Terrapin Row community may worsen College Park traffic and present new pedestrian safety concerns, but should be worth the risk

Explanatory Headline: Terrapin Row community may worsen College Park traffic and present new pedestrian safety concerns, but should be worth the risk

Subhead 1: With more than 1,500 new residents on the block, expect added congestion on Knox Road, Route 1

The Terrapin Row community includes approximately 1,515 beds total. If even 20% of those residents have cars, that would be an additional 303 cars on the narrow and winding Knox Road. This has experts concerned that the slow-moving traffic from Knox Road to Route 1 will get even slower.

Video Interview here with UMD Prof. Frederick Ducca, Urban Planning and Architecture Dept.
1. How much extra daily traffic do you expect as a result of the new residents in the Terrapin Row community?
2. Do you think Knox Road and the surrounding roads are capable of handling a much higher volume of traffic?

Subhead 2: Safety is a top priority for Terrapin Row, but there could still be an uptick in pedestrian incidents, fender-benders

The influx of new residents in the area makes pedestrian safety a concern. Not only will the residents be living in a community right next to Knox Road, but they are also just steps away from Route 1. Multiple fatal accidents involving pedestrians occurred on Route 1 last year, and while steps were taken to prevent more accidents, is Route 1 prepared for 1,500 new residents crossing the road? Also, with the added car traffic, there may be an increase in low-speed accidents.

Video Interview here with UMD Prof. Frederick Ducca, Urban Planning and Architecture Dept.
1. Do you foresee more accidents on Knox Road and on Route 1?
2. What steps can the university and town of College Park take to further ensure pedestrian safety?

Subhead 3: Despite traffic and pedestrian concerns, the university and town are excited to see College Park expand

The Terrapin Row community is expected to be considered an important stepping stone in the re-branding of College Park as a chic city, as well as a recruiting tool for the university. Most people believe that the positive aspects of the development outweigh the safety risks that come with it.

Video Interview here with College Park City Councilman Robert Day
1. How do you expect the image of College Park to change after Terrapin Row opens for business?
2. What are the long-term benefits that Terrapin Row will bring to College Park?

The Negative Effects of Violent Video Games: Aggressive Behavior, Objectification of Women, Hate Speech

            Avid players of violent video games are likely to demonstrate an increase in aggressive behavior in their regular lives, according to a recent study. In addition, the video gamer community has experienced an uptick in hate speech and bigotry, while many games themselves are guilty of carrying on gender stereotypes.

           

            A 2014 CBS News report cites a three-year study conducted by JAMA Pediatrics, which concluded that children who were highly exposed to violent video games were more likely to engage in aggressive behavior. The study’s subjects were between eight and 17 years old, and close to 75% of the subjects were boys.

Source: Google Images

            The aggressive behavior referred to in the study included a rise in violent fantasies, as well as an increase in attributing hostile motives to others. The study also found that the initial aggressiveness of the children was not a contributing factor in their observed changes in behavior.

            The study’s co-author, Craig Anderson, said that violent video games couldn’t be considered as the sole reason for an increase in aggressiveness, but that there is evidence to believe they play a significant role in the behavioral change.

            “At least one major reason aggressive behavior went up in children is because violent video games seemed to increase a child’s violent thought patterns,” Anderson said.

            While Anderson noted that playing violent video games won’t “take a healthy kid who has a few other risk factors and turn him into a school shooter,” there have been multiple recent murders seemingly caused by such games.

            In 2013, an 8-year-old Louisiana boy shot and killed his 90-year-old caretaker shortly after playing the violent Grand Theft Auto IV video game, in which players are awarded points for killing people.

            Also in 2013, a New Mexico teenager killed his parents and three younger siblings after becoming upset at his mother. The teenager was unemotional when talking to authorities about the murders, but ‘perked up’ when discussing his love for violent video games.

            Adam Lanza, the infamous Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter, was also allegedly obsessed with violent video games. 

         

Women and sex featured as rewards, challenges, objects in gameplay tasks

         Many violent video games are guilty of propagating the notion that women are sexual objects, or that their main purpose is to serve as sexual slaves for men.

            Matthew Wysocki’s book, “Rated M for Mature,” cites some of these pornographic games, like God of War III, in which the player controls the Greek god Kratos and has a choice whether or not to have sex with the semi-nude goddess Aphrodite. If the player accepts the task, the camera pans to maidens, who observe the sexual encounter. If Kratos satisfies Aphrodite, the maidens become turned on, and if Kratos fails to satisfy her, the maidens frown and make funny remarks.

            Wysocki also cites the game Bind Her, in which the sole task is to completely tie up and immobilize a nude woman, as well as the game Consensual Torture Simulator, in which the player uses various bondage and S&M tactics to punish a female slave until she cries, as other sex-based games.

            Wysocki also links Nice Guy Syndrome, a belief that involves men thinking that if they are nice to women and meet their emotional needs they will be rewarded with sex, with the nonviolent video game Dragon Age: Origins.

Source: Google Images

            That game features a male protagonist trying to eventually date and have sex with various females by paying attention to them, giving them gifts, and choosing correct dialogue responses when in conversations with each female.

            The Grand Theft Auto series is notorious for its depiction of women as sex objects ripe for the taking. The series came under fire in 2005 when hackers discovered an unreleased mini-game within Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas which allowed the main character to have sexual intercourse with his girlfriend. 

            These are just a few of the many violent, and in the case of games like Dragon Age: Origins, nonviolent video games that depict women as subservient and readily available for sex. It’s no wonder that the gamer community has a problem with misogyny.

            One person who has made an impact in stopping misogyny in video games and the gamer community is Anita Sarkeesian. Sarkeesian received the Ambassador’s Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2014 for creating a series of videos that challenged sexism and misogyny in gaming. However, the award ceremony’s organizers were threatened to be bombed if Sarkeesian was presented with the award.

            Sarkeesian has received her fair share of threats from misogynist gamers. Sarkeesian herself has been sent images of her being raped by video game characters. Someone created a game called Beat Up Anita Sarkeesian, and Sarkeesian was forced to flee her home last August after a Twitter user posted her address and threatened to kill her.

 Hate speech becoming more prevalent in violent online games

           

            Another burgeoning problem in the gaming community is hate speech in online environments. Unsurprisingly, users playing violent games often make the hateful comments.

            In 2012, comedian Sam Killermann started Gamers Against Bigotry, after being appalled by the amount of insensitive comments made by other players while he was playing violent games online.

           

Source; Google Images

            “My first time playing Halo 2 on Xbox Live…that was the first time I ever heard someone say the n-word during a video game,” Killermann said.

           

            “It’s only gotten worse since then – or at least more common,” Killermann said.

            However, Killermann’s website was bombarded with racial slurs and offensive images shortly after its debut.

            The rise of hate speech during violent online video games was one of the hot topics at the 2014 Game Developers Conference. The conference, which previously had a reputation for being a technical-based event, added a panel on misogyny, racism, and homophobia in response to the growing bigotry in the online gaming community.