Article Review (entertainment) :: essays research papers

â€Å"On the Money†, an article written by Allison Hope Weiner, is a brief article written as an effort to help explain the controversy surrounding the celebrity telethon that was held almost three months ago. The telethon, America: A Tribute to Heroes, ended up receiving donations totaling an estimated one hundred and fifty million dollars all put into a fund overseen by the United Way, called the September 11th Fund. This fund has received over three hundred and forty million dollars all from donators. The controversy of the telethon arises with the distribution of the money. During the telethon, celebrities were stating that all of the money donated would go directly to the victims of September 11 and their families. Even though the charity supporting the event, the United Way, relinquished their administrative costs, the other organizations that were awarded donated money did use some of the donations to pay for their operating costs. The other controversial issue that is explained in this article is length of time taken to deliver the donated money to the victims of the national tragedy. The article explains that it takes time for charities to give money to disaster victims. Plans must be in place for who obtains the money and how much they receive. The last controversial issue examined in this article is the celebrities who encouraged people to donate to this fund and their role in how the money is spent. Bill O’Reilly has accused the celebrities of using the telethon to improve their public image instead of helping the victims of September 11. He also states that if celebrities put more pressure on the charities involved they would be better organized and aid the victims further. I believed that this article was important to the entertainment industry in the segment of celebrity endorsements. When celebrities, such as George Clooney and Julia Roberts that are idolized by the American public, endorse a product, or give their opinion on a controversial subject, they usually have a following of their fans that agree with them. People tend to trust celebrities and their opinions on subjects. This very great power was illustrated well during the telethon in discussion. When this power is misused or used to benefit the celebrity at the cost of victims of a horrible tragedy, the public image of the celebrities involved becomes marred. During this telethon, many celebrities told us that one hundred percent of the money donated would go directly to the victims of September 11.

Psychological approaches Essay

Today, few psychologists identify their outlook according to a particular school of thought. While you may still find some pure behaviorists or psychoanalysts, the majority of psychologists instead categorize their work according to their specialty area and perspective. Every topic in psychology can be looked at in a number of different ways. For example, let’s consider the subject of aggression. Someone who emphasizes a biological perspective would look at the how the brain and nervous system impact aggressive behavior. A professional who stresses a behavioral perspective would look at how environmental variables reinforce aggressive actions. Another psychologist who utilizes a cross-cultural approach might consider how cultural and social influences contribute to aggressive or violent behaviors. The following are just a few of the major perspectives in modern psychology. The Psychodynamic Perspective The psychodynamic perspective originated with the work of Sigmund Freud. This view of psychology and human behavior emphasizes the role of the unconscious mind, early childhood experiences, and interpersonal relationships to explain human behaviour and to treat people suffering from mental illnesses. The Behavioral Perspective Behavioral psychology is a perspective that focuses on learned behaviors. Behaviorism differed from many other perspectives because instead of emphasizing internal states, it focused solely on observable behaviors. While this school of thought dominated psychology early in the twentieth century, it began to lose its hold during the 1950s. Today, the behavioral perspective is still concerned with how behaviors are learned and reinforced. Behavioral principles are often applied in mental health settings, where therapists and counselors use these techniques to explain and treat a variety of illnesses. The Cognitive Perspective During the 1960s, a new perspective known as cognitive psychology began to take hold. This area of psychology focuses on mental processes such as memory, thinking, problem solving, language and decision-making. Influenced by psychologists such as Jean Piaget and Albert Bandura, this perspective has grown tremendously in recent decades. Cognitive psychologists often utilize an information-processing model, comparing the human mind to a computer, to conceptualize how information is acquired, processed, stored, and utilized. The Biological Perspective The study of physiology played a major role in the development of psychology as a separate science. Today, this perspective is known as biological psychology. Sometimes referred to as biopsychology or physiological psychology, this point of view emphasizes the physical and biological bases of behavior. Researchers who take a biological perspective on psychology might look at how genetics influence different behaviors or how damage to specific areas of the brain influence behavior and personality. Things like the nervous system, genetics, the brain, the immune system, and the endocrine systems are just a few of the subjects that interest biological psychologists. This perspective has grown significantly over the last few decades, especially with advances in our ability to explore and understand the human brain and nervous system. Tools such as MRI scans and PET scans allow researchers to look at the brain under a variety of conditions. Scientists can now look at the effects of brain damage, drugs, and disease in ways that were simply not possible in the past. The Evolutionary Perspective Evolutionary psychology is focused on the study of how evolution explains physiological processes. Psychologists and researchers take the basic principles of evolution, including natural selection, and apply them to psychological phenomena. This perspective suggests that these mental processes exist because they serve an evolutionary purpose – they aid in survival and reproduction. The Humanistic Perspective During the 1950s, a school of thought known as humanistic psychology emerged. Influenced greatly by the work of prominent humanists such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, this perspective emphasizes the role of motivation on thought and behavior. Concepts such as self-actualization are an essential part of this perspective. Those who take the humanist perspective focus on the ways that human beings are driven to grow, change, and develop their personal potential. Positive psychology is one relatively recent movement in psychology that has its roots in the humanist perspective.

Traditional Grading System Essay - 1791 Words

Traditional Grading System Education is undoubtedly one of the most important parts of any human society. Without it human beings could not have been at the current point of time where we all know tremendously about life and the universe. We are now better off than we were. However, it is clear that there is still huge variety of phenomena waiting for our discovery. The most important objective of education is to help human beings pursue their burning desires to learn and reach their potential. In that way we progress. Therefore, it is vital to help or at least not hinder education to fulfill its goals. Traditional grading system will be my focus of this essay. Grading as numbers or letters, a conventional way of assessing†¦show more content†¦Finkelstein: â€Å"When we consider the practically universal use in all educational institutions of a system of marks, whether numbers or letters, to indicate the scholastic attainment of the students or pupils in these institutions, and when we remember how very great stress is laid by teachers and students alike upon these marks as real indicators or measures of attainment, we can but be astonished at the blind faith that has been felt in the reliability of the marking system. School administrators have been using with confidence an absolutely uncalibrated instrument†¦What faults appear in the marking systems that we are now using, and how can these be avoided or minimized?† (Mark) Can we find answers to his questions today? Now let us examine the mostly accepted reasons for assessing students’ achievements using conventional grading systems. The one rationale for grading is to sort students like â€Å"potatoes† so that higher institutions - colleges and universities - and employers choose as correctly as possible from these sorted â€Å"potatoes†. (Alfie) Certainly higher education and future jobs are among most significant things in life. However, the purpose of education, in particular high schools, is not to serve these institutions by sorting students like potatoes, but help pupils to discover their interests, enhance learning, and reach their potentials. Unfortunately the study shows that the grade is not â€Å"a cogent predictorShow MoreRelatedAdvantages And Disadvantages Of Traditional Grading System838 Words   |  4 Pagesfew years, the traditional grading system of A’s, B’s, C’s, D’s, and F’s have slowly faded away only to be replaced by the insufficient â€Å"Standards-Based Grading†. While some schools are adopting this unorthodox grading system, sever al others still continue to follow the traditional â€Å"A-F† grading system. Many believe that the standards-based grading system does not work well with all students and doesn’t accurately grade them. Standards-based grading is a fairly new system of grading where the studentRead MorePros And Cons Of Traditional Grading System742 Words   |  3 Pagesin our society. We spend twelve years of our lives in the schooling system, and our system has been the most accurate technique for assessing students for decades now. Lately, there has been controversy over the traditional grading system that we currently use in our classrooms across the United States. 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For exampleRead MoreTypes of Grading Sytems668 Words   |  3 PagesTypes of Grading Systems By Ashley Leary, eHow Contributor *    *    *    * Print this article Schools use grading systems to communicate with students and parents about student performance. Grades also help teachers communicate with one another, providing easy-to-understand data about student performance. Grades are meant to be a concrete evaluation of student knowledge. Perhaps the best-known type of grading system uses letters---A, B, C, D or F---to represent student achievementRead MoreStandard Based Grading And Academic Achievement Among Students With Individual Education Plan1700 Words   |  7 PagesStandard Based Grading and Academic Achievement among students with Individual Education Plans Nesha Sanders University of the Cumberlands Chapter One: Introduction This study will describe how standard based grading can affect academic achievement in students that have an Individual Education Plan (IEP). 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There are a few similarities; however, when comparing the two itRead MoreEssay on Alternative Grading Methods690 Words   |  3 PagesRunning head: ALTERNATIVE GRADING METHODS Alternative grading methods SPE 506 University of Phoenix Online Alternative Grading Methods Grades have long been used in most schools to indicate the degree to which students grasp subject matter and to document overall classroom performance. By most accounts, students with diverse learning needs and/or disabilities are at a significant disadvantage in school. Despite the fact that some students haveRead MoreWhat Thoughts Run Through Your Mind? Essay948 Words   |  4 Pagesthoughts run through your mind? System in America is a societal norm; however, important to analyze the system. Experienced the letter grading system since early elementary school, it is important not just to accept the system but to take a closer look at the system. I accepted the reality of the system ; time to inform myself about the system. After researching, I understand the three perspectives of the advantages, disadvantages, and a potential modification of the system. Therefore, I would like toRead MoreGrade Inflation And High Grades Inflation1347 Words   |  6 Pagesreceiving grades that they have not worked for and therefore don’t deserve them. But what’s so wrong about grade inflation? When learning about this subject we also open the doors to learning about the multitude of other problems plaguing our educational system that could use our attention much more than grade inflation does. Through grade inflation we’re able to understand problems often forgotten about and looked over.   Ã‚  Ã‚   In the past colleges like Princeton and Wellesley have tried to adopt policies to