Athletes Salaries Essays - Student Athlete, , Term Papers

Athletes Salaries As you sit at the stadium or in your home and watch college football, basketball, or even baseball, do you ever wonder where the money goes from all the ticket sales? Colleges make a lot of money from their athletics. I feel that the profit that is made should partly go back to the student athlete. College athletes should be paid for their participation in sports, since sports make a lot of money for the college. A student athlete's schedule is very hectic. There are many activities that have to be attended daily. A student athlete is expected to go to class every day, and later in, the day they are expected to meet at practice, no matter what the sport. After practice, the student athlete must eat dinner. Then, the person has to go home to their dorm to do homework, which can last for hours. There is very little time during the day, to allow the student athlete to get a job. Most of the time coaches will not allow the students to work, due to schedule conflict, and it is also hard on the student's studies. If the coach doesn't allow a job and there is no time for one, where does the student get money? Student finances are very limited. Most of the money that students have is from parents or student loans. Students need money for food, gas and laundry. If a student eats three meals a day, it would usually cost then about fifteen dollars. For a five-day week it would be around seventy-five dollars. Usually, the student athletes do not travel much, so gas expenses would be minimal. However there are those occasional trips home to see family. The student also needs money for laundry. Laundry runs around five or six dollars per week. Years ago, student athletes at colleges and universities were given laundry money, which was twenty-five to thirty dollars a week. The money could be spent freely. It was like an allowance that your parents would give you every week. I feel that this little support would at least help the student when money is hard to come by at home. With the financial help of the college, a student athlete would only have to supply around fifty dollars per week instead of seventy- or eighty-five A student would have less financial troubles if they were compensated for athletics. If athletes were paid, they could have a better start out of college. For instance, if the student athlete has to get a loan during college because he or she has no money for necessities, that student athlete has started to dig a financial hole. That hole will be a burden to the student athlete when her or she graduates from college. Also, the student athlete's parents will not be financially troubled when the student graduates from college. It would make it easier on student athletes and their parents mentally and physically if student athletes were paid. Mentally, the parents would not have to worry about paying the bills when tuition is due. Physically, the parents and students would not have to break their back to work overtime, or to have a job while in school, and play athletics as well. I feel that student athletes have a lot to worry about. One is their grades; two is their performance in games. I feel the last thing a student athlete should worry about is how they are going to make money to pay for necessities, since the student plays a sport that makes money for the college. Student athletes should be compensated for their participation in athletics while attending college.

Using Command-Line Arguments in Java

Using Command-Line Arguments in Java Command-line arguments can be a way of specifying configuration properties for an application, and Java is no different. Instead of clicking on an application icon from the operating system, you can run the Java application  from a terminal window. Along with the application name, a number of arguments can follow which are then passed to the applications starting point (i.e., the main method, in the case of Java). For example, NetBeans has a number of startup parameters that can be passed to the application when it is run from a terminal window (e.g., specifies a version of the JDK to be used instead of the default JDK associated with the NetBeans application). The Main Method Lets examine the main method  to see where the arguments passed to an application appear: The command-line arguments can be found in the called For example, lets consider an application called whose only action is to print out the command-line arguments passed to it: public class CommandLineArgs {   Ã‚  Ã‚  public static void main(String[] args) {//check to see if the String array is emptyif (args.length 0){System.out.println(There were no commandline arguments passed!);}   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  //For each String in the String array//print out the String.for(String argument: args){System.out.println(argument);}}}   Syntax of Command Line Arguments The Java Runtime Engine (JRE) expects arguments to be passed following a particular syntax, like so: java ProgramName value1 value2 Above, java invokes the JRE, which is followed by the name of the program you are calling. These are followed by any arguments to the program. There is no limit to the number of arguments a program can take, but the order is critical. The JRE passes the arguments in the order in which they appear on the command line.  For example, consider this code snippet from above: public class CommandLineArgs2 {​   Ã‚  Ã‚  public static void main(String[] args) {if (args.length 0){System.out.println(There were no commandline arguments passed!);} When arguments are passed to a Java program, args[0] is the first element of the array (value1 above), args[1] is the second element (value2), and so on. The code args.length() defines the length of the array. Passing Command-Line Arguments In NetBeans, we can pass command-line arguments without having to build the application and run it from a terminal window. To specify the command-line arguments: Right-click on the project folder in the Projects window.Choose the Properties option to  open  Project Properties window.  In the Categories list on the right-hand side, choose RunIn the Arguments textbox that appears, specify the command-line arguments you want to pass to the application. For example, if we enter Apple Banana Carrot in the Arguments textbox and run the CommandLineArgs program listed above, we will get the output: Parsing the Command-Line Arguments Typically, a command line argument is passed with some information about what to do with the value being passed. The argument informing the application what the argument is for typically has a hyphen or two before its name. For example, the NetBeans example for the startup parameter specifying the JDK path is This means youll need to parse the command-line arguments to figure out what to do with the values. There are several Java command-line frameworks for parsing command-line arguments. Or you could write a simple command-line parser if the arguments you need to pass are not that many: The code above either prints the arguments or add them together if they are integers. For example, this command line argument would add the numbers: java CommandLineArgs -addnumbers 11 22 33 44

The Business of Business Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Business of Business - Literature review Example There are three different schools of thought or approaches on ‘Corporate Social Responsibility. They can be classified as Neoliberal approach Neo-Keynesian Radical Political Economy In the Neoliberal approach, Corporate Social Responsibility is defined as the basic and fundamental set of policies, codes or guidelines which drives the basic running of a business (Lockwood, 2012). It is mainly based on the viewpoint articulated by Friedman that the main social responsibility of a business is to effectively use its resources and employ those activities which increase the profits of the business as long as it engages in free and open competition without any deceptive and fraudulent activities (The Guardian, 2009). In an article, a neoliberal journalist, Ahaner (2012) rightly pointed out that the main flaw of Corporate Social Responsibility is that the businesses justify their existence by acting on higher moral grounds. According to Riley (2011), the main idea of the pursuit of pro fit not being associated with public good simply does not match up. Adam Smith had rightly said that â€Å"it is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest†. Although most of the neoliberal advocates agree that Corporate Social Responsibility hinders the achievement of the primary purpose of the business, they agree that it will be profitable for the companies in the long run if they adopt Corporate Social Responsibility in their policies (Jedrzei, 2007, pp. 669-681). Furthermore, Yuan (2011, pp. 75-92) adds that even if Corporate Social Responsibility hinders the businesses profit-making, it is imperative to note that it can be used as an important insurance strategy to lower the risks of adverse media campaigns, consumer backlash to corporate behavior and government intervention. On the other hand, Cai (2011) defends that the advocates of Neo-Keynesian have a wider approach by recognizing the active role of the business stakeholders. However, there is no general definition of Corporate Social Responsibility and it is mainly construed as having no formal and external set of regulations by both the stakeholders and the state. The Neo-Keynesian theory is different from that of the neoliberal perspective is many ways. The main difference is that the Neo-Keynesian recognizes that market failures or lack of corporate awareness can have negative impacts on corporate behavior (Thomsen, 2010, pp.139-142). Advocates of neo-Keynesian are mostly concerned with the corporate environmental policies, regulations, and policies related to workplace and mainly the environmental and economic consequences of business activity. Marquez and Fombrun (2005, pg. 304) explain that advocates also entertain the thought of a positive role of the state in enforcing regulations and policies of Corporate Social Responsibility. The third school of thought, The Radical political economy h as a skeptical stance on Corporate Social Responsibility by following a different viewpoint on the existence and the abuse of corporate power in terms of both global and local economies.

The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom Essay

The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom - Essay Example Seibert’ book presents a number of interesting people and unsung heroes before it readers. Among all of them, one person that particular catches the interest is Calvin Fairbank. Fairbank lived in an affluent family that was 'assigned' with two slaves. As these slaves did all the housework, once he got the opportunity to listen to the slave-woman's tale of sorrow, which kindled anger in Fairbank. Once when he was in charge of a raft of lumber, he saw a woodsman who was going to be a slave very soon. Fairbank took him on the raft and helped him. Along with o an old slave woman with 7 children, he helped this man escape by taking them to a secure location on his raft. However, this met with a lot of issues because Fairbank was charged with helping the slaves help and was sent to the penitentiary. Before he was released, the Fugitive Slave law was passed, but this did not prove to be a deterrent to his ideas. According to him, 'I resisted its execution whenever and wherever possib le'. He continued to help the slaves escape. This landed him in the prison again and he spent more than 17 years of his life in the prison, where some phases were filled with physical and mental torture. Through his strategy of using disguises and helping people hide, he played pivotal part in making the life better for many slaves. One of the very interesting events in the book is about how the disguise was used as a very effective technique to help the slaves escape quietly without the threat of being caught.... Fairbank lived in an affluent family that was 'assigned' with two slaves. As these slaves did all the housework, once he got the opportunity to listen to the slave-woman's tale of sorrow, which kindled anger in Fairbank. Once when he was in charge of a raft of lumber, he saw a woodsman who was going to be a slave very soon. Fairbank took him on the raft and helped him. Along with o an old slave woman with 7 children, he helped this man escape by taking them to a secure location on his raft. However, this met with a lot of issues because Fairbank was charged with helping the slaves help and was sent to the penitentiary. Before he was released, the Fugitive Slave law was passed, but this did not prove to be a deterrent to his ideas. According to him, 'I resisted its execution whenever and wherever possible' (Siebert, 1898, p. 159). He continued to help the slaves escape. This landed him in the prison again and he spent more than 17 years of his life in the prison, where some phases wer e filled with physical and mental torture. Through his strategy of using disguises and helping people hide, he played pivotal part in making the life better for many slaves. One of the very interesting events in the book is about how the disguise was used as a very effective technique to help the slaves escape quietly without the threat of being caught. Mr. Sidney Speed of Crawfordsville narrates the incident when a mulatto girl was about 20 years of age reached their home. As the level of vigilance was very high, they could not move her despite many efforts. The owners of this slave were searching for her all across the place. When they got the right opportunity, she was taken to a coloured man's house to devise a plan of escape. There, she was disguised in a dress of silks and

Managing Human Resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Managing Human Resources - Essay Example Whenever the missionaries fail to adapt or coagulate with the foreign culture, repatriation becomes a necessity. The organization recalls the missionaries back to the home country, and this reduces the risks of losing foreign ventures entirely (Anderson, 2005:57). The use of technology in the recruitment process established by Callaghan and Thompson relate all activities closer to the employee activities. The point is that, the management must establish the communication medium that will effectively relay information within the organization. Secondly, employees are the point of consideration in telemarketing. Whenever a customer makes a call, the employee should answer the questions with the utmost degree of concern to solve an issue rather than turn emotional and furious. The management may consider evaluating the work relations among employees in a communication service oriented firm. The best employee should bear technicality in handling tasks, be of a good personality, easy to communicate, and always exhibit competence in performance of tasks (Callaghan and Thompson, 2002:35). The third article analyzes human resource management on the diversity posed in different nations in the globe. The political stature prevailing in every economy affects the businesses and labor relations accordingly. Communists’ states implement practices that tend to utilize labor for the country’s benefit and not for the sole worker. On the contrary, capitalist states ensure that employee work to earn the agreed amount of money as they deliver services to the organization. Most of the countries emphasize on interviewing a prospective employee prior to employment. The firms must outline the various qualifications that the employee holds in relation to the job. It is advisable for the management to establish the cultures comprised in the organizations, from one geographical region to another (Chapman and Webster,

Recommendations For Teenage Drug Addiction Social Essay

Recommendations For Teenage Drug Addiction Social Essay Addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and use despite harmful consequences to the individual who is addicted and to those around them. Many people do not understand why individuals become addicted to drugs or how drugs change the brain to foster compulsive drug abuse. They mistakenly view drug abuse and addiction as strictly a social problem and may characterize those who take drugs as morally weak. One very common belief is that drug abusers should be able to just stop taking drugs if they are only willing to change their behavior. What people often underestimate is the complexity of drug addiction-that it is a disease that impacts the brain and because of that, stopping drug abuse is not simply a matter of willpower. Through scientific advances we now know much more about how exactly drugs work in the brain, and we also know that drug addiction can be successfully treated to help people stop abusing drugs and resume their producti ve lives. People who are suffering emotionally use drugs, not so much for the rush, but to escape from their problems. They are trying to self-medicate themselves out of loneliness, low self-esteem, unhappy relationships, or stress.    This is a pattern that too often leads to drug abuse and addiction. Drug abuse and addiction are a major burden to society. Drug awareness and drug testing are two of the most powerful deterrents in identifying and preventing teen drug abuse. These are the three criteria to consider when there is a problem of drug abuse in teens. Awareness/Identification Prevention Eradication Awareness/ Identification: Clear communication by parents about the negative physical, emotional, and functional effects of drugs, as well as about their expectations regarding drug use have been found to significantly decrease substance abuse in teens. Adequate parental supervision has also been found to be a deterrent to drug use in youth. Specifically, parents knowing how, where, and with whom adolescents socialize, as well as limiting their childrens access to substances that can be abused have been associated with less teenage drug use. Limiting the amount of alcohol, cleaning solutions (inhalants), prescription, and over-the-counter medications that are kept in the home to amounts that can be closely monitored and accounted for has also been found to decrease substance abuse by teens. How can you tell if your child is using drugs or alcohol? It is difficult because changes in mood or attitudes, unusual temper outbursts, changes in sleeping habits and changes in hobbies or other interests are common in teens. What should you look for?    You can also look for signs of depression, withdrawal, carelessness with grooming or hostility. Also ask yourself, is your child doing well in school, getting along with friends, taking part in sports or other activities? These changes often signal that something harmful is going on-and often that involves alcohol or drugs. You may want to take your child to the doctor and ask him or her about screening your child for drugs and alcohol. This may involve the health professional asking your child a simple question, or it may involve a urine or blood drug screen. However, some of these signs also indicate there may be a deeper problem with depression, gang involvement, or suicide. Be on the watch for these signs so that you can spot trouble before it goes too far. In order for a parent to get their teen to be aware of the drug usage and identifying if their teen is involved in this matter, they have to do the following: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Have The Talk Let Them Know You Know You should sit down and talk with your child. Be sure to have the conversation when you are all calm and have plenty of time. This isnt an easy task-your feelings may range from anger to guilt that you have failed because your kid is using drugs. This isnt true-by staying involved you can help his/her stop using and make choices that will make a positive difference in his/her life. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Be Specific about Your Concerns Tell your child what you see and how you feel about it. Be specific about the things you have observed that cause concern. Explain exactly how his/her behavior or appearance (bloodshot eyes, different clothing) has changed and why that worries you. Tell his/her that drug and alcohol use is dangerous and its your job to keep his/her away from things that put his/her in danger. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Dont Make Excuses Although its natural for parents to make excuses for their child, youre not helping him/her if you make excuses when he/she misses school or family functions when you suspect something else is at play. Take the next step: Talk to your child and get more information. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Try to Remain Calm and Connect With Him/Her Have this discussion without getting mad or accusing your child of being stupid or bad or an embarrassment to the family. Be firm but loving with your tone and try not to get hooked into an argument. Knowing that kids are naturally private about their lives, try to find out whats going on in your childs life. Try not to make the discussion an inquisition; simply try to connect with your teen and find out why he/she may be making bad choices. Find out if friends or others offered your child drugs at a party or school. Did he/she try it just out of curiosity, or did he/she use marijuana or alcohol for some other reason? That alone will be a signal to your child that you care and that you are going to be the parent exercising your rights. Prevention: Drug addiction is a preventable disease. Results from a research have shown that prevention programs that involve families, schools, communities, and the media are effective in reducing drug abuse. Although many events and cultural factors affect drug abuse trends, when youths perceive drug abuse as harmful, they reduce their drug taking. It is necessary, therefore, to help youth and the general public to understand the risks of drug abuse, and for teachers, parents, and healthcare professionals to keep sending the message that drug addiction can be prevented if a person never abuses drugs. Drug prevention generally begins in the following places and programs: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Schools where drug education programs are initiated to children. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Family focused abuse-prevention programs à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Multidimensional family therapy (MDFT) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Multifamily educational intervention (MFE) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Rehabilitation centers Many programs lead to the scare tactic approach which usually does not work; it only leads to youth to wanting to try them anyway. New programs should be created which are more focused on speaking with the kids on their terms, not ours. Many of the speakers involved in the programs are former addicts themselves. They give a detailed account of their past experience with drugs leaving the child to form their own opinion of what drugs are like instead of telling them to just say no. Through these programs they will found out reasons why kids decide to quit using drugs (for those who are already using them), why they change their minds to not try or use drugs and why they believe so strongly to not use or try drugs. The programs also use a more appropriate amount of humor in their presentations. They found that children respond better to the light-heartedness of the issue, although they still know what a serious issue it is. Prevention of drug use is a hard issue to face. There are several programs out there geared towards children and young adults to help them make the right decision on using or trying drugs. Family focused abuse-prevention programs have produced reductions in adolescent drug abuse. Those who strongly identify with their communities and cultures have been found to be less likely to experience risk factors for using drugs compared to their peers who are less connected to their communities and cultures. Therefore, incorporation of a cultural component to drug abuse prevention programs may enhance the effectiveness of those programs. Moreover, teens 15 to 16 years old who use religion to cope with stress tend to use drugs significantly less often than their peers who do not use religion to cope. The Institutes of Drug Abuse recommends that treatment of substance abuse: be readily available when the addicted person is ready to enroll; be tailored to the complex, multiple and changing needs (for example medical, mental health, social, legal, and family) of each individual; and consider the use of medication treatment when appropriate and include random drug testing. There are numerous individual treatments for drug addiction in teens. Relapse prevention uses methods for recognizing and amending problem behaviors. Individualized drug counseling specifically emphasizes short-term behavioral goals in an attempt to help the individual reduce or stop the use of drugs altogether. Some such programs include drug testing. Twelve-step programs like Narcotics Anonymous are individualized drug-counseling methods. Motivational enhancement therapy encourages the teen to increase their desire to participate in therapy. Stimulus control refers to a treatment method that teaches the person to stay away from situations that are associated with substance abuse and to replace those situations with activities that are contrary to using drugs. Urge control is an approach to changing patterns that lead to drug use. Social control involves family members and other significant others of the addict in treatment. Family interventions for drug addiction that tend to be effective for teens include multidimensional family therapy (MDFT), group therapy, and multifamily educational intervention (MFE). MDFT has been found to be quite effective. Longer-term residential treatment of three to five months that addresses peer relationships, educational problems, and family issues is often used in treating substance abuse in teens. When one enters a drug rehab center many factors go into determining which program is right for you. A trained health professional, generally a doctor specializing in addiction medicine, makes a diagnosis to prescribe which treatment program is best for you. Programs usually include inpatient, residential, outpatient, and/or short-stay options. There is a slight difference between inpatient and residential programs. The inpatient services are provided by a licensed hospital, while the residential services are less meticulous in their medical care standards. The length of stay in the center depends and varies on the severity of the disease and the stage the person is in at the time. Recovery of drug abuse is a hard situation to deal with because every person is different in their degree of dependency, their attitude towards their abuse, their health at the time of entry to a center and their willingness to change their old ways and accept help for ways to live their life differently and better. Recovery is an ongoing process. Once a person leaves a center or treatment area, they must apply the skills they have learned into their everyday lifestyle. This can be extremely hard for some. However, some treatment centers do offer follow-up programs to ensure and monitor the process of ones recovery. The hardest part is realizing you have a problem and making the choice to enter a treatment facility. Eradication: You can begin to more closely monitor your childs activities. Have a few conversations. Ask: Who? What? Where? When? Reflect with your child on why he/she is using drugs and try to understand the reasons why so that you can help solve the problem. When you get a better idea of the situation, then you can decide next steps. These could include setting new rules and consequences that are reasonable and enforceable such as a new curfew, no cell phone or computer privileges for a period of time, or less time hanging out with friends. You may want to get them involved in pro-social activities that will keep them busy and help them meet new people Limiting their childrens access to substances that can be abused have been associated with less teenage drug use. Limiting the amount of alcohol, cleaning solutions (inhalants), prescription, and over-the-counter medications that are kept in the home to amounts that can be closely monitored and accounted for has also been found to decrease substance abuse by teens A community based program for the prevention of the drug usage should be developed. In order to rid communities of drug abuse and crimes related to drugs, we must put drug dealers out of business. Since drug trafficking and the sale of drugs are so profitable, it has become big business. The only way to put any business out of business is to decrease the demand for the product or service. To accomplish this, each community must provide preventive interventions in their small part of the world. Collectively, we can have a long-term impact on ridding the world of illicit drug use and drug abuse. Creating a substance abuse prevention program will change the lives of residents in your community. Drugs and crimes related to drugs are in every community. It does not matter if it is a wealthy community or the poorest of the poor. This is why it is so important that every community creates a program for substance abuse prevention. Accordingly, a powerful program for substance abuse prevention incorporates drug education with community mobilization, youth development, and community action. Yes, the community must get involved.* The law enforcement should be able to locate where the drugs are being brought in, they should find out the roots its coming from and destroy it there only. They should keep a watch on the people who bring it in and who are the people who get the stuff to come in the cities. The law enforcement is expected to keep the places clean and out of drugs so the young generation will not come in contact with these different substances that are being sold in the market. There should be brutal punishments for the sellers when they are caught selling these drugs to the teens or anyone. Short and Long Term Effects of Drug Abuse Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse Short-Term Effects: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Rush à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Depressed respiration à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Clouded mental functioning à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Nausea and vomiting à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Suppression of pain à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Spontaneous abortion Long-Term Effects: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Infectious diseases (HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Collapsed veins à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Bacterial infections à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Abscesses à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Infection of heart lining and valves à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Arthritis and other rheumatologic problems Summary: In order to solve the drug addiction in teens, the above listed criteria play a big role because it is a must to identify is someone that you care about is on drugs. They should be well aware of the consequences and the effects of the drug they are using. When they know the right information and someone is to take them seriously and help them from getting out of this addiction will solve this crucial matter. Even if you have to get to the depth of it by finding out where is the supply coming from and getting those drug dealers in the right place where they belong which is prison will also eradicate the drug usage of your closed one. Drug addiction is a brain disease because the abuse of drugs leads to changes in the structure and function of the brain. Although it is true that for most people the initial decision to take drugs is voluntary, over time the changes in the brain caused by repeated drug abuse can affect a persons self control and ability to make sound decisions, and at the same time send intense impulses to take drugs. Fortunately, there are treatments that help people to counteract addictions powerful disruptive effects and regain control. Research shows that combining addiction treatment medications, if available, with behavioral therapy is the best way to ensure success for most patients. Treatment approaches that are tailored to each patients drug abuse patterns and any co-occurring medical, psychiatric, and social problems can lead to sustained recovery and a life without drug abuse. Recommendations: Based on the results and solutions to solve this problem of increasing the number of teens in drug addiction, I recommend: All the parents should make their kids well aware of the facts and effects of the drug usage and what could be the consequences of the usage of these drugs. Only the parents friendly behavior and necessarily restrictions can keep their kid away from using these substances. It is only the loved ones whom you care for can help the drug addicts get rid of this problem and put themselves in some rehabilitation centers if necessary. Also there should be more care given in rehab centers and more programs can be established to finish of this matter for good. Material Cited: 1. http://www.csun.edu/~vcpsy00h/students/drugs.html 2. http://www.medicinenet.com/teen_drug_abuse/article.html 3. Drug Addiction by John Hicks, Millbrook Press (August 1, 1997)

Major Features of the Vedic Religion :: Papers

Major Features of the Vedic Religion The Vedic Religion is based on the teachings of the Vedas, which signifies the way of living a sin free life. The Vedas are the teachings of the religion Hinduism. There are different types of Vedas, each signifying different facts and opinions about the religion. The main text of the Vedic religion is the Rig Veda. The Rig Veda itself contains some 1,028 hymns of praise to a predominantly male group of deities who seem to personify various powers of nature such as fire, sky and rain. The fact that the hymns demonstrated a strong relationship with the presence of nature illustrates the Aryan feeling towards nature. The Rig Veda mainly concentrates on symbolism rather than mythology. Although the hymns are based on symbolism, it is sometimes possible to gather various mythical themes. Another aspect that is mentioned in the Vedas is the 'panch mahabhutas'. These are the five constituents which makeup life on this planet, they are: * Aakash (sky), * Vayu (air), * Agni (fire), * Jal (Water), * Prithvi (earth). Although the Vedas are very much alike except in their content of hymns, they all have the same principle, all Hindus should lead a sin free life. Within the Vedic religion, Hindus believe in many gods and goddesses. Some of them are human (e.g. Krishna, Rama , some animals (e.g. fish, monkey, rat, snake), (some animal-humans as in the case of Ganesh who has the head of elephant with trunk and the body of a human), and some others are natural phenomena (e.g. dawn, fire, sun). Their number is generally believed to be 330 million. According to Hindu belief, god incarnates and for example takes the form of human being and other animals and appears in this earth in that form. Gods and goddesses were born like human beings and had wives and children. No god possesses absolute power; some of the gods are weaker than each