The Merciless Methods of an Idiot Box

Choosing the Right Major

ma12rk2002 — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:44:26 +0000

Jobs have changed significantly over time from agriculture, to manufacturing, to technology. These changes continue to happen because the world continues to revolutionize every day. New inventions are created, people find shortcuts in life, and hard tasks are made simpler. On the large scale view, this is a positive aspect. Although, the negative side to this is that many employees are let go and must transfer fields of specialty. Jobs are continuing to change as time progresses, and if we want to be financially stable with a job we must take action now.

Planning for the future may seem impossible, but contrary to popular belief it is quite easy. Our future is based off of technology and certain fields will cease to exist. For example, majoring in information technology is almost a guaranteed job in the future. Or majoring in pre-med and advancing to medical is a guaranteed job. People are always going to need medical help. But a difficult major to find a job with would be puppetry. Certain majors from college will open up small doors of opportunity while others give endless opportunities. It all depends on how you plan out your future.

This So Called “American Dream”

ma12rk2002 — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:45:36 +0000

Many foreigners believe that America is the land of opportunity. It is a chance to have a new life, make some decent money, and to receive prosperity. The originations of the American Dream can be found in the Declaration of Independence where it states “all men are created equal.” Many foreigners will enter the states illegally for this opportunity of equality and wealth because many countries now are facing poverty from limited low-income jobs and controlling dictators.

The fact is that America is a good country to live in compared to others. Although jobs are scarce, they are still within reach. We have many liberty rights that other countries do not: the freedom of speech, the right to vote, and free education. With this being said we must realize that as all things do, the American Dream has its consequences. There’s the chance that foreigners will leave their homes and families behind for America only in hope that they can be more successful. It is not uncommon that immigrants do not find work and they have no choice but to leave America to go back home empty handed. The American Dream is a great concept and a great vision for many people, including immigrants, but it is a big leap of faith and is not considered ideal to many.

Yup, We Were Hustled by the Banks…

ma12rk2002 — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:55:07 +0000

Not too long ago the banks were bailed out with taxpayer money which prevented the major banks from going under. I believe at the time taxpayers were understanding of the situation, seeing how if the banks went under most taxpayers would lose a substantial amount of investment and money. Although, when the banks became financially stable again, instead of reimbursing the community, like they should have, they decided to give large bonuses to the hierarchy of the corporations. The banks owe much to the community, not only from the bailout but also from their housing tactics. Thousands of homes in America are going under foreclosure because banks convince homeowners to by the house of their dreams while knowing the homeowners can’t afford it, resulting in foreclosure. In my opinion, major bank corporations need more government supervision. If this fails to happen, the thieving, money controlled higher-ups in these corporations will continue to manipulate taxpayer’s money, TARP money, and citizens on a one-on-one basis.

Multitasking is the Problem?!

ma12rk2002 — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 01:30:45 +0000

According to a recent New York Times piece, current teenagers multitask, on average, seven tasks at a time. Earlier studies show that people in the 20’s could only handle a maximum of six tasks and in the 30’s they could only handle five. The question that has come up is whether or not this generation is as focused in school and at work compared to their forebears and what will happen as they age. In my opinion, I do not think students are as focused now as they were in the early 1900’s, but multitasking is not related to this theory. Students are not as focused because many of them have been given everything in life. During the early 1900’s people worked much harder for their education, it wasn’t free. Also the statistics of kids with Attention Deficit Disorder has dramatically increased over the years making it harder for students to focus in school. I believe as students will age they will realize that everything in life will not be given to them and they have to work for it. This is why students do not focus in school and work as much, not because they can multitask better than their forebears.

When Will We Get Our Democracy?

ma12rk2002 — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 06:45:25 +0000

The question that has arisen is whether or not student in America are taught to live in a democracy? Well to answer this question I have to first explain what, in my interpretation, a democracy is. Democracy is a form of government where the people get a say in what happens or our elected officials represent us. I have two answers to this question. The first is no, elementary through high school we were taught, in my opinion, under a dictatorship. Once we reach the college level though, yes, I do believe we are taught to live in a democracy.

In my high school, students didn’t have a say in anything that happened. Many of my teachers took advantage of their status and controlled their students through implicit manipulation. Although we did have a class president, only the students from Student Government were able to vote, which I’m sure it is no surprise that they were all best friends. Our president never made an effort to socialize with the students; he stayed in his little circle of friends. Even after school hours I felt like I was deprived from my right of speech. Whenever I approached teachers, in a sensible manner, that I had conflicts with they would entirely reject what I had to say before they even heard it. My high school experience seemed to be under a dictatorship form.

Once I reached college although, the professors encouraged thought out arguments, it makes you think for yourself. Everything that happens on campus we vote for. I fill out an average of ten to twenty surveys a semester of how things can improve and what we can add onto the campus. In my opinion, high school students will never truly experience democracy until they reach college.

Taking Care of Business

ma12rk2002 — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 23:42:32 +0000

To cover the scenario, I am a 35 year old male living in a new house with my lovely wife and two kids, one whom is a 3-year-old and the other who is just an infant. My neighbors have a Harley-Davidson that they like to rev up and they also have five dogs that are obnoxiously loud. I’m fed up with the noise; my children can’t sleep because of how loud they are. Seeing how I would be the man of the house it would be my obligation to say something. My first reaction would want to punch the neighbors in the face, but let’s be realistic, my hands are lethal weapons. I don’t want a lawsuit so I’ll have to go with option two, which I might add is the premature option. I would approach them as a sophisticated, educated adult who can have a conversation of disagreement without aggression. Seeing that I’m extremely intimidating the neighbor would most likely apologize, bake me a cake, and put their dogs up for adoption, taking care of business.

Working With Food

ma12rk2002 — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:04:15 +0000

I started working when I was seventeen years old. I wanted a job so I could start buying a few luxury items. I applied at multiple stores and ended up getting hired at Abercrombie, a clothes retail store. Other than the Community Leader position I am in currently, I have never worked at another job. Although, I have thought about working in grocery stores multiple times, the pay is good and I don’t think it would be boring. Even more than working at a grocery store, I bet working at a restaurant would be a lot of fun. For a long time I considered going to culinary school so I could be a chef; I love to cook. Unfortunately, the downside of working in a food environment or in a clothes retail story is that customers will always be rude. Too many citizens have the mentality that the world revolves around them. What they don’t realize is that other people have problems. They don’t realize how fortunate they are to afford food. There are people all over America who cannot afford food. This is why there are restaurants around that help the hungry people out, such as the So All May Eat café which is located in Denver. For more information about this restaurant, there is a link below.

www.soallmayeat.org

Hunger Is Real

ma12rk2002 — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:55:36 +0000

I have a good friend here at Georgia Southern who, unfortunately, cannot afford the expenses of college. He is a freshman this year and although he has completed one semester, he did not receive any credit for the previous semester because he could not pay the dues. He is still taking classes this semester and has been without meal plans for the past month. We used to go the RAC all the time together, now he cannot go because he cannot waist his energy; he doesn’t have enough food in his system. When he told me the situation, it really frustrated me because I’m not rich so there wasn’t much I could do. There were times when I offered to treat him to the dollar menu at Wendy’s, he kindly declined though. Something that I noticed was that he did not want sympathy from others or special attention, it was very inspirational. We started volunteering at a soup kitchen on Saturday mornings where he was able to help others and get a warm meal. We also found the food bank downtown Statesboro where we were able to get him a little bit of food. The location for this food bank can be found at the web address below. Things are getting better, but he is still without meal plans. Hunger is real. It’s happening here on campus and it needs to be taken more seriously.

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?hl=en&source=hp&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=statesboro+food+bank&fb=1&gl=us&hq=food+bank&hnear=statesboro&cid=14012086003811738658

Coaches vs. Players

ma12rk2002 — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:34:07 +0000

Unfortunately, I must start this paper off by saying I do not know much about football, but I’m going to try to connect with the situation as much as possible with my personal opinion. With this being said, it has been brought to my attention that three university coaches have been fired for physically and/or emotionally abusing their players recently. In a situation like this there are two sides. One is the side of the players, saying that coaches are being too rough and that the sport is just a game. You should not put someone’s sanity on the line for a trophy. The football coaches are the opposing side. Are the players just acting wimpy and need to step it up? This is the coach’s team and he can train them the way he wants to. Ultimately, football is an aggressive sport and in order to be the best, your coach is going to have to be rough on his players. I’m going to have to side with the coaches. Football players know what they are signing up for and if they don’t want that lifestyle than they should do something different with their lives.

Visual Communication

ma12rk2002 — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 01:31:00 +0000

There are many types of communication. There is nonverbal communication which deals with gestures, expressions, postures, and other physical actions that are made without speaking. Some people dedicate their life to studying the art of nonverbal communication. Another example of communication is scientific communication. Scientific results are often very complicated but very relevant to the average person. Scientific communication is referring to science with non-scientists. As I said, there are numerous types of writing; my personal favorite is visual communication.

Naturally, our brains respond more to images and colors than they do to plain words. Think about it, we see flyers all over campus which represent different events. These events can vary from spring break international trips to an ice cream social in one of the local dorms. One thing you will notice that all of these posters and flyers have in common is that they all have some type of visual aid to catch the audience’s attention. Another reason I love visual communication is because it is not limited. There aren’t boundaries, creativity is wanted! On the next presentation you give, I would highly suggest that you incorporate visual aid to go along with your information and see how your audience responds.