Andy Warhol was a great artist in the 1960’s. A great influence on the “Pop Art movement”, his paintings of Marilyn Monroe were iconic then and are still widely recognizable now. Besides his colorful, bright, and psychedelic works, however, there were the paintings and works of art that he composed that stood out the most; simple pictures of everyday objects. This was a completely new turn on art yet a very new concept to be put forth. As writers write about what interests them, or “what they know”, Warhol put this to work on canvas by painting some of his simplest, yet most effective, unforgettable works of art: the “Campbell’s Soup Cans” collection. As a child, Warhol ate a bowl of soup everyday. The Campbell’s company was already famous and an important, valid part of many American homes, and had been for nearly a century, by the time he decided to produce paintings of various flavors of the company’s soup cans, but the collection shed new light and focus to the soup itself, as well as to the concept of popular culture artwork. It was marveled ar that such a basic idea, with an ordinary design, could provoke such deep and intense feelings amongst people, and could become so widely renowned. A painting of a soup can could be turned into a collection of thirty-two, and set up to look like a grocery store isle, something so often taken for granted, only to still be highly famed and remembered years later, with commemoration contests, exhibits, and memorabilia set up to honor it. When I look at any of the given Campbell’s Soup Can paintings, I feel warm inside. It’s a happy, nice, and thoughtful feeling that provokes memories of childhood and simplicity. I am not alone in my feelings, as I am sure many others feel the same as I do, judging by and explaining the popularity of the collection. It allows people to be happy, to understand, to think, and to feel, all with a basic depiction of an item that they typically would not take the time to think twice about, and it is because of this that the simple portraits truly are a work of art.
So...Final blog post. You know, I've wanted to start one of these things forever and just never got around to it. And I never really used it as much as I meant to. But it is pretty cool. I think I'm actually gonna keep it. It's weird posting papers and stuff on a blog, and it's extra work and effort, but I've really enjoyed posting random thoughts and stuff on here, and getting to know the class. The cool part about this is seeing people "outside" of the classroom, and getting to critique their work. It's nice to see how other people write their papers or think of topics, especially on creative subjects. It allows us to admire what people think, work on, and do. So many classes go by where you don't even know the people who sit next to you, but with these blogs, I feel like I've gotten to know a lot of people and made many new, and nice, acquaintances. And I get to admire them. The best part of it is that I know that people like Colin, Ian, and Tiffany are brilliant, and people like Jordyn and Allison and Raquel are interesting, and other people in our class are talented and really cool. I do honestly hope to have future classes with these people, or to at least keep in touch with most of them. I've seen that blogging allows people to see different sides to others they normally wouldn't expect. The shy person might be really funny and creative, and blogging allows him or her to showcase his/her talents. It's a strange phenomena, but I like it...Kind of (when I have the time for it, though it is pretty cool knowing the world can read what you write).
If I could redo any assignment it probably be the one on Facebook and teachers I did; I would go back and proofread :-P
The poem at the top (which I forgot to post earlier in the semester) is one I wrote myself a few years ago. I figured nothing could be more personal to me than my own feelings, which also relate to those of my friends. While I look back, I don't know what I was thinking at the time, or what about. But it must've meant a lot to me or I wouldn't've written it down. The colors I chose related to the feel of the words, red and bold for anger, softer colors for softer or less important words. The poem is basically about love and hate and emotion, and how sometimes feelings can't be conveyed by words or simple concepts, but are dependent on oxymorons.
I believe that the colors help the emotion show even more, and convey the feelings of the words.
To view the poem, click the picture to make it bigger...
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig, is a philosophical book about Quality, life, existentialism, and general thoughts. It's a very deep book, though somewhat hard to read. And of course, it does have a story behind it, of which I won't go into detail in case anyone decides to read it. But anyway, the main story basically discusses a motorcycling trip across the country that the author takes with his son, Chris, and a couple close friends, John and Sylvia. This video is one I made awhile back for a class, and as I was thinking about what kind of a book trailer I could do, I realized the video I already had was a perfect advertisement, and great for getting into the feel of the book. I obviously don't own the rights to any of the pictures or music, but did remix the songs and layout everything myself. All of the pictures are real pictures from the trip, pictures of the same path traveled by other people, pictures of the people involved, pictures of painting, books covers, parts of nature, diners eaten at, etc, that relate to the book and the trip that was taken. There are pictures of the author as he looked then and in recent times, a recent picture of his son Chris, and paintings by a woman they visited along the way (Gennie DeWeese), and many other things that make the book more enjoyable after you've read it, but that could possibly get you into the feel of WANTING to read it. It took me awhile to truly appreciate this work of literature, but when I finally learned to, it was held near and dear to my heart. When making this video, I wanted to try to do justice to the points of the book. Quotes and such don't work for me when it comes to these things, as I believe that the best quotes can come from reading the book itself, and experiencing it for yourself. I picked songs that relate to the topic of insanity that is avid throughout the entire novel, and tried to get the video to make the audience feel as though they are looking at a scrapbook or were part of these trip, or had known these people personally. I hope you enjoy it and that it will lead you into if not reading the book, at least reading ABOUT it and what it discusses.
A websites that can be helpful to research this topic is MOQ.org, which discusses the Metaphysics of Quality and has message boards devoted to figuring out the meaning and understanding behind Pirsig's story, which is now considered to be the greatest philosophy book of modern times. The constant changing of speaker and pattern tend to make the book confusing, and so reading up on it before actually reading it does work wonders into getting through it more easily and swiftly, though it does remove some of the surprise aspect.
They played La Bamba on MyTv 20 today... It was nice to see it... watching movies like That Thing You Do and such always gets me thinking and makes me feel...not so much happy, but whole... and so I thought about this movie intently, especially after realizing the mention that Buddy Holly, one of my favorite musicians, as well as The Big Bopper, died along with Ritchie Valens, and wondered about how the world must have felt that day...another plane crash took place with civilians, so it was kind of overshadowed...but nowadays, we lose one semi-popular musician and are saddened for a long time to be...Imagine losing three... and it made me wonder about Donna, Ritchie's girlfriend..and what happened to her, seeing her slink into her chair while still a high schooler, hearing that the high school sweetheart she would marry (in a time when such things happened), had just died. She is the one that the song "Oh Donna" is written for, just as "Peggy Sue" was a real person as well. They all died so young but their music is still popular and influenced a whole generation... But they left behind these people, who we know somewhat through the influence popular songs, but through personal means...
And I'm rambling...
So, long story short,
I looked it up, and found a video, of the two girlfriends. And I guess it makes clear two popular sayings that need to be experienced to be understood...
A friend posted this as a note on their Facebook, and I remember I used to do stuff like this all the time, kinda using my CD player as a fortune teller, so I thought it would be fun to take...and for anyone else to take if they choose too.
Put your iPod/mp3 player into shuffle. In every question, play a song; a corresponding song in each of the questions which will be the answer. Try and enjoy!
1) How does the world see me?
Naive, by The Kooks-- Coincidentally, I've been called this a lot lately.
2) Will I have a happy life?
Wisdom From Vanity, by Starrfadu-- This is my view on life...idk if it defines happiness more than understanding, however.
3) What do my friends think of me?
I Think We're Alone Now, by Tiffany-- Well, I do prefer a small group of friends to a large group.
4) Do people secretly lust after me?
All I Want is You, by Barry Louis-Polisar-- So, apparently, unbeknownst to me, but yes
5) How can I make myself happy?
Help!, by The Beatles-- Oh yeah, that's not an obvious solution haha
6) What should I do with my life?
Act Naturally, originally by Buck Owen, but performed by The Beatles-- Good advice.
7) Will I ever have children?
Yellow, by Coldplay-- Nice song, don't know what it means in this case. Read my horoscope maybe?
8) What is some good advice for me?
The Wanderer, by Dion & the Belmonts-- Well, journalism is fast paced..
9) How will I be remembered?
Foundations, by Kate Nash-- Really, not sure.
10) What’s my signature dancing song?
Let Me Borrow That Top, by Kelly-- Great.
11) What's my current theme song?
A Well Respected Man, by The Kinks-- Good to hear.
12) What do others think is my current theme song?
She Will Be Loved, by Maroon 5-- That's awesome...
13) What shall they play at my funeral?
Anyone Else But You, by The Moldy Peaches-- Lol. Funny.
Timothy John Russert, Jr. was born on May 7, 1950, to his truck driving, sanitation engineer of a father, “Big Russ” and his stay-at-home mother, Elizabeth. Growing up with a modest background in Buffalo, New York, Tim could only hope to make something good of himself. His father worked two jobs all of his life to be able to afford to send his children to Catholic school in hopes that they would receive a better education. Russert has said that these schools "taught [him] to read and write, but also how to tell right from wrong,” and he credits them with a lot of his success and personality structure. He attended Canisius High School in South Buffalo and walked four miles in the snow with his sisters to get to school, four miles back home for lunch, and then back to school again. With all of his struggles, Tim “thought [he] would come up in buffalo and if [he] got real lucky [he’d] have a chance to go to college and maybe even law school and then be a good lawyer..or a good teacher…and that would be the extent of fulfilling [his] dream.” He never expected what he would accomplish or what was to come. Tim Russert not only became the first person in his family to attend college, he graduated from John Carroll University in 1972 and went on to Cleveland State University’s law school, with the love of but lacking in the financial support his family could not provide him with. Upon joining NBC news in 1984, Russert went on to become the Bureau Chief for the network by the end of the 1980s, and soon enough, the vice president for NBC News. When he took over as moderator of “Meet the Press” the show gained fame and popularity and Tim’s career took off. With a couple of his own shows, high end positions in a major network, and a spot hosting election coverage, this man’s face became well-known around the world. His highly thought out questions, his well-prepared interviews, and the use of his dry erase board during the year 2000 presidential elections are what Tim Russert is most famous and most known for. With all the new technology, new innovations, and impressive ways of figuring out outcomes, the method of using something all of us can probably afford, and find, proved to be the most effective, and most popular. Tim Russert’s simplicity, truth, and honesty appealed to the public at a time when these things were seemingly uncalled for. He did not become famous for his looks, his scandals, or the “people he knew”. He became famous for knowing what he was doing and doing it the best way he knew how; by being himself. His autobiography about his father, Big Russ and Me, was a major hit in 2004 and revealed a more personal side to the person we saw on our small, flashing screens when we turned on the TV. It showed his soft side and inspired people into accepting that anyone could accomplish anything, as long as they set their minds to it. He later stated that the older he got, the wiser his father seemed to appear to him. His family was a big deal to him, and a big part of his life. This familiarity in him made him more acceptable and, somewhat loveable, to the people around him and those to whom his shows were broadcast. His death on June 13, 2008 due to heart failure was a shock and a loss for many. Journalism nowadays, though still avid and clean, is heading toward politicized, glamorized viewpoints and headlines, and many of those presenting the information out there cannot match up with the greats by any means. People often do what they need to get ahead, even if it means not portraying the information they are giving out in the best possible way. From his dry erase board that is now in the Smithsonian, to the tears of Tom Brokaw at his memorial, reaching to the emotion-driving speech that President-elect Barack Obama gave during a charity event during the 2008 elections, Tim Russert will definitely be impossible to replace, and his loss will undoubtedly impact journalistic media as we know it immensely.
Works Cited
Catholic News Service." TV newsman thanks Catholic school teachers who 'changed my life'." Nancy Frazier O'Brien. 26 April 2000. < http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0002542.htm>
The Clevland State University." CSU Mourns Loss of Tim Russert, Distinguished CSU Alumnus." Brian Johnston –Contact Provost.13 June 2008. < http://www.csuohio.edu/news/releases/2008/06/russert.html>
Meet the Press. “Tim Russert Memorial Episode” Tim Russert. 15 June 2008. Copy available on Youtube by searching, “Meet the Press Tim Russert Part 6”
The St. Louis Beacon. “In Memoriam: Tim Russert." Henry I. Schevy. 16 June 2008. < http://www.stlbeacon.org/voices/in_the_news/in_memoriam_tim_russert>
Podcast Script for No Tim like the Present Done by one commentator
Music Opening Song: Thunder Road by Bruce Springstein
Tim Russert is remembered by different people as different things. Many younger people do not know who he is, but have probably heard of him, and many of the older people consider him one of their own. Either way, he’s a man that’s remembered by someone, somewhere, and always will be. A lot of people didn’t realize how great this person was until he died, like most of the greats; Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allen Poe… But Tim really was an awesome guy. When you think of him it’s usually as that big guy with the round face that’s on the news show Sunday mornings. Or he’s the dude with the dry erase board during election season screaming “Florida!” when everyone else is using high tech computers and guessing things wrong. He never really strikes you suddenly as brilliant until you really look at it. Here is a guy, who grew up poor, in a lower class family, walked 4 miles in snow to get to school, and ended up making tons of money off of his hard work in the end. It’s truly amazing. No one would’ve expected this guy from South Buffalo who struggled to pay for school, and had a dad who didn’t even make it through high school, to make it that far, but Russert did it. He was the first person to interview Pope John Paul II, made it through law school, got through all of these really great things, became the VP of NBC, and still managed to make you feel like you were buddies who were hanging out and knew each other from back in the day.
Song: How to Save a Life by the Fray Tim Russert planned for his interviews, researched, thought out stuff. Even if he did wing anything, he still managed to be ready as best he could and to get stuff done. The dry erase board he used during the 2000 election is in a major museum, remembered by everyone, and he still plays a major role in election coverage, even though he’s dead. This person was good hearted, deep, and just all around good. He never treated anyone like he was better than they were, though granted he probably was. And his role model was his dad. He wrote an autobiography about himself, and he’s this big time newscaster, and the guy he talks most about is his father. That says something about his character all around. He wasn’t just a newscaster, he was a Buffalo Bills fan, and a son, and a father and husband, and everyone’s best friend.
Song: Keep Me in Your Heart for Awhile by Warren Zevon Tim Russert is probably the only guy I’d let into my living room that early on a Sunday and actually listen to for that long. He was really smart, yet down to earth enough where you didn’t completely hate his guts. And he was religious and devoted. Loved his job, died doing it. And always kept his class by not picking sides during elections. He simply did what he did and left it at that. When he collapsed at the NBC offices, and Wikipedia was first to break the news, and tradition, the release of the info was so huge that everyone was up in arms over his loss. Tons of on-air specials with people who usually keep it together crying aired. Bruce Springsteen dedicated a song to him, and Barack Obama made sure he was remembered months later during elections. This guy’s death was a really big deal, especially for the time it happened. No one expected it since he’d just had a stress test, and was doing fine before. He died right before Father’s Day in an election year, doing what he loved to do, but left us with a huge gap. He’s irreplaceable, and well remembered. May he Rest In Peace.
Song to Fade out to: Thunder Road, Con’t
1) a. What was the most difficult ism to find an image for? Why?
Surprisingly enough, humanitarianism was the hardest ism to find an image for. Probably because it’s such a difficult concept to accurately portray. How do you show people caring for others? A mother taking care of her child is not necessarily humanitarianism, but an image of hurricane relief isn’t as forward as one would assume, because the volunteers are hardly ever in decent pictures with those they are helping. I hope I found a decent picture, as the one I used was of a logo, which symbolizes the word.
b. Which three images most effectively represent the definition? Why?
The images that most accurately represent their words are probably anthromorphism, gnosticism, and siderism. For anthromorphism, I chose a picture of a centaur, since it has a human torso and does some slightly human things, though it is definitely not human. Gnosticism has a picture of Frederick Douglas because of a quote from his autobiography, “If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell”. I think he is a true and literal symbol of how knowledge can lead to freedom. For siderism, I used a picture of the zodiac signs’ symbols, because the whole horoscope thing is based on the belief that certain star signs we are born into influence the way we behave on certain days.
c. What factors came into play as you decided on specific images?
Images that were unique, creative, and clear were mainly what I looked for. I wanted things that were close to me, but that others could possibly relate to; stuff that wouldn’t be boldly understood but could be if you looked for the deeper meaning. The reasons I chose the images I have not yet discussed are listed below.
Atomism- I chose a picture of the earth and pixilzed it to make all the little squares vivid. This made it seem like the world was made up of little particles.
Deism- I chose the album cover to John Lennon’s Imagine because of the lyric in the song that states “imagine…no religion”. It basically implies that without religion, there would be less war and fighting.
Existentialism- Robert Pirsig and his son Chris went on a motorcycle trip in the 1970s, and the best written and most loved philosophy book of our time came out of it. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance speaks a lot of existentialism, and the metaphysics of quality. Very great, yet difficult read. A picture of Thoreau may have better gotten the point across, but this was closer to heart for me.
Optimism- Orphan Annie, simple enough, “The sun will come out tomorrow”. Most respectable optimistic phrase I’ve ever heard.
Totemism- Never have I seen animals represent people more than in politics, or Aesop’s Fables, or maybe Disney movies. I was just sick of the hatred going on between the two major parties, and as I’m an independent, I chose a picture of their two symbols dancing.
Tutiorism- A picture of Blaise Pascal, whose theory is basically that if you do or don’t believe in God, and he doesn’t exist, you lose nothing, and if he does, and you believed, you gain everything, but if you don’t believe, and he does exist, you lose everything.
To people who are not her, and feel left out of this pathetic inside joke, and are not familiar with British indie rock, perhaps this shall clarify some things...
My Jeopardy categories...on a whim...would be..hmm....
1. Polynesian Dance Moves 2. Music Scales 3. Food 4. Random Facts 5. Annoying Things About Arabs 6. Gender Roles 7. Makeup Tips and Tricks you Will Never Use
Ah...life. The joys of it. I'm a bit behind on typing out my personal blog...that was due like two weeks ago...but God knows I've rewritten it a few times by now, with a different topic for each one. The one I got furthest on in researching was on Joe the Plumber, but show's over, Obama won, McCain lost, old news, and no one really cares anymore. Well, maybe someone out there does...it's just not me and therefore won't be on my list of things to take time out for and write 500 words about. I'm sure you're probably thinking that, "Well, not many things are". Eh, jokes on you, you'd be surprised. There are many things that I'd LOVE to take time out for and write about. Will I? No. There's probably something good on TV in which my time can be spent watching other people's productions rather than creating my own. It will never get me recognition, but I'll never have to think or put in effort either, and as long as it comes with cookies, cake, ice cream, or even a really good steak or something, then it's a win-win situation. Immediate happiness at no cost. Except maybe that of cable, unless you watch local television, which is free until February 2009 when you will need a digital converter box. To which I recommend to you, the things are costing up to $80 dollars in some cases, but the government is giving $40 dollar coupons to every household. And you get two of them. But you have to apply. So you probably should. Here is the website.
https://www.dtv2009.gov/
Save money. Use it to buy something else, like dinner, or a sweater, or a new TV. Though I don't suggest buying the latter, as then you will need a converter box for that as well. Actually, the new TVs come with them built in. Well, some do. I don't know. My biggest aspiration is still praying hard enough for the Brady Bunch to come back to TVLand, or of course, Daria to come back to MTV or the N. Not that I leave my bedroom to watch either. But hey, maybe if something besides "Paris Hilton's New Best Friend" would be aired, my vampiristic self would go out into the world every so often. Or the living room, at least.
So now it's a week later since I begun typing the first part, and I'm sitting in the UC with Tiffany staring at a handsome XY-chromosomed specimen. I am intrigued by his hair. It's shiny. Apparently, the bookstore is having a sale until the thirtieth of this month. Buy any one item and get the second 50% off. It's a "Stock Up Sale". Though I recommend print the "U of M" symbol off the internet and taping it on to your folders, and buying said folders from Target or something. Because, people, if we're saving money on our digital conversion, we might as well save some on folders, which are probably significantly cheaper at Walmart and Target. Use the money on food, once again. Because what else do we have in life to spend money on besides feeding ourselves, or donating money to feed or help others? Hm...TV. Once again.
And now I am fidgeting. And thinking about how we have so many so-called "friends" who we don't even like, but just put up with. Why? I don't know...it's a good question. If someone drives you half crazy, what makes it so difficult to just walk away from that person? Now I feel like I'm starting to sound like Carrie Bradshaw, whose character is based on a real person by the way, and I'm going to shut up before I start blogging about relationships or something mushy. Yeah. So...that's my blog.
It’s Wednesday night. Being the procrastinator that I am and liking the idea of thinking all possibilities out for as long as possible, I have just decided to start my English paper. I sit down, open and turn on the computer to start typing (because of course pen and paper are seemingly becoming obsolete nowadays), and wait for it to load. Then, I double click the little Microsoft Word Icon; you know the one that has become synonymous with the words “write an essay (or paper)”? Being the good modern-day student that I am, I stare at the white and blue screen, place my fingers on the keyboard, and…move my hands to the mouse. I need to go online and find resources (because going to the library to find books or do research, according to “Checking Out Facebook.com: The Impact of a Digital Trend on Academic Libraries” by Laurie Charnigo and Paula Barnett-Ellis). Firefox loads quickly, but not fast enough, compared to how fast instant messages, or in online slang lingo, “IMs”, are sent, anyway. The page pops up, and the phrase “Yahoo.com” manages to creep its way into the thin white box at the top of the screen. I could always use this search engine to do my research, but that’s what Google is for…I’ll just check my email since, “It’ll only take a second”. The preview screen says I have 23 new emails, and one of them may be important. As always, 17 of them happen to be alerting me to something along the lines of “Ayah Omar shared a link on your wall”. Then I’m plagued with the guilty feeling of, “I ignored my paper for this?” It’s not enough of a guilty feeling, however, to stop me from checking just what that link was. So I check it, along with all of my messages and comments and pokes etc, and proceed to “IM” some kid I don’t even like all that much simply to avoid doing what I should be… Facebook, a rapidly growing and popular social network, is seemingly pulling a Pinky-and-the Brain and trying to take over the world. That is, if it hasn’t already. This phenomenon is changing everything from the way we interact with our friends, to the atmosphere of libraries, to politics and presidential elections. One of the things it is changing most is something that most people probably don’t even notice: student-teacher relationships. While not the most common of scenarios, a high number of professors and teachers are becoming members of social sites Facebook and MySpace. Many of them do it to keep in touch with their own friends and family, and a few do it to get to know their students. Whether in a direct or direct way, role model authority figures acting funny or displaying their lives on the internet affects how students view them. On the other hand, teachers seeing what their students are doing after hours is often disturbing enough in itself as well. The image of the teacher living in the classroom closet after all the students go home for the day is slowly diminishing. Even though we are grown enough to know that our teachers are real people and have lives, seeing their profiles online forces us to actually think about their lives, which could be very good or very bad. Seeing your professor at a barbeque with his or her family may be a strange image to grasp, but one that lets you see what an all around good person he or she truly is. Seeing your teacher cuddle a bottle of Jose Cuervo in bed, like long-term substitute for Prince William County Schools Erin Webster’s students would if they ever added her, is not so much strange as it would be disturbing. Parents seeing their special education child’s teacher adding bumper stickers that have the words “MILF” and “retard” on them probably wouldn’t be too proud to send their children to school either. Teachers often add their students to get a new perspective, enjoying the opportunity to see their pupils in a new light, and to better understand them. Sociologist David Grazian enjoys reading his students’ likes and about me sections, as he finds the information useful for his research. People like Patrick Shrout and Mark Witte, on the other hand, simply add students to help them to better match names with faces. Often times, to many people’s surprise, it is the students who add their professors, not the other way around. Many professors and teachers find it may seem pushy to request students to add them, as they may feel pressured. Being Facebook friends allows students and teachers to feel closer to one another, and to better understand each other on different levels. Befriending teachers can also help students with information on school and classes. When a group of teachers in Montana realized that their students were not reading morning bulletins or checking their school email, they made a Facebook group to update them on school events. Some teachers and professors even use this for class relations, as a way of giving their students extra help. Allowing students to log on to Facebook and read what they need to know or do seems less formal and less stressful, and makes it easier to stay in touch with them. Since teenagers strive toward social networking sites, teachers following them their and putting notices up seems to help. It makes students like Cooper Livingston, a school President at Hickman in Montana, feel appreciative and as though their teachers really care, as they “adapt” to students. Seeing the way students behave, however, can lead some teachers to question what education and the world have come to, and can be embarrassing for students. A student who gets “wasted” at a party on a Saturday night and acts crazy, may end up tagged in tons of pictures of Facebook within the next few days. While all of this person’s fellow partygoers may find this to be a great achievement and look to it as a funny memory, his or her professors, former teachers, parents friends, and potential employers may not appreciate it as much. In some counties and states, employers are denying well-qualified people jobs they deserve due to the content found on their Facebook and Myspace pages, mainly, the pictures. Teachers who realize this probably feel at a loss knowing that this novice that they invested all of their time in, lost what they themselves worked so hard to instill and to help them achieve, because of a stupid internet post. Relationships between students and teachers can also cross a line due to Facebook, and may in some cases become inappropriate. Students getting to know teachers on a more person level can lead to a great admiration for them as role models, but can also lead to a greater admiration for them as more than such. If both parties cross the line, trouble could be at hand and boundaries could be broken. Whether this is acceptable or not depends on school rules, state laws, and simple morale of the two individuals. Being Facebook friends can cause trouble, but it also allows students the opportunity to make older and wiser friends. I am personally friends with one of my former teachers on Facebook, and we comment each other fairly often. It is nice to see pictures from old family albums that he has, comics that relate to books I remember reading in his class, and to get updates on plays he will be performing in or directing. Most of all, it’s nice to have a wise and older non-relative to look up to. It also lets me witness firsthand how intriguing our superiors are, and lets me get a glimpse into their lives. Without Facebook, as much as I hate to say it, I probably would not be so great at keeping in touch with him. There are a select few other teachers I have been wanting to check up on, but due to the formality of email, I have put it off for months. With this particular teacher, I can right one or two sentences every few weeks, ask a question about his life, and move on with mine. The gratification is instantaneous. Facebook is a new trend, spreading quickly and making a lasting impression. It has changed the way we interact with one another, and is slowly creeping in and changing the way the school system has so long kept students and teachers separate. This can be a negative in some cases, but the good it brings may not be possible or as effective if approached different ways. It is something to appreciate for the positives it provides.
Works Cited The Columbia Tribune. “Warnings aside, teachers embrace Facebook." Janese Heavin of the Tribune’s staff. 6 December 2007. < http://www.columbiatribune.com/2007/Dec/20071206News003.asp>
The Lansing State Journal."Facebook Etiquette: Careful What You Share." Lauren Cohen-MCT News Service.14 August2008.
The Washington Post." When Young Teachers Go Wild on the Web Public Profiles Raise Questions of Propriety and Privacy." Ian Shapira- Washington Post Staff Writer. 28 April 2008.
1. Explain, in detail, how Facebook has kept you in contact with others. Explain why you prefer to use Facebook over other mediums of communication for keeping in touch with certain people. Agnes
2. In your opinion, what is appropriate behavior and content for your Facebook; and how does your age affect this? What creates a "professional" looking Facebook? Jordan
3. According to the article, how do most librarians feel about Facebook? Why do they feel this way? Do you believe there is such a thing as Facebook addiction that causes people to use Facebook from the library? Amouna
4. According to the article, what are the advantages and disadvantages of Facebook; do you agree or disagree? Allison
My question for the paper: How does Facebook affect student teacher relations? Is this a positive or negative thing?Use examples to prove your point.
Experiment:
Survey of how many people actually go to the library to check out books, and do research. Then, break it down and see how many are graduate and undergraduate students.
In his article, “Generational Myth”, Siva Vaidhyanathan argues the, “Once we assume that all young people love certain forms of interaction…young people rush to adapt to those changes we assumed all along that they wanted”. Vaidhyanathan’s assertion that assumptions are often made about young people that cause them to conform to a “one-size fits all” persona is , while somewhat accurate, in the sense that the atmosphere of many educational institutions in modern times do behold a strong trend to becoming incredibly technologically advanced, mainly an inaccurate generalization due to the fact that it advocates that “young people rush to adapt”, clustering all the individuals in a certain age range as technological adapters, when such is not the case. His use of hasty generalization, zealous over-defense to his supporting side, and the preference of many young people in these cases, all contribute to the inaccuracy of Vaidhyanathan’s claim. “Generational Myth” is a deep interpretation of how technological advancements affect certain viewpoints and cause stereotypes to erupt, and give a hiding place for racism and class differences to seem virtually inept, as all races and classes “unite” under the World Wide Web. The author disputes the ideas of generations, from those that were around during the hippie movement to those that exist now, in the “Digital Native” (page one, paragraph three) phase. While he makes many valid claims, Vaidhyanathan himself inadvertently generalizes by grouping “young people” into one specific category when discussing them, and trying to infer that they all have different personas and cannot be classified as Digital Natives. By stating that “young people rush to adapt” simply because they assume that all older generations expect them to and long for them to be tech-savvy, Vaidhyanathan has assumed that all “young people” are willing to rush off and follow the rules of all older generations simply because of the expectations of others. There are many people who fit into the category that he describes who would be very unwilling to change, no matter who expects them to. While discussing that the white middle-to-upper classes ( page three, paragraph four) are the people who have access to technological advancements and that generalizing everyone into one group because of this aspect is wrong, Vaidhyanathan overlooks the fact that high school dropouts, people who choose not to continue their education after high school, and students in lower level schools and low class urban neighborhoods that do not have computers or where the majority of people cannot afford them, are often not forced to adapt nor are they pressured or willing to. Many students and young people who do “rush to adapt”, on the other hand, due to school assignments or outside pressure, do nothing more than learn the basics of Microsoft Word, internet search engines and social sites, and in some cases, PowerPoint (page two, paragraph six). While there are few that may decide to go past this phase and take into consideration web-building and computer design, they are a minority who are generally interested in the topic to begin with, regardless of outside influence. By vastly defending this younger cohort, stating that they are all individuals and are not all technologically-obsessed simply because they’ve grown up with computers in their lives, Vaidhyanathan goes on forcibly overestimating their plight, making it seem as though this age group is so stressed about needing to be technologically advanced to satisfy the supposed requirements brought upon them by older people that it is affecting their daily lives. In reality, the majority of “Digital Natives” do not think twice about what they do or how they act. Unless individuals are either interested in technology or need to use a new form of it for some sort of presentation or school/work assignment, their daily use is usually consistent of mindlessly sending a text message or checking their Facebook messages at most. Hardly any of these people rush to understand how to hack Facebook, how to fix html and create digital designs for Myspace, or how to program a flaw by changing the source code on Linux, regardless of whether they are expected to or not. If they are assigned to do this, the person teaching it to them is usually of a different time and age group, yet understands the topic much more in a depth fashion than his or her students do. Then, of course, when the assignment and/or test is over, many of those students go on to forget what they learned anyway. I believe that there is not a “one size fits all system” existent in modern times, as many educational institutions only require basic knowledge of simple programs, ones that are much less complicated than the use of typewriters was long ago. Special classes that teach detailed computer understanding are usually electives, available for students who either show interest and choose to learn more, or for those who are lost in their paths of interest, to try to give them a new route to try. A hybrid system is definitely the best ideal for education at the moment, as the world is rapidly moving to adapt to the technological takeover, something that saves valuable time, money, and resources, yet there are still computer illiterate people and places out there in which case traditional forms of information and production work best. As technology becomes available all over, traditional sources and methods are still important and useful. If electricity suddenly became unavailable, many people would be unable to comfortably function, regardless of age. Knowledge of basic methods is always necessary and important as, if not a first priority, a second source or backup way of doing things. Vaidhyanathan’s essay, “Generational Myth”, does a very good job of investigating the truth behind the idea and structure generations and proving its argument. It’s assertion that “young people rush to adapt” to technology because of the standards that have been set up for them disputes itself and is questionable because of the fact that many young people, especially those without access to computers, do not rush to adapt. The existing hybrid of methods in the educational system and in most social cases is likely the best path to follow, giving a taste of the best of both worlds.
My advocacy project is about gender equality in the job market. I find it fascinating that despite the Equal Pay Act, so much talk of how far we’ve come as a country in terms of racial and gender understanding, and with a woman being able to run for President without a shortage of supporters, there is still a huge pay gap in the job industry that women face for being just that…female.Some of the statistics were ones I already knew, just nothing I really thought deeply about until now. The details and facts I was able to pick up, from reliable websites, (mainly the American Federation of Labor), were absolutely shocking once they had enough time to process in my mind. As a female undergraduate college student, I am working and striving to keep a high average, allowing my parents to help me pay tuition, and cutting back on both spending and free time so that I can buy books and in turn, study from them, all to earn a piece of paper that certifies that I majored in such and such at said university so that employers will know I have experience and knowledge and will hire me. Students of both genders in the same situation go through the same thing, give or take a few setbacks. We all pay roughly the same price, take the same required courses, and suffer through four or five years of being robotically programmed to follow what professors assign, tell us, or “suggest” we do. Then, of course, beside the aspect of grad school, we apply for jobs and pray that employers accept us or hire for a decent wage and hopefully some good benefits. Yet, somehow still…the female degree is worth a little bit less. It’s not because we didn’t work as hard, or because we’re not as smart as men are. The degree the university will give us has the same basic fundamentals behind it for everyone. However, when it is applied in the long run, the guy who sits next to us in the prerequisite for our major is going to be earning about $0.33 per dollar more than we will. If we are so privileged as to become lawyers, we’ll be earning more than someone working a more remedial, or lesser paying job, however we’ll be getting less than out male colleagues; about $373 dollars worth a week, to be exact. That’s only a 76.8% gap though: if we work at a restaurant waitressing as a summer job or as a way to pay the bills, we’ll only be making about $46 less per week, but the gap will be 87.1%. Even jobs traditionally seen as “women’s work” and that contain 90% of women in their force, still often pay men more. Female nurses earn about $119 less a week than men, who only make up about ten percent of that field. Basically, we earn less no matter what we do. The pay gap is not just something that’s unfair to us either; it’s unfair to our male partners and family members as well. An employer afraid of appearing biased may pay women more, simply to avoid lawsuits. If a woman’s husband is injured or laid off, or the woman is a single parent, and the sole provider for her family,the family is at a huge loss due to her earnings, versus if the household were run by only a working male or a single male parent. Families with two salaries would earn more too, as the average woman working a full time job in the U.S. makes about $700,000 to $2 million less per year as opposed to her male counterparts. That’s enough money to pay for college, buy a house, and a car, of decent quality, nonetheless. The figures I found were absolutely striking to think about in the year 2008, but it made me realize how blindsided we can often be by media perspectives and by personas put out from opposing views. Women have come a long way since the traditional days of working only in the home, but we still have a long way to go before we truly reach “equality”. Being able to work the jobs we do is a privilege in itself, but earning our fair share for them should be our true goal.
I am still unsure of what I'm going to do exactly, but know it will likely be in the form of a PowerPoint and a MovieMaker video. Right now I'm thinking of making a video about child abuse using Warren Zevon's "Keep Me in Your Heart for Awhile" as a background song. I'll use Google images of abused, depressed, and happy children as a comparison and look up statistics and etc. to add to a PowerPoint so we have information, and not just video. If I have trouble with this, I may make a PowerPoint on a video I previously made, either on Hurricane Katrina (while adding pictures of the new hurricanes), on how advertising for a product can often times make musicians famous and on how the world and music industry are changing due to technology (which relates to both this class and my job), or on how philosophy and meditation influence health and/or ideologies, using Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as my reference. Not quite sure yet, but I have all the concepts pretty well mapped out in my head.
Final Decision: Gender Equality in the Job Market, A study into the difference in pay rates for the same jobs worked by men and women
Yeah. A Daria allusion to Hamlet and a Youtube video opened up. That's my Desktop.
And a wonderful desktop it is. A bit bright and colorful, but entertaining nonetheless. I really love that cartoon (though I don't think I'm anything like her, contrary to what people tell me or may believe). The color on the desktop does make it harder to see images sometimes, but it also means that it's harder for other people to see my images and things, if they choose to do so without my permission. It also kind of forces me to maximize whatever screen I'm using, which seems more organized and neat. Firefox has tabs, and that allows me to organize my email, Facebook, and school research into one internet box, all while having my assignment in another box of Microsoft Word. My background takes getting used to, but also grows on you and helps increase concentration in a way.
But I do think we have tons of distractions as modern day teenagers. The days of going to the local diner with all the cool cats and doing the hop are over. Who needs people when we have computers? In all honesty, these things have become our best friends. Everyone's busy Saturday night? Hey, log onto the internet, I'm sure there will be something you can do. Computers have not only increased technology, they've taken it over. Our computers are now our television sets, our music players, our "phones" (yes, you can do voice chat), and even our in person talks (if you choose to use a webcam). I think that technology is amazing and that items like Facebook can be useful to us in terms of keeping in touch with people we love, or those we really don't care enough to keep in touch with through other mediums. But as wonderful as these new mediums are, they have their downsides. I haven't seen my closest friends in months because of school and different schedules. But I have talked to them on Facebook, and once in awhile on the phone. The problem? If we are all on Facebook or on the phone, what forbid us from making plans to see each other instead? In the two and a half hours we reminisce on my wall, we could've reminisced over ice cream and Subway (where most of those memories happened anyway). Or, instead of even talking on the phone for four hours on Saturday, making up stupid raps about people, we could've seen each other in person (..and possibly taped them for Youtube). But then, we wouldn't have been doing our "homework".
Yes, homework. Although, Facebook isn't the only distraction. Type in any word into Google, and beheld with at least 5,000 results. Great for vaster research and knowledge. Horrible if most of it is inaccurate, outdated, or just plain unnecessary. In the "olden" days, when you had an assignment, you went to the library. And then you thanked old Melvil Dewey for his idea to decimalize those cards so you didn't have to look through books, like before. Then asked the librarian where to find it. Now you just type in what you need and it's found. And there are 9 million printed out signs pointing you in the direction of where it is. If you go to the library, that is. Either way, there were about five books you would find, and then skim through to get your research. Now, the are 56,734,790 results for any given "narrowed down" search, half of which don't relate, seventy-five percent of which have ads, etc. Happy searching.
The internet is great for times when you feel like staying in, remote times who need shopping done when the closest place is 30 miles away, finding rare finds on eBay, and keeping in touch with people in far places. But it also rids of cultural distinction, boundaries, and good old plain, real in person friendships. It is a great tool to be used...in moderation and with careful technique.
So we made these things for class and I suppose I should start using mine...I've been meaning to for months just never got around to it. Was sitting around, playing Warren Zevon's "Keep Me In Your Heart for Awhile" on a cheap steel string acoustic guitar, it sounded nice...when my best friend IMed me a song she loves that she thought I'd like...completely fell in love with the video too. Thought I'd share.
