Media

In todays society, we are drowned with media everywhere we go.  According to the Boss book, Americans spend an average of 9 hours a day watching television, going on the internet, talking or texting on the phone, or using some other form of media.  Mass media is forms of communication that are designed to reach and influence very large audiences.  Some examples are television with networks like ESPN, CNN, MSNBC, and many other forms of news medias.  Lots of news medias now a days are skewed towards the networks beliefs, some being republican or democratic or having a mixture of both.  Niche media is forms of communication geared to a narrowly defined audience.   Some types of niche media would be like ESPN were they cater to sports fans or the home network where they cater to housewives.  Mass media since the middle of the 19th century has changed the way we view and perceive things.  Personally, I am a fan of todays mass media and the way that we find information.  Even though some networks are skewed away from all the facts, I don't know what I would do know a days without the many types of media sources feeding us information.

Horoscope

Cancer, 7/26/12

Once your brain gets hooked on something, Cancer, you're likely to take it to the extreme. Be careful of overworking yourself in a certain issue that requires a more rational, temperate attitude. You may get into trouble if you insist on going off the deep end. Don't tackle issues you aren't ready to handle. Take things slowly and maintain a moderate, conservative viewpoint. If you go too far, back off and take a break.

 

I think that this is actually an accurate description of myself.  Once my brain gets hooked on something, it is hard for me to not take something to the extreme and not do it.  However, not everything I do I get hooked on.  Personally, I do have an addictive personality but not in a bad way, but a good way.  For example, I get addicted to school but in a good way because I like to get good grades.  I think that this horoscope can be falsified because not everything that you get hooked on can be bad.  For example, getting hooked on working out is necessarily a bad thing because it can be very good for you allowing you to transform your body. Personally, I don't believe in my horoscopes but I do like to look at them every once in a while.

Plagiarism

The article by Brook Sadler gives ten quick arguments for what is wrong with internet plagiarism.  A couple key ideas for why internet plagiarism is wrong are the issue of copyrights and theft of someone else's property, plagiarism involves the intent to deceive professor's and higher education by using someone else's work.  Plagiarism is unfair to other students because it takes away from their honest work.  Plagiarism is diminishing the students education and in turn teaching them that cheating is ok.  He believes that a strict poicy works best such as failing the course if any assignment is determined to be plagiarised.  Russel Hunt's four reasons to be happy about internet plagiarism gives reasons for which certain practices are threatened by the increasing ease of plagiarism.  He believes that our institutional rhetorical writing environment is challenged by this and it is a good thing and that the problem can be addressed by assuring the students that they are real writers with meaningful and important things to say.  That the institutional structures around grades are challenged which is good because the system that is built makes students only care about marks, credits, and certificates.  By pushing students, he believes that we can break the pattern in students of cheating.  Personally, I agree with Sadler because I think that cheating and plagiarism is wrong because I put in alot of hard work into my school and for someone to get a better grade because they cheated isnt fair.

Wootan and Liodice

Wootan's claim is that major companies are influencing poor eating decisions through the use of advertising.  Wootan has come up with "Guidelines for Responsible Food Marketing to Children," to provide criteria for marketing food to children in a manner that does not undermine children's diets or harm their health.  According to Wootan, over the last 20 years the rates of obesity have doubled in children and tripled in teens.  He believes that parental authorit is undermined by wide discrepancies between what parents tell their children is healthful to eat and what marketing promotes as desirable to eat.  Robert Liodice believes the complete opposite of Wootan's claim. His basis is that as Americans, we have the fundamental right to free speech.  He is stunned that the CSPI would suggest restricting or modifying the free speech of perfectly legal enterprises as an approach to solve a problem.  He address three major flaws in the guidelines.  First, the information provided about obesity among our youth is bloated.  Second, by not promoting good eating rather than taking away those type of ads.  Third, it doesn't address the positive advantages of promoting proper eating over the last 30 years.  Personally, I agree with Liodice because these guidelines shouldn't be able to take away our rights that they are trying to.

SWOT

The SWOT model is used to analyze a company's strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats in the business environment.  This type of strategic model can be used for developing a marketing strategy and for deciding whether to launch a new business or expand an existing business.  I actually just used this model in one of my summer business classes to help examine a food industry and disect its business plan.  The SWOT model helps determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with expanding and launching new businesses. 

Aristotelian Logic

In the first paragraph, the author describes his reasoning and basis for his set of logic.  He describes that he avoids using the phrase can be rewritten as because there are so many phrases or words that can be similar but different due to the multiple meanings of the same words in our English language.  One of the rules that I use that he states in his piece is whether the claim is universal or particular or affirmative or negative.  For example, when I hear someone describe something different than the way I would, I think whether it is a one particular case or it is a universal thing.  Also, I decide whether it is a good or negative thing that they are stating.

Moral Reasoning

Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. argued that violence can never be justified by moral outrage of any sort.  Instead, they insisted on using moral reasoning to solve dillemas that they come upon to develop nonviolent strategies for repsonding to violence.  Moral reasoning is defined as an individual or collective practical reasoning about what morally one ought to do.  Ghandi and MLK both pracitced this throughout their lives.  Ghandi was a peaceful person that led India to independence and inspired movements for non-violence and civil rights across the world.  Martin Luther King Jr. helped break segreation and discrimination in our country through the use of peace and nonviolent rallies even though he was abused multiple times.  I personally agree with these two great men.  I myself like to think before reacting therefore not putting me in a situation where violence is involved.