Morgan's AIS Blog

4th Quarter Blogging

2010-05-26T10:19:00.003-05:00

There were two blogs which I thought were well done this quarter: the one about Facebook, and the one about Mr. Bolos' "TV Tokenism" talk. They were both well done, but for different reasons. I thought that my interpretation and ideas of the TV Tokenism lecture were well thought out, however, the actually writing is not that great. And I thought that my connection of Facebook and privacy to our class was well done, as well as the use of the actual text. Using quotes from the article to explain the question I posed at the end.

I'll be honest I did not do a great job of blogging this quarter, I sort of forgot about it during the junior theme and with everything else going on, but I'm not going to rush more together now.

"a white judge on Law and Order..."

2010-05-23T16:23:00.003-05:00

During Mr. Bolos' "TV Tokenism" presentation, the 30 Rock clip was not only really funny, but really true and sort of weird to think about. The clip was about how the black characters were saying because there is a black man as president, and there was a "white judge on Law and Order" racism was okay again. In class Friday if you all remember we talked about why a black man is always "best-dressed" or the chief of something, so 30 Rock is poking fun at how this is changing, that a black man wasn't the authority figure. During class this year we talked about reparations and people wondered whether we have done enough to make amends for slavery and other racist activity.

Mr. Bolos showed us that this TV Tokenism is still very much there. When I though about racisim is back, I wonder if that could mean is racism gone. Because we have a black president for the first time, is that like saying the playing field is even; that now we can make fun of black people like we poke fun at white boys who can't jump? However, there are still racist people and programs like affirmative action which make it impossible to ignore the remaining separation between blacks and whites.

I wonder if it will it ever truly be even? It is that even possible or ethical to call it even after slavery and the prosecutions of minorities?

Hooked on Facebook

2010-05-23T15:36:00.004-05:00

Throughout the year during class the topic of privacy has come up a few times. When we were looking at laws as well as in the Perilous Projects. In a Time magazine article they talk about how Facebook is "redefining privacy". There are almost 500 million people on Facebook today, and people are starting to get more and more skeptical wanting more privacy on the site. Many people are realizing how scary it is that people can see your pictures, know your relationship status and basically know anything that you're willing to put up. People are "friending" old college or high school friends, and for us at New Trier many people will accept a friend request from someone they barely know just because they are in the same NT network. Because of this, people who you barely know are seeing all these details of your life.

In the article they talk about how they want Facebook to crack down on their privacy modes. I think, especially as a teenage girl in a world full of some creeps, that's definitly a good idea. But right now you can hide everything from people who are not your friends. I think that should be enough. If you friend someone that should be like the invitation to stalk you basically, and it should mean that your okay with them looking at all your stuff.

But that is stuff we all know, and sometimes forget. This is where the article gets into how it's redefining privacy. Although everything thinks its a little weird at times how many people can see into your life, because of Facebook enough people are becoming accustom to this openness. The author Dan Flecther says, "Facebook did not invent social networking, but the company has fine-tuned it into a science". Founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, is not only breaking social networking down to a science he is trying to make the world more open.

Now some argue whether is it good to have a more open world. Do you agree with Zuckerberg? If not:
"Want to stop that trend? The onus, as always, is on you to pull your information. Starve the beast dead. None of Facebook's vision, be it for fostering peace and harmony or for generating ad revenue, is possible without our feeding in our thoughts and preferences" (Feltcher)

a good start

2010-04-08T19:42:00.005-05:00

What was hardest for me was finding something I will actually be interested in studying. I knew I wanted to do something that had to do with psychology, but that is such a huge topic that I didn't know where to begin. Mr. Bolos suggested that I watch the Ted talks and I found the Zimbardo prison experiment interesting. But I knew something about that from psych class and the topic of why people become evil is sort of depressing to study for a month. I looked at the blue sheet for more ideas and noticed the topic about celebrities. After doing a little research it turns out there's psychology involved in why we love celebrities. There is actually stuff going on in our unconscious which is part of the reason we cannot wait to see our favorite show each week. Why we love gossip magazines, finding a picture of celebrities without makeup to see if they are as human as we are, and at the same time worshiping their A-list lifestyle. And it turns out this idea of celebrity started way before TV and the media craze that goes on today. Also, this week I found a book that is right on target with what I was looking for. Basically no speed bumps yet so somethings bound to happen soon.

3rd Quarter Blogging

2010-03-24T16:49:00.002-05:00

One of my better blogs this quarter which also had to do with a topic we talked about in class was "Jesus as a Salesman". I thought our discussions about advertisements were interesting, and I know the quote from one of the packets we read struck up a little bit of controversy. In class we discussed the quote I have at the beginning of the post; however, in my post I found a way to think about this issue in a different way than those who shared in class. Most believed that people wouldn't want to see Jesus as a "salesman" or a business man. In my post I explain how he pretty much is exactly that, and why I think so. Also, I made a connection the inventor of freezer goods which we also talked about in class.

Women's Month

2010-03-21T17:22:00.006-05:00

Before in class we talked about whether having black history month was a positive way to single out African Americans. Well March is Woman's History Month, which I didn't even know. It didn't really get recognized until the 70s and 80s. The first thing I thought of, why March? If women want recognition for the great things we've contributed, I'd say don't do it the same month as March Madness; when most men are consumed in how their brackets are doing and is just another reminder that most don't watch the woman's tournament. This slideshow shows women in sports, entertainment, politics and other fields who have contributed with their talents and success. One that I found kind of interesting was Mia Hamm who scored more goals than any soccer player female or male.

When reading a little more into woman's history month, it was women who were pushing to have this recognition, not men deciding they should honor woman's success. Any opinions on this?

more padding at the big dance

2010-03-21T16:13:00.003-05:00

At the college and professional level, now more than ever more basketball players are wearing padding during games. Many of us are watching the March Madness, and compression shorts and other types of padding are more prevalent than in previous years. In this article, some wonder whether any of this is really necessary? Even though it is obvious the sport is getting more and more physical, some say that your bodies natural padding, like cartilage around your ribs to protect from elbows, is enough. But "players believe". For the professionals I get that they make money for endorsements simply by flashing a brand, so that's got to be part of the reason they do it. But for the college players they don't have the luxury of knowing they get paid through their season if they get injured. I completely get that some of these college players are trying to go pro, or just want to get through their college career as athletes. Even if compression shorts and other padding don't really do much, anything to give the players peace of mind that they are less likely to get injured makes sense. At the college level the guys get bigger, and especially during March Madness they get even more aggressive and fired up. However, if this "fad" trickles down to lower levels I think that's going a little over the top.

Jesus as a Salesman

2010-03-15T19:19:00.003-05:00

"Some day...someone will write a book about Jesus. Every businesss man will read it and send it to his partners and his salesmen. For it will tell the story of the founder of modern business" (Bruce Barton).

During class we discussed this quote, and how the idea of "Jesus as a salesman" wouldn't fly today. Much of the class came to the conclusion that this is because people of any religion would not want to think of their religion as something that needed to be sold. Others said things like salesman aren't always completely honest in order to sell their product, and people would not want to think of their religion as something that was untrue in any way.

However, advertisements are used to sell a new idea, or something better about an older product. Not that they are always done in the most honorable ways, as we've seen advertisements target children in a debatable unfair ways, but they get the point across that their product is better. I do believe that Jesus did a similar thing. His ideas were new and different, and he was trying to get people to believe him and see his beliefs were good ones to follow. Of course now Jesus' ideas are not something novel, so we don't have to buy into it, we just believe it.

Similar to how Jesus "sold" the idea of Christianity, Clarence Birdseye sold the idea of a freezer. Now we wouldn't think about having a household without a freezer and refrigerator, but when it first started Birdseye needed to show people that they needed it and how it could be used. Like how Jesus' followers taught people about the teachings of Jesus.

This is not to say that Christianity is like a freezer exactly, but the way in which people believed in them is a similar process.

never see "cat fights" in mens sports...

2010-03-07T19:46:00.003-06:00

I commented on BFlan's blog about how violence in women's sports is always seen an more outrageous, and is a shock to spectators; however, in men's sports people are not nearly as surprised. When I posted this video on Brian's post, I started thinking about why girls get so vicious during games. When you watch this video there's punching, kicking, slide tackling, and bringing a girl down by her ponytail. But some of these forms of aggression are part of soccer, for example slide tackling is okay when you know how to do it "within the rules". But sports like girls lacrosse are designed to be less contact than the boys. They wear a face guard which covers your eyes, and a mouth guard; unlike the boys who have shoulder pads and a helmet (besides the girls goalies they wear helmets too). The nature of boys lacrosse is much more agressive than girls, the checking requires more contact while the girls side has nit-picky rules on the right way to check. The girls however, get as enraged in a heated game, and possible more nasty to each other. Although society believes that girls sports should be treated differently than boys, the girls instead just come up with more vicious ways to bring their opponent down. If some of the aggressive moves built into boys games were also implemented in the girls games, would it change these nasty cat fights we see in girls athletics? Instead of coming up with these ways to hurt each other they would be shown how to do them the right and wrong way. Another direction this could be taken in is that women's sports get more attention and are sometimes seen as more entertaining when these "catfights" happen. So do people not want them to stop because it could cause greater publicity for the sports?

skaters fight through pressure and adversity

2010-02-28T15:57:00.007-06:00

All the athletes in the Olympics feel some pressure, but during the woman's figuring skating that pressure seemed greater than usual for some of the skaters. The gold medal winner Kim Yu-Na from South Korea and silver medalist Mao Asada from Japan both felt extreme pressure from their countries. As long time competitors, both only 19 years old, they were fighting for gold, and only gold because anything less would be a disappointment for their country. This is what the announcers kept saying during their routines. And bronze medalist Joannie Rochette of Canada, competed only four days after her mother's death. Although, the anxiety she must have felt was different from Yu-Na and Asada, her routine brought tears to even the announcers as she was able to complete her routine even after the tragedy.
Although Rochette's mother's death was nothing she could have expected, the night of the competition she still had to fight to complete each jump and element in her routine. It seemed everyone was rooting for her because this meant much more than just the medals. The pressure Yu-Na and Asada's had to win gold seems unfair to lay on a 19 year old. If they did not win, not only were they letting down themselves, but their country. But they both did extremely well, "Queen Yu-Na" as she's referred to blew past all the woman's old records and Asada doing a solid performance as well. I wonder if they needed this pressure to do well, but it is still shocking that at their age they didn't choke when it counted most. It seems unfair to lay such a heavy burden on a teenager, but I guess it just goes to show what world class competitors these skaters are.

Let Canada Celebrate

2010-02-28T15:25:00.005-06:00

Throughout these 2010 Vancouver Olympics there have been many mishaps such as the luge accident, the opening ceremony technical difficulties, and the weather in general. There is now controversy over the Canadian women's hockey team while they were celebrating their gold medal victory. However, in this case it was not an accident that the women were smoking cigars and drinking in the arena after the game. The legal drinkng age in British Columbia is 19, but there are some players who are 18. Steve Keough, a spokesman for the Canadian Olympic Committee was quoted, “We condone celebrations. … We don’t condone actions of irresponsibility. I think Canadians understand it’s quite an emotional moment for our team. It was not our intention to go against any IOC protocols.” Further comments were made saying things like the locker room celebration did not stay contained; however, for this to be so public was not the intention. There has been talk about how to punish the team, however penalties such banning the team from the closing ceremony, or the Olympic village which have been given for cheating, steroids and other offenses "hardly seems to be in the same league as a few puffs of cigar" (Chris Chase author of the article).

Because they did not act completely responsibly or within the law, I can see how some would say that this was not justifiable celebration. But I agree with the author of this article, that yes what they did was wrong and they have been reprimanded for their actions. But they won a gold medal in their home country, in hockey, which is the most important medal for Canada besides a gold for the men's hockey team. I say no one was hurt and no harm was done, so let them celebrate.

word that shall not be named

2010-02-11T18:27:00.004-06:00

We have talked at length about the use of the N-word in Huck Finn. This article explains the apology made by John Mayer who used the word in a media interview. He gave a heart felt apology which even led some of his band members to end up in tears.
We have talked about in class, and Mayer talks about how strong and offensive the word is and that it should not be taken lightly when it is used. Early in debates about the use of the word we mentioned how many African American comedians, rappers etc. use the word freely, no apology necessary. But we came to a conclusion that if someone not of the African American race were to use the word it was clearly offensive.

Because of this, what I found more intriguing than the article were the comments about it. Which varied to both extremes, but what I thought was interesting was that many people who started with something along the lines of "I'm a black guy..." or "I'm a black girl from..." tended to say things that were more forgiving. One of which, "i'm a black chick from detroit, and seriously, john, relax, it'n not that deep. i got your point in the interview. you're not a racist dude. chill." Others made a point about how black rappers don't apologize or even acknowledge the use of the word so they wonder, why the double standard? There were over 2000 comments, and they all had different opinions. (Although some of those were just about John Mayer and not the N-word)

I wonder if there is ever going to be some sort of closure to this word? When it is used by African Americans, whites, or a person of any race. Closure being for example, a decision on if it is ever ok, or is it ok when only certain people say it?

re-calculate your "Math on Campus"

2010-02-11T17:36:00.005-06:00

When we read The New Math on Campus we looked very closely at a passage with what we know to be a "questionable" percentage. "Out of that 40 percent, there are maybe 20 percent that we would consider...", quoted from "the girl seated across the table" as we said does not represent all women. Some people mentioned how this made it seem like some guys aren't even worth looking at, or not "date able". And we said that it is as if she was talking for all women by saying "we". Women who were described on the first page as, "[wearing] tight-fitting tops, hair sculpted, makeup just so...". I know that this is in some cases accurate because many girls, including myself and many other high school and college students, tend to do this at times to some extent. However, this is not some kind of "definition" for how women act and certainly not as often as they make it sound, if ever for some people. This article, in my opinion, made Jayne Dallas sound like she was saying the 60% of girls she was talking about are like this even though they were not said by the same people. This author set up each anecdote, as Mr. Bolos called them, to make women come across as these appearance obsessive, boy crazy pawns who will do anything for a date. I cannot say that it isn't true for some women because unlike Jayne Dallas I am not going to speak for all women. But it is degrading to clump every woman on a college campus into this category and just a really flawed argument with unrealistic statistics.

I mentioned myself in this article and I, obviously, am not a college student, but I believe this belief can be applied to high schools to a certain extent as well.

This is my opinion so feel free to respond, but I also had after thoughts like would if you're a lesbian? Because this article would be saying you are also fighting over those "10%" of guys. It is just stuff like that which just makes this article sound so uninformed because they don't even consider exceptions like this. Or any exception for that matter.

Mystery behind HeLa Immortal Cells

2010-02-01T17:15:00.004-06:00

In an article I found called Henrietta Lacks' 'Immortal Cells' there is talk about a book that recently came out uncovering the mystery behind Henrietta Lacks' "immortal cells". I had not heard of any of this before until I read the article, but Lacks was a black, poor, tobacco farmer from southern Virginia who had a huge impact on the world of medicine. When she was 30 years old she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. A doctor from John Hopkins removed part of her tumor without telling her and sent it to scientists.
Those scientists had been trying to grow tissue for years, and as they were using Lacks' cells they never seemed to die for reasons they could not figure out. These cells were the first immortal cells to be grown in a culture, helped create a vaccine for polio, were brought into space to see how cells would act with zero gravity, and helped scientists with many other scientific landmarks.
However, the writer of this novel wanted to know more about Lacks and her family, and if they had any idea that a part of her was still alive doing these amazing things. There were several attempts to keep the actual name for which the cells initials came from (HeLa) a secret. However, eventually the truth got out. The doctors wanted to find out more about these cells and wanted to use DNA from her husband and daughter. However, this came to a shock especially to her daughter who was just an infant when Henrietta died and couldn't believe a part of her was still alive.

Is it right, even with all of the great things they did, that the doctor could use her cells without her or her family knowing?

Dress for Success

2010-01-28T20:12:00.003-06:00

On Wednesday during class we were told to look out for a few things in Obama's State of the Union address, one of which was the way people dressed. I noticed many of the women in really bright clothes, but I didn't notice if they corresponded with party colors in anyway.
However, Obama was wearing a red tie. Coincidence? I think not. For much of his speech he talked about the division between the parties and how he really wanted to try to bring them back together. In his spee ch he says, "They're tired of the partisanship and the shouting and the pettiness." They're being the American people. Obama is telling the politicians enough with the childish fighting because we need to work together as one to get the job done. Obama also talks about how he wants to have talks with both parties, and makes a joke after it. These jokes which got even some of the Republicans to laugh, like an "inside joke" in Washington to loosen them up.
In class we talk about choices, and although one could also argue that he was just wearing the color to look patriotic, but blue would have also been patriotic. I think that this color choice was to show that he, a Democrat, was wearing red making a point that they can work together. Showing that there doesn't have to be this line between red and blue.

...than he'll want a glass of milk...

2010-01-06T18:03:00.005-06:00

A story I liked as a child was, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. To refresh your memory, this is about a little boy who is eating a cookie and sees a little mouse, and wonders what would happen if he gave the mouse the cookie. There are some lessons that you wouldn't really get as a child because they are either too confusing for a young child or the child is simply distracted by the cute mouse. One lesson is the effect of your actions, and predicting what those effects are. The boy predicts that when you give the mouse a cookie, he'll need a glass of milk. But to drink the glass of milk he'll need a straw and to wipe his mouth he'll need a napkin and so on and so forth. This is an appealing way for kids to learn cause and effect, whether they actually catch on to that is another thing.

An implicit message, which would really ruin this innocent, childhood story, would be to think about how the mouse is never satisfied and always needs something else. Not exactly the same but similar to what some people said in class how advertisements teach kids that there's always something to buy. Once you get a toy you get bored or a newer, cooler version comes out. When you get older there's a certain style you try to imitate, but once that fashion is out of style you always need something new to keep up. Not only are they selling a product but a lifestyle with the children and teens used in the adds. There are rarely unattractive kids in commercials, especially clothing commercials, and kids or teens might see it as they should look like the person in the commercial as well as have the product.

But it'd be nice to think that the little boy is simply thinking about the mouse..

Ringing in the New Year

2010-01-03T12:18:00.003-06:00

To start the new year, the government as implemented new laws. I watched this short clip about that, and certain laws are specific to certain states. In Illinois, no texting while driving, and you cannot talk on your cell phone in a school zone. Other states have rules on tanning, gay marriage, and even the amount of trans fat in your foods. I wondered how they came up with these laws. Was it based on statistics? Why wouldn't every state want to pass a no texting law? In our own district talking on your cell phone or texting was only enforced in Winnetka, why didn't the other neigboring community enforce this as well? However, when I thought about the gay rights laws I wondered if something more controversial was based on the views of the state officials. Because that has more to do with believes, while texting and driving is an obvious safety hazard.

We talked in class a few months ago or so about state vs federal laws. Some of these laws do not seem as critical or important, but what makes a law worthy or crucial enough to be recognized throughout the country?

"What would men be without women?"

2009-12-29T15:14:00.003-06:00

When I saw the quote from Mark Twain at the top of the blog "What would men be without women? Scarce, sir, mighty scarce?" I thought of something I read in my psych book, "the most difficult separation [separation being death] is from one's spouse- a loss suffered by five times more women than men" (133). This makes me wonder why most wives outlive their husbands? Is it just because their life expectancy is longer, which I don't know if it actually is, or something else? Generally women cook the meals and do the house work, so in some relationships the husband would be at quite a loss without help from his spouse. There are many other examples like this, but I wonder if those patterns in a marriage actually has any connection to that statistic.

Back to the Twain quote, I wondered whether scarce meant like less than or something along those lines, or just lost and confused? In the dictionary it means not abundant, but I wonder if that's what he means here? Is he literally talking about the fact that you need both a male and female to have kids-meaning more men?

Ethics? Nature? or Good Business?

2009-12-29T14:30:00.004-06:00

In Nevada there's been a roundup of wild horses, because there's studies that if they aren't moved then there will be overpopulation and the resources will run out. While to some this seems like the best choice for the horses, others are concerned and protest that the airlifting and other transportation needed to move the animals can cause harm or death and is unethical.

Some things I wonder are whether they're really concerned with the animals running out of resources, or that the animals instincts will have them migrating to built up land where people just don't want to be bothered by them? Also, would the horses even know enough to migrate or would they die when the overpopulation occurs? It might not even be safe for them if they tried to get to more resources and into land where people are. Another thing I wonder is whether the overpopulation is in any way caused by humans tinkering with the environment.

What do you believe it is in the best choice? Move the animals or let nature take its course, and keep the horses where they are? Is it worth it to have a few horses dies in order to potentially save them later?

A Safe Ride

2009-12-29T14:15:00.002-06:00

With New Year's Eve only a few days away I found this reminder from the CTA that they're giving away penny rides on New Years Eve to be interesting. Although people would like to think that underage drinking doesn't happen, it does. Especially on a night like New Year's Eve. Although the CTA doesn't really cater to those under 21, something like saferides which is through the school is 100 percent for students. Although not everyone who calls needs a ride because they are under the influence, part of their purpose is to keep kids from driving drunk.

I have my own opinion on this, but do you think these programs encourage drinking? Or do you believe that it's going to happen so mine as well have something to make sure underage drinkers are safe?

SNL Uh Oh

2009-12-06T19:19:00.002-06:00

This week on Saturday Night Live (SNL) there was one controversial skit that was a paradox of the Tiger Woods domestic violence issue which has recently been in the media. What triggered this was that Rihanna was the musical guest, and earlier this year she was involved in a domestic violence case where her then boyfriend, Chris Brown, beat her.

Quotes from the article said how domestic violence is never funny, or should never be made light of. However, there were other comments about how if the genders had been switched (like the Rihanna Chirs Brown example) it would never have appeared on SNL. One man was quoted saying its, "kind of, sort of ok to make fun of...". Because it was a woman beating a man that makes it ok? Because he is arguably the most famous athlete of all time and is strong enough to take beating from a woman that makes it funny? Some in our society believe that this is ok to make fun of. That domenstic violence isn't as violent if the woman is the assaulter.

What does this say about our society? Do you believe this goes along with the notion that men are generally seen as stronger and more superior to women?

Civil Liberities vs. National Secuirty? Seems to be a Common Theme

2009-11-30T21:13:00.003-06:00

This Wednesday the class will hear about torture in the War on Terror during our perilous presentation (torturing of Guantanamo Bay detainees). The article which I have attached, is about this topic. Only it is about pictures being taken of the torturing and whether they should be released or not.

A few weeks ago in class we talked about the gay rights petitions that were being signed, and whether the names should be released. They were worried that those who signed the petition could be in some sort of danger to those who opposed their opinion. However, it isn't really the names on the petition, or in this case the people in the picture the government is worried about. In this case, the US government, is worried whether releasing the pictures will endanger Americans. Those who were taking the pictures would understand that if the pictures got out it could cause controversy about what they are doing. Not that that topic isn't already controversial enough.

There are two sides to every story though. One side is saying that if we release the photos of the torturing of the detainees it could endanger US civilians and soldiers. The other side (also within the US government) says that if we release them it will be helpful in the long run. Perhaps because then there won't be rumors flying around now that the knowledge that there are pictures is out. Or to show that we have nothing to hide, and will do what we (the US) has to in order to protect national security.

This topic is very complex, but lets think back to the petition example. In class we said those who signed should be proud of their belief and shouldn't be ashamed to publically back up their opinion. However, could it potentially endanger those who signed it? Is it constitutional?

Now, bring that back to the pictures. Do you think it is a constitutional right that the pictures should be released or is national security more important in this case than civil liberties?

Gitmo Moved to the Mainland?

2009-11-15T20:22:00.004-06:00

For our Perilous Times project, I am looking at civil liberties with the Guantanamo Bay issue, so this article caught my eye. However, this article doesn't have to do with the inmates civil liberties, but rather where to put them. For some background, the government is trying to shut down Gitmo (Guantanamo Bay), but no one in the US wants suspected terrorist in their state. Obama has found a new state of the art, maximum security prison in Thomson, IL. The prison has been vacant for years and the less than 600 population of Thomson would be happy to see the detainees come in. It would bring jobs and really boost their economy. But Illinois officials do not want the detainees to come to the state because they believe al'Qaida will target Chicago. There is no simple answer, with over 200 detainees. Some wonder if they should put them all in the same spot, or different prisons. There is talk of freeing the detainees but that is a whole other question. There's a lot of questions and other legistics but there is one question which seems to be a most controversy:

This town could use this prison, and it is the perfect facility, but Illinois officials say is that worth national security?

Our elected officials can't even figure out what to do, so just give your opinion.

Yes, I am a Packer Fan

2009-11-01T20:46:00.002-06:00

Today the Green Bay Packer's lost to the Minnesota Vikings...bummer. But the emotions ran high even before the game as Brett Farve played at Lambeau Field for the first time since he switched teams. Many fans had mixed feelings, including my sister whose a die-hard packer fan...but she kinda wanted to see good ol' Brett do well. From the time Farve ran on the field until the start of the first quarter boos from the stands filled the stadium. One fan said "personally I'm booing while I'm crying", while others had signs that said: "We'll Never Forget You, Brent" and a banner flying behind a plane reading "Retire 4 Good". He is a hall of fame legend and no doubt that legend was built on the Green Bay Packers. I mean he's an ingredible player, I guess you can be a fan of him and your team. But I need a question so I guess you could ask where should your allegeance lie? With the team or the star? Lucky for the fans those signs are protected under free speech, is it possible though that someone crosses the line? (its land of the cheese heads...I'm sure someone could think of a sign that gets them kicked out).

I've got 20 years of experience..I've got over 1000 facebook friends...

2009-10-25T17:52:00.003-05:00

In an article called "Mentoring from the bottom up" they talked about a specific situation about how the younger business workers teaching their bosses and superiors how to use the social networking sights for business. We know sites like facebook as a way to stay connected, share pictures, and funny other gadgets with our friends. Or to procrastinate on homework...sometimes for hours with mindless activities...

Well anyway, now the next generation of workers are coming into business with knowledge that their bosses don't have yet. Using these tech skills to incorporate them and help businesses move with the times. Social networking sites, twitter, and even texting are new for the older generation who are running many of the companies that now want to learn how to use these technologies.

The teachers and mentors are now becoming the students, "She has like 500 friends. It's so cute" one quote from the article that the younger teacher tells us about her older student. It's kinda funny, and its alittle funny that the teacher is half the students age.

In this economy when there are so many job cuts the older generations are trying to find jobs with the younger generation just out of college etc. Are they at a disadvantage, or is their life experience enough to put them ahead?

Airbrushed to Perfection

2009-10-12T13:03:00.004-05:00

The need to be skinny has trickled down through magazines, TV shows, and movies all the way down to the minds of the common public. Really hitting home with adolescent girls. In magazines we see the models who have been airbrushed to perfection. However, not only do we see their bodies being mutilated but any blemish or undesirable mark is removed. Recently there has been controversy over this Ralph Lauren add. Before even reading the article I was shocked by the picture. They explain how the models waist appears smaller than her head, a wildly unrealistic feature in any person. I know that the article gets into stuff about copyrights with the picture but honestly it doesn't matter what way you look at this its wrong to have that up for whatever reason they may have. Some of the links on the article are surprising to see, one compares Beyonce in a commercial showing how they've lighted her skin and hair for TV. And people quoted in the article wonder was that really necessary? What's really the point of all this?

Many programs such as Tyra Bank's, America's Next Top Model have recognized the issue of what's "dangerously skinny" by allowing "plus sized" models on the show, never more than one or two but at least those that want to model have a chance. One of which actually won a few seasons back. You also hear her tell some contenstents that they should watch their diets because they look too skinny. Also TLC's What Not to Wear helps people change their wardrobe to fit their lifestyle more appropriately and help flatter their indivdual body type. However, they make the clothes fit to them, you never hear Stacy or Clinton (show hosts) tell someone they should lose weight.

It's obvious that some worry about what kind of media people are being exposed to. Children and teens are always being told about healthy diets and the dangers of eating disorders. We talked in class about why certain laws are put into place because something must have triggered this need. Well our media has triggered this need to discuss body image in schools' helath classes.

So if we all recognize this, why are our models super skinny and our celebrities all made up constantly? Can our society move away from this or is this just how our world has evolved? Do our fashion industries, magazines etc really care about how what we see affects us, or are they just trying to hypnotize us with this unrealistic image of what we want to be so they can make the big bucks?

I'ma get on this TV, momma...

2009-10-06T19:37:00.005-05:00

An earlier post I had discussed Kanye's outburst at the VMA's. This article I saw online seems to show that maybe we have some closure with this topic. But at the end Kanye has been said to have "declared he was taking time away from the public eye to "analyze how I'm gonna make it through the rest of this life and improve." It was also announced that his upcoming tour was cancelled. He has apologized so what is there to analyze?

By coincidence I was listening to "School Spirit" one of Kanye's hits from his 2004 album "The College Dropout". In this song the first verse he makes references to his Mother saying he's "gonna get on TV" and he refers to "light skinned blacks" saying he'll make sure they don't come back in style. I wonder what he means come back in style? Is it possible he believes that blacks should stay with blacks so there aren't "mixed" children? What does he mean by style, that maybe he is being swept up in the spotless of being famous and everything is now about "style". If he is talking to his Mother are those his believes or hers? Also, does he owe this song to his Mother? Is he going to do something great for her even though he didn't stay in school?

This album also came out in 2004, since then his Mother has passed away and this past summer he held a charity concert for kids to stay in school. Now he is "taking time from the public eye...". Is it possible that he has not been acting the way his Mother would have wanted him to? The day after he was on Jay Leno (skip forward alittle in this clip to see the actual footage from the show) and was left speechless after being asked what his Mother would think of the VMA's incident. Is it possible that this event made him think about his Mother, his charity to keep kids in school, and maybe even back to his old song? He tried to please his Mother telling her he'd be famous bring "true black" back in style while she was alive, and now he feels he has not done what she would have wanted, clearly shown on Leno, even those she is dead.

If your not really interested in Kanye, one could ask do we feel worse about not pleasing loved ones that have passed more than those who are still with us?

This is just for fun, any fans of Jake and Amir?

2009-10-05T22:01:00.004-05:00

To take a break from homework I was watching some Jake and Amir. Check out this clip, its just a funny connection to the race conversation we had in class today

It's the dating service one on the website, scroll down the page of the link its the last one.
If you don't want to watch the whole thing skip to 1 minute 50 seconds it gets you a lot closer without missing anything. Except its super funny so I recommend it.

Enjoy!

Are We Overachievers?

2009-09-28T21:34:00.008-05:00

After watching an episode of Gossip Girl, I remembered I had to blog and simply could not think about what I should write about. I read the note at the top of "an American studies" blog, about our up coming assignment. Saying level 4 of course you're overachievers! Obviously somewhat of a joke, I get that Mr. B/OC. However, there is probably some truth to that for some of us. I realized this is not a topic of much importance but at New Trier, it kinda is. For example when they were changing the rankings from weighted to unweighted, the level four kids had a fit, we are doing more work we deserve more credit. But a level two student might say hey this work is just as hard for me, just cause its not as high a level. And then there are those kids who just make us so mad who don't try and get the grades just cause they happen to be silent geniuses as well as to put it bluntly sometimes slackers. There are some who are motivated by parents, college, and some who really could care less and just like school for the social scene. I'll give you an example I myself am not a fan of school, at all. My favorite thing with the word school is probably school dance. Or Alice's Coopers hit song "School's Out" but I figure if I'm there mine as well do a good job and get something out of it. So the question is are you an over achiever? What actually motivates you to do well? Is it a willingness to learn and be challenged? A need for knowledge? Or the hope to get into a top college and simply make the grade.

*I am not actually expecting people to tell the class they are an over-achiever considering the word gives off somewhat of a negative connotation, it was sort of rhetorical. And if you know you are, no offense really, cause it probably pays off for you.

First Lady Represents

2009-09-20T17:36:00.002-05:00

Although President Obama is making an effort to make an appearance in front of the Olympic Committee, First Lady Michelle Obama as of now will represent Chicago. As a native Chicagoan she is a perfect candidate. However, when the news first came out that the President would not make an appearance, some were very skeptical. I was watching the news when the issue first came out, and Mayor Daley seemed confident that the First Lady would do a great job representing the city.

When they interviewed committee members, however, they had other thoughts. They believed that it would hurt the cities chances if the president did not make an appearance. The reason that the president did not feel he could make it was because he did not want to take time away from working on the health care plan.

When I first heard the committees comments I thought it to be somewhat of a slap in the face to the First Lady. They said that by the President being there it is like having a world wide celebrity show up. However, I feel like although the First Lady is not our Commander and Chief she deserves as much respect. I just wonder if the race to win is so close that the Committee feels that every city needs to pull out all the tricks, or do they actually feel that Michelle Obama is not as fitting to appear as Obama would be?

Luckily, the presidential adviser said that she "embodies the Olympic spirit". And many others believe she is perfect to represent Chicago. Hopefully the pair will show to give Chicago the best chances and as a team they can win over the committee.

do they think they're so much better?

2009-09-13T21:45:00.002-05:00

Why do celebrities always think they can get away with stuff just because they're famous. What prompted this for me was a friend telling me about Kanye's "dis" at the VMA's tonight. After Taylor Swift, a young country singer, wins the best video award Kanye takes a microphone and says that Beyonce, in short, had a better video. The details are unclear because it was so recent.

But if someone in a high school for example were to win an award, its unlikely that someone goes on stage and says that their friend should have won right as the winner gets their award. At the VMAs I believe that they should all have a respect for everyone in their industry. Of course you might have a favorite, but it's always polite to keep it to yourself. At the Grammys Awards, or Oscars, they always show the nominees, even the ones that don't win, and it is just common curtisy that even if they don't win they act respectable when they know the camera is on them. But there are always a few that believe because they are famous and have a giant ego it makes it okay for them to do whatever they want. They think because they are a hot shot everyone wants to know their opinion.
Why do they feel that because of their status, they are above common curtisy?

P.S. Taylor Swift is amazing!

We Are the Future

2009-09-07T16:54:00.004-05:00

Our parents and other adults always tell us that we are the future. Problems like the environment, for example, will be long term and what their generation and generations before them have done is what we need to fix now and when we are running the country. When we get older, in not too many years, we will be responsible to figure out a solution to turn around this trend that has put our world at risk.

This is one reason which we did not discuss about President Obama's speech which I thought about after the discussion. An article discussed how the President wants kids to stay in school to help their country. Some may say that this is just the governments "agenda", however I thought, and I know it's kind of a long shot, but maybe it's a cry for help. Obama's ratings have gone down, the whole country is in somewhat of a state of panic because of the recession and maybe Obama just wants some help, from anyone. If we can become more educated we can give a voice and fix the mistakes that were made before us.

Besides a cry for help, I just thought maybe it's a warning. Stay in school, get as much knowledge as you can, use the resources schools give to you because you as a country will need it.

These ideas literally just came to me as I began writing the beginning which is why they aren't very detailed. So I guess since this is for us, we can ask before and after the speech why exactly is he giving it? Lets try and read his mind and think about what prompted the idea.

Disney Stars Gone Bad

2009-08-30T19:23:00.005-05:00

It is inevitable that children are growing up faster. In the fast paced world that we live in where new iPods come out all the time; kids are exposed to this kind of technology at a young age. Whether that is bad for kids, I can't really say. But this isn't titled cell phones or technology, its about the beloved Disney Channel stars we have watched for years. Whether your embarrassed to admit it or not, we all watched Shia LaBeouf play Ren's trouble-maker younger brother, and Hilary Duff with her cartoon conscience. One thing these shows had in common was that there was an innocence in every episode, and a lesson to be learned.

Disney's more recent shows like Hannah Montana, and the High School Musical phenomenon have similar morals instilled. But their stars cannot be said the same for. At a younger age they are doing acts described as provocative and raunchy, such as the most recent display at the Teen Music Awards. The Hannah Montana star, Miley Cyrus, performed what was seen as a pole dance. There has been controversay whether it was actually meant to be taken that way. But why should young children have to decipher that? Less recently there was an incident of Vanessa Hudgens, a High School Musical star taking somewhat questionable pictures of herself. Its these kind of acts that are corrupting young children. The show is called "Teen" Music Awards, but do we really want teens and younger children doing those kind of things?