Concussions in football Essay Example for Free

Concussions in football Essay The quarterback drops back into the pocket and begins looking down field towards his receivers. One of the defensive linemen breaks through the offensive line and the quarterback quickly throws the ball away, but not before he is slung to the ground. As the quarterback lands on the ground, his head cracks back and hits the turf with tremendous force; and despite wearing a protective football helmet, the quarterback suffers a severe concussion. Concussions happen weekly in the NFL to players of all positions due to the tremendous force these players are hit with weekly and need to be noted more carefully. The short and long term effects of multiple concussions can be devastating to the human mind. Not only does the brain suffer long term physical damage, players often suffer from long term mental problems. So what is the NFL doing about this? Surprisingly enough, very little. Before we get started, its very important to know what exactly a concussion is. A concussion is the most common type of traumatic brain injury. A concussion involves a transient loss of mental function. It can be caused by acceleration or deceleration forces, or by a direct blow to the head. Whether a player is hit with a helmet to helmet type of hit, a face mask, or just hits his head to hard on the turf; they can all cause serious concussions. Concussions werent taken very seriously until the middle of the 20th century. Often times, if a player said he was ok to go back onto the field after a concussion; the team doctors would let him. Recently, however, the NFL began doing studies on concussions due to the career ending injuries to Troy Aikman and Steve Young. In 1994, the NFL commissioned a research committee to learn more about concussions and the lasting effects that they had on players. The lead investigator, Dr. Elliot Pellman, took a look at videotapes from 174 different concussion instances to determine what designs they could make in the NFL helmet to reduce the amount of concussions that players suffered. Pellman and his colleagues wrote in January 2005 that returning to play after a concussion does not involve significant risk of a second injury either in the same game or during the season. However, a 2003 NCAA study of 2,905 college football players found just the opposite: Those who have suffered concussions are more susceptible to further head trauma for seven to 10 days after the injury. Pellman and his group have also stated repeatedly that their work shows no evidence of worsening injury or chronic cumulative effects of multiple concussions in NFL players. But a 2003 report by the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes at the University of North Carolina found a link between multiple concussions and depression among former pro players with histories of concussions. A 2005 follow-up study at the Center showed a connection between concussions and both brain impairment and Alzheimers disease among retired NFL players. Pellman told the NFL commissioner that half of the players that suffer concussions in game are allowed to return to the game. Pellman has no objections to having the players return because he doesnt think the players risk any significant long term damage by returning. However, many experts completely disagree with Pellman. The Second International Conference on Concussion in Sport met in Prague in 2004 and released the following statement: When a player shows ANY symptoms or signs of a concussion the player should not be allowed to return to play in the current game or practice. Many sports doctors agree that no players should return after concussions for a while because they are extremely susceptible to further brain damage. Many NFL players report having blacked out after returning from a concussion in the same game. According to Pellman though, they are completely fine. Several of the countrys preeminent neurosurgeons and neurophysiologists have grown increasingly concerned that the league is putting players at risk by following Pellmans lead. For one thing, Pellman is a rheumatologist by training a specialist in the treatment of joints and muscles not a neurologist. To be honest, that is all I really need to hear about him. How is a guy that is not even a certified neurologist giving advice to the NFL about the seriousness of concussions? Not only that, Pellman refuses to look at other data regarding concussions because he only wants to look at the data that he extracted from his players. Pellman reportedly left out many different cases involving players with concussions that did not coincide with his data. An associate he worked with said that 850 or so baseline cases were left out of their study when they should have been included. The NFL has to decide how much longer it can afford to send players back into games after theyve been knocked out. How much longer it wants to tell players that multiple concussions pose no threat to their future mental health. And how much longer it wants to keep relying on Elliot Pellmans research to make its calls.

Unforgiving Rapids :: Personal Narratives Whitewater Rafting Essays

Unforgiving Rapids The unforgiving water rushes past the boat, waiting for a false move. Called a class 5, this rapid looks more like a class 6 with the water as low as it is. Six to ten foot swells come crashing down from time to time keeping the crew sharp and wet. To the right, a thousand-foot wall of stone reaches for the sky, yearning for the omnipresent. The canyon walls look as smooth as silk, yet upon contact are as coarse as sandpaper. Quartz crystals glisten in the summer sun. No storm clouds today. The skies are clear. To the left, a valley stretches into the distance, winding back and forth like a drunk driver. Weeds take over much of the bank on either side. They stretch out for miles in either direction like they are the sole owners of the canyon. It didn't used to be this way. Ten years ago you could actually see the sandy banks most of the way down the river. Now scouting is the only way to find a nice sandy beach to set up camp. Elk along the shore are a reminder of the necessity for b oiling even the cleanest water. Lawsuits loom large and safety is a priority. The speed of the water is frightening, yet exhilarating. The water's spray is cool and keeps us laughing. The captain looks anxiously about for rocks and logs. To one side, a cliff that must be four thousand feet tall looms over the raging river like an overgrown skyscraper. The canyon contrasts against the sky like black carpet in a house with white walls. Little metallic pieces of rock mirror the sun's rays and create a magical ambiance. The sky is very blue here, like the bluest water in the ocean on a clear day; not a cloud to be seen. To the other side of the river, a canyon winds into the distance like a freeway overpass. Lots of beautiful plants line the shore of the river, leaving only a few bare places where a sandy bank can be seen. Today, elk was spotted along the shore drinking from the muddy water. What a magnificent rack! It's all a great adventure. The old boat has seen better days; gray patches stick to the orange rubber of the 16 footer. Flexible yet sturdy, the boat is comfortable, like an old shoe. There are no surprises here.

Douglas Spalding Essay

Douglas Spalding was the architect of ethology, the scientific study of animal behavior. He started his research in the mid 1800s. His studies discounted British empiricist claims that animal skill regarding depth, distance; perception and sound localization were learned by the animals while they were young. Spalding study of ethology involved the determiner of behavior such as instinct is behavior that is predisposed or shaped by natural selection or innate pre-programmed behavior. To address the British empiricist claim that perceptual abilities did not require experience, he conducted an study dealing with instinct. He open a portion of an egg where chicks, baby chickens, not girls, where about to hatch and just before their eyes opened, he opened a piece of the egg, and covered the chicks head with a hood. After removing the hood; the chick showed no effects of not being able to see and was able to locate insects to eat, thus showing innate behavior is extremely valuable in animal behavior and not experience. Critical period research is learning that occurs at a specific age or life stage. Critical period is behavior that’s developed within a specific time frame. Spalding withheld chicks from the mother for 10 days. The chicks didn’t hear or see their mother for ten days. Spalding introduced the chicks to the calls of the mother; however, the chicks did not recognize their mother. Spalding observation showed at particular stages in life innate behavior is developed with a specific time. Spalding experiments and observations supported the claim that animals innate behaviors not experiences is a determiner of behavior.

Essay about Motivational theorists - 1569 Words

Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs Maslow wanted to understand what motivates people. He believed that individuals possess a set of motivation systems unrelated to rewards or unconscious desires. Maslow stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs. When one need is fulfilled a person seeks to fulfil the next one, and so on. The original hierarchy of needs five-stage model includes: 1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep. 2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, limits, stability. 3. Social Needs - Belongingness and Love, - work group, family, affection, relationships. 4. Esteem needs - self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance,†¦show more content†¦This style of management assumes that workers: Dislike working. Avoid responsibility and need to be directed. Have to be controlled, forced, and threatened to deliver whats needed. Need to be supervised at every step, with controls put in place. Need to be enticed to produce results; otherwise they have no ambition or incentive to work. X-Type organizations tend to be top heavy, with managers and supervisors required at every step to control workers. There is little delegation of authority and control remains firmly centralized. McGregor recognized that X-Type workers are in fact usually the minority, and yet in mass organizations, such as large scale production environment, X Theory management may be required and can be unavoidable. Theory Y Theory Y expounds a participative style of management that is de-centralized. It assumes that employees are happy to work, are self-motivated and creative, and enjoy working with greater responsibility. It assumes that workers: Take responsibility and are motivated to fulfill the goals they are given. Seek and accept responsibility and do not need much direction. Consider work as a natural part of life and solve work problems imaginatively. This more participative management style tends to be more widely applicable. In Y-Type organizations, people at lower levels of the organization are involved in decision making and have more responsibility. Comparing Theory X andShow MoreRelatedMotivational Theorist: Abraham Maslow1461 Words   |  6 PagesMotivational Theorist Paper: Abraham Maslow Abraham Maslow â€Å"What a man can be, he must be. This need we call self-actualization.† (â€Å"Brainy Quote†) This quote by Abraham Harold Maslow is the foundation on which much of his work is based. Maslow was born in Brooklyn, New York on April 1, 1908, to a poor Jewish immigrant family from Russia. He was the first of seven children and since his parents wished for the best for their children they were very strong about academic achievement. 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