This picture came from www.the-scorpions.com.

This Page contains two Essays, one from Chris Stott, the other one from Jason Atkinson.

                                                                               Dangers of smoking

     Approximately one-fifth of all deaths in the United States can be blamed on Smoking.  When you inhale the smoke of a cigarette, you’re letting loose a chemical parade that will march through some of your body’s vital organs -- brain, lungs, heart,
and blood vessels.  Your body will be exposed to chemicals that cause cancer, coronary heart disease, stroke, and respiratory conditions such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis.  Smoking is also linked to a variety of disorders and conditions including the slowed healing of wounds and infertility.  People of all ages today smoke, while only about 30 years ago, mainly young males and middle aged men smoked.  Cigarettes contain over a hundred poisons.  They are in small amount, but after smoking for 30 years, it will add up to a very unhealthy body.

    Many factors contribute to the high rate of smoking.  In order to relax, people start to smoke, because of a lot of stress at work or school.  Smoking helps you calmdown and relax, but that is the only thing that it helps you do.  People do not realize that the bad side effects are much greater than the positive effects.  And by the time they realize this, it is too late too quit, and by then, they are too dependent on the smoking.  Yet many people still smoke.  Smoking is very addictive, and according to recent reports, the Tobacco companies have illegally raised nicotine levels in cigarettes.  This is the part of the cigarette that is very addictive, and by increasing the amount without saying that they will, the customer is most likely going to be exposed to the dangers of this poison.  They do it in order to keep their customers and to attract new ones everyday.  It is easy to increase the levels, and there is no real way to prove it.  Despite the risks that come from smoking, many have become addicted to it
because of the high levels of nicotine that is found in the cigarettes.  Even though you have to be 18 years old  to buy cigarettes, kids still manage to get them from friends or by stealing.  Among the people who are addicted to smoking, are a lot of high school kids.  This groups is the most hooked among all the age groups.

    The most common reason why young kids get involved with smoking is that they are pressured by their friends or peers. It is easy to get addicted since the tobacco companies put repeated high levels of nicotine in the cigarette. It is really hard to stop
smoking once you become addicted, and often times, people will smoke for the rest of their life. How much young kids smoke depends on several factors. Most kids smoke a little, while a few smoke a lot. But no matter how much you smoke, you are slowly killing your organs. Most kids begin smoking when they enter high school. This is the time when kids easily get addicted the most. It usually starts at a party or from the  pressure from a friend. Because most kids want to fit in, they try smoking since they think it's cool. No one worries or thinks about the consequences, until it is too late. By the time they finally realize it, it becomes real hard to quit.

    Smoking does not just affect people who smoke. People who are around people who smoke are also in danger of getting chemicals into their body since the smoke travels through air. The effects are not as bad, but a person who has never smoked could get lung cancer simply because that person is around others who smoke. This is called second-hand smoke. It depends how much you are exposed to other people smoking to what disease you may get from it.  It takes a lot longer for the lungs to die in a second hand smoker. These include everyone, even children, who are exposed to smoke. If you are exposed for a certain period of time, then you will have the same disease that smokers get.

    Many people regret smoking because it has ruined their lives. In the cases of when several smokers sued the Tobacco companies, the companies were found liable of misinforming its consumers. This illustrates that it is not healthy to smoke, even if you are an occasional smoker. The best thing to do is not to give in to peer pressure and never start smoking. You may be exposed to second hand smoke, but even that is preventable, because if you are able to not start smoking, then other people will too.  The cigarettes have also become very expensive, which drains the money away from many addicted users.  Still, despite the warnings and the high mortality rate, people continue to light up, simply to relax while going to work or school.  One thing that has been done to help people quit is to give them nicotine from a capsule and let them take it.  Eventually decreasing the amount every day.  When they get to almost not taking any, they will be able to stop much easier.  But this takes a long time.

                                                                   College Athletes and Money

     In today's media it seems as if the college athlete is becoming more and more looked upon as a professional athlete.  College athletics has become a major consumer market with billions of dollars put into the industry yearly. The college athlete has enormous pressures put onto them because of the attention from the media.  College athletes bring money, publicity, and pride to their school and should be paid for their efforts.

    College athletes are not allowed to earn extra money while participating in athletics.  The average college student is allowed to work as much as they would like and are even allowed to participate in work-study programs.  Plus, the college athlete, who is bringing publicity to the school, cannot work and have extra money to buy clothes, food and everyday supplies to live on.  Students involved with other school-sponsored activities are allowed to work then shouldn’t the student-athlete be able to work?  Additionally, with the athlete having to spend many hours studying and practicing, the amount of money the athlete would make from work would be small and would only benefit the athlete and allow the athlete to live comfortably.

    Athletes bring in the highest revenue compared to that of any other school activity.  Sports like basketball and football bring in thousands of dollars at every home game and the University receives portions of the gate receipts.  Thus, the athletes of these sports should also be given a portion of these gate receipts.  Secondly, the smaller profile sports, such as golf, swimming and cross country also bring in some sort of revenue at their home sporting events, and again these athletes should receive some of the revenue in which they generate.  Thirdly, when the athletic teams continue to advance in post-season tournaments, many times the school and conference is given extra money.  Shouldn’t the athlete receive some of this money since they are the ones who helped the school get the extra money?

    Many athletic programs sign large shoe contracts and the athletes should be entitled to some of that money.  In doing so, if the coaches and shoe companies are going to tell the athlete that he or she has to wear a certain brand of shoe, then shouldn’t the athlete be given some type of payment for wearing those shoes?  Furthermore, many universities sign million dollar television contracts and the athlete should receive some of that money.  Without the athlete, the television companies would not have any television viewers and would not make the big money, which they make now.  The same thing can be said regarding the athlete’s uniform. When the athlete is told he has to put his name on a certain brand of jersey then he or she should receive some of the money from that uniform company.

    The problem with college athletes receiving money and gifts from professional scouts could be stopped if the athlete was paid while in college.  Many times, it seems, that college athletes accept money from professional scouts so that the athlete can live a more comfortable life.  Only if the athlete would be paid while in college then there would be no reason for the college athlete to have a need for a large amount of extra money.  If the athletes were paid then the graduation rate for college athletes would rise, for the temptation of leaving early and turning professional for the money would be avoided.

    College athletics has become in many areas the equal of professional sports.  This is especially true with basketball and football, where millions of viewers watch the games and millions of dollars are spent in ticket sales, merchandise, and advertising.  With this much money involved, the athlete should have the right to at least a small portion of the revenue.  Secondly, merchandise, which has the athlete’s number and even name, is being sold for large sums of money.  Thus, if companies and retail stores are making money off of the college athletes name then the athlete himself should also be compensated with a stipend of money.  The level in which many of these college athletes compete is extremely high, with some of the athletes at the world-class level, thus the pressure and expectations are also extremely high.  The large amount of pressure and expectations the college athlete has to deal with is another reason why the college athlete should be paid.
 College athletes bring national and even worldwide recognition to many of their universities and should be rewarded for their efforts.  With the increased recognition, it seems as if the amount of prospective students also increases.  Thus, a larger amount of students will attend the university, which will add money to the university.  The college athlete seemingly brings in more revenue to the university, and it is only appropriate that the athlete receives a portion of that revenue.

    The critics, on the other hand, have a different view.  Many individuals say that the scholarship is the way that the athlete is being paid.  The scholarship does pay for school and books and sometimes a small amount of food is paid for.  However, what about clothes, extra food and the everyday toiletries supplies that are needed to live on.  Sure the athlete has his schooling paid for, but what about the athlete’s right to live comfortably?  Other students are allowed to earn the extra money and to live comfortably, so the athletes should be able to do the same.

    The college athlete is becoming a major media figure in the United States.  Millions of dollars are put into this fast paced business, and the athlete is missing out on what they deserve, a portion of those million dollars.  Increased pressure and expectations are placed on these athletes and these athletes deserve a reward for their efforts.  The college athlete brings publicity, and a sense of pride to their universities, for this, the athlete deserves some sort of payment.