Blog #8

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In our previous class, Julian informed us by getting involve in club at university. It was very useful information for knowing some activities at university. I really like to join to sociology and psychology clubs, and I also like to join to sport club, but my problem for this semester is that I don’t have enough time for spending my times to those clubs. I have 14 units and one of my classes is held at Thousands Oak campus which makes really hard for me to join to those clubs. When I was at college, I was an active member of sociology, philosophy, and psychology clubs, and I can not wait to join for one of those clubs for next semester at Channel Islands. After that we change our subject to discuss about one of  the articles that we read, and  it was about anti-homosexual discussion. I really liked that the principle stood up against the Chic-Fil-A restaurant chin’s because they were advocating anti-homosexuality explicitly, and there is no place to be against gays in any forms at this era.  If I were the principle, I would do the same, and I also educate the students by telling them, there is no differences between gays and heterosexual people and more than 80% of the gay people are not practicing same sex activity or chose to be gay, however, most gays born like this. Although students are about age 13, but by providing facts or statistics and good arguments, they could grasp what was going on. Giving students knowledge and good argument can nurture their critical thinking and is the best way to make them think differently not just to think like teachers.

I did not like Ronald Hallett’s article because he was arguing about financial aids problems and how some homeless students did not want to go home for holidays.  For instance, Tenisha did not want to go home for holiday because she was homeless. Ronald Hallett just argued about some federal laws and financial  aids problem, but he did not argue about the underlying problems of poor people and give a practical solution for homeless people. For examples, he argues that many homeless students do not pursue education because they do not believe that earning a degree is a realistic possibility, however, I believe that 9 out of 10 homeless people do not have access to basic needs for life. Homeless people are struggling for surviving. Most of the time they think about shelter and food; how come they could pursue for education, and most of them drop the school during the high school. I really liked the article A Conversation About Social Class and College Attendance by Adam Howard because the writer argued about real world that poor students were facing everyday. For instance, he argues that examples of success don’t exist in most poor communities any more, and I do absolutely agree with him because for poor people success is something to have more food for a week. I believe, as long as there is no safety and security, the education and  success is meaningless for most of humans. For poor people and poor communities who are most advantage, the success means to be a gang leader, pimp, and a successful drug dealer. Unfortunately, this is the real world for poor people. In the Responsibility for Reduction Poverty article, the writer argued about social class and problem sophisticatedly. He claims that social problems cannot be solved by social engineers, and he is right because solving social problems needs to have a deep knowledge of social problems and know how society works. Therefore, poverty cannot be eliminated by government or blaming the poor for being poor, rather it needs a verity of responsibilities from the whole society including poor themselves.

Blog#8: Students of Low Economic Status

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Last class began with an activity conducted by Julian discussing campus involvement. He provided a power point presentation with opportunities and how to access them as well as why to get involved on campus. I liked the presentation because it opened my eyes to the various ways that students could be involved that I was previously unaware of. Throughout the presentation I even found myself writing clubs down that sounded interesting. I think that this was helpful, especially for new and transfer students who are not familiar with the area. We then discussed the Chik-fil-A article and the possible motives behind why the principle made the decision not to allow the chain to attend the Ventura High School’s fundraiser. I honestly don’t think that it is anyone’s place to judge her not knowing the full situation. Just from hearing everyone in class I realized that there was probably so much more to the situation than I knew. I think everyone would be lying if they said she didn’t have beliefs supporting gender equality, but whether her decision was based upon beliefs or the school’s vendor process is impossible to tell. Talking about the Non-conforming youth article just refreshed my mind to what I had read the week before but I did like how we switched up the way we went over it by reading other’s papers. Lastly in class we covered gender differences between men and women. We were given questions to answer and discussed the answers as a class. As a female, I enjoyed hearing the men express their views because I know less how they feel about the gender differences and possible reasons for them.

 

The reading for the next class that touched me the most was the article “From homeless to college grad: Story of B-CU student inspires”. It was amazing to see a story of a student who came with so little and made it so far, while at the same time helping so many. It was sad and shocking to hear his story and to think of how many that I might possibly be going to school with who are homeless. The “Working Poor Report” was quite a lengthy article that focused on defining working poor youth and working poor adults. This article mainly provided statistics and definitions that helped clarify definitions and see how many students are poor and attending school. It discusses the issue of funding school for those who are unable. That made me angry, because tuition costs continue to rise despite the challenge for so many to pay their tuition. I do know that more money is needed to pay for resources on campus, but the costs are high even for those not considered poor and they aren’t getting help nor are they acknowledged as having difficulties. The article by Hallet discussed some important issues such as where will students live during breaks who otherwise don’t have a home? How will student’s pay for campus housing in the first place? I really liked that this issue is beginning to be discussed and I hope that it reaches the appropriate people on campuses who can make decisions to make tuition and housing more affordable. When I was a freshman first moving onto a campus I was shocked to see the costs of housing. It was absurd. I can also see how certain words used to describe student’s who don’t have a stable home can be stigmatizing and it is difficult figuring how to classify without making those feel less worthy. The last article by Levine was basically a conversation between two about social policies that have affected college attendance and performance. After and while reading this article, I feel as though it applies to all students. I’m not considered “poor” by school’s standards but I don’t get any financial aid and am therefore needing to work to afford just part of college and must ask for help from either my parents or loan companies. Although these readings target the low income and homeless, the difficulties really apply to all students who aren’t in high-income brackets, and maybe even them as well actually. It is a difficult subject because you can’t very well tell one student they aren’t deserving of help while telling another they are.

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Survivor Blog #7

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At the beginning of the episode the Yellow tribe decided to go over what happened at the last tribal meeting and inform Keith as they felt bad and felt like they had the responsibility to inform him. To clarify what happened, at the last tribal meeting the Yellow tribe decided to vote Dale off but to play it safe they decided to split off the votes and go two for Keith and three for Dale. When Keith saw his name on those two votes he felt betrayed and didn’t know what was going on. By getting together as a tribe and decided to inform Keith of what happened and why the tribe did what they did at the last tribal meeting is an example of decision making.

 

Back at the Blue tribe, Reed and Josh got together and started to talk about getting other tribe members together to agree on voting off Jeremy. Jeremy has been acting different lately and has been more to himself and less involved with the tribe and has not been much of a tribal member lately. The tribe gets a note or letter notifying them that they are merging and they they need to pack up their things and move to a different location on the island. Jeremy has a similar motive and wants Reed and Josh off out of the tribe.

The Yellow tribe as well gets the letter notifying them that they need to move locations for the merge

The two tribes are now merged and are working together.

Jeremy still has the motive to get Reed and Josh out of the game. The way Jeremy is thinking of doing this is by getting the other members/couples in the game on his side where they will nock them out of the game. Jeremy feels threatened by Josh being a leader, where he wants to be a leader instead and the way to do this is to eliminate the previous leader. Jeremy talks to John about getting numbers on their side and it looks like they have around 7 tribe members.

Josh is aware of what Jeremy is trying to do and knows that Jeremy is trying to get numbers against him and Reed. Therefore Josh is now trying to get numbers on his side and knows that it is now a race to see who is going to get the numbers needed  in order to vote who out first. Josh’s strategy to get numbers on their side by getting the couples on their side. There are more couples in the tribe and by getting them it would give them the advantage they need.

Baylor feels bad that she is going to have to vote off Josh or Reed out since she has a alliance with her mom. Which her mother already has an alliance with Jeremy. This means since her mom has an alliance with Jeremy so does Baylor.

Jaclyn and her boyfriend are deciding who to alliance with. They are worried who will be the better one to have an alliance with.

Later on in the episode the tribe had some trail mix from earlier on. They tried to find it as some tribe members wanted some but they seemed to not be able to find it. In result members begin to search through peoples stuff and find some in Julie’s bag. The members are now upset about the fact that she had some trial mix and they feel like she was trying to hide the food. The members now start to have bad impressions about her and now are talking behind her back.

At the first challenge, the tribe finds out that their is no more tribe immunity but now their is individual immunity where one person will be immune from a tribal council. Jeremy is the first one out of the challenge. Keith wins the first challenge and wins the first individual immunity.

Trail Mix

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In this weeks episode of Survivor the two tribes have merged and alliances were developed. There are now two defined characters who are trying to take on the leadership role and protect themselves with alliances. Jeremy decides to take things into his own hands and establishes his position as a leader when he addresses several (7) members from the camp and confirms they are still loyal to him. Josh witnesses Jeremy talking to several members and realizes if he doesn’t make a move quick his rival will get him kicked out by the next council meeting. In the end Julie who kept a little extra trail mix after the feast was outcasted when found out by the others. She could no longer taking being without her loved one and decides to quit and go home. Thus resulting in no tribal Council and Josh and Jeremy left to battle it out next week. Chapter 9 in the book covers Structured and Creative Problem Solving in groups. The chapter has an emphasis on Decision making and whether it is more effective to make decisions in groups or independent decisions. If you break down the concept of the show, everyone is competing to be the last “Survivor” remaining. There are a lot of group decisions being made but everyone when making those group decisions is focused on on their own hidden agenda. For example, when alliances are formed and they vote off an individual they act as it if was in the best interest for everyone in the group. While some did not actually stick to the plan of the group and voted for someone else, or thought why not vote them off they are not a threat to me and its keeping the attention away. So even though there are a lot of group decisions being made. There are a lot of independent decisions being made as well. Especially coming toward the end of the season. Till next time!

 

-Zack Starlin Kelem

Blog Post # 7

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Claire Campagna Comm 220-02

Chapter 9 Structured and Creative Problem Solving in Group

In episode 7 the two tribes merge into one. Having the two tribes merge, it changed the game completely. The main problem that occurred in this episode was when Julie decided to keep some trail mix to herself, and when the the rest of the survivors were getting hungry they found them. In Julies mind she an spontaneous decision. She knew she would need the trail mix, did not think much of it, and thought she could hide it and deal with consequences later. However this spontaneous decision did make more problems for Julie. When Julie was laying out in the sun, the rest of the group found the trail mix. They were all really upset and ate some of what she had left. The group ended up making a rational decision, they thought about what Julie did considered the issues and knew that it was not right. There were some hard feeling throughout the rest of the episode and Julie could feel it. In the end Julie makes the huge decision to leave the show. This for Julie was a intuitive decision, she just felt like it was the right thing to do, her head was not in the game and she couldn’t see herself last much longer. She was the one to leave this week in episode 7. Throughout this episode there were three decision making styles displayed.

Claire Campagna

 

Million Dollar Decision

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FINALLY THE MERGE HAS HAPPENED!

When the tribes receive tree mail, they realize that the merge is finally happening and some have mixed emotions about it.  Josh and Reid start brainstorming ideas for their alliances once the merge happens and who they know for sure should be voted off once they go to their tribal meeting. Everyone is “keeping their options open” for their alliances once the tribes come together. For the members whose loved ones were voted off, I feel like it is harder for them, because they do not have that natural alliance with their loved one, like some other members do. For example, Julie not wanting to be apart of tribe activities because she does not want to do it without her boyfriend Jon who was voted off a couple weeks ago, would have a harder time making alliances because she wants to set herself apart from the group. Jeremy is just happy to have Missy back because she has had his back since the very beginning, and having her, would bring Baylor to him too. Josh says that they will be okay and be able to vote Jeremy off, as long as they get the alliances before Jeremy, Missy, and Baylor do. They would have had to come up with these ideas by brainstorming with others or using the DOT technique in a way.

Josh wants all the couples to stay together and eventually vote off the singles. Baylor has a difficult time with alliances because she has a bond with Josh, but her mom Missy has a bond with Jeremy. They cannot all become one big alliance because Josh’s plan is to vote Jeremy off the first chance he gets.

Julie is lost not having Jon by her side while others still have their loved ones, and decided to quit!! Because of her quitting, there is no tribal council, and Josh does not get to vote Jeremy off.

We’ll see if he gets that chance next week!!

blog #7 chapter 9

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In this episode of survivor “Wrinkle in the Plan” The contestants are becoming more and more aware with who the alliances are and tension within the group is rising.  This episode contained a lot of important decisions making within the alliances since people had decide on whether they were going to side with the couples or with the singles.  Another thing that the contestants had to deal with was problem solving in the challenges.  for example, when the two teams had to figure out how to push the puzzle pieces across, they had to figure out how to get it across in the shortest amount of time. That is why I think  that Jeremy’s team won because I felt that they did the best at figuring out how the challenge worked.

I thought this episode also had the contestants doing majority votes since that had to pick within their alliances who they wanted to vote for elimination.  I think that the couple Kelly and Jon had the authority rule since everyone in the tribe felt that they could be the tie breaker in the next elimination. So therefore, it gave them this sense of power as shown during elimination.

It seemed to me that their was a question of value between Jon and Josh since Jon didn’t completely know who to side with and Josh didn’t know if it would be better to go after Jeremy or to just vote out Baylor. Over all I thought this episode contained a lot of drama within the group and certainly made tension a lot more tense. I hope the future episodes have more drama like this one again.

blog #7 Chapter 9

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In the episode “Wrinkle In the Plan” the contestants had to phase many challenges and decision making made them rethink about who would be more convenient for them to leave. The contestants in my opinion started realizing that the game would soon come to an end for someone. Problem solving started to show in the group when they divided into two groups to win a challenge which was a lot of food and drinks. In this challenge the groups worked together by pushing the puzzles across the other side. Both groups tried their hardest to win this challenge and I think that Jeremy’s group tried the hardest by problem solving and that is why they won.

The majority vote in the group came up when they had to vote out someone in the end. The group members felt that Jon had the authority rule because he had Kelly by her side and they were a couple that made decisions together and in the end Jon would say what they chose or came up with. I think that Jon and Kelly have the power based on what could happen in the next episode. A question of value was when the group didn’t know if it was worth it to vote out between Jon and Josh. This episode was very intense because I honestly thought that Baylor would be voted out but instead Josh was. I am looking forward to the next survivor episode.

Survivor Episode 7 Chapter 9

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This episode starts out as all do with a brief recap of the previous episode. It then goes straight into the show and how Missy and Bailor put Keiths name down on the vote sheet. Keith was upset and felt that the communication was lacked between the three of them. In chapter nine we have to be creative with the problems we face as a group and with this episode Keith has to get creative and figure out how to either get on Bailor and Missy’s good graces or if he wants to get a the other members to vote them out. Both will take convincing on Keith’s part. The show takes a twist early by saying that the teams were merging. It seems that there is a authority rule as a way that the group now works with. I think that John and his girlfriend are a definite power couple and who ever they vote will be the ones to will have the final say in who gets kick off the island. In the challenge that the contestants was very stressful on the tribe members. It was close pretty much the whole time but it came down to Keith and his son Wes. Keith ended up winning and has won immunity from the vote. Keith had to use decision making skills when it came down to just Keith and Wes. He could either drop his ball and loose so his son is safe from the vote or win immunity for himself. He ended up winning cause he stuck with the decision he made. He analyzed the situation then made a plan of action to carry it out then put that plan into action. If his plans all succeed then him and Wes should be safe from the vote.  Julie had stole some snack mix and the group went through her bag and found it. Julie was feeling bad and depressed without her man and she had deiced to quit and leave the islands. With Julie quitting the vote for this week is off and someone is saved from going home. Jeremy seems to be next on the chopping block unless he can prove his worth to the group.