Monday, November 5, 2007
First day of school
It is the first day of college at the University of Houston, the sun is shinning and it is really hot. It is the end of August so the hot Houston days are still upon us. After a twenty-five minute drive, I exit Cullen and search for a close parking spot in the student parking lot. I’m not too sure exactly where I am supposed to go first, and I sort of park in the first parking lot I find. As I stumble out of my car, in my new clothes, holding a brand new spiral notebook and pen. I walk towards the tall buildings on campus. I instantly notice a tent set up with what looks like staff sitting under it. They are giving out maps and I think to myself perfect I can ask for help here and not look like a lost freshman to an upperclassman. After walking across campus to find my way to my first class, I walk into an auditorium in SR117 filled with rows and rows of chairs and table tops, just in time to find a seat in the front row eager to learn. I am all alone and I hear glimpse of different student’s conversations with friends and classmates. It is intimating and overwhelming at first, the professor begins his lecture, on the first day of school. After an hour and a half of biology it is down the hall to pre-calculus. I walk into class and this seems a little more normal it is a classroom this time and there are about seven rows of twenty desks. The professor just goes over the syllabus and sends us on our way, no lecture on the first day. I walk across campus back to my car and drive the twenty-five minute drive home. I get ready for day two tomorrow. I’m nervous yet excited and I can’t wait to see what the semester holds.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Global Warming
Just as humans breathe air, which is composed of nitrogen, oxygen and argon, and exhale carbon dioxide as an integral function of our existence; essentially Earth does the same. One year it breathes the same air we do and the next exhales carbon dioxide. In Davis Guggenheim’s eye-opening documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore educates us about his personal history and issues about global warming, but never provides any real or solid solutions. I expected more from the documentary than what I got from it. Throughout the documentary, Gore highlights the different aspects of global warming as they affect us and continue to escalate and threaten us. While giving his life story, Gore emphasizes the issues at stake such as: carbon dioxide levels and their relationship to high temperatures, ice caps and glaciers that are melting away, increasing the severity and frequency of storms and finally what is not being done by the government to curb the causes of global warming. He illustrates his points through a chain of events that begins with carbon dioxide levels and ends with destruction; stressing the dire need for action to stop the surmounting problem we face but falling short of giving a tangible solution.
The documentary starts with a stirring introduction that sets the viewer in a receptive and eager mood to learn from this film how serious a problem we collectively face, yet some zealously reject. Gore begins by explaining his interest in global warming and how he became interested. He explains that his interest began when he took a course taught by Professor Roger Revelle who was the first person to measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. That’s where the fire was lit under him and his interest was piqued. After graduating college and winning a seat in congress Gore found himself in a position to inspire other politicians and leaders to believe in and stand against global warming. Gore took his issue before a congressional panel and despite all scientific data, facts and testimony he presented, little was done to curtail global warming. He ran for president in 1988, but when that bid failed he continued his research in global warming putting together the “slideshow” the entire documentary is based on. After losing his second bid for president in 2000, Gore decided to focus his efforts completely on his campaign against global warming; he completed his “slideshow” of facts and graphs and traveled the world showing the “slideshow” to other leaders and politicians.
His “slideshow” begins with graphs showing the levels of carbon dioxide currently in our atmosphere and the projected levels of carbon dioxide that will be in our atmosphere. He then links the high levels of carbon dioxide with the higher temperatures we are seeing and the record high temperatures we are breaking. His charts show records of temperature and carbon dioxide dating 650,000 years back and the recent numbers are alarming. The high levels of carbon dioxide create a domino-like chain of events that affect everything else from oceanic temperatures to precipitation levels. He never tells us what to do to lower the carbon dioxide levels just that it needs to be done or our planet risks being ruined.
He moves on to link carbon dioxide and the high temperatures to the melting of ice caps and glaciers across the world. He shows multiple pictures of glaciers from several years ago in contrast with how they look today and how they have drastically decreased in size. The high temperatures are causing the glaciers to melt which in turn is raising the sea level, which is irrefutable, what is in dispute is the cause of the high temperatures. Gore points out that due to the glacial and permafrost melt, arctic animals like the mighty polar bear are actually drowning because they lack the ice to walk across and are forced to swim vast distances. These issues are troubling and alarming but the lack of tangible solutions from the film is disappointing. What can be done to stop the glaciers from melting? What can I do?
The film links the rising sea levels to rising oceanic temperatures that will continue to spawn stronger and more common storms like the now infamous Hurricane Katrina. Gore points out that Katrina was a category one hurricane when it hit Florida, but after hitting the warm waters of the Gulf it strengthened and became the category four when it hit New Orleans. In 2005, records were broken and natural phenomenon happened all over the globe. It was believed that a hurricane could never form in the Southern hemisphere due to the cooler waters and the rotation of the globe, but for the first time ever, one hit Brazil in 2005. India reached 122 degrees Fahrenheit, 35,000 people died all across Europe due to the heat and drought.
Gore lays the blame for the hurricanes and natural disasters squarely on the governments for not doing enough to reduce the rising temperatures and for not being prepared for natural disasters, like Hurricane Katrina. He compares the automobile emissions regulations for many different countries and shows that the US has the lowest standards of all developed countries. Gore gleefully highlights the fact that during his vice-presidency in the Clinton administration carbon dioxide levels were lower, temperatures were lower and global warming made a change towards flat-line rather than the steep climb seen on his data charts. Soon after he left his position and the carbon dioxide tax died the growth of global warming resumed at its alarming pace.
Overall I thought the documentary was good, it kept me interested and asking questions. Initially, I did not get what I hoped for out of this; I expected to find answers and solutions not just a crash course on global warming. I thought that charts and slideshows that linked everything together were powerful and persuading. It was amazing to see the correlation between carbon dioxide and climbing temperatures and melting glaciers and rising sea levels and strengthening storms. We shouldn’t entirely blame the government; we equally share the blame. We vote with our dollars, this is seen in the sales of large SUV’s, trucks, cars and sports cars with pitiful gas mileage for status symbols. It’s seen in the election of politicians who share our same view and disregard of the environment by failing to force automakers to meet stricter standards already in place in other countries. I have a sneaking suspicion that his lack of answers was intentional, an effort by him to light a fire under the viewers and force them to seek out their own solutions; a subtly effective move whose effect is lost on the less motivated or interested viewers. It worked on me but left me in a semi frustrated state of seeking answers to the question of how to reverse global warming.
The documentary starts with a stirring introduction that sets the viewer in a receptive and eager mood to learn from this film how serious a problem we collectively face, yet some zealously reject. Gore begins by explaining his interest in global warming and how he became interested. He explains that his interest began when he took a course taught by Professor Roger Revelle who was the first person to measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. That’s where the fire was lit under him and his interest was piqued. After graduating college and winning a seat in congress Gore found himself in a position to inspire other politicians and leaders to believe in and stand against global warming. Gore took his issue before a congressional panel and despite all scientific data, facts and testimony he presented, little was done to curtail global warming. He ran for president in 1988, but when that bid failed he continued his research in global warming putting together the “slideshow” the entire documentary is based on. After losing his second bid for president in 2000, Gore decided to focus his efforts completely on his campaign against global warming; he completed his “slideshow” of facts and graphs and traveled the world showing the “slideshow” to other leaders and politicians.
His “slideshow” begins with graphs showing the levels of carbon dioxide currently in our atmosphere and the projected levels of carbon dioxide that will be in our atmosphere. He then links the high levels of carbon dioxide with the higher temperatures we are seeing and the record high temperatures we are breaking. His charts show records of temperature and carbon dioxide dating 650,000 years back and the recent numbers are alarming. The high levels of carbon dioxide create a domino-like chain of events that affect everything else from oceanic temperatures to precipitation levels. He never tells us what to do to lower the carbon dioxide levels just that it needs to be done or our planet risks being ruined.
He moves on to link carbon dioxide and the high temperatures to the melting of ice caps and glaciers across the world. He shows multiple pictures of glaciers from several years ago in contrast with how they look today and how they have drastically decreased in size. The high temperatures are causing the glaciers to melt which in turn is raising the sea level, which is irrefutable, what is in dispute is the cause of the high temperatures. Gore points out that due to the glacial and permafrost melt, arctic animals like the mighty polar bear are actually drowning because they lack the ice to walk across and are forced to swim vast distances. These issues are troubling and alarming but the lack of tangible solutions from the film is disappointing. What can be done to stop the glaciers from melting? What can I do?
The film links the rising sea levels to rising oceanic temperatures that will continue to spawn stronger and more common storms like the now infamous Hurricane Katrina. Gore points out that Katrina was a category one hurricane when it hit Florida, but after hitting the warm waters of the Gulf it strengthened and became the category four when it hit New Orleans. In 2005, records were broken and natural phenomenon happened all over the globe. It was believed that a hurricane could never form in the Southern hemisphere due to the cooler waters and the rotation of the globe, but for the first time ever, one hit Brazil in 2005. India reached 122 degrees Fahrenheit, 35,000 people died all across Europe due to the heat and drought.
Gore lays the blame for the hurricanes and natural disasters squarely on the governments for not doing enough to reduce the rising temperatures and for not being prepared for natural disasters, like Hurricane Katrina. He compares the automobile emissions regulations for many different countries and shows that the US has the lowest standards of all developed countries. Gore gleefully highlights the fact that during his vice-presidency in the Clinton administration carbon dioxide levels were lower, temperatures were lower and global warming made a change towards flat-line rather than the steep climb seen on his data charts. Soon after he left his position and the carbon dioxide tax died the growth of global warming resumed at its alarming pace.
Overall I thought the documentary was good, it kept me interested and asking questions. Initially, I did not get what I hoped for out of this; I expected to find answers and solutions not just a crash course on global warming. I thought that charts and slideshows that linked everything together were powerful and persuading. It was amazing to see the correlation between carbon dioxide and climbing temperatures and melting glaciers and rising sea levels and strengthening storms. We shouldn’t entirely blame the government; we equally share the blame. We vote with our dollars, this is seen in the sales of large SUV’s, trucks, cars and sports cars with pitiful gas mileage for status symbols. It’s seen in the election of politicians who share our same view and disregard of the environment by failing to force automakers to meet stricter standards already in place in other countries. I have a sneaking suspicion that his lack of answers was intentional, an effort by him to light a fire under the viewers and force them to seek out their own solutions; a subtly effective move whose effect is lost on the less motivated or interested viewers. It worked on me but left me in a semi frustrated state of seeking answers to the question of how to reverse global warming.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
rough draft
Just as humans breathe in oxygen and out carbon dioxide every moment of the day, essentially the earth does the same, one year it breathes in oxygen and the next it breathes out carbon dioxide. In Davis Guggenheim’s eye-opening documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore educates us about his personal history and issues about global warming, but never gives us any real solutions. I expected more from the documentary than what I got out of it. Throughout the documentary, Gore focuses on the different aspects of global warming that continues to be an issue for our future. While giving his life story, Gore emphasizes the issues at stake such as: carbon dioxide levels and their relationship to high temperatures, ice caps and glaciers that are melting away, storms such as Hurricane Katrina, and finally what is not being done by the government to reduce the factors that contribute to global warming. He creates this chain of events that begins with carbon dioxide levels, and ends with destruction, explaining that there needs to be something done to fix the problem and stop the chain, but no solution is given.
The documentary starts off with a strong introduction, you are pumped up and excited to see what exactly what you can learn from this film about a serious problem some accept and some do not consider reality. Gore begins by explaining his interest in global warming and how he became interested. He explains that his interest began when he took a course taught by Professor Roger Revelle, which was the first person to measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. That’s where it all began and his interest was sparked. After graduating college and entering congress Gore believed he was in a spot to inspire other politicians and congressmen to believe in global warming just as he does, he took his issue to a congressional hearing and despite all of the scientists and facts he presented, little was done to impact global warming. He ran for president in 1988, but when that failed he continued in his research in global warming putting together the “slideshow” the entire documentary is based on. After losing the race for president in 2000, Gore decided to focus completely on his war against global warming; he completed his “slideshow” of facts and graphs and traveled the world showing the “slideshow” in different cities and countries.
His “slideshow” begins with graphs showing the levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and the amount of carbon dioxide that will be in our atmosphere in the future. He then relates the high amounts of carbon dioxide with the higher temperatures we are seeing and the record high temperatures we are breaking. His charts show records of temperature and carbon dioxide 650,000 years back and the recent numbers are alarming. The high levels of carbon dioxide create a chain of events like knocking over a chain of dominoes once one thing happens the rest follows. But I already knew this. It obvious, any educated person should know that there is some connection between the pollution and carbon dioxide we give off and the changes to our planet and the increase in temperature. He never tells us what to do to lower the carbon dioxide levels just that it needs to be done or our planet risks being ruined.
He moves on but links carbon dioxide and the high temperatures to the melting of ice caps and glaciers across the world. He shows different pictures of glaciers 20 years ago and today and how they have drastically decreased in size. The high temperatures are causing the glaciers to melt away. If our glaciers melt away, then our sea levels will rise and a significant portion of our land will be under water. He states that since the glaciers and tundra melt, animals such as polar bears are drowning because they are forced to swim too far without any land to walk on. These issues are disturbing and eye-opening but once again it was something that in the back of my head I always knew was an issue. What can be done to stop the glaciers from melting? What can I do?
From the melting glaciers, he points out that if the glaciers melt, the waters will become cooler and it will make storms like Hurricane Katrina much more likely due to the warmer waters. He points out that Katrina was a category one when it hit Florida, but after hitting the warm waters of the Gulf, it strengthened and became what it was when it hit New Orleans. In 2005, records were broken and natural phenomenon’s happened all over the globe. It was believed that a hurricane could never form in the South Atlantic due to the cool waters and the rotation of the globe, but for the first time ever, one hit Brazil in 2005. India reached 122 degrees Fahrenheit, 35,000 people died in Europe due to the heat and drought.
Gore links the hurricanes and natural disasters to the government not doing enough to reduce these phenomenon’s and subtly blames the government for not being prepared for events like Hurricane Katrina. He shows the automobile emission regulations for many different countries and shows that the US has the lowest standards of all the major countries. Gore bragged that when he was vice-president during the Clinton administration that carbon dioxide levels were lower, temperatures were lower and the global warming made a slight change for the better, however soon after he left his position, and the carbon dioxide tax was not passed as law the effects turned back for the worse.
Overall, I thought the documentary was good, it kept me interested and asking questions. I did not get what I hoped for out of this, I expected to find answers and solutions, not just be educated on the issue. If you are going to watch something on global warming, nine times out of ten you believe that it’s an issue and want some ways to fix the problem. I thought that the way linked everything together was powerful and persuading. It was amazing to learn that carbon dioxide can cause temperatures to increase which can cause glaciers to melt, and ocean waters to rise as well as get warmer, this causes storms and natural disasters, all so we can blame the government for not doing enough to prevent these events. We shouldn’t blame the government, really we should blame ourselves. Everyone needs to wake up and realize that global warming is an issue and the steps and precautions that need to be done should be to prevent the destruction of our home, there is only one Earth and once it is gone we have nothing left.
The documentary starts off with a strong introduction, you are pumped up and excited to see what exactly what you can learn from this film about a serious problem some accept and some do not consider reality. Gore begins by explaining his interest in global warming and how he became interested. He explains that his interest began when he took a course taught by Professor Roger Revelle, which was the first person to measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. That’s where it all began and his interest was sparked. After graduating college and entering congress Gore believed he was in a spot to inspire other politicians and congressmen to believe in global warming just as he does, he took his issue to a congressional hearing and despite all of the scientists and facts he presented, little was done to impact global warming. He ran for president in 1988, but when that failed he continued in his research in global warming putting together the “slideshow” the entire documentary is based on. After losing the race for president in 2000, Gore decided to focus completely on his war against global warming; he completed his “slideshow” of facts and graphs and traveled the world showing the “slideshow” in different cities and countries.
His “slideshow” begins with graphs showing the levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and the amount of carbon dioxide that will be in our atmosphere in the future. He then relates the high amounts of carbon dioxide with the higher temperatures we are seeing and the record high temperatures we are breaking. His charts show records of temperature and carbon dioxide 650,000 years back and the recent numbers are alarming. The high levels of carbon dioxide create a chain of events like knocking over a chain of dominoes once one thing happens the rest follows. But I already knew this. It obvious, any educated person should know that there is some connection between the pollution and carbon dioxide we give off and the changes to our planet and the increase in temperature. He never tells us what to do to lower the carbon dioxide levels just that it needs to be done or our planet risks being ruined.
He moves on but links carbon dioxide and the high temperatures to the melting of ice caps and glaciers across the world. He shows different pictures of glaciers 20 years ago and today and how they have drastically decreased in size. The high temperatures are causing the glaciers to melt away. If our glaciers melt away, then our sea levels will rise and a significant portion of our land will be under water. He states that since the glaciers and tundra melt, animals such as polar bears are drowning because they are forced to swim too far without any land to walk on. These issues are disturbing and eye-opening but once again it was something that in the back of my head I always knew was an issue. What can be done to stop the glaciers from melting? What can I do?
From the melting glaciers, he points out that if the glaciers melt, the waters will become cooler and it will make storms like Hurricane Katrina much more likely due to the warmer waters. He points out that Katrina was a category one when it hit Florida, but after hitting the warm waters of the Gulf, it strengthened and became what it was when it hit New Orleans. In 2005, records were broken and natural phenomenon’s happened all over the globe. It was believed that a hurricane could never form in the South Atlantic due to the cool waters and the rotation of the globe, but for the first time ever, one hit Brazil in 2005. India reached 122 degrees Fahrenheit, 35,000 people died in Europe due to the heat and drought.
Gore links the hurricanes and natural disasters to the government not doing enough to reduce these phenomenon’s and subtly blames the government for not being prepared for events like Hurricane Katrina. He shows the automobile emission regulations for many different countries and shows that the US has the lowest standards of all the major countries. Gore bragged that when he was vice-president during the Clinton administration that carbon dioxide levels were lower, temperatures were lower and the global warming made a slight change for the better, however soon after he left his position, and the carbon dioxide tax was not passed as law the effects turned back for the worse.
Overall, I thought the documentary was good, it kept me interested and asking questions. I did not get what I hoped for out of this, I expected to find answers and solutions, not just be educated on the issue. If you are going to watch something on global warming, nine times out of ten you believe that it’s an issue and want some ways to fix the problem. I thought that the way linked everything together was powerful and persuading. It was amazing to learn that carbon dioxide can cause temperatures to increase which can cause glaciers to melt, and ocean waters to rise as well as get warmer, this causes storms and natural disasters, all so we can blame the government for not doing enough to prevent these events. We shouldn’t blame the government, really we should blame ourselves. Everyone needs to wake up and realize that global warming is an issue and the steps and precautions that need to be done should be to prevent the destruction of our home, there is only one Earth and once it is gone we have nothing left.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
We Own The Night
Director James Gray creates a story staring Joaquin Phoenix as Bobby (Grusinksy) Green, Eva Mendes as Amada Juarez, Mark Wahlberg as Joseph Grusinsky, and Robert Duvall as chief Burt Grusinsky about a night club manager, Bobby, in New York in the 80’s who is forced to choose sides when the Russian mafia shoots his brother, Joseph, after he leads a raid on the night club Bobby manages. Bobby is forced to choose a side in the war between the cops and the drug dealers after nearly losing his brother and leaning that his father is next. We Own the Night is a great crime/drama/thriller, the plot was original enough to keep you guessing what comes next, although with the cops and the mafia it sort of resembled the Godfather. The plot dragged and even though it was unpredictable, it resembled every other cop/mafia movie. The actors did a great job playing their characters Joaquin Phoenix steals the show with his passionate character. There are many scenes where Phoenix shows the complexity of his character by fighting what is right and wrong. The actors did the best they could with the movie they were given. The stars really carried the movie. The movie was a little too long and some unimportant parts could have been left out to make the movie shorter and not as dragged out. Overall I think the movie was good, it created a story that I had never realized before. I enjoyed every minute of the movie even the dragged on plot. I got what I expected from this movie and even though I wouldn’t go to the movies to watch it again, I will probably buy it when it comes out to DVD.
Dear editor...
Dear Editor:
While observing my different lectures today during class, I realized only a select few students bring their laptops to class, but the fact is many students take their laptops to school and many use these laptops in class, sure some students use laptops to surf the net or play frivolous games, but the majority use laptops as tools to help in the note taking process. After reading the article “Professors asking students not to bring laptops to class,” I was astonished at some professor’s idea that a laptop is distracting. I can understand cell phones ringing, and all the rest, but a laptop, when on mute, makes the faintest noise in an auditorium full of students there is more noise by students walking into class late, and leaving early. If a student chooses to bring a laptop to class so be it, college student are all adults, we should be able to decide for ourselves if we want to take a laptop to class. What is next; professors telling us how to dress and what to say? I think that before professors ban something from class they should stop and realize that most students have a million other things going on in their lives, sure class is important, but if a student can type their notes, or even surf the net and still effectively listen to the professor than what is the problem? I do agree that sometimes students may become distracted in class, but banning laptops is not going to solve the problem. If laptops are banned students will just come up with something else to distract themselves with in class. I believe there will always be something professors don’t want in their classrooms and something for them to complain about. I’m sure there was something in the 1900’s that professors complained students did in class.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5192853.html
While observing my different lectures today during class, I realized only a select few students bring their laptops to class, but the fact is many students take their laptops to school and many use these laptops in class, sure some students use laptops to surf the net or play frivolous games, but the majority use laptops as tools to help in the note taking process. After reading the article “Professors asking students not to bring laptops to class,” I was astonished at some professor’s idea that a laptop is distracting. I can understand cell phones ringing, and all the rest, but a laptop, when on mute, makes the faintest noise in an auditorium full of students there is more noise by students walking into class late, and leaving early. If a student chooses to bring a laptop to class so be it, college student are all adults, we should be able to decide for ourselves if we want to take a laptop to class. What is next; professors telling us how to dress and what to say? I think that before professors ban something from class they should stop and realize that most students have a million other things going on in their lives, sure class is important, but if a student can type their notes, or even surf the net and still effectively listen to the professor than what is the problem? I do agree that sometimes students may become distracted in class, but banning laptops is not going to solve the problem. If laptops are banned students will just come up with something else to distract themselves with in class. I believe there will always be something professors don’t want in their classrooms and something for them to complain about. I’m sure there was something in the 1900’s that professors complained students did in class.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5192853.html
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
with/against the grain...
With the grain…
In, “On Teenagers and Tattoos,” Andres Martin, urges other therapists to see adolescent tattoos as a tool to get into the minds of teens, rather than how everyone else perceives tattoos, as a fashion statement, or something to do to fit in. Dr. Martin explains how these tools can be used to go deeper into the minds of teens and see that these tattoos are not just fashion statements, but instead cries for help. Tattoos can be uses to identify different psychological issues teens face. To begin, Dr. Martin believes tattoos are a way to recognize identity crisis amongst teens. Teens get prove a point, that they have control over their own bodies. Tattoos also serve as a representation of the past or present event that adolescents want to hold on to forever. He goes on to show that tattoos are a way for teens to set a type of permanence in our mobile urban world. He concludes with saying instead of judging these youths tattoos, his colleagues should use their patients skin as a tool to see what they really feel and think.
Against the grain…
In, “On Teenagers and Tattoos,” Andres Martin tries to urge therapists to use tattoos as another tool to get into the minds of teens, but how is a tattoo, going to do this? A tattoo is a piece of art, a permanent mark on your body, how will it leak into the minds of teens? Dr. Martin says these tattoos can explain identity crisis amongst adolescents, but identity crisis is a much deeper level, you can’t look at a teens tattoo and say that he/she has had an identity crisis. He goes on to say that tattoos are a way to hold on the past and make a type of permanent mark on their lives. Tattoos are forever but it doesn’t necessarily mean that this piece of ink is going to help you remember an event forever. He concludes by saying that tattoos get you into the minds of teens, but sometimes, teens do it for the peer pressure and just to fit in. Sure in some cases, this idea of his could work, but for the majority teens, get tattoos for reasons of fitting in and being cool, not due to deeper psychological reasons.
In, “On Teenagers and Tattoos,” Andres Martin, urges other therapists to see adolescent tattoos as a tool to get into the minds of teens, rather than how everyone else perceives tattoos, as a fashion statement, or something to do to fit in. Dr. Martin explains how these tools can be used to go deeper into the minds of teens and see that these tattoos are not just fashion statements, but instead cries for help. Tattoos can be uses to identify different psychological issues teens face. To begin, Dr. Martin believes tattoos are a way to recognize identity crisis amongst teens. Teens get prove a point, that they have control over their own bodies. Tattoos also serve as a representation of the past or present event that adolescents want to hold on to forever. He goes on to show that tattoos are a way for teens to set a type of permanence in our mobile urban world. He concludes with saying instead of judging these youths tattoos, his colleagues should use their patients skin as a tool to see what they really feel and think.
Against the grain…
In, “On Teenagers and Tattoos,” Andres Martin tries to urge therapists to use tattoos as another tool to get into the minds of teens, but how is a tattoo, going to do this? A tattoo is a piece of art, a permanent mark on your body, how will it leak into the minds of teens? Dr. Martin says these tattoos can explain identity crisis amongst adolescents, but identity crisis is a much deeper level, you can’t look at a teens tattoo and say that he/she has had an identity crisis. He goes on to say that tattoos are a way to hold on the past and make a type of permanent mark on their lives. Tattoos are forever but it doesn’t necessarily mean that this piece of ink is going to help you remember an event forever. He concludes by saying that tattoos get you into the minds of teens, but sometimes, teens do it for the peer pressure and just to fit in. Sure in some cases, this idea of his could work, but for the majority teens, get tattoos for reasons of fitting in and being cool, not due to deeper psychological reasons.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Ads...revised
As I flipped through some copies of old magazines, I came across many different cologne and perfume ads. As far as I know, everyone always seems to open up the little flaps and if it smells decent we pass it up and overlook it, however, if we like it we share that little flap with everyone we know and then are compelled to buy it. The advertisers have won, they have convinced people to buy their product and we have not even begun with the whole advertisement. Normally, these ads picture very seductive pictures of gorgeous males and beautiful female models selling more than the perfume, themselves. When a girl sees a beautiful woman in a magazine advertising a perfume, instantly she is thinking of buying this perfume to look, feel, and smell like this perfect woman, same goes for cologne ads. I found two different cologne ads aimed both to men, but conveying two completely different messages.
The first ad pictures a shirtless male model seductively gazing at the viewer. His hair is slick back in a perfect hairdo, you can tell he is muscular, and athletic, but not over the top or exaggerated. Across his chest the words Truth Calvin Klein Men are typed in a plain black text, to blend in yet stand out. In the lower right hand corner is a bottle of Truth cologne for men. This advertisement screams sex appeal, the seductive stare, the fact that he is not wearing a shirt, the plain background. Everything here is meant to appeal to men who want to be sexy, perfect, and model like. Not only men, women who subconsciously want their man to look this way, will also be drawn into this cologne.
The second ad contains a picture of a group of six guys and girls all of different races wearing red white and blue, sitting on green grass, with a giant American flag in the background. The models in the ads are all attractive and pretty, the advertisers do not blatantly display their sexiness, but they show these models as perfect. This ad is aimed at the all American boy. There is no sex appeal here, the advertisers didn’t try to seduce the customer into buying there product, instead they used the All-American approach. What American guy wouldn’t want to be proud of where they are from? The ad is not meant to seduce the viewers, but it instead is saying come jump on the bandwagon.
Both ads use these appeals to grab their audience’s attention and make the consumer want to go out and buy their products. They use what you are appealed to the most to draw you in and trap you into wanting to and having to have their products.
The first ad pictures a shirtless male model seductively gazing at the viewer. His hair is slick back in a perfect hairdo, you can tell he is muscular, and athletic, but not over the top or exaggerated. Across his chest the words Truth Calvin Klein Men are typed in a plain black text, to blend in yet stand out. In the lower right hand corner is a bottle of Truth cologne for men. This advertisement screams sex appeal, the seductive stare, the fact that he is not wearing a shirt, the plain background. Everything here is meant to appeal to men who want to be sexy, perfect, and model like. Not only men, women who subconsciously want their man to look this way, will also be drawn into this cologne.
The second ad contains a picture of a group of six guys and girls all of different races wearing red white and blue, sitting on green grass, with a giant American flag in the background. The models in the ads are all attractive and pretty, the advertisers do not blatantly display their sexiness, but they show these models as perfect. This ad is aimed at the all American boy. There is no sex appeal here, the advertisers didn’t try to seduce the customer into buying there product, instead they used the All-American approach. What American guy wouldn’t want to be proud of where they are from? The ad is not meant to seduce the viewers, but it instead is saying come jump on the bandwagon.
Both ads use these appeals to grab their audience’s attention and make the consumer want to go out and buy their products. They use what you are appealed to the most to draw you in and trap you into wanting to and having to have their products.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Advertisments
As I flipped through some old copies of Cosmopolitan and Glamour, I came across many different cologne and perfume ads. As far as I know, everyone always seems to open up the little flaps and if it smells decent we sort of pass it up and overlook it, however, if we like it we share that little flap with everyone we know and then are compelled to buy it. The advertisers have won, they have convinced people to buy there product and we have not even begun with the whole advertisement. Normally, these ads picture very seductive pictures of gorgeous males and beautiful female models selling more than the perfume, themselves. When a girl sees a beautiful woman in a magazine advertising a perfume, instantly she is thinking of buying this perfume to look, feel, and smell like this perfect woman same goes for cologne ads. I found two different cologne ads aimed both to men, but conveying two completely different messages.
The first ad contained a picture of a male model with no shirt sort of staring at the viewer. His hair is slick back in a perfect hairdo, buy looking you can tell he is muscular, and athletic, but not over the top or exaggerated. Across his chest the words Truth Calvin Klein Men are typed in a plain text, to blend in yet stand out. In the lower right hand corner is a bottle of Truth cologne for men. This advertisement screams sex appeal, the look in the man’s face, the fact that he is not wearing a shirt, the plain background. Everything here is meant to appeal to men who want to be sexy, perfect, and model like. Not only men, women who subconsciously want their man to look this way, will also be drawn into this cologne.
The second ad contains a picture of a group of guys and girls all wearing red white and blue, sitting on green grass, with a giant American flag in the background. This ad is aimed at the all American boy. There is no sex appeal here, the advertisers didn’t try to seduce the customer into buying there product, instead they used the All-American approach. What American guy wouldn’t want to be proud of where they are from?
Both ads use techniques and tools to grab their audience’s attention and make the consumer want to buy their products. They use what you are appealed to the most to draw you in and trap you into wanting their products.
The first ad contained a picture of a male model with no shirt sort of staring at the viewer. His hair is slick back in a perfect hairdo, buy looking you can tell he is muscular, and athletic, but not over the top or exaggerated. Across his chest the words Truth Calvin Klein Men are typed in a plain text, to blend in yet stand out. In the lower right hand corner is a bottle of Truth cologne for men. This advertisement screams sex appeal, the look in the man’s face, the fact that he is not wearing a shirt, the plain background. Everything here is meant to appeal to men who want to be sexy, perfect, and model like. Not only men, women who subconsciously want their man to look this way, will also be drawn into this cologne.
The second ad contains a picture of a group of guys and girls all wearing red white and blue, sitting on green grass, with a giant American flag in the background. This ad is aimed at the all American boy. There is no sex appeal here, the advertisers didn’t try to seduce the customer into buying there product, instead they used the All-American approach. What American guy wouldn’t want to be proud of where they are from?
Both ads use techniques and tools to grab their audience’s attention and make the consumer want to buy their products. They use what you are appealed to the most to draw you in and trap you into wanting their products.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Guilty until proven innocent…and always being judged…
Clothes just like everything else you wear or do sends off messages about who you are and the type of person you are. Peers my see you as cool or as an equal when you dress like them, but to cops, teachers and others the message may be different. If you walk around with baggy pants and shirts with drug paraphernalia on them or curse words, cops and bosses will not take you seriously and think of you as a punk kid who is into no good just trying to fit in. On the other hand, your friends that dress the same will think you are cool and accept you rather than make you an outcast. Many times, the message comes across different from what you really want to say and you may be sending messages you don’t want to send. Back to the kid with baggy jeans, he may not want to be seen as a gangster or a thug, but that is what he portrays when he dresses that way. This kid maybe a straight “A” student accepted to an Ivy League college. Just like the saying actions speak louder than words, so does your appearance, people judge you before they even hear what you have to say.
I can usually be found in either t-shirt and jeans, or business casual attire, depending on the situation. I try to be comfortable at school, but professional at work. My clothes say exactly who I am: a young woman, on her way to becoming a successful adult in this crazy world. When I’m at work, in the real world I send the message that I am a confidant woman on the way to the top, while at school I send off the message, I am working to learn everything I can so one day I can be the successful in whatever career I choose.
Like I said before people judge you before you even get a chance to speak your mind or let them know who you really are so show them who you really are and don't let your clothes make you out to something your not.
I can usually be found in either t-shirt and jeans, or business casual attire, depending on the situation. I try to be comfortable at school, but professional at work. My clothes say exactly who I am: a young woman, on her way to becoming a successful adult in this crazy world. When I’m at work, in the real world I send the message that I am a confidant woman on the way to the top, while at school I send off the message, I am working to learn everything I can so one day I can be the successful in whatever career I choose.
Like I said before people judge you before you even get a chance to speak your mind or let them know who you really are so show them who you really are and don't let your clothes make you out to something your not.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
A Fence...GOOD or BAD?!?
Beliving...
In the midst of illegal immigration at its peak, a fence along the border will assist in managing the number of illegal immigrants that sneak into our country undocumented and illegally. The fence is not saying America is against freedom, and immigration, it encourages law abiding immigrants to become American citizens. America is obligated to protect itself and its citizens. A weak border makes our entire country vulnerable to another attack like September 11, 2001. Sure some illegal immigrants are only looking for a decent job with decent wages to support their families, but if that’s the case, what is the problem of these people following the law and becoming legal citizens? The fence will keep out terrorists, criminals, and drug dealers trying to sneak into and target American citizens, as well as illegal immigrants that take advantage of our country as well as break the law.
Doubting...
On the other hand, what is a fence going to do? It will not keep out the people who are determined to break the law. When America cracked down and sent the coast guard to patrol our border, illegal immigrants built exquisite tunnels underground to sneak into our country. With these tunnels came the influx of drugs, terrorists, and crime. Illegal immigration has been a problem since our country developed, but a fence is not the solution. “What happens when a 12 foot fence is built, illegal immigrants use a 13 foot ladder.” The fence goes against what America stands for, “FREEDOM!” The fence turns America from a freedom loving state into a militaristic state. Right now due to our military budget and activity across the world we are seen as a violent and militaristic country, the idea of an armed wall along our border with paramilitary patrols does not help our image. America was built on immigrants, when we came over from England and Spain we were immigrants, stealing land from the Native Americans who inhabited the land before us. A wall would not have kept our ancestors from settling in this country and making this our homeland.
In the midst of illegal immigration at its peak, a fence along the border will assist in managing the number of illegal immigrants that sneak into our country undocumented and illegally. The fence is not saying America is against freedom, and immigration, it encourages law abiding immigrants to become American citizens. America is obligated to protect itself and its citizens. A weak border makes our entire country vulnerable to another attack like September 11, 2001. Sure some illegal immigrants are only looking for a decent job with decent wages to support their families, but if that’s the case, what is the problem of these people following the law and becoming legal citizens? The fence will keep out terrorists, criminals, and drug dealers trying to sneak into and target American citizens, as well as illegal immigrants that take advantage of our country as well as break the law.
Doubting...
On the other hand, what is a fence going to do? It will not keep out the people who are determined to break the law. When America cracked down and sent the coast guard to patrol our border, illegal immigrants built exquisite tunnels underground to sneak into our country. With these tunnels came the influx of drugs, terrorists, and crime. Illegal immigration has been a problem since our country developed, but a fence is not the solution. “What happens when a 12 foot fence is built, illegal immigrants use a 13 foot ladder.” The fence goes against what America stands for, “FREEDOM!” The fence turns America from a freedom loving state into a militaristic state. Right now due to our military budget and activity across the world we are seen as a violent and militaristic country, the idea of an armed wall along our border with paramilitary patrols does not help our image. America was built on immigrants, when we came over from England and Spain we were immigrants, stealing land from the Native Americans who inhabited the land before us. A wall would not have kept our ancestors from settling in this country and making this our homeland.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Introduction Assignment 1
My name is Renee Gonzalez, I was born and raised in Houston Texas, and I am currently a sophomore at UH. I go to school full time, and I am currently undecided on my major. I’m not too sure what I want to do anymore. When I first started school I knew I wanted to be a pharmacist, but as time has progressed, my mind has changed many times. I work at Chase bank as a part time teller, which is interesting to say the least; I deal with the craziest customers all the time and I am currently in transition in becoming a lead teller. I am taking this class for the second time because when I took it at community college; I did not give it my all. I barely passed with a "c" because I procrastinated and put off writing two of the assignments. I know I am capable of doing much better. I have taken writing courses in high school as well as in college. I have taken English 1304 here at the University of Houston, as well as a writing intensive philosophy course. I do not particularly enjoy writing, but I know how to, and once I get motivated I think I can write decent papers. I think I have a strong foundation in grammar and the English language, and I am able to express myself well in my writing. I just do not enjoy writing; it is too abstract for my taste. In this course, I hope to receive an A, as well as maybe learn to like writing a little more. I am an easy student, I do my work and if I have questions I ask, I am not hard to teach and I am a quick learner. I think this will be a great semester.
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