Media and the Criminal Justice System Essay

Media has a strong influence on today’s society and the criminal justice system. Interaction with the media continues to create problems in overcoming the racial disparities in this nation, due to crime that is committed by ethnic minorities in the media increasing racial stereotypes. Media also has a great influence and disadvantages regarding high profile criminal cases, affecting the way Americans view the criminal justice system. High exposure to the news and entertainment media has been proven it increase fear,which can rise the crime rates in communities. In any case, when turning on the news and looking through the pages of a local newspaper, minorities , mostly African-Americans are the central focus of crime ,creating the portal that blacks are the main source of crime in our nation (see figure 1). The graph below shows the increasing amount of black on black crimes over the years. A 2007 special report released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, reveals that approximately 8,000 — and, in certain years, as many as 9,000 African Americans are murdered annually in the United States .The media has led to racial stereotypes of African-Americans due to the amount of â€Å"black on black† crime that is reported everyday. Fig. 1. Homicide victims by race and gender of the victims 1933-2005;Department of Justice Report;2007 More so, informing the public of what occurred instead of solutions to the problem. This issue results to a misunderstanding by the viewer who assumes that the images and facts portrayed are representations of racial groups as a whole, instead of those particular people that are being mentioned. Read more:  Advantages and Disadvantages of Mass Communication The media can also influence the law enforcement opinion of blacks, they have been many illegal actions on the basis of an individual race and ethnicity known as racial profiling. In addition,victims who are an ethnic minority are rarely featured on the news, unlike Caucasian victims who claim the spotlight in media entertainment. Such as the murder of Teryvon Martin. As a result, of the media’s false portrayals of crime and offenders has resulted in the continuation of prejudicial beliefs in our country. The main point of this issue is the problem of racial profiling that exists in various communities within our society including the criminal justice system. However, media coverage or press attention in criminal cases poses its advantages and disadvantages. Publicity can cause unknown witnesses to come forward so that their information may be considered and the facts correctly determined. It can also help to ensure that the person who is charged is being treated fairly by subjecting their decisions to the public. Media coverage can also provide the encouragement for needed changes in the criminal justice system . Media in criminal cases can also have its disadvantages. Publicity may cause some judges or prosecutors, particularly those who must re elected , to act in a manner to help his or her votes rather than in the manner of fairness and justice. The media can also influence the jurors decision. There are laws that protects a jury from being influenced by media reporting, but there have been situations where criminal cases hear claims that a defendant cannot get a fair trial because of the media. These concerns are taken seriously by judges and also by reporters and editors who can face imprisonment for compromising the legal process. Yet there has been many opinions from lawyers and journalists, that most juries are sophisticated enough to ignore media reports when they are asked to return a verdict.There have been many high profile cases where the media influence the public and exposed themselves in a negative manner , as well as informed the public of the wrongdoing of the criminal justice system. For example, The Treyvon Martin case exposed the worst in the media. Similar to what I stated in the beginning of this paper. The media rarely broadcast victims that are African-American. It took one month for the Treyvon Martin shooting to air on the news. Another incident that shows the lack of integrity in the media, is the video of George Zimmerman arriving at the police station. After ABC News aired surveillance video of George Zimmerman, entering a police precinct without any apparent injuries, another news program enhanced still images from the video and concluding that it found â€Å"what may be an injury to the back of his head.† The site’s photo â€Å"analysis† photoshopped the back of Zimmerman’s head with yellow arrows and stated this it†indicates what appears to be a vertical laceration or scar several inches long.† These statements were lately deemed as false. As, I mentioned above, the media can inform the public of the wrongdoing in the criminal justice system. The Drew Peterson trial allowed hearsay to be presented as evidence in the case,though hearsay is stated as unconstitutional. A change in the law was made in order to use the hearsay against him. The media informed the public of the matter. The Daily Center is also the same news program that published the 152 pages of Martin’s tweets from a social networking site known as Tweeter. The judge, Debra S. Nelson of Seminole County Circuit Court, said Mr. Martin’s Twitter, Facebook and school records were relevant in the self-defense case. The media influenced the judge to allow the tweets to analyze Martin’s personality , which might have been seen as a typical high school male, focused on girls, sex and getting out of class early, or to be used against him in order to show whether a victim â€Å"had an alleged propensity to violence† or aggression, the judge said. Similar to any other teenager his â€Å"tweets† focused on ditching school and girls, using them in a criminal case is a bias approach to the situation. Another show, The Today Show underwent an internal investigation from NBC regarding the editorial process after its morning show aired an edited conversation between George Zimmerman and a 911 dispatcher recorded before the shooting. The investigation came after Fox News and others pointed out that the network joined two parts of the call together, making it appear as if Zimmerman had said, â€Å"This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.† In reality, Zimmerman was answering a dispatcher’s question: Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. Or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about. Dispatcher: OK, and this guy–is he black, white or Hispanic? Zimmerman: He looks black.(02 April 2012) The actions that the media took influenced the public and the courts and showed the negative aspects of allowing the media to inform the public. This case in particular showed the amount of racism, lack of integrity that exist in media entertainment. The fear of crime can be associated with media exposure. The media in general tends to exaggerate the crime . For example, the crime that you are more likely to see on the news are in relation to gun violence, the same thing can be found on the internet and newspaper. Crime through media is intended to draw the reader in, and interest them. Yet a daily exposure can encourage fear in the viewer. The fear of crime can outweigh the actual risks. Those who are in fear of crime tend to stay home rather than venture outdoors, this can increase the amount of crime. Signs of incivility in a community rises the crime rate due to â€Å"criminals being drawn to communities where they perceive a lack of of social control by local residents†(p.281). Another reason for promoting a certain fear of crime is money. By increasing the idea of violent crime, the dominant culture are more likely to invest in certain protections. The media lacks integrity due to broadcasting stories that attacks the reputation of African-Americans and other ethnic minorities. They exaggerate stories that can create moral panic and this can also be seen as a way of controlling how the public behaves. Racial profiling is associated with the media due to people seeing mostly blacks committed crimes. Mass media can control the outcome of criminal cases by brainwashing the jurors, controlling the verdict of the case. The relationship between media and crime creates strong influence on the publics view of crime and the criminal justice system, overall having a power influence on both. Works Cited

Tobacco Smoking Among Teenagers: Issues and Remedies

SAMPLE OF ESSAY CIVIL ENGINEERING (100L) GST 113(philosophy and human existence) Review of the chapter one (1) of olusegun oladipo (thinking about philosophy) Philosophy is not easy to define because it is difficult to identify the subject matter of it, on like biology, political science and so on. Also we cannot say philosophical method, the way we talk of scientific method. But according to the preface of the book, philosophy is an intellectual Endeavour to acquire self knowledge.Three questions comes to mind and best summarize the intellectual Endeavour called philosophy, 1) formulation or construction of world view, 2) critical thinking and, 3) the rational, but non-scientific, quest for understanding. PHILOSOPHY AS WORLD VIEW – These are not arbitrary statement or products of fantasy. Rather they are products of reflection and speculation, which most people take for granted in their everyday lives. According to G. Chatalian, he conceived philosophy â€Å"essentially as t he pursuit of wisdom† and consequently, â€Å"the search for the guide to life. For a genuine philosopher, two things are required in this view, they are; Insight and Commitment to human well-being. Considering the handbook of Epictetus, 1) believing that what you have is yours and what you don’t have is on its own, you will have no enemies, life will go easy. 2) Do not seek life to go your own way instead let it happen as do happen and life will be easy. PHILOSOPHY AS CRITICAL THINKING – This entails that human knowledge is always partial.If this is the case then the best intellectual attitude is that which does not take any believe or assumption for granted, but is ready to examine the grounds for the validation of a belief or opinion that is presented as being true or possible. It is this attitude that the philosophical activities of critical thinking promotes. THE ENTERPRISE OF PHILOSOPHER – According to Dilthey, â€Å"the philosophic spirit† i s both critical and reconstructive. Philosophers use or dominate their expertise by addressing certain questions, typically called philosophical questions.These questions are beyond the scope of specific areas of knowledge. The primary goal of philosopher in addressing these questions is, in the manner of Socrates. Thus, philosophy is a kind of a rational inquiry that begins in doubt and ends in the generation of beliefs. TOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY – LANGUAGE and LOGIC are the two key tools of philosophy. According to A. J. Ayer’s point, language is the means to the achievement of the kind of clarity of thought without which the philosophical enterprise can hardly succeed language matters in philosophy because much of what philosophers do involves conceptual elucidation.Logic also matters in the enterprise because much of philosophy has to do with providing good reasons for our view or positions. Secondly it is important because philosophers are generally concerns with the lo gical assessment of arguments. USE OF PHILOSOPHY – â€Å"Elevation† of mankind. The elevation as used in the context can be defined in terms of; enlightenment, open-mindedness, breading of sensibility and so on.Also, it stimulates people to think about the basic problems of existence as they affect them as individuals and as social collectives. PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE IN THE AFRICAN CONTEXT – philosophy has a very importance role to play in the production, clarification and propagation of the ideas and values guiding the thought and life of people. Also it promotes the kind of self understanding that would provide some basic for determining the kind of social-cultural that will enable Africans with the challenges of contemporary life.

Mother Jones advertises itself as smart, fearless journalism Essay

Of all mothers, Mother Jones advertises itself as â€Å"smart, fearless journalism. † If only we all had mothers who looked this deeply through current events. This is a unique journal which holds itself to high standards in both a journalistic and moral sense. As the website says, they look for articles that are â€Å"Hard-hitting, investigative reports exposing government cover-ups, corporate malfeasance, scientific myopia, institutional fraud or hypocrisy, etc. † It’s a journal that likes to get facts, shocking facts, about what people care about. The pages of the journal are ridden with ads devoted to the environment and environmentally concerned companies. Even financial investors advertize themselves as â€Å"green† investors (pg3). A cigarette company has an entire page add with â€Å"Natural† as their larges printed word. Educational institutions also claim add space that contributes to the worldly responsibility saying â€Å"change yourself, change the world† (pg 21). By using the adds in this journal alone, you could help end animal cloning (pg.33), drink organic coffee (pg 32), invest in economically sensitive companies (pg 25), get information about fixing your pet (pg 21), and even discover how to take part in the â€Å"green festival† (pg 35). All of it is riddled with the underlying message of social responsibility. In the mission statement found on the journals website, it says â€Å"the Mother Jones produces revelatory journalism that seeks to inform and inspire a more just and democratic world. † Notice they used the word â€Å"world,† and not just nation. Both advertisements and articles aim to sway opinions towards helping to change the world. In a single publication, there are articles on global warming, several on current American politics, the possible dangers plastic pose to the environment, oil spills in Brooklyn, education of troubled and disabled students, and the lack of protests on the behalf of today’s college students. It’s clear that this journal is out to change the world and hold us all accountable for higher moral and ethical standards. But that begs a question; what kind of standards? It’s tricky to lay a claim on whether this journal is liberal or democrat, let alone identify any defining moral statement as it has articles reflecting both sides of the generalized views of those parties. Perhaps this sentence taken from the websites advertising policies page can help explain the confusion; â€Å"we’re in business to produce great public interest journalism, no strings attached. † Or maybe this one; â€Å"Mother Jones respects and values free expression and dissenting voices. † Sounds very intelligent and fair – idealistic almost – but what’s the catch? Well it’s clear that a magazine is a business, and like any business you have to sell. Mother Jones does this with shock value. They publish articles about torturing children and one entitled â€Å"Gay by Choice? † It also has an article depicting news corporations as bias and even creating â€Å"fake news. † Mother Jones tells their readers all about the things they cannot trust, and reasons why from the experts who claim it. The writers for Mother Jones are experts to say the least. Most of their columns are written by freelancers, but darn good ones. Their cover story â€Å"School of Shock† was written by Jennifer Gonnerman after a yearlong investigation. Gary Greenberg is a contributing writer who is also psychotherapist, and his work has appeared in The New Yorker and Best American Science and Nature Writing. It’s clear that they editors believe, as their website claims, that they â€Å"assume that our readers are sufficiently smart and skeptical. † Though, when reading the articles it is clear that a degree is not needed to read this journal. Technical terms are not used freely or thoughtlessly. All in all, this journal claims, and lives up to those claims, to be a smart and justifiable journalism. It’s a publication that’s not a slave to it’s advertizers, and respects different viewpoints. I could see favor given to stories with shock value, but the overall theme of the journal, of global responsibility, would not be compromised. A Journal of Interest In Jennifer Gonnerman’s article â€Å"School of Shock,† she describes the extremely controversial disciplinary actions of the Judge Rotenberg Educational center located in Massachusetts. The center was originally set up for children with such extreme behavioral problems that they could not be a part of a normal classroom. Electric shocks are used on about half of the 234 children within the facility which charges $220,000 a year for each student. These children are diagnosed with sever autism, metal retardation, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or are emotionally disturbed. By relaying the stories of children who have been through traumatic events in the facility, as well as her own personal experience interviewing them and visiting the school, Gonnerman creates a very emotional piece. After reading it myself, tears nearly ran down my cheek; and I’m a man who rarely tears. Surprisingly, most of the article is factual, with some informative narrative. The voice of Gonnerman is present, as are her thoughts and opinions, but they are not stated outright. By doing this she lets the reader feel through the facts and experience rather than preach to them. It could be very easy to push such an article in the face of readers with strong visual images, but instead the images are simply those of children sitting or standing, usually with an adult looking over them. There are no images of children being shocked, but there are also no pictures of children misbehaving. In this way, the article is neutral in it’s portrayal of the school. Though I cannot imagine anyone who believes that shocking a child with the voltage described is an ok thing to do, the article voices both sides of the argument. Numerous examples are given of a extreme behavior such as inducing vomiting, biting chunks out of his/her own tongue, setting fires and cutting him/herself. It’s a place where any child can go, despite their history or severity of behaviors. In some ways, it sounds like a necessary evil. The writing is clearly seeking to shut the school down, but it does not give a solution for its necessity. It does not give any alternatives for students or parents. I leave the article wondering how else to handle such violent and disturbed children. A Journal of Freelance Of the articles published in Mother Jones, most of it comes from freelance writers. That doesn’t mean, however, that just anyone can write for them. A slew of experts and highly educated, and highly published, writers contribute to this journal. But if you don’t want to go and get your doctorate just to be published, here are a few things to think about in order to get published: Subject, Experience, and Tone. The Subject, first and formost, must be one of large consequence. Either look to meet a large interest with a large number of people, or look for a topic that would shock a large number of people. Also, the topic must be something that can be affected or has subsequent consequences. To sum it up in a few words, it should be a new view on a popular subject. As for your experience with the subject, well years of schooling aren’t required to write for Mother Jones, but years of experience might be. Not only will this journal hold your writing and journalistic talents to a high level, but many people who have written on a subject for the journal have also written a book about it; and it’s been published. If you’ve been published in big name journals like The New Yorker, or Rolling Stone, that might work also. And finally the tone of your writing must be affirmative action. The editors of this magazine seek to change the world with it, so think along the lines of that. Other than a lot of research, aim to persuade readers to take action. Who knows, maybe Mother Jones will change the world some day, and you could be a part of it.

Important People

Franklin D. Roosevelt- He was the first president who understood how to use media and the radio. He made speeches on the radio called Fireside chats. He made about 28- 33 of these. He was elected to office four times. In one of his speeches he talked about how there was more employment now than 4 years ago. He used radio to give his own points of view and defend the New Deal. Used radio because it was intimate. Superman/ Clark Kent- Cartoon (sept. 18, 1942) superman takes the war to the enemy in a time that we could not do it. He did something that they were incapable of doing, defeating the enemy. he was fighting the military (not TERRERISM) not blowing business building just military items. He represents our country. Clark Kent is supermans alter ego who is a reporter for the Metropolis newspaper, The Daily Planet. Herman Goering- (1893 – 1946). He was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. Among many offices, he was Hitler's designated successor, and commander of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force). He was a veteran of WWI as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Merite (â€Å"The Blue Max†). He was the last commander of Jagdgeschwader I, the air squadron of Manfred Von Richthofen â€Å"The Red Baron†. After the WWII he was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg Trials. He was sentenced to death by hanging, but committed suicide by cyanide ingestion the night before he was due to be hanged. Max Fleischer- (1883 – 1972) He was an American animator. He was a pioneer in the development of the animated cartoon and served as the head of Fleischer Studios. He brought such animated characters as Betty Boop, Koko the Clown, Popeye, and Superman to the movie screen and was responsible for a number of technological innovations like the idea of the rotoscope which was a concept to simplify the process of animating movement by tracing frames of live action film. Lois Lane- she is a reporter for the Metropolis newspaper, The Daily Planet. She represents our individual attitudes. She is willing to die for what she believes in and is a hero. She represents American stubbornness and she’s a hero because she never once calls for help. Iva Toguri- (1916 –2006) She was an American citizen who participated in English-language propaganda broadcast transmitted by Radio Tokyo to Allied soldiers in the South Pacific during World War II. Although on the â€Å"Zero Hour† radio show, Toguri called herself â€Å"Orphan Ann,† she quickly became identified with the moniker â€Å"Tokyo Rose†, a name that was coined by Allied soldiers and that predated her broadcasts. William Joyce- (1906 – 1946) He was nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw and was a fascist politician and Nazi propaganda broadcaster to the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He was hanged for treason by the British government as a result of his wartime activities. Joseph Goebbels- (1897 –h 1945) was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of German dictator Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism. He was the chief architect of the Kristallnacht attack on the German Jews, which historians consider to be the commencement of the Nazi violence culminating in the Holocaust. From our notes: he said to Hitler that he needed to sell his ideas and form an enemy. Neville Chamberlain (1869 – 1940) was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany. When Adolf Hitler continued his aggression, Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, and Chamberlain led Britain through the first eight months of World War II. Hughes flying Boat H-4 (hk-1) Hercules (â€Å"Spruce Goose†)- was a prototype heavy transport aircraft designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft company. The aircraft made its only flight on November 2, 1947. Built from wood because of wartime raw material restrictions on the use of aluminum, it was nicknamed the â€Å"Spruce Goose† by its critics. The Hercules is the largest flying boat ever built, and has the largest wingspan and height of any aircraft in history. It survives in good condition at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, USA.

Analyze and research 2 original works of art Paper

Analyze and 2 original works of art - Research Paper Example However, there are exemptions and contradictions to the said expression of belief in art. An example of this can be exemplified through the marble statue of the Old Woman. At the present, both are located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. These two pieces, when studied closely, have seemingly diverse themes in artistic approach. Both have also left numerous mysteries and secrets with questions and answers waiting to be revealed – revelations of stories each once told. In this light, this paper will focus on the mentioned classical marble monuments that exhibit extensive pieces of evidence about the classical period. It will describe each of the respective piece’s physical characteristics and figures. Then, an analysis of artistic style based on the classical techniques will be given. Thereafter, both will be compared based on the individual analysis conducted. The mentioned statues will also be historicized based on the prevailing themes they possessed. Such historical study will explain the type of society and political atmosphere where these statues were conceptualized. In the physical and technical attributes of the marble statue Hermes, it can be said that the piece is a close life size depiction of Greek god Hermes, the messenger to Zeus. It stands at 71 1/4 x 29 1/2 x 23 1/2 inches. The statue’s left hand, nose, and tips of some fingers have been duly restored in its present museum condition. Its artist, Polykleitos, displays Hermes with a graceful stance. One can begin to imagine how the sculpture came about. In the viewer’s plain sight, it was as if Hermes was present and posing for the artist. Polykleitos depicts Hermes’ stance using contrapposto, meaning â€Å"counter poise.† This particular stance applies all of the subject’s weight shifting to his left leg, with his right leg slightly bent ahead of the other. He stands tall, with might, shoulders back and head tilt forward. This pose causes the figur e’s hips and shoulders to rest at opposite angels and gives it a slight and almost unnoticeable s-curve to the torso. The statue’s head is tilted forward, as if he gazes down upon something and with his left arm, reaching out for something. Such particular pose implies the notion of the god giving a hand out to travelers, as if to assist them in a safe and easy journey as many Greeks would do when they called out and made sacrifices to Hermes before any trips were conducted.2 The statue’s chitin is held at his left shoulder, draped off the body with remainder of the material gathered in the left arm. The marble statue of Hermes is of many similar Greek originals and Roman copies, as they constantly display desired physical beauty and idealism in lieu of concrete beauty and realism. It is from this technical characterization that the style where Hermes was based can be deduced. From what was mentioned earlier, the classical Greek art can be attributed to the them es of naturalism and idealism. The technique of naturalism is evident within Hermes through the very image of the Greek god where the male figure exhibits nudity. Nudity, in a classical and artistic sense, can be seen as being one with the natural world. The utter simplicity in physical attributes can be shown through the sole use of a piece of clothing draped upon one’s shoulder. This natural attachment to the world is the core

Give a historic and analytical overview of special educational needs Essay

Give a historic and analytical overview of special educational needs (SEN) provision in England 1870 to present - Essay Example Today â€Å"All teachers should expect to teach children with special educational needs and all schools should play their part in educating children from their local community, whatever their background or ability. Training for teachers, appropriate funding for schools and improvements in the way their achievements are judged is vital† (SEN, 2010). Although training is not always equalized, significant progress has been made. In 1870, the Elementary Education Act was established by Liberal MP William Forster started to standardize education, and â€Å"made provision for the elementary education of all children aged 5-13 and established school boards to oversee and complete the network of schools and to bring them all under some form of supervision† (Education, 2010). However, at the time, SEN children were often seen as a blight on society, better isolated in institutions rather than mainstreamed with their peers. Theoretically, there has been a change in terms of how s pecial needs and handicapped children are treated by educational and healthcare systems since. Unfortunately, special education programs are a recent phenomenon and parents, teachers, and other professionals therefore should know that special group programs only began to become widespread in the latter half of the twentieth century, as the public perception of institutions began to change and the government began to shift the parameters used for classifying disabilities. At the beginning of the 20th century, some accountability for SEN children had started to creep into the legislation, albeit not in a very strongly worded way. â€Å"Not surprisingly, therefore, the Elementary Education (Defective and Epileptic Children) Act of 1899 empowered - but did not require - school boards to provide for the education of mentally and physically defective and epileptic children† (Education, 2010). As the 20th century progressed, a shift towards group programs became more popular, especi ally for high-functioning disabled student individuals, and special education services became more widespread as well, leading to a decrease in the number of functioning individuals with disabilities being constrained to home or institutional life. This gradually progressive process is spoken of in terms of deinstitutionalization as well as socialization and inclusion. As one thinker notes, â€Å"It is not fully clear who among the deinstitutionalized population would have been the long-stay patients in earlier areas† (Special, 2007). Often the process of institutional facility offered by long-stay programs is impaired by the perception that these programs keep socially maladjusted individuals from encountering problems in a complex outside world that is often defined by the same sense of boundary offered. During the first half of the twentieth century, before more environmentally inclusive programs were offered, many individuals were constrained in adolescence and held well into middle age. In many circles, prevailing wisdom still seems to state that psychotherapy is an appropriate treatment method. But the number of group therapy patients has combined with many private-sector programs which can differ from state to state and region to region, in terms of prevalence. After the first World War, â€Å"Lloyd George set about an ambitious programme of post-war social reform: the national insurance scheme was extended to cover almost all workers, old age pensions were doubled, local authority house building

Solution on how engineering text books could be made affordable to Essay - 1

Solution on how engineering text books could be made affordable to mechanical engineering students - Essay Example Amadallo D.1 argues that, "I could have performed much better than I am doing now if all or at least a good fraction of the text books I've always needed were made available. My grades are affected negatively by the fact that I do not have most of the recommended books". Asked to explain why this is so, the student claims that though the texts are available in the stores, the price tag on each is disappointing! The cry of this student reflects that of the many students taking the course in the many higher institutions of learning all over the world. There is need to find a solution to this "price tag" problem, so that we can be certain that the future mechanical engineers are trained appropriately as per the demands of their dynamic field. Publishers of the mechanical engineering books on the other hand do not see any unjustifiable reasons for the high costs of the products; the books have higher production costs anyway, even in terms of quality production as compared to the other fields! The scope or range of material that a particular book customary includes and the contents, referring to the subjects or topics usually covered in any engineering book directly implies higher costs (D. W. King and C Tenopir.1999). The publishers claim that the blame should be laid on the stringent authorship restrictions, the policy imposing the limitations on who is eligible to submit any material for publication, which renders the field duly uncompetitive. The expensive acquisition of the many international publications that enjoy well deserved reputation, regional disparities that might exist, for example, addressing a methodological topic having little relevance elsewhere and high editing costs are also to blame. Students on the o ther hand do no agree with the claims laid by the publishers. They blame the publishers of taking advantage of the belief that the course is generally expensive citing the current price of a new algebra textbook approaching $110 with the publishers bringing out a new edition every three to four years just to prevent students from selling their used books (digg, 2006). The quality of the text contents should never be compromised and the validity of the authors should even be exposed to more stringent rules to protect the authenticity of any publications made. The students argue that techniques should be devised to make the unaffordable texts available to the students who need them, and this basically involves a modulation of the publishing costs. This can, for example be achieved by introducing mergers where senior engineering students and any willing departmental lecturers and scholars with a motivation to engage in the business of publishing are involved in editing, marketing or in sales and in any other aspect related to publishing operations, as a cost sharing initiative between the publishers of mechanical engineering text books and mechanical engineering students. To facilitate the provision of high quality and latest text books to the students at reasonable costs, it has been proposed that the books recommended for each course in the entrusted curriculum should be adopted as textbooks by all the universities (Revised Curriculum of Mechanical Engineering, 2003). The need for technical speciality is another major reason that contributes to the high cost of