Final Exam

1. On my wikispace page for the most part figuring out how to do everything was pretty self-explanatory.  The only problems that I had was trying to add my first link and put different words over it; it took me a couple of tries but I figured it out pretty quickly. Wikispace was set up well in general I thought, so I didn't have much of a problem navigating around and getting to where I needed to be. The layout made it pretty easy to write the article and insert pictures as well.


2. I agree with most of the qualities in the 17. I think that I do well at being mission-oriented, and having an idea of a long term goal in mind. I always am sure to know how even the little things can effect my goals in the future. I also think that for the most part I'm pretty selfless. I always try to think of other people in the group and how they feel about what's happening, and I always try to include people (if they're tolerable, and if they're not there's nothing I can do about that). I definitely know that my weakest point is being organized; every year I'm motivated at first to be organized and keep everything organized but it always turns into a jumbled mess. Procrastinating./being lazy and being organized don't really go together.


3. In this class I thought that a few topics that we covered were good and a few weren't really necessary. For example, the sections we did on music were kind of interesting, and I'd have liked to go a bit more in depth with that; censorship would have been a good thing to talk about because it's really important. Even advertising would have been interesting, because there are so many different components to good advertising. However, I thought the section on tattoos and piercings and body image was kind of pointless; it didn't seem like there was much of a point, as there was never really any connection made between body art and media literacy.

Lyrics that Talk to You

"Crooked Teeth" - Death Cab For Cutie

It was one hundred degrees, as we sat beneath a willow tree,
Who's tears didn't care, they just hung in the air, and refused to fall, to fall.

And I knew I'd made horrible call,
And now the state line felt like the Berlin wall,
And there was no doubt about which side I was on.

Cause I built you a home in my heart,
With rotten wood, it decayed from the start.

Cause you can't find nothing at all,
If there was nothing there all along.
No you can't find nothing at all,
If there was nothing there all along.

I braved treacherous streets,
And kids strung out on homemade speed.
And we shared a bed in which I could not sleep,
At all, woohoo

'Cause at night the sun in retreat,
Made the skyline look like crooked teeth,
In the mouth of a man who was devouring, us both.

You're so cute when you're slurring your speech,
But they're closing the bar and they want us to leave.

And you can't find nothing at all,
If there was nothing there all along.
No you can't find nothing at all,
If there was nothing there all along.

I'm a war, of head versus heart,
And it's always this way.
My head is weak, my heart always speaks,
Before I know what it will say.

And you can't find nothing at all,
If there was nothing there all along.
There were churches, theme parks and malls,
But there was nothing there all along.


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     I think that the lyrics I highlighted are compelling to me because in a sort of humorous way they describe a life where you're indecisive and always torn between good versus evil or right versus wrong or fun versus monotony, but after you've made the choice you also have to decide what's enough; you can't just be good all the time and you can't just party all the time (apparently unless you're Cameron Elder).
     Listening to this song always makes me want to dance a little, even though it's not really super upbeat. It's really sarcastic and it makes me appreciate talented writing. I like this song because it also reminds me of actual experiences (maybe not exactly). I always think about the summertime and being with friends I love, but also having to make those choices mentioned above.
     I think music appeals to almost everyone because there are so many different genres and subgenres, and you're bound to eventually find something that really clicks for you. Sometimes it's the lyrics or the beat or the guitar, because maybe you like to sing or dance or you can appreciate a fine solo. It's also relatively easy to make music, so even if you can relate to other songs, you can always express yourself directly.
    

Exploring the News

DETROIT FREE PRESS

Mitch Albom: Is Wings' Game 7 more about hockey history or hysteria?

Robert Bobb tells of cancer fight, regrets about DPS

Teens charged in bullying of 8-year-old; boy could lose sight in 1 eye

JERUSELEM POST

German court convicts then frees Nazi guard Demjanjuk

2 nabbed on suspicion of plotting NY synagogue attack

Saudi literary clubs told to do business by the book

THE TIMES OF INDIA

RCA files complaint against Warne for abusing its secretary

CSK vs DD: Aaron dismisses Raina to dent Chennai run charge

RCA files complaint against Warne for abusing its secretary

GRANMA INTERNACIOL

Alarcón calls on the revolutionary press to unite efforts

Bin Laden family’s relations with the United States greater than supposed

Puerto Rico recalls death of Cuban Carlos Muñiz Varela

PRAGUE POST

Slavia's troubles rooted in financial wrangle

10-year military strategy formed

Prague Spring

ST. PETERSBURG TIMES

Legality of Demolition of Historic Barracks Contested

Trial of the ‘Pearl Cop’ Boiko Reopens

Pulkovo Airport To Get Round-the-Clock Bus Service

DORDOGNE TODAY

Man Jailed after Night Spent Drinking in Bar

Police Angry at Racist Accusation

Dogs Spared Death by Judge

1.      No, none of the headlines are the same.

2.      In Detroit all we care about it kids getting bullied.
In Jerusalem they’re covering a story about New York.
In India they really like acronyms.
In Cuba they care about the US dealing with Bin Laden.
It’s spring in Prague.
In Russia nothing really violent happens, but some barracks got destroyed.
In France there’s absolutely nothing happens and they covered a story about a drunk man.

3.      The man in France was 44 years old and drunk driving and got put in jail.
In India you seriously have to know what all of the acronyms mean because they will never ever ever explain them to you so unless you know them, you can’t tell what they’re talking about.
In Detroit the emergency financial manager for DPS has cancer and will probably die.

4.      I didn’t see any repeat stories.

The Big Six

     My predictions for the Big Six except one, which was a guess. Most of the companies didn't surprise me at all, probably because I already knew that there were only a few, and I knew the biggest 4. The Big Six are the Big Six because they make a lot of money. They buy out everything they can that makes any amount of profit, and collect little corporations. They control what those little corporations do like poor little action figures.
     I can't think of any major advantages to there being only six big companies except it makes it easier to know who to blame - but the disadvantages are endless. Having only six big media corporations makes it that much harder to get solid, unbiased information.
     It stood out to me how much people really knew about where their information is coming from every day. Of course it's not right that it happens, but it does, and as long as they have the money the have the power and no one can really stop them but each other (but then it'll be down to one).

Desensitizing of America

1. I don't think that television itself is as big a deciding violence factor alone as economic poverty,  bad schools and broken homes. I think that having a violent life path requires some combination of all of these things; kids who grow up ONLY watching violent programs on television are probably a lot less likely to be violent themselves than kids who watch violent programs on television, are beaten by their parents, and go to a school where violence and bullying is the norm.


2. The article states that promotions feature violence because they only have a very short time to capture the viewers attention. Violence and sex require the least amount of time to explain a plot, and are also to a lot of people the most interesting.  I think that the largest reason they feature violence in promotions is because shows like sit-coms, soap-operas, and situation dramas like Law & Order can attract some viewers that wouldn't normally be interested in watching the show by prefacing it to sound like there's lots of scandalous sex and violence.

Is Mainstream News Dead?

1. I think that most television new is dead; my best guess as to why is because probably more and more people are getting sick of hearing the same 5 irrelevant and incredibly manipulated stories over and over again. Maybe people are also realizing that some of the biggest news stations aren't exactly the most reputable sources for daily news.

2. To get my daily news, I listen to privately funded radio programs, like NPR; I've found that though maybe they are slightly liberally biased, they have the highest amount of world news, covered in probably the least biased way possible. Also NPR does BBC Hour and BBC World news; both programs are more than likely the least biased source for news I've ever heard.

3. I think that the Daily Show and the Colbert Report are so popular with younger generations because most of the news that's on regular news shows is so depressing. It's good to be able to laugh at something serious. I'm not sure that those shows are the best way to actually learn about news, since most of the time they don't give the full story (a lot of it is just making fun of how other news programs covered it), but if that's all the news you can stand I suppose it's better than being completely uninformed (however if that's all the news you listen to you might be gullible and fall for some of the made up facts about the story John Stewart and Stephen Colbert add for humor purposes, so you might be a little worse off thinking that some things they say are true). Basically it's best to have more than one news source, even if one isn't really exclusively for information purposes.

Visual Literacy

Kelly Clarkson:
1. Self Magazine, Getty Images
2. Airbrushing, photoshop
3. Brighter lights make her look better, the way she's standing
4. Her
5. The picture is including a friendly smile, but is missing any sense of reality at all.
6. Yes, it makes you want to be happy, like her.
7. No, you can tell it's faked.

Andy Roddick
1. Men's fitness magazine
2. Airbrushing, photoshop
3. Lighting to make his muscles look better
4. He is.
5. The picture includes him, but again is missing a single shred of realness.
6. Yes, it makes you want to be as manly as he is.
7. No, his body doesn't look realistic at all.





Britney Spears
1. Japanese magazine
2. Airbrushing, photoshop
3. The image is sort of fuzzy, lighting makes her look softer, the way she's standing makes her appear very feminine.
4. She is.
5. She is in the picture, again, subtracting realness.
6. You're supposed to be attracted to her and think that she's pretty.
7. No, it's obviously manipulated.

Brick Walls

1. My most major critic is my father. Not necessarily because I take his advice and criticism to heart, but because I know that if he ever gives me advice or criticism, I know that I need to do the opposite of whatever he's telling me. Under no circumstances do I want to be anything like him, or anyone that he likes or can relate to; thus he is also my motivation to follow the anti-advice and crappy criticisms he provides.
      Other essential critics include my sister, my brother, and my best friend, all whom are constantly presenting me with advice that keeps me thinking about who I'm turning into as a person.

2. In the past, my sister and I were never very close. She's eight years my senior and because of that we never really got along until she moved out of our parents' house. Since then, she and I have both grown and matured incredibly, and now we're best friends. She's given me my most critical pieces of advice and criticism. She is one of the people I admire most in the world, because we have a lot of similar experiences and she made the best of what she had. She's happy, and she's made a good life for herself. I'm always willing to accept constructive criticism from her, because she is a good model; she's not at all hypocritical and I know that since she's experienced what she's talking about, she knows and her criticism might actually help me.


3. One time I thought I was in a class to learn about media literacy, but it turns out I was just learning how to make up cheesy answers to questions. On the bright side, I had a wonderful spectacular teacher, who was a beautiful person inside and out :]

Politics 2.0

1. Obama's campaign on YouTube was so much more successful that McCain's because Obama made his videos entertaining and informative. He made a lot more videos than McCain and thus appealed to a lot more people, racking up the equivalent of several million hours of view time by the end of the election.

2. YouTube changed elections in the U.S. because now people can watch ads and form opinions on their own time; plus the amount of money campaigning cost will go way down since making and posting videos on YouTube is free.  I think that it's a positive that people always have access to candidates. People can become informed on all the candidates on their own time and form their own opinions by the videos the candidates choose to post, and hopefully the amount of mudslinging will go down at least a tiny bit because instead of trying to guess the demographic their information will be distributed to, the candidates can just let people find it on their own.

Law and Technology

1. I disagree that websites like Youtube should be responsible for doing the copyright "scut work." I believe that if you are the one who has a problem with copyright infringement, you should be the one to find the infringe-rs yourself.
2. I think that Network Neutrality needs to be monitored. Phone companies and Internet Service Providers are using this to their advantage and it's influencing the way people think rather than letting them decide what they want for themselves. Of course, some web pages just load much much slower than others; however, there is a difference between "the Wireless Internet is super slow today," and "This page takes 10 minutes to load every time I try and access it."

Ethical Behavior

1. The argument could be made that maybe ethical behavior is declining in our generation; more people are plagiarizing, cheating on spouses, not reporting crimes. With the Internet, plagiarizing, and meeting people are easier. With the ability to communicate easily, more and more people are doing unethical things without honestly realizing it. The argument could also be made, alternatively, that maybe because of the internet people are just getting caught more.

2. I think schools should just find a way to motivate students more. If students were intrinsically motivated, students wouldn't be lazy and just cheat on their book reports. And if students are motivated earlier in life, that motivation carries on (just like unethical behavior early in life leads to unethical behavior later). If kids have the right kind of motivation while they're young, they'll continue that behavior. For example, instead of cheating on his wife, a man will want to solve his marital problems and take the time to talk them through with her.

Fear and Privacy

1.             Everyone knows that the fear of the unknown is what is truly frightening, which is why people fear the dark the ocean, and space. I have absolutely no doubt that the reason why the Baby Boomer generation is reluctant to be a part of the social media movement is because they don’t know about it. All they know is what they hear, and after all that Myspace craziness with pedophiles and whatnot they all got freaked out.
     I’ve also learned that Baby Boomers are very strong headed and close-minded.  Once they have an idea about something, it’s not going to change.

2a.       In NY a kid got suspended from school for creating a group on Facebook about a teacher. He and all the 25 people who joined it got in trouble. I think he should have gotten into more trouble, personally. He has the right to think and say really whatever he wants, but when it becomes a game to make fun of someone it’s rude, hurtful slander.
             In the article about the teachers getting suspended for things they posted on facebook, I only agree with the punishment of the first one. He shouldn’t have been posing shirtless. However, the second one, where the teacher said he liked drinking and that he taught in the ghetto, shouldn’t have been punished at all. As long as he isn’t coming to school drunk what he does outside of that building is his own business. And for the record, he does work in the ghetto.
            The last one with the special education teacher was just plain silly. She got suspended for saying she was angry and didn’t like her students? That’s pure opinion. She’s entitled to her opinion, and it wasn’t really hurting anyone.
           I absolutely disagree with how the college students who worked at the hospital were punished. They were put on academic probation just because they emailed a couple pictures of some guy who got mauled by a shark. I’m pretty sure that at the beach, while he was getting mauled, there was someone who whipped out their phone and started taping it. I can only assume that video was then put online for everyone in the world to see, rather than a personal email.

2b.         I agree with the Hermitage school district completely; Layshock was way more than completely out of bounds by creating that profile (humorous as it was). I disagree, however, with his punishment. They sent him to an alternative school among other things for a silly prank. The kinds of kids who go to alternative schools are the real trouble makers – drug addicts, 14 year old pregnant girls, 16 year olds fresh out of juvy. He shouldn’t have been stuck there! Especially if he didn’t have any sort of record before. Maybe a suspension would have been reasonable, or even just not letting him graduate with his class or go to school activities would have more than sufficed.

What If?

     All of us are pretty well accustomed to the Internet; it makes our lives easier. It makes research more efficient, networking faster...we can even shop online. You don't even have to leave your house anymore. The entire world comes to you. Personally, I can say that I don't watch the news on television anymore. It's much faster for me to read about what's going on the world online and then move on, not waiting for the other half of the story I'm listening to between weather and "How to Save Your Money" slots.
     Without the Internet, keeping in touch with people would be much slower, and far more expensive. Of course there would always be 'snail mail,' and the obvious telephone call. But what if you have friends in Georgia? New Zealand? China? Long distance and out of country phone calls rack up cash fast. With an Internet connection, one can simply pay a monthly bill and send as many Facebook posts, emails, or pictures as is possible. Instead of going on Ebay and buying a case of tennis balls and having it shipped to your house, you would have to actually leave, go to a local sporting goods store, and pay there.
     Americans are very proud of our right to be this lazy and impersonal. We take great pride in our freedom of speech, and thus our ability to be cowards and post on someone's wall what a loser we think they are. If the US pulled an Egypt, even for a day, you can bet there would be trouble stirring. There would surely be an uprising.
     Unfortunately, the thing most Americans don't know is that yes, they have the right to post and say what they please, but people are still punished for it. On top of that, what we see on the Internet and even on television every single day is censored. Things are made up. Propaganda is spread. Things are blown out of proportion.
     Most Americans take advantage of their first amendment rights, but how many are really aware that their rights are being taken away from them anyway?