Every year US News releases a College Ranking issue that ranks colleges by many categories including the overall best. The purpose is to show which colleges are the best value, and is designed to make college searches less stressful. Believe me this is a bitter lie. Coming from a community where from birth we are expected to go to college, once high school hits it is something that sits heavy on our minds. Told by counselors that we should go where we feel most comfortable, and where we will be best fit in with the new community. This ranking system is the very contradiction to all college searching should be about. Below I have posted the link to the US News College Ranking database: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities
The first sentence of an article explaining US News methodology towards these rankings states, "Certainly, the host of intangibles that make up the college experience can't simply be measured by a series of data points". Say no more, stated in the first sentence is the solid truth. You cannot rank the "best colleges" for someone based off of a set of data points. The "host of intangibles" are the most important part of ones journey to finding the right college, and one can't simply find this information from a plethora of data points.
On top of its unreliability and extremely non-personal appeal, it carries a very dangerous affect that pertains specifically to New Trier High School. Being from this extremely competitive High School i can tell you that the last thing we need on top of the abundance of information we already have, is a college list ranked from best to worst. With colleges being thought about and looked at this list is the very hinderer of ones college search. What if your favorite college isn't in the top 25? What if your fifth choice is ranked ten spots ahead of your first? This ranking system does not help the stressed out student, but rather pounds them with a mental break down.
In your opinion, is this ranking system useful? Could it be of some use to the confused college bound student?
"Half of Americans now consider Islam incompatible with American values"
This is a recent statistic from a survey conducted by the Public Religion Institute. The post 9/11 era has now revealed serious issues regarding Islamic practice in the United States. I recently watched a Current Television channel show called, "Vanguard: Islamaphobia", that focused on the growing fear around terrorism and Islamic Religion both in England and the United States. Below is a video summarizing the important points on the issue. Please focus on the American aspects instead of the English aspects if possible.
As stated in the video, the whole idea fueling this disagreement and hatred towards Islamic practice in the United States is FEAR. Similar to the hysteria associated with witch-craft in pre-constitutional Salem in Arthur Millers, The Crucible, Americans have now started to associate all people of Islamic faith as terrorists. It is this fear, and fear alone, that has inspired the establishment of many anti-Muslim alarmist groups across the nation. The leader of an anti-Muslim American group violently stated in the video above that the Muslim people are, "Wolf in Sheep's clothing". This saying was too me very disturbing because it portrays them as at first glance innocent looking human beings, but underneath this vulnerability was a deceptive animal capable of destruction. The use of the contradicting animals, the wolf and the sheep, help to guide us towards a distinction between friend and enemy. I believe that these groups are targeting and blaming the innocent Muslim people, because the fear of not having anyone to target in America after a tragedy is hard for people to cope with.
Also stated in the video by an American Muslim deeply involved in the issue is that Americans think, "Muslims are the threat to America, [when] in reality they themselves are the greatest threat to America". What do you think about this statement? Does it have any merit? Can you think of any examples where innocent Muslim Americans have been blamed, targeted and even tormented in the United States because of their religious affiliation?
The peaceful protests at the University of California, Davis, turned ugly on friday when several students were doused with orange pepper spray by the police. It all began when the students decided to set up tents and camp out in the university quad as apart of their protest. This was against campus policy, and when asked to leave several students refused and locked arms. Below is a video of the incident:
This incident fits in perfectly with our class discussions on civil liberties and peaceful protest. Like the Chicago DNC(Democratic National Convention) protests in 1968, the acts against the protesters by the police force were unjust and brutal. The police officers shown in the video above seem to be complacent with their actions against the defenseless protesters. This is a clear example of how the police have abused their authorities and have gone way to far with breaking up the protest. Due to the campus policy there was definite reason for why the police needed to clear the quad, but this was far from the most ethical way. Unlike the Chicago DNC protests, the protesters at the University of California, Davis, showed no violent acts against the police force.
On top of this violent incident another question is posed. Should the right to peacefully protest be banned on college campuses like U.C. Davis? Nathan Brown, a professor in the English Department, states on the issue that,"The fact is: the administration of U.C. campuses systematically uses police brutality to terrorize students and faculty, to crush political dissent on our campuses, and to suppress free speech and peaceful assembly". Mr. Brown accurately discusses how police brutality is used to "terrorize" the students in order to instill a sort of order on campus. This is in fact a clear violation of our right to peacefully assembly and as many agree should not be restricted on college campuses in the United States. It is a difficult topic to set boundaries on given the current circumstances regarding Occupy Wall Street Protests, but one thing is certain, the police force completely abused their authority and had no reason to inflict this kind of pain on the defenseless protesters. Below is a link to the New York Times article I read on the incident: http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/video-of-police-pepper-spraying-u-c-davis-students-provokes-outrage/?ref=us
I was recently watching political advertisements on the Washington Post website's Political Ads archive, when I saw a video that immediately caught my attention. With elections right around the corner, this is one method candidates can utilize to influence the views of the public. But we must ask ourselves, to what extent should these videos be limited? Below is the Advertisement supporting 2008 presidential candidate, John McCain, and a link to the Washington Post's Political Ads archive.
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/politicalads/
I want to first explain a few messages I saw in this video that I found significant:
1.) Obama is a Celebrity, and Celebrities are not equipped to protect families
This was incredible to me. This video is implying that Obama is a Celebrity in the sense of the "Hollywood" term. He is not a serious political candidate, but instead an "actor" who lives in the spot light. The advertisement then takes a sharp, serious turn when the screen turns black and white and the question is posed: Is Obama (the Celebrity) ready to help your family? When the lives of family members are put into question, Americans start to take a serious look at the potential culprit.
2.) Facades
The advertisement focuses on revealing who the "real" Barak Obama is. Tying into our discussion of the masks people wear during class I found this message particularly interesting. Is Obama wearing a facade? Is he a fake? These are all points emphasizing that the American citizens should doubt his character.
3.) Vote McCain, Get a job and thriving economy
The most emphasized and significant point of this political message. The dramatic shift from a somber black and white tone, to the colorful uplifting tone helps give the American citizens a feeling of hope and optimism. In my opinion the basis of all political campaigns are the important changes promised by each candidate. Especially in times of economic peril, these promises are exactly what the American people want to hear. Similar to my last post, whether or not the chances of delivery are high or not, it is the hope and optimism associated with these promises that gains supporters.
This political advertisement clearly makes some bold statements about Barak Obama. Most of which make him out to be a fake "celebrity" who craves the spot light. I am not siding with one party or the other, but I think that it is an important issue in American society. Is it appropriate for these bold assumptions and descriptions to be made about the opposing candidate? In times where these messages can be displayed throughout an abundant amount of media sources, I feel that there needs to be restrictions on what messages can be displayed in these advertisements.
What do you think? Should there be restrictions on what messages can be displayed in these political advertisements?
I was in the middle of watching my favorite Television show the other night, "Dexter", when the idea of faith was introduced. A rather odd topic to focus on given that the main character is a serial killer, but i couldn't help but think about what one of the characters was saying on the idea. A character by the name of Brother Sam was explaining that, "Its human nature, you gotta believe in something. Haven't you had a problem so big that you couldn't handle it on your own?". These word's struck me as very interesting because i had never before really explored the idea of faith and believing in something. What is it that causes people, be it American's or anybody else, to have faith and believe in something of a higher power?
I believe that faith in the religious sense is seen most in the case similar to what Brother Sam was talking about, when one has a problem bigger than themselves. A conflict or question where they cannot seem to find a resolution or answer to. It also seems like people turn to faith in times of peril and hardship.
What causes people to have faith? Is it human nature to believe in something bigger?
As many Americans have already realized, the McDonald's Monopoly game is back again. I mean how could you not notice this with the suffocating number of billboard and television advertisements. After looking at a few game pieces I found myself confused at how exactly the game works, especially since I had never heard of anyone who has won anything more impressive than a free hamburger. After doing some brief research I came to the realization that this was truly one stupendous business scheme. Let me begin first by explaining how the game works:
1.) You order food. 2.) You peel off the game pieces that come stuck on the wrappers of your food (game pieces only come on select menu items, generally those of a larger size). 3.) You either win a small food item or become confused at what you do with all the random colored monopoly game pieces you now possess. 4.) If you care enough you can keep collecting colored game pieces till you have 3 of the right color, street, and winning number combination The odds of instantly winning $500 are 1 in 824,142. The odds of instantly winning $10,000 are 1 in 206,035,400. The odds of winning the ultimate prize of $1,000,000 by collecting the game pieces of Park Place #341 and Boardwalk #342 are 1 in 618,106,200 and 1 in3,141,832,163. If you have not yet noticed it by now, your chances of winning even five hundred dollars are stacked heavily against you. This game also reminded me of another highly improbable opportunity to win, The Lottery. So I wonder, Why do Americans keep trying to win something where the odds are so stacked against them? It's because it is an American value to beat the odds and be the underdog, the cinderella story. It is something that most American's greatly admire. It is something that we strive for in society, to be the person that sets them self apart from the others. Being in the spotlight is what everyone envy's. Another reason people buy into these types of "games" is for hope. Similar to religion, these types of things become rituals for people, and gives them a sort of hope and optimism. It helps them to believe in something more. Although nearly all of the people who invest in these little games win less to nothing, it is defying the odds and hope that keeps them coming back for more.
I just finished watching 60Minutes on CBS about a young man, Alex Hannod, who lives his life rock climbing solo without any source of rope or protection. He has set records all over the United States, and his ability to risk his whole life to climb the face of a mountain truly amazes me. The whole interview was focused on his climbing, how people view his risks in the climbing world, and finally how he lives out of his van on less than one thousand dollars a month. This was all incredible to me, and I immediately thought of how similar he was to Chris McCandless. Like McCandless, Alex Hannod dropped out of college and just left to go pursue his passion of climbing in the wild. What I found most interesting about this interview though, was that they never focused on his childhood or his relationship to his family. As part of the audience i was really interested in how his family viewed his lifestyle choices. This realization made me think about the choices interviewers and directors make when telling the stories of other people and conducting interviews. I saw Alex Hannod's story as inspiring and truly incredible, but i wonder had the interviewer taken a different approach to the story maybe i would think differently. Watching this interview really made me think about how each story can be crafted so many different ways, and each way really does make a difference on how the audience will view the story.
After discussing how the "Redemptive Arc" model applies to the typical American Story in class the other day one example immediately stuck out to me as significant. Like the model suggests, the typical American Story consists of a life starting with good fortune, followed by conflict resulting in ill fortune, and then the conflict is resolved causing even better fortune then initially started with. I feel that the story of Chris Gardner as told through the movie The Pursuit of Happiness fits this typical American Story perfectly. A man who just made an investment in selling bone density scanners turns out to be a bust culminating to a loss off his wife and all his money. Chris Gardner, with a bit of luck and natural intelligence, manages to get a job as a stockbroker and create more opportunities for him and his son than ever before. This particular story is a classic example of the Redemptive Arc, as titled by Kurt Vonnegut as, "Man in Hole".
I think one of the reasons I felt so attached to this story is because most Americans truly admire someone who lost it all, and managed to find a way to get it all back, and more. That in my opinion is one version of the American Dream that sticks out as especially inspiring. After watching the movie you get a strong sense of connectedness between Chris and his son making his journey all the more important and emotional. Obviously the most significant detail of this story is that it has a happy ending, because without success the Redemptive Arc is incomplete and his story, although touching, is not considered the American Dream.
I was sitting in front of my television the other day checking my phone when I heard a familiar song coming from a commercial. I immediately identified the song and was suddenly shocked by what I was hearing. Kellogg's was using this song in a Special K commercial to promote a new weight loss campaign. The song was constructed by a hip-hop music group who call themselves Nappy Rootsand is named "Good Day". This was shocking to me because Kellogg only chose to play the instrumental version with an edited chorus at the end. After watching both the commercial and listening to the song you will see that the reason for this is obvious. The song's lyrics depict a "good day" as everybody getting by and even just staying alive, However, in the Special K commercial a "good day" means fitting into a Sassy pair of jeans. I find it ridiculous how a song portraying such a different message could be used to sell a food product trying to spread a message of weight loss and health. I understand that the instrumental of this song is very positive and uplifting, but I think that after hearing the original song it is hard for me to take the commercial seriously. Although i am sure most people have never heard the song it still disturbs me that they would modify it from its original message just to sell a product. I have posted a link to the original song below. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikWePjoHtVQ
After hearing Mr Bolos talk about how Americans truly value speed during class the other day, it got me thinking. I was on my way downtown a few days ago with a friend in pursuit of a famous restaurant in Wrigleyville called Lucky's Sandwich Company known for dishing out a seriously colossal sandwich. After sitting down and placing our order it had only been twenty minutes before we started to get annoyed at how long our food was taking. It hit me right then and there that twenty minutes is not even that long a time and I was worried I had lost all patience in life. The truth is Americans do value speed, and its because over the past several years all we have done is made things faster. Transportation has become faster and more convenient, the number of fast food chains popping up across the map is rather scary, and perhaps the most drastic of all--the world wide web. It all sounds great at first but there is a much deeper issue associated with speed, and that is that we are becoming too reliant and addicted to speed. Just the other day my WiFi went down for two minutes and all I wanted to do was drop my laptop into the lake. Despite the fact that my laptop is still fully intact and dry, there is really no telling how this speed will affect my patience in the future.
Speed wasn't the only realization that I had during this holiday weekend adventure. When our food arrived at the table I instantly noticed that it was in fact colossal and then another thought occurred, Americans also value size as well. The bigger something is, the better. Why have a fuel efficient medium sized car when you can get a gas guzzling SUV? Why have an appropriate sized house suitable for just a few people when you can have bodacious mansion? These are some of the examples that mostly pertain to the North Shore, but can also be viewed as American values as well. I am not saying that Speed and Size are necessarily negative values, but they do have affect us all in one way or another. The sandwich turned out to meet expectations and was worth the trip. Maybe bigger is better after all.
