Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome in Military Personnel Essay Example for Free

Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome in Military Personnel Essay Post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSS) is defined as a psychological disorder which arises from life-threatening experiences; affecting the physical or emotional state of the individual. Examples of these experiences are motor accidents; natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and the like; man-made tragedies such as plane crash and hijacking; abusive experiences in childhood; traumatic personal experience such as rape or torture; and violent military associated events. The symptoms associated with this disorder include those homologous to anxiety attacks or depression. The patient will also experience sleeping problems, emotional numbness, psychological catatonia, lack of affection for other people and even aggressiveness. One outstanding symptom of PTSS patients is avoidance of specific places and situations that is associated to the primary cause of the disorder. Since these will trigger memories related to their traumatic experience, it is of utmost importance for them to avoid any contact and encounter with these scenarios. Also, the patient usually has recurrent flashbacks or hallucinations of this particular, damaging event (University of Virginia Health System, 2007). Post traumatic stress syndrome can be observed in a varied class of individuals: regardless of sex, age, culture or economic status. In short, PTSS can be observed in any kind of character, given enough dose of traumatic experience. In the United States, the percentage of the population affected by PTSS is estimated to be between 1% to 12%. It was estimated that around 7. 7 million Americans are suffering from PTSS and that 30% of individuals who were in war-stricken areas will suffer from PTSS (University of Virginia Health System, 2007). In specific classes in society, PTSS is observed to occur at 0. 2% in post partum women, 18% in fire fighters, 34% in adults involved in vehicular accidents, 48% in female rape victims and 67% in prisoners of war. (Lange, 2000) In this paper, the impact of this phenomenon will be studied on military personnel: the factors contributing to the advent of the disorder, the statistics of military personnel with PTSS, the medical intervention and treatment used for PTSS and the effectiveness of the treatment used by the military to cure PTSS. History of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome in the US Military: Various Wars through the Years Post Traumatic Syndrome in military personnel was correlated with a number of pre-military, military and post-military factors. These three pertain to the background of the soldier before joining the military, the activities one engaged in as a military personnel and one’s life after military service. For pre-military risk factors, some of these were emotional instability, age of entry into the military, past child abuse, minority status, socioeconomic status, substance abuse and years of education. For military risk factors, these were degree of atrocities witnessed or participated in of a soldier, combat exposure, captivity, injury in combat and danger threatening the soldier’s life. Post-military risk factors, on the other hand, include time of discharge from the military, substance abuse, available social support and socioeconomic status (Bremmer, 2005). Post traumatic stress syndrome was first observed in war veterans who were assigned in the war against Vietnam during the 1980’s. This was the first time the scientific and psychological community acknowledge this disorder. Since PTSS was not yet known to the world, it was initially called battle fatigue and shell shock (University of Virginia Health System, 2007). In this war, it was estimated by the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Survey (NVVRS) that 15. 2% of male veterans and 8. 1% of female veterans; 479,000 out of 3,140,000 and 610 out of 7,200, respectively; were diagnosed with PTSS during a two year study in 1986. In terms of delinquency observed in these Vietnam War veterans, almost half of male soldiers who were diagnosed with PTSS were arrested or jailed at least once after their diagnosis. The percentage of those who were convicted was estimated to be at 11. 5%. In 2004, there were around 161,000 veterans who are still receiving PTSS disability compensation from the government. But even before this decade, military men and women had already suffered from war-related disorders. In World War II, it was estimated by the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder that in every 20 deployed military, there was one individual who suffered PTSS-related symptoms such as irritability, nightmares and flashbacks. The actual number of PTSS affected soldiers was estimated to be at 25,000 based on the number indicated by the Department of Veterans Affairs back in 2004. These soldiers were still receiving PTSS disability compensation from the department during this time. A prisoner of World War II’s (POW) tendency to developed PTSS was also investigated by various studies long after the war was over. According to Speed, 50% of those who were involved in WW II developed PTSS a year after the war and 29% still developed PTSS even after 40 years (Speed, 1989). Meanwhile, in terms of recovery, Klusnik determined that among the 188 POW who suffered PTSS, only 36 of them had recovered from the disorder (Klusnik, 1986). If the war between Korea and the United States will be considered, the approximate percentage of soldiers who suffered PTSS is around 30%, according to an independent study by a Korean researcher. The Persian Gulf War back in 1991 is also noteworthy to mention. This war was also an avenue for soldiers to suffer post traumatic stress syndrome. In 1999, a study conducted by Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology found out that among the 697,000 soldiers deployed to this war, there was an increasing number of soldiers who were suffering from the disorder. Initially, the rate of PTSS development for men and women were 3% and 8%, respectively. But after 18 to 24 months of returning to the United States of America, the rate increased from 7% to 16%. In the recent years, wars launched against Iraq and Afghanistan were enough reasons for the government to revive studies focusing on PTSS and its impact on the soldiers deployed to this heavily-bombarded countries. In Afghanistan, it was showed that 18% of the 45,880 soldiers deployed to this country suffered some kind of psychological disorder (PD), while the number of PTSS cases reached 188. In Iraq, from the 155,000 US soldiers in this country, 20% were diagnosed with PD and 1,641 were with PTSS. Women personnel who were affected with this disorder was from 8%-10% (Epstein Miller, 2005). When these data are combined, 46. 4% of soldiers sent to Iraq and Afghanistan suffered PTSS in 2007, totalling to 40,000 cases in a five-year period. The distribution of the cases is as follows: for the Air Force-2,476; Army-28,365; Navy-2,884; and Marines-5,641 (Morgan, 2008). Treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome from the Military A special division of the US government is devoted to treating PTSS patients, and this is the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Through the years, since the late 1970’s, VA had developed programs that continuously monitor and improve the state of soldiers once they return to their home country after being deployed in a war-stricken zone. There are three approaches that the department uses in order to achieve this goal: one, through outpatient approach; two, through varying length inpatient stay; and three, through residential care. These ways vary in the length of stay of the PTSS cases in the medical facility. Some of the treatments given to the cases were group counselling, educational support and psychological assessment of the soldiers. It was determined that there was no statistically significant difference between the length of stay of a PTSS patient in the facility. Since the duration of the soldiers in the treatment facility is equated to monetary costs, it was recommended that treatment not be prolonged, since the same results will be achieved with shorter treatment duration (Broschat, 1998). Another form of treatment for this disorder came from the military itself. In the core’s training program, each soldier is taught how to recognize post traumatic stress syndromes among themselves and among their comrades. This program is called the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (PTSD/MTBI) Chain Teaching Program, with the main objective of putting the knowledge and power in the soldiers themselves in order to take care of one another (U. S. Army Medical Department, 2007). Summary and Conclusion Since time immemoria, post traumatic stress syndrome was observed to plague war combatants since World War II. In every conflict that the United States government engaged in, there was the inevitable rise of PTSS cases documented. From The Persian Gulf War, to the Korean War, to the latest invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, soldiers continuously suffered from this disorder in an increasing fashion. Post traumatic syndrome is a serious problem faced, not only by military personnel, but also by the government. With an increasing number of PTSS cases through the years in every war launched by the government, there is also an increase in the corresponding amount of budget to be used for the treatment and rehabilitation of the soldiers. With this, it is imperative that this disorder be given enough attention and support from those in authority. Soldiers are the backbone of the country’s security. Without them, invasion by foreign and local enemies is likely to happen. But defence without psychologically sound soldiers will not be possible. Therefore, for a land to be secured and safe from any threat, the well-being of soldiers must be valued, thus, post traumatic syndrome must be answered with utmost urgency.

Cathartic Effects of Aggression: Theories

Cathartic Effects of Aggression: Theories Tan Hui Min Psychology— the systematic study of mental and behavioural processes (Coon Mitterer, 2012)—stemmed from Wilhelm Wundt’s founding of the first laboratory in experimental psychology in 1979. Wundt presented his discoveries about the human mind and behaviour in public lectures and soon had halls of people learning about his theories and experiments (Abbott, 2012, para. 7). Some even started setting up their own experimental laboratories and taking up the new science (Abbott, 2012, para. 7). However, many people see psychology as common sense because psychological findings and research all seem self-evident (Dean, 2008). This essay will touch on three reasons as to why psychology is not just common sense based on a common sense topic that frustrated people tend to vent their anger on inanimate objects for mood repair. People who believe in the value of cathartic venting feel worse after aggression. Bushman, Baumeister, and Phillips (2001) conducted a study whereby a group of participants had their emotional states assessed immediately after manipulated provocations (p. 25). Provocations include receiving negative feedback of their essays and blasts of noises of high intensity from â€Å"another participant† during the competitive time reaction task (Bushman, Baumeister, and Phillips, 2001, p. 19-20). They found that participants were emotionally negatively affected by the stimuli and felt more hostile feelings towards the â€Å"provoker†. This is supported by Bohart’s (1980) study which found that after recalling about a recent incident that angered them, participants in the discharge group showed more anger and hostile attitudes compared to intellectual analysis, role play, and control groups, based on the level of aversive noise each participant gave as punishment to a subje ct whenever a mistake was made on the learning task (p. 193). A louder noise administered meant higher feelings of aggression. Ebbesen, Duncan and Konecni (1974) tested whether subjects who were being laid off their jobs would increase or decrease in verbal aggression compared to those who were leaving their jobs for other reasons when induced to aggress verbally against the company, their supervisor, themselves, or to talk about neutral topics. The results indicated that when angered subjects directed verbal aggression at a specià ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ c target, their subsequent verbal aggression increased only when it was directed at the same target. It was also discovered that individuals with higher levels of testosterone responded more aggressively to social provocations (Mehta Beer, 2009, p. 2363). Aggression is therefore relatively useless at getting rid of anger and frustration even though positive feelings are increased during the act of venting. Be it as it may, why is it that the ma ss media still constantly supportting the idea of the catharsis hypothesis through mediums like self-help books, magazines, and television (Shaffer Merrens, 2001)? Angry people feel better when venting their anger through a cathartic process. This popular belief is known as the catharsis theory (Bushman, Baumeister, Phillips, 2001, p. 18). The theory sees emotions as entities that will build up and cause internal pressure if they are not expressed, leading to physiological harm (Bohart, 1980, p. 192). The repression of negative feelings without release may be due to the fear of retaliation or punishment from the provocateur, like in the case of when the source is an employer, thus constraining direct aggression (Dollard, Doob, Miller, Mowrer, Sears, 1939). Aggression is any behaviour that is intended to inflict harm on an unwilling person (Bushman Anderson, 2001, p. 274). A study found that angry people did positively enjoy some of the cathartic activities, such as hitting a punching bag ( Bushman et al., 1999). Since catharsis supports rumination, which is study investigated whether if getting rid of anger by rumination works better than by distraction. angered participants hit a punching bag and thought about the person who had angered them (rumination group) or thought about becoming physically fit (distraction group). The venting of anger is thus considered a healthy act and people in anger would often hear advice like â€Å"let if off your chest† and â€Å"don’t bottle your anger up inside† from their friends (Bushman, Baumeister, Phillips, 2001, p. 18). The effectiveness of the expression of negative emotions on mood applies differently for different genders. Bushman, Baumeister and Philips (2001) conducted a study which examined how mood-freeze manipulation and pro-catharsis messages affect aggressive behaviour (p. 19). Half the subjects in the pro-cathartic group would read a counterfeit newspaper article supporting the venting of anger by hitting a pillow, while the other half in the anti-cathartic group would read one discouraging the venting of anger by hitting a pillow (Bushman, Baumeister and Philips, 2001, p. 25). Half of the participants in the mood-freeze manipulation group were told that the pill, Bramitol, would freeze their mood for an hour after consumption (Bushman, Baumeister and Philips, 2001, p. 20). The other half were free to control their moods. It was found that for women, the venting of anger improved their mood only when their believe that their moods are open to change, as observed from the female participan ts reporting that they felt more positive feelings following aggression in the changeable mood condition compared to those in the mood-freeze condition (Bushman, Baumeister, Phillips, 2001, p. 28). As for men, they were found to be generally more aggressive than women (Bushman, Baumeister, Phillips, 2001, p. 20) and that those who most believed in the efficacy of venting felt the least improvement in their moods after venting their anger in the changeable mood condition (Bushman, Baumeister, Phillips, 2001, p. 28). This observation can be supported by The evidence of how different men and women handle their emotions shows that the effectiveness of catharsis venting differs between genders. Angry impulses and hostile tendencies are not reduced by acting aggressively. It was found that when given the chance to aggress nonverbally against their tormentors, angry participants engaged in less nonverbal aggression afterwards (Doob, 1970; Doob and Wood, 1972; Konecni and Doob, 1972; Konecni, 1973). However, an opposite effect was witnessed for verbal aggression (DeCharms Wilkins, 1963; Kahn, 1966). the annoyer is still derogated and highly disliked at the end of the experiment (Konecni, 1973; Konecni and Doob, 1972). Konecni and Doob (1972) found that nonverbal aggression directed at a scapegoat reduced future nonverbal aggression directed at one’s tormentor. If verbal hostility does serve the same function as covert rumination about one’s plight, then generalization from scapegoat to tormentor might well be expected to occur. Doob (1972) found that nonverbal aggression directed at someone reduced future nonverbal aggression directed at one’s tormentor. Showed that verbally expressing one’s boiling anger toward a given entity increases subsequent verbal aggression towards the same entity but does not affect how their emotions are directed at others (p. 198-199) The angered subjects were more hostile towards the company after telling the personnel manager negative things about the company and that the increase in hostility was signià ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ cantly enhanced by the comparable interview session. However, in Bohart’s study, the overall difference between catharsis and the other measures narrowed over several sessions, suggesting that venting through a cathartic process requires time and practice in order for the dilution of negative feelings to be effective (Bohart, 1980, p. 194). This is probably the reason why the belief in catharsis survives today despite all the contrary research findings. In essence, the common sense belief in the efficacy of catharsis can be proven correct by some psychologists and otherwise by others. The field of psychology really involves data collection of human thought process and behaviour though scientific or observational means to prove a common sense hypothesis either correct or false. Many of our intuitions have been rectified through the years and like the intuition that the release of anger on a pillow lessens feelings of aggression, we cannot always depend on common sense to reason things. Psychology is therefore not just common sense, but also based on proper research, meticulous testing, and applications of theory. References Ebbesen, E. B., Duncan, B., Konecni, V. J. (1975). Effects of content of verbal aggression on future verbal aggression: A field experiment. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 11, 192-204. Retrieved from http://konecni.ucsd.edu/pdf/1975%20Content%20Verb.%20Agg%20JESP.pdf

Effective Delegation Essay -- Business Delegate Definition Essays

Effective Delegation Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This paper will attempt to show what skills are necessary for effective delegation, and how the managers of the author's organization uses delegation in his or her management responsibilities. The paper will also attempt to show how delegation could be used more effectively within the four functions of management in that same organization. Through delegation managers combine task responsibilities and the authority needed to carry out tasks in the organization. The author will also discuss some advantages of delegation as well as the issue of poor delegation. Delegation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is delegation? According to Bateman, delegation â€Å"is the assignment of authority and responsibility to a subordinate at a lower level.† (Bateman et al, 2004). By delegating to others this frees up the manager to devote more energy to higher-level activities. These activities can be controlling and leading. â€Å"Delegation is perhaps the most fundamental feature of management, because it entails getting work done through others.† (Bateman et al, 2004). Delegation In A County Jail   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In a county jail setting there are several types of managers. These are the jail administrator, the assistant administrator, the county commissioners, the sheriff and his deputies as well as the officers from the local police departments. The management in a county jail setting uses delegation in several ways. One such way occurs when an officer or deputy brings in an inmate for a crime he or she have committed. The officer then delegates the responsibility of getting that inmate to court to the jailer, depending on the seriousness of the crime. Another way is for management to give the jailers authority to discipline an inmate for wrong doing. The author also delegated by having her sub-ordinates pass out canteen, commissary, and razors. Canteen and commissary are personal hygiene and snack items that the inmates purchased. The author was delegated to by her manager in the sense she was put in charge of planning monthly meetings and training sessions. Delegation And The Functions of Management   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the author's organization there is not much planning or organizing that takes place. The only planning that is done is for the monthly meetings and for all training sessions. Training has to be scheduled at different times in order for all employees to... ...n get the job done properly. The third sign of poor delegation is the team is confused, conflicting, or tense. This occurs when the task is not clearly defined. The fourth and final sign is the manager gets questions about delegated tasks too often. This is another clear indication that the task at hand was not explained clearly. (Blair, 1996) Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, â€Å"delegation underpins a style of management which allows your staff to use and develop their skills and knowledge to the full potential.† (Blair, 1996). The main objective of delegation is to get the job done by someone else. However, if the job does not get done properly then the manager is held accountable. In a county jail setting, delegation needs to be strictly monitored to ensure the proper running of the facility as well as the safety of the jailers and inmates. If a person wants to be a good leader, that person needs to be able to delegate effectively. References Bateman, T., & Snell, S. (2004). Management: the new competitive landscape. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Blair, G. (1996). Retrieved Apr. 12, 2005, from www.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/MENG/ME96/Documents/Aspects/ delegate.htm

Medea Critical Lens Essay --

The play Medea, written by Euripides is a certain classic of the Greek era. The plot revolves around a woman who is divorced by her husband for another woman, Glauce, daughter of King Creon of Corinth and power. This causes her to become enraged and set on vengeance. In the play she states, â€Å"The glory of one’s life is to be generous with one’s friends and merciless with one’s enemies.† She then goes on to destroy those around her, and to further destroy the semblance of a life she had. This statement hold truth, and is relative to the Golden Rule that states, â€Å"One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.† Medea is saying that one should do good for their friends and should treat their enemies as one would be expected to be treated: without mercy. This is shown in King Creon of Corinth’s actions towards the other characters in the play, as well as in the actions of To Kill a Mockingbird’s Arthur Radley. K ing Creon and Arthur Radley both show a lack of mercy towards their enemies and show kindness towards their family and/or acquaintances. King Creon is introdu...

An Elder Interview about the Aging Process and Health Care Essay

After spending an afternoon interviewing my elderly father-in-law, I gained insight into how he perceives the aging process and the impact on the quality of his life. First, and foremost he viewed aging in a very positive and healthy manner. He believes that a positive attitude assists in accepting physical and psychosocial changes and enjoyed the fact that he and his wife are both physically fit and cognitively alert. He felt confident that advances made in health care and the quality of their lives would continue to be empowering. He enjoys the benefits of being a senior citizen including discounted travel, free education, and other incentives marketed towards seniors. He expressed a sense of well-being with respect to the numerous housing options geared towards the graying population, such as Retirement Villages, and assisted living. However, the subjects of Long Term Care, Social security reform and government involvement in health care reform were subjects he regarded with very strong negative emotions. During the interview these issues as related to his experiences with health care were discussed with zeal and frustration. Ron is my father-in-law; he is seventy-seven years young and lives in Smallville with his wife. They live independently in a sprawling 4,500 foot custom built cape style home. Ron was the oldest of three siblings and was raised in a farming town by his father who was a disabled war veteran in poor health and a feisty Italian mother. Ron had the opportunity to complete high school and receive the gift of learning to work with his hands as a master finish carpenter. He worked on many farms as a young boy during the summers of high school to help support his family; he is no stranger to working very ... ... a better understanding of what everyone needs especially the elders over the age of 65 living in the United States. As a nation we know it is time for reform, we will get involved and make our opinions count and cry out for access and affordable health care for all. References Chait, Jonathan. (April, 1999). Countdown to Reform: The Great Social Security Debate. Washington Monthly. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1316/is_4_31/ai_54367642/print Marshall, Will and Martin Schram. (1993) , Mandate for Change. New York: Berkley Books. Reynolds, Sean.(2004). Privatization of Social Security. National Parliamentary Debate Workshop. Retrieved from http://www.willamette.edu/cla/rhetoric/workshop/DebateResearch/shaunreed.doc Spitzer-Resnick, Jeffrey.(1987), Your Real Medicare Handbook. Madison, Wisconsin: Center for Public Representation.

Muriel’s wedding critical analysis Essay

In Muriel’s wedding, the perception of comedian has soon arrived into a melodrama derived by P.J Hogan, as the film covers the low self-esteem Muriel in breaking through the bondages around her family and friends, trespassing from suburban to civilisation. Muriel begins the film as an overweight loser from Queensland, a woman trapped by a dysfunctional family, an apathetic neighbourhood, and a clique of beautiful â€Å"best friends.† The movie opens with a shot of a beautiful friend’s wedding, where one of the clique members is shown having an affair with the groom. The movie moves that fast: credits, wedding, affair. Before the scandalous couple have time to emerge from their private room the ugly misfit Muriel is taken into custody by the police. Apparently, she never paid for her leopard-print dress. (3) Hogan establishes his characters rather quickly. The evil clique is made up of Barbie look-alikes who criticize Muriel for not wearing frosted lipstick. Murie l is clumsy, overweight and â€Å"useless,† hopelessly ostracized from the inner circle by her unemployment and consequent failure to follow fashion. â€Å"I’ve got a job,† Muriel tells them, referring to a cosmetics sales position offered by her father’s mistress. â€Å"It’s not your clothes,† the friends retort, it’s you.† Crushed, Muriel steals money from her parents and buys a holiday at the same resort where the clique is staying. Once there she meets up with a friend from high school (Rachel Griffiths) whose noble character is symbolized by her short black hair and indifference toward fashion. The two women celebrate their independence from the neurosis of Porpoise Spit by running away to Sydney, where they get jobs, meet men, and have the time of their lives. â€Å"When I was living in Porpoise Spit I used to sit in my room all day and listen to Abba songs,† Muriel says. â€Å"Since I’ve come to Sydney, I haven’t listened to Abba at all.† Muriel’s Wedding uses the songs of the Swedish supergroup as a clever link to the thoughts and feelings of Muriel, a young Australian woman obsessed with becoming married as soon as possible. Muriel lives with her go-nowhere family in the town of Porpoise Spit, where she spends most of her time in her room, listening to ABBA when her father isn’t giving her grief. The point of this movie is very simple: in order to escape from insecurity and stagnant immobility one must rebel against the conventions held by beautiful people, cut one’s hair, buy a new wardrobe, and forge a new life on one’s own. If theft and dishonesty are the only ways that these ends can by achieved, so much the better. Another point of symbolisation in this case can be compared by the use of location VS Muriel’s self esteem. Read Also:  Critical Analysis Essay Topics Viewers can compare Muriel’s self esteem from the beginning as she stays in Porpoise Spit a so call suburbia or small town where she’s in search of a higher self esteem where here Sydney takes place. Although her ultimate utopia is still the wedding, however once met, she would kindly realize that life is far more beyond. (1)(6) Sadly to say that throughout the whole film, none of the scenes appear natural, instead, they look like Hogan has manipulated the gray shades of everyday experience in order to come up with a cast of characters that are either too black, too white, too good, or too obviously evil. Although Muriel’s Wedding does an excellent job of conveying the attitudes and economic realities of small Australian towns, it fails to capture the subtle interludes of conversation that make characters seem like real people. For example, the character of Muriel’s mother (Jeanie Drynan) is not developed at all. She is shown once standing in her kitchen, lost in a zombie-like trance, and then again in a restaurant, oblivious to the presence of her husband’s mistress. It is not until Muriel ignores her at her own wedding and Muriel’s father moves in with his mistress that we see this woman come to life, and then she kills herself. (6) Muriel’s father is another stock character, as is her celebrity immigrant husband. Hogan may as well have used cardboard cut outs to play their roles, writing â€Å"philandering politician† on one and â€Å"Olympic diver† on the other. Their lives do not figure into the plot of the movie; what matters is what they can do for Muriel. In the end they each contribute about ten grand. Muriel’s Wedding is an entertaining film after all with a bit of an identity crisis: it doesn’t know if it wants to be a comedy or a drama. The filmmakers perpetually toy with the viewers, dragging them from high comedy to melodramatic tragedy in a heartbeat, and more than once. This problem arises whenever the camera is not on Muriel, who really owns this picture completely. Whenever the plastic su pporting cast is the main focus, the film falls flat. A tacked-on, bittersweet ending doesn’t help, either. Reference 1.)http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/00/9/symposium.html#2 2.)http://ourworld.cs.com/_ht_a/amanandamouse/abbanaticfolder/murielsweddingfolder/murielswedding.html 3.)http://us.imdb.com/Title?0110598 4.)http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/4657/film/muriel.htm 5.)http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/m/muriels.html 6.)http://www.eng.umu.se/vw2000/Emma/Muriel’sWedding.htm

Lou Holtz Convocation

Chase Wells Dr. Donald A. Hoy BA 198 B 2 September 2012 Lou Holtz a Convocation to Remember Lou Holtz: motivational speaker, hall of fame football coach, magician, devout Catholic, and Benedictine supporter. This last week I was blessed with the chance to hear him speak. His speech was based on the idea that by following three rules, you can live a just life with no regrets. Throughout the speech Holtz cracked joke after joke, keeping it constantly interesting.At one point, he even shocked the crowd with a very impressive magic trick. By combining an excellent message with humor, and magic he had the entire crowd’s attention for the full duration of his speech. Holtz’s three rules were: do the right thing, do your best, and show people you care. The three rules seem easy enough to follow, and the motivation to go along with them has inspired me to follow them. Lou was truly passionate about what he preached. He clearly contributed much of his success to these rules.Thro ugh stories of life experience Holtz persuaded, and motivated the crowd. I think every person in the gymnasium left with the knowledge to improve themselves as a person, and the motivation to perhaps do it. Lou Holtz is truly an extraordinary person. He’s a 5’9’’ man that talks with a lisp, and role model for thousands. That in itself is impressive. Not to mention his excellent track record as a football coach, New York Times best selling books, Motivational speaking accomplishments, and more.His life long mission of making not only decisions he can live with, but the right ones has cast him into success. Having never been one to watch college sports I walked into the convocation with little knowledge of who Lou Holtz was, and low expectations for his speech. I walked out stunned, surprised, and impressed. Lou Holtz is an amazing person. His speech gave me knowledge, and motivation to improve my life, and for that I am grateful.