Archive for month: February, 2023

COLLEGE ATHLETE’S COMPENSATION

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College Athlete’s Compensation

Introduction

With the rising popularity of many college athletes, there has been a push for them to be paid for what they do as a sign of their efforts being appreciated rather than just receiving the scholarship which they receive automatically when they play for the national team. This kind of wish and practice began in Ohio state whereby the National Collegiate Athletic Association led by drake in Ohio began this with the statement that they have to make sure that the student-athletes get the best possible experience so that their performance and their motivation remains high.

Dwyer, Colin. “NCAA Plans To Allow College Athletes To Get Paid For Use Of Their Names, Images.” NPR, NPR, 29 Oct. 2019, www.npr.org/2019/10/29/774439078/ncaa-starts-process-to-allow-compensation-for-college-athletes.

According to this article, drake states that college students will start getting paid because of their popularity. This happens as a result of the removal of the ban whereby college athletes could not use their talents to make an extra amount of money in things like advertisements and others and therefore this article talks of how after the lift of the ban so many athletes especially those who are famous are likely to make a lot of money from their involvement into activities like advertisement and other activities which are likely to bring them money.

This article is therefore is a very well-structured one, it is short and it gives only the relevant information. Therefore it can be used for this research because it provides very apt information when it comes to the issue of compensation of athletes. Therefore the research about eh compensation of athletes plays a vital role in making sure that the manner and the reasons for compensation are fully discussed and therefore the announcement and the events surrounding the compensation are known as discussed in the article.

Duster, Chandeliers. “Democrats Make New Push for College Athlete Compensation.” CNN, Cable News Network, 4 Feb. 2021, edition.cnn.com/2021/02/04/politics/college-athlete-economic-freedom-act/index.html.

This article talks of how the national body which governs the athletes had put a lot of protection and was in the custody of so much about the young athletes and therefore with the decision that college students will be allowed to use their names, control how their pictures and other aspects of their life is used in a very important one. When the students control what they want with their pictures and social media accounts then it turns out that they become healthier and more productive. The national body generates about $15 billion each year and therefore this amount of money none goes to the players and therefore this can be seen as a kind of dictatorship that must be removed from existence and therefore the athletes are given more freedom and therefore this is a very important aspect of the national team because the burden and the lack of capital among the college athletes will be ended with the introduction of their payment.

This article giving so much important information related to the compensation of the national athletes, therefore, plays a very critical role in the research about the compensation of college student athletics. This decision can be said to have been pushed by different individuals and majorly the students who must have felt left out or not counted in as the national body makes $15 billion.

Higgins, T. (2021, March 30). NCAA college athlete compensation case comes before the Supreme Court. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/30/ncaa-college-athlete-compensation-case-comes-before-the-supreme-court.html

This article emphasizes the importance of the NCAA giving the student the right to own other benefits apart from the educational scholarships and educational benefits only as it is at the moment whereby the body only allows the student to enjoy educational benefits only. This article states that for example a person who’s a singer and competes in music festivals and competitions cannot produce an album due to the restrictions put in place by the body when in a real sense these restrictions should be scrapped and the individuals allowed to make their own money while making themselves more beneficial. It is seen as discrimination to be prevented from getting what is rightly theirs and therefore the article stresses the importance of making sure that what is needed by the members of the NCAA is obtained as their restrictions go against the federal anti-trust law.

Therefore this article talks of a case of the NCAA in the supreme court over how its players should be treated is very important in a research about the payment of its athletes not just through the scholarships and the stipends but through their names popularity and other means.

Higgins, L. (2020, March 11). What Happens When College Athletes Get Paid. Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-happens-when-college-athletes-get-paid-11583879855

This article from the Wallstreet journal talks of how opportunities for students to make money is likely to balloon and be so many such that the students may even get out of the NCAA and be able to form their organizations. It states that if the current court in the supreme court is decided in favor of the students then it turns out that the benefits the NCAA enjoyed of collecting so much money may decline while the individual student income may go high as most of these students will get their money directly from individuals and organizations. This means that the students will be using their name and image to make money for themselves and not just be receiving the basic scholarships and other few benefits which are limited to academics as the organization provides.

Even though there is a fear that the students may be unable to know what it means to get into agreements with different organizations the national body is likely to get people to do that for the students or rather advise them on how to get into deals as well as how to make the most out of the deals which they get into and therefore this is seen as a positive activity.

Sow, A. (2019). Should College Athletes Receive Compensation?.

In this report Sow talks of the ethical considerations which arise as a result of the push and the will of college students to be allowed to own what they deserve as a result of their names and images. the report examines different writings, ideas and issues presented as contrasting and in line with the wish to have college athletics have their voice over their names and other financial issues which present themselves to them. The report states that since its formation in 1906 there have been many advancements and today the body is a multi-billion body which is very important in terms of controlling sports among college students as well as organizing them and having investors chip into the games and sports. The reason why the body insists on amateurs is the fact that the body does not pay them for the playing they engage in however they provide academic scholarship and other forms of benefits aligned to academic goals and not other personal benefits.

This report states that if the supreme court allows the body to stop being the guardian of the property of the students in things like name and images property then it turns out that the students will have a lot of income which may be unethical or lead them into unethical behavior. However, on the other side, it is also unethical for the body to hold back what is rightly owned by the students, and therefore it is a difficult decision to make. This report, therefore, is very important in the research about college students’ payment as it provides a breakdown of different reports addressed to the same issue.

Hess, A. (2019, September 11). The majority of college students say student-athletes should be paid, survey finds. CNBC; CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/11/student-athletes-should-get-paid-college-students-say.html

‌in this report in the CNBC a survey conducted states that majority of the college students stated that the athletes should be paid. This does not only support the wishes of the students but also supports the ideas and wishes of different other people including some members of the congress. In a research conducted by polling platform College Pulse of more than 2500 students, it found out that the majority of the students support the idea of paying college athletes, and therefore it is what has led to the case in the supreme court about the payment of the student-athletes and what should be done for them to receive what is theirs and what is being denied by the NCAA.

According to Johnson Hess who is the writer of this article 53% of college students among whom the research was conducted strongly agreed that it was necessary and important for college athletes to be paid because what they did was a job that few people could do and therefore if they were in the outside world and not playing for NCAA then they would be paid large sums of money. Therefore this article is very important in research about student-athletes payment since it focuses on how important it is for the students to live a good life and get justice for what they do.

Review, T. R. (2021, February 6). Paying College Athletes | The Regulatory Review. Www.theregreview.org. https://www.theregreview.org/2021/02/06/saturday-seminar-paying-college-athletes/

‌According to this article in the regulatory review, scholarly journal student-athletes generate so much money for their schools, coaches, bodies like the NCAA, and others except for themselves. Therefore this means that there has been an injustice that has always been in place and it is important for this injustice to be ended. Schools, where the athletes school get into a multi-million and multi-billion dollar, deals with organizations that use the images and names of the student-athletes in their marketing campaigns, apparel, and other types of activities to bring the organizations and the school money. However, the student-athletes do not benefit from these good results from the schools and other organizations’ deals. In 2019 California passed a law against the NCAA regulations that student-athletes do not earn from it when their names and other personal belongings like the name are used.

The fair pay play-act hoped to take place from 2023 will make the athletes’ world a better one as there will be chances of the athletes being paid for the use of their names in any kind of business deal between two groups or organizations. This, therefore, is seen as a big improvement, and therefore this article is very important in the research about the payment of student-athletes as they deserve it as the article states.

Sobocinski, E. J. (1996). College athletes: What is fair compensation. Marq. Sports LJ, 7, 257.

Sobocinski in this report talks of what it means to have fair compensation and if the compensation is fair enough after so many years of NCAA using the money gained from the students for other activities apart from paying the students. This report, therefore, talks of how NCAA has exploited the student-athletes, the current position of this issue, and if the student-athletes should be categorized as employees since they make a lot of money for the body even though they benefit very little from this amount of money. Sobocinski states that even though currently is when people are realising that there has been discrimination in terms of income of the college athletes this has been in existence for the longest period and therefore it hs become a difficult part of the society and the college students to address since there are also challenges associated with the demand for justice from them.

However in recent years with the concern of the general American society, it is firmly believed that it will be possible for the issue to be resolved because even congress is concerned about the issue. The report also states that the college athlete is a victim who is being used for the benefit of different people and the benefit of the schools and the NCAA. Therefore the report states that this has to end if there is hope that student-athletes are to get justice. Therefore this report with its intensive questioning and analysis of this article presents us with the different aspects and news of how it is possible to end this injustice while at the same time educate which is the goals of all the united states colleges. It is an important report which provides information to be used for research into the issue of college students’ compensation and payment.

Heekin, M. M., & Burton, B. W. (2014). Compensation for College Athletes: The Non-Destructive Solution. Wake Forest J. Bus. & Intell. Prop. L., 15, 364.

This article in the Hein online is an article that presents us with challenging questions when it comes to student payment and compensation. It discusses the driving force of scholarly sports and how the sports benefit the students the schools and other organizations like the NCAA. It also talks of how colleges depend so much on the different sporting events organized by the NCAA through which they can raise a lot of money to just for the use of the students but majorly for the use of the schools in their activities and other uses like buildings. The article talks of how the money is made by the schools that use the student-athletes and how this money is shared in small quantities to the athletes for their scholarships and other basic needs like the stipends.

In this article, the question of the manner of compensation for student-athletes also arises whereby there is a discussion whether the students should be paid cash or academic kind of payment. The report also states that payment of cash to the student-athletes would create conflicts in the field of the students, their instructors, and other students and therefore it remains a difficult question to answer whether students should be paid cash or in academic terms. Therefore making this article a very important ingredient in the research about college athletes’ payment.

Knoester, C., & Ridpath, B. D. (2020). Should College Athletes Be Allowed to Be Paid? A Public Opinion Analysis. Sociology of Sport Journal, 1(a), 1-13.

In this report by Knoester and Ridpath, the students are being supported by different people to be paid. The report states that parents unlike in the past have now started supporting the student-athletes to be paid for their sports activities. However, this is still subject to racial issues of the students and their parents as the population of the united states still have a very big difference when it comes to race and even though there have been efforts to end this it is still a problem. Therefore it turns out that black parents are more likely to support the payment of athletes while white parents are more unlikely to support the same.

This compensation comes as a way of providing justice to the college students because most of them do not get justice since they play so much but they are only paid for their academics through the scholarship and the stipend and nothing else. However, this report states that it is very important for these students to be paid not just for their basic college needs but to be paid for what they have played for and what they deserve because it is their property. Therefore this report presents us with the public opinion of whether student-athletes should be paid or not. Most people state that it is important for college athletes to be paid and therefore this report is very crucial to the research about the payment and compensation of college athletes.

References

Duster, Chandeliers. “Democrats Make New Push for College Athlete Compensation.” CNN, Cable News Network, 4 Feb. 2021, edition.cnn.com/2021/02/04/politics/college-athlete-economic-freedom-act/index.html.

Dwyer, Colin. “NCAA Plans To Allow College Athletes To Get Paid For Use Of Their Names, Images.” NPR, NPR, 29 Oct. 2019, www.npr.org/2019/10/29/774439078/ncaa-starts-process-to-allow-compensation-for-college-athletes.

Heekin, M. M., & Burton, B. W. (2014). Compensation for College Athletes: The Non-Destructive Solution. Wake Forest J. Bus. & Intell. Prop. L., 15, 364.

Hess, A. (2019, September 11). The majority of college students say student-athletes should be paid, survey finds. CNBC; CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/11/student-athletes-should-get-paid-college-students-say.html

Higgins, L. (2020, March 11). What Happens When College Athletes Get Paid. Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-happens-when-college-athletes-get-paid-11583879855

Higgins, T. (2021, March 30). NCAA college athlete compensation case comes before the Supreme Court. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/30/ncaa-college-athlete-compensation-case-comes-before-the-supreme-court.html

Knoester, C., & Ridpath, B. D. (2020). Should College Athletes Be Allowed to Be Paid? A Public Opinion Analysis. Sociology of Sport Journal, 1(a), 1-13.

Review, T. R. (2021, February 6). Paying College Athletes | The Regulatory Review. Www.theregreview.org. https://www.theregreview.org/2021/02/06/saturday-seminar-paying-college-athletes/

Sobocinski, E. J. (1996). College athletes: What is fair compensation. Marq. Sports LJ, 7, 257.

Sow, A. (2019). Should College Athletes Receive Compensation?.

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Short Story Using Legal Terms

Colleen’s and Alysha’s Nightmare

Alysha and Coleen had been friends for a long time. After ten years of friendship, they seemed more like sisters than friends. They were roommates and they supported each other through good and bad times. Coleen and Alysha had just gotten off work on a Friday evening and as usual, went home to relax and get ready for the long weekend that lied ahead of them. They grabbed a 6 pack of Busch beer and sat on their balconies as they enjoyed the night as they watched the television. Then all of a sudden, something interesting happened. On the television, there was a documentary about the legendary NFL football star and actor named OJ Simpson and his 1995 murder trial that was deemed as the trial of the century where he was charged with the murder of his ex-wife and her friend Ron Goldman. Although Simpson was later acquitted of the murder, the case had turned into a media frenzy and it changed his life completely. They found themselves discussing the details of this famous case. Alysha and Coleen were never the type of people to discuss matters to do with politics or current affairs but for some reason, on this particular night, they found themselves even talking about President Donald Trump and why he was the most controversial president of his time. After an evening of bonding and talking, the two grabbed their pillowcases went to bed, and called it a night.

The following day was a Saturday and they had been invited for a day yacht party as it was during summertime. Since the party was going to be in a neighboring city, the plan was that they would go to their friends house who lived close to the beach and they would go to the party together. The two ladies were up early and prepared themselves and set out for their friend’s house. Upon reaching there, the place was packed with people. People were having fun, dancing, drinking, and socializing. Alysha and Coleen blended with the crowd pretty well as some of the people there were known to them. Then all of a sudden, an argument between Coleen and one of the men ensued. His name was Christopher. Christopher had misplaced his phone and accused Coleen of stealing it. He began ranting and approached Collen with a full fist punching her in the face. Alysha was in another room and she heard Colleen creaming. She rushed to her aid and when she saw that her friend had been assaulted, she confronted Christopher. Christopher gave her the middle finger and walked away. Collen’s nose was bleeding and she lie helpless on the floor. Alysha made a 911 call and asked for help. As they waited for the police to arrive, Coleen lost continuousness and Alysha could not bear seeing her in that state. She looked outside and saw a Honda Civic parked outside. She yelled for the owner and borrowed the car and rushed her friend to the nearest hospital. After Coleen was treated they reported the matter to the police who located the suspect and took him to jail. Coleen was afraid of pushing forward with the case because she was barely 21 and she was afraid of being on the bad side of the law. But Alysha and her other friends were her lucky charms. They stood by her and she was in luck because she had not been drinking that night.

The police officers visited her in the hospital and collected the necessary information from her concerning her battery ordeal. They asked about her relationship with the perpetrator and Alysha explained that there was no relationship since they had just met at the party. Alysha also reported the assault she had suffered at the hands of Christopher in an attempt to rescue her friend. The police noted the information down and promised to stay in touch. After a few days, Alysha and Coleen were informed there will be a preliminary hearing where the accused will make their first appearance where the court will read the charges and constitutional rights o the accused. Afterward, a hearing was set in five days where the matter would be decided by a judge. There would be no need for a grand jury because the assault was not a felony. On the material day of the trial, the judge charged Christopher with a 2nd-degree misdemeanor and also directed a withhold of adjudication. Additionally, Christopher had to part with $4,000 as bond or risk going to jail for one year.

Observation as a Method of Data Collection

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Factors affecting observation

Factors that affect observations include sensitivity and awareness; fatigue, illness, and discomfort; one’s personality; and controlling our biases.

Sensitivity and Awareness

The first factor that affects an observation is the observer’s sensitivity and awareness. Sensitivity is the ability to see or hear changes or differences, while awareness is the amount of attention children gives to something. These two traits help the observer to describe more accurately the children’s behaviors than if they lacked sensitivity and awareness.

Lack of sensitivity and Awareness can negatively affect observation in that if you are not aware of what is going on around you then you cannot tell the differences in behaviors this can be the children’s movements or just sounds that they are making. If you are not sensitive then you can miss the changes or differences that kids may be making this can make it hard to accurately describe what they do.

Example of Sensitivity and awareness:

One of the best ways to increase sensitivity and awareness is to attend many activities and events. This can help you become aware of different behaviors that you may have otherwise missed not being aware or even sensitive to them. It can also help you become more sensitive and pick up on smaller things like small facial expressions or changes in body language.

Fatigue, illness, and discomfort

These are other factors that affect observation. These factors can make it harder for an observer to pay attention or describe behavior correctly because of the discomfort or other symptoms. To avoid this problem, observers should try not to get too fatigued from doing many observations in a row or have had too little sleep before an observation so that their observations are accurate. Fatigue, Illness and Discomfort this type of learning can lead to negative outcomes and behaviors in that the observer will become stressed out and unable to focus or concentrate on the things they have observed (Fabiano et al 2018).

example; a person could see that his child is getting bullied at school. His child may be in pain and feel embarrassed because of the other kids being mean to her. The person may try to get his child out of school by taking her out of class or sending her home early.

One’s personality

One’s personality can affect observation in that observers with a certain personality may not always notice certain behaviors or may only see certain behaviors depending on the type of observation. However, there has also been evidence that those with more negative emotions and a high emotional intelligence often have less sensitivities than those with more positive emotions and emotional stability thus leading them to make wrong conclusions about the things they have observed ((Fabiano et al 2018).

For example, an observer that is introverted may only notice or pay attention to the quiet and shy children, while an extroverted observer may pay more attention to the louder children. An introverted observer will probably miss out on noting important factors like if a child is working hard or not because they won’t be making any noise. This could cause misinterpretations in the data and make it harder to summarize behaviors later on.

Controlling our biases

The final factor that affects observation is controlling our biases. Bias is defined as “a tendency to believe that some things are better than others.

Our biases can be generally understood as the way in which we perceive and interpret things. Thus, it is important for an observer to control for their own biases when looking out for things that matter to the observer. Although, not controlling our bias can negatively affect observation outcomes causing the observation outcomes to be very biased and inaccurate (Fabiano et al 2018)

Example; a father may tend to look at his daughter and expect more out of her than all her friends because she is his child, which might cause him not to see her begin to skip school or get into trouble around her neighborhood another example if you are in a noisy place, it will probably be harder for you to not notice the louder children than if it were a quiet place. Being aware of these biases will help when observing to keep your attention on only what needs to be observed and not anything else going on around you.

2. Three categories of Errors in Recording Observations.

The three categories of Errors in Recording Observations include errors of Omission, errors of Commission and errors of transmissions.

Errors of Omission;

These types of errors simply are omissions of a type of observation. In case of error of complete omission, contractor or an observer should not fail to record any type of observation.

Example: Omission to record all observations of children behaviors in class while teaching.

Errors of Commission;

Errors of commission is when a participant in an experiment makes a mistake in recording data. In this category, contractor records an observation which is completely opposite to what he should have recorded (Pandey, & Pandey, 2021). These types of errors are mostly because of the carelessness on the part of contractor and improper training and supervision.

For example, a participant records incorrect responses for a questionnaire.

Errors in transmission;

This type is when the data has been incorrectly recorded due to broken or malfunctioning equipment that is used from one person to another, for example, let’s say you are an education clinic for children. The school system has provided the education clinic with a laptop that monitors your students’ grades in the classroom. The data is transferred from the computer to a backup computer each week on Friday, so it can be saved and analyzed later.

In this example, let’s say that due to a malfunctioning battery laptop, the grade data transferred incorrectly from one set of computers to another. This would be considered as an error of transmission while observing children during data collection.

Understanding and knowing about these three categories are helpful in future observations in that they can help observers and participants to identify the various causes of errors and work towards minimizing the effects of these errors on quality of data collected.

3. Accuracy and Reliability and share: Objective description, Interpretation, and Evaluation

The proximity of a measured value to a standard or known value is referred to as accuracy whereas reliability refers to the degree to which a test measures without mistake. A classroom can be set up to function as a reliable assessment of student learning by assigning tasks that are highly likely to demonstrate what the student knows, is able to do, or both. Observing children will provide an objective description of what is being observed, interpretation of this observation when it comes to teaching and assessing the child in class, followed by an evaluation of how well they have learnt.

1. Objective description: The exposition of the objectives and design processes involved in making a product or conducting research that enables one to determine whether the goals have been met. An objective account of the object measured, its properties, the quantities to be measured, and the measuring instrument or method used in conjunction with other factors such as equipment design and environmental conditions (Finkelstein et al 2021).

2. Interpretation: The evaluation of the success or failure rate associated with an initiative, usually expressed as a percentage, i.e., “the children performance was 75% successful”. The meaning that is attributed to the evidence by the person who is interpreting it.

3. Evaluation: The process of choosing whether a measure has performed well or not, why it has performed badly, and how to improve it in future. It is the evaluation of a children performance for criteria such as effectiveness, efficiency, timeliness, safety, etc. It is used to determine whether an objective has been met.

4. Benefits of a group observation over individual observation

There are some instances when a group observation is much more valuable than an individual observation. A group observation allows for the natural occurrence of children to be observed in a setting that is most similar to their natural environment. It also allows for the teacher to observe many different students at once, including some who might not be engaged in an individual observation. Additionally, with group observations, it is easier for the teacher to role model social skills and behaviors which are critical for social-emotional development. Group observations are most valuable when observing children in their natural environment or when you need multiple eyes on something (Finkelstein et al 2021).

For example, in a song-singing class, the teacher may want to observe children who are singing well enough to be placed into a group where they can sing songs. The teacher may also want to observe children who aren’t singing well enough to be placed into a group. It’s much easier for one teacher to do this with a group observation than with individual observation.

Another example that I can think of involves observing multiple students at their workstation when they are designing a project. The teacher would have an easier time doing this with groups of students while they are working on the project than if she had to observe each student individually.

How would you do the observation?

One of the most important parts of any observation is to make accurate observations. If teachers are going to make correct observations, they must be familiar with the setting and the students. For example, when observing a student in a classroom, teachers need to be able to identify appropriate social cues for each child. For example, if a child is obviously distressed or inattentive then it would be beneficial for the teacher to take more time to observe them and try and find out what’s wrong; perhaps finding out that they’re upset by their favorite teacher leaving or not liking the new teacher.

It would be helpful to create a specific list of things that you want to observe. These could include questions related to the students’ social-emotional development, their academic growth, and/or their physical development (Finkelstein et al 2021). Another way to observe is by forming groups. Teachers can use groups of children who are generally the same age, who have similar interests, or who have similar needs. By observing a group of children rather than individuals’ teachers can see how well the group is working together; this will help them know if they are developing relationships as well as making academic and social gains.

Reference

Fabiano, G. A., Reddy, L. A., & Dudek, C. M. (2018). Teacher coaching supported by formative assessment for improving classroom practices. School Psychology Quarterly, 33(2), 293.

Finkelstein, S., Sharma, U., & Furlonger, B. (2021). The inclusive practices of classroom teachers: a scoping review and thematic analysis. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 25(6), 735-762.

Pandey, P., & Pandey, M. M. (2021). Research methodology tools and techniques. Bridge Center.

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Blackfish Film and Ethics

Virtue Ethics

Virtue ethics refers to a philosophy developed by Aristotle. It is a character-based approach to mortality. This theory indicates that practice is vital in the process of virtue acquisition. Virtue ethics contrasts with the view that virtue is present in the world as a natural representation of goodness. Virtue ethics being character-based means that there are different traits and forms of virtue, but all come from constant practice in one’s moral character. For instance, courage would be considered a type of bravery and resoluteness, but bravery comes from years of constantly acting bravely, whereas resoluteness is often displayed when you are angry or feel threatened. Virtue ethics also suggests that healthy interpersonal relationships can have their own virtues (Van Zyl, 46). For example, generosity would be one such virtue for many people around the world since it’s seen as a way to give and express care for others without expecting anything in return.

Critique of Virtue Ethics

An alleged problem or issue with virtue ethics is that it fails to appreciate the intractability of dispute, theory ladenness, and the perspectivai. A debate may be intractable because there is a lack of consensus, or because the issue it addresses cannot be resolved. Theory ladenness refers to the idea that our moral theory should not be biased but include all relevant factors. Virtue ethics is perspectivai since it rejects Kantian or utilitarian formulations that are based on specific perspectives. In virtue ethics, people choose actions that seem good at the time and can change their minds as new evidence arises. An article by Connie Whitenack from 2005 entitled “What’s Wrong With Virtue Ethics” outlines these criticisms by stating a number of common features which have been argued to make virtue ethics deficient as a guiding principle for behavior decision-making.

Virtue Ethics assumes that moral goodness is a matter of following the right rules and displaying the right virtues. We must always do what is considered morally good and refrain from doing anything considered morally bad. Never mind that we may not know for certain what we ought to do; we should simply follow our conscience and hope that it is reliable enough to guide us correctly. This philosophy has many flaws, as can be seen in some of its particular rules about how people should behave. For example, if a person has been taught since childhood to revere those who have authority, they may find themselves naturally obeying those with authority even if those people are doing something harmful or wrong.

The blackfish film is closely related with virtue ethics. The blackfish documentary shows the lives of people working with Orcas. It follows the life of a famous orca trainer, Dawn Brancheau, who was killed by an orca in 2010 at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida. While it seems that few people would care about the death of a whale trainer, this film sparks controversy on how animals are treated in such places. This movie is praised for its engaging and emotive portrayal of animal abuse and exploitation in captivity; therefore, it can be said that it is virtuous. The film portrays the lives of whales and what really goes on behind closed doors at places like SeaWorld.

Ted Talk Related to Animal Rights

Buhazza, Noura talks about animal torturing. She describes how humans with no humanity torture animals for their own benefits. The ted talk discusses that humans feel a sense of power when they torture an animal, which is what they rely on (Buhazza, 2). They are humans who need to have control and feel superior to the animal victim. The talk describes how animals tend to react differently depending on what part of their body is tortured. If it’s their back then the animal will be aggressive and try to flee, but if it’s their leg then they will be in pain until the torturing stops. This shows that different emotions can exist when animals are tortured, depending on what part of their body is hurt or killed.

This ted talk shows that there should be laws that control human interaction with animals. Animals must be protected. Humans are the only animals on this planet that torture animals for their own gains and no one should be allowed to go against that. Humans are under a code of morality, which is why we shouldn’t hurt any living thing cause it’s just wrong and humanity should never go against morality.

Blackfish Film and Animal Rights

The documentary titled ‘Blackfish’ is mainly regarding natural history of whales on the basis of how they were treated by humans before shooting one’s attack against them. The Blackfish film illustrates the segregation, hunting practices, and annihilation that face the sea world which comprise of the whales and other animals. These practices are effectively demonstrated in the Tilikum captivity ordeal, the dolphin hunting procedure and many other ways in which the hunt practices are conducted during whale hunts of sea creatures. The movie reveals these incidents to the audience and tells them that there is no need to have a look at these cruel acts which are happening in the field. The people who are involved in these activities have thought it fit to kill whales and other marine animals thinking of their own safety and convenience. In this way, they also avoid being seen as criminals by the people who are watching them doing this activity.

In this film, Orca is discussed to demonstrate great aggressiveness after being incarcerated in the SeaWorld. However, SeaWorld has been fighting against that idea. Since the film was released, it has caused a great amount of controversy on the trainers working in such places and the killers have been removed from captivity. The film is not just about killer whales but also about how they are treated by humans. In general, Blackfish documentary is a great piece on how we treat animals, including whales and dolphins, in captivity at SeaWorld in John Krasinski’s directorial debut. It is an emotional documentary with power conversations to help change our perspective of animal rights and treatment.

This movie has greatly demonstrated the role of ethics in the society and how the society must truly have ethical and moral values to have a better society. The film has shown us that the real leaders of this world are the people who are kind and give love to everyone (Cowperthwaite). The people who are cruel and hate to others will be thrown away from his or her position. This has been showed by the documentary and I can’t state it more properly than that. This article discusses ethical issues surrounding the use of exotic or trained marine mammals for entertainment purposes and how Blackfish, as well as other films such as Dolphin Diary helped to raise awareness in this topic. This is an important discussion that needs to be more widely discussed.

During the film, I felt so sorry for the animals of SeaWorld, who live in small aquariums and must experience horrible things. They are beaten and forced to perform extremely unnatural acts while they were helpless and defenseless. There are stories about orcas attacking their trainers in their habitats at SeaWorld, something that is always talked about in this documentary film. No one seems to believe what really happened to these orcas before the attack or why did it happen at all. Blackfish wants to give its opinion on why those killings happened because of ethical issues inside SeaWorld company.

The film teaches us to always think twice before taking an action. This is mostly vital when those actions tend to infringe other people’s rights of expression or liberty. The people who are cruel like those in this film will never be rewarded and they will be erased from the society. The importance of showing the good and bad sides of this world can never be over emphasized, especially when you are seeing it on large screen. Those who have such values in mind must see this film to foster their ethical and moral values into what they do for a living. In a time where we have to share our opinion about many things whether good or bad, we must still remember that these opinions may not just be expressed by us but also by people around us too. Even if a few people do not support you, it does not mean that you are wrong.

From the film, we can also see how the marine family face harsh training and punishments. These shows the level of lack of empathy in the society and its effects. In this article, we can read the following: “Blackfish would probably be a better film if it had not been produced to make a point about the ethics of keeping marine animals in captivity. Yet despite its intent, Blackfish also humanizes marine animals and exposes their suffering and desperation.”

Thus, animal rights have been a major topic since the production of the Blackfish film. The movie has demonstrated animal abuse on a grand scale, with the orcas being kept in captivity and abused by SeaWorld. The documentary rightfully gained much attention from the people of the world who care about animal rights (Stokes 160). Not to mention, the film has also received criticism throughout its run-on different channels such as social media and traditional news media. When it turns out that these supposed “animal rights activists” are actually just taking advantage of this marine park, Animal Rights Organization has created an action plan for what needs to be done in order to help save these animals and make them happy once again. The Blackfish film is a must watch for anyone who is interested in animal rights or activism as a whole (whether they care about orcas or not).

The article, “SeaWorld should set captive orcas free” stipulates Jean-Michel Cousteau’s calling on the SeaWorld to release its captive orcas. The Oceanographic explorer, indicates that “They need to be released and put back into a place where we can keep an eye on them and they can reconnect with nature,”. Cousteau and his organization Ocean Future Society has been advocating for the release of marine mammals in captivity, a movement that has created conflict with advocacy groups such as People for the Ethical treatment of Animals which are calling for the closure of all marine mammal parks. The article indicates that SeaWorld is “one of the most controversial institutions in North America” due to its poor treatment of orcas. The article also mentions that this type of treatment is not limited to SeaWorld, but it is instead industry-wide phenomenon. Nowadays, there are at least 81 orcas currently held captive in marine parks, zoos and aquaria across the globe (Jean-Michel 4).

Works Cited

“Jean-Michel Cousteau: Seaworld Should Set Captive Orcas Free”. The Guardian, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/27/seaworld-free-captive-orcas-jean-michel-cousteau. Accessed 1 Feb 2022.

Buhazza, Noura. “Animal Rights”. Ted.Com, 2022, https://www.ted.com/talks/noura_buhazza_animal_rights. Accessed 6 Feb 2022.

Cowperthwaite, G., Oteyza, M. V., Despres, E., Ingalls, J., Towey, C., Beal, J., Blackfish. Magnolia Pictures (Firm), Magnolia Home Entertainment (Firm). (2013)

Stokes, Ashli Q., and Wendy Atkins-Sayre. “PETA, rhetorical fracture, and the power of digital activism.” Public Relations Inquiry 7.2 (2018): 149-170.

Van Zyl, Liezl. Virtue ethics: A contemporary introduction. Routledge, 2018.