Financial Statements Essay Example for Free

Financial Statements Essay There are four basic financial statements that companies use. They begin with income statement, statement of owner’s equity, balance sheet, and the statement of cash flows. Company’s use income statements to report how much money they have made and how much they have spent over a specified period of time. The statement of owner’s equity is used to report any changes in equity from a company’s net income or net loss, as well as report changes in the owner’s investments and withdrawals over a specified period of time. The balance sheet is used to report a company’s financial position at any point in time. This statement includes information such as what types of assets and their amounts, liabilities, and equity. The statement of cash flows is the last document out of the four basic financial statements. This statement is used to report how much money a company is bringing in (receipts), and how much they are spending (payments), during a specific period of time. Any changes found in assets and liabilities on a balance sheet reflect the revenues and expenses found in the income statement, which in turn results in gains or losses for a company. The statement of cash flows reports more information concerning the cash assets that are listed on a balance sheet and a linked, but not necessarily the same, as the net income found on the company’s income statement. Financial statements are nothing but numbers on a document when they’re on their own, but together, they provide valuable and powerful information for a company to make very big decisions about how to run their company, and how to make decisions for their company in the future. The information is also valuable for investors to make wise and educated decisions for investing in companies.

Celebritys Rights to Privacy

Celebritys Rights to Privacy Do celebrities have rights to privacy? Should their private lives be open to press scrutiny? Please analyse Hello v Douglas, Campbell v MGN Ltd, A v B and Campbell v Frisbee. Please also mention cases that were referred to in the judgements of these cases, and the importance of data protection in answering this question. There is no express common law ‘tort of privacy’ in English law[1]. Rather, there is a generally recognised ‘right’ to privacy. In recent times, there has been much controversy surrounding the issue of privacy, and questions have been raised as to whether or not privacy should be expressly enforceable through the courts. Prior to the HRA 1998, a person could only bring an action against another for breach of confidence, trespass or defamation[2]. Grundberg[3] opines, ‘†¦Freedom of the press is the cornerstone of freedom of speech.’ However, it is the media that have had the biggest role to play in the discussions surrounding the right to privacy. Gibbons suggests that the issue now is deciding how far the interests of the media count against the introduction of a general law. He opines that the concept of privacy ‘†¦is not easy to elucidate and its priority in securing protection over other interests is not self-evident.’[4] Essentially, Gibbons affirms, privacy centres on the individual’s right to restrict the availability of information about him or herself. There have been attempts to pass bills in Parliament with the aim of introducing a statutory tort of privacy, all of which were unsuccessful. Government Committees and Royal Commissions have also recommended against the introduction of such a law on the basis that there would be an ‘unworkable definition of the tort.’[5] The Younger Committee Report on Privacy confirmed that they ‘†¦found privacy to be a concept which means widely different things to different people and changes significantly over relatively short periods. In considering how the courts could handle so ill-defined and unstable a concept, we conclude that privacy is ill-suited to be the subject of long process of definition through the building up of precedents over the years, since the judgements of the past would be an unreliable guide to any current evaluation of privacy.’[6] The absence of such a law was criticised in the case of Kaye v Robertson.[7] Gordon Kaye, an actor, had been in volved in a serious accident and was consequently admitted to hospital. Journalists from the Sunday Sport ignored notices to see a member of staff before visiting Kaye, and subsequently took photographs of him. Medical evidence was submitted, stating that Kaye was not fit to give interviews at that time and had no recollection of ever giving one in the first place. Consequently, Potter, J granted an injunction to prevent publication of the pictures and any accompanying story. Barendt and Hitchens assert that this particular case has been the subject of much analysis in recent times, and cite Professor Markesinis[8] who claimed that, ‘†¦English law, on the whole, compares unfavourably with German law†¦Many aspects of the human personality and privacy are protected by a multitude of existing torts but this means fitting the facts of each case in the pigeon hole of an existing tort†¦it may leave a deserving plaintiff without a remedy.’[9] In October 2000, an express right to privacy finally broke into English law by virtue of the Human Rights Act 1998. The European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Article 8 was incorporated into English law. The Convention stipulates that ‘Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.’ According to Grundberg, the HRA 1998 applies only to government action and not to the actions of private individuals. Furthermore, Article 8 requirements can conflict with the right to freedom of expression, as detailed in Article 10.[10] In Douglas v Hello!, the Douglases and OK Magazine won their case against the publishers of Hello! magazine for breach of confidence. Hello! had published unauthorised photographs of the wedding of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones, in the full knowledge that OK had an exclusive on the story. In addition to winning their claim for breach of confidence however, the Douglases were also awarded damages under the Data Protection Act 1998 by virtue of the fact that the photographs were deemed to be ‘personal data.’[11] The photographs were said to have been unlawfully processed by Hello!, thereby contravening the requirements of the DPA 1998. Lindsay, J stated that, ‘†¦When a data controller (Hello!) is responsible for the publication of hard copies that reproduce data that has previously been processed by means of equipment operating automatically, the publication forms part of the process and falls within the scope of the Act.’[12] Hello! argued tha t their publication fell within the ‘wide journalism exception’ under s.32 of the DPA 1998, a mechanism that was successfully used against Naomi Campbell in the case of Campbell v MGN Ltd[13] at the Court of Appeal. In this case however, Lindsay, J ruled that unlike the Campbell case, there was ‘†¦no credible evidence that Hello! had the necessary belief that the publication was in the public interest, particularly given that the photographs were obtained by trespassing paparazzo and Hello! knew OK was about to publish a wedding exclusive.[14] He continued to assert, ‘That the public would be interested is not to be confused with their being a public interest.’ Kate Brimsted claims that the first principle of the DPA 1998 requires the processing of data to be fair and lawful. In this case, Lindsay, J held that the principle had been breached by Hello! magazine in that their methods of obtaining the photographs were unfair. The magazine had also failed to comply with the requirements laid out in Schedule 2 of the Act in relation to fair and lawful processing. In the case of Hello v Douglas Lindsay, J referred to the case of Peck v UK[15]. In this case, the European Court of Human Rights held that English law had failed to provide Peck with an effective domestic remedy when CCTV images of him looking apparently suicidal were broadcast. Brimsted argues that in the current climate, the DPA 1998 would provide him with a legal remedy by virtue of the fact that he would be entitled to compensation as he suffered ‘by reason of any contravention’ of the Act by the data controller (the broadcaster). In the case of Campbell v MGN Ltd[16] the Mirror newspaper had ran a cover story with the headline ‘Naomi: I am a Drug Addict,’ accompanied by two pictures – one of Naomi Campbell as a glamorous model, the other of her looking casual in jeans and a baseball cap, over the caption ‘Therapy: Naomi outside meeting.’ The Mirror had exposed Naomi Campbell’s attendance at Narcotics Anonymous. In general, the article was deemed to be supportive and sympathetic, though inaccurate in places. The frequency of her attendance was also exaggerated. Campbell took action against MGN Ltd the day the story was published. The Mirror responded by publishing further stories, though the tone of the articles shifted from sympathetic and supportive to aggressive and demeaning; one headline was simply labelled ‘Pathetic’. In the proceedings, Campbell claimed damages for breach of confidence, and compensation under the Data Protection Act 1998. Morland, J upheld her claim, awarding her approximately  £3,500. MGN Ltd subsequently appealed, and this was upheld. Campbell appealed once again to the House of Lords, though this time her appeal was dismissed on the basis that inter alia, the pictures published by MGN Ltd ‘conveyed no private information beyond that discussed in the article†¦there was nothing undignified or distrait about her appearance.’[17] It is worth noting here the difference between this case and Peck v UK, where Peck’s vulnerable and suicidal appearance was a key factor in the final d ecision. Naomi Campbell was involved in further legal proceedings against her former employee Vanessa Frisbee, in Campbell v Frisbee.[18] The News of the World had published an article about apparent sexual encounters between Campbell and the actor Joseph Fiennes. The story had been provided to the newspaper by Vanessa Frisbee, who had been employed by Campbell to provide ‘management services’. It was a term of Frisbee’s contract that she would keep information about Campbell private, and she entered into a Confidentiality Agreement on the 9th February 2000. Frisbee agreed to abide by a number of clauses; namely however that she would not disclose anything to the media without the prior permission of Campbell. It was appreciated in court that Frisbee owed Campbell a duty of confidence, and that the disclosures she had made were clearly a breach of this confidence. Campbell claimed damages or account of profits arising from the breach of confidence. By way of defence, Frisb ee argued that, through a culmination of mistreatment and assault the contract between herself and Campbell had been repudiated, and, even if the court found that this was not the case, she was entitled to sell the story nevertheless, because there was a public interest. Lightman, J held in this case that confidentiality remained binding in respect of confidential information that the employee or contractor had acquired in the course of his or her service, even if the contract had been repudiated by other means[19]. In the case of A v B, the court was concerned with whether or not to grant an injunction to restrain the publication of private information. This information concerned the sexual relations that A, a married professional footballer, had had with two women – C and D. Lord Woolf stated in this case that any interference with the press had to be justified; under s.12 (4) of the Human Rights Act, the court had to have regard to whether or not it would be in the ‘public interest’ for material to be published. Lord Woolf stressed in this case however that, even if there were no obvious special public interest, this did not mean that the court would be justified in interfering with the freedom of the press; he opined that, ‘†¦where an individual was a public figure he was entitled to have his privacy respected in appropriate circumstances. He should recognise however that he must expect and accept that his actions would be more closely scrutinised by the media. ’[20] Lord Woolf appears to be adhering to the school of thought that suggests celebrities, by virtue of their prominent status within society, should appreciate that their lifestyles and activities will be more carefully monitored by the press than ordinary members of the public. Crone suggests that it is unlikely a claimant will be able to restrain the publication of information about his or her private life unless the information ‘†¦is trivial or already in the public domain†¦there is a clear public interest in the publication involving, for example, the detection or exposure of crimes†¦or the claimant can clearly be compensated in damages because, for example, he is prepared to sell the relevant information about his private life, as was the case in Douglas v Hello!.’[21] In answering the question, ‘Should the lives of celebrities be open to press scrutiny,’ the difficulty lies in deciding which information is of sufficient importance for the public to have a justifiable claim to knowing about it. Gibbons claims that in some cases this is reasonably clear, i.e. if facts about anti-social or harmful practices are private, this does not warrant their continued secrecy, and facts relevant to a politician’s ability to govern are required to be publicly known in the interest of society at large. It appears that celebrities are entitled to object if information is private and there is no public interest in the material being published. There are obvious differences between cases such as Campbell v MGN Ltd, where the claimant did not wish the photographs to be published at all, and Douglas v Hello!, where there objections stemmed from the fact that, while they were willing for photographs to be published, they had agreed an exclusive with a magazine in order to protect their commercial interests. It is also interesting to note that now, while the UK does not benefit from a specific privacy law, adequate redress can now be obtained by virtue of the Data Protection Act 1998, and the protection it offers â€Å"by reason of any contravention† of its provisions. Bibliography Barendt, E., Hitchens, L. Media Law: Cases and Materials (2000) London: Longman Law Series Brimsted, Kate for Hebert Smith Data Protection: a Privacy Law By Any Other Name? 15th April 2003 www.spr-consilio.com Crone, T. Law and the Media (4th Edition) 2002 Oxford: Focal Press Gibbons, T Regualating the Media (1998) London: Sweet Maxwell CASE LAW A v B Plc Another (2003) QB 195 Campbell v Frisbee (2002) EWCA Civ No. 1374 Campbell v MGN Ltd (2002) Kaye v Robertson (1991) FSR 62 Peck v UK (The Times, 3rd February 2003) STATUTORY PROVISIONS Data Protection Act 1998 Human Rights Act 1998 LEGAL WEBSITES www.spr-consilio.com www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk Footnotes [1] Grundberg, P. The ‘New’ Right to Privacy Chapter 8, p.114-130 in Crone, T. Law and the Media (4th Edition) 2002 Oxford: Focal Press [2] Grundberg, P. The ‘New’ Right to Privacy Chapter 8, p.114-130 in Crone, T. Law and the Media (4th Edition) 2002 Oxford: Focal Press [3] Grundberg, P. The ‘New’ Right to Privacy Chapter 8, p.114-130 in Crone, T. Law and the Media (4th Edition) 2002 Oxford: Focal Press [4] Gibbons, T Regualating the Media (1998) London: Sweet Maxwell p.83 [5] Grundberg, P. The ‘New’ Right to Privacy Chapter 8, p.114-130 in Crone, T. Law and the Media (4th Edition) 2002 Oxford: Focal Press [6] Younger Committee Report on Privacy, Cmnd. 5012 (1972) cited in Barendt, E., Hitchens, L. Media Law: Cases and Materials (2000) London: Longman Law Series p.399 [7] Kaye v Robertson (1991) FSR 62 [8] The German Law of Torts (2nd Edition) 1990 p.316 – cited in Barendt, E., Hitchens, L. Media Law: Cases and Materials (2000) London: Longman Law Series p.399 [9] Barendt, E., Hitchens, L. Media Law: Cases and Materials (2000) London: Longman Law Series p.399 [10] Grundberg, P. The ‘New’ Right to Privacy Chapter 8, p.114-130 in Crone, T. Law and the Media (4th Edition) 2002 Oxford: Focal Press [11] Brimsted, Kate for Hebert Smith Data Protection: a Privacy Law By Any Other Name? 15th April 2003 www.spr-consilio.com [12] Lindsay, J Douglas v Hello! Cited in Kate Brimsted for Hebert Smith Data Protection: a Privacy Law By Any Other Name? 15th April 2003 www.spr-consilio.com [13] Campbell v MGN Ltd (2002) [14] Lindsay, J cited in Hebert Smith Data Protection: a Privacy Law By Any Other Name? 15th April 2003 www.spr-consilio.com [15] Peck v UK (The Times, 3rd February 2003) cited by Lindsay, J in Douglas v Hello!, cited in Brimsted, Kate for Hebert Smith Data Protection: a Privacy Law By Any Other Name? 15th April 2003 www.spr-consilio.com [16] Campbell v MGN Ltd (2004) UKHL 22 [17] Campbell v MGN Ltd (2004) UKHL 22 [18] Campbell v Frisbee (2002) EWCA Civ No. 1374 [19] Lightman, J Campbell v Frisbee (2002) EWCA Civ No. 1374 [20] A v B Plc Another (2003) QB 195 [21] Crone, T. Law and the Media (4th Edition) (2002) Oxford: Focal Press

Death of a Salesman :: essays research papers

In â€Å"Death of a salesman,â€Å" Willy Loman’s values are very much skewed. He is focused on ideals that are dedicated to success in a world which has no room for non-achievers. Willy‘s life was built of false dreams and hopes. His main values in life are money and being well liked. These beliefs are expressed throughout the entire story. He says â€Å"Be liked and you will never want.† Willy also complains that Biff ‘†¦has yet to make thirty-five dollars a week!’   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The importance of being well-liked, physically attractive, and being a good athlete are the qualities which are often stressed by Willy Loman. He builds his whole life around this idea and teaches it to his children. He is convinced that Happy will become store manager, when Happy is just a loser. Willy constantly tells himself all of the great things that Biff has done, extremely inflating Biff’s image. Willy still refuses to face reality when Biff states that he never worked as a salesman for Oliver. Willy replies, â€Å"But you were practically.† By the time Biff is grown, it is almost too late to realize that good looks and athletic talent does not ensure respect and financial success. Biff knows this and says to his father, â€Å"We’ve been walking in a dream for fifteen years†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.I never got anywhere because you blew me so full of hot air.† Biff realizes that he has been blinded by false values.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Willy’s dream is to become like Dave Singleman. He was so impressed that Singleman was so well-liked, that buyers and salesman from all over came to his funeral. Willy’s need to be admired is so important that he lies about his own reputation and success. To prove to himself that he is well-liked, Willy cheats on his wife.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Moral values are not taught to Loman’s boys. When Biff steals the foot ball, Willy says that the coach would be proud that Biff wanted to practice. Also, when Biff told his father that Bernard gave him answers to his test, Willy had no problem with it.

Modern Labyrinth Essay -- Film Analysis

Film is a form of storytelling, and all stories are, in essence recycled, contemporary films must modernize a story of the past to make it accessible to modern audiences. This is the case with the film, Pan’s Labyrinth. The myth of â€Å"Theseus and the Minotaur† has been rewritten and modernized in the 2006 film, Pan’s Labyrinth. The myth â€Å"Theseus and the Minotaur† and the morals that exist within it, present a context in which it will be possible to interpret and analyze the film Pan’s Labyrinth as a modern day rewriting of the myth. In order to understand how Pan’s Labyrinth has been rewritten, it is important to first understand the original myth of â€Å"Theseus and the Minotaur†. According to Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, the story of Theseus and his quest to slay the Minotaur begins long before Theseus’s birth. â€Å"Minos, the powerful ruler of Crete, had lost his only son†¦while the young man was visiting the Athenian King† (Hamilton 211). In order to seek revenge, Minos invaded Athens and â€Å"declared that he would raze it to the ground unless every nine years the people sent him a tribute of seven maidens and seven youths† (Hamilton 212). When the victims reached Crete, they would be sacrificed to a beast that was â€Å"half bull, half human†, known as the Minotaur (Hamilton 212). The Minotaur was housed in a labyrinth where â€Å"escape was impossible† (Hamilton 212). â€Å"To this place, the young Athenians were each time taken and left to t he Minotaur† (Hamilton 212). This ritual continued until one year, Theseus, son of the Athenian king and heir to throne, offered to be one of the victims. Unbeknownst to the people, Theseus had every intention of slaying the beast. â€Å"When the young victims arrived in Crete they were paraded before the inhabitants ... ... bravely and defiantly act against authority rather than blindly remain obedient. This film shows the power of innocence over evil and the triumph of imagination over colorless servitude just as the original tale of Theseus and the Minotaur, but with a darker new interpretation. Works Cited Filmtracks Modern Soundtrack Reviews. (2007, January 05). Retrieved May 04, 2012, from http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/pans_labyrinth.html Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. https://content.ashford.edu Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. 1942. N.p.: Back Bay Books, 1998. Print VC. (2010, September 23). The Vigilant Citizen. Retrieved May 05, 2012, from The Esoteric Interpretation of Pan's Labyrinth: http://vigilantcitizen.com/moviesandtv/the-esoteric-interprentation-of-pans-labyrinth/

The Federal Reserve Essay -- Economics

To understand the purpose and role of the Federal Reserve System, we must first know the origin of the central bank of the United States. On December 23, 1913 President Woodrow Wilson signed The Federal Reserve Act. The primary purpose of the act was to make sure that a supply of money and credit would be available in the United States to meet banking demands by establishing Federal Reserve Banks which would hold the responsibility of supporting the credit structure during periods of financial strain. Other banks were expected to rely on the Federal Reserve for emergency cash and credit. Government and banking influence would select the management, primarily a board of directors chosen by banks. Supervision would be by the Federal Reserve Board. The intent in 1913 was to create eight to twelve centrally located district Federal Reserve Banks and national banks would be required to keep a part of their reserve with the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve would receive deposit s from the government and receive deposits and lend to member banks only. It took almost a year to determine the boundaries of the decided twelve districts and establish the twelve Reserve Banks (one of the four components of the Federal Reserve). Named after the city in which they are located, the twelve Banks are Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, and San Francisco. The Federal Reserve plays a significant role in maintaining the stability and liquidity (the ability to turn an asset into cash) of the financial system by working towards low and stable inflation and also strive to encourage growth in output and employment . A second component, the Federal Reserve Board... ...y 10). Retrieved May 23, 2012, from Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/other/20110110a.htm Press Release. (2012, January 11). Retrieved May 23, 2012, from Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/other/20120110a.htm (1914). The Federal Reserve Act of 1913. In O. Sprague, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 28 No. 2 (pp. 213-254). Oxford University Press. The Budgetary Impact and Subsidy Costs of the Federal Reserve's Actions During the Financial Crisis. (n.d.). Retrieved May 21, 2012, from CBO: http://www.cbo.gov/publication/21491 Who are the members of the Federal Reserve Board, and how are they selected? (n.d.). Retrieved May 21, 2012, from Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: http://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/about_12591.htm

A Poison Tree Poem by William Blake

Honors English IV December 11, 2009 The theme of â€Å"A Poison Tree† by William Blake is about wrath and anger. If one were angry with a friend, that wrath would eventually subside; if one were angry with a foe, however, and if left unchecked or left to simmer that anger would not subside and would grow. His poem offers insight into what anger does if one â€Å"watered it in fears, / Night and morning with [their] tears; / and sunned it with smiles, / and with soft deceitful wiles† (547 l. -10 Wood). The poem is appropriate for Songs of Experience and not Songs of Innocence because it portrays something that children do not do: seethe with anger for a long period of time. Children forgive and forget easily, adults do not. Adults tend to hold grudges and seethe with anger until something interrupts it or changes it, but children have simpler minds and thus simpler aspects of anger that may not last a long time.The themes and images of â€Å"Composed upon Westminster Br idge, September 3, 1802† by William Wordsworth classifies him as a typical Romantic poet of his time. Wordsworth shows only the beauty of London and uses simple language to get his point across. The major theme of the poem is nature, and he only shows the beauty of the landscape, not the destitution and filth that truly was London during the Industrial Revolution.Wordsworth transfigures the truth with his imagination, saying that everything was â€Å"all bright and glittering in the smokeless air† (560 l. 8 Wood) when really the city was ridden with pollution and smog. Wordsworth also shows and absolute sense of awe for the beauty of what he is seeing, and turns away everything that is â€Å"ugly† about it. Wordsworth sees only the beauty of looking from a bridge in the morning and turns away all the bad things related to the people of the area, a characteristic of a Romantic.

Video Games and Violent Children

Video Games and Violent Children Brittany Hern 02/02/2011 Critical Thinking and Composition Home video games, an industry worth $11 billion domestically that is now 30 years old, continues to be thrown into legal and moral debates regarding what age is deemed appropriate to participate. Video games, especially those deemed to be violent or rated â€Å"mature,† are at the center of the controversy. There are two sides to this debate. Video game companies and their supporters lead one side arguing that video games have no affect on children, and maintain that video games deemed â€Å"mature† are meant for those ages.The other side of this debate consists of psychologists and parents who argue video games are responsible for what they feel is a growing epidemic of increasingly violent and desensitized children. Video game companies continue to assert that the ratings issued by The Entertaining Software Rating Board (ESRB) are to be followed and any results stemming from ga mes being purchased against those ratings fall back on parents. There are five rating categories: Everyone, Everyone 10+, Teen, Mature, Adults Only. The ESRB rates every video game that is to be sold in the United States.Companies like Rockstar Games, which produces some of the most controversial video games, continue to maintain that their video games are produced for adults and are not marketed towards children. Rockstar developer Lazlow Jones was quoted in 2010 as saying â€Å"Our games are not designed for young people. If you’re a parent and buy one of our games for your child you’re a terrible parent†¦ † This quote came after the backlash of the release of another Rockstar Games title that was attacked for being too violent for children.Parents and psychologists agree the ratings are a first step in the right direction, but insist these titles should be pulled from shelves because the continuance of accessibility by children across America. Although t he ratings are in place, children in most states are able to buy video games rated â€Å"Mature. † In those states where identification is necessary, parents argue that homes often filled with adult gamers expose children in the same household to inappropriate video games. They contend that an epidemic of violence and desensitized children are the product of violent video games and not enough supervision.Numerous video game companies have turned to national crime statistics to prove their opposition wrong. Video games have been blamed for several high profile cases. One of the most infamous cases linking violence and video games is the massacre of 13 people at Columbine High School. Jerald Block, a researcher and psychiatrist in Portland, concluded that the two teenage shooters, both avid gamers, went on their shooting rampage after their parents took their weapon-based video game away.Linking video games to high profile violence around the country has not been uncommon. The Virginia Tech shooting was wrongly attributed to video games by several news stations and TV personalities around the country before it was concluded that the shooter did not play video games. Video game companies continue to point to crime statistics to disprove these links. Gaming gained mass appeal in the mid 1990’s and since then sales domestically have quadrupled. From 1995 to 2008, when the industry took strides, juvenile violent crimes fell 49. 3%.With these statistics in hand, video game supporters maintain that violent video games are not to be blamed for any acts of violence committed by underage gamers. The Federal government has played its own role in the debate on relating violence in video games to violent tendencies in children. In 1996 the US Marine Corps licensed a version of the then popular game Doom in order to train soldiers. Psychologists argue that if violent video games play no role in training children to become violent, why would the US Marineâ€℠¢s use a violent video game to train adults.Those against violent video games propose the question: If these adults are trainable via video games then why wouldn’t children, who are far more persuadable, take the things in the games as instructions or guidelines. In 2002, the US Army released a first-person shooter America’s Army in order to recruit soldiers and prepare those recruits for what the battlefield is like. Those against violent video games see this as a direct link between violent video games being a teacher and influencing rather than just being used as a form of entertainment.Furthermore, America’s Army, has been pointed out to look very similar to other first-person shooting games. There have been numerous studies conducted and while the results often are different, video game companies insist there is no formal research that shows any type of link that violent video games cause aggression. A study conducted in 2007 and published in the â€Å"Jou rnal of Adolescent Health,† consisted of 1254 participants, which were pre-teens in demographically diverse schools. The results showed that playing a â€Å"Mature† rated video game was a positive way to manage anger in half of the participants.While the study does say this could be an unhealthy way to manage emotions depending on the child, the participants correlated positivity with the â€Å"Mature† rated video game. Other studies have either been inconclusive and those ruling that violence is linked to violent video games have been dismissed by video game companies and supporters as being blind to other factors. The studies, they explain, do not divulge other contributing factors like a predisposition to aggressiveness, exposure to violence, and family dynamics; all factors that could contribute to violence.Those who oppose violent video games point out a 2000 FBI report entitled â€Å"The School Shooter: A Threat Assessment Perspective,† which documen ts likely characteristics of a school shooter. In their research, the FBI concluded that a fascination with violence-filled entertainment is a risk factor associated with a possible school shooter. The report lists â€Å"the student spends inordinate amounts of time playing video games with violent themes, and seems more interested in the violent images than in the game itself. Another study conducted was based on short-term effects of violent video games. The 2009 study conducted by members of the Department of Psychology from both Iowa and Kansas State University, had 91 participants and not only surveyed those participants, but monitored the heart rate to see if there was any deviation. The study added to existing literature that shows violent video games in fact increase aggressive behavior, aggressive feelings, aggressive thoughts, and arousal from baseline to post video game play.Whichever side of the argument you may land on, the opposition is fierce. The debate of whether v iolent video games produce violent children will rage on, both sides undoubtedly not losing any momentum with their opinions. Video game companies will continue to protect their multibillion dollar investment while parents and psychologists will continue putting pressure on lawmakers and the media to dive further into the numerous studies conducted on the possible link. References Barlett, C. , Branch, O. , Rodeheffer, C. nd Harris, R. (2009), How long do the short-term violent video game effects last? Aggressive Behavior, 35:  225–236. Whitworth, D (2010, May 01). Red Dead Redemption hoping for emotional response. BBC. Retrieved 02/01/2011, from http://www. bbc. co. uk/newsbeat/10136311 Nizza, M (2007, July 05). Tying Columbine to Video Games. The New York Times. Retrieved 02/02/2011, from http://thelede. blogs. nytimes. com/2007/07/05/tieing-columbine-to-video-games/ O’Toole, M (2000) The School Shooter: A Threat Assessment Perspective. p. 0. Retrieved 02/01/2011, from http://www. fbi. gov/stats-services/publications/school-shooter Olson, C et al. (2007). Factors Correlated with Violent Video Game Use by Adolescent Boys and Girls. Journal of Adolescent Health. Retrieved January 29, 2011, from http://www. jahonline. org/article/S1054-139X(07)00027-4/abstract. Croteau, S. (2010, November 26). Virtual Violence – Video game developers say blame misplaced. Telegram. Retrieved 01/31/2011 from http://www. telegram. com/article/20101126/NEWS/11260474/0/eworcester