I am inspired by your focus on reducing partying and drinking, and I'm so sorry that you lost a young cousin to a drunk driver. You have a strong moral compass, and I have a feeling that if you decide to be a parent, you would be a great one. Your ideal university fascinates me because it is very different from the other entries I have read. (One student said how much she hated the large anatomy lecture classes.) I am excited that you enjoy the university setting, and I feel that you have a lot to offer it!

Blog #12 Part 1

My ideal university would probably be just about the same as a traditional university. There would be some changes but not that many, because a traditional university is good for me. I do like the lecture style classes because it allows for more students to be in one class and I won't have to speak as often as in a class with only about 25 students. I think lecture classes benefit the teachers as well, because they are only two times a week and give the teacher more time to do what they want.

My first lecture class is Human Anatomy and I think that this style of class is perfect for this subject, because it is a lot of information to teach so it is better to teach to a large number of students. It is better to teach to a large number of students, so that the teacher doesn't have to repeat herself as often as some teachers do and it allows more time for her to be in her office, so if students want help they can come to her.

Smaller classes do work well for some subjects such as English and labs. These classes teach a lot of material and somewhat more in-depth information, so it is easier for students to learn the information in a small number. The lab I'm in for anatomy is about 3 hours and only seat 20 people. This is perfect because we have to do dissections, lab procedures, and ect. Trying to have say 50 people in one class trying to do this would be hectic for the students and the teacher as well. These classes make it easier for a student to learn the information and not be afraid to speak out if they have a question, because it is a smaller class room setting.

I do believe that the workload that some teachers give is ridiculous. I think that the workload does need to be changed because some students are taking a lot of credits. I think that if students are taking over the maximum number of credits to graduate early then they can't really complain about the workload because it is their choice to do that. For some students the workload is over bearing because of the type of classes they are taking. I think that teachers who give say 100 pages to read and give it to you the class period before its due are going to the extreme, because we do have other classes we have to do work for.For me, my work comes out a lot better when I have spent a quality amount of time on it and the teachers don't rush me to get it done.

The other part of college life I would like to see a little bit of change in is the partying aspect. Partying is fine if students know how to control themselves and most of the time they don't know how. They end up partying every weekend and don't go to class because they are hungover or haven't done the work they were supposed to be doing.

Learning is the most important aspect of college whether it be educational things or life lessons. These are the changes I would make to my university. I think these would make for a less stressful enviroment and more learning would occur.

"Jesus Is my Homeboy"

1. I'm not a very religious person, so the t-shirts don't really bother me like they would bother a person that is Catholic or Christian. I think that the t-shirts are kind of funny because if people wear these shirts it shows that they are comfortable enough in their religion to wear these t-shirts. It shows that they aren't afraid of being criticized for wearing a t-shirt like that from religious people or by people who think that religious people are weird. I think that the first one is somewhat of a parody because the picture on it is not a picture of Jesus but rather of a "thug" because thugs the type of people pictured to say the word homeboy. I believe that their is a higher being but not necessarily Jesus, so these shirts don't really elicit any type of anger or happiness in me.
2. Paul Mitchell states that shirts such as the ones pictured on the blog are a mockery of the Christian faith. He believes that no Christian should wear this because they shouldn't feel the need to show off their faith on t-shirt if they are comfortable enough in the religion. A quote that can refute his argument is "While nuns, priests, monks, and members of the ruling class in Anglicanism and Catholicism have always worn clothes that showed off their Christian status..." This quote shows that even church officials wear clothes that show off their religion and aren't upset with other church officials who wear them.
3. If the t-shirts only contained text, the rhetorical effect would change drastically. I think that both shirts would get the same amount of rise out of a religious person since there aren't any pictures. Pictures along with texts say a lot of things and have many hidden meanings. One shirt wouldn't offend someone as much as the other becuase there aren't any pictures.
4. Each shirt has a very different rhetorical message because of the picture that is on it. If I was a religious t-shirt I would wear the t-shirt on the left because it is an actual picture of Jesus and not of a "thug." The shirt on the left has a picture of Jesus with a halo, which can be interpreted as him being an angel. The color is black though, which is a kind of morbid color and he is not smiling which shows that he suffered pain for his people. He is holding the text as if it was the world. The text on the shirt on the left is also in all caps, which to me makes something look more important. The shirt on the right I think is more offensive to religious people because of the picture. The picture is of a "thug" and most Chrisitans would find this offensive because it is relating people being thugs to Jesus. The man in the picture is wearing sweatpants, a baseball cap, and a sweatshirt. All of these clothes are not things that people would wear to church. The text is above him and is all lowercase, so it doesnt' seem that important. The fact that the shirt is white is good, because the color white is associated with purity.

My CD

Step 1:
Song title: "Pointless"Genre: RapExplanation: This songs talks about murder. It explores all the ways that murder can happen and how it can happen to anyone. It also talks about how people can be wrongfully accused of this crime and sometimes spend their entire life in jail. It will have some true-life accounts of people who were affected by the crime. It will have accounts from sides, someone whose family member was killed and someone whose family member did the killing.

Song title: "Right or Wrong?"Genre: R&BExplanation: This song is about abortion. It will talk about whether people believe that abortion is wrong or right. Along with whether they think it’s right or wrong, they will also tell the world if they believe that it should be a crime. There will be both points of view on the song. People will explain in which ways they think an abortion may be acceptable and in which ways they think it’s completely wrong.

Song title: "War"Genre: RapExplanation: This song is going to be talking about the war in Iraq and how many unnecessary soldiers are being deployed. It will talk about the war from what made the war start in the first place with the bombing of the twin towers. There will be people’s stories in the background music. They will talk about how much their lives are affected by the war. I will take stories from soldiers and families of soldiers who have relatives either deployed or that died from the war.

Song title: "Stupid"Genre: RockExplanation: This song explores the danger of drinking and the consequences that it can have on someone’s life. It will not only explore drinking by people that are of the age of drinking but also underage drinking. It will talk about how stupid and dangerous it is for people to drive after they have had something to drink, no matter how much it may have been. There will parts of the song that talk about someone’s life that has been affected by a drunk driver.

Song title: "It Hasn’t Disappeared"Genre: PopExplanation: This is a song about racism. It will talk about how many people think that racism has disappeared but in reality it hasn’t. There are so many new stories about people who have experienced racism. These experiences may not be all out in the public but are evident in the world.

Step 2:
Song title: “Stupid”
Drinking is a fine thing to do when you do it responsibly
It turns bad when you decide to binge drink
It turns worse when you decide to get in the car
What makes you think that you can drive, when you can barely walk?
Making the decision to drive is the worse thing you can do
When you decide to drive you run the risk of taking someone’s life or your own
-The video will have many different elements. There will be scenes of people drinking to the point where they can’t walk but decide to get into the car. It will then show an accident that the drunk person caused. After that it will show a hospital scene where an innocent person is dead because of a drunk driver. The final part will show the drunk driver in court where they are receiving some type of punishment and then being hauled off to jail.

Step 3:
Title of CD: “Life is not a game”

Step 4:
The middle of the CD cover will be a picture of me, since I’m the artist. Around my picture will be an element pertaining to each song title. For song number 1 there will be a picture of my friend who was shot and lost his life. For song number 2 there will be a picture of a girl who was raped and now is pregnant. For song number 3 there will be a picture of my cousin who has been deployed three separate times to Iraq. For song number 4 there will be a picture of my cousin who lost her life to a drunk driver at the age of eight. For song number 5 there will be a picture of two people of different races holding hands to show unity among races. The title of the CD will go across the top above my picture in red letters because red is a bold color.

Steroids

Anabolic steroids help men develop a somewhat false physique. They take steroids to help them buff up because they can't do it alone. If they can't get to the size they want without drugs then it's not meant to be. Taking drugs to help get more muscle is not good. Weak arguments could be in defense of not using anabolic steroids since the video has evidence that the side effects of steroids on people's health has either been nothing or very low. The video fails to address the mental side effects of steroids on men. Steroids may not have any health side effects but could drastically affect one's state of mind. Steroids could make someone do things that they know are wrong but can't help it because they have not control. I don't think that steroids can be used responsibly because it seems like once someone starts using steroids it is extremely hard for them to stop using them without medical and professional intervention.

I think steroid use is very wrong and testing athletes for them is very smart. I think that all athletes should be tested for steroids and it is very good that they are starting to test everyone and not just professional athletes. I think it's a great idea that people are starting to test high school athletes. If high school athletes are tested, a potential bad and life-threatening habit could be detected early. And this habit could be broken before it's too late. There should be different standards for high school athletes and professional athletes, because of the level of intensity that the sport is being played at, although both types of athletes are old and smart enough to know that steroids are bad for a person's body. Steroid standards shouldn't be different for sports. Using steroids not matter what sport a person plays is bad and there should be no room for lenience.

I think that steroid use is an expected manifestation to be the best rather than merely do our best. Society expects male athletes to be bigg and buff. They expect them to have a lot muscle and to look good. This idea also goes along with the society's view of women that skinny is beautiful and nothing else is acceptable. So I do believe taht we are creating a double standard for men. Like I said before men are expected to big and buff and if they aren't they get criticized but on the other hand once it is found out that they are using steroids, they get criticized again.

Georgetown Article

I think that the idea the police officers have is a good one in moderation. I don't think that they should be sitting there and waiting for students to get them in trouble. I think that they should be more worried about other criminal activities. As Solberg said, "This is not something we want to do. I think everyone in the community wants cops out here patrolling for real criminal behavior, rather than hauling students in for public drinking or public urination" (quoted in Kinzie). They could get distracted and miss a crime that is more important and more worth their time. I think that a police officer should only come to a house where college students are drinking if they get more than one call from neighbors about the noise level. This should be taken in moderation because neighbors might call the cops just because they don't want the students there and not because they may be loud or anything. I also think that it's a great idea that students 21 and over have to register to have a party. Some students need to learn that college is not all about drinking and partying. Someone doesn't need to drink to have fun, and if they do then they need to do something about this. Partying and drinking too much can cause someone to get behind on their schoolwork and possibly fail or get kicked out because they are failing.

Paraphrase and Counter-argument: Georgetown University is making themselves more aware of the parties that go on at houses and townhouses that are occupied by their students that are owned by them. They want to limit the number of parties that are happening and put more restrictions on what can happen at the parties. People who live near the houses and townhouses owned by Georgetown University are not happy that parties are happening near their houses. The university is also aided by the local police force in cracking down on college parties by hauling students off to jail for alcohol citations. Many students are unhappy about this because they want the police to be out patrolling for real criminal activity. They also believe that a change in the school culture can not happen this fast and it will really damage the social aspect. Solberg said, "They have many different tactics to ensure that students have a good time, but nothing has worked" (quoted in Kinzie). Georgetown should make party regulations but within reason. The school officials need to help the students have a better social life on and off campus, but with the new rule of 15 to 20 officers searching for students who are drinking it will make more students want to do more things off campus. When they do this it could cause students to go into downtown Washington, D.C. which most of the time isn't safe at night and possibly run into a lot of trouble. So in a way if a student gets into trouble, he/she could blame the school because of the new party and drinking regulations. The new rules and regulations against drinking and parties will cause students to do it more. Just knowing that there are rules against it they will continue to do it and call it secret behavior. The new rules and regualtions could drive some students away who are thinking about applying to Georgetown because they believe that the rules are too excessive.

Paraphrasing

According to James D. Lester, students tend to use direct quotes while taking notes. So they end up using too many directly quoted items in their final research paper. Students should learn how to take notes without using a lot of direct quotes to avoid plagiarism in the final drafts of their research papers because no more than 10% of their final paper should be direct quotes.

G.I. Joe

The first article by Pope, Olivardia, Gruber and Borowieki is an article that shows the negative views of male action figures. This article talks about how the male action figure has evolved over time in many ways. The action figure's height has decreased then increased and so-on. Another major change in male action figures over time is their muscle physiques. The article also talks about how the action figures influence bad habits in young boys and men. There are explanations in some muscle and eating disorders that can result in young men and boys because of the big muscles and abs on the action figures. Some men could possibly develop bad habits in abusing anabolic steriods because they want to look like the action figures. So basically this articles says that the view of male action figures is a bad influence on young boys.
The second article by Franke-Folstad talks about how the biceps and muscular physique of the G.I. Joe action figure is not that big of a deal. This article also talks about how the Barbie by Mattel has been subject to criticism because it displays the wrong message to girls. This author believes that men and boys have always wanted to bulk up no matter what. He believes that an action figure is not going to make young men and boys develop eating disorders and abuse of anabolic steroids. He believes that people in the media today such as Mark McGwire and wrestlers will have a more negative effect because they are real people and not action figures.

The tone of the first article somewhat casual and somewhat formal. This article is very powerful in presenting its argument. This article contains charts and citations within the text. By this article containing citations and charts/tables it makes it more respectable and believable that the authors know what they are talking about. Table one is an example because it contains the measurements of the male action figures. This shows that authors did their research before taking a stance on something. The tone of the second article is causal and a little bit sarcastic. This article doesn't have any charts or citations within the text, so the information presented in this article could be disputed. The sarcastic tone is seen in the line, "And now it turns out that good old G.I. Joe has been subjected to the same silly poking and probing, the same plastic-to-flesh measurement comparisons and similarly ugly allegations that he's encouraging young boys to seek an artificially enhanced physique.

I was given Barbie dolls and baby dolls as a young child because I was a girl. I was exposed to male action figures and toys that were "meant" for boys because I have an older brother and all boy cousins. My reaction goes along with both articles. I do believe that action figures could possibly have a bad effect on young boys because they are so muscular and young boys might believe that is how they are supposed to look. I also do believe that people in the media today also could have a negative influence on young boys as well, as stated in article two. It shows that athletes abuse steroids to become muscular and action figures are muscular. This could lead to the conclusion that using steroids is a must to become muscular.

2-11-09

What really makes me angry is racism. I think that racism is one of the worst things I have seen and witnessed in my life. It is really shocking for me to see this even now that we are in the 21st century. I feel like this should not happen anymore because we have moved past slavery and segregation in America in a way. Legal slavery and segregation are not allowed but some people still do it in an "undercover" manner. Seeing people do this makes me very angry because it is just utterly and completely wrong. This problem should be addressed and investigated if someone reports that they have experienced racism.

Blog 3

The pro-ana websites and blogs associated with them should be shut down as quickly as possible. These websites are very bad for young girls to see because they are very convincing and could sway someone into doing something that is very bad for their health. The health concerns associated with eating disorders are very bad. This can be further proved because the website even says it, "These are dangerous, potentially life-threatening disorders that you cannot choose, catch or learn." An eating disorder destroys one's health. This is shown by the story of Claire. Her body is so damaged from an eating disorder that it cannot even keep itself warm on hot days in Florida. The story of chaos also shows the potential health concerns associated with eating disorders. She tells in her story that she has to go to the hospital a dozen times for "heart things." Eating disorders can cause anything from heart palpitations to cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest usually leads to death. It also says that she hasn't had her kidneys or spleen checked, and that her spleen is probably near the point of rupturing. These websites teach vulnerable young girls bad habits that are very hard to get out of once they are started.

The pro-ana websites and blogs should be allowed to stay in existence. These websites are a great way for young girls to talk about how they are feeling with others who feel the same way. This allows them to do so without being judged by others. As Clairegirl says about the website, “And I don’t have to worry about them judging me for how I feel.” Anorexia and bulimia are choices, a website cannot make someone do something they don’t want to do. The ones who choose to become anorexic or bulimic do it because they want to. The websites just help young girls out when it comes to the eating disorders and how to do it right. One website says, “Please Note: anorexia is not a diet. Bulimia is not a weight-loss plan. These are dangerous, potentially life-threatening disorders that you cannot choose, catch or learn. If you do not already have an eating disorder that’s wonderful! If you’re looking for a new diet, if you want to drop a few pounds to be slimmer or more popular or whatever, if you’re generally content with yourself and just want to look a bit better in a bikini, go away. Find a weight watchers meeting. Better yet, eat moderate portions of healthy food and go for a walk.” This quote shows that the website doesn’t want someone to do it if they want to and tells them the risks, so if they do end up having an eating disorder it is because they chose it.

The pro-ana websites and blogs should be monitored. If the websites become to extreme they should be taken down. They also should be taken down if there is a girl talking about suicide because she is so unhappy with herself image. They should be kept up because they do allow young girls and women in the same situations to talk to each other. They can share their thoughts with people who are feeling just like they are without being judged or having to worry about being made fun of or shunned because they have an eating disorder. Each website absolutely needs to have the risks of eating disorders in fine print before someone enters the website or joins a blog. This could possibly prevent someone from a life-threatening disorder.

Fallacy

Either/or Reasoning

If you only go to the doctor when you are sick and not for a monthly checkup, then you don't support our medical personnel.

Blog #2

1. My reaction was mixed to this ad. It was kind of shocking because the makers of the shoes made sure that the people reading the ads knew that their shoes were for runners and not joggers. The ad is also informative as well. The pictures are what stood out and the descriptions to the pictures are what stood out to me the most.

2. I am not a runner. I thought the ad was somewhat offensive to joggers. I think that not everyone can run at the same pace and jogging isn't bad. If someone is a jogger they are still getting exercise maybe not as much exercise as a runner but at least they are still exercising.

3. The text of this ad is what makes it so powerful and persuasive. The text lets people know important information about being a runner and not a jogger. By letting people know the benefits of being a runner and not a jogger it allows the makers of the shoes to persuade people to become runners. Like the cliché saying, a picture says a thousand words; the pictures in this ad are very interesting. A controversial and powerful picture is in the one in chapter one where the person is on fire. This picture can be interpreted two ways. One can see it as a jogger on fire because he or she is in pain from running or it can be interpreted as a runner with flames coming off of him because he is running so fast.

4. The main thing that is promoted in this ad is running. So in way health is also being promoted because by running someone is getting exercise and most of the time being healthy. Jogging is discouraged in this ad because the maker of the ad feels like jogging is pointless exercise. One thing that stood out to me was the line where is says "no matter how fast you go on a treadmill it will never be the same as running." This clearly shows that jogging is discouraged.

5. I think that the intended audience is runners, but in a way joggers could also be the intended audience. Joggers could be the audience to make them want to become runners and buy the shoes. I think that the ad is kind of harmful in a way to the makers because joggers could take a lot of offense to the ad and not want to become runners. By doing this it will damage the sales of the shoes. I guess by making this ad it divides the running and jogging population. This would be an advantage to the running population because they can set themselves apart from the jogging population. Most runners would find this appealing because they don't want to be mixed up with being a jogger.

6. I really couldn’t decide which one stood out the most to me. It would have to be either pathos or logos. Pathos sticks out a lot to me because the makers of the ad use a lot of emotion in the words that they say. Even though it is only text someone reading the ad can see that a lot of emotion was put into the ad. There is also a lot of logic in the ad as well. Pathos is what sticks out to me the most in the ad to the left. The picture and the words have so much emotion in them. The words are very powerful.

7. I would pick the Reebok ad to run in a magazine because I think that it would be more effective in selling its product. I think it gets straight to the point in trying to sell its product because it is shorter than the Pearl Izumi ad. Another reason that it would be better is because I can feel the emotion in the ad with it only having six words for its product.

Jessica Cooper Blog #1

1. There are many different types of rhetoric on this page. The content after someone clicks on the link is very powerful. A lot of the messages are very persuasive. One link that a person can click on is the heroes link. This link shows people that there are real life heroes in the army and that they played the game. The heroes link shows a person's picture, name, rank in the army, and then a link for their whole biography. A big link that shows persuasion is the U.S. Army link, because the website is supposed to be for a game, but there is a link for people that would make someone who doesn't know about the Army want to join it. Most of the website shows gaming content and the website makes sure that all of the downloads are available, so that the ones playing can get the full experience of playing the game. Two other very persuasive parts of the website are the little box that shows the seven core values of the army and the little box with the number of users, the number of new users in the past month, new users in general, and the number of people who have completed a certain level.

2. I think that the intended audience is a little bit of everyone form every age group. Kids are kind of the intended audience because the website is for a video game and most all kids love to play video games. The rhetoric does appeal to the kids because it is a video game and it is trying to instill the values of the army in them, so that when they are older they would possibly want to join the army. Teenagers and young adults are a big target audience because they are the ones that can join the army if they like what they see in the video game and want to be a part of it. It also talks about scholarships and medical training so if someone wants to be in the medical field, they can be trained by the army and still go to college. This idea is very appealing to college students.

3. I do agree to an extent with Navy veteran Boyle that it indoctrinates the ideology of war. I agree because it makes it seem fun and some people might want to be in a real war after they play this game. The way war is portrayed in the media is different from how it is shown in the game. The game like I said makes war seem fun and interesting when really it is very dangerous. The media shows the dangerous and scary parts of being in a real war. The media lets people know that it is real by showing the number of deaths and injuries from being hated by other countries because they are fighting in the war. My cousin has been to Iraq three different times to fight in the war. He doesn't really like to talk about it because it is so scary and he has bad experiences over there. He has seen people in the humvee right in front of him blown up by a roadside bomb.

4. The video game and the website promote violence but that doesn't mean that it will necessarily influence teens to become more violent. Violence in video games are very present but it can be a good thing or a bad thing. Violence most of the time doesn't influence teens to be more violent or commit the same acts of violence they do in videos in real life. If teens have enough control to know that it isn't real and have been taught by their parents that the violence in a video game isn't real and some of the things that take place in video games is wrong, then they should be okay.