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| Video Game Addiction |
by Les Cockrell news editor
Video games have come quite a long way in the last few decades. From the cheesy music and graphics of “Pong” to the breathtaking scenery and elaborately orchestrated tunes in games like “World of Warcraft” or “Halo,” video games have been a great source of entertainment for people of all walks of life. Americans, in general, seem to have an addiction to entertainment, and these games offer an experience that cannot be replicated in any book or movie.
What is appealing with video games, mainly of the online role-playing variety, is that they offer an environment where individuals who may not have many friends or be talented in sports have an opportunity to be “great” in the game. Also, with Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) the game developers are constantly updating their content, offering users more environments to explore, more fiends to vanquish. In some of the more extreme cases, a fictitious world can become more engaging than real life.
As such, this medium of entertainment can produce some unintended results with people who seem to enjoy them more than others. “For me, it’s an escape from reality, if only for a little while,” an anonymous student said. She said that for certain reasons, mainly because her friends do not know she is a video game junkie, she would only give her gamer name. “I get stressed out with papers to write and books to read. Logging on and playing for an hour or two is a really good method of release for me.”
While this is a good way to approach to a video game’s place in one’s list of priorities, it is not one that is accepted by all. Many people, old and young, can easily find themselves literally addicted to the game they are playing. Psychiatrist Michael Brody of WebMD defines addiction as a situation where “the person needs more and more of a substance or
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behavior to keep him going. If the person does not get more of the substance or behavior, he becomes irritable and miserable.”
Video game addiction, in most ways, is not nearly as harmful as alcoholism or a drug habit, but some of the end results are the same. Even though a person cannot go to jail for an addiction to a game, there can be some other dire consequences.
Keith Bakker, director of Smith & Jones Addiction Consultants, has created a program for addicts to kick their habit. Bakker says that those “who play four to five hours per day have no time for socializing, doing homework, or playing sports.” What could be even worse than that would be for an adult who constantly plays and loses their job due to a video game addiction. Of course, an employer cannot find that kind of addiction in a urine test, but one’s work may suffer because of distraction or lack of sleep.
Equally important, it seems, are the impacts that this kind of addiction can have on students. Avoiding social interaction is bad enough, but skipping classes or neglecting homework can put one on the path to ruin. In the long run, a degree in a particular field of study will always outweigh any achievement attained in a video game.
If a student feels that they have this kind of addiction, do not despair. The University Counseling Center is probably the first and foremost resource that any student can use to help them deal with this problem. There are a growing number of treatment options that can be researched online, notably at WebMD.com.
As with any medium of entertainment, video games are best enjoyed in moderation. Entertainment offers users a temporary escape from their stressful lives. The most important word to note there is: temporary. Life is difficult to deal with sometimes, and everyone needs a release, but remember that moderation is the best way to go.
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| Economists: Obama’s Plans Might Help, But Not Overnight |
by Susan Tompor mct campus
We’ve witnessed a presidential election marked by history and hope. Now, one has to wonder when Wall Street might be able to ditch images of a fearful future, too.
We’re not going to avoid a recession. Many economists expect this recession to be longer than the past two recessions, which lasted eight months each. But can we regain confidence that eventually the credit crisis will end and the stock market will bounce back? Some theories:
President-elect Barack Obama has been upfront in saying that the economic troubles won’t be resolved within the next year. So he may avoid quick fixes and offer calm.
“Remember, it took many years to get here. This will not be a sitcom recovery, in which problems are resolved in a 30-minute segment,” said Anthony Chan, chief economist for JPMorgan’s Private Wealth Management in New York.
The U.S. economy won’t hit bottom until the second half of 2009, he said, and it will take time to “crawl back into economic prosperity.”
Still, he said stock traders could be reassured if Obama addresses the crisis early on. U.S. and European leaders are to meet Saturday at an economic summit. Chan said it would be useful if the president-elect attends those meetings.
Gridlock is not always bad for stocks, according to Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist for Standard & Poor’s equity research services in New York.
Some might worry that having one party in control of Congress and the White House leads to a blank-check mentality. |
But his research shows that stocks have done well in the past when the president and Congress were controlled by the same political party. Since 1945, he said, there have been 26 years of pure political harmony. In each of those years, the Standard & Poor’s 500 posted an annual advance 77 percent of the time. The S&P 500 index gained an average 10.4 percent excluding dividends.
Stovall noted that there tends to be a traditional post-election relief rally. The relief, of course, is from the relentless negative rhetoric of most election years.
He does offer one warning: On Wall Street, the bears tend to have Thanksgiving, while the bulls get Christmas.
Wall Street could rally if the right players get picked for Obama’s economic team.
I’d call it the Allen Iverson effect. After some miserable losses in the Eastern Conference finals in the past three years, the Detroit Pistons might end up in the big dance now that A.I. is a Piston.
Would the U.S. economy have a better shot at an economic rebound if former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker hit the court? Or Lawrence H. Summers, former president of Harvard and President Bill Clinton’s Treasury secretary?
And really, these guys don’t need practice.
Some plays are in place.
David Sowerby, portfolio manager for Loomis, Sayles & Co. in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., said we might see a year-end rally after the incredible efforts by the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates and boost money supply.
Sowerby said the S&P 500 could rally another 5 percent to 7 percent after already making a comeback since late October.
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