Blog # ??? The Thanksgiving Thang! I forgot what number we're up to

Rodrigo Capurro

English 103

Professor McCormick

1 Dec 2010

            What am I thankful for, what am I thankful for? As I sat at the dinner table about to enjoy this year’s Thanksgiving feast, not only did I think about what I’m grateful for but what I tend to take advantage of.  I know for a fact that my family will probably eat a good amount of the food and will have leftovers for days.  But I wonder if other families do the same thing.  Do they throw out the rest of the food or do they keep it or feed it to their animals?  What if they donated it?  It would almost seem like a waste because Thanksgiving is the biggest volunteer and “giving food to charity” day in the whole year.  Would that contribution even help the homeless people considering they literally cannot eat anymore?  They can’t store leftovers and shelters do not have the capacity to store all that food, canned or otherwise.  The point of this rant is more like a message to everyone, don’t take for granted the little things you have and be extremely thankful for all of them.

            I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with their families and if you worked earlier that day, enjoy the time and a half/double time.

Blog Numero Cuatro

Rodrigo Capurro

17 November 2010

Blog #4

            Wriitng was never been one of my strong suits.  I was always one of those kids that did well on the Math part of the statewide exams they gave back in elementary school.  Last week when we had to grade a couple a papers that Eng 101 students, it was a little tough.  I felt like you need patience when it comes to grading papers and an eye for detail.  The attention to detail is not the hard part but the patience is.  I’m not the most patient person.  I have trouble just proof-reading my own work because it feels like I should be using my time for other tasks but since I’m a student; I obviously have to do it.  So what I’m trying to say is I didn’t really enjoy grading/reviewing the Eng 101 papers because I do not have the patience for it.  That gives me more respect for teachers/professors that can spend hours/days grading papers.  They definitely have more patience than I do.

            But that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy reading the personal stories that the Eng 101 students wrote.  No one person’s life is the same as someone else’s especially when it came down to the topic of love and happiness.  I really enjoyed the two different perspectives.

Blog #3 - Sample Intro/thesis aka The FatSpanishMan talks about one of his true loves

Blog #3 – Sample Intro/Thesis

The intro before the intro – After we were told that we had to write an argumentative research paper, I could not come up with a good one with my current topic.  If you’ve read/seen my 2^nd blog post, then you’ve noticed that I changed my topic.  My new topic is to disprove that violent video games make children more aggressive but I’ll also argue that video games are beneficial to children in a variety of ways.

            Most educators, politicians, local media, parents, tutors, your neighbor and their mom will tell you that video games are bad for you; they’re violent, pointless and make children more violent because they try to imitate what they see.  Research has been conducted to prove all of this to be true.  But what if the research/researcher was biased when the research was conducted?  When it comes to research, research methodology is everything.  The researchers that tried to prove their theory that violent video games led to children being more aggressive and violent misinterpreted the results and made exaggerated results based on the available data.  Past and current studies show that there is no connection with violent video games and aggression.  It also shows that video games can be beneficial for children.

Blog #2 - Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Barenthin, Jami, and Marieke Van Puymbroeck. "Research Update: The Joystick Generation." Parks & Recreation 41.8 (2006): 24-29. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 8 Oct. 2010. Print.

This article shows positive and negative effects of violent and non-violent video games on adolescences, teenagers and undergraduate students.  The negative effects are that violent video games can lead to increased aggression and social deficiencies in the subjects.  The positive effects are enhanced problem solving skills and improved social skills.  They offer advice to parents about how to regulate what and how much children/adolescences play.

Ferguson, Christopher J., and John Kilburn. "Much Ado About Nothing: The Misestimation and Overinterpretation of Violent Video Game Effects in Eastern and Western Nations: Comment on Anderson et al. (2010)." Psychological Bulletin 136.2 (2010): 174-178. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 8 Oct. 2010. Print.

This article directly refutes a paper that C.A. Anderson et al wrote.  Ferguson and Kilburn argue that there is little evidence that violent video games lead to increased aggression.  They state that their research methodology is flawed and their apparent use of biased studies drive their claim.

Huesmann, L. Rowell. "Nailing the Coffin Shut on Doubts That Violent Video Games Stimulate Aggression: Comment on Anderson et al. (2010)." Psychological Bulletin 136.2 (2010): 179-181. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 8 Oct. 2010. Print.

This article defends the claims that C.A. Anderson et al made during their meta-analysis of violent video games and aggression in adolescences and children.

Jenkins, Henry. "Make Meaning, Not War." Independent School 63.4 (2004): 38-48. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 8 Oct. 2010. Print.

This article explains both sides of the video game argument with the help of two different models of learning from David Grossman and humanistic researchers.  He also mentions what educators can do to use violent and non-violent video games to teach children.

"Lessons We've Learned from Society." Library Technology Reports 45.5 (2009): 7-10. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 8 Oct. 2010. Print.

In this article, they mention how the largest study showed that the link between video games and violent behavior is minimal.  It also shows that video games can help shape children’s social skills and problem-solving.

McCormick, Patrick. "Moral Kombat." U.S. Catholic 74.4 (2009): 42-43. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 8 Oct. 2010. Print.

In this article, McCormick argues that video games are fun, challenging, help build problem-solving skills and are engaged in active critical thinking. There is also a good Jesus reference.

Mitrofan, O., M. Paul, and N. Spencer. "Is Aggression in Children with Behavioural and Emotional Difficulties Associated with Television Viewing and Video Game Playing? A Systematic Review." Child: Care, Health & Development 35.1 (2009): 5-15. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 8 Oct. 2010. Print.

In this article, the authors discuss 12 studies about the link with increased aggression with violent video games and television.  The results were mixed.

Muir, Hazel. "The Violent Games People Play." New Scientist 184.2470 (2004): 26. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 8 Oct. 2010. Print.

In this article, Hazel agrees in part that violent video games increase aggression in children but does not agree with their research methodology.  He says it’s not cause and effect; aggressive children tend to play violent video games.

Phillips, Helen. "Mind-Altering Media. (Cover story)." New Scientist 194.2600 (2007): 33-37. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 8 Oct. 2010. Print.

In this article, Phillips explains that the negative of violent video games outweighs the benefits but points out that the way researcher gather information is wrong.  She also believes the parents should be more involved with what children watch and play.

Porter, Guy, and Vladan Starcevic. "Are Violent Video Games Harmful?." Australasian Psychiatry 15.5 (2007): 422-426. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 8 Oct. 2010. Print.

In this article, the authors argues that the research methodology used to measure violent video games and aggression cannot measure probably that correlation.  They also say that children with violent tendencies and history of aggression should not be exposed to violent video games.

Taylor, Drew. "'Depraved' Videogames Get Serious." Eureka Street 19.23 (2009): 38-39. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 8 Oct. 2010. Print.

In this article, the author mentions positive aspects of video games in society and some of the philanthropic things that companies participate in.

Williams, Dmitri, and Marko Skoric. "Internet Fantasy Violence: A Test of Aggression in an Online Game." Communication Monographs 72.2 (2005): 217-233. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 8 Oct. 2010. Print.

In this article, the authors conduct a study with a control group to see if violent online gaming leads to increased aggression in the real word.

Blog #1 - Research Paper Topic

First, I’d like to start off with a disclaimer about my first post.  On September 24, I had surgery to remove my gal bladder.  Since then, I’ve been on an, um, interesting drug cocktail of painkillers and antibiotics.  So if anything I post seems a little disorganized or is confusing, I apologize as I find it a little difficult to clearly express and organize my ideas, even on paper.  With that out of the way, I get to the main point of this first blog post, my topic on the research paper.

I have only written one paper since I’ve been at LaGuardia Community College and I do not feel like adding more to that paper since I had a hard time finding sources for it.  The only other class I’m taking is SCB 203 – Human Anatomy & Physiology I and I really do not feel like writing a paper about anything in that class.  So hopefully Professor McCormick will allow me to pick a subject that I’ve always enjoyed.  I’ve always been a weapon enthusiast, from medieval weaponry, modern weaponry to weapons on the Military Channel that are in the experimental phase.  I’m not a sociopath who enjoys violence and people killing other people but I have always just found it fascinating.

As many of you have studied American history, you know that the United States has been involved in many wars; including wars were the United States of America was not the United States.  Since the Revolutionary War, there has been one company that has been instrumental in the success of these major engagements and that company was the Springfield Armory.  The Springfield Armory has outfitted all the U.S Armed Forces with small arms (a military term used for infantry weapons that an individual soldier and carry and fire) from 1794 to 1968.  This paper is intended to show the major contributions that the Springfield Armory had to the U.S. Armed Forces and how they revolutionized small arms.
 As for sources, most of them will come from databases and books about each individual war so I can get the most information possible since most of them do not talk much about weaponry.  My biggest source will hopefully be a trip to the Springfield Armory historical site which is located in Springfield, Massachusetts.