Paper Proposal

Question:   Why is Broadcast television or radio more strictly regulated by the FCC than Subscription television or radio?

Thesis:  The FCC, which is the Federal Communications Company, is responsible for regulating    the content displayed on radio and television. This agency was established by the Government in 1934. Broadcast television or radio is more closely regulated than subscription television or radio.  The reason for the difference is because broadcast media is viewed by a larger scale of audience compared to subscription. Subscription media is paid for and can be controlled by the audience. The rules and regulations the FCC uses to censor broadcast television and radio will be investigated.

Plan: In my research paper, I would like to explore the legal issues and regulations about censoring broadcast and subscription. Find whether there are any legal cases against the FCC filed by any subscription radio stations or television channels. Explore how the FCC violates the 1^st amendment.

Statement of Interest:  Its assumed subscription television is less influential than broadcast television.  There are conflicts in regulating pay-TV or radio. Its believed the degree of regulation imposed on subscription services should correlate with their degree of influence on community views.

Paper Proposal – Cara S.

Question: Are the MPAA movie ratings a form of economic censorship?

Plan: If I were to actually write this paper I would probably have five paragraphs: 1) introduction 2) paragraph on box office grosses with evidence from boxofficemojo.com and an interview with UMT manager Cloud Spurlock 3) paragraph on the smothering of creativity and artistic value with evidence from the Luke Thompson article 4) paragraph on the perceptions of moviegoers with evidence from the Rick Lyman and Kendrick Macdowell articles and 5) conclusion with quotations from UMT owner Mark O’Meara and also a look at the opposing viewpoint.

Statement of Interest: As an employee of a movie theater and a prospective business major, I’m very interested in finding out what factors influence profit. My boss may believe the industry is unpredictable, but I tend to think there has to be a general formula out there for determining success, at least to some degree. This topic is also important because it illustrates that censorship comes in many forms, not just the way we traditionally think of it. If we can recognize the more subtle forms we may be better able to combat it.

Research Proposal – Mike H

Question

How can video games offer a variety of benefits to those who play them, and can video games pose dangers such as exposure to mature content, aggression, addiction, and unhealthy lifestyles to those who play them?

Thesis

Video games can offer benefits such as learning to make decisions, understanding complex concepts, reading skills, and hand-eye coordination to those who play them; and under certain conditions can pose dangers such as exposure to mature content, addiction, aggression, and unhealthy lifestyles to those who play them as well. 

Plan

I would list off the benefits of dangers and then individually go into depth about how each danger can be presented through video games and under what conditions that it can come about. After I would then present each of the benefits that video games have to offer and go into depth about how those benefits are important to today’s society. With both the dangers and benefits I would back it up with quotes and information found from my sources.

Importance

This is an important topic because video games can have such an impact on the youth in America and it can help determine how they turn out in the near future.

Research Proposal- Emily M

1. Research Question:

Has the increase of crudely portrayed graphic violence in video games encouraged or rooted the inspiration of young murderers in major acts of school violence?

2. Thesis:

The increase of crudely portrayed graphic violence in video games has encouraged or rooted the inspiration of young murderers in major acts of school violence. 

3. Introduction­:

            “Mission: Psycho Killer,” reads on the television screen to thousands of players of the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. To many, the power behind this mission title is minimal, if at all detectable; however, to the impressionable, vulnerable minds, of some this mission could have damaging effects on both the player and their community. Video games have evolved significantly since first presented to the world with games such as Pong and Mrs. PacMan. Gradually, they have become less innocent, yet grown in their potential threat, need for strict censorship and ratings, and influence over the minds of young children. The increase of crudely portrayed graphic violence in video games has encouraged or rooted the inspiration of young murderers in major acts of school violence.

4. Plan for sources:

            With my sources, I will prove that the growth in graphic video game violence is correlated to school violence and therefore a prevalent influence to the impressionable and vulnerable minds of young children who play the video games. My sources will focus on the young murderers of major acts of school violence, focusing mainly on Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the constructors of Columbine, who associated their attacks with the video game Doom,   and Cho Seung-Hui, the man behind the recent Virginia Tech shooting who had played the video game Halo to warm up for his attack. I will evaluate the subject’s influences, using FBI reports, articles, and primary sources the killers themselves left behind. I will also try to draw parallels between the young murderer’s behaviors and characteristics in an attempt to specify the type of personality to look for in a potential gunman. Drawing upon historical evidence, I will show that the increase in school violence and violent video games are correlated. Also, I will be drawing upon articles and books that both support and counter my thesis. The support will help me to further prove and strengthen my argument, where I will use the counter arguments to provide my counter arguments.

Research Proposal- Baha A

Research Question: Does television have a negative effect on young children’s lives? The objective of my research is to emphasize the importance of the negative effects that television has on children and make it known that it occurs more often than it should, even in the current year; 2009.

Thesis: Television can effect young children’s lives in a negative way, because children spend most of their time watching television; “Young children spend nearly four hours a day in front of a television screen,”(Gavin), the shows that air on television could be too violent for young viewers, such as showing murders, sex and drugs. Television could be bad for their health.

 Introduction: Does television have a negative effect on young children’s lives? Every now and then that question comes up to parents and the entertainment business. In this paper, I will give facts and supporting details that show television having a negative effect on young children’s lives. I believe that television can effect a child’s life in a negative way, because children spend most of their time watching television; “Young children spend nearly four hours a day in front of a television screen,”(Gavin), the shows that air on television could be too violent for young viewers, such as showing murders, sex and drugs. Television could be bad for their health which can cause obesity.

Plan: My plan is to use the information I find as supporting statement for my research paper, and support it using examples that could apply to young children. As well as use facts and research that shows television having a negative effect on young children’s lives.

Research Proposal-Corey B.

Research Question:

Is the ESRB a competent and effective system for rating games?

Thesis:                                                                                                                 

The ESRB is a competent and legitimate medium for labeling video games for their content before the games are released to the public. The ESRB raters are paid professionals who have experience with children and are not in any way affiliated with the game publishing industry. The ratings guide is based upon a comprehensive list of criteria of inappropriate content which the raters evaluate within each game. The ESRB is the most uniform and capable body available to rate games released to the public.

Plan:

The objective of this research is to prove that the ESRB is an effective source of self-regulation for the gaming industry.  This can be done by a number of steps. Highlighting other rating systems like TIGRIS and organizations that do not affiliate themselves with the ESRB will show that the ESRB is the most effective organization available to do the job. Showing aspects of the European rating system PEGI will also demonstrate the ESRB’s superiority.  Detailing the rating process will demonstrate the back and forth censorship process between publishers and the ESRB.  I will research what some studies have found about violent video games and in what categories critics claim that the ESRB falls short.  In the Harvard sponsored study of violence in “E” rated video games, for example, the research showed that an average of 30.7% of game play was spent commiting violent acts., and “44% [of the study's games] that did not recieve violence related content descriptors contained acts of violence.” Critics often claim that the ESRB assigns the “E” rating too liberally, but I will demonstrate through comparrison to the PEGI that the ESRB’s standards are the most restrictive. For example, PEGI rates games according to age, and games “7+” are permitted not only to include mild violence like the ESRB, but nudity as well.  According to Kirsh, author of Children, Adolescents, and Media Violence, another shortcoming of the ESRB is that they do not necessarily assign a “violence” content descriptor unless a certain “threshhold” is surpassed, meaning it is up to their discretion to determine just how much violence and of what type warrants a violence warning.

Statement of Importance:

This is an important topic to explore because it deals with the regulation of graphic content being shown to children every day across the country.  Without a competent and effective rating system, it would be very difficult for parents to get an idea of how appropriate a game will be for their child before purchasing and playing it.

Most Useful Source:

 I found that the ESRB’s website was the most helpful, as it contained the most direct information about the rating process, content descriptors, and the organization as a whole.

Paper Proposal – Ben V

Research Question –

Do video games increase aggressive tendencies in children?

Research Question: Importance/Interesting?:

The question as to whether or not video games make children more aggressive is a common question in society today. Many people claim that it does but I am a normal human after a childhood of video games. I would let to find out the truth and lay it out for everyone to see.

Plan to Use Sources:

I would open with my intro paragraph that would describe shortly the arguments I would use in my paper. I would open after that with strong statements from the sources I found with children who play video games and parents of children who do that support my argument. I would then post an argument against my thesis (Either Cynthia Wagner or Carolyn Rummel) with an immediate rebuttal from my rebuttal source. The next part of my paper would be supporting that aggressive people tend to buy aggressive video games, not that video games cause aggressiveness. After that I would relay the second counter to my thesis (Wagner or Rummel) and then counter it immediately. I would follow by describing the lack of evidence supporting “games cause violent behaviors” using support from Lawrence Kutler and Cheryl Olson. For the end of my body I would show support that video games actually promote problem solving skills and competitive spirit with support from Douglas and Robert Gentile. My conclusion would bring all of the body together to show a correlation between all the facts and opinions presented that video games, in and of themselves, do not promote aggressive behavior; they support healthy growth.

Prince – Ben V

The belief that the showing of an actual criminal act was unacceptable was applied to Scarface to a degree in 1932.  The Hays Office censored the direct showing of corruption of city officals, but still allowed the murders to appear onscreen. The films use of sceneplay (as talked about by Prince) through use of camera angles, lighting and humor allowed the showing of as much violence as well possible during the era the 1932 scarface came out. Such as in the scene where Poppy and Camonte get together for lunch and are ambushed by the rival gang. None of the guns are actually shown firing, and no one is seen getting shot. You hear the sounds of the violence and see the wall rip up but you’re also ditracted by the antics of Camonte’s Secretary answering the phone in the back.

Princes idea’s on violence are shown once again inThe Musketeers of Pig Alley where the violent scenes are covered in smoke to prevent the actual violence from being shown. the 1983 Scarface however showed a tremendous ammount of graphical violence with bullet ridden bodies and blood everywhere.

The differences of the two Scarfaces are minor, with the story going much the say way till the end. The main point of contention is the extremes the ’83 version went to, allowing the show of blood and mayhem that the ’32 version can only dream of. Howard Hays and Howard Hughes would have been extremely pleased with the ending of the ’83 version as Scarface goes out alone, guns blazing taking as many others as he can with him.

The 1983 version would have been much more dangerous at the time than the ’32 version, but the ’83 version most certainly had a higher entertainment value, allowing for the use of peoples actual reaction to the blood and horror portrayed by the gangster life.

1st Amendment – Ben V

The ability of the Hays Code to censor Scarface is not inhibited by the first amendment under the conception that the Hays Code is not a government organization, it is a part of the film industry production process. The ability of a private organization to censor it’s industry was not something that was viewed as a specific threat to the founding fathers. The scenes in Scarface promoting it as a political film (Courtroom, Editor’s Office and opening images) were actually added by the Hays Office and not apart of the original plan for the film. Even making the film political would not have been enough to save it from the censorship of the office via first amendment rights. The fact that congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech” does not apply to private sectors preventing their own free speech.

Paper proposal – Feda E

Research question:

What is the psychological effect of violent television on young children?

Thesis statement:

Aggression, paranoia, and fear of a mean world are evident effects of violent television on children’s lives and mentality.

Plan:

My plan is to use several accounts of research as well as overview articles and proposals to argue that the harmful effect TV imposes on children makes regulation necessary.

Some of TV’s bad influences on children include:

• Children will increase anti-social and aggressive behavior.
• Children may become less sensitive to violence and those who suffer from violence.
• Children may view the world as violent and mean, becoming more fearful of being a victim of violence.
• Children will desire to see more violence in entertainment and real life.
• Children will view violence as an acceptable way to settle conflicts.
  (Congressional Public Health Summit, 2000)