Final Essay

Adam Feeley

11/15/11

Professor Lutz

Multi Model Essay

Drug Testing

           The improvements with modern technology and the study with medicine have greatly improved. Today’s society you can be pressured into many situations in sports that you feel like you need an edge to improve your game to be able to compete, or have a chance of achieving a scholarship to a college. With the professional sports being the ideal icon to many teenagers the players can have a great impact on how the teenagers act with their friends or family. If they can have an impact on how they act and even look with the clothes they wear, the teenagers will even want to have their type of body meaning big, cut and thinking it’s a healthy body. By having this type of body, for most sports you will be more successful than having a body that is not as big or in shape as them. Professional athletes have given the image that is the only type of body that will make it to the next level whether that being college or professional. By seeing the professional athletes look that way they feel like you have to be that big and that type of built to have a chance of playing at that level. What they don’t know is that most of them are supervised by a doctor and have been tested before getting on the steroids, which most teens won’t be seeing a doctor (Buckley).Teens are going to try anything to achieve that type of body or style of performance. Having pressure to succeed a scholarship in sports at a young age from parents or coaches can lead to unhealthy choices such as steroids or other drugs.  Lately, with Major League Baseball there have been more cases with players using steroids or drugs to be able to play through pain or have an unfair level of performance, which is leading down to our youth. Steroids have been proven to build muscle and boost their athletic performance (Peterson). Many people don’t realize that there are bad side effects from taking steroids whether it happens when you are on them or when you get older. High school athletes, which includes freshman year until your senior year of high school should be drug tested during and a month prior to the season. By drug testing high school athletes it will stop the growth of steroids and illegal drugs that occur in high schools in today’s society and provide a better health for this generation.

Photo displays the negative effects of taking
Steroids.

            First, understanding how steroids work. Anabolic steroids are synthetic versions of the male sex hormone testosterone. Steroids work by filling the cell receptors that tell the cells to make new proteins. While it’s normal for the body to create new proteins, the steroids just tell the cells to create the proteins at a faster rate (Goldberg). They enter through the blood stream and enter through the liver and are distributed throughout the body, manly to the muscles right after a workout. When you work out you create small tears in your muscles that need to be built up by protein which steroids make happen at a faster rate and create a larger muscle (Yesalis). Not only do steroids work to build muscle and to build bulk for bodybuilders and athletes, it also works for sprinters and pitchers because it helps athletes who need a faster turnaround from soreness. It is found more in baseball players which you may be asking yourself why baseball players? When it’s one sport you don’t need to be big or the strongest to be successful. Baseball players use steroids because it enhances their hand eye coronation which makes their reaction time faster, which is a key part to being good at baseball. With this being said, it also makes there fast twitch muscles stronger and they react at a faster rate, which can lead to farther hit balls, faster thrown and even a faster runner in the field. So, as a whole it makes them a better player and not their natural human talent. For pitchers, it enhances their rotator cuff muscles as well as their fast twitch muscles which can lead them to be able to whip the ball around faster. It’s one reason why we have seen pitches reach up to 106 miles per hour during this past season. The improvement of medicine has changed the way players play the game which is a shame because it is cheating and tarnishing the great game of baseball.

                       One writer Julian Savulescu said in a debate about the use of steroids in sports “to say that we should reduce drugs in sport or eliminate them because they increase performance, is simply like saying that we should eliminate alcohol from parties because it increases sociability.” I understand where he is coming from but talking about a serious life threatening drug that not only cheats the game by increasing your ability to perform, it puts that athlete at a greater risk. He talks about this as if it means nothing or is not as big deal. To not eliminate a drug that increases your performance is ridiculous when other people are willing to put their body through hell the hard way to reach their lifetime goal, it shouldn’t be interrupted by people who are taking the easy way out. There are many life threatening effects that come with using steroids such as “aggressiveness, acne, injury to the connective tissues, damaged liver and negatively altered cholesterol levels” (American Medical Association). Some people know these effects that can occur to their bodies but most people are not aware because the media does not do a good job by advertising against steroids. Here is one commercial that was displayed on ESPN in the past years but has not been aired in a long time which I think is wrong because it never gets old to display awareness to kids who are watching the sport networking channel. They should run this commercial during the Little League World Series when most young kids are watching to put awareness into young teenager’s minds. By seeing this it makes you think about using steroids because of how they destroy the body and how they do such a good job demonstrating the effects that it can have on a person’s body. This video directly shows what really happens to your body and muscles when you take steroids. By continuing to show this video on T.V. it would pursue kids and even parents not to let their kids take steroids just to gain an unfair advantage. I believe this is a strong argument and finally displays awareness to people who watch.

This video was shown on ESPN by drugfree.org. Giving people awarness about the effects of using Steroids.

                                                                      A-Rod's apology about letting his fans down.
An article off of East Carolina baseball’s website had a statement from their head coach on what he thought about steroids and the effects it is having on baseball. "I think steroids in college baseball are getting out of hand," said East Carolina head coach Randy Mazey, although he said it has not been an issue with his team. "It filters down from the majors. Steroids in college baseball are a problem."(Powell). This quote has a great impact on how coaches around the country view drugs in the game of baseball. It is getting out of hand, but it is coming down from the majors because if that’s what it takes to play at that level and lately those professional athletes are making it seem that way. Many young players and teens are going to follow because they want to play at that level and follow their idols. Major League Baseball has started to crack down on the use of steroids with several big time names being linked to using steroids such as Roger Clemens, Jason Giambi, Jose Canseco, Mark McGuire, and Alex Rodriquez. This is just a small list of professional baseball players who have been caught and the five players I listed were all going to be Hall of Famers. Out of the five one of them is considered the greatest pitcher of all time (Roger Clemens) and the other four were big time sluggers that lead the league in homeruns at different times. As you can tell that using steroids work but every single one of them said after they were caught that it wasn’t worth it which is sad because they had so many fans at times and now where everywhere Alex Rodriquez goes he gets booed. This is a video of his apology and by watching this you can tell how it has hurt him as a person because as a kid you never dream of becoming a legend at a sport you practice your whole life for and then everyone ends up hating you because they realized that you cheated.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=2861154n   - Video about Texas establishing steroid testing to athletes and a story of a high school kid losing his life over them.

With all of those facts about the bad side effects of using steroids and watching Major League Baseball take an act on trying to stop the usage at their level it is time for high schools to start testing their student athletes. Texas is the first state to establish a steroid testing program that has been in effect for two years now. The state of Texas is considered the best state for high school football and baseball players, meaning that they have produced more Division 1 college athletes than any other state in the United States. Many people were upset when the governor said that he was going to establish this drug testing policy in all of their schools but I think it was a great idea because now they know that they are producing clean and successful student athletes to the next level. “The nation's largest steroids-testing program caught only two Texas high school athletes taking unauthorized substances out of more than 10,000 students who were tested, according to results. The results renewed criticism of the two-year, $6 million program approved by state lawmakers last year.” (Texas Steroid Testing). Out of 10,000 students who were tested only two tested positive which is a small number but it still shows that kids are getting and using while in high school. I don’t understand why people from the state of Texas would be upset for this program to be in effect when there are clearly students around there state using steroids. I know it cost them six million dollars over a two year span but there are ways to implicate it in. Such as, adding a minimum cost to everyone’s student fee’s that they already pay to attend a public school but as a whole it would cover that six million in two years to keep the program. They also could establish pay to participate which I had to do at my school when I played sports. You have to pay a certain amount for each sport you played and by doing this they would receive the amount they would need without any concern or complaining from parents. To play the sport you would have to pay and in that payment it covers your testing during the season. There are many ways for this program to remain in effect in this state and in others. After this program Texas has done for the past two years other states have noticed and decided to implement it in their own states and high schools. For insistence, Florida, Louisiana and New Jersey are in the process of using them in their high schools but with different factors. In New Jersey, there program consists of “randomly testing and are only for teams or athletes competing in state championships. They cost the state $175 a test. He or she will be suspended from competition for 90 days and be required to take a drug education class.” (Perez).  There testing is different than Texas’ but it still has an impact of the way the game is being played and we know that the game is being played equally. By waiting till the playoffs like New Jersey is doing they are saving a lot of money which is one way around people complaining about it costing too much. One quote from an athletic director at a school in Illinois had this to say about some of his student athletes using steroids “It doesn't surprise me, I had an idea that it was going on, but I didn't know it was this widespread. Until we start drug-testing student-athletes for steroids, that's going to always be lingering out there.” (Halley). This is a person who is the head guy of sports at a particular school and notices it going on but isn’t saying anything to the state or instigating his own testing program? The athletic director at an institution is supposed to have great morals and should want to keep his students safe. But, in this case he is keeping this information to himself and isn’t telling anyone to put in a plan to start testing athletes in his state or just his school. It is sickening to know this when other states have a program in action and it is working for them. A kid’s health should be our first goal as a coach, athletic director and even members on a state board. Sometimes in our society nothing is done until it is too late. We should start to take a stand against steroids in sports and the usage of any drug to help you play better than your natural ability. It isn’t worth it.

Works Cited

Bahrke, M.S., Yesalis, C.E., and Wright, J.E. Psychological and behavioral effects of endogenous    testosterone and anabolic-androgenic steroids: an update. Sports Medicine 22(6): 367-390, 1996. Print.

Goldberg, L., et al. Effects of a multidimensional anabolic steroid prevention intervention: The        Adolescents Training and Learning to Avoid Steroids. (ATLAS) Program. Journal of the American Medical Association. 276(19): 1555-1562, 1996. Print.

Yesalis, C.E. Anabolic Steroids in Sports and Exercise, 2nd edition. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Print.

Adam Feeley

Professor Lutz

25 October 2011

Drug Testing

            The improvements with modern technology and the study with medicine have greatly changed. When growing up playing sports you can be pressured into many situations that you feel like you need an edge. With the professional sports being the ideal icon to many teenagers the players can be a great impact on how the teenagers act with their friends or family. If they can have an impact on how they act and even look with the clothes they wear, the teenagers will even want to have their type of body meaning big, cut and thinking it’s a healthy body. Teens are going to try anything to achieve that type of body or style of performance. This can lead to an unhealthy lifestyle for many young men and women because there are more bad side effects of using performance-enhancing drugs than good effects. Lately, with Major League Baseball and the National Football Association there have been more cases with players using steroids or drugs to be able to play while hurt or have an unfair advantage. Steroids have been proven to build muscle and boost their athletic performance, but many people don’t realize the bad side effects that affect your health down the road. High school athletes that include freshman until your senior year of high school should be drug tested while playing sports and throughout the off-season. By drug testing high school athletes it will stop the growth of steroids and illegal drugs that occur in high schools in today’s society.

            First, understanding how steroids work. Anabolic steroids are synthetic versions of the male sex hormone testosterone. Steroids work by filling the cell receptors that tell the cells to make new proteins. While it’s normal for the body to create new proteins, the steroids just tell the cells to create the proteins at a faster rate (Rogozkin). They enter through the blood stream and enter through the liver and are distributed throughout the body, manly to the muscles right after a workout. When you work out you create small tears in your muscles that need to be built up by protein which steroids make happen at a faster rate. Not only does steroids work to build muscle and to build bulk for bodybuilders or athletes, it also works for sprinters or pitchers because it helps athletes who need a faster turnaround from soreness. It is found more in baseball players which you may be asking yourself why baseball players? When it’s one sport you don’t need to be big to be successful. Baseball players use steroids because it enhances their hand eye coronation which makes their reaction time faster. With this being said, it makes there fast twitch muscles stronger so they can have a faster bat which will produce a longer ball or more homeruns. For pitchers, it enhances their rotator cuff muscles so they can whip the ball around faster and its one reason why we have seen pitches reach up to 106 miles per hour during the season.

                        One writer Julian Savulescu said in a debate about the use of steroids in sports “to say that we should reduce drugs in sport or eliminate them because they increase performance, is simply like saying that we should eliminate alcohol from parties because it increases sociability.” I understand where he is coming from but talking about a serious life threatening drug that not only cheats the game by increasing your ability to perform, it puts that athlete a greater risk. He talks about this as if it means nothing or is not as big deal. To not eliminate a drug that increases your performance is ridiculous when other people are willing to put their body through hell the hard way to reach their lifetime goal, it shouldn’t be interrupted by people who are taking the easy way out. There are many life threatening effects that come with using steroids such as “aggressiveness, acne, injury to the connective tissues, damaged liver and negatively altered cholesterol levels” (Steroid Abuse). Some people know these effects that can occur to their bodies but most people are not aware because the media does not do a good job by advertising against steroids. Here is one commercial that was displayed on ESPN in the past years but has not been aired in a long time which I think is wrong because it never gets old. They should run this commercial during the Little League World Series when most young kids are watching to put awareness into young teenager’s minds. By seeing this is makes you think about using steroids because of how they destroy the body and how they do such a good job demonstrating the effects that it can have on a person’s body.

An article off of East Carolina baseball’s website had a statement from their head coach on what he thought about steroids and baseball. "I think steroids in college baseball is getting out of hand," said East Carolina head coach Randy Mazey, although he said it has not been an issue with his team. "It filters down from the majors. Steroids in college baseball is a problem."(Powell Jr). This quote has a great impact on how coaches around the country view drugs in the game of baseball. It is getting out of hand, but it is coming down from the majors which is also true because if that’s what it takes to play at that level so many young players and teens are going to follow because they want to play at that level and the major league players are making it seem like that is the only way you can reach the pro’s.   

-this is just a rough draft, I’m struggling where to go from here.

Essay 2

Adam Feeley

Professor Lutz

Essay 2

10/23/11

Drug Testing in High Schools

            Introduction

1.      How there is advancement in technology

2.      The breakthrough enhancements with medicine

3.      To just give the reader a background of information about drug testing in high schools

4.      Thesis-

My side

1.      The video from CBS on drug testing in high schools(http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=2861154n) 

2.      Facts to state the health risks it has on young teens and how they are actually hurting their bodies instead of advancing their bodies.

3.      How it’s cheating the game

4.      It’s not worth it in the end

5.      Changed the game in baseball- the most

6.      Picture of a changed athlete through his times as you can clearly tell they took steroids.

7.      Shouldn’t want our pro’s doing it when young kids look up to them

8.      High schools/ colleges need to start testing for steroids and not just “street drugs”

9.      They know they are doing it, it’s a choice, they know when they sign it’s against any pro league and the NCAA

The other side

1.      3 authors from the debate on steroids, eliminating wouldn’t be successful

2.      Not worth the cost

3.      If it was natural people wouldn’t complain about it

4.      Shows side effects but no exact deaths relating exactly to steroids

5.      Video about showing it’s not as bad as people say it is.

Conclusion

1.      Give another crucial point or fact

2.      Restate my thesis

15

I am thinking about doing my blog on the topics of drug testing in high school as affective or not affective it would be, gun control, why are we still over in Afghanistan, and legalize marijuana. On this blog I am going to answer the questions that deal with the War. One blog I found the title is Peace Action West. It is formed for people to become educated on whether to leave the war and why we shouldn’t be over there, and how it impacts more than just lives but even the ones that come back. Written by Rebecca Griffin. It appeals pretty well because it had two video's for you to watch as well as pictures. It was well done. It is different than other essays because you can have videos on paper to show an impact. The next blog I found was War News Updates and this one was constructed really different from other blogs and even essays. It had videos and very emotional pictures to pursue you to see what soldiers are going through and how hard it is over there. There were dates, amount of deaths, how many people died in the different areas and where they were from, a very emotional page for the American troops. There were many different authors; pretty much a new one for each video, piece of information was used to put together one page or one blog. The third blog I found was called Data Blog; it was set up different than the others as well. It starts off with a picture and describing how not only Americans are dying from this war. How British soldiers have died helping out, and it later mentions the innocent people of Afghanistan. Not too many people think of it that way, just the American soldiers. It also has a chart on how many people have died which is alarming because it is hard to believe that the numbers on the page are young brave kids that have risked their life for ours. The fourth blog I found was the Mil Blog, this was set up to honor the military but also for them to use and stay connected with what was going on back home, it was really neat. Set up by Willy Stern. All of these are different than essay's and each show a little more or different ways to get across a point.   

14

While the text What We're Doing When We Blog I found a couple of things that I thought were hotspots such as when it said “What we write about does not define us as bloggers; it’s how we write about it”(297). I believe this is true in any style of writing; your paper defines you as writing by how you wrote it. The way you went about your paper, the arguments, and point of views you took to reach your goal because there are many ways to do a blog or paper. But, it just depends on your style of writing and not to be afraid to take an angle of view no one else would, sometimes it's the right view. Another thing that I was a hotspot when I was reading was when it said "if the reader and author are on the page at the same time they experience a moment of shared experience"(Ramage, Bean, Johnson 296). This reminded me of Twitter, by posting something to a famous person or someone across the world how you think highly of, and they respond back. It is like meeting that person or actually having a conversation with that famous person and you feel really excited. 

13

While reading the text, I noticed quite a few things that caught my eye. One thing that I thought was interesting was "You don’t have to surprise everyone in the world, just those who hold a mistaken or marrow view of your topic” (Ramage, Bean and Johnson 184). I thought this was pretty cool to think about because it is true. When you write a paper some people try to make it perfect acting like they are writing to the world and to have so many views in their paper. When actually they just need to address the audience of who they are writing too. And I just thought it was true because you can relate that to many other things in life, it only takes one to like you, or a coach to offer you, or for someone to like your writing, it doesn't take the world.

 Another thing that caught my eye was saying that "Evidence is not the same as "proof"" (Ramage, Bean, Johnson 214). Being in the law major I found this quite eye popping because I always feel like having strong evidence is having the proof to make your case. It was weird how he made it work for his examples and how he thought having evidence wasn't always being facts, but when I hear that I think of a court case and I believe that is always facts, especially to put someone away, you’re going to need to facts to make your case which would  be the evidence. Just thought it was good to read.

Blog 11

1. Tim Tebow's speech after the Ole Miss loss that later made the difference by taking his team to the National Title and winning it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxJg1jQB5Co

2. Bob Knight's halftime speech to his team, (viewer distraction is advised).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw7KijRfU-c

I feel like there is good rhetoric in sports and in coaches by their speeches during, before and after. They display alot of emotions and you can tell by both of these that they are ethical backgrounds with the language in Knights and how Tebow left his speech by saying God bless.

Questions

Why in the court of law do people view it as guilty until proven innocent, when the "American way" is innocent until proven guilty? The murder case about Casey Anthony and how people never read the evidence and thought she was guilty without having any knowledge to the case. 

Adam Feeley Blog 8

After watching Suheir Hammad's video on her literature, it was very eye popping to me. I felt like I connected with this because it is a very touchy subject to most American's and people not only in America but in the world can relate to this video. I still remember where I was when this tragic event occurred and for her to go in such depth with her details and the words she choose to describe the buildings falling down in the city was a key point that I picked up on. One of her quotes that put a horrible image in my mind was when she said “smoke where once was flesh" (Hammad). This quote was mind blowing because to think of such a thing in downtown New York in America is just crazy, I still can't believe it happened and that it has been ten years now. When she was speaking, it showed the audience and it showed different ages', different types of race, and people from different backgrounds so I believe that it appeals to mostly anyone who watches this or has a heart. The way she told her poem added another angle on how she wanted to get what she wanted to say across and I feel like that had an impact on me, the way she used pauses, looked into the audience and you could feel the pain but also strength in her voice. It was touching. Also, another part that was impacting on me was when she started to talk about the other countries (Hammad 1:31) violence and how they don't get the publicly that America does or support from other countries to help out when a tragedy happens over there. It made me feel bad for the kids over there and I feel the struggle that they are going through. But, it also made me think of how proud I am to say that I am American and how it is an honor to live over here. 

Adam Feeley Blog 7

While reading Pearson's  I found many important elements in the essay that was written and would be good for advice for writing your own paper. First, I noticed about how personal experiences influence your writing weather you want it too or not. Many write about topics that they can relate to or have examples towards because it is easier to write while relating things to what has happened in your own life. One point that I found was eye catching to me was “The goal of your introduction is to hook your reader’s interest in your chosen problem”(Mercury 110). This is always taught in the middle school's and when you grow up writing papers but I would have to agree that most people can descide or judge a paper in the first paragraph if not the first sentence. Another point that I came across is "effective exploratory writing is to create a tension between alternative views” (Reader 108). I thought this was interesting because for me it has always been difficult to find alternative views to back up your writing. This statement is true and is hard to do while you write essay's and I thought it is one area where I need to work on so I thought this was talking to me. Lastly, I thought that when he said "major concern is to improve their essay's interest level by keeping it focused and lively" was a great point that was stated because I feel like revising is a key part of a person's writing and can make or break a paper if it is taken serious enough.

Adam Feeley Blog 6

While reading "Bro's before Ho's" I found a lot of things very interesting and related to me or things that I have heard of while growing up in school or conversations with friends. One spot that I found funny was the list of ten things a guy should be "built around" (Kimmel 45). Most of those things that were on the list I found funny because as a kid in school you hear about most if not all of them. I like how it starts out with the number 1 rule saying boys don't cry. Most of the things on the list are not true but I feel like number 9 is kind of true or applies to some people. "Nice guys finish last." I thought it was funny because I've heard of so many people being nice to girls or even being there when it happens but it always seems that the "bad" guy or your more typical guy gets the girls. I also feel like growing up around sports and other competitive guys it makes you feel like you have to be "one of those guys" to fit in on a team or even just to have a spot at the lunch table. I also would agree with his statements on page 47(Kimmel) when he talks about growing up idolizing someone like a man figure or someone that you would want to represent you. I feel like more men grow up idolizing more famous sports guys or actors then women do, so it puts more pressure on them as a kid to succeed like them. Not only do guys have to fit in with their own group they are raised to be the bad guy to get the girls which makes it even worse because then girls get the impression that all men are the same, which I have heard a lot lately and it's not true. 

Adam Feeley Blog 5

While watching the video "Doofy Husbands" by Sarah Haskins made me a little upset because I felt like the whole time men were being bashed by this women who thought she knows everything. It was very stereotypical, I thought. I did laugh at the part about when she was upset that her "husband couldn't even cook breakfast" because it reminded me of my dad because all he ever wants to cook when it's his turn is breakfast because that's about all he can cook unless it's on the grill. I also thought the part about “the glade freshener and how men can't work things" is such bull crap because men do so many things around the house and it made it seem like they don't, or she never gives them credit. You can say men only do "manly things" but in a household most of the work that needs to be done are "manly things".

In Tropes vs. Women I would have to agree with her statement about "depressed men because of women and women are seen to help them out of being depressed as in those movies." I agree with this because I feel like most of the times that a man is depressed it is because of a women or a good relationship that turned bad and it had a bigger effect on the man than the women. I feel like from the past and from other relationships I've seen that when a solid relationship is broken up the man takes longer to recover from the sadness maybe because in that time period they depended on the girl always being there and when she's gone it's weird without her being there like she always was. That's why I feel like girl's are always close to their girlfriends because we don't take them away from their friends but I feel like in most cases the girl takes the boy away from his guy friends. Another point, when she's describing the movies as the girl picking up the guy or just the "love story" it never works out the way it does in the movies, no matter how hard you believe it does or want it too, it never will.

Adam Feeley Blog 5

While watching the video "Doofy Husbands" by Sarah Haskins made me a little upset because I felt like the whole time men were being bashed by this women who thought she knows everything. It was very stereotypical, I thought. I did laugh at the part about when she was upset that her "husband couldn't even cook breakfast" because it reminded me of my dad because all he ever wants to cook when it's his turn is breakfast because that's about all he can cook unless it's on the grill. I also thought the part about “the glade freshener and how men can't work things" is such bull crap because men do so many things around the house and it made it seem like they don't, or she never gives them credit. You can say men only do "manly things" but in a household most of the work that needs to be done are "manly things".  

In Tropes vs. Women I would have to agree with her statement about "depressed men because of women and women are seen to help them out of being depressed as in those movies." I agree with this because I feel like most of the times that a man is depressed it is because of a women or a good relationship that turned bad and it had a bigger effect on the man than the women. I feel like from the past and from other relationships I've seen that when a solid relationship is broken up the man takes longer to recover from the sadness maybe because in that time period they depended on the girl always being there and when she's gone it's weird without her being there like she always was. That's why I feel like girl's are always close to their girlfriends because we don't take them away from their friends but I feel like in most cases the girl takes the boy away from his guy friends. Another point, when she's describing the movies as the girl picking up the guy or just the "love story" it never works out the way it does in the movies, no matter how hard you believe it does or want it too, it never will.