Luke grew up in is a reflection of him and who he is today. In an interview with Southern Living, Luke said, â€Å"My Georgia roots are 99% of what my music is about. † (Luke Bryan, Southern Living) Luke admits here that through his music, he reflects on his home town. The son of a peanut farmer from the small town of Leesburg, Georgia that has fought for a career in music, who puts his heart and soul into every lyric he sings in his songs. Not every aspect of Bryan’s life went well for him, when the unexpected death of his two siblings occurred. Luke’s music reflects on his small hometown in Georgia but Luke’s music also shows how to deal with grief. Luke Bryan has had a extremely difficult life when it comes to the topic of death. Bryan, the night before he was going to move to Nashville to pursue a music career, lost his brother Chris unexpectedly in a car accident. Luke stayed home with his parents until his father, at the time his boss, told him if he did not move to Nashville he would fire him, without this Luke would not be were he is today. Luke’s dad realized his potential and did not let him sit around and mope but to follow his dreams. So that is what Luke did, he moved to Nashville and had his first big performance in front of his whole family including his sister Kelly. Kelly died of unknown causes the next night. Luke again was devastated. The only two siblings Luke had were taken away from him at such young ages. Yet, Luke still pursued his dream and is now the entertainer of the year, country’s biggest award . Luke discusses this in an interview with 20/20† My older brother, Chris, was unexpectedly illed in a car accident, Bryan said. Im kind of hyperventilating talking about it. You never truly move beyond it† (Luke Bryan, ABC News ) Luke is devastated by the loss of his brother and sister but has to move on from it. Luke knows that one can never pass over the memory of a loved one especially his brother and sister, but expresses his grief through his music. The Origins of Electronic Music EssayIn Why a sad song says so much. by Sun-Herald Sandra Garrido says In the case of music, people seem to actually enjoy feeling sad. Its an interesting paradox,† (Sandra Garrido Sun-Herald )Sandra Garrido who has a PhD in music psychology, discusses about how sad songs make people feel better. This is in contrast to how people usually try to avoid situations that make them sad but with music people encourage sad songs. Music can also be looked at rom a Psychological stand point. Music plays a huge role psychologically. People feel more mentally sound through music. In Why a Sad Song Says So Much, it states that,†Some people need a little more guidance on how to use music particularly people with depression and things like that who will benefit from developing strategies to control their moods, (Sandra Garrido Sun- Herald ) Music can help people with in a depression. The music can get someone to feel in a somewhat different mood and get them out of whatever the reason for their depression is. Music has the ability to help cure a mental illness. Now music is not the same for everyone. In Individual Difference in theEnjoyment of Negative Emotion In Music: A Literature Review and Experiment written by Sandra Garrido, Sandra says that different â€Å"Individuals are different and we could therefore expect them to react differently to music just as they react differently to other stimuli. † Music is extremely complex. Different people react to different kinds of music. Not every person is the same and have different taste pertaining to styles of music they prefer. No one has an answer why because it is too complex for most to understand. Bryan’s Life and the Impact it had had on him, Music and Grief, Music and reminiscing of good times, Music and the Human Mind, Emotional Expression, Psychology of Music perhaps can be seen through Luke’s music. Through the many hardships that Luke went through he poured his heart out into every lyric. Bryan’s music should be included into the college curriculum due to its profound showing. In the real world it is perhaps very relatable. Many people go through hard times and look towards music for an escape or as an outlet to get those emotions out or to feel a certain type of way. Music is universal an is used everywhere in the world today.

Alcohol Effects on College Students free essay sample

Drug and alcohol use on college campuses is universal. Students articulate many reasons why they do it, but most neglect to consider both the long-term consequences of their actions. How wide-spread is drug and alcohol abuse? Teenagers today admit to extensive experimentation. According to one study, 90 percent of teens said that they have used alcohol, over 50 percent have used marijuana, 17 percent have used cocaine and 13 percent have used some form of hallucinogenic drug. Drug use has been classified as a major problem of students as early as in the fourth grade. Consequently, it is no surprise that substance use is prolific on college campuses, where many young adults are free from adult supervision for the first time in their lives. Some campuses through out the nation enforce the no alcohol rule while others just make sure you are legally consuming alcohol, which includes you being 21 years of age. Alcohol is a psychoactive drug that has a depressant effect. We will write a custom essay sample on Alcohol Effects on College Students or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It alters the way you think and act, that is why there is an age limit for it to be consumed. Consuming alcohol can cause harmful consequences. Approximately 44 percent of college students are classified as heavy drinkers by the Harvard School of Public Health’s College Alcohol Study (CAS). According to these researchers, a male high-risk drinker has had five or more drinks in row at least once in the past two weeks; for women this measure is four or more drinks. Students who binge drink are more likely to damage property, have trouble with authorities, miss classes, have hangovers, and experience injuries than those who do not. Students who drink heavily may have periods of memory loss, fatal injuries, engage in risky sexual behavior and may drop out of school due to academic failure. Young women who binge drink may put themselves at risk for sexual assault. Students living on campuses with higher proportions of binge drinkers experience more incidents of assault and unwanted sexual advances as a result of their peers drinking than do students residing on campuses with lower proportions of binge drinkers. The consequences of heavy drinking on campus likewise affect non-drinking students. Property damage, vomiting in public, and litter are typically seen on campuses with heavy drinking populations. Sleep loss and disrupted study time on the part of students affected by others’ drinking are common. Similarly, failure and dropout rates due to student alcohol misuse can harm a college’s academic reputation, resulting in the loss of tuition and the ability to draw in high-caliber students. Research also demonstrates that alcohol is associated with aggressive behavior. Alcohol-related sexual assault is a common occurrence on college campuses. When alcohol is involved, acts meeting the legal definition of rape seem to be more likely to happen. The marriage between alcohol consumption and college life has long been accepted as the norm within the confines of campus existence. However, the past decade has marked a period in time when violent outbreaks and campus riots are being attributed more and more to teen alcohol abuse, rendering it illegal on several major school grounds. Even though such alcohol restrictions represent a potential answer to the problem, they are also causing even more riotous behavior inasmuch as students contend their rights are being violated by the limitation. It is clear that an overwhelming number of college students, many of whom are below the minimum drinking age, use alcohol and that the pattern of binge drinking is widespread among our college campuses. Binge drinking is of particular concern, not only because of its risks to the drinker but because of the problems it causes for those around the drinker. Research on the extent of the problem is detailed and persuasive. In 2005, about 10. 8 million persons ages 12-20 (28. 2% of this age group) reported drinking alcohol in the past month. Nearly 7. 2 million (18. 8%) were binge drinkers, and 2. 3 million (6. 0%) were heavy drinkers. More males than females ages 12-20 reported current alcohol use (28. 9% vs. 27. 5%), binge drinking (21. 3% vs. 16. 1%), and heavy drinking (7. 6% vs. 4. 3%). 48% of college drinkers report that ‘drinking to get drunk’ is an important reason for drinking. Almost 1 in 4 drink alcohol 10 or more times a month and 29% report being intoxicated 3 or more times per month. One of the most common consequences of alcohol abuse by students is difficulty keeping up with academic responsibilities. The number of drinks a student consumes is directly associated with the student’s grades. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, about a quarter of college students report experiencing difficulty with academics due to alcohol use, including earning low grades, doing poorly on tests and papers, missing class, and falling behind. Alcohol abuse undermines the academic mission of colleges and universities. Heavy drinking and its effect on student performance can lead to a decline in the overall academic performance of an institution of higher education. Some feel pressured to use drugs or alcohol at social gatherings either because everyone else seems to be doing it, or because they believe it’s the cool thing to do. Others believe that drug or alcohol abuse offers a way to escape from school or work related stress, financial worries or relationship problems. Some feel that alcohol or drugs provide a way to compensate for feelings of shyness or low self-esteem. Sometimes, these drugs act as a substitute for satisfying relationships, educational accomplishments or self-fulfillment. In addition to putting students at risk while on campus, the effects of alcohol abuse among college students can lead to long-term health and safety problems. Many reports over the years have indicated an association between alcohol consumption and infectious illness among chronic heavy drinkers; however, many patients in these studies have been chronically ill. Thus the question of whether alcohol can appreciably influence immunity in humans and affect the incidence of infectious diseases remains largely unanswered. Students drinking 28 or more alcoholic drinks per week had significantly more health problems in the aggregate and those drinking more than 22 drinks per week had more upper respiratory infections compared to the other students including non drinkers. In conclusion, excessive alcohol consumption increases the risk of respiratory infections but more moderate intake had little effect on the health risk. Alcoholism treatment programs are available but often are not accessible to a broad audience. The heaviest drinkers are the least likely to seek treatment, yet experience or are responsible for the most alcohol-related problems on campus.

Gatsby Essay- Major Conflict Essay Example

Gatsby Essay Gatsby Essay- Major Conflict Essay Gatsby Essay- Major Conflict Essay One major conflict that takes place within the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the love triangle between Daisy Buchanan, James Gatsby and Tom Buchanan. Daisy is Tom Buchanan’s wife, who was James Gatsby’s long lost love. Before the war, Daisy was courted by a number of officers, including James Gatsby. Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby fell in love in Louisville and she promised to wait for him. However, Daisy harbors a deep need to be loved and when a wealthy, powerful young man named Tom Buchanan asked her to marry him, Daisy decided not to wait for Gatsby after all. Tom Buchanan has an affair with a woman by the name of Myrtle whom is already married to the owner of a run-down garage in the Valley of Ashes, George Wilson. Myrtle possesses a fierce vitality and desperately looks for a way to improve her situation. Unfortunately for Myrtle, Tom mistreats her and views her as an object of his desire. Meanwhile, as she is treated as a mere object, Daisy is being showered by love and care from the â€Å"great† James Gatsby. Gatsby’s only obligation is to have Daisy fall back in love with him. Days go by, and Daisy visits Gatsby at his mansion. : She stays majority of the week, which leads to Gatsby having to fire his workers to prevent rumors from forming. After weeks, Daisy begins to come back to her senses and falls in love. Gatsby hands her a ring, which she cannot wear because of her husband, Tom. Therefore, Gatsby decides to confront Tom about Daisy’s and his affair, as they take a stroll in New York. Upon the end of the confrontation in New York, Daisy becomes indecisive and denies everything Gatsby stated. On their way home, they pass by the run-down garage owned by Myrtle’s husband, inside Tom Buchanan’s car. Myrtle was not aware that Tom was not driving the care, so she ran outside thinking it was him, and Daisy accidentally ran her over. Myrtle did not survive the fatal hit, and George Wilson was devastated. After a while, Tom Buchanan, Nick Caraway, and Jordan Baker decide to depart home, on their way they notice a large commotion erupted concerning Myrtle’s death. Tom pulls over, steps out, and glances at Myrtle’s cold body, then turns silently towards the car. Once they all arrive home, there is no conversation between anyone, whatsoever. The next morning, George Wilson recalls neighbors indicating that a large yellow car hit Myrtle, and he automatically assumed it was Tom, who was driving it days prior to the incident. George decided to confront Tom at his home while Daisy was in the other room. After the revelation of â€Å"truth†, George departs to Gatsby’s mansion. He finally arrives and spots Gatsby relaxing in his pool, then shoots him several times. After the shots, he shoots himself. However, the two deaths equaled happiness for Daisy and Tom Buchanan. They carried on with life as if nothing ever occurred. The novel ends with a â€Å"if only†, the three could have been happy by the means of an alternative solution. For instance, if Daisy had been a more careful driver, the conclusion of situation could have been a far distance from involving a death. Love is fragile and were not always its best caretakers, we just muddle through and do the best we can to hope this fragile thing survives by all odds. However, one’s selfishness and indecisiveness led to innocent deaths of two people who wanted to fulfill their craving for care, comfort, and most importantly- love.

Response to Nelson Mandelas Freedom Speech Essay

Response to Nelson Mandelas Freedom Speech - Essay Example The speech has been written from a South African perspective and it has some cultural connotations about the aspect of togetherness which is treated as a very important aspect towards achievement of freedom. Contextually, the speech tries to portray the idea that united people are likely to emerge victors in the fight against oppression. For instance, young people are referred to as ‘young lions’ in the speech. In this case, the imagery is meant to emphasize the essence of unity given that the lions thrive on this unity in the jungle. This speech is written in the context of promoting peace and freedom among South Africans. This is reflected by the following statement: â€Å"I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination.† Ladies and gentlemen, friends, comrades and fellow South Africans here present, I greet you all and I wish peace for all. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak to you about Nelson Mandela’s Free From Jail Speech. I am AntjieKrog, many of you know me as a reporter and poet in both English and Afrikaans. To those who know me, you may recall how Nelson Mandela is a dear friend to me and how he has influenced my life in different ways. Therefore, I would like to pay tribute to this legendary hero through presenting a speech dedicated to Mr. Nelson Mandela. Friends, colleagues and fellow South Africans, may I draw your attention to the words of Nelson Mandela which he said during his trial in 1964: â€Å"I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunity. It is an ideal that I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die†. For years, Mandela was banned from participating in social and political gatherings and was kept under strict police surveillance just because he had the courage

Slave experience in north america Research Paper

Slave experience in north america - Research Paper Example The implications and nature of slavery in North America can be better understood by focusing and researching on the different experiences of slaves in the region. However, most scholars have deliberately failed to employ the different documented records of the experiences of slaves. Nonetheless, each black family of different social groups, which was involved in slavery, has their own opinions and views about the whole practice.1 However, researchers in the study of slavery in North America have neglected the testimonies of various past slaves. Therefore, using different documented records, including slave narratives and interviews, this paper will explain the slave experience in North America. Slavery for the black men and women in North America was a devastating experience for both of the genders. First, both black men and women slaves brought to North America were forcefully taken out of their homes. Therefore, this had separated them from their families, which they would never se e again. All slaves in North America were subjected to similar treatment, regardless of their gender. Therefore, both men and women were forced to perform hard and grueling tasks, which were highly mentally and physically demanding. The slaves were also regarded as property, therefore were not entitled to any form of rights. Male slaves were more in number compared to the female slaves, since these were considered stronger, thus capable of many heavy tasks. Therefore, while males were assigned jobs such as carpentry and blacksmithing, most of their female counterparts worked in the agricultural fields and were also assigned other jobs such as cooking. The gender divide was not respected in slavery. Motherhood was debased for all the female slaves. While motherhood and reproduction was highly upheld in the slaves’ homeland prior to their slavery, in slavery, this was regarded beneficial to the slave masters, since it led to the multiplication of their number of slaves, thus in creased labour supply. The masters also exploited the black women slaves sexually, since their spouses could not offer protection to them. Nonetheless, slaves responded differently to their slavery situations. Women had to persevere in slavery for the sake of their children, as the African nature emphasized the role of a mother as a caregiver, thus they sacrificed their comfort for the sake of their loved ones. On the other hand, most male slaves considered escape as the main solution to run away from slavery and protect their ego and masculinity.2 In the early 20th century, most journalist and writers showed interest in the topic of slavery, and therefore wished to debunk the various incidences and experiences, which comprised the practice of slavery. Therefore, between the years 1936-1938, journalists and writers in the United States embarked on the task of looking out for former slaves in different states, and interviewing them, in order to reveal and learn about the slavery expe rience in North America. In their interviews, the journalists and writers interviewed close to 3,000 former slaves. However, most of the interviewees were those born in the last period of slavery and others during the period of the civil war. Nonetheless, these provided first-hand accounts of the experiences,

Cradle Will Rock Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cradle Will Rock - Essay Example Developing large-scale government-sponsored national arts program is already possible today because government can afford it now compared to the 1930s where government was virtually bankrupt. During that time, American economy was in depression where there were long lines of unemployment so government just cannot afford it let alone sustain it. Today, US economy is the largest economy in the world and despite its mounting deficits, it still has a lot of money to spare for a government-sponsored national arts program. If government can afford to fight and finance a war which is not its own, it can surely afford a national arts program. The political and ideological environment today is very much different during the 1930s. Today, communism is no longer a threat as it was during the 1930s. In addition, the type of communism which sent paranoia to government before was the Soviet type communism which is no longer existent today. Also, government is now more tolerant towards dissenting political ideologies and labor unions and other similar organizations no longer has communist or left leaning affiliations. The general public is also well informed today politically to be easily swayed by ideologies that go against government. Above all, government is already tolerant and secure to be threatened by an artwork Cradle Will Rock that has left leaning content. It will be taken as it is, an artwork, a musical that could educate people. Finally, people now are way sophisticated compared to the 1930s where very little number of people have time and money for the arts and musicals because life then was difficult. People had barely anything to eat while people now are getting fat because of overeating. The point is, people now have greater appreciation and support for the arts making a government sponsored art program sustainable because government is likely to spend on a program that public

Diet and Digestion as Factors for Large Size in Sauropods

Diet and Digestion as Factors for Large Size in Sauropods Dinosaurs have captured the imagination since the very first fossils were discovered. The mystical creatures in many ancient cultures may be attributed to fossils weathering out of the earth. Nearly every culture had some form of dragon in their mythology, a uniformity best explained by fossilized dinosaurs. Some scientists believe the fossils of ceratopsians are the source of the mythological griffin. Part of the fascination with dinosaurs is their size. With few animals reaching such massive proportions, the creatures that produced single bones as tall as a human must have seemed other worldly to ancient peoples. They still draw fascination today; their features so different from anything living. As more and more fossils are found, explanations and extrapolations of the features, size, and behavior become more comprehensive. The unknown element of dinosaur life allows for wild projections and suppositions, and the drama of discovery and scientific discourse and hypothesis disproval continue to draw the interest of people. As more is discovered, more questions are raised. One field of questions pertain to sauropod size. Sauropods are distinct in their absolutely massive bodies. Far larger than anything known by living humans, they are fascinating to consider. Trying to imagine their size is in some ways like trying to imagine the vastness of space. Without actually standing next to a mounted skeleton, there is no living reference to fix the size of sauropods in the imagination. Some estimates place the largest sauropods at 80,000kg, or 170,000 lbs. Conservative estimates suggest weights of 40,000-50,000 kg. Sauropod height is in some specimens 60 feet, about 3 times the height of a two-story house. Some sauropods were a third of a football field in length! Such sizes are nearly unfathomable, raising the question of how they got to be so massive and how their bodies functioned. Modern herbivores are often much bigger than carnivores, because in general, their e nergy expenditure is less and the biomass of their food source is higher. The huge size of sauropods is definitely tied to their diet, and it is likely that their food source and digestive mechanisms were a major factor in their growth to such massive sizes. The food available to sauropods was not very nutritive. Before the evolution and diversification of angiosperms 125 million years ago, herbivorous animals had to rely mainly on gymnosperms and ferns. The best measure of plant nutritional value is in the concentration of nitrogen and nonstructural carbohydrates like sugars. Protein levels largely correspond to the nitrogen levels in leaves. Because non-angiosperm plants dont have the xylem transport network that evolved, there is less nutrient flow, and therefore less nitrogen concentration. Ferns, cycads, and conifers, some of the main plant types available to the sauropod dinosaurs, were low in nutrition, and gymnosperms had secondary chemical defenses that made them unpleasant to eat and harder to digest (Midgley, 2005). A study by Zvereva and Kozlov (2006) found that the nitrogen concentration in gymnosperms drops in environments with elevated temperature and CO2 concentration, compared to the modern environment. Sugar levels tend ed to stay the same. The toughness of leaves increases when CO2 levels are higher. The carbon-nitrogen ratio is significantly increased by elevated CO2. It is well-known that the environmental conditions during the age of dinosaurs was both higher in temperature and higher in CO2 concentration. This would have produced plant material significantly less nutritious than the plant matter today. The lesser food quality supports the evolution of large sauropod dinosaurs, as the Jarman-Bell Principle states that larger species can feed on diets of lesser quality food, evidenced by the relatively large size of modern grazing mammals (Clauss, et. al., 2009). The physiology of the dinosaurs shows evidence of partitioning. Some sauropods, such as diplodocids, were low browsers, who were unlikely to life their heads higher than a couple meters (Stevens and Parrish, 1999). This separated their food source from the mid to high browsers, limiting their available food source in some ways, yet also preventing competition amongst sauropod species. The lower plant quality requires that herbivorous animals consume more material in order to meet their nutritional and energy needs. Given the quality of available plants, extended digestion would have been required. Of several methods to process plant material, sauropods digestion was extremely fermentation heavy. They had very little oral processing. Their teeth were either broad and leaf like, with serrations in the crown, or later more narrow and peg like. In most sauropods, teeth were present in the front part of the mouth but not the back. The body plan in the early Mesozoic seems to have been to maximize food intake through teeth adapted for cropping, stripping, and pulling plant material but with little oral processing. There is some evidence in the tooth replacement rate and wear that teeth farther back in the mouths of sauropods were not used in oral processing or food acquisition, but rather served the purpose of cheeks, to keep the food in the mouth (Schwarz, et. al., 2015). Prosauropods had some check development, but in the sauropod line, cheeks were lost early (Chure, et. al., 2010). There have been no teeth found in association with sauropods that had a large horizontal surface, indicative of use for chewing (Christiansen, 1999). The heads of sauropods were extremely small compared to their body size. Any dental batteries or cheeks would have increased the head mass and likely made it prohibitively heavy, especially at the end of a long neck. Christiansen also noted that the muzzle width in sauropod dinosaurs is proportionally wider than the width in herbivorous animals. This enables sauropods to intake more food per bite, increasing their intake rate. With relatively poor food nutrient quality, sauropods would need to consume a great amount of food to meet their daily needs. The length of the neck adds length to the digestive envelope, another way to maximize food consumption. The lack of oral processing, wide muzzle, and long neck work in conjunction to increase the consumption capability or sauropods, increasing their ability to meet their dietary needs and shortening thei r feeding time. With such high consumption and such little processing, digestion would be almost entirely focused in the gut. The particle size would be very large, making digesta harder to break down, and the longer it takes to digest. There has been some debate about the presence of gastroliths and a gastric mill in sauropod dinosaurs. Gastric mills certainly would help break down the plant material into smaller particle sizes and speed the digestion process. Unfortunately, the fossil record seems to rule out the presence of a gastric mill for most sauropod dinosaurs. Wings and Sander (2007) tested the hypothesis of sauropod gastroliths by testing gastrolith usage in farm ostriches. They found that rose quartz, which has the same properties as the white vein quartz found in association with sauropods, last the longest. Using granite cubes, they found that the general shape of the stone stays the same. They also found that the gastric milling process quickly roughens the face of the stone. None of the stones that he used in his test retained a shine, unlike those suspected to be sauropod gastroliths. He also found that gastroliths are about 1% of the total body mass. According to them, the largest mass of gastroliths found in association with a sauropod is 15kg, much lower than 1% of the estimated sauropod body mass. Gastroliths likely scale with body mass simply because organ size roughly scales with body mass. The stomachs of sauropods could have been proportionally smaller than expected, although it is unlikely with the amount of food that they are estimated to have consumed. Using projections from living herbivores, it is estimated that the large sauropods would consume several hundred kilograms worth of food (Englemann, et. al., 2004). This estimate accounts for the proportional decrease in required food consumption for successively larger and larger organisms. In another study focusing on the distribution of gastrolith stones amongst sauropod remains, it was found that gastroliths were found with about 4% of sauropod fossils. There are some species of sauropod that have strong evidence of gastric mills, but they are not widespread enough (Wings, 2014). With little to no processing of plant material, and with no evidence of any other break down processes, sauropods must have heavily relied on fermentation to digest their food. The relatively low density of nutrients in the gymnosperms at the time already required longer fermentation times. In order to achieve longer fermentation time, the gut size needs to increase, or the amount of food eaten needs to decrease. As the food particles must have been large, the time taken for fermentation would need to be even longer. With no internal soft tissues preserved in the fossil record, it is hard to determine where fermentation took place in the gut. Fermentation demands a large digestive tract. Larger intestines allow for longer digesta retention, pulling more nutrients from the food. The large torsos of s auropods could certainly fit and extensive gut. Estimates based on living animals gives a digesta retention time between 8 and 16 days. Galapagos turtles, which do not chew their food, retain theirs for 11 days (Franz, et. al., 2009). Sauropod dinosaurs could have evolved to be so large because those individuals with larger guts had better survival chances than those who had smaller guts. As stated previously, the amount of food needed in relation to the body mass would likely have been much lower than other, smaller herbivorous organisms. As sauropods heads were evolved to take in the maximum amount of food, the intake of food would likely not have consumed most of the sauropods time. This time advantage would have been especially needed in semiarid environments, like the Jurassic area preserved in the Morrison formation. Although there is lush vegetation in the Morrison fossil record, it is not widespread instead found in clusters. The Morrison Formation suggests that the environm ent during the time of sauropods was savannah-like. The dense vegetation found was likely due to seasonal rains, or centered around areas of water, such as lakes or streams. The vegetation likely moved, growing in different areas depending on rainfall (Englemann, et. al., 2004). Large herbivores would need to follow the seasonal changes, and migrate in search of new food sources. The size of the sauropods and the advantages of that size would have been a major edge in a semi-arid environment. Such sizes would have also made locomotion more efficient. Longer strides afforded by the overall large body size decreases the amount of energy per unit of distance. This, too, increases the ability of sauropods to migrate in search of food. Sauropod reliance on fermentation was so great that their methane production has been linked to the warm climate of the Mesozoic era (Wilkinson, et. al., 2012). Assuming a more reptilian metabolism, one paper puts the global biomass of large sauropods at 2 00,000 kg/km2. Their total estimated annual methane emission is about 520 million tons. For comparison, modern day ruminants produce about 50-100 million tons of atmospheric methane, and the total modern day global emissions are about 500-600 million tons a year. The author notes that their estimate could have been overstated by a factor of two, but also understated by the same amount, depending on assumed metabolic function and density of sauropods. Sauropods large sizes and reliance on fermentation to digest food was a major influence on their environment, and created a positive feedback loop, where the temperature increase would push nutritive values of plants lower. Massive sauropod bodies were well adapted to their environment and digestion. Of course, such large sizes bring their own challenges. The most debated question is whether or not dinosaurs were endothermic or ectothermic, and whether endothermy was even possible in mega dinosaurs like the sauropods. At body masses estimated between 20,000 kg and 80,000 kg, overheating would have been a huge problem in large sauropod dinosaurs. While it is unknown if they had special soft tissue adaptations in order to combat their size, it is speculated that their long necks and tails may have helped them keep cool by increasing surface area without adding too much internal volume (Eagle, et. al., 2011). The accelerated growth capable in endothermic animals is a major factor in favor of sauropod endothermy. Sauropods grew several size magnitudes, from hatchlings estimated to be about 10kg, to the hulking adult dinosaurs, in only a few decades (Sander Clauss, 2008). But does the size of adult sauropods rule out endothermic metabolisms? According to Eagle and others (2011), endo thermy was not impossible in large sauropods. In lower temperatures, more 13C-18O clumps form, which are preserved in the fossil record. The analysis of these clumps is not dependent on knowing the oxygen isotope composition of the surrounding water. These clumps can be observed in the tooth bioapatite of dinosaurs. The accuracy of this method is 1 °C, with precision within 1 °-2 °C. The accuracy of this method comes from tests of modern taxa, in which the isotopic temperature agrees with the expected temperature of the organisms. Eagle found the average body temperature of Brachiosaurus to be 38.2 °C  ± 1 °C and the temperature of Camarasaurus to be 35.7 °C  ±1.3 °C including a sample from a different fossil site. These temperatures are within the range of modern mammals, and lower than the body temperatures of many birds, which can be greater than 40 °C. Eagle does note that the temperature reflects the temperature of tooth formation, which may differ from the main body temperature. Body temperature is a product of metabolism, size, environmental temperature, and any special adaptations for the regulation of heat. The temperatures given for these sauropods is close to the temperatures estimated by earlier research done by Gillooly (2006). Such temperatures in such large animals suggests that they were either ectothermic, had low basal metabolic rates, or had some special methods of heat dissipation. Some researchers suggest that large sauropods were fermentative endotherms (Mackie, 2002). Because sauropods needed a lot of energy to reach their adult size in such little time, it is likely that they were endotherms who underwent some sort of change at maturation that prevented overheating as an adult. Metabolic changes through development is not unusual, so it is very possible that it also occurred in sauropods. They could have shifted from a higher metabolic endothermy during their rapid growth phase, to a lesser metabolic homeot hermy supported by the fermentation heat output from their fully formed guts. Other evidence in support of endothermic sauropods are growth lines, or the lack there of, in sauropod bones (Kohler, et. al., 2012). Lines of arrested growth are normally associated with ectotherms, which have periods of rapid growth interspersed with periods of slow growth. These lines are found in mammals as well, and in the majority of dinosaurs. The pattern the lines leave are not found in sauropod bones. This suggests unbroken, stead growth rates, highly unlikely in ectotherms. The evidence suggests endothermy in sauropods, even in large ones. Because endothermy requires more energy to maintain, sauropods would have had to consume a massive amount of food, unless they had a low basal metabolism. Hippopotami, while mammals and clearly not the size of sauropods, have particularly long retention times because they have low food intake and enormous gut capacity. Their required energy for maintenance is r emarkably low. This strategy is common in non-ruminant foregut fermentators and some small hindgut fermentators (Clauss, et. al., 2009). The metabolic process of sauropods is linked to their energetic needs and dietary restrictions. In some research, one of the byproducts of fermentation, heat, supports the endothermic theory, and endothermy in sauropods as juveniles helps explain how they managed to reach their massive adult size. The herbivorous, fermentative nature of sauropods is not an obstacle in understanding their ability to function at such large sizes. Sauropods likely evolved to be large because of the abundance of plant materials, especially after many herbivores died out during both the Permian extinction, but also the Triassic-Jurassic extinction. Their adaptations allowed them to widely diversify and fill the newly opened ecological niches. Some have speculated that their large body size was driven by predation, as larger bodies, especially the size of sauropods, were a natural defense (Sander, et. al., 2011). Given the evidence, it is more likely that immunity to predation was a lucky side effect of size, not the driving factor. It seems more likely that the resource opportunities of plants drove the initial adaptation, especially with the diverse nature of sauropods and their apparent partitioning, than protection. The size of sauropods is inextricably linked to their diet and digestive methods. Much of the discussion of sauropod feeding is based on conjecture is based on living animals, that are obviously very different from sauropods. As there is are no known records of internal tissues, it is hard to know anything about how sauropods functioned internally beyond comparing them to existing behaviors and traits in todays animals. Even though todays herbivores are different than sauropods, patterns of herbivory are similar in very different taxa. The circumstantial evidence offered by analysis of modern organisms still enables scientists to attempt to fit sauropods within the known herbivorous patterns, with allowances for the unknowns. Perhaps this analysis is just another element of the imaginative aspect of dinosaur life. Until more evidence is found, I believe that the evolution of the massive sauropods was in large part due to their diet and digestion. The nutrition offered by gymnosperms demanded higher levels of processing. The minimal oral digestion evidenced by small heads and non-chewing teeth led to greater digesta retention times in the gut. A greater gut size would have sped fermentation, compensating for the large particle size of the plant material and its low nutrient density. There is some evidence for resource partition amongst sauropods, both between different species and within the same species. Different tooth structure and browsing levels are some adaptations driven by available resources. The other benefits of the large body size of sauropods, in my opinion, do not seem likely to be as important in size evolution as the plants and their digestion. When the sauropods appeared, they filled an ecological niche left by previous extinctions, and quickly diversified, creating a hugely successful group of organisms, both in overall diversity, but also in longevity. Works Cited Christiansen, Per, 1999, On the Head Size of Sauropodomorph Dinosaurs: Implications for Ecology and Physiology. Historical Biology, v. 13, iss. 4, p. 269-297. Chure, D., Britt, B. B., Whitlock, J. A., Wilson, J. A., 2010, First complete sauropod dinosaur skull from the Cretaceous of the Americas and the evolution of sauropod dentition. Naturwissenschaften, v. 97, iss. 4, p. 379-391. Eagle, R. A., Tà ¼tken, T., Martin, T. S., Tripati., A. K., Fricke, H. C., Connely, M., Cifelli, R. L., Eiler, J. M., 2011, Dinosaur Body Temperatures Determined from Isotopic (13C- 18O) Ordering in Fossil Biominerals. Science, v. 333, n. 6041, p. 443-445. Englemann, G. F., Chure, D. J., Fiorillo, A. R., 2004, The implications of a dry climate for the paleoecology of the fauna of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation. Sedimentary Geology, v. 167, iss. 3-4, p. 397-308. Franz, R., Hummel, J., Kienzle, E., Kà ¶lle, P., Gunga, H., Clauss, M., 2009, Allometry of visceral organs in living amniotes and its implications for sauropod dinosaurs. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, v. 276, iss. 1662, p. 1731-1736. Gillooly, J. F., Allen, A. P., Charnov, E. L., 2006, Dinosaur Fossils Predict Body Temperatures. PLoS Biology, v. 4, iss. 8, p. 1467. Kohler, M., Marà ­n-Moratalla, N., Jordana, X., Aanes, R., 2012, Seasonal bone growth and physiology in endotherms shed light on dinosaur physiology. Nature, v. 487, iss. 7407, p. 358-361. Mackie, Roderick I., 2002, Mutualistic Fermentative Digestion in the Gastrointestinal Tract: Diversity and Evolution. Integrative and Comparative Biology, v. 42, n. 2, p. 319-326. Midgley, J. J., 2005, Why Dont Leaf-Eating Animals Prevent the Formation of Vegetation? Relative vs Absolute Dietary Requirements. The New Phytologist, v. 168, n. 2, p. 271- 273. Sander, P. Martin Martin Clauss, 2008, Sauropod Gigantism. Science, v. 322, n. 5899, p. 200- 201. Sander, P. M., Christian, A., Clauss, M., Fechner, R., Gee, C. T., Griebeler, E., Gunga, H., Hummel, J., Mallison, H., Perry, S. F., Preuschoft, H., Rauhut, O. W. M., Remes, K., Tà ¼tken, T., Wings, O., Witzel, U., 2011, Biology of the sauropod dinosaurs: the evolution of gigantism. Biological Reviews, v. 86, p. 117-155. Schwarz, D., Kosch, J. C. D., Fritsch G., Hildebrandt, 2015, Dentition and Tooth Replacement of Dicraeosaurus hansemanni (Dinosauria, Sauropoda, Diplodocoidea) from the Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, v. 36. Stevens, Kent A. J. Michael Parrish, 1999, Neck Posture and Feeding Habits of Two Jurassic Sauropod Dinosaurs. Science, v. 284, n. 5415, p. 798-800. Wilkinson, D. M., Nisbet, E. G., Ruxton, G. D., 2012, Could methane produced by sauropod dinosaurs have helped drive Mesozoic climate warmth?. Current Biology, v. 22, iss. 9, p. R292-R293. Wings, O., 2015, The rarity of gastroliths in sauropod dinosaurs a case study in the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation, western USA. Fossil Record, v. 18, iss. 1, p. 1-16. Wings, Oliver P. Martin Sander, 2007, No gastric mill in sauropod dinosaurs: new evidence from analysis of gastrolith mass and function in ostriches. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, v. 274, iss. 1610, p. 635-640. Zvereva, E. L. M. V. Kozlov, 2006, Consequences of simultaneous elevation of carbon dioxide and temperature for plant-herbivore interactions: a metaanalysis. Global Change Biology, v. 12, iss. 1, p. 27-41.