little brother

Like many others in the class, I don’t consider myself an avid reader. When we were assigned “Little Brother” I was a little apprehensive that it would be another required read that the teacher thought was beneficial, but in reality had no connection to any of the students what so ever and luckily I was wrong. Technology and I have never really been close friends, so I was a little uneasy when I found out the subject was technology based. In high school I did a research paper on 1984 so I’ve done a lot of research on the subject and I find security pretty interesting. 

Although the theme of the book is interesting, there are parts of the book that get pretty slow. When the technology subjects get too mixed up and complex I admit that I start to fade out. I truly believe the government should watch suspicious activity, but there is a very close line between too far and keeping us safe. Torture in my opinion is completely out of the question. 

big day

Today is a big day in the lives of people who hold the city of Nashville, Tennessee near and dear to their heart. I happen to be one of those people and have been awaiting this day since May 3rd. On May 1st Nashville was hit with one of the worst natural disasters in its history. The city was flooded and there was billions of dollars in damage. One of the local treasures that was ruined by the flood was Gaylord's Opryland Hotel. Opryland is a longstanding tradition that is most magical at Christmas time. Locals were heartbroken when there were rumors that Opryland would be unable to open until 2011 after being hit by the flood. After $200 million in reconstruction the beautiful Nashville landmark reopens on November 15, 2010. Each year the hotel is decked out with $2 million dollars worth of Christmas lights to create one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. They also offer a whole package of events that makes up "Gaylord Opryland's A Country Christmas". Other seasonal events at the hotel include ICE, Radio City Rockettes, Snow and a trip down the Cumberland on the General Jackson. After living in Nashville for 18 years the Country Christmas show has become a necessity for the holiday season. It's one of my holiday traditions and if you find yourself in Nashville this holiday season I encourage you to stop by Opryland and see it for yourself. What are some of your favorite holiday traditions that you look forward to all year long?

http://www.gaylordhotels.com/gaylord-opryland/a-country-christmas/index.html?intcmp=go-pl=lNav-cid=acc

photoshop

Photoshopping is not a new concept for our generation. I recently read an article on magazines that are temporarily banning photoshopping to make a statement that photoshopping has been taken to a level that is starting to ruin the business. Magazines and advertising agencies can completely change the way their models look like. For me I don't understand why companies would hire top notch models when they are just going to photoshop the whole time. They could save a lot of money if they just got an "average" person and completely changed them on the computer. I completely disagree with the concept of photoshopping. I also believe there is a difference in photoshopping and retouching. In my opinion retouching is taking out the few hairs that are out of place or fixing spots on someone's face and photoshopping is changing their body shape, hair color, or face shape to make the person appear "more beautiful". This is not only the case with women models, but the same thing is done to male models. It is teaching this generation that anything less than perfect is not good enough. How do you feel about photoshop and companies retouching images? Do you think there is a difference? Do you think the whole thing is unavoidable in the advertising field? Have you seen any of the before/after pictures?

Teach for America

After starting my TED talk paper I have started to do some research about projects that are geared to make life better for the less fortunate and programs that are dedicated to turing their life around. One that I have always loved is the Teach for America program. Their goal is to improve education for those who are less fortunate to hopefully improve their future so they can make a better life for themselves. They claim that by the 4th grade kids from low-income families are most likely two to three years behind those of high income families. They also say that only half of students from low-income families graduate by or at age 18. Children who grow up in low-income families are stuck in a cycle that they can't get out of. It's definitely not the children's fault and there is no reason they should have to suffer the consequences. Teach for America's approach to solve this problem is to hire well qualified teachers who are willing to put in massive amounts of extra and specialized work and place them in urban communities to teach and help those children reach high academic goals. They believe with good dedicated teachers they can reverse the education gap we have in our country. My number one goal after graduation is to be accepted into the Teach for America program and start to turn around this educational gap we're facing. How do you feel about education differing dramatically in different cities within the United States?

I-Search

I started working on part one of my I-search project and after watching the video a second time I think I’m going to have a different approach to the argument than I originally intended to have. Personally the most interesting part of this argument is how money is running the way we feed our neighbors locally and internationally. For restaurants, farmers and food companies the amount of money they are brining in affects them more than the effect they are having on their fellow population. I hope to do research to prove that our world is run by money and hope to present ideas to change the way people view food security and the ways they help their neighbors no matter where they live. I hope I won’t come across the problem of not being able to come up with enough actual facts to support my argument. An argument like mine is based almost 100% on real facts with people in our world and it would be very hard to prove my argument without these valid facts. With proper facts I feel it will be easy to present an effective argument on how our food system is run by greedy companies and how it’s ruining our human family. What are your thoughts on companies like McDonalds being one of the most profitable companies internationally, but also being very responsible for the obesity epidemic that is sweeping our world. Do you think the companies are more to blame or the consumers who chose to buy their goods?

obesity+hunger

I really found myself interested in this particular TED talk. The concept of food security has aways intrigued me and have have grown up with a family and lots of friends who are involved in different local food security organizations. After listening to Ellen Gustafson's talk it really astounded me that there are just as many obese people on earth (the majority coming from America) as there are starving people on earth. She explains this is because the idea of farms is changing in America and products are starting to include more sugars and trans fats than they use to causing a new generation of obesity. Even at UT we don't have to go far to see how things have changed in the foods we eat. There are fries, pizza, fried foods, a 24 hour IHop, slushies, soft serve, etc all located just in Presidential courtyard! It's unfortunate that unhealthy food has become the choice for most families because it's cheaper and coke is cheaper than milk so that's what they send with their kids to school for their lunches. I already support Gustafson's FEED program and have a FEED bag, but her idea that we can change hunger and obesity all in 30 years is very optimistic. GMOs are becoming very popular and organic foods are becoming unreasonable for most family budgets. I'm excited to start this project on food security mostly because I'm planing on being an elementary school teacher and one of her main focuses is on school lunches and how they can really change a life.  What do you think about the connection between obesity and hunger?

Boys and Girls Club

I'm planning on being an Elementary School teacher so recently I've been looking for ways to volunteer around Knoxville with children. The Boys and Girls Club of the Tennessee Valley takes in kids ages 5-17 who are enrolled in school. The Club is open after school and throughout the whole summer. For underprivileged kids in the area the Club provides them with a safe place to have fun and get a lot of opportunities to grow, learn, and give back to their community while meeting new friends. They offer a wide range of activities for the kids including everything from homework help to sewing classes to sports teams. Not only do they provide activities for the kids, but also mentoring is something the club strives for. Specifically the Club has a program called “Women in Philanthropy” that encourages women to be leaders in their community. The girls in the club are exposed to women who are established leaders in their professions and teach the girls to develop those characteristics in themselves. Their annual philanthropy event Purses with a Purpose helps to fund the opportunities that are given to the girls at the club. Volunteering at the club is very easy to do! You can select the age group you feel most comfortable working with and pick which kind of work you are most interested in. The Club has volunteering options for every interest. They need tutors, coaches, music leaders, chaperones, craft instructors, etc. You simply give them the hours you would be willing to work and they fit it into your schedule. You can volunteer once, for a semester, or for years at the Club. The Club not only offers great experiences for children in the Tennessee Valley region, but also great experiences for adults who chose to be involved in such an amazing organization! I'm planning on adding some volunteer hours to my schedule and I encourage you to do the same if you enjoy children. 

colleges

Since being home on fall break I visited a friend at a local Nashville college. I visited was Lipscomb University. Although Lipscomb is located about five minutes down the road from my house, I had never actually been on campus. I met a friend who is a student there and parked in the only parking lot on campus. I was shocked when it took less than five minutes to walk from the parking lot to her dorm. The first thing she said to me when we got to her room was "You remember where you parked? My farthest class is closer than that lot." I was shocked to find out that to make it to her farthest class she only has to leave her room give minutes before it starts. The other things that shocked me about Lipscomb life was their "visiting policy" if you can even call it that. Boys are only allowed in girls room on their open door nights which are once every two weeks. When a boy is in a girl's room they must have the door completely open and everyone's feet have to be on the ground. These were very shocking to the 1 a.m. weekday curfews we have at UT and the 20 minute trek across campus we get to experience every day. As shocking as it seems this made me love UT more. I went to a very small high school and while listening to her explain her college experience and their rules it made me feel like I was back in the hallways at my old high school and I hated that feeling. College is suppose to be a time to branch out and become part of a new community and I don't think I could have done that with such a small student body and such tight rules. My visit really made me love the community at UT that I am apart of. What are some of your favorite and least favorite things about UT?

Fall

Yesterday was the first day of fall. In the past the fall to me has consisted of our annual pumpkin patch at my church as a youth group fundraiser and I've always hated it so in turn I've always hated fall. I also get instantly unhappy when it gets cold outside so fall is pretty much a slap in the face. I would rather sit outside in the blazing heat than it be mildly cold outside. Allergies are also an issue in fall and mine are already starting to gear up. Fall does bring about some good things like pumpkin bread and football. Another perk to fall is Starbucks pumpkin spice latte. You wait all year for the most delicious drink they serve. They amp up the drink by just serving it in the fall and I hate to say it, but it works!! I get a lot more excited about spring because not only is hot weather ahead, but spring also means school is about it be out. What are some of your favorite things or least favorite things about fall?

kanye

I'm obsessed with Kanye West. I don't care what he does or who he offends he will always be #1 in my book. After the Taylor Swift catastrophe Kanye lost some fans to say the least, BUT that only made my love stronger. Don't get me wrong I FULLY understand how ridiculously inappropriate that move was, but let's get real... Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time. I find it more ridiculous that after those few seconds of drunken craziness on the VMA stage the media reacted more than when natural disasters hit. We should be more concerned about our media than our dear old friend Kanye West. How did you react to the craziness that is the VMAs? How does everyone else feel about the king Kanye West?

p.s. If you are a fan make sure to check out Power and Monster by Kanye.

Facebook

If you think about it, Facebook is the strangest thing ever. It is crazy that 50 years ago the cell phone was invented, but now someone who is 50 years old can find out everything they need to know about the life of their 3rd grade boyfriend just by typing their name into the search box. I love Facebook and I don't know what I would do without it. This became clear when I left for college. Facebook can keep close friends connected when they are living halfway across the country. I went to the UT game last night, but I can log onto Facebook this morning and see pictures of my friends at the Ole Miss game. I love knowing  I can physically be apart from my close friends, but still be able to be involved in their lives. There is also a creepy side to Facebook. You have to watch how much information you give out publicly because it only takes minutes for the information to fall into the wrong hands. How can the same website that keeps friendships alive also destroy lives when information is leaked? See... Facebook is the strangest thing ever. Do you think Facebook is more of a good thing or a bad thing? 

bumper stickers

Today my mom called me and told me my brother would be coming by my house to pick up my car and take it back to Atlanta with him for the rest of the year. I didn't bring the car to college with me, but I was still pretty upset to hear my car would not be home when I returned for breaks and such. The most depressing part of the whole phone conversation was when my mom told me that my brother, Andy, would take off all the bumper stickers I have on my car. I only have 5 or 6, but all the stickers are special to me. Think about what you can tell from just sitting in traffic and looking at the back of someones car. You can sometimes tell their political view, their stance on social justice issues, where they or their children attend school, sports teams they like, etc. I love everything about bumper stickers. Bumper stickers serve as a mini biography of the drivers who live in the same city as you or are visiting from out of town. Think about how many times you have run out for groceries and seen a car in front of you with a bumper sticker for the school you attend. Personally I love running errands and seeing the car in front of me sporting a big orange power T. Seeing the commonality in myself and those in my city makes me feel so excited. What are some of your favorite bumper stickers on your car or funny bumper stickers you have seen?

Africa

I selected this picture because of my love for Africa, but also because it covers visual and textual arguments. It gets the readers attention because of the picture of Africa, but also provides the reader with lots of interesting and shocking facts about the continent. The print has a black background which contrast the lighter font. There are also a few pictures to draw attention to some of the important facts. The artist also used different size font to keep the reader more interested. For the most part the larger the font the more shocking the facts. For example, the fact with the largest font is the statistic about the number of orphans in Africa. I am very interested in the entire continent of Africa, but the most intriguing part to me is the fact that so much of Africa needs aid, but they are getting the cold shoulder from the rest of the world. I have found that people get frustrated when they are just yelled at with different facts about places that need help and then no one ends up responding because they are turned off to people who try to guilt trip them into helping. This picture seems like the perfect way to communicate to others some of the problems Africa is facing. I hope the class enjoys getting to learn a little more about Africa! 

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzMA-jAd_F2uvhbbMEFOwvbW9dwIdQoh5Zr2-pnyZOqEtoL3nhN7PYowIDg3RfBTuQHw32DljwccHxYQvRqMAObQihqfUQ5ys5MCEDa1LgKZrjrjo3WCkKJjQMh2R3u0ZixhTCuBrGpLhV/s1600/Africa.png

Copyright Law

A Fair(y) Use Tale - Stanford Cut

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FNDo&feature=player_embedded

In response to the movie, I agree with the current copyright laws in that you can't steal others work without their permission to make money, but I don't see any problem with using other peoples work for projects that the new user will be receiving a profit from the copyrighted material. I fact that you can’t copyright an idea makes it hard to say you can’t copyright books, music, plays, etc. If two people have the same idea and both make a play about it and some parts are so similar that one gets accused for breaking copyright laws I think that is a bad law. Also the fact that once you put a copyright into place it is only valid for 14 years contradicts the whole point of having “ownership” of a book, play, piece of music, etc. because after that 14 year period is up you lose all the rights you had to that work. The fact that companies make people renew their copyright is just a way the company can make more money which goes back to one of the main controversies surrounding the copyright law which is the fact that it’s all a big money game and not about the actual material and the moral issues that comes with stealing someone’s work.