Episode 10

/in /by

With Jeremy being out and John feeling the comfort of being the new alpha male in the group we see a bit of his arrogance in the immunity challenge where he voluntarily steps off the pegs after a mere 7 minutes for the temptation of a snickers bar and some candy.  We see a bit of his extroverted personality in that moment as well as Reed’s in tribal council.  After the arguing back and forth and Keith’s inability to keep a secret, the end result is that both of the hidden immunity idols that were known in this game were played, making John and Keith open for votes next week.  Luckily for Natalie, she used an extra set of eyes and arms to dig with and used Baylor to help her find the 3rd and final immunity idol.

Group Motivation in Episode 9

/in /by

Well, unfortunately for my favorite Survivor, Jeremy, his time was to come to an end in this episode due to a very well played blindside.  Ironic as it is, himself and his closest alliance member Natalie, depicted the most prominent group motivation in this episode.  Specifically motivating by group member needs, Jeremy and Natalie forfeit their winning of the reward challenge to the couple John and Jaclyn to acknowledge the wants and needs of their newly founded alliance members and let them know that they are thankful for their friendship.  Jeremy then nominates himself to go to Exile Island to try and find the hidden immunity idol for the group then quickly realizes his trip was a waste and that John had probably already found it.  John, after feeling the heat of lying to Jeremy about having the idol, tries to motivate other members of the tribe with his hidden immunity idol to vote off Jeremy for being the “biggest threat”.  A terrible move in my book, but definitely beneficial to John in any of the strength challenges.

Blog #9 Let US make a difference let US be the difference

/in /by

Last week’s class began with a discussion about the Tunnel of Oppression and what our thoughts about it. I really enjoyed hearing everyone’s responses to it and I had a good time being a part of it I thought it was a great experience. I would have liked if we would have done what Jaime did in the past where they were taken into a “gas chamber” I think that would have been a very powerful message and taken all the issues we touched upon to a new level of thinking. We then discussed the Lipstick and Labcoats article. We were split up in groups and touched upon certain parts of the article. None of the females in our class had a STEM major and one of the questions we discussed was why we (the females in the class) did not choose a STEM major? Personally I am not good at any of those subjects therefor for me it was not something that had to do with discouragement or because “I did not belong”. However, in my English class we discussed this and my teacher (a male) could not believe that professors discourage students to pursue these subject matters. He told us a story about when he was a principal he had a teacher that complained about having women in his science class and said they did not belong there and he corrected him saying they do belong there. I agree women should be able to walk into a high level Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math class without being doubted because they are capable of being in these areas. The last forty five minutes or so were dedicated to taking the same assessment that Julian had given us at the beginning of the semester.

I really enjoyed reading this week’s articles it is good to know that there is a way to stop oppression but it begins with us changing our way of thinking. As I was reading the articles I realized I have been going through some of the steps of the cycle of liberation but have only known of it because of this class. I have become more aware of issues that I perhaps would not have deemed as oppressive because I did not perceiving them that way. I have become more vocal towards these issues in my room, talking to my roommates and hearing their opinions about it as well. One of the conversations we had was about the R word (retarded). We advocate not using that word because we know that it is hurtful and people are offended when they hear it but, people do use it very flippantly and forget the real meaning of the word. This article reminded me a lot of a rhyme I heard a lot in school “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”.  I always thought it was ridiculous because if that were true then why do people get offended when they say something they do not like? It did not make any sense to me and it is because words do hurt and they do affect people even if they pretend it does not. In my experience I think I have gone through the waking up step and stopped at the building communities but I have not moved passed that and I would really want to move out of my comfort zone to help and make a difference to stop oppression because we need to change ourselves if we want to change the system.

Our Experience

/in /by

In the beginning of the semester, Management 492 class, with a total of 14 students, took a trip to the Santa Rosa Island, to visit the Channel Islands research station and to experience first hand what travelers may endure while at Santa Rosa Island. The boat trip to Santa Rosa Island was an experience in itself, leaving the Ventura Harbor for an approximately 2 hour boat ride, and docking at the islands pier was a great time. Seeing the mainland start to fade away the further out to sea we traveled was a rush, while the islands we saw from a distance well on the mainland, grew bigger and bigger. You couldn’t help but notice the beautiful island beaches with sand that looked like it had been purified in a way, the sand almost looked completely white. Once we got to the bunkhouse we all scattered to claim rooms and check out what we will call home for the next couple days. After getting settled we took a trip down to the beach right next to the pier and walked about mile down. The hikes were the best part of the trip, as well as Cause Hanna sharing knowledge with us throughout the first hike. Walking through the island is like descovering a whole new world that you never experienced before, its so peaceful and full of adventure with every step you take. Lobo Canyon was a great hike to experience, the best part was the isolated beach at the end of hike, it was almost like a private beach. Our overall experience was great, visiting Santa Rosa Island is something every CI students should experience.

-Mgt. 492

Blog Post #9

/in , /by

Last class we started with a discussion about our experiences at the Tunnel of Oppression. I think that we were all able to take something away from our experience at the Tunnel of Oppression. I really enjoyed hearing everyone’s thoughts and insights since we didn’t go through the Tunnel together. I think that going through the Tunnel together as a class may have enhanced the experience but I know that it would have been near impossible to schedule everyone at the same time since the day of the event didn’t coincide with when we are in class. Overall I’m really glad that it was required for us to go and I’m glad we got a chance to talk about our experiences in class so we could have another chance to really think about it all. After our Tunnel of Oppression discussion we moved on to discuss the Lipstick and Labcoats article from a couple weeks ago. It was interesting to see the perspectives of other females compared to the males in the class. Unfortunately we don’t have any females majoring in any of the STEM fields so we weren’t able to hear any first hand experiences or perspectives but I think we still had a good discussion about the reading and our own experiences. We then moved on to discuss the articles on homelessness and we each went around and said one thing that we learned from these articles. I think these articles really made us all aware of the people around us and made me really appreciate all that we have. Since Julian’s activity for the day was to take the same test we took at the beginning of the semester, we spent the last part of class working on that.

 

Our last readings for this class were about the cycle of liberation and what we can do to stop oppressive behavior. While these readings were rather short, I think they are some of the most important readings we’ve talked about so far. I think one of the most important parts to the cycle of liberation is that there is no real beginning or end. I also liked how it was compared to a map because everyone can take their own route to their destination. I definitely think that this class has us all in at least the waking up stage because of all of the topics we have discussed. The other reading talked about what we can do to stop oppressive behavior and while saying something can be hard, it’s important to remember that doing nothing can hurt too. I think it’s really important that we take what we have learned in this class and pass it on by educating others so we can help stop oppressive behavior. I think that this class has given us the tools to continue on in the cycle of liberation and actually stand up rather than just sit back and watch it happen.

Blog post#9

/in /by

Motivation in survivor plays a big role in the players because it could be the reason why people either make it to the end or leave early. I think in the past we have seen how some players don’t have motivation to stay in the game because the person they came with now have been voted off the team. In this episode we see in one of the challenges that food is put in front of the players to make them weak instead of motivating them to stay holding longer on the post mostly all failed because they all were starving from not having the nutrition they needed.

In this episode just like in the past we saw the categories of group motivation take place. A sense of choice is seen in every episode when the groups have time to talk to each other and make decisions or express their opinions especially during tribal council when every group member has the opportunity to vote who ever they feel should be on the show any longer, like in this episode when Wes is voted off the show.

We also saw the sense of progress when the yellow team takes the win this makes the group feel like theres some type of progress going on because during this season the blue team has been taking the most wins so when yellow takes a win they feel proud that they have made progress from how they have placed in the past. Also in every episode we see this when a tribe would win and they would be rewarded.  It not only motivated them to do better in the next challenge but it gave them also a sense of meaningfulness because they felt like what they were going had a purpose and that was moving on to the next step and making it all the way to the end.

Blog Post 9

/in /by

Motivation has been an extremely important charateriitc seen in every single player but in different ways. In the second challenge, Jeff showed different plates of food in order to have the tribe members fall out. Jon is the first that give in which meand he has to give up immunity. This tactic was a means of manipulation because it is survior afterall and these players are starving and have a very low energy level.  This takes into account Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in that it plays on the pyschical and mental needs the contestants have.

Motivation can drive someone mad or drive them to success, in many cases regarding survior alot of the contestants motivate themselves for all the wrong reasons. They let there egos get in front of them or they try back stabbing everyone they can in order to make there money.  IF they were to use motivation todrive there tribe to another level than they would be able to then play the game in a different light thye would have more friendships and relationships and it would be harder for someone to backstab another.

Blog Participation

/in /by

1. On a scale of 1-5, how consistent were you with submitting your blog posts in a timely manner?

  • I would rate myself a 5. I submitted all of my blog posts within the proper timeframe. Generally, immediately after watching the episode I would use the notes I took to create my blog post so that it would be turned as soon as possible.

2. On a scale of 1-5, how consistent were you with posting at least one thorough comment on a peer’s blog?

  • In this section I would rate myself a 4. I often took a little longer to post comments. I would often read through a few of them to find one I could agree with or elaborate on.

3. On a scale of 1-5, how well did you integrate class concepts into your posts about the Survivor show?

  • I would rate myself a 5. I made an effort to read each chapter thoroughly before completing the blog post. In doing so, I was able to apply terms and ideas to situations that played out throughout each episode of the competition. It wasn’t difficult for me to integrate the material because I thought it was very relevant to the show and expressed the dynamics of the teams.

4. Please describe what you think your strengths were in regard to blogging and participation.

  • One of my main strengths was that I completed all of the blog posts and comments thoroughly and in a timely manner. I participated every week and I was very descriptive with my answers. Also, I feel that I integrated the material very well according to each chapter and episode assigned.

5. Please describe how you think you could improve on your blogging and participation.

  • In regards to participation, I don’t feel I need to improve at all because I completed all of my assignments on time. However, I think I could have perhaps tried to integrate the material in a more interesting way. This could have been accomplished by using pictures or providing my own personal input on the events that occurred in the chapter rather than just objectively describing them.

6. What did you like about blogging?

  • Overall, I liked the idea of blogging about the Survivor episodes. I had never watched the show prior to this class, and I thought it was a very creative way of analyzing and applying the course material. I felt that through my blogging, I was able to absorb more of the meaning behind the chapter information because it allowed me to understand the subject in a completely new way.

7. What did you dislike about blogging?

  • The only thing I disliked about blogging was that sometimes it was difficult to keep up. Because there was a new episode every week, there was also some confusion at times about which episode to blog about.

8. What suggestions do you have for this assignment in the future?

  • Overall, I enjoyed the assignment as well as watching the show. The only adjustment I would suggest making would be to discuss the course concepts and episode while in class. I think conversing with others about the different interpretations of how the course applied to the episode would be an interesting way to learn more about the material.

Blog Post #9

/in /by

Throughout all of survivor, motivation has been an extremely important factor in affecting how participants play the game. In the second challenge, Jeff begins to present different plates of food in front of the members in order to tempt them to give up and lose the challenge. As they struggle to hold on, Jon is the first that gives into Jeff’s offering, and he immediately gives up immunity at tribal council. Offering food to the group manipulates them into giving up because they have been hungry for days and desperately need food for energy. This takes into account Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in that it plays on the contestants physiological needs for food and drink. Jon is then followed by many others; all of them being persuaded and motivated by the need for nourishment.

Later in the episode, Reed begins to use his own strategies to persuade the others to vote for Jon at tribal council. He reveals that he wants to rally people together and offer them the idea because he believes Jon has become too comfortable in the game. This was particularly evident as he was the first to give up in the immunity challenge. Jon is an obvious threat to everyone in the competition as everyone has the impression that he is the “alpha” of the group. Reed wants to change this by offering members a sense of choice. He proposes the idea to the others so that they have the impression that their opinions and votes could drastically change the competition and that they can make a difference overall. Therefore, the members will each feel a sense of progress which is another key reason for motivation within a group. They will not only further themselves in the competition, but they will also be able to accomplish a goal they set together to change the course of the entire game.

Blog 9

/in /by

This weeks readings were very informative. I felt that they were direct and brief. The articles focused on offering the reader solutions to breakdown oppression in its many forms.  The Cycle of Liberation, and How to Interrupt Oppressive Behavior differ in how they explain the same process, but in the end both articles offer the same solution. The solution is to break, interrupt oppression when it happens. Both articles also petition that change of oneself through education and actions is necessary to deconstruct oppression.

The Cycle of Liberation is a diagram with eight sections that express moments in every individuals life that allows them to break from oppression. The idea is that everyone will wake up from their current state of ignorance and realize that oppression is a part of their daily life. The enlightened individual must then go through various stages to reach change. Liberation could not come without the individual’s desire for change, wrestling with their current perspective of privilege, and oppression, and engaging in a number of actions in order to transform their core values. Also once an individual has reached the desired state it is their responsibility to maintain this level to prevent from regressing. fighting oppression is an on going process.

How to Interrupt Oppressive Behavior takes a different approach instead of focusing on a diagram this article simply provides a list of what to do to interrupt oppressive behavior. This article also gives a great illustration of people oppressing others in a summer camp setting. The illustration is very effective because it is simple, relatable and clear. The actions you take when hearing or seeing oppressive behavior could be, actively join in behavior, no response, educate oneself, interrupt the behavior, interrupt and educate, support other’s proactive response, initiate proactive response. The choice you make in any situation is either going to interrupt behavior or support oppressive behavior there is no middle ground.

The authors made great points in each article, a few points that really stood out to me were as follows.  You are going to be part of the problem or part of the solution. No one is neutral in constructing or deconstructing oppression. Failure to fight oppression is participation, our choices will influence others. Since we are all involved it is our responsibility to become introspective, educated, and to raise consciousness about oppression, this part of the process towards liberation is called getting ready. I value the getting ready part of the cycle of liberation because it bluntly tells you that you are not perfect. To attain liberation you must challenge your core values and rearrange, destroy and build, old and new values. I also appreciate the concept of building community. Instinctively we will build a community around us of like minded people. A community of people who value and live like we do is healthy, but to fight oppression we need to reach out to people that are not like us. Building community with people unlike us will help cultivate understanding and peace.