Blog Reviews and Greatest Hits

JESSICA CHEE'S GREATEST HITS!

I really enjoyed reading your blog in its entirety.  You were a great writer in your earlier blogs, but I can definitely see how you improved.  Throughout your essays you display a great amount of voice which makes your writing enjoyable to read.  Your writing is very fluent with complex and well developed ideas. 

One of my personal favorites was your blog “Female Sexuality in Pop Culture.”  I think that this blog would be a great base for you to build your final project off of.  You presented a multitude of ideas and I think if you just expanded on them a little more, your content for your final project would be covered.  One idea that I, personally, would like to see you expand on is how you said that the lyrics in a lot of pop songs are about how “men view women and how men view women viewing themselves.”  If you chose this for your final project it would be easy for you to incorporate media and visual elements. 

Another blog that I thought was a greatest hit was “Love: A Science?”  In this blog you presented a ton of information.  It would make a good final project if you just expanded on the ideas and evidence already stated and explained them a little more in depth.  I thought you could almost use some of the information that was presented in another one of your blogs, “ Marriage: Essential to Children.”  The information that I thought would relate really well to “Love: A Science” are ideas that you presented in the second paragraph.  You could relate biological and chemical love to an evolutionary perspective of how divorce happens when certain needs are not being filled.  I enjoyed your blog and good luck with the last few weeks of classes!

AMBER CROUCH'S GREATEST HITS!

Your blog was very interesting to read.  I can tell that you have put a lot of effort into this course because I can see how you have improved.  By the later half of your blog posts, you were creating more well-developed and complex ideas that were supported with evidence.  You also displayed a great amount of voice which makes your writing much more enjoyable to read.  I am a speech and hearing science major myself and I often find that I can only write in a concrete scientific way (it’s hard for me to incorporate voice), so I commend you on being able to make your blogs a reflection of your personal self.

One blog post that I thought was one of your “greatest hits” was “Natural Behavior in Animals.”  In this blog you have developed some concrete ideas.  By adding more supporting evidence and research I think you could turn this blog into an amazing final project.  You could provide more examples of homosexuality in animals and also research comparisons of animal homosexuality and human homosexuality.  You could also relate differences in animal/human homosexuality to evolutionary nonsexual purposes of sex.  I think that this would make a great final project!

I also enjoyed your blog from October 26^th on materialism.  This blog in particular had an enormous amount of voice which, I think, could also make for a good final project.  It seems like you have well formulated opinions on this topic and if you backed your opinions up with some more research I think it would make a great essay! You could expand more on the cycle materialism creates that you described.  Essentially, you said that easy credit leads to anxiety and medication.  I think you are right on with this idea!  There has to be an enormous amount of research on each of the individual aspects of the cycle that you explained/created and I think a more descriptive version of the last half of this blog post would be an amazing topic for your final project.  I enjoyed reading your blog and good luck!

WWII and Finance

Finance is the study of managing funds, whether it is acquiring or investing.  This area of study is developed off of calculating and managing risk.  There are certain areas of acquiring money and comparing it with associated risk that can be calculated.  People these days are becoming more and more worried about the risks that they are taking with their money and financial investments due to the status of our economy.   In general, individuals seek to “analyze, understand and control the various hazards they face,” (Chance 447) in various areas of their life.  We analyze our risk of failing an exam due to an inappropriate amount of study time, the risk we take when asking someone out on a date, and even the risk we take when not wearing our seatbelts.  It is no wonder that people would worry about the risks that they take with their money.  This natural anxiety that all humans possess is one aspect that pertains to the emergence of the study of finance. 

After WWII, finance became a booming area of study.  It is safe to assume that after people lose a lot of their wealth and money, as seen in the Great Depression before and during the beginning of WWII, they would be concerned about losing it again.  Also, before WWII, it was difficult for companies to invest outside of their own country, a cause of increased calculated risk.  When you have a lot of money, you want to spread your money around so that you can be more protected so that you don’t experience complete loss of everything you have.  This can be seen in the example of equity swaps provided by Chance and Peterson.  Essentially, people “use these swaps to rid themselves of the risk of being heavily invested in their own companies,” (Chance 452). 

Consumer demand also increased after WWII.  More people were able to indulge themselves in the products of society.  Technology was booming with the production of cars, TV, radio, and even airplanes. Having these goods that were of such high demands increased the number of workers in the United States, thus spreading the wealth even further.  As people began to feel more accomplished and interested in how risk and profits could be calculated, the popularity of the subject of finance increased.  Today there are plenty of students in college that carry around a textbook about finance.  It is amazing to believe that the study did not even exist until WWII.      

Unlimited Freedom and Human Morality

Complete freedom without oppression from society and the government is what every individual desires.  Everyone has specific opinions about what aspects of the government they find controlling, unrealistic, coercive, or against our rights to freedom.  However, as people often fight for these specific opinions that they believe in, they forget what the world may be like if libertarianism ruled 

Libertarians advocate for an essentially non-existent government.  They believe you should be allowed to act however you want and express your freedom in any way that you see fit so long as you respect those same simple rights of others.  Libertarianism puts a huge responsibility on individual morality and assumes that without the oppression and coercion of the government, people will own up to their innately “good” morals. 

Before giving this concept more thought, only the benefits of the product of this view came to mind.  I am a huge advocate for stem cell research and have been since high school, when doctors thought that my brother had Parkinson’s Disease.  As we all know, the government is controlling the degree to which stem cell research is taking place.  Although individual states can provide funding for stem cell research, our nation is falling behind in comparison to the research that is taking place in other countries due to restraints from the government.  I believe people should be able to research the potential applications of stem cells however they wish.  Libertarianism would work in this situation, in my opinion, however, a total application of this view on our society and government is viewed by some as being anything but beneficial. 

Some people believe that the application of individual responsibility for morality would be destructive.  Depending on how people are raised and events that they have experienced, their morality could be almost non-existent.  Their unlimited freedom could be so detrimental to society that all of the freedom and rights we have gained over the years could be demolished. 

I reside somewhere in the middle of this continuum which ranges from libertarianism to the idea of complete governmental control.  I would assume that the majority of Americans also reside somewhere in the middle along with me.  The cons are too numerous on the extreme ends of the spectrum, however somewhere in the middle seems to be most realistic and ideal for our society.  Everyone has the right to their own individual freedom and this should be protected, yet we should not put too much faith in individual human morality. 

Blog Reviews Week 11

Jacqueline –

Your writing this week was really well organized and thought through.  Specifically, the second paragraph in your essay, “A Material World,” really connected your entire essay.  The way that you go about explaining the downfalls of materialism really captures your readers.  There were, however, a few small errors in the first paragraph.   I also enjoyed your post on “An African American Economy.”  In this particular essay, I really thought your strong point was your conclusion.  I didn’t really know where you were going when I was reading the first paragraph, but everything came together well.  I can tell that you have thought a lot about the subjects that we are asked to write about.

April –

Although I did not find a post for Tuesday, I thought your post on Italian Americans was very insightful.  You connected it with your own history and this only intrigues your readers more.  Your grandparents sound like amazing people and the journey they have made is incredible.  Though I did find a couple grammatical errors, your writing was otherwise flawless. 

pg. 426 #1

African Americans are often considered a larger majority of the middle and lower classes.  This may often be interpreted by people due to the often low graduation rate from high school, however, in 2009, the African American male graduation rate was over 70 percent in North Dakota compared to the average of 50 to 59 percent for the rest of the nation, (Schott Foundation for Public Education, 2009).  When it comes to college graduation, African Americans have a lower college completion percentage (42 percent) as compared to latinos (49%), whites (60%) and Asians (67%), (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System).    

My friend who grew up and currently lives in North Dakota, finds being African American and a college graduate in the Midwest an advantage.  He expressed to me a few times that he felt very lucky that he lived in North Dakota instead of somewhere else in the country due to specific advantages that he may receive as a college graduate.  The African American population in North Dakota is only 4,062 people and this population seems extremely small when compared to the rest of the nation.  Therefore, you are part of a very small minority if you are an African American male who has graduated from college in North Dakota.  It is also probable that your job placement rate will also be higher than the rest of the population.   As you know, many large companies have specific diversity quotas that they need to fill and since the population of African Americans in North Dakota is so small, it seems that the likelihood that they would receive a job is higher than that of whites with the same education level. Of course, this depends on the job and the area in which you live, but overall, it could be looked at as a small advantage.

When you compare these statistics to the rest of the nation, it seems like a higher job placement rate for African Americans in North Dakota is much deserved.  The rest of the population of African Americans in the United States suffers more intensely from economic burdens when compared to, for example, the burdens that the white population deal with. 

What you have defines who you are; Never good enough

Materialism defines our culture and can be described as “the belief that one’s physical possessions constitute the greatest value in one’s life,” (Twitchell 388).  This is certainly what our ultimate goal is.  We go to school so that we can get an education to make enough money some day so that we can live comfortably.  By being able to live comfortably and having the ability to buy and consume things feely, we will gain a sense of happiness.  When we are poor or broke, we cannot live the way that we wish we could and this makes us unhappy in a sense. 

Back when this New World was just found, in the days of Columbus, we did not have many material things.  The state of our society was reflected in the prominent religion at that time; Puritanism.  The Puritans focused their efforts on living as simple a life as possible.  Since they did not have very many “things” this was not so difficult to do, but as society began to grow, and the New World began to boom creating goods to sell overseas such as beaver fur hats and tobacco, this religion became outdated and was replaced by other religions that were more influenced by material things.

There are some positive effects of materialism on our culture.  Due to our ability to spend and buy things constantly, we are always creating new goods.  The material things that we have right now will not be useful or good enough in the future.  Two major areas where this can be seen easily are in fashion and technology.  Every fall, there is a new style that is considered fashionable.  It is the new “hit item” and is sold at a ridiculous price.  Eventually, there is some sort of knock off or cheap version of the same style that is made, and since so many people can so easily retrieve this fashionable item, it cannot be considered unique and cool anymore, therefore, a new style will be found again and the cycle will continue.  This process increases consumerism, motivates us to work hard for material items that we want, increases jobs because new items constantly need to be produced, and allows us to express our freedom and individuality.  “We create ourselves through things. And we change ourselves by changing our things,” (Twitchell 389).  Ultimately, when we have what we want, we are happy and when we don’t we are disappointed or sometimes even depressed. 

Materialism is often considered a necessity.  The need to have materialistic things is the norm in our society, however, there are a great amount of people that are unaffected by current fashion trends and technology.  It is often seen in the Midwest that people are happy with the simple life and believe that when you add materialistic things to life, it becomes too complicated and ultimately takes away from your happiness.  The majority of towns in Minnesota, for example, have no place that you can go shopping besides the grocery and hardware stores.  It is not high on their priority list.  Sure, even in the Midwest, signs of materialism are greatly increasing as well as the number of Walmarts, but there are plenty of communities that are unaffected by these trends.  These communities pride themselves in simplicity and are happy people for it.  Ultimately, I think materialism is a kind of mindset.  You can either need to be hip in society or feel content being just the way you are. 

Blog Reviews Week 11

April –

I enjoyed your writing style.  Your writing flowed throughout your entire essay and was extremely easy to follow.  I can totally relate to your issues with cell phones.  I swear that they build them just to have them fail so you need to buy a new one.  The story about your friend’s ACL and volleyball is so sad. You would never imagine that your ACL could be torn as a result of a super ankle brace.  I found a few small grammatical errors in your essay such as when you said “causing the phone to overheated and shut off,” but otherwise thought everything was written very well.  Nice job!

Jacqueline –

Just like I said with April, I agree with you that cell phone companies these days are completely absurd.  Unfortunately, I think it is already the norm for them to do anything they can to get every cent that they can.  I found your writing very interesting.  Your transitions were very smooth and your essays were easy to read and very interesting.  I found a few grammatical errors.  Your essays were very thoughtful and I could tell that you had spent a good amount of time thinking about the subjects discussed.  I also enjoyed how you stated that “money rules the airwaves” and I definitely agree with you that the music industry needs to return to its earlier roots.  Overall, I really enjoyed your writing and am excited to read more.