RJA #13c: Application Project Example

I have decided to write a news paper article relating to the topic of my arguementative paper. Below is a link to an example of a newspaper article:


http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/youthcrime/Newsagents--lose--licences.3767594.jp

We can learn may things from this article. The content is very clearly focused on the topic at hand and strives to make any information relatable and interesting to the reader. It is important that article engages with and draws in the reader.
The article starts by briefly summarising what the rest of the article will discuss, therefore making it easy for reader to know whether the information contained in the article is relevent to the reader. The article then goes on to discuss the news at length by developing the story and providing more details.
This particular article has input from several sources, each given a small amount of space for an important or summarising phrase before moving an to someone else. It is important that all sides involved in this article ar given an opportunity for their voice to be heard, this enabling the article to be well balanced without showing prejudice or appearing to take sides.
At the end of the article, the final lines summarise what action was taken by the authorities and why they did so.

RJA #13a: Word Cloud

RJA #13b: Application Project Plan–

I intend to write a newspaper article based on my paper and the research I have already done.
I have closen this option as I feel it gives me the perfect platform to dicuss underage drinking and share many worrying statistics. My paper is very informational and relies on much research and many scientific studies. A newspaper article can be factual or at least founded upon facts if it is an editorial piece. If I write an editorial it will give me the opportunity to give my views and opinions.

RJA #12b: Field Research Report

In a survey I compiled of 15 people between the age of 15 – 18 year old, an astonishing 65% of respondents admitted to consuming alcoholic beverages at least twice every month, with 50% of those interviewed admitting to consuming alcohol at least once a week.

I conducted a survey for the original research aspect of my paper. I surveyed 15 people (8 male and 7 female) between the ages of 15 and 18 years old. I asked the following questions and received the following answers:

How old are you?

Are you male or female?

Have you every tried alcohol?

How often do you drink alcohol?

The people in this survey were found at the West Acres Mall in Fargo, ND and I approached them at random. I did not record their names as I didn't find that to be important/relevant.

RJA #12a: Annotated Bibliography, Part 3

"Alcohol and Public Health - Underage Drinking." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 6 Aug. 2008. Web. 02 Apr. 2010. .

This source is an informational page from the official webpage of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It gives some statistics about underage drinking and highlights some of the inherent risks and dangers. This was a useful source and it gives credance to other sources I have used.

"Alcohol Use, Abuse, and Depression: Is There a Connection?" WebMD - Better Information. Better Health. Ed. Louise Chang, MD. 18 May 2009. Web. 05 Apr. 2010. .

This source is a page from webmd.com. It discusses information that may show a connection between alcohol and depression. It states that there may be growing evidence of such a connection. There was a lot of useful information that proved some background to my research. The article seemed well researched and appears on a well respected website so I feel comfortable using it as source.

Apte APTE, M.D., M. MED. SCI., Minoti V., Jeremy S. Wilson, M.D., PH.D., and Mark A. Korsten, MD. "Alcohol-Related Pancreatic Damage." Alcohol Health & Research World 21.1 (1997): 13-14. US Department of Health and Human Services. Web. 28 Mar. 2010. .

This is a report from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism about the mechanisms and treatments for alcohol related pancreatitis. The report explains what pancreatitis is and explains that the byproducts of alcohol metabolism can lead to this problem. This fits perfectly into my research as it shows serious medical conditions caused by alcohol use. It is certainly a credible source.



"Drinking Alcohol And Benefits." Medical News Today: Health News. 20 July 2003. Web. 05 Mar. 2010. .

This is an article on Medical News Today, a medical website. The article discusses some of the benefits of alcohol use, the risks associated with alcohol use and some interesting caveats about said benefits (age, amount of consumption, sex, etc). The source was useful because it looked at the topic from both sides in a balanced way. It fit well into my research because I to need to be able to address both sides of the issues.

Freudenrich, Ph.D., Craig. "HowStuffWorks "How Alcohol Works"" Howstuffworks "Health" Web. 15 Mar. 2010. .

This source comes from a website called howstuffworks.com. The author of this article has a PhD and so I feel this source is credible. The article looks at the effect alcohol has on the body at a nuerological level in a detached, unbiased manner. The source allowed me to understand the true effects of alcohol and explain to my audience the possible risks.


Russell, June. "June Russell's Health Facts: Alcohol - Stress." June Russell's Health Facts: Home. Web. 05 Apr. 2010. .

This source is a simple collection of quotes, information and statistics from various sources which discuss the negative physiological effects of alcohol use. All of the sources on this website a cited and so I was able to confirm them. This source obviously only addresses one side the arguement, but I was able to use that to my advantage.


"SADD Statistics." Welcome to SADD. Web. 21 Mar. 2010. .

Students against Destructive Decisions is a group set up to educate youthd against drunk driving and other risky activities. The page I looked at was a compilation of shocking statistics from various official and government reports and studies. All of these statistics were picked to show the negative and dangerous repoercussions of drinking at a young age. I was able to use this source as it linked perfectly with my message.

"Teen Alcohol Abuse Causes, Symptoms, Signs, Risk Factors and Treatment on MedicineNet.com." Teen Alcohol Abuse Causes, Symptoms, Signs, Risk Factors and Treatment on MedicineNet.com. Web. 01 Apr. 2010. .

Medicine.net is an informational website with articles written by medical doctors. This article discusses how much alcohol teens drink, risk factors for teenage alcoholism and how parents can intervene if their teen is having alcohol related problems. The articles tone is balanced and educational and appears to be geared towards teaching parents about the problems alcohol can cause their family. Since the article is written from an unbiased stance I can use much of the information without sounding like an alarmist.

"Teens: Alcohol And Other Drugs." American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. May 2008. Web. 03 Apr. 2010. .

This article was written by the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. It warns iin no uncertain terms of the dangers of alcohol use by teens. Coming from such a well respected authority, i feel this is a useable source. The information given backs up my arguements so I found it rather useful.

RJA #11: Annotated Bibliography, Part 2

"Health Risks and Benefits of Alcohol Consumption." Alcohol Research & Health 24.1 (2000): 5-6. US Department of Health and Human Services. Web. 12 Mar. 2010. .

This is a report written by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism regarding the health risks and benefits of alcohol consumption. It discusses how risks and benefits should be measured and disucsses at length the harmful effects of alcohol use. It also looks at alcohols effect on society. I found the report well balanced as it does adrress both sides of the arguement in a logical manner. Of course, being a government publication I feel it should be trustworthy and I found it very useful in writing my paper.



National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse VIII: Teens & Parents. Rep. National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse VIII: Teens & Parents. Web. 25 Mar. 2010. .

This is a report written by the National Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse. The report was based on research conducted to find triggers that increase underage drinking. Some very thorough research was done and it was found that boredom, stress and having excess money to spend were major triggers for underage drinking. I found the report very useful as it addresses reasons for drinking and found the source to be highly credible.



Proc. of Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility, US Congress, Washington DC. Web. 03 Apr. 2010. .

This source was the statement of Richard J. Bonnie, Chair of the Committee on Developing a Strategy to Reduce and Prevent Underage Drinking, National Research Council and Institute of Medicine and John S. Battle Professor of Law, Director, Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy
University of Virginia before the Subcommittee on Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions at the U.S. Senate. The statement was given to address underage drinking and identify strategies to reduce underage alcohol consumption. The report highlighted just how big a problem underage drinking is before going on to discuss a broad and multifaceted approach to the problem. Being that this statement was given to the US Senate I can be confident of the research and standard of work so I had no problems using this as a source.



Bonnie, Richard J., and Mary Ellen O'Connell. Reducing Underage Drinking: a Collective Responsibility. Washington, DC: National Academies, 2004. Print.

This book was written by Richard J bonnie who also made the above statement to the US Senate. The book is on the same subject, carries the same message although being a book, is in more detail and goes into the subject in more depth.




Britton, Annie, Archana Singh-Manoux, and Michael Marmot. "Alcohol Consumption and Cognitive Function in the Whitehall II Study." American Journal of Epidemiology 160.3 (2004): 242. Alcohol Consumption and Cognitive Function in the Whitehall II Study. 27 Feb. 2004. Web. 25 Mar. 2010. .

This Article was written by the International Centre for Health and Society, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College of London. The article was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, a peer reviewed journal. The article was based on research to study the effects of alcohol use on cognitive skills. Surpirsingly, initial results seemed to show that alcohol increased cognitive skills however this results were soimewhat diluted when the social position of the participants were entered into the scenario. The article was very interesting and I was able to us much of the information in my writing. Since it appeared in a peer reviewed journal I am confident that this is a credible source.

RJA #10a: Annotated Bibliography, Part 1

Annotated Bibliography

The University of Chicago Health Center. Researchers Discover Probable Molecular Site of Alcohol and Anesthetic Actions. Researchers Discover Probable Molecular Site of Alcohol and Anesthetic Actions. University of Chicago Health Center, 25 Sept. 1997. Web. 03 Apr. 2010. .

This source is a Press Release by the University of Chicago Center. It announces that their scientists may have discovered the site on a nerve cell that may be responsible for some of the depressive effects of alcohol. It also explains how inhibitive neurotransmitters act when influenced by alcohol as well as the effect of alcohol of certain receptors in the human brain. Clearly the role of this source is to inform the scientific community about the ground breaking work achieved at the University of Chicago. I found the research credible in very useful in my paper. It gave me an understanding of the basic working of the brain at a cellular level and it backed up my point that alcohol affects the brain.

Thompson, Janice, and Melinda Manore. Nutrition: an Applied Approach. Second ed. San Francisco, Calif.: Pearson/Benjamin Cummings, 2009. Print.

This source is a textbook about Nutrition. It covers many aspects of nutrition and discusses the importance putting good things into our bodies. It has a small section about alcohol and it talks directly about alcohol, drug and tobacco use in teens. I would consider this to be a reliable source since it is endorsed for use at MSCD. I used the source to confirm and reiterate my claim that underage drinking can lead to nutrient deficiencies.

Shalala, Donna E., comp. 10th Special Report to U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health. Rep. NIAAA.gov. US Department for Health and Human Services, 29 June 2000. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. .

This source is a Special Report by the US Congress by the US Department of Health and Human Services on Alcohol and Health. It discusses the respective health risks and benefits of alcohol use in great detail. It talks at length about the effect alcohol has on the brain, liver, heart and immune system and has some rather disparaging things to say about alcohol. The report was compiled by government scientists and so I find it to be highly credible and well researched. It paints a bleak picture of alcohol use and so was very useful in defending my arguments about the physical effects of alcohol use.

RJA #10c: Ideas for the Application Project

• newspaper article about underage drinking problems and solutions
• A scene from a play - perhaps an accident caused by underage drinking could be the topic
• An editorial exporessing my opinion on the subject
• A speech to school child about the dangers of alcohol

RJA #10b: Progress Report for Argumentative Paper

Completed:

• sources found
• cources evaluated
• formal outline
• draft of arguementative paper written

Still to do:

• proof read draft paper
• submit for feedback