Video Games And Children

Video games were first introduced in the 1970s. By the end of that decade they had become a preferred childhood leisure activity, and adults responded with concern about the possible ill effects of the games on children. Early research on these effects was inconclusive. However, a resurgence in video game sales that began in the late 1980s after the introduction of the Nintendo system has renewed interest in examining the effects of video games. Some research suggests that playing video games may affect some children's physical functioning. Effects range from triggering epileptic seizures to causing heart rate and blood pressure changes. Serious adverse physical effects, however, are transient or limited to a small number of players. Research has also identified benefits associated with creative and pro-social uses of video games, as in physical rehabilitation and oncology (Funk, 1993). Proponents of video games suggest that they may be a friendly way of introducing children to computers, and may increase children's hand-eye co-ordination and attention to detail. VIDEO GAME USE BY CHILDREN Recent studies of television watching by children have included measures of the time children spend playing video games. In 1967, the average sixth-grader watched 2.8 hours of television per day. Data from 1983 indicated that sixth-graders watched 4.7 hours of television per day, and spent some additional time playing video games. A recent study (Funk, 1993) examined video game playing among 357 seventh and eighth grade students. The adolescents were asked to identify their preference among five categories of video games. The two most preferred categories were games that involved fantasy violence, preferred by almost 32% of subjects; and sports games, some of which contained violent sub-themes, which were preferred by more than 29%. Nearly 20% of the students expressed a preference for games with a general entertainment theme, while another 17% favored games that involved human violence. Fewer than 2% of the adolescents preferred games with educational content. The study found that approximately 36% of male students played video games at home for 1 to 2 hours per week; 29% played 3 to 6 hours; and 12 percent did not play at all. Among female students who played video games at home, approximately 42% played 1 to 2 hours and 15% played 3 to 6 hours per week. Nearly 37% of females did not play any video games. The balance of subjects played more than 6 hours per week. Results also indicated that 38% of males and 16% of females played 1 to 2 hours of video games per week in arcades; and that 53% of males and 81% of females did not play video games in arcades. RATING OF VIDEO GAME VIOLENCE Ratings of video game violence have developed as an extension of ratings of television violence. Among those organizations that have attempted to rate television violence, the National Coalition on Television Violence (NCTV) has also developed a system to rate the violent content of video games. The NCTV system contains ratings that range from XUnfit and XV (highly violent) to PG and G ratings. Between summer and Christmas of 1989, NCTV surveyed 176 Nintendo video games. Among the games surveyed, 11.4% received the XUnfit rating. Another 44.3% and 15.3% received the other violent ratings of XV and RV, respectively. A total of 20% of games received a PG or G rating (NCTV, 1990). The Sega company, which manufactures video games, has developed a system for rating its own games as appropriate for general, mature, or adult audiences, which it would like to see adopted by the video game industry as a whole. The Nintendo Company, in rating its games, follows standards modeled on the system used by the Motion Picture Association of America. A problem shared by those who rate violence in television and video games is that the definition of violence is necessarily subjective. Given this subjectivity, raters have attempted to assess antisocial violence more accurately by ranking violent acts according to severity, noting the context in which violent acts occur, and considering the overall message as pro- or anti- violence. However, the factor of context is typically missing in video games. There are no gray areas in the behavior of game characters, and players are rarely required to reflect or make contextual judgements (Provenzo, 1992). EFFECTS OF VIOLENCE IN VIDEO GAMES The NCTV claims that there has been a steady increase in the number of video games with violent themes. Games rated as extremely violent increased from 53% in 1985 to 82% in 1988. A 1988 survey indicated that manufacturers were titling their games with increasingly violent titles (NCTV, 1990). Another survey found that 40 of the 47 top-rated Nintendo video games had violence as a theme. An early study on the effects of video games on children found that playing video games had more positive effects on children than watching television. A conference sponsored by Atari at Harvard University in 1983 presented preliminary data that failed to identify ill effects. More recent research, however, has begun to find a connection between children’s playing of violent video games and later aggressive behavior. A research review done by NCTV (1990) found that 9 of 12 research studies on the impact of violent video games on normal children and adolescents reported harmful effects. In general, while video game playing has not been implicated as a direct cause of severe psycho-pathology, research suggests that there is a short-term relationship between playing violent games and increased aggressive behavior in younger children (Funk, 1993). Because it is likely that there is some similarity in the effect of viewing violent television programs and playing violent video games on individuals' aggressive behavior, those concerned with the effects of video games on children should take note of television research. The consensus among researchers on television violence is that there is a measurable increase of from 3% to 15% in individuals' aggressive behavior after watching violent television. A recent report of the American Psychological Association claimed that research demonstrates a correlation between viewing and aggressive behavior (Clark, 1993). EFFECTS OF OTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF VIDEO GAMES Some adults believe that video games offer benefits over the passive medium of television. Among mental health professionals, there are those who maintain that in playing video games, certain children can develop a sense of proficiency which they might not otherwise achieve. However, other authorities speculate that performing violent actions in video games may be more conducive to children's aggression than passively watching violent acts on television. According to this view, the more children practice violence acts, the more likely they are to perform violent acts (Clark, 1993). Some educational professionals, while allowing that video games permit children to engage in a somewhat creative dialogue, maintain that this engagement is highly constrained compared to other activities, such as creative writing (Provenzo, 1992). Another problem seen by critics of video games is that the games stress autonomous action rather than co-operation. A common game scenario is that of an anonymous character performing an aggressive act against an anonymous enemy. One study (Provenzo, 1992) found that each of the top 10 Nintendo video games was based on a theme of an autonomous individual working alone against an evil force. The world of video games has little sense of community and few team players. Also, most video games do not allow play by more than one player at a time. The social content of video games may influence children's attitudes toward gender roles. In the Nintendo games, women are usually cast as persons who are acted upon rather than as initiators of action; in extreme cases, they are depicted as victims. One study (Provenzo, 1992) found that the covers of the 47 most popular Nintendo games depicted a total of 115 male and 9 female characters; among these characters, 20 of the males struck a dominant pose while none of the females did. Thirteen of the 47 games were based on a scenario in which a woman is kidnapped or has to be rescued. Studies have indicated that males play video games more frequently than females. Television program producers and video game manufacturers may produce violent shows and games for this audience. This demand for violence may not arise because of an innate male desire to witness violence, but because males are looking for strong role models, which they find in these shows and games (Clark, 1993). CONCLUSION Given inconclusive research, recommendations concerning video games must be conservative. According to researcher Jeanne Funk (1993), a ban on video games is: probably not ... in the child's best interests. Limiting playing time and monitoring game selection according to developmental level and game content may be as important as similar parental management of television privileges. Parents and professionals should also seek creative ways to increase the acceptance, popularity, and availability of games that are relatively pro-social, educational, and fun. (p.89)

Bibliography

Clark, C.S. (1993). TV Violence. CQ Researcher 3(12, Mar26): 167-187 De Franco, E.B. (1989). Are Your Kids Too Tuned In? PTA Today, May): 18-19. EJ 414 201. Funk, J.B. (1993). Re-evaluating the Impact of Video Games. Clinical Pediatrics 32 (2, Feb): 86-90. PS 521 243. Kubey, R. and Larson, R. (1990). The Use and Experience of the New Video Media Among Children and Young Adolescents. Communication Research 17(1): 107-130. EJ 406 646. National Coalition on Television Violence. (1990). Nintendo Tainted by Extreme Violence. NCTV News 11(1-2, Feb-Mar): 1, 3-4. Provenzo, E.F., Jr. (1992). The Video Generation. American School Board Journal 179(3, Mar): 29-32. EJ 441 136.

Television And Violence

Boink! Boom! Crack! The sounds of the fight scene rage on. Many have fallen in this particularly bloody battle. The good guys have taken their losses but struggle on to what is seemingly a victory. Their aggression is fierce and helps them. Fires consume the background; men and women lie on the ground in pain. Even if it weren’t for the bombs, missiles, bullets, etc. that are flying around, hand-to-hand combat would have got the better of them. It was a classic battle scene when looking back at it, a true testament of blood, hell, and gore. This may sound like a heroic made-for-TV movie shown only on primetime in the hopes of recruiting a mature audience. But it is not. In fact, it is just another Saturday-morning special of GI Joe, “The Real American Hero,” that I watched with my brother and cousins. We were religious followers of the show, tuning in every week to see how Sergeant Slaughter, Duke and the rest of the gang would handle the likes of King Cobra and his cronies. GI Joe’s early morning time slot encouraged kids, like us, to tune in every weekend. While eating our CheeriosTM and Frosted FlakesTM we got a dose of some real fightin’ action, in excess of fifty violent scenes for the morning: there is more than enough to fill the appetite. The truth is, violence on television is on every single day. It takes its toll on society, especially children. The damage done by violence on television is detrimental and confirmed by statistics, case studies, and personal experiences. Fistfights, shootouts, car crashes, rapes... Take your pick. Violence is everywhere on television, sometimes gory and gruesome, other times clean and remote. It is not just the Saturday morning cartoons; clips from action-adventure series, the nightly news and MTV are interwoven with violence and extremely mature content. Prime-time programs can average eight hostile acts per hour; children's shows four times as much (Bajpai, 1996, ps. 45-52). To television Programmers, violence is depicted as a normal, justified response to conflict and threat. They will encourage identification with the aggressor; domination and submission, to them, are often equated with pleasure and worth. Yet numerous researchers have put much time into discovering why children are so attached by the television and the action that takes place within it. They prove that it is definitely a major source of violent behavior in children. Their research proves time and time again that aggression and television viewing do go hand in hand. The truth about television violence and children has been shown. Many people and critics try to ignore it and hope that it will go away. Others do not even seem to care and try to attack these ideas. However, the facts are undeniable and all the results point to one conclusion: Television violence causes children to be violent and the effects can be life-long. The effects of the television are first visible even at the most basic level of life, children and adolescents. The modern-day extent of viewing by humans, especially Americans, is astronomical. Children begin to watch television at very early ages, often when they are newborns. At this time they are obviously not able to follow along or be influenced by it, but they are subjected to it nevertheless. This early start will lead most childhood viewers into a cult-like trance by the time they reach the age of three. In between breakfast and lunch, playtime and naptime, class and dinner, all children find a way to watch the tube. The typical American household has the television set on for more than seven hours each day and children ages two to eleven spend an average of twenty-eight hours per week viewing (Murray, 1996, p. 1). Some research has also estimated that by the time a child or teen of today’s generation reaches the age of seventy, he will have spent nearly seven years of his life watching television. That is nearly ten percent of one’s life lives watching television. That is insane; to say that you and I will spend years upon years, watching television. There is so much that people, even we, could do in a seven-year period. Entire wars can be fought in seven years, college educations can be attained, millions of people will be born and millions will die, many things can happen that have more significance than seven years of television. That is a very large percentage of time to be doing solely one thing, and the fact that that one thing is watching television, is very, very unfortunate. The television, as said before, is a very influential object. Being worse for children, we see that at the later stages in life (ie: eighteen and over, approximately adulthood) most people will not be swayed too much by the hypnotic powers of the television. This is not to say that it cannot happen, but studies show that most people are fairly set in their ways, especially mentally, once they reach adulthood and it takes a lot for them to be affected. Children, on the other hand, are prime candidates to the influences of the television. They are the most avid viewers and the most vulnerable. It is here where most violent tendencies, if any, are fostered. With the addition of cable television to broadcast television, a recent survey by the Center for Media and Public Affairs identified 1,846 violent scenes broadcast and cablecast between 6 a.m. to midnight on one day in Washington, D.C. The most violent periods were between 6 to 9 a.m. with 497 violent scenes (165.7 per hour) and between 2 to 5 p.m. with 609 violent scenes (203 per hour) (Murray, 1996, p. 2). This statistic probably seems quite outrageous, but it is true and there are numbers even higher than that on given days. Two hundred violent scenes per hour are gaudy numbers, yet the even more baffling but more concealed truism is the time slots of these major occurrences. The times: 6 to 9 a.m. and 2 to 5 p.m. are the most popular times for child and adolescent viewers. These are the times in the morning when young children will watch most avidly and in the afternoon after school when school-aged children are most attentive to it. This just goes to show that the children, already established as the most vulnerable, are also the ones subjected to the most violent scenes. This is a bad combination and it stimulates bad tendencies and violence in the children. Now that the extent to which the television is being watched has been established, and with some idea of just how much violence there is on an average day, it is time to look at an even more telling tale. Yes, we said that children may be subjected to more than six hundred acts of violence in a three-hour time period, but who’s to say that these acts are in any way severe? Well, the truth is that while many acts are subtle in their appearance, they still have an overwhelming effect over time. This is not to mention the fact that the major acts of violence add up as well. By the time a child of today’s world reaches the age of eighteen he will have witnessed over 8,000 simulated murders on the television. That is an average of 1.22 murders per day, counted from birth. What you see here is a repetitive bombardment of violence and violent material upon children. Seeing this every day gives it the same effect as eating, or sleeping; it’s nearly habitual, which is a truly sad state of affairs. Getting into a habit of seeing murders and violence on television, is an obvious sign that should lead us to believe that it will influence children in a negative way. Numbers are easily crunched and manipulated by both sides of the argument. I see that there are quite a few numbers involved here in the argument. They are mostly in favor of violence being a bad influence, making these facts hard to ignore. Especially when they are as blatant and obvious as they appear. Statistics, when used responsibly, are perhaps some of the best insights we have into helping us discover problems and their solutions. As helpful as they may be, there are still other kinds of information even as persuasive as statistics. What I have to show now are case studies. There have been numerous case studies performed over the past few decades involving children and television. I can throw out statistics all day at people in the hopes that they will see that violence on television is bad. While it is effective, my argument is much like any claim a scientist would make: it is not truly valid until tested. With this in mind, we see testing the real influence of violence on television shows that it is dangerously harmful. For an example, there is a case of a study done by a group Stein and Friedrich for the Surgeon General’s project in 1972 (Murray, 1996, p. 3). Their study consisted of taking 97 preschool children and exposing one third of them to a television diet consisting of Batman and Superman cartoons. The middle third were exposed to a diet of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, while the final third were exposed to neutral programming (neither antisocial or pro-social). These children watched over twelve half-hour episodes of their respective programs over a four-week period. They were then observed in their classroom and playroom environments. The psychologists running the study found that the children who watched the Batman and Superman cartoons were remarkably aggressive and not very apt to share and interact. While on the other hand, the children who watched Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood were more social, and more likely to share and interact. The middle third remained close to the same as they were before. There are many more studies just like this previous one, and all of them lead to the same conclusion: violent television does foster more aggressive and violent behavior in children. It feels like just yesterday that I was sitting down to watch my Saturday morning cartoons on my family room television. Every Saturday was like clockwork for me. I would always eat my cereal and toast and then watch my GI Joe and Transformers. I was so in love with GI Joe, I can remember always wanting to re-enact the scenes with my plastic toy soldiers. Explosions, death, and carnage were my rations on Saturday and I loved every minute of it. In fact, although this is embarrassing, I still remember to this day getting in trouble at pre-school for hitting a classmate who took a toy away from a friend of mine. Why? You might ask. Well, it was because I saw on GI Joe that your supposed to stick up for your friends and protect them from the enemy at all costs. So me, being the noble and “informed” friend that I was, carried-out the mission and took the heat for my violent actions. I received timeout for the rest of the day. This may seem a little preposterous, or maybe even dumb. Regardless, the truth is that GI Joe partly formed my identity as a young child and the only reason I was able to later tell the right from wrong was because I had parents to tell me. My parents would often try to sit with me and watch a few shows, not for just their pleasure but rather to tell me what was fake and not to be repeated. Many children go without the parental supervision when watching television, and it leads to a lack of knowledge from determining right from wrong. They eventually forget the real and the fantasy, the violent and the non-violent. Now do not get me wrong, there are measures that prove and a few studies that show that with proper supervision children will not be affected by television violence. Case studies are out now that show children being unaffected by television violence as a whole. I previously mentioned a study done for a Surgeon General’s Project, which acknowledged an existence of non-violent cases. When I read this information, I thought to myself, “that’s awesome, if children are not really affected by the television.” Only, I found but one or two instances of these reports meaning that they were few and very far between. Leading me to conclude that it was merely wishful thinking to be able to reverse my study and maybe argue from the other side. The amount of studies showing that violence is a factor in the lives of children is just too large in number to even compare the reports that oppose it. To be honest, I have only shared a few statistics and studies with you. I could have rattled off a thousand; it is just not necessary though. I believe that you can agree with me when I say that violence on television is detrimental to the lives of children and that it has a bad influence upon them. You should agree with me, and if you do not, well I can not wait to hear about your child in the police blotter.

Bibliography

1.Bajpai, S., & Unnikrishnan, N. (1996). The Impact of Television Advertising on Children. London: Sage Publications. 2.Murray, John P. (1996) Impact of Televised Violence [Online]. Available via Kansas State University

Technology Effect On Society

The microeconomic picture of the U.S. has changed immensely since 1973, and the trends are proving to be consistently downward for the nation's high school graduates and high school drop-outs. "Of all the reasons given for the wage squeeze - international competition, technology, deregulation, the decline of unions and defense cuts - technology is probably the most critical. It has favored the educated and the skilled," says M. B. Zuckerman, editor-in-chief of U.S. News & World Report (7/31/95). Since 1973, wages adjusted for inflation have declined by about a quarter for high school dropouts, by a sixth for high school graduates, and by about 7% for those with some college education. Only the wages of college graduates are up. Of the fastest growing technical jobs, software engineering tops the list. Carnegie Mellon University reports, "recruitment of it's software engineering students is up this year by over 20%." All engineering jobs are paying well, proving that highly skilled labor is what employers want! "There is clear evidence that the supply of workers in the [unskilled labor] categories already exceeds the demand for their services," says L. Mishel, Research Director of Welfare Reform Network. In view of these facts, I wonder if these trends are good or bad for society. "The danger of the information age is that while in the short run it may be cheaper to replace workers with technology, in the long run it is potentially self-destructive because there will not be enough purchasing power to grow the economy," M. B. Zuckerman. My feeling is that the trend from unskilled labor to highly technical, skilled labor is a good one! But, political action must be taken to ensure that this societal evolution is beneficial to all of us. "Back in 1970, a high school diploma could still be a ticket to the middle income bracket, a nice car in the driveway and a house in the suburbs. Today all it gets is a clunker parked on the street, and a dingy apartment in a low rent building," says Time Magazine (Jan 30, 1995 issue). However, in 1970, our government provided our children with a free education, allowing the vast majority of our population to earn a high school diploma. This means that anyone, regardless of family income, could be educated to a level that would allow them a comfortable place in the middle class. Even restrictions upon child labor hours kept children in school, since they are not allowed to work full time while under the age of 18. This government policy was conducive to our economic markets, and allowed our country to prosper from 1950 through 1970. Now, our own prosperity has moved us into a highly technical world, that requires highly skilled labor. The natural answer to this problem, is that the U.S. Government's education policy must keep pace with the demands of the highly technical job market. If a middle class income of 1970 required a high school diploma, and the middle class income of 1990 requires a college diploma, then it should be as easy for the children of the 90's to get a college diploma, as it was for the children of the 70's to get a high school diploma. This brings me to the issue of our country's political process, in a technologically advanced world. Voting & Poisoned Political Process in The U.S. The advance of mass communication is natural in a technologically advanced society. In our country's short history, we have seen the development of the printing press, the radio, the television, and now the Internet; all of these, able to reach millions of people. Equally natural, is the poisoning and corruption of these medias, to benefit a few. *From the 1950's until today, television has been the preferred media. Because it captures the minds of most Americans, it is the preferred method of persuasion by political figures, multinational corporate advertising, and the upper 2% of the elite, who have an interest in controlling public opinion. Newspapers and radio experienced this same history, but are now somewhat obsolete in the science of changing public opinion. Though I do not suspect television to become completely obsolete within the next 20 years, I do see the Internet being used by the same political figures, multinational corporations, and upper 2% elite, for the same purposes. At this time, in the Internet's young history, it is largely unregulated, and can be accessed and changed by any person with a computer and a modem; no license required, and no need for millions of dollars of equipment. But, in reviewing our history, we find that newspaper, radio and television were once unregulated too. It is easy to see why government has such an interest in regulating the Internet these days. Though public opinion supports regulating sexual material on the Internet, it is just the first step in total regulation, as experienced by every other popular mass media in our history. This is why it is imperative to educate people about the Internet, and make it be known that any regulation of it is destructive to us, not constructive! I have been a daily user of the Internet for 5 years (and a daily user of BBS communications for 4 years), which makes me a senior among us. I have seen the moves to regulate this type of communication, and have always openly opposed it. My feelings about technology, the Internet, and political process are simple. In light of the history of mass communication, there is nothing we can do to protect any media from the "sound byte" or any other form of commercial poisoning. But, our country's public opinion doesn't have to fall into a nose-dive of lies and corruption, because of it! The first experience I had in a course on Critical Thinking came when I entered college. As many good things as I have learned in college, I found this course to be most valuable to my basic education. I was angry that I hadn't had access to the power of critical thought over my twelve years of basic education. Simple forms of critical thinking can be taught as early as kindergarten. It isn't hard to teach a young person to understand the patterns of persuasion, and be able to defend themselves against them. Television doesn't have to be a weapon against us, used to sway our opinions to conform to people who care about their own prosperity, not ours. With the power of a critical thinking education, we can stop being motivated by the sound byte and, instead we can laugh at it as a cheap attempt to persuade us. In conclusion, I feel that the advance of technology is a good trend for our society; however, it must be in conjunction with advance in education so that society is able to master and understand technology. I think technology has an important effect on us, the way we act, react, and take actions in society. We can be the masters of technology, and not let it be the masters of us.

Bibliography

Zuckerman U.S. News & World Report, volume 119, pg 68 (July 31, 1995) ? Wealth: Static Wages, Except for the Rich, By: John Rothchild Time Magazine, volume 145, pg 60 (January 30, 1995) ? Welfare Reform, By: Lawrence Mishel http://epn.org/epi/epwelf.html (Feb 22, 1994) ? 20 Hot Job Tracks, By: K.T. Beddingfield, R. M. Bennefield, J. Chetwynd, T. M. Ito, K. Pollack & A. R. Wright U.S. News & World Report, volume 119, pg 98 (Oct 30, 1995)

Internet And WWW

The “Internet” and “World Wide Web” Defined In recent years the Internet and World Wide Web (WWW) have become more and more popular as an information resource. Many people believe that the WWW is the same as the Internet. This is untrue. The Internet was designed in the late 60’s as a way for a few military computers to exchange research data. Today, the Internet has evolved into a loose association of thousands of networks and millions of computers around the world. These networks are connected together using high-speed communication lines. Primarily, the millions of computers that access these networks use slower speed data connections and telephone dial-up connections. The WWW is actually a program that runs on the Internet. It’s a collection of interlinked documents that work together using a special computer language called a protocol. This language allows millions of web documents, or “pages”, to be accessed instantly with a click of a button. These documents can include, text, color, sounds, pictures and even movies. The Internet is essentially the hardware that connects all of the computers together. It consists of special computers that’s sole purpose is to move data at high speeds between other computers. The World Wide Web is a piece of software that runs on the Internet. It’s the actual information that is available on the Internet. Essentially, The Internet can function without the Web, but the Web cannot function without the Internet.

Industrial Revolution

This time period is quite an exciting period to be studying the Industrial Revolution, because of the fact that there is another revolution going on in the workplace. Every time technology changes, everything around it changes, and it is an exponential process. Technology increases, and then, using the new technology, it increases even more. 20 years ago, people used filing cabinets, and a pencil and paper, but recently, with the invention of computers, all that has been turned into hard disks, and emails, and gigabytes. Before the Industrial Revolution, people were farmers, and life was pretty slow, but with inventions like the cotton gin, and the assembly line, mass production evolved. Mass production is when companies can “pump” out the same product at a very efficient and inexpensive rate. The assembly line was one of these methods. An item would be sent down a treadmill, and at each point, there would be someone to work on one aspect of it. One person would punch a hole, and the next person would put in a screw, and so on, down the line, until the item was complete. This began something called division of labor. This was when people would repeat the same task over and over again, such as in an assembly line. This was very repetitive, and quite boring. England was a country that was the ideal for the Industrial Revolution it was on the water, so it was perfect for trade. It had lots of natural resources, and also a large population. The population both led to more ideas, and more workers. The country was also a wealthy one, with a good economy, and therefore there were ample investors for companies to begin. The revolution eventually spread to Western Europe, and even to the Americas. There is no doubt that inventions and technology was the key to the Industrial Revolution. It changed the way things are made, it changed the price, and it changed the working conditions. It was indeed, revolutionary. PART 2 The Industrial Revolution in Britain changed the society profoundly; it caused a complete change in working conditions and the relationship between the working and middle classes. The working conditions became very harsh during the industrial revolution. Assembly lines led to mass production, which led to the division of labor. The division of labor was a method of working which involved doing the same task over and over. It was totally mindless, and it led to bitterness towards the middle class from the working class. The managers of the factories, whom were members of the working class, became more concerned with profit vs. expenses after learning about mass production, and started to cut wages to make a quick buck. This also led to bitterness on the part of the working class. The emergence of the strong middle class was part of the marked changed that occurred during the Industrial Revolution in Britain. These working conditions are still applicable to the factory workers of today; this shows how revolutionary they were. This was the first time in history the working and middle classes disputed over conditions, and wages. This relationship is still very common, and very important. If the workers don’t complain, then they will not work as hard because of their feeling of resentment towards their bosses. And vice-versa, if the bosses don’t try to lower wages, then they will have to make up for it with higher prices, and then the consumer suffers. The protest towards bosses led to the formation of unions, which are still a very important part of the economy. The Industrial Revolution affected the whole stability of a nation, not only the economy. It affected the relationships between classes, and also the relationships between countries. The most important part is how all of these concepts are very much applicable to today’s economy, which is why the Industrial Revolution was such an important period of time in the history of the world.

Gas And Electric Cars

As his car warmed up that morning, Alan Wilson stared with amazement at his gas gauge. “I can’t believe it’s on ‘EMPTY’ again,” he ranted. “I just spent twenty bucks last weekend!” Alan sped away from his home toward the gas station before he had to be at work that morning only to find out that the gas prices had been raised again. “Why don’t I just burn my money?” he said facetiously. Alan grabbed the nozzle and began the weekly task of filling up the gas tank on his 1970 Ford Maverick with a 302 and dual exhaust. “I need to go buy one of those new Styrofoam pieces of junk that get thirty miles to the gallon,” he mumbled to himself. Since the invention of the car, people have had to go through this ordeal because we have no choice. It has been over eighty years, and we are still using gasoline as the primary source of power for our vehicles. With all of the new technology created over these years, shouldn’t we have thought of something better by now? The truth is that we have. Electricity is a much cleaner, more efficient form of power that could be put to use, but it hasn’t (Bradley 444). Is there any particular reason? Of course! Somebody will lose money. The idea of an electric car has been embedded in the mind of people for countless years. Whether it be by a writer, an inventor, or a scientist, it has been thought about for some time. Not only would this idea be safer for the environment, it would save billions of people money. Unfortunately, gas companies haven’t preferred these ideas over losing millions of dollars in sales. Although it may not be true, many environmentalists believe that car manufacturers have been bought off by the gas companies in order to keep their millions flowing in (Sullivan 2). How could an idea perfected years ago not have caught on by now? The first working electric car was created in the 1800’s before the first gas-powered car. It wasn’t perfected until the 1970’s so gasoline took its place in the mean time and we haven’t changed back until now (Ramo 24). In the past month or two, a few car companies have begun to put half-electric half-gas powered cars on the market (Ramo 25). The work of fiction is slowly becoming a reality. This may be a form of compromise between the people of the world and the gasoline companies. These cars are well designed. The gasoline helps the cars get up to speed and with hills, while the numerous batteries keep the car going when they are up to speed and not on a hill. They run smoothly and the best part is that a car will get between eighty and ninety miles to the gallon (Sullivan 3). It is safe to say that most people would enjoy the idea of filling up their gas tanks once a month. Plus, Gasoline companies will not be put out of business for two reasons: they will still make money on the full gas-powered vehicles, and they will still get money from these new “electri-gas” cars (Ramo 25). What is wrong with a fully electric car though? For one, they only travel at a top speed of 65 MPH for 2 hours. After the 2 hours, the batteries need to be recharged. With the gas-electric cars, a special generator charges up the batteries while the car is using gas (Bradley 445). So every time the car is getting up to speed or pulling up a hill, the batteries are being charged by the generator. There is virtually no way to run out of power on these cars provided the gas tank is kept full, and with only needing to fill up the tank once a month, this should be no problem for the average person. To his amazement, Jerry looked down at his gas gauge and saw the needle almost to the ‘E.’ “Wow, I haven’t seen that in almost 5 months,” he smirked to his wife. The brand new blue electric gas car coasted into the local Chevron right next to a certain Ford Maverick. Alan could do nothing but stare with jealous eyes knowing exactly how great Jerry’s gas mileage had to be with that new car. Both men finished filling their tanks and left. They never saw each other again for obvious reasons. Imagine owning one of these gas electric vehicles, and think about how much easier it would be to pull up to that gas pump knowing that you will not be there again for at lease a couple months. Eighty miles to the gallon; sounds nice doesn’t it? In ten years or so, when these new vehicles are more common, almost everyone that goes to the gas station will no longer have anything to fear.

Fiber Optics

Fiber optics is a branch of optics concerning the transmission of light by means of optical fibers, which are thin strands of glass or other optically transparent materials. Optical fibers can be used to guide light--which is electromagnetic radiation in a certain frequency range--in much the same way that metal wave guides or coaxial cables can be used to guide lower-frequency electromagnetic radiation. Optical Fiber An optical fiber is usually circular in cross section and consists of a core and cladding. An optical fiber for communication applications is typically between about 0.1 and 0.2mm (0.004 and 0.008 in) in diameter. In order that the light waves be guided by the fiber, the core must have a higher index of refraction than the cladding. One such fiber is called a step-index fiber because the index changes abruptly at the interface between the core and the cladding. An important variation of this structure is the graded-index fiber, so called because the index of refraction decreases smoothly outward from the center with no abrupt step. Transmission of Light In the step-index fiber, the light wave is guided by a process called total internal reflection. Only rays that have an angle of incidence at the core-cladding interface greater than the critical angle will be reflected back into the core and thus guided by the fiber. Some rays follow a longer path through the fiber than do others. Thus a pulse of energy entering the fiber undergoes dispersion. This effect limits the bandwidth of the fiber and reduces the amount of information it can transmit. This undesirable feature can be partly overcome by the use of graded-index fibers of proper design. Applications Fiber optics is used in several areas of telecommunications. Advantages of optical fibers include their wide bandwidth, low attenuation, lightness, small cross section, and non-conductivity of electricity. In telephone systems they can provide communication channels to customers and wideband facilities for interconnecting switching offices. Because they are non-conducting, they can be used to provide telecommunications services to locations in electrically hostile environments, such as electric power stations. Because they are completely immune to induced currents from external electromagnetic fields, optical fibers are also useful in environments where electrical noise exists, such as hospitals and factories. Finally, their lightness makes them attractive for use in aircraft and spacecraft as well as in portable communications systems required for tactical military applications. All these properties make them desirable for interconnecting computers and other sophisticated electronic equipment. In communication-system applications, individual fibers usually are used to guide light waves. Other applications employ bundles of fibers. One such application is the transmission of light for illumination. Fibers used for this purpose need not have the cladding or the index gradient of single-fiber light guides because the index step at the glass-air interface serves to guide the light. Another application of fiber bundles is the transmission of images. For this application the fibers must be arranged in the bundle in a coherent fashion. By arranging the locations of the fibers at one end (the output) of the bundle in certain ways with respect to their location at the other end (the input), such functions as magnification, inversion, rotation, distortion, and scrambling of the image can be performed. Bundles of this type can be used for viewing otherwise inaccessible areas, an example being the physician's endoscope. In order to achieve high resolution, fibers with diameters as small as 0.02 mm (0.0008 in) are used in these applications. Fiber bundles are also used in photography, spectroscopy, and image processing.