Media Convergence Initiative

One Shot, Two Shots, Three Shots, Floor; The Dangerous Side Effects of Alcohol!

Posted on March 10, 2014 by joeyafemia

While thousands of college students go out every single night to celebrate a birthday, the end of an exam or just to get out of the house, many of these college students bring home a lot more than just a fun night out at the bars. While some students know how to drink responsibly, for the majority of students consuming alcohol, the way in which they handle their liquor is scary and far more dangerous than one might think. While drinking too much alcohol, whether it is on a single occasion or over time, the damages it has on the body can take a serious if not fatal toll on a person’s health. While many students, including the students here at UCF, are consuming an unhealthy amount of beer and liquor into their bodies on a regular basis, there are both short term and long term effects that plays a serious health issue to a person’s body.

When it comes to short-term effects, the consumption of too much alcohol can cause what just about every college student has had and that is the hangover. And while a hangover or a bad night’s sleep can be not so fun for a couple of days while recovering from drinking too much liquor, it is the longer term health effects of alcohol that people often experience once it’s too late.

To help give a better understanding of how serious the health effects of consuming alcohol are, here is a list of both the short term and long term effects:

Short term effects: Hangovers can leave a person tired, sluggish and stressed from all the drinking the night before. From a disturbed night’s sleep to alcohol poisoning, alcohol’s effects on the body can have a varying impact on our lives.

Long-term effects: Consuming alcohol for a long period of time can cause not only stress to the body, but it can also cause cancer, diabetes, liver failure and many other harmful side effects.

Alcohol not only interferes with the entire bodies functions, but it interferes with the brain’s communication pathways, and can affect the way the brain looks and works. These disruptions can change mood and behavior, and make it harder to think clearly and move with coordination. Alcohol affects the heart, the liver, the pancreas, the immune system and causing cancer. By drinking too much over a long period of time, alcohol can cause cardiomyopathy, arrhythmias, a stroke, or high blood pressure. When it comes to the effects of alcohol, the liver can seriously be damaged. Heavy drinking takes a toll on the liver, and can lead to a variety of problems and liver inflammations. Drinking too much cannot only weaken your immune system, but it also can make your body a much easier target for disease.

So next time you decide to go out, celebrate and drink it up, remember all the effects alcohol can have on the body before consuming too much!

Posted in Health | Comments Off

The Risks of Indoor and Outdoor Tanning and the Alternatives

Posted on March 10, 2014 by rhurley

With spring break just ending, and warm and sunny weather here, many people are grabbing their swimsuit and towels and heading to the nearest body of water. Not because it’s refreshing, but because they are going to try to get an “amazing tan”. Today in America’s society for people to be considered attractive they must not only be skinny, but now they must have a dark and tan skin. People go to the beach or the pool to lay out in the sun for hours to obtain their gorgeous sun-kissed skin. Unfortunately, a lot of people who do this do not comprehend how dangerous the effects of tanning can cause.

When people go to the beach and wear nothing but their swimsuit and oil to make the sun’s harsh rays even more intense, they are increasing their chances of skin cancer by a large amount. Although tanning outdoors is very harmful, many people have started to do indoor tanning for those few months where it is too cold and too cloudy to tan. What these people don’t realize is that even going to a tanning bed once increases your chances of getting Melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, by seventy-four percent. Making indoor tanning extremely dangerous for anyone to attempt.

Fortunately, there are some safer alternatives to tanning that still give you that desired glow. Sunless tanning products, also called self-tanners, can give your skin a tanned look without exposing it to harmful ultraviolet rays. Sunless tanning products are commonly sold as lotions and sprays you apply to your skin. Professional spray-on tanning also is available at many salons, spas and tanning businesses. The active ingredient in most sunless tanning products is the color additive, dihydroxyacetone. When applied, dihydroxyacetone reacts with dead cells in the skin’s surface to temporarily darken the skin. The coloring begins to wear off after a few days. Sunless tanning products might or might not contain sunscreen. If a product does contain sunscreen, it will only be effective for a couple of hours. The color produced by the sunless tanning product won’t protect your skin from ultraviolet rays. With these alternatives, people should attempt to lead a safer and healthier lifestyle. And to do that, people must always remember to wear their sunscreen!

Posted in General, Health, Science and Technology | Comments Off

Father of Newtown Shooter Speaks to the New Yorker

Posted on March 10, 2014 by kmart239

The nation was shocked back in December of 2012 when news broke out that a gunman had gone on a shooting spree at a small elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. We can all recall back to the news stories, just before Christmas, as families waiting in fear at the local fire station hoping to see their children. Many were left only to find out that their kids would not be coming home. Twenty children and six staff members were killed in the horrific accident. The shooter, Adam Lanza, killed himself and his mother as well.

In The New Yorker this week Adam Lanza’s father, Peter Lanza, shared his first public interview since the incident. Peter explained that he is haunted by what happened. After meeting with several families of the victims he decided that he sincerely wished his son had never been born. A tragic thought to hear a father say about his son but the pain Adam Lanza caused to so many families validates it.

Peter said in the interview that he believed the diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome covered what was really schizophrenia. Growing up Adam Lanza was always a peculiar child but his parents just saw it as part of the syndrome because there were never any signs of violence. In the two years leading up the shooting Peter rarely communicated with Adam. He was divorced from Adam’s mother Nancy and believes that she shielded him as his condition worsened.

Peter Lanza’s decision to speak out now was a moral obligation. He hopes to prevent future Newtown occurences. He wants his story to help the families of the victims.

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Andre 3000 plays Jimi Hendrix in new movie.

Posted on March 10, 2014 by keegan.kennedy

Four decades after his death, Jimi Hendrix is still considered by many to be the best and most influential electric guitar player of all time. Though he was only well known for about three years before his untimely death in 1970, his music went on to influence countless successful musicians in the preceding decades. Guitarists from many genres including- blues, rock, heavy metal, funk, etc- cite Hendrix as an influence.

In the new movie titled All Is By My Side, Hendrix is portrayed by Andre 3000. Besides being an actor Andre has had a successful career in music, most notably as a rapper in the popular hip hop duo known as Outkast. The film was written and directed by John Ridley, who also wrote the award winning 12 Years A Slave. The movie tells the story of Jimi Hendrix as he was gaining fame and notoriety, up until he played at the Monterrey pop festival in 1967 which sent him into the mainstream. The movie was not approved by the Jimi Hendrix estate (which is controlled by his family), so unfortunately it wont feature any of his music. The film debut last year at the Toronto international film festival; it will soon be screened in the South by southwest film festival held in Austin, Texas. The movie will be released to the the general public later this year and for now there is only a short trailer. On top of resembling Jimi Hendrix physically, Andre seems to nail Jimi’s personality, at least compared to interviews of him i’ve seen. The film looks to be a great insight into who Jimi Hendrix, the icon, was as a person.

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Protests All Over The World: From Ukraine to Venezuela

Posted on March 10, 2014 by laurentm

I previously wrote in one of my blogs about the conflict that was happening in Ukraine. People have turned on each other and now we have our government intervening. Whether that is a good or bad idea, I can’t tell you that. All I can say is that things are progressively worse as the time goes on. It is tragic that the Ukrainian people have not been able to find a solution peacefully and what’s worse is that there isn’t a clear answer.

But while this political and social struggle continues to power on in Ukraine, Venezuela is having similar problems. The people of Venezuela have been protesting the Government because of an increase in crime, and scarcity of basic goods. Instead of listening to his people, The president of Venezuela has pinned the blame on capitalism and refuses to take responsibility for his citizens.

Just to back track a little bit, I had heard of the news from my mother about Venezuela because the company she works (DHL aviation) has closed its offices in Venezuela. DHL had to do this because the protests had become violent and there have been several injuries as well as deaths. The irresponsibility that the President and the rest of the Government of Venezuela is astounding. Besides the fact the Chavez was a terrible leader and didn’t give a crap about his people, the fact that this President is an even bigger idiot is even worse because he probably doesn’t even know whats going on.

Both of these conflicts, although for very different reasons, have ended in violence And hopefully these conflicts can finish and true justice can be given to the people.

Posted in Crime, Politics, War and Conflicts, World News | Comments Off

Disappeared plane creates confusion around the world

Posted on March 10, 2014 by jfishpaugh

It’s been 3 days since Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 lost contact with air traffic control, disappeared off the radar and failed to arrive at its destination in Beijing. With widespread searches conducted across oceans by various countries, there has been no sign of what happened to the aircraft or any of the 239 people on board.

The world has been watching on as the disaster unfolded and hopes of finding survivors dwindled. Now what we’re left waiting for is answers. How could a Boeing 777 with an excellent safety record go missing without a trace or any distress calls? If no survivors are found it will be the worst air disaster since 2001 when 265 people were killed when an American Airlines Flight crashed into a New York neighborhood.

If you look throughout history this type of event has only happened once before. In June 2009, an Air France flight from Rio de Janeiro en route to Paris went missing. It took more than 2 years to find the wreckage and even longer to uncover the cause of the accident. Some bodies were never recovered.

The situation has been the focus of media attention around the world and there is something about this story that is truly disturbing. When it was announced the Malaysian flight went missing, I too was on a flight back to the United States. It goes to show that this could happen to any of us or our loved ones.

Theories have arisen regarding the use of two stolen passports used by passengers. But authorities have been unable to reach any conclusions. For now the search continues and the mystery goes unsolved.

Posted in Odd News, World News | Comments Off

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappearance Show signs of Terrorism!!!

Posted on March 10, 2014 by chrisba1986

An aircraft from Malaysia Airlines carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members went missing while flying to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur this past Saturday. Searchers and rescue officials said this afternoon that they will expand the search area for the Malaysia Airlines aircraft 370 that vanished three days ago. With nearly three dozen aircraft and 40 ships from 10 countries searching for this flight they still have so far failed to find any sign of the aircraft. Other leads have reported that a plane door and its tail that had been spotted turned out to be untrue, said The director general of the Malaysian Civil Aviation Department, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, right after he announced that the newly expanded search area encompasses a larger portion of the Gulf of Thailand between Malaysia and Vietnam but that they still have not found anything that appears to be objects from the aircraft.

The focus has now shifted to the Andaman Sea, near Thailand’s border, after radar data indicated the plane may have turned around to head back to Kuala Lumpur. But that the pilot apparently gave no signal to authorities that he was turning around. Adding to the mystery is the news that at least two people on board were traveling on passports stolen from an Austrian and an Italian. The two passengers who used the passports in question appear to have bought their tickets together.

I think that this all is very suspicious and that this seems to be an act of either, terrorism that caused Flight 370 to turn around with no signal to authorities and still missing til today or another possible explanation for the use of the stolen passports is illegal immigration. But, with so much terrorism going on world wide to the point where even a country like the U.S has experienced it and its aftermath it would be of no surprise that this disastrous disappearance of an aircraft is another act of Terrorism now against Thailand. Now the question is if the 227 missing passengers in aircraft 370 will ever appear, or could this be another act of Terrorism like the “Bin Laden 911” terrorist operation where these terrorist just wanted to kill people even if that meant killing themselves in the process just to show their target they want war. In addition, with people still trying to get over terrorism causing disasters like, 911, killings in educational institutions, an unnecessary war against Osama Bin Laden and his terrorist nation the least thing we need to worry about is another war with nations like Thailand or China, where they have massive bomb explosives that can end the world. In conclusion, the disappearance of Malaysia’s Flight 370 is just the beginning of something major and needs to be taken very seriously because it can put every ones life at stake and really be the end of the world right before our eyes.

Posted in Crime, Economy, Environment, General, Odd News, Politics, War and Conflicts, World News | Comments Off

Early 2014 World Series Predicitions

Posted on March 10, 2014 by raymond

It’s always fun during Spring Training to make predictions on how the season will turn out. Although it is virtually impossible due to injuries and other variables, making World Series predictions is always fun and exciting to do.

Another exciting offseason has passed and Spring Training is underway. There are many teams that can contend for a championship which makes it difficult to pick just two. In the National League, I believe that the Los Angeles Dodgers will be the team to beat. With guys like Adrian Gonzales, Yasiel Puig, Zack Greinke, and the best pitcher in baseball Clayton Kershaw, they seem to be stacked. They had a tremendous second half last year and hope to advance this year. My darkhorse teams include the Cincinnati Reds, Washington Nationals, and Atlanta Braves. All can win 90 plus games.

The American League was a little harder to predict for me. The team that I pick to represent the AL is the Texas Rangers. With the additions of Prince Fielder and Shin Soo Choo and returning players like Adrian Beltre and Yu Darvish, they will be tough to top this year. They lost some key players this offseason, but gained some as well. My darkhorse teams include the Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, and Detroit Tigers.

As we all know injuries happen and trades occur which always seems to mess up people’s predictions. Every year there’s a team or two who exceed expectations and surprise everyone. That is the beauty of baseball. Anything can happen. The 2014 MLB season is shaping up to be another great one.

Posted in Sports | Comments Off

The Boston Bruins: Their 1 trade and how it impacts the rest of their season

Posted on March 10, 2014 by anthony loprinzi

The NHL trade deadline has passed and while there was not many blockbuster trade predictions for any team there were still quite a few trades that had occurred. The Boston Bruins were able to complete a trade before the deadline, and it was for a position that many felt they would target: the defensive line. They brought in under-the-radar defenseman Andrej Meszaros from the Philadelphia Flyers for some conditional draft picks just before the Wednesday deadline.

Some people, including myself, expected the Bruins to make somewhat of a big splash in the trade pool and bring in a star defenseman for a playoff run. Since that didn’t happen, and no player was sent away in the trade, the Bruins front office obviously feels as though there is good team chemistry throughout the locker room. Breaking that chemistry with a blockbuster trade can make it difficult for a team to play as a team the rest of the season, which could potentially halt a championship run.

With the acquisition of Meszaros the Bruins didn’t get that superstar defenseman, but they did get a healthy body to play on that line that could create some healthy competition among the defenders. Making everyone try and step up and play hard to keep their playing time and not get benched is really a positive thing for the organization the rest of the way. Meszaros has also made a good first impression with scoring a goal in his debut for the Bruins against the Florida Panthers. Hopefully keeping the core of this team intact brings home the Stanley Cup for the Bruins.

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Infrared Used As Renewable Energy Source

Posted on March 10, 2014 by alicia mitchell

A team of Harvard physicists have been brainstorming a way to harness infrared radiation. They’re trying to harness the heat Earth and Sun and converting it into a renewable power source (DC power). With the advancements in nanotechnology and smaller electronics, the Harvard team came up with two devices that have the possibility to convert the radiation into DC power.

One of the devices would work like a standard solar panel, but instead of one panel they would use two. One would be put on the ground to suck up the infrared energy from the Earth, while the other would be cooler and be on top of the other one to emit it. With the heat differences from the two, you can use them to do work and that work could be to generate electricity. The other device they have come up with would use temperature differences to generate power. The power would generate a smaller scale of power but it would still be renewable. The device would have an antenna that would emit infrared radiation from the Earth. The other part would be a valve, or diode. With the diode being cooler it would then create power just like the first device.

The only problem with both devices is that they don’t generate a lot of electricity, only a few watts per square meter each day. This could help with solar power plants during the nighttime. While most use battery or gas-powered generators, they could use this new technology to power it during this time and use less non-renewable resources. This technology can only get better in time and this could be a great way to harness renewable energy 24/7.

Posted in Economy, Education, Environment, Science and Technology | Tagged devices, Energy, Infrared, Renewable, Science, tech, technology | Comments Off