Sources so far

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=954b073d-6816-430e-915a-e777f3bf44b5%40sessionmgr10&vid=1&hid=25&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=58627280

Bonding Over a Mascot

I think that the potential research question that LaPointe started with was probably " Do the Seminole people have a problem with the use of their imagery as the mascot for colleges, more specifically Florida State University?" The purpose of the article is to show that there are two sides to the argument and that some Seminoles find the depiction to be offensive, while others find it to be exciting and honorable. LaPointe partially answers the question when he states the NCAA has allowed Florida State to continue to use the imagery because the tribe gave their blessing. He then furthers his point when he interviews both students at the school that are of Seminole descent as well as members of the tribe. In showing that the Seminole people are a prosperous community (they bought the Hard Rock brand) it also takes away the idea that this is a weak tribe that the Florida State community felt bad for. The mascot and the statue that reads " unconquered" shows how proud the school is to be represented by such a powerful tribe, and it also shows that the tribe has some say in how they are represented by the school.

Google

I do not think that Google is making us dumber, but I do think that it has totally changed the way that information is viewed. Information can be accessed quicker with Google and the internet and therefore people learn the information faster and can move on to either exploring deeper into the topic or moving on to their next area of interest. While I understand the argument that internet searches cause people to skim over information instead of really becoming involved in it, the world is not the same as it used to be, and people need information faster than in the past. If this means that they can't spend the time to read an entire book about a topic, then it is a fact that we must accept. The internet will never cause the extinction of books, it will simply cause books to be viewed differently by society (i.e. the Kindle, Nook). There will always be the option to pick up a book and read it if you want to, but if you just need to know the answer to something, why not get it fast if you can? Society is constantly evolving and changing, and the internet is  the next step in the evolution. We aren't getting dumber, but technology is getting "smarter" very fast, which may be the real reason why Carr is so worried.  

Joy

Joy's biggest fear is that robotics are becoming so advanced that they are eventually going to replace humans and that humans will become obsolete. He talks about the possibility of computer chips or robotic attachments being fused with humans to create a sort of superhuman android that would abolish the regular human race.

One of the first things that he talks about is the New Luddite Challenge. This states that robots will eventually become so advanced and "intelligent" that they will be able to do scientists jobs better than the scientists themselves. Basically, robots will be able to create better robots than humans can. He also gives another good example which is that the machines will not have feelings or morals, and so their actions could very well interfere with the "right thing to do". The relationship between the robots and humans could be a very weak because of the things that the robots would do.

I think that these issues have become more  relevant because in the 11 years since this was published, technology has advanced so much that these things are actually close to becoming a reality. Cell phones now can no longer be called cell phones because they are capable of so much more. Ipods are so small that they can fit on one of the fingers. You can have a constant stream of information at your fingertips at any time of day and in any place in the world. I think that the next step is for technology to become implanted in you because they can't possibly make it any smaller, so the only thing to do is to make it more convenient so that it is with you at all times. I also think that it is a strong possibility because humans are so dependent on technology that they will do whatever it takes to make sure that they always have it. If Apple announced that they would start implanting iPhone chips into people's heads tomorrow, there would be a line down the street. People will do whatever they have to in order to stay connected and stay ahead of the curve, even if that means becoming a robot.

News Articles

Friday:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110320/ts_nm/us_japan_aid_1
Japan Tsunami- The problem is obviously that Japan has suffered a massive natural disaster and they need help from foreign nations to clean up and provide care to all those affected. I think that a possible solution for this is to organize fundraisers, donation hotlines, and other activities that can raise money locally. This money can be sent to organizations that are sending volunteers to Japan in order to help them buy supplies.

http://www.pennbpc.org/2010-11-budget-analysis
Penn State Budget Cuts- The problem is that Pennsylvania is potentially going to cut 52.5% of state funding to universities. While many people do not agree with me, I think that a possible solution is for in state students to have their tuition raised slightly in order to make up for this difference.

Saturday:
Newspaper Readership: While there is no online link about it,  all over campus I have seen signs from the Collegian encouraging students to read the papers that are offered to them for free every day. The school is obviously losing money providing the four papers available to students each day and they are trying to increase readership. I think a possible solution would be to increase the amount of stands around campus, so that every student will pass by a stand each day. Also, decreasing the amount of papers each day could save money, since I have never seen any of the papers run out before.

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2011/03/18/wi-fi_necessary_but_at_the_right_time.aspx
Wifi in the dorms: The problem is that there is no wifi in the dorms and students are tired of using ethernet cords in their rooms. While there was a plan to put wifi in the dorms, it has now been halted because of the proposed budget cuts. I think that students would be glad to pay for wifi even if it made their tuition slightly higher because of convenience. I think that it is an easy solution that makes sense.

Sunday:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/af_libya
Libya: The problem is that Gadhafi has promised to go to war with the United States because of the recent air strikes we conducted. I do not think that going to war is a good solution here, because we are already involved in the Middle East and we do not need to start another war. I think that helping the Libyans was the correct choice but now it is time to back out and let them handle it themselves.

My proposal problem is that the White Building doesn't open until 4 pm on the weekends. While Rec Hall and the Natatorium are open before this, I do not understand why the White Building is closed. If it is a matter of staff, I am sure that there are plenty of students who would be glad to work there. I think that a solution needs to be found and I propose that the school hold a test run of a new set of weekend hours for a few weeks. If enough students use the gym before 4pm, I think that the school should consider making changes to their schedule.

Swift/ Proposal

In his article, one of the problems that Swift addresses is the problem of how many poor children there are in the country of Ireland. He talks about how they are the reason that their parents are so poor and how it would be easier if they were gone. He offers up the idea that people in Ireland should eat all the poor children to not only alleviate their own hunger, but to alleviate the burden that the children put on the parents, as well as to put the children out of their misery. When I first read the piece I thought it was funny but a little strange, especially because Swift plays with the idea for so long. I got the feeling that he had put a lot of thought into it and he thought it to be a serious suggestion. I think that the satire helped his cause at first because it made the subject more approachable but I think that he took it too far and lost the point of the essay.

A big topic on people's minds today is overpopulation. With over 6 billion people in the world today,  we are using up resources faster than ever, as well as polluting our planet and destroying our environment. I personally don't see what everyone's worried about, because I have the perfect solution! When you think back to the times of our ancestors, people did not live even half as long as most people do today. Medical advances have extended the human life span to far past its natural length. I think that we should get rid of western medicine in order to help rid the world of some of the naturally weak organisms. While it may seem a little crazy at first, think about how many lives you will save in the long run. With less people on our planet, there will be less pollution and less abuse of the natural resources of the planet. The earth will have time to heal itself while people learn to live in harmony with the their environment. The human species will be able to exist forever, as opposed to now, where we may only have a few generations left before we destroy the planet.

Definition Paper

The word I am going to be defining is "guido". This nickname for an well groomed Italian has become infamous with the creation of the hit TV show "Jersey Shore", and being from New Jersey I have grown up around guidos my whole life. I am writing this paper to hep educate people who have never heard this word, as well as people who are confused by this word and doubt its importance in todays culture.

Nerd/ Supermarket Pastoral

Oswalt defines the terms nerd, geek, and otako as someone who has a serious interest in a particular item or  items. In the 80's when Oswalt was growing up, people did not have access to resources like the internet. Serious time and effort had to be put into becoming very knowledgable about a certain topic. In today's world, Oswalt says that everyone is a nerd because people can get so much information at once. It is possible to know as much as a Star Wars "nerd" does just by Googling it. It takes a few minutes to read the articles online while it took them years to learn everything that they did.
I really enjoyed this article and I think that he made a very valid point about society today. I think that the idea of destroying our culture in order to get back to the way things used to be seems a little extreme though. I think that society has definitely embraced geekiness more than previous decades, and there are instances where being a nerd is seen as cool now. I'm not sure if the internet was the sole reason for this but  I think that it is safe to say that it played a role.

A supermarket pastoral is the technique of adding information about a product's origin on the label as a way to entice customers. Where most products simply list the price of the item, organic products have started to not only put the world organic on the label, but also a background story to try to paint a picture in the customers mind. The idea behind this is that if you can paint a nice picture of where the product came from, the customer will care less about the increased price of the item because they think they are getting a higher quality product. Pollan later explains in the article that the customer may also purchase the product as an attempt to feel better about themselves. The quote, referring to non-organic food that said, “ I wouldn’t use that stuff to make compost”, makes you realize that people buy these products because they think that they will look like a better person.

While organic food definitely has its positive aspects and is the healthiest option on the market, I think that the industry comes off as shady because they try to trick you into buying a product instead of letting the products flavors speak for itself.

Narrative

The event that I will be writing about is the death of my high school classmate Petros, who died in a car accident November of our junior year. I want to write about Petros and the dangers of speeding because he is not the only friend that I have lost to a car accident.  I hope by writing this paper I can show all teens  that they are not invincible and that the dangers of speeding and street racing are very real.

First Assignment Question #1

 I think that Burke looks at this piece from a rhetorical perspective because he wants to create internal questions in the reader. Instead of simply bashing Hitler, Burke wants people to think about how they might have reacted if they had been German citizens at the time. It’s easy to say now that you wouldn’t have gone along with the Third Reich and their policies, but when you think about how terribly convincing Hitler was, you may have to rethink whether or not you would have been a follower. Burke does a great job of conveying his disapproval for Hitler, but at the same time still leaving an opening for people to interpret the writings in their own way.

Hitler responds to the exigence that is the Jewish race by creating propaganda about them and spreading it to the German people. He is able to do this so effectively because he talks about how evil and disgusting the Jews are and then he says that the solution to this problem is the German people. He says that the Aryan race is able to “hate the Jewish hate” because they are “vessels of love”. By almost putting a positive spin on it, Hitler is more effective in persuading people to follow his message. He puts down the opposition while increasing the positive feelings toward the Germans.

Some appeals that Hitler makes to his audience, which is the German people, are the descriptions of the Aryan race. He describes them as superior to all other races and compliments them numerous times throughout the excerpt. Also, he talks negatively about the Jews throughout the paper, calling them dirty, sinners, and inferior.

First Assignment Question #2

         I don't care for many of the news shows that are on TV today. They are hardly about the news or politics anymore and they have become stages for old men to argue and fight. They are made up of low blows and propaganda against the opposing party, and it seems that they forget what politics is all about which is helping this country. No one on these shows is concerned about who is the most qualified candidate for the job; they shamelessly promote their parties candidate and trash talk the others in the process.
         While I dislike these shows, there are still many millions of people that watch them daily. I think that these shows are still able to hold an audience because, while the shows might not be conveying the news like they are supposed to, they are still creating good television by arguing. However, more and more people are becoming as fed up with these shows as I am and have stopped watching because of how ridiculous they have become. Hopefully sometime in the near future a change will be made to these shows to make them respected places to find real news.
          The exigence for these shows is all of the political happenings in the world each day. While exigence is supposed to be a problem, many of these shows hound their opponents for things that shouldn't be considered wrong, they just need a reason to talk trash.
         The audience for these shows depends on what channel you watch. Fox News, for instance, would be focused mainly towards right wing followers. MSNBC would try to appeal to the left wing. While it is smart to appeal to an audience and to tell them what they want to hear, slandering the other party is not the way to do it in my opinion. Giving them intelligent information to tell their friends would be more effective than giving them gossip.