A Prompt For a Cause-and-effect Writing Assignment

An "A" and a "C" paper

Usually, for a cause-and-effect writing assignments in the scientific field, students are expected to be able to apply not only their understanding and knowledge from lessons, but also other evidences from real scientific world to analyze and express some related and reasonable causes or effects of a given topic.

In my opinion, to write an “A” paper, certainly, students should provide both of direct and indirect causes and effects. Besides, they should include some examples and strong scientific evidences related to the topic. Some statistics and citations might be included. Students are supposed to clearly explain and discuss the relationships among those. Writing format is considered as well. An “A” paper should be written into an academic format and easy to understand. Moreover, the content should remain coherent and focus on the topic.

On the contrary, the benchmarks for a “C” paper could be described as follows. Like an “A” paper, a “C” paper should be written into an academic form, and easy to understand. It provides causes and effects and also few scientific evidences but might not be sufficient. Students cannot discuss and picture the relationships between the causes and the effects clearly. The included statistics and citations might not strong enough to demonstrate the relationships. So, the large-scale of an assignment is quite weak.

Consequences of Deforestation

Consequences of Deforestation

It would not be wrong to say that deforestation is one of the largest problems with which Thailand is facing. Between 2000 and 2005, statistics from the Thailand Environmental Profile, Thailand lost its forest cover as high as an average of 1,445,000 hectares, or about 9.1% of those. This crisis is needed to be immediately solved; otherwise, it may lead to a large number of problems in the nearly future. It has been widely known for a long time that deforestation results to several serious problems as follows.

To start with, deforestation can lead to bad soil erosion. A forest, especially growing on the top of mountain, plays an important role preventing soil erosion due to rain and strong wind. A great number of wide-spreading roots of a variety of plants throughout a forest hold the ground surface tightly and protect soil from directly exposing to storms, allows leaves to gradually be decomposed without being flushed out. This helps a forest remain soil fertility and, in turn, leads to the forest sustainability.

The next important consequence of deforestation I would like to refer is the food web damages. The food web is the termed in biology used to describe the relationships among various kinds of animals living in the same habitat. Plants are eaten by herbivores, plant-eating animals, which eaten later by carnivores, meat-eating animals. Destroying a forest would not damage only plants, but it would also have indirectly effects on every species of wildlife. Lower the number of forest, lower the habitat and food of herbivores, in turn, lower the food of carnivores.

Last, but not least, deforestation is widely considered as one of the crucial factors contributing to global warming. It is the fact that a plant is able to change the Carbon dioxide, one of the gases badly released by fuel burnings and is responsible for the global warming. The continuously decreasing number of forest, together with the non-stopped increasing number of fuel burnings makes the situation worse. The temperature of our world is gradually increasing and may cause very serious consequences affecting to every creature in the world.

For the paragraph mentioned above, there can be no doubt that deforestation causes the significant number of serious consequences, such as soil erosion, food web damage, and, most importantly, global warming. Unless we stop destroying forest now, the global-warming effects might destroy all of us in the nearly future.

My Evaluation for the "Bowling For Columbine"

My Evaluation for the Bowling for Columbine

My Criteria for Documentary Film
- Interesting topic
- Provide Knowledge
- Based on Facts
- Reasonable Supporting Evidences
- Entertain, not boring
- Appropriate Length

Bowling for Columbine, the documentary film starring, directed, and produced by Michael Moore, revolves the story around the student massacre in Columbine, the United States. The film focuses on gun violence in U.S. and suggests several reasons and causes of those. In my opinion, this film is so worthwhile to watch because of several reasons.

To begin with, it’s interesting. Even though the American gun violence theme initially sounds a little bit boring, the film can appeal and interests audiences by using the infamous student massacre as a background to bring audiences to the film’s focused question; should American gun availability be controlled? Moreover, more than entertainment, the good documentary film, of course, should provide some knowledge to its audiences. Bowling for Columbine could be accepted for this point without question. It provides a great deal of knowledge related to gun availability, and gun violence, including America’s history leading to such problem. For instance, he mentioned interesting statistics of gun violence around the world and did not forget to emphasize that U.S. has had the highest rate of people injured by a gun.

Besides, Moore suggests reliable causes and reasons of gun violence in the U.S., all of which are based on facts. He demonstrated easiness to get a gun by just walking into the real bank, deposited some money and got a gun back. The very availability of gun in U.S. surprised me so much, especially getting a gun from a bank as a promotion. Furthermore, the length of the film is appropriate, not too long, or too short. Moore could provide enough information and simultaneously made audiences realize the importance to solve such problem as soon as possible. Last, but not least, the film reached its purpose not only to make audiences realize the important of gun control in U.S., but it also entertains them even though some scenes looked seem too violent.

Over all, in my opinion, Bowling for Columbine is a kind of a good documentary film. Moore chose interesting topic to make the film, provided knowledge about gun violence in U.S., including base-on-fact supporting evidences that make his film strongly reasonable, in the appropriate length. This film also entertains audiences despite too many violent scenes.

The Summary of "Luigi, Tony, and the Family"

The Summary of Luigi, Tony, and the Family

“Luigi, Toni, and the Family” discusses about the evolutionary stereotypes of Italian-American people represented in American media. The author described those by dividing Italian’s views into four different stages, “The Invisible Man”, “The Grateful Immigrant”, “The Mafia Gangster”, and “The Jivy Proletarian”. “The Invisible Man” is the earlier stage that Italian did not present in any media. When the second stage, “The Grateful Immigrant” had begun, Italian became a featured personality in radio and television. The author demonstrated “Life with Luigi” as an example. It was about Italian immigrant who was joyful and appreciative in the United States. In “The Mafia Gangster” stage, Italian was represented in the archetypal gangster. The author considered this stereotype as the most enduring in media. Finally, the last stage “The Jivy Proletarian”, media display more commercial success in streetwise working-class Italian. Furthermore, the author also stated that the media’s tactic was to move with the stereotypical notions about one group or another, rather than against them. The media merchandisers promoted the crudest impression of ethnics held by the public, encouraging each group to accept the prefabricated images of other groups.

FWA, Literature Review

Does Dietary Supplement Consumption Really Promote Health?

Literature Review

In recent years, it would not be wrong to say that dietary supplements have become more and more important role in our society. Billions of them have been sold throughout our world, especially in the United States. A large proportion of Americans strongly believe that regularly taking dietary supplements would help be healthy. Many scientific researches indicate supplements’ ability in reducing risk for certain diseases or other conditions, such as certain cancers, heart disease, osteoporosis, or neural tube defect. However, several evidences argued that taking dietary supplements may not promote health in healthy people; indeed, taking excess amounts of supplements can cause some serious diseases. Until now, the necessary of dietary supplement consumption has still been widely debated.

Among all countries, the United States leads the world in dietary supplement usage with 100.4 million Americans using vitamin and minerals every day and 37.2 million using herbal remedies regularly in 2000 (Prevention Magazine, 2000). Retail and non-retail sales of dietary supplement products across all distribution channels in that year were $17 billion (The Nutrition Business Journal, 2001). Interest in the use of dietary supplements appears to be dramatically growing. In 2004, the Institute of Medicine reported that 18.9 percent or around one in every five Americans had taken one or more dietary supplements. The most prevalent reason consumers use dietary supplements is to improve overall health and general well being (Roper Starch Worldwide, 2001). A large number of scientific researches try to link diets high in some nutrients, such as calcium, beta carotene, vitamin A, C, and E, with a lower risk for certain diseases. Those are a key factor contributing to increased interest in taking supplements.

Kristin Wallace reported in the June 16 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2004 that calcium supplementation may lower risk of advanced colon polyps. She suggested that taking calcium supplement slightly decreased the risk of all types of colorectal polyps, but its effect was greatest for the most advanced colorectal lesions. Another interesting research supported the necessary to supplement calcium regularly is a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Dr. Emily Senay referred the research in The Early Show, April25, 2006 to confirm that calcium supplements are useful for bone health and play important role in preventing osteoporosis, the bone-weakening condition, especially in elderly women taking those frequently. The necessity to supplement calcium was also pointed out by several researchers. Robert P. Heaney, MD, of the Osteoporosis Research Center at Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska also highlighted the importance of such supplements at the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research 27th Annual meeting. "You want to tell American women to go to the chalkboard and write 1,000 times, 'I will take my calcium.'" said Heaney. “Americans aren't getting enough calcium from their diets and that is why physicians advise them to take calcium supplements."

About vitamin C supplements, their protective effects on various chronic diseases have also been studied. The First National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES I) pointed that vitamin C supplement might have preventive effect to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Men and women regularly taking vitamin C about 300 mg/day from supplements and dietary vitamin C had been observed and found that they had a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, 42% lower in men and 25% lower in women. Besides, vitamin C’s ability in decreasing lung cancer has been revealed for a long time. Kromhout described in Essential micronutrients in relation to carcinogenesis, 1987 that consuming more than 83 mg of vitamin C daily could lower a risk of lung cancer.

On the contrary, the failure of dietary supplements in preventing diseases has also been widely published. British Medical Journal-BMJ, October1, 2006 demonstrated the failure of calcium supplements to provide long-term strengthening of bones. This research was a review of 19 major studies that involved around 2900 healthy children aged between three and 18 and found that such supplements felt to prevent bone fractures in children. It stated that children taking such supplements had only small improvements in bone density, which were unlikely to reduce fracture risk. Another study published in the Lancet, one of the world largest medical magazines, 2005 surprisingly concluded that calcium supplementation could not help protect older patients at risk for fractures. "There was no evidence that supplementation might be especially useful for specific groups or that true differences could have been obscured by poor compliance," Adrian M. Grant, M.D., and colleagues wrote in the April 28 online issue of The Lancet.

Even though the property of vitamin C as an effective antioxidant has been accepted universally, the failure of the vitamin C effect against oxidation in many patients has been widely reviewed. Joseph P. Gaut, MD, of the Department of Surgery, Washington University, St. Louis, Minnesota and his colleagues demonstrated in the Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 2006 that vitamin C felt to prevent lipids and amino acids from oxidative damage during acute inflammation in mice. This conclusion contradicted the long-held belief that vitamin C supplementation could help protect biological molecule damage from oxidation in animals. In addition, studies of Creagan (1979) and Moertel (1985) published in the New England Journal of Medicine found no differences in outcome between cancer patients receiving high dose of vitamin C, 10 grams per day, orally and those who did not.

Many nutrition researchers still assured that dietary supplements intake might not promote health. In fact, the excess amounts of some dietary supplements can cause serious conditions. Over consumption of calcium can increase amount of calcium in blood, and develop to hypercalcemia, abnormally elevated blood calcium, which dramatically increases the risk of kidney stones. It was found in a large prospective study that women taking supplemental calcium had 20% higher risk of developing kidney stones than those who did not (Gary Curchan and his colleagues, 1997). Nonetheless, a risk of prostate cancer significantly increases in men frequently taking high dose of calcium. A large prospective cohort study in U.S. found that men whose calcium intake was over than 2,000 mg daily had a risk of developing advanced prostate cancer three times higher than those whose calcium consumption was less than 500 mg per day (Giovannucci and his colleagues, 1998).

For the preceding paragraphs, there can be no doubt that the necessity of dietary supplement consumption has still been universally debated. Should we go on taking supplements? Do dietary supplements really promote or improve our health? The answers of these questions and the actions we will act to in the future deal with our consuming behaviors would largely affect our own health. Therefore, it is unavoidable to interest in both benefits and drawbacks of dietary supplements; however, almost all of today advertisements tend to convince us to take supplements by a variety of techniques. Many of them try to refer doctors or researchers to make their products seem reliable. Unfortunately, there is only little evidence that dietary supplements have the effect that they claim. Indeed, some supplements can cause serious damage to a user’s health. What’s about FDA?, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not check on the safety of dietary supplements before they are sold. The FDA has to wait until it receives reports of problems caused by supplements before it can investigate and ban a dietary supplement (Dr. Steven, MD, and Dr. Jessica, RD, CDE, MPH). Hence, it is our own responsibility to consider and make a decision whether we should take supplements or not. This paper provides some critical evidences and facts about dietary supplements to help consider and remind you not too much believe in such supplement advertisements.

Relative Clauses : Final Exercise

Final Exercise
1. Equally, Chapter 9 argues that the sanctions prevail "because the leader of Iraq thinks it more important to retain access to weapons of mass destruction than to relieve the suffering of the people over whom he rules (G)," despite the "heart-rending reports of the effects of the shortages of basic foodstuffs and medicines."
2. The Empire (ZR) we find ourselves faced with (G) today is also mutatis mutandis constituted by a functional equilibrium among these three forms of power.
3. The danger is that postmodernist theories focus their attention so resolutely on the old forms of power (ZR) they are running from (G), with their heads turned backwards, that they tumble unwittingly (G) into the welcoming arms of the new power.
4. I know there's been some criticism from some of those back here in Washington who (G) say, "Well, you know, they really don't have the big picture out there, but I think they're giving us a very accurate picture."
5. There is, of course, a long tradition of "anti-modern" thought that (G) opposes modern sovereignty, including the great thinkers of the Frankfurt School (along with the entire republican line we have traced back to Renaissance humanism.)
6.They have a lot of different contingency plans to deal with what happens in Baghdad, including the possibility of chemical weapons, which we haven't seen (G) yet.
7. The extra protection is worth the few bucks (ZR) you'll shell out (G) for a pair of flip-flops.
8. This occurred on a bridge on the key road to Mosul, and it was after Iraqi forces retreated from a ridge that we've been overlooking for (G) about a week, moving back the front line about four-and-a-half miles.
9. I considered my mother's beauty--blemishes and all--part of the extraordinary package that (G) made her who she was.
10. Students need time to investigate and experience resources that (G) enable them to experiment and discuss, and they need to the opportunity to evaluate what they are learning about learning.

Hedging : The IQ Paradox Resolved? A Critical Analysis

The IQ Paradox Resolved? A Critical Analysis

The Flynn effect, or IQ paradox, is simply the rise in mean IQ scores during the 20th century. The paper first goes into some detail on what intelligence is and how it is measured. Then a critical review and analysis of the Flynn effect and the Dickens-Flynn (2001) models is discussed. The basic idea of these models is that environment, with hereditary, influences IQ and IQ in return affects that environment. The conclusion is that the model may be appropriate for explaining the rise in IQ scores in future years but there is still major work that must be done on it.
The IQ paradox is simply the large gains over time in intelligence test scores (Flynn, 1999). The Flynn effect is Flynn's explanation of the rise in mean IQ scores during the 20th century (Rowe & Rodgers, 2002). He and his colleagues were the first to notice this rise and it is now fairly accepted that there is one. It has been shown and is universally accepted that word knowledge has risen significantly in the last 20 years by about 5 verbal IQ points (Nettelbeck & Wilson, 2004).
The Dickens-Flynn models try to explain this rise and attribute it to a model incorporating both heritability and environment. The models are recursive models of IQ growth in which phenotypes and their supportive environments are correlated (Dickens & Flynn, 2001). The basic idea is that a person's environment affects their IQ and that IQ affects their environment. This suggests that small environmental influences produce large changes in IQ and that most environmental effects are short-lived. The consequence of this is that improving childhood IQ does not necessarily mean that children will have high IQ when they are adults.
Though the Dickens-Flynn models posses a very interesting explanation and may be proven as acceptable models in the future, there is not enough evidence to suggest that it should be accepted universally as the best explanation for rise in IQ with what is known about it currently. Although the models do an adequate job at explaining the effects of environment on IQ, there are too many unknowns in the theory. The most important criticism may be that this model lacks enough experimental validation (Rowe & Rodgers, 2002). There really have not been many recent studies done, so the data it is based on is outdated. The studies that have been done have had problems of their own with keeping basic statistical assumptions true (Mahlberg, 1997). There are also some flaws with the models themselves.
With all of this in mind it is clear that a stance on the subject can be taken. The Dickens-Flynn models while well thought out and apparently noteworthy, have some major flaws. The models as they are can not be accepted for major statistical and theoretical problems. Maybe once they address these problems, they can be accepted in mainstream science as a valid explanation and some day solve the IQ paradox.
Background on IntelligenceIntelligence is defined as a general mental capability that involves the abilities to reason, comprehend complex ideas, plan, solve problems, learn quickly, think abstractly, and learn from experiences (Gottfredson, 1997). There are several issues that most scientists agree on and in 1994 the Wall Street Journal published an article, "Mainstream Science on Intelligence," which covered everything that has been universally accepted thus far, on intelligence and IQ tests. Heritability of intelligence ranges from .4 to .8 on a scale from 0 to 1. Unfortunately, there is little known about what brain processes are used in intelligence so there has been little advancement on being able to manipulate it to raise IQ permanently.
IQ is also known to lie a long a bell curve, or normal curve. The average IQ is 100, where above 130 is giftedness and below 70 is retardation. IQ scores are an accurate measure for everyone regardless of socioeconomic class or race. The averages for these groups are not the same though (Williams & Ceci, 1997).
Intelligence is a broad reflection of the capability to comprehend a person's surroundings and in this form it can be measured (Neisser et al., 1996). The intelligence tests of today measure it very well. IQ tests measures intelligence so well, that these tests are among the most accurate, reliable and valid, in psychology. There are two kinds of intelligence tests, word and numbers, or shapes and designs. The words and numbers test is culture bound and expects certain knowledge of the culture such as vocabulary. On the other hand there is the shape and design test which only requires knowledge of universal concepts such as open vs. closed. Both of these tests measure the same thing though; what is commonly known as the 'g factor.'
There are still many different intelligence tests (Wainwright, Wright, Geffen, Geffen, Luciano, & Martin, 2004). The most current, universal, and widely accepted test is the Wechler's Adult Intelligence Scale Revised (WAIS-R) (Kaufman, 1990). In 1939, the Wechsler-Bellevue From I (W-B I) was created by David Wechsler. This test was redesigned and reformed in 1955 and became the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). This was also edited in 1989 to become the WAIS-R. This test is now the most widely used and accepted intelligence test. Some newer and not so well known tests are the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery-R (WJ), the Standford – Binet Intelligence Scale, Form IV, and the Kayfman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test (KAIT).
The Dickens-Flynn ModelsNow there needs to be some explanation of definitions so that the Dickens-Flynn models can be best explained. For this paper the environmental effects that are in the model are those effects that are "short-lived" (Dickens & Flynn, 2001). Most environmental effects decay over time. Attributes such as nutrition or socioeconomic class are the exception to this decay and are long term. These effects, in Flynn's eyes, rival the effects of genes and are not included under his idea of environmental effects. This means that when he argues that IQ affects environment and environment affects IQ, he is referring to the "short-lived" environment.
The Dickens – Flynn models boldly try to explain the IQ paradox and attribute it to a model with both large heritability and environmental effects. The models are recursive models of IQ growth in which phenotypes and their supportive environments are correlated (Dickens & Flynn, 2001). The idea is that environment affects IQ and that IQ affects environment. This suggests that small environmental influences produce large changes in IQ and that most environmental effects are short-lived.
There are many interesting features that the Dickens – Flynn models allow. The first and most important feature is that the models allow for a large environmental effect while still maintaining heritability. This is done by the theory that the environment has an effect on IQ and then in exchange IQ has an effect on that environment. Remember that he is referring to short-lived environment.
The second feature is that the Dickens-Flynn models can account for other phenomena. As long as the trait in question matches itself to an environment, that trait will behave like the models. The other condition for this is that the environment effect can not accumulate over time. Even with this restriction this feature is a good one statistically. It means that in the future other things regarding environmental change can already be explained statistically.
The third feature explained in Flynn's theory is why a child's IQ does not determine the adult's IQ. This is because environmental effects decay over time. In order to have a child's high IQ last, it is suggested that programs should encourage the continuance of replication of lessons long after they are done with the program (Dickens & Flynn, 2001). Basically, when a child leaves a learning program, the parents or guardian should help the child continue with the practices they learned (i.e. organizational skills or study cards).
CriticismThe criticism against the model is in many parts. The first is that there has been no explanation of the rise in IQ universally accepted (Rowe & Rodgers, 2002). The rise in IQ, the IQ paradox, is widely accepted and known, but what is causing that rise is in question. There have been several suggestions; Flynn's is just one of them (Uttl & Van Alstine, 2003). Since the publication of The Bell Curve by Herrnstein and Murray in 1994, IQ has been in question by professionals and non professionals alike. So since the IQ paradox was formed there has been some debate on what affects IQ. This in tern creates tension between the different ideas on what has caused the rise in IQ thus providing no clear agreement on the solution of the IQ paradox.
The next criticism is that so far, experiments dealing with the Dickens – Flynn model have either had statistical problems or were unable to replicate (Nettelbeck & Wilson, 2003). This could mostly be due to the fact that Dickens and Flynn used less than current data to obtain their model and is no longer representative of the current population (Rowe & Rodgers, 2002). When evaluating whether or not the models would fit outside data there were other problems. Statistically speaking this is very bad.
The results could also be attributed to other factors, which is the third criticism. Most of the other factors are the long term environmental effects. Even though the Dickens – Flynn models allow for long term environmental effects, there may not be a significant enough allowance for change over time. An example of this is nutrition. America's nutrition, and most of the world's, has been improving for the past century. More people are eating more and better than they ever did.
The fourth is that the models do not specify a time line (Loehlin, 2002). Dickens and Flynn neglect to say if the change in IQ occurs during a person's life time or if these models are gauged to a broader population change. There are also no explanations for time gaps. An example of this is: suppose if a person learned to ride a bicycle and did so between the ages of 5 and 10. Then they stopped for 10 years. Would that person have to start over again to learn how to ride the bike or is the intelligence engraved in their mind? Dickens' and Flynn's models would say the person would have to relearn the skill, which does not seem logical.
The last and maybe the most important is that the model allows for large changes in IQ variance where historically there is no real change in variance at all (Rowe & Rodgers, 2002). This presents a very big and unwanted statistical blunder. There are two major things in statistics that most be accurate, the mean, and the variance. Since the variance increases over time the effect known as heteroscidasticity will occur. This basically means that at first the correlation between IQ and environment is constant and strong, but as time moves that correlation becomes weaker and eventually will become nonexistent. The conclusion is that the models are bad predictors and the heteroscidasticity must be solved before the models can be recognized as statistically sound.
ConclusionFor the most part, it is universally accepted that there has been a rise in IQ level. The real argument is what is causing this rise. There are arguments that range from a Freudian explanation of collective consciousness to genetic development and adaptation (Mingroni, 2004). The Dickens-Flynn models seem to be one of the most popular explanations thus far but are still a little rocky. From the analysis of the model there really seems to be too many statistical and theoretical blunders made in the development and implementation of the models. The fact that there are major statistical errors made in the models themselves is enough to discredit the theories.
Even though Flynn's theories about the IQ paradox seem appropriate on the surface, there are major theoretical issues. The first is the fact that the theory only allows for IQ to affect short-lived environmental effects. As far as that is concerned, long-term environment can be affected by IQ. An example of this is that IQ is known to correlate with socioeconomic status. Even though long term effects are in the Dickens-Flynn models it does not include it in the interaction between IQ and short-lived environment.
Even with these blunders these models could be the best explanation of the rise in IQ thus far. But like all statistical models it needs more time and studies to validate it and work out all of the kinks. If this model was reconsidered with some changes and major experiments, it may be the best theory to explain the IQ paradox yet.
Peer Commentary
Childhood Exposure to Technology May Increase IQ ScoresAllen J. HolmesRochester Institute of Technology
Flynn studied the IQ scores of separate generations of people. He discovered that, on average, IQ scores raised 3 IQ points over each decade. His studies were extensive. He analyzed data from 20 countries. Some countries displayed rapid intellectual increase of up to 20 IQ points per generation of people. This is a phenomenal increase, which suggests that the Flynn effect has probably not been occurring at all points in human history. It must be a relatively new phenomenon. If we were to assume that the Flynn effect has been occurring throughout human history, the statistical curve would suggest that the average person born only 100 years ago would be considered mentally challenged by today's standards. So what are the causes of the Flynn effect displayed in the Dickens-Flynn model?
The first cause may be food consumption. Western societies are extremely well off in food supply. The majority of people in Western culture have the choice of refusing food. This was not always true and is still not true for many non-Western peoples. Despite this fact, it seems that only severe malnutrition affects the IQ score of an individual.
Perhaps the tendency for couples to have fewer children has a direct effect on the IQ score of children. Parents with fewer children are able to spend more time with each child, thus stimulating their cognitive abilities at an early age, which is obviously beneficial to overall intelligence as well as psychological well-being. It is true that modern families have far less children than families from only 60 years in the past. I believe that this is a definite factor in the increase of IQ.
Another possibility that may increase the average IQ score over generations may be the effects of technology and the demand that technological devices impose on people. Comedians joke about how young children are able to teach their parents how to program a VCR. This is not unreasonable. Children are increasingly exposed to technology, which poses unique problems that may increase abstract problem solving ability and pattern recognition.
Elderly people often have difficulty learning how to use a personal computer, whereas a young person may find computers very intuitive and easy to operate. I have a theory for this. When a person is young, he or she has an increased capacity to learn new things. This has been shown in countless studies about the benefits of head start programs sponsored by government. Perhaps early exposure to technology-oriented interfaces increases a child's ability to adapt and understand complex and abstract problems.
Flynn's studies show that there is a much greater increase in non-verbal problem solving ability than word-oriented test scores. This would support my theory that childhood interface exposure increases pattern recognition and abstract problem solving ability. Complex interfaces are a problem with which only recent generations have had to deal. This would explain the reason for the Flynn effect's recent appearance.
As the everyday use of technology increases, it is reasonable to assume that the average IQ of an individual will increase as well. This will likely level off in the coming 50 years as the increase of incorporation of technology into everyday life reaches its high water mark.
Peer Commentary
The IQ Paradox: Is There an Answer?David J. MoultonRochester Institute of Technology
This paper raised the question of the IQ paradox, which is basically the drastic increase in IQ scores during the 20th century. This work is really just a critique of Flinn's explanation for why intelligence test scores have been increasing and therefore is not an answer to the question of why IQ scores are increasing.
The Dickens-Flynn model that was critiqued had many flaws. These were discussed briefly, but the author could have used more logic and explanation. For example, after briefly researching this model myself, I feel that it does not account for the content of IQ tests. That is, what the IQ tests are actually testing should be looked at. The paper lacks any discussion of this aspect of the problem. What about the fact that we live in the information age, and that a majority of people (in the USA) own or have access to a computer? Games and other special orientated activities can be done using this new technology and may have increased a person's intelligence in this area. The paper says that the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale was last revised in 1989 to become the WAIS-R test. At that time, an average person may not know what a computer was; let alone what can be done with one. Computer technology has advanced at an extreme rate, and it seems as though IQ tests have not been revised enough to account for this. Since the paper says that the WAIS-R test is the most widely used one today, and its last revision was in 1989, an argument can be made from this as to why IQ has been on the rise. A lot has changed since 1989 because of the popularity of the computer. This is an environmental aspect which supports the Dickens-Flynn model, but was not discussed in the paper. As a final note on computer influence, computers have been woven into education today. Many homework and teaching techniques are facilitated by computer technology. Using a computer to do work is fairly abstract and ambiguous, but since people can come into frequent contact with they may get used to doing these abstract activities, which may translate to better performance with abstract questions on an IQ exam.
Another criticism to the Dickens-Flynn model that seems easy to make is that of an environment thousands of years ago. You could assume that our environment is much better than the environment that people lived in that long ago, yet people of that time were very intelligent. For example, the Greek civilization in view of many people was the creator of mathematics and discovered many scientific principals. Surely it requires a high level of intelligence to do these things yet, technology and other environmental factors as we know it did not exist then. How would the model explain that? Methods of education seem to have been left out of a discussion as to why IQ scores are on the rise. Could a rise in IQ be attributed to better teaching methods? Or maybe teachers are just teaching for the test itself because they know what is on it? If that were the case, then IQ test scores would increase, but this may be a false representation of real IQ since these people have been taught to answer test question and may have missed certain concepts that otherwise would have been learned through a normal method of teaching.
One last point that I disagree with is the statement that Americans are eating healthier than ever. Heart disease is still one of the most frequent causes of death in the United States, and frequently there is talk about a labeled "obesity epidemic" that is occurring. Clearly, a majority of American are not making the correct choices about what they eat. Furthermore, studies have shown that vitamins or supplements have had no impact on intelligence itself.
The IQ paradox was clearly defined and is a recognized problem. Clearly there is no clean cut answer to why IQ is increasing, but a discussion drawing from other aspects of the problem would be helpful in letting the reader realize the complexity of the question of the IQ paradox.
Peer Commentary
The Dickens-Flynn Model: A Contradictory ExplanationKyle R. SkottkeRochester Institute of Technology
One of the major areas discussed in this paper is the Dickens-Flynn model. This model is supposed to provide an explanation for the rise in IQ scores during the 20th century. It is seemingly undisputed that intelligence is rising, based on comparing results from intelligence from past decades. Although the Dickens-Flynn model is supposed to help elucidate the mechanism by which intelligence seems to be rising across the board, there appear to be major flaws in the model which makes it unacceptable in my opinion.
One key point that the author makes is that old data was used to help design and test the model. While there might have been several reasons for using older, already gathered data, such as lowering the cost of research and shortening the time required to support their theory, it seems counterproductive in this case. In designing a model which represents a current population and how it is changing currently, it seems inappropriate to use data that are out of date.
I believe that the Dickens-Flynn model does not fully appreciate the importance of our increasing food supply and nutrition. One study (Berkman, Lescano, Gilman, Lopez, & Black, 2002) found that malnourished children, and children suffering from disease causing chronic diarrhea suffer a decreased cognitive ability. In many third world countries, malnutrition and diarrhoeal diseases were a big problem, but these are being corrected by modern medicine and through the use of better nutrition, such as golden rice. Although these problems have not been completely wiped out, there has been improvement.
The improvement of childhood nutrition in third world countries, and even improved health in western nations could explain the rise in IQ. I think this is a much more plausible explanation than the short lived environmental effects that the Dickens-Flynn model emphasizes. The long term nature of environmental effects like nutrition would also help to explain why IQ scores have consistently risen, instead of more sporadic results which might be expected with short term effects such as those described in the Dickens-Flynn model.
The author mentions that the data that Dickens and Flynn relied upon was out of date and no longer relevant, which brings into question the relevance of our IQ tests. If it is possible for the data that Dickens and Flynn were using to become obsolete in current times, it also seems possible that revisions could be made to intelligence tests to make them better fit the times. The WAIS-R was revised in 1981, making it over 20 years old and in my view, a prime candidate for further modernization. This is one area that the author does not consider in the paper, but one that I feel is relevant. Although it is important to have some sort of consistency so that validity and reliability can be ensured, I also believe that IQ tests would serve as a better measure if they were updated more frequently to match an ever changing society.
Although the Dickens-Flynn model does incorporate the ability of intelligence and the environment to interact and influence each other, I believe that there are too many statistical flaws and under-representations of important factors to consider this model valid. When designing the model, Dickens and Flynn relied on out-of-date data that does not represent the current situation. In addition to this, agree with others who criticize the model for not placing enough emphasis on the effects of long term environmental factors such as malnutrition in childhood. The focus of the model is instead on short term environmental factors which pale in comparison to malnutrition as far as the effects on cognitive ability. One more criticism I have with this model, in addition to those mentioned in the paper is that the intelligence tests that are in use today are over 20 years old. When the Dickens-Flynn model can be shot down by critics because of old data, I believe that old methods of IQ quantization are also fair game for criticism. I believe that part of the reason that IQ scores have increased is because the overall nutrition of the world has increased, as well as the need for updated tests that would present the same challenge in today's society as the WISC-R did in 1981.
Author Response
Flynn and the IQ ParadoxAlexandria K. CherryRochester Institute of Technology
The IQ Paradox has been a major topic for debate and attention for some time. What is causing this dramatic rise in IQ over the past century has not been fully explained. My paper, "The IQ Paradox Resolved? A Critical Analysis," looked at one theory proposed by Flynn to see how well it held up.
The first peer commentary, from Holmes, entitled "Childhood Exposure to Technology May Increase IQ Scores," is a very interesting take on the Flynn effect but does not really comment directly on my paper. It seems that Moulton, author of "The IQ Paradox: Is There an Answer?" did understand some basic theories of the IQ paradox. There is nothing in it that suggests that this phenomenon has persisted for the entire existence of humankind.
The last commentary, by Skottke, "The Dickens-Flynn Model: A Contradictory Explanation," did an excellent job relating new information with what had previously been stated. He recognized all my problem points and did a beautiful job adding something new and interesting.

Steps to Write a Literature Review

In writing a scientific research article, it would not be wrong to say that one of the most important portions is a part of literature review. A literature review, from www.msvu.ca/library/glossary.asp, is defined that it is a comprehensive survey of publications in a specific field of study or related to a particular line of research, usually in the form of a list of references or an in-depth review of key works. A literature review is always the first section of most research articles, and it, of course, is the part usually written to convey to your reader the important academic research related to your topic. As we could realize, it is not an easy task to write such a good literature review; therefore, it is necessary to learn some steps to write before we conduct it. In this essay, I would like to describe some steps for writing a literature review based on what I have learned.

The first thing you should conduct for writing a literature review is critically understanding in your topic. A literature review is a part for introducing your reader some background knowledge related to your field; hence, it is unavoidable for you to understand your own topic and its scope intensively. Once understanding in your topic’s scope, you will able to select only the core knowledge related to your information that should be read and included in your article. For instance, if you wanted to discuss on the topic of “Does Vitamin C supplement help healthier?”, you might provide some background about Vitamin C, the amount of Vitamin C human needs per day, the concentration of those in general conventional food and daily Vitamin C, the necessary of supplementing Vitamin C, or even the disadvantages of Vitamin C supplement consumption. Thus, you could survey on the topic of nutrition.

Surveying and evaluation other’s related research, articles, and journals from any sources, such as the internet, published journals, or even textbooks, that have been done is the next. You should go through those to gain a variety of specific ideas, methodologies, and results related to your topics, and then try to generalize several points indicating known and unknown particular knowledge in your field. Therefore, on the topic of Vitamin C, you might survey on research, or other sources, to gain data and information about the above mentioned ideas. Don’t forget to evaluate those information sources. A good scientific research basically needs strongly reliable information sources. The easiest way is surfing on the well-known scientific websites or world-wide accepted journals. Pubmed, Nature, Sciences are good instances. The information posted on those sources was assessed reliability by specific experts who have in-depth knowledge in related fields.

What’s next?, summarizing your surveyed results is another important steps. Once you gained a large amount of information, you would realize that some of those support your topic whereas others are not, try to generalize and group them. After that, synthesize information into what is or not known about your topic. In the Vitamin C research, for example, some results encourage people to consume daily Vitamin C supplement while others are not. Group them and try to generalize. Then start writing your own research and don’t forget to quote references to which you refer.

The key portion of a good literature review is a part of which an author tries to convince reader that his research is necessary. In your own research, you might provide some reasonable known and not known information, and then provide several critical reasons about the necessary to conduct your research. This would urge reader to be interested in your research.

For the steps mentioned above, there can be no doubt that writing literature review, of course, is not too difficult task for you to conduct. The key factors contributing to a good literature review are definite scope-not too narrow or general, in-depth knowledge in your topic, enough supportive information and references, and, most importantly, effectively convincing reader to realize your research’s necessary.

Words Used to Reference Other’s Ideas

Words Used to Reference Other’s Ideas

Ludwick, R., Silva, M. (December 19, 2003). Ethics Column: "Ethical Challenges in the Care of Elderly Persons" Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. Available http://nursingworld.org/ojin/ethicol/ethics_14.htm

© 2003 Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Article published December 19, 2003
ETHICAL CHALLENGES IN THE CARE OF ELDERLY PERSONS
Ruth Ludwick, PhD, RN, C Mary Cipriano Silva, PhD, RN, FAAN

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Keywords: aged, aging, elderly, ethics, code of ethics
Ethical issues are central to any discussion or reflection on aging and health care. The authors of the OJIN topic, Health Care and the Aging Population: What Are Today's Challenges?, address a variety of topics including quality of life, long-term care planning, geriatric education, frail elder care, and successful aging behaviors. Imbedded in these topics are ethical issues that are relevant to nursing and/or health care. Thus, the focus of this column is to examine select ethical issues in these five articles on aging.
To frame our discussion, we will use the provisions of the 2001 American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements (referred hereafter as the Code). The Code represents the nursing profession’s public declaration of ethical duties and obligations and, as such, it serves as a basis for any discussion of ethics that involves nurses. Thus, the Code is applicable to us as we work with the aged, whether we make a home visit, administer a medication, answer a call light, develop a policy, or supervise a student. We begin the column with an overview of some of the ethical issues that are explicitly and implicitly discussed in each of the five articles and then examine how the ANA Code can inform and guide us with the ethical issues outlined.
Overview of Articles on Ethical Issues
The article by Bennett and Flaherty-Robb (2003) paints a broad picture of four issues affecting the health of older persons: lack of resources; scarcity of providers; financial barriers; and cultural barriers and biases. While there are many ethical problems that can be discussed within the context of these four issues, cultural biases stand out because nurses can personally examine these biases and change them in our daily practice. As the two preceding authors note in their article, stereotyping is common. Nurses are not immune to stereotyping and, thus, must examine their own beliefs and values about aging. Do nurses and the nursing profession have their own biases about aging? How do we react when we hear biases expressed by nurses or other health care workers or by families or by the elderly themselves? How much does age bias influence our decision to withhold treatment or informed consent?
In their article, Edlund, Lufkin, and Franklin (2003) address some of the problems related to long-term care in the US health care system. At first glance one may not consider the individual ethical implications imbedded in this topic. The article authors, however, point out the ethical duty nurses have to educate the public and at the same time keep themselves knowledgeable about long-term care. But are nurses as educated as they should be about long-term care? Have you heard nurses say, "I do not understand Medicare"? Have you heard acute care nurses publicly find fault with long-term care nurses or vice versa? Do you listen for and correct misperceptions such as, "Long-term care is nursing home care," or "Nursing homes are where people go when nobody wants you"?
Mion’s (2003) article addresses in depth the limited geriatric education of most nurses, even though these nurses will have some contact with geriatric populations. Even in pediatrics and maternity, where one assumes a younger population, we see in developed and in developing countries a rising number of grandparents who are primary caregivers for children. While the educational process may have fallen short, are nurses keeping up with the gerontological and ethical literature as it applies to the areas of nursing in which they work?
Young’s (2003) article outlines the issues related to care of frail elders in acute- and long-term care, examines subsequent challenges, and then suggests some innovative answers to their care. As Young discusses the challenge of resource allocation, she also notes ethical dilemmas. Specifically, she mentions end-of-life care and the decision to treat against the wishes of the dying person. In our professional or personal lives, have we found family members or other health care workers who persuaded us to prolong or start a treatment when it was expressly against the wishes of the dying person? Or have we been in a situation where we failed to ask in a timely manner what kind of care that dying persons want?
The last article by Hartman-Stein and Potkanowicz (2003) addresses the behavioral components of successful aging. Regarding this article, ethical questions can be raised about individual client responsibility and preference about lifestyle choices, but the ethical questions for nurses may not seem as apparent. For example, how often do we discuss with the elderly choices about exercise, religious beliefs, or cognitive activities? Do we routinely screen for depression, functional change, or cognition changes, or do we wait to do these screens until symptoms become problematic?
While each of the preceding five articles was addressed separately, in fact, the articles overlap. Both Bennett and Flaherty-Robb (2003) and Young (2003), for example, discuss cultural issues, but they do so from slightly different perspectives. Edlund, Lufkin and Franklin (2003) and Mion (2003) also address education but the issues are presented from varying standpoints. This overlap, while at first seeming contradictory, only helps to demonstrate the complexity of the issues. As you, the reader, reflect on the articles both individually and collectively, we hope you are challenged to think of the ethical issues that connect these articles. Now let us examine how the Code can be used for direction in reflection and practice.
The Provisions
The nine Provisions of the Code are rich in detail and broad enough to encompass the ethical issues discussed above. Each Provision of the Code can be used to guide our ethical reflection as we care for the aged, no matter where we work or what our practice level is. However, the four Provisions of the Code most relevant to this OJIN topic are: Provisions 1 (respect), 2 (commitment to patient), 5 (competence), and 8 (health promotion). These Provisions can be used to guide nurses in dealing with the specific issues discussed in the preceding five articles: (a) cultural barriers (Bennett & Flaherty-Robb, 2003; Young, 2003), (b) education (Edlund, Lufkin & Franklin, 2003; Mion, 2003), (c) end-of-life wishes (Young, 2003), and (d) lifestyle choices and responsibilities (Hartman-Stein & Potkanowicz, 2003).
Cultural Barriers
Examining one’s own beliefs and values, and one’s subsequent biases, is essential in examination of ethical issues. Our values and beliefs will impact on care provision, that is, on what care is provided, as well as when, where, why and how it is provided. Bennett and Flaherty-Robb (2003) note that in the American culture there is a "…strong elder bias…" (Issue 4: Cultural Values Do Not Give Priority to Providing Services and Support for Older Adults section, para 2 ). Let’s take an example of one bias and examine how it can impact our ethical view. If we stereotype the elderly as frail and, therefore, believe we must protect them, then we may not uphold Provision 1 of the Code (2001). Specifically the Code states, "The nurse, in all professional relationships, practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems" (ANA, 2001, p. 7). While age is not specifically mentioned as an attribute, it is implied and thus this principle can give us guidance on issues dealing with older people.
The principle of respect for persons, as cited in Provision 1 of the Code (2001), seems easy to understand at an intuitive level. It implies that as nurses we value an individual or group’s beliefs and wishes and consider those when acting as a professional nurse. But it may be harder to follow in practice if one believes that frail older persons must be protected. For example, conflicts may arise between what the patient needs to know to be informed and what you, other health care workers, or family members believe the person should be told. Thus, ethical issues may result around truth-telling and/or informed consent, and it is vital for each of us to examine our biases and stereotypes. To that end we have provided some websites that examine myths related to aging:
Myths about Aging www.go60.com/myths.htm
Exploding Aging Myths www.prairiepublic.org/features/healthworks/Aging/myth.htm
Test Your Knowledge www.webster.edu/~woolflm/myth.html
Education
Several OJIN topic authors address education (e.g., Edlund, Lufkin & Franklin, 2003) and the lack of gerontological content in nursing curricula (e.g., Mion, 2003). Staying current in one’s profession is an ethical duty to the constituency the profession serves. While education reforms may be advocated and in progress in nursing programs in the US (e.g., see the website of the John A. Hartford Foundation Institute of Geriatric Nursing) and across other countries (e.g., see Primomo, 2000) it is vital that we each examine our individual needs regarding education and, in particular, gerontological education. Specifically Provision 5 of the Code (2001) addresses competence and professional growth. The Code states, "The nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including the responsibility to preserve integrity and safety, to maintain competence, and to continue personal and professional growth" (ANA, 2001, p. 18).
Actions to consider in relation to competence and professional growth might include a range of activities. Some actions such as formal education (e.g., continuing education, formal classes, degree work) are perhaps more obvious than demonstrating competence (e.g., certification, clinical ladders) or personal growth (e.g., reading books and journals, volunteering in or developing programs that provide services to the elderly). To examine and reflect on your own practice, consider visiting the John A. Hartford Foundation Institute of Geriatric Nursing and click on the link on the left column of the website that relates to your role as a nurse (e.g., educator, practice nurse) to see specific suggestions for helping with your education and competence.
End-of-Life Wishes
Young (2003) raises thought-provoking questions in her article about weighing public and individual responsibility in resource allocation. She raises a number of issues about public policy related to end of life. Although when united nurses can influence and set policy related to end-of-life issues, the majority of nurses examine end-of-life issues at the personal level. At the bedside, it is not uncommon to hear statements like "We can’t just let mom die," or "Mom would not have wanted to live like this." When families of different dying persons voice these statements and the statements are reflective of the dying person’s wishes and also within the scope of nursing practice, there is no conflict. But members of the same family often express conflicting statements, or perhaps no one has asked the dying person what is wanted related to end-of-life care. Often complicating these scenarios are the respective opinions that every other health care member involved may hold. The nurse provider may feel "caught in the middle" and often without the resource of an ethics committee. In these types of conflicts, how can autonomy and self-determination of the competent dying person be upheld and preserved?
Both Provision 1(previously discussed) and Provision 2 of the Code (2001) can guide nurses with these difficult dilemmas. Specifically, Provision 2 states, "The nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group or community" (ANA, p. 9). In the conflicting statements given above, remember that if you are the nurse caring for the dying person, your first duty is to that person. Secondly, your duty is to the family, that is, to help the family understand the wishes of the dying person. Provision 1 discusses the right to self-determination and Provision 1.4 expressly states, "The nurse supports patient self-determination by participating in discussions with surrogates, providing guidance and referral to other resources as necessary, and identifying and addressing problems in the decision-making process" (ANA, p. 9).
How can we help families to respect and support the dying person’s wishes? As patient advocates we can advise, foster, and facilitate early discussions about end-of-life issues, thus helping individuals make informed decisions. Early discussions also help family and significant others to discuss beliefs and values with the elderly person when death becomes more imminent. Suggested resources for nurses to use with families can be found at the following websites:
End-of-Life Care (an international journal of leaders in end-of-life care) www2.edc.org/lastacts/archives/archivesJan99/default.asp
Last Acts (National Coalition To Improve Care and Caring Near the End of Life) www.lastacts.org/
Lifestyle Choices and Responsibilities
The article by Hartman-Stein and Potkanowicz (2003) addresses the behavioral components of successful aging, with particular emphasis on starting early to assure healthy aging. At a practice level, however, it is not uncommon for nurses to voice such biases as, "The elderly have made lifestyle choices; I am not going to change their views," and "If you live to be 80, you deserve to be able to do what you want." These commonly voiced beliefs, which may be based on stereotypes, only make health promotion harder to implement. Health promotion is seen as easier to set aside than other nursing care for a number of reasons: technology focus of the health care system, nursing shortage, mechanisms for implementing health promotion may not be in place, and the results from health promotion are not easy to document.
However, Provision 8 of the Code (2001) clearly identifies nurses’ responsibility for health promotion: "The nurse collaborates with other health professionals and the public in promoting community, national, and international efforts to meet health needs" (ANA, p. 23). Yet the elderly are often forgotten in health promotion. Young (2003) points out that despite growing stress placed on health promotion, a large number of elderly have any number of chronic conditions that are linked to lifestyle choices that do not include positive health promotion activities.
Nursing has been at the forefront in health care in commitment to health promotion. The OJIN topic titled Nursing Around the World (2000) features articles form nurses in several countries where health promotion is emphasized. Yet, the question remains: What can we do individually and collectively to promote health among the elderly? In 1997, the ANA drafted a Position Statement entitled "Promotion and Disease Prevention" that is available at http://www.nursingworld.org/readroom/position/social/scprmo.htm. At the site are listed eight strategies for health promotion and disease prevention. To learn more about health promotion, visit the following sites and think about the ethical context:
Put Prevention into Practice (PPIP) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality www.ahrq.gov/clinic/ppipix.htm
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion http://odphp.osophs.dhhs.gov/
Daly M. and Katzel L. Health promotion and disease prevention in the elderly. Retrieved August 3, 2003 from : http://hora.cpmc.columbia.edu/dept/dental/Dental_Educational_Software/Gerontology_and_Geriatric_Dentistry/prevention/prevention.html
Summary
In summary, a short review of each article in the topic, Health Care and Aging Population: What are the Challenges?, and possible ethical issues (either implicitly or explicitly discussed) were reviewed. Although each article was examined individually, there was overlap in the articles. The Code (2001) was used to examine the nurse’s ethical duties to the elderly regarding cultural barriers, education, respecting end-of-life wishes, and lifestyle choices and responsibilities.
AUTHORS
Ruth Ludwick, PhD, RN, C e-mail: ojinethics@kent.edu
Ruth Ludwick, RN, PhD, C, is a Professor at Kent State University, College of Nursing (CON). She is an Associate Editor and a member of the founding editorial board of the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing (OJIN). She serves as coordinator for the OJIN Ethics Column and coordinator of the links for each topic. Ruth teaches across the curriculum. She is widely published and presents nationally and internationally on research related to research, gerontology, college teaching and online work. She is actively involved with research with colleagues in N. Ireland, Australia, and England related to the factorial survey method.
Mary Silva, PhD, RN, FAAN e-mail: msilva@gmu.edu
Mary Silva, RN, PhD, FAAN, received her BSN and MS from the Ohio State University and her PhD from the University of Maryland. She also completed post-doctoral study at Georgetown University in health care ethics. Since 1974, she has been a prolific writer about health care ethics in general and ethics in nursing administration in particular. Recently, she was a member of the ANA Code of Ethics Project Task Force. The Task Force, along with ANA staff guidance, wrote the 2001 Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements, which won an AJN "Book of the Year Award." Dr. Silva is a Professor of Nursing at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA.
REFERENCES
American Nurses Association. (2001). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. Washington, DC: American Nurses Publishing. Retrieved August 3, 2003, from www.nursingworld.org/ethics/ecode.htm
Bennett, J., & Flaherty-Robb, M. (2003). Issues affecting the health of older citizens: Meeting the challenge. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 8(2), Article 1. Retrieved August 3, 2003, from www.nursingworld.org/ojin/topic21/tpc21_1.htm
Edlund, B., Lufkin, S., & Franklin, B. (2003). Long-term care planning for baby boomers: Addressing an uncertain future. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 8(2), Article 2. Retrieved August 3, 2003, from www.nursingworld.org/ojin/topic21/tpc21_2.htm
Hartman-Stein, P., & Potkanowicz, E. (2003). Behavioral determinants of healthy aging: Good news for the baby boomer generation. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 8(2), Article 5. Retrieved August 3, 2003, from www.nursingworld.org/ojin/topic21/tpc21_5.htm
Mion, L. (2003). Care provision for older adults: Who will provide? Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 8(2), Article 3. Retrieved August 3, 2003, from www.nursingworld.org/ojin/topic21/tpc21_3.htm
Young, H. (2003). Challenges and solutions for care of frail older adults. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 8(2), Article 4. Retrieved August 3, 2003, from www.nursingworld.org/ojin/topic21/tpc21_4.htm
© 2003 Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Article published December 19, 2003





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State Lotteries are Needed

Summary :

Due to the United States’ economic crisis, states receive less revenue from tax collection; thus, it is very necessary for the government to use lotteries as a tool to increase state revenues without imposing higher taxes upon citizens. Lotteries are not new things for American. They have been used and existed for a long time. Moreover, the author mentioned an expert to provide some advantages of lottery, John Morgan, an economist. He argued some benefits of lotteries that they help increase provide of public good such as education and transportation, improve welfare, create occupations and enhance fiscal situation. The author also emphasized on the necessity to provide state lottery. State without lottery lost a large amount of money because people pay money for other states’ lottery. This hurt economy and led to state budget problems. Most importantly, lotteries are an effective tool to relieve the pressure of taxpayers. People pay for lotteries voluntarily. In contrast, the author also provided a controversial opinion on lotteries. Adults may spend much more money for lotteries than for paying high tax rate to win big. Therefore, the drawbacks of the lotteries should be as well documented as their benefits.