Occupy Wall Street Rants

http://boston.barstoolsports.com/featured/adam-corolla-with-the-most-amazing-occupywallstreet-rant-you’ll-ever-hear/

I came across this rant and blog which is a bit inappropriate with language but it shows a cool outlook on the Occupy Wall Street ordeal and relates to what Ty's project is about.

Comedic Cartoons and their Effect

How has television shows like Family Guy and South Park shaped the tolerability for vulgar and aggressive humor on national television with a specific audience of young teens? Although I wouldn’t call myself an avid viewer of many of the cartoon comedy shows that you’ll see on television today, like Family Guy and South Park, I have seen enough episodes in order to understand the gist of the overall jokes in both shows. That being said, I’m familiar with the jokes that have created controversies because of the satire, mockery, and backwards humor that offends the victims of the comic attacks, and/or spectators in general. In many cases, these two shows have made a mockery of high profile celebrities, businesses, religions, etc. by either casting them in a bad light, or poking fun of them for recent embarrassing events. If you were to watch an episode of either show, there’s no doubt that you’d find an occurrence of aggressive humor. Consequently, I have heard that there has been a number of lawsuits filed against both these shows, and complaints regarding their content. From some of the most famed celebrities in our world today, to the common parent that doesn’t want their child watching such “garbage” television, many people have spoken up about their opposition to these shows. I would assume that many of the people who have felt, and are feeling victimized by either of the shows have sued the management or television network who created it. I’m not sure exactly what these charges may pertain to, but I would imagine they are probably along the lines of censorship.

After I Googled “South Park controversy” and “Family Guy controversy”, a whole list of articles came up that covered the topic. There were articles written by a number of blogs as well as the mainstream news sources like CNN and NY times. I only skimmed through the articles but I found that the more serious cases of displeasure for the shows came from religious groups that felt very offended by South Park and Family Guy’s nature. Not only that, but Family guy has stirred problems with political figures like Sarah Palin over her depiction in the show. Palin also complained about the way Family Guy made fun of a character in one episode, who had down syndrome. The number of complaints rolls and I’m very curious as to what other areas of the public sphere that these two shows have caused problems with, and how those problems are reacted to by the media, and if there has been any sort of solution to prevent there occurrences.

Therefore, I’m also curious as to how the databases work here at Trinity, and what tools are provided in order to fulfill student’s research needs. In my high school, we used online databases in mainly history so that we could find old documents, and encyclopedia type information that was essential to writing a research paper. I would expect that the Trinity library has similar tools.

This topic does in fact interest me because I enjoy watching South Park and Family so much when I get the chance to. But when I view some of the vulgar content in each show, I wonder how they still air on Fox and Comedy Central, both widely popular stations. I’m curious if my assumption that people respond negatively to the controversial subjects in each show is true, and to what extent. 

Penn State's Paterno Fired

If you have been paying attention to any sports broadcasting station or any other news stations, you probably have heard about the tragedy that is unfolding at Penn St. University. Earlier this week Jerry Sandusky, former assistant coach of the Penn St. football team, was arrested for the molestation of nine young boys. Despite the severity of these atrocious actions, the mass of the media reports on the subject have been in regards to Penn States head football coach of 46 years, Joe Paterno.

Earlier yesterday, Paterno announced that he would retire after coaching the remainder of the season. This is because he allegedly knew about the acts of Sandusky and failed to come forward and report the acts. Although, the senior officials at Penn St. felt the humiliation had increased to the point where they had to let him go. Therefore, they fired the man considered to be the face of the school later yesterday over a phone call.

“This is devastating for us,” Kathryn Simpson (A junior at Penn St.) said. “I never in a million years thought I’d see this.” This reaction speaks for the rest of the Nittany Lion nation, as they have been rioting at the school, furious with the way “JoePa” had been dismissed, and for the causation.

I think the issue that, it’s not what Paterno did, but what he didn’t do, and that has angered the masses the most. Especially considering the way Paterno let go over phone call, after he donated 11 million dollars to the school library, and committed himself to the football program for 62 years. 

NCAA makes changes

Major news hit the media this past Friday as the NCAA made a huge change to the way money is dealt to college athletes at the highest level. "With all the reforms today and the reforms the Knight Commission has promoted, the NCAA is more aligned to a principle that puts students first and treats student-athletes as students and not professionals," Ms. Perko (Knight Commission executive director that promotes reform for college athletes) said. Athletes may be seeing an advance of 2,000 dollars in spending money added to their scholarship value in some time. However, this caused the NCAA to enact a new Academic Progress Rate (APR) standard. Meaning, students will have to receive higher graders to be eligible to play.

Therefore, there is plenty of debate between schools that are for and against this. University of Connecticut is one school that is already feeling the tension, because if this regulation were passed last year, their basketball team wouldn’t have qualified for the NCAA tournament; which they won. While this news is very supportive of my bias towards college athletes, there still plenty of debate to be had which should delay the process.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11301/1185645-449-0.stm

Pitt and Syracuse leave Big East

Due to the lack of recent investigations in college sports, I directed this week’s focus to the hot topic regarding schools like Pittsburgh and Syracuse changing their athletic conference. These schools have been two of the longest tenured member in the Big East conference as Pittsburgh has been a member past 30 years, and Syracuse a founding member. As of September 18^th, the two schools announced their plans to vacate to the ACC conference for all sports. While the Big East still maintains its strength in basketball with 14 teams, the league of football teams has been cut down to 6, which is considered to be inadequate for league play. Consequently, there are scares now that Big East football will cease to exist.

Pittsburgh and Syracuse claim that their main reasons for joining the ACC is to unite with a community of schools with strong academic values and football spirit. But when looking at the outcomes economically of this adjustment, it clearly shows that these schools are simply looking to play a roll in the 1.86 billion dollar television contract that comes with their addition. News likes this just frustrates me more and more because collegiate athletics is becoming more of a financial industry, than it is about pure athletics. Similar to what I said in a previous blog post, people are beginning to discuss about whether college athletes should be receiving benefits or not. This will certainly add heat to the conversation, especially if fans of football teams in the Big East find themselves without their sport in the coming seasons.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/18/acc-pittsburgh-syracuse-big-east-college-athletics_n_968420.html

College Suspensions Presentation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQQQPQ_7L3s

Brief Background:

Ohio St star receiver Davier Posey is re-suspended for four more games after apparently being paid too much (matter of 60-700 dollars) this past summer and hiding evidence in the initial investigation.

However, Posey’s attorney states all the evidence was already provided; hence he should be exonerated of all charges.

The debate in the video questions the NCAA Judicial process because it seems to ignore the rule, innocent before proven guilty. The experts in the video argue whether independent arbitrators are needed to approve suspensions, and diminish discrepancies within the system.

How it is presented?

·      The way it’s presented with 5 experts analyzing and debating the topic suggests that it is an unresolved and controversial issue.

o  They argue whether arbitrators are needed or not. This highlights two issues that appeal to everyone and includes innocent before proven guilty problem, and punishments not fit for crimes.

·      The reporters also use frustrating tone that speaks for all viewers of college sports that the NCAA’s punishments don’t fit the crimes.

Selective exposure and perception- NCAA looks at evidence against Posey with an existing belief. They initially just think it proves what they had always suspected.

True Enough: Selective exposure/perception

What I found most influential to me after reading True Enough by Farhad Manjoo was the insights that Manjoo opened my eyes to. Although I favored reading the topics about controversial events like the attacks on September 11^th, I connected more strongly to the text with a focus that I could relate to my own everyday life.

The basis of this focus that Manjoo covered involved his theories on selective exposure and selective perception. Just to restate these definitions, Manjoo defines selective exposure as being “we simply steer clear of information that contradicts what we think we know” (30). Therefore, growing off this term he defines selective perception as, “that even when two people of opposing ideologies overcome their tendency toward selective exposure and choose to watch the same thing, they may still end up being pushed apart from each other.” (78). After having been exposed to these explanations of sociology, I’ve realized how frequently they apply to my outlooks and the perspectives of others. Similar to how Manjoo describes the way certain people that possess a strict political view only watch a certain television station, I have a strict preference to a certain sports pre-game show. Every Sunday morning-afternoon whether I’m trying to do homework or not, ESPN’s NFL countdown must be playing on the television. For one reason only, to watch reporter Chris Berman share his analysis on the upcoming games that afternoon. This is because like myself, Berman focuses more on analyzing the underdogs best chances for victory. Growing up in a family with no severe preference for any sports teams, I root for the underdog team to pull an upset in most games. The neutral, yet somewhat selective style of game viewing is what Berman offers that many other broadcasting stations like CBS and Fox don’t with most their reporters being former coaches or players.

I also felt that the Dartmouth versus Princeton football game example that Manjoo used to highlight selective perception demonstrated this concept well. Whenever there’s any form of competitiveness between two sides, there’s an initial opinion of each side whether it is good or bad. I feel Manjoo is trying to show is that people from opposing sides will always have different perspectives before and after the game, but more times than not, the before and after don’t change the perspective. In the case of the outcome of Dartmouth and Princeton game, the Dartmouth fans just thought Princeton was just as whiney as they’ve ever been. Likewise the Princeton fans felt the Dartmouth players were only on a mission to hurt others. Whether these accusations are true or not doesn’t matter, as long as the fans on each side felt that their pre-existing beliefs were supported.

Lou Dobbs a part of the system

Finally I come across a section in the reading that doesn’t explain how America is being brainwashed and lied to by the government and other large bodies of media in the public sphere. Rather, Manjoo explores a great example of the dynamic in the public sphere, where news outlets must change their focus in order to satisfy audiences in a culture of niches. As an example of this, he presented news anchor Lou Dobbs. Dobbs primetime news reports exemplify the change that occurred following the attacks on September 11^th. He was able to veer the point of focus of his show from the cold rationality of markets, to the topic of the United States’ loss for national sovereignty. Considering the status of the economy before and after 9/11, both topics captured the majority of businessmen at each time. That’s why he became one of the CNN’s highest-rated anchors, and attracted viewers up to eight hundred thousand a night.

            “But Lou Dobbs is not a raving idiot. He just plays one on TV. Given the circumstances, he’d be a fool not to”, Manjoo wrote about Dobb’s performances (148). I think the message here is that Dobb’s is less of a famous figure, than he is a character of the system that’s objective is to attract viewers.

When in Doubt, Scream “Fake”

“The pictures show how fakery- or, really, the mere possibility of fakery, the ever-present suspicion of digitally abetted fraud- will weaken all images and sounds supporting stories that many would prefer not to know” (80).

            Manjoo makes a good point here when highlighting his overall theme of the story concerning the controversial Iraqi children/US marine picture. If this picture had stood alone in the media without fakes to diminish its validity, there would have been seriously consequences to the U.S. – Iraqi relationship. But because the Naval Criminal Investigative Service was able to intervene with the situation before it blew up, the severity of the images were weakened. This shows me that the selective perspective Manjoo describes applies in this case. The public expects the government to tell the whole truth, so when the service raised skeptics the tensions are rested.

            On the other hand for some people that post controversial pictures that don’t have a government body supporting them, like Anthony Weiner per say. When he claimed his nude picture was fake, it was only a matter of time until pressure breached that lie. A blatant lie to the public can only withstand so much time before the truth is uncovered. The same could apply for me, or anyone that doesn’t have an affiliation with a bigger body (aka the government).

First chapter of True Enough

I enjoyed reading the first chapter of “True Enough” because it covers and explains areas of the media that I am particularly curious about. What I found interesting in the text was Farhad Manjoo’s breakdown of “media fragmentation”. He mentions the infosphere where this force exists and how people can skillfully manipulate it. In his references to the John Kerry controversy, Manjoo shows how the media landscape can distort, exaggerate and even lie to the public. This makes me wonder how much of the news I’m informed about is actually the full truth. The presidential candidacy is one of the most publicized topics in the media, I can only imagine what other truths are stretched in areas of lesser importance.

 This book also opened my eyes to the polar opposite perspectives between Democrats and Republicans. I don’t consider myself too politically knowledgeable but I am aware of the political bias’ that exist between news stations.What I didn’t realize until now was the different realities that exist between Democrats and Republicans. “Sixty-two percent of Democrats said it was difficult to find a job in their communities, but only 38 percent of Republicans thought so” (25), Manjoo wrote. It’s interesting to see these statistics define the different social classes amongst the two political parties 

Shame of College Sports post

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/10/the-shame-of-college-sports/8643/2/

As the college sports ambassador, the article Professor Papoulis posted a few days ago pertaining to “The Shame of College Sports" was directly related.

“The tragedy at the heart of college sports is not that some college athletes are getting paid, but that more of them are not”, Taylor Branch wrote. Between the NCAA and the Knight Foundation, (a nonprofit that deals with civic concerns in the NCAA) a great deal of debate is circling around the question whether college athletes under scholarship should make money.

In support of the Knight Foundation, Branch wrote, “Don Curtis, a UNC trustee, told me that impoverished football players cannot afford movie tickets or bus fare home. Curtis is a rarity among those in higher education today, in that he dares to violate the signal taboo: “I think we should pay these guys something.”” I not only agree with Curtis’ statement but also think it is only fair that they make at least a small amount of money to get by. Especially considering the hundreds of millions of dollars that many big time college sports teams profit each year because of their unpaid labor.

The Knight foundation has worked for 20 years to reform the NCAA’s noble principles of “amateurism” and “student-athlete” but only minute changes have taken place. They expect a major overhaul to come after they take the issue to congress.

Ipad competitor

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/29/technology/amazon-unveils-tablet-that-undercuts-ipads-price.html?_r=1&ref=technology

I found this article by Jenna Wortham interesting because while it tells you about Amazons new “Kindle Fire” color touch-screen tablet, much of the article is about its dominant competitor Apple.

Just as our generation has seen the evolution of computers and Internet, we have also seen the industry become a monopoly for Apple products. That’s why I’m wondering if anyone will bother buying this product even if it’s half the cost of the Ipad, with more perks.

“We’re building premium products at non-premium prices,” said Mr. Bezos (Amazon’s founder and chief executive). “We are determined to do that.” Bezos also comments in spite of Apple, saying, “That model that you are responsible for backing up your own content is a broken model.” This comment is in reference to the cloud computing that allows you to save information digitally, or without the need to sync with cords.

Despite the Kindle Fire being more financially friendly in this bad economy, I still don’t think it stands a chance against the Ipad that’s sold 29 million in the last 15 months. I think the mindset amongst consumers strictly sticks to Apple products.

1984 Reflection

The War within Winston

In my eyes, the closing of this novel illustrates a battle between Winston and himself, as his obsession with the past and rebellion becomes the root of his internal destruction.

Midway through the book, we see Winston happily engaged in a loving relationship with Julia, but he appears to be more obsessed with gaining knowledge of the past. At this time, Winston is involuntarily sucked in by the waves of information that O’Brien shares with him. All the answers that Winston longed to find more than anything else were finally being answered through O’Brien. This led Winston to trust O’Brien. My first reaction to this new relationship was skeptical. I didn’t think it was possible for Winston to find another loyal companion after the author made it sound crazy enough that Winston found one in Julia. Sure enough, Winston is caught and betrayed by O’Brien. Although his perception of Big Brother before entering jail remains true to his previous beliefs when he says, "They can’t get inside you. If you can feel that staying human is worth while, even when it can’t have any result whatever, you’ve beaten them” (170). Despite Winston’s strong will to resist, he quickly found out that when he was held prisoner and faced limits of his own body, Big Brother controlled everything.

            After reading about the way Winston was abused and transformed, I felt that Orwell was trying to make the point that even the strongest willed people are susceptible to conform. Winston tells the reader himself when O’Brien asks him, “How does one man assert his power over another, Winston?” Winston replies, “By making him suffer”(276).  It was apparent here that physical pain, or the sense of physical danger could make one obedient. This is evident when Winston betrays the last loyalty of his past, his love for Julia, which wasn’t strong enough to beat his fear for rats. In my mind, that’s what this book is about. The creation of a world with people that know only truths through the government was probably the easy part for agents of the oppressive party, Big Brother. The goal to eliminate the few non-believers made it necessary to build a network of telescreens to monitor every citizen like a bug under a magnifying glass.

Through Winston’s eyes, we saw how the brutal torture was too much for his conscious to endure. "But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother” (308).

The Hammer Falls Down on Boise St.

The Hammer Falls Down On Boise St.

            As the Ambassador of collegiate athletics, I’ve been closely following recent investigations involving NCAA violations. The latest story out deals with big name athletics school, Boise State University. The Associated Press reports that Boise State will be placed on probation for the next three years, due to major violations committed by the football program and other sports regarding impermissible housing, transportation, and benefits to student-athletes. The penalties include scholarship reductions in football, women’s tennis, and men and women’s track and field. In addition to that, the NCAA limited the amounts of official visits each of the sports were allowed.

            In the NCAA preliminary statement, they said, “The University failed to provide adequate rules, education, and training to staff members to ensure compliance”.  While reading this I wonder, is Boise St. really at fault for lacking knowledge of NCAA rules? If that’s the case then why are numerous collegiate athletic programs also being punished for identical accusations? In my perspective, the NCAA is being over restrictive of programs such as Boise St. whose coaches clearly have a misinterpretation of what is allowed and what’s not. Either that, or most collegiate athletic programs simply don’t follow the rules which is less likely in my mind.

Andrea Adelson from ESPN reported that these violations were in fact secondary in nature. The “Lack of institutional control” that the NCAA indicted Boise St. for involved incoming players spending the night on couches or floors of current players on the team. All that and a lunch later on at McDonalds, sounds like one hell of a welcoming for those recruits.

Above all, accusations like these against Boise St. are destroying the nature of the game and are merely creating distractions that were never a issue in the past. 

1984 section 1

Despite a slow start to the book, the ideology that’s relevant in this book compares strongly to areas that I have studied, and are currently studying. The most strongly related source of media that relates from my experience’s, is the story and movie V for Vendetta. In both cases, an oppressive political party rises and gains absolute control over the people.  Where the only truths the people know are the ones that the government informs them of. Therefore, I find Winston’s struggle to continue to believe in a righteous past and hopeful intriguing. "To the future or to the past, to a time when thought is free, when men are different from one another and do not live alone-to a time when truth exists and what is done cannot be undone (28)”, Winston wrote in his diary.

            I also find myself studying revolution in two different contexts in one day.  Between the French and Haitian revolution that I’m studying in Global Radicalism today and the apparent revolution in 1984, the ideology is similar. Just as the peasants and poor formed uprisings against oppressive governments in their revolutions, I’m picking up on evidence that anticipates a revolution amongst the proles in 1984. “If there is hope”, wrote Winston”, “it lies in the proles (72)".  I’m curious as to how he motivates and energizes the proles into an uprising.

Collegiate Sports Ambassador

            As an Ambassador and huge fan of collegiate sports, I keep myself updated with some of the major stories that surround this field. There’s no other topic that’s stirring up more trouble across the nation then the recent investigations of college programs regarding boosters and improper recruiting. After looking at bleacherreport.com and ESPN, the program in the hot seat right now is the University of Miami. A former booster of Miami football, Nevin Shapiro, was imprisoned recently after being caught orchestration a Ponzi Scheme worth $930 million. Unfortunately, he decided to bring down anyone that ever owed him anything and that wound up being the Miami program, as he tries to destroy them. The story broke out on Yahoo at the end of August and exploded in the media. Not only because it’s just another major program to face investigation, but because it raises a lot of questions. Shapiro claims to have felt, “ Like a used friend, after they (Miami football players) went pro and turned there back”. He has now broke news that he had been boosting Miami recruits with money, strippers, and even an abortion for one player. Suspensions have already been dealt out to several players, including starters that play a prominent role on the team. The scandal raises questions to me about whether Shapiro is trying to financially extort people that he may have leverage over? The proof against the athletes does not appear valid enough given the consequences they may face, which could potentially result in the death penalty of the Miami program. Which would mean that they would terminate there season. My final question lies in the controversy over the third man booster system altogether. Is it really unfair to the college athletes that are the centerpiece of the multi-billion dollar industry to receive gifts and incentives?

1. Farmers Physical Impact

            Paul Farmer truly did inspire the people of Haiti and the people that worked around him with his spirit and hope. But the foundation that he built through his health centers and interaction with the natives had the most profound effect on Haiti in my eyes.

            “I can’t sleep. There is always somebody not getting treatment”(24), Paul said. It was this type of persistence to aid others that made Paul so successful in his time at Haiti. He was constantly making trips to the most desolate and poverty stricken areas of Haiti, communicating with the people. This process allowed him to access the issues through individual needs, instead of creating a basic procedure to cure the general population. The attention the locals received from Paul was astounding for them to begin with. The commitment Paul showed must have built trust between the Haitians and himself. A very small, elderly lady suffering from severe tuberculosis of the spine once said to him as she’s bent over, “A son always cares for his mother”(26). The patients loved Dokte Paul, and his connection with them inspired a revolution to end the misery.

            Not only was his interaction beneficial, but Paul Farmer put every dime he had into Zamni Lasante in Haiti. Zamni Lasante was responsible for building schools, houses, communal sanitation, and water systems in his catchment area. The houses alone may have had the largest effect. Any shelter that wasn’t ridden with mud and infection was better than what the people had before. The physical foundation Farmer created was essentially the building blocks of a Haitian revolution for a better way of life.

Public Sphere Interest

There are a number of areas in the public sphere that interest me. This may not be the most enlightening news to be catching on TV or in a newspaper, but learning about natural disasters is a favorite topic of mine. Thankfully I live in a disaster free area in Connecticut where the worst that happens is a storm like hurricane Irene will knock down trees and the power will go out for a few days. But in stories surrounding events like hurricane Katrina and the Japanese tsunami devastation, I find myself researching them frequently online. Perhaps its because I’m curious as to how powerful a natural disaster can be and the damages it can cause. After all I have never gotten the chance to experience one myself. This curiosity translates in to my interest in theories, conspiracies, and rumors. These areas all leave me questioning the truth about a certain situation. For example, I’ve never settled with the controversy over the JFK assassinations. Due to all the dead ends and twists in the story, my curiosity for the truth causes leaves me hungry for answers and evidence. That’s one of the public issues I would like to pay attention to this semester. Even societal questions pertaining to the Wiki Leaks story is something I would like to follow up on and discuss this year in this class.

            Another very important part of my day involves me browsing ESPN or the sports section of the local newspaper. I’m always up to date with news in sports, more specifically in football.

After Class, Skimpy Equality

From a male’s perspective, I find that the matter of women inequality is rarely spoken about in daily conversation. The only time when this topic becomes relevant is when I speak to girls about how the expectations in relationships are different between men and women. There were plenty of instances in high school where one of my girl friends will complain to me, “Why is it that when a guy hooks up with a lot of girls, he’s praised by peers. But when girls go off and hooks up with a few guys in a short period of time, she’s considered a slut. It’s not fair”. Each time I hear that it puzzles me how that standard came to be what it is today. How must that make women feel about forming relationships with other men? Do girls have to create a timely procedure when blossoming a friendship into a sexual relationship with a male? That way when a girl finally gets to engage in sexual contact, she won’t be considered a slut. Unfortunately for most girls that want to be seen in the right light amongst their friends and family, they tend to follow this rule. But I can’t speak for all women of course, because many simply don’t care what others think of them.

            In the society of affluent people that you’ll find here at Trinity, I have a feeling that many female students will choose to be conservative when engaging in sexual relationships. I’ve made this prediction because I grew up around people in a predominately wealthy town, similar to Trinity. I found that girls in my hometown hated when others thought poorly of them, and wouldn’t dare risk the chance of being known as the slut. Then again I haven’t even spent a week in college yet, my personal experiences certainly cannot back up my prediction.

            I am guilty of buying into the expectations that college will be filled with huge parties that are filled with attractive young women wearing skimpy clothing. But that’s only because college is portrayed that way in television and movies. A quote that I felt shed good light on the whole situation in the article was from the Utah student who stated, “Personally, I think that this is the time in your life when you’re most experimental. It’s the designated time to try new things and get stuff out of your system”. To me, that is the most important aspect when discussing this topic. Over analyzing this issue can be difficult when speaking about college because it’s such a overwhelming and crazy time in your life. For most it will be the last four years you won’t have to face the real world. Students are obviously going to want to party and have wild adventures. Why not take this time to learn about yourself and experiment with others?