Engage Part 2

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This week is part two of the challenge engagement. We are supposed to take to social media and actively participate in conversation and share on our topics. My topic was the affordability of college tuition/ higher education. I first posted on my twitter, the app for school called “Schools APP”, and once on Facebook. But to no avail. How ever Melissa of #UNIV349DC did re-tweet one of my tweets and I believe she replied to my Schools APP post as well. So THANKS MELISSA!!!! Its a politically driven topic but it seems like they move on to the more popular topics each week. And we (The Affordable Higher Education topic) we’re so two weeks ago. But I’ve seen a lot more posts on the topic and have re-tweeted a few things myself. It will be interesting to see if we get any replies from presidential  candidates or others. I did retweet a post @SenSanders  that  @verda_verde posted. Things are starting to flow a bit more smoothly. I slightly kept forgetting about the class hashtag but when I did remember I started using it. I haven’t started replying back to others tweets I’ve seen posted, I figured I would evolve with the topic and do that for next week and build off the findings and see how that goes.

 

Challenge 5 Part 2

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Hello everyone! this week I will continue and build on the concept from last week. It has been an exciting roller coaster to experience how amazing it is to search a specific topic from the social media perspective. I have comment it on different blogs but I just keep on learning so many new perspectives about how beneficial social media websites are when used for the right things. As I moved on from lurking and actually engaging in social media I feel more involve with the topic I’m searching for. High college tuition is the cause of stress for a lot of students and getting the social media perspectives has been really interesting. The only obstacle I encounter was perhaps the lack of familiarity with specific social medias. I personally do not use many social medias,  but encountering my self with having some trouble finding professional and reliable information allowed me to have a really essential reflection. I came with the conclusion that my generation was raised with social media always being around; therefore, we tend to see it as just a source to be social when in reality social media is far from being  just an entertainment source. I decided to reflect back on how I’m engaging my self and I decided to apply some changes. I decided to read my group members’ blogs in order to obtain more tips and even sources to stay engage and obtain beneficial information about the topic of high college tuition. My goal to become really engage with the topic of high college tuition is still in progress and I really look forward to find out how this experiences changes my perspectives. I may not be done with this great experience but I am sure that I have change my perspective about social media in a really positive way.

Diving In On Twitter

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This week on Twitter, I deviated from engaging with the 2016 presidential candidates of last week’s post as it hasn’t panned out for me so far. I will return to that avenue because I still think it would be really cool to get a response from one of them, but in order, to really engage, one must size up all the players in the game.

I sought out active Twitter users with perhaps a little more time in their schedules than Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, and came across a site that listed “People and Companies on Twitter Focused on College Affordability.” That proved to be a valuable starting point and let me to The Campaign for Free College Tuition, US PIRG, and the Wisconsin Hope Lab.

I found that US PIRG, which, in their own words, “is a consumer group that stands up to powerful interests whenever they threaten our health and safety, our financial security, or our right to fully participate in our democratic society.” While they have engaged on college tuition talk in the past, they are quiet on the issue at the moment.

The Wisconsin Hope Lab (@wihopelab) is a research laboratory that focuses on several aspects of higher education and they have some very interesting tweets.

The Campaign For Free College Tuition (@FreeCollegeNow) has their own plans for college tuition and engages with universities and politics on a consistent basis. Out of all of the tweets that I sent out this week, this is the only one that I go a (sort of) response from. CFCT added me to one of their lists, so that’s a hint of progress! I still hope to receive a response from the president as I sent tweets both to the campaign’s page and to his personal page.

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Below are the rest of my interactions from this week and just the tip of the iceberg still for this topic. Will be looking into more ways to receive a response this week and continuing to engage.

nov 2.1nov 2.2

Until next time,

MGH

The post Diving In On Twitter appeared first on Professor In Training.

Blog 10. Engage Part Dos

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HI y’all. So I totally changed up my approach this week, because I wanted some actual responses. I feel that, unless I am connected within a certain social circle, or have some sort of reputable standing, I’m otherwise going to be somewhat ignored. So what I did was messaged a few people from my social circle, or previous social circles on Facebook that were talking about the refugee crisis. I told them, “Hey I’m doing a sort of a study for one of my university classes on the refugee crisis, can I ask you a few questions?” I got a few responses, and of course, I still used Twitter to show some cool links I’ve found.

So I reached out to a couple of my friends, I’ll call one Stan. I used to work with him at Papa Johns and we were able to talk on the phone after initially talking on Facebook. Stan is from Pakistan, and he is a 24 year old student who is in the medical program in the Caribbean Isles. He moved to the U.S with his family when he was 13, but most of his other family members still live in Pakistan. He is of Muslim faith, yet he is very westernized. Since he and his family members have seen the effect that military warfare has on people, as well as severe civil unrest, he told me that he completely understands where refugees are coming from. He told me that, “People are just trying to survive in any way that they can, and it is morally wrong to refuse refuge for these people.” I believe that he is correct, people should not be held back from trying to better their lives, and in this case, save their lives and the lives of their family. He told me that, “My family is only worrying about paying their mortgage, and the refugees are worrying about their lives every day.” It’s powerful, for instance I’m worrying about my grades and what I will buy my loved ones for Christmas, and people on the other side of the globe have much more severe worries then I have. This is evident in plenty of the articles that I found. People are crossing treacherous waters, and many of them are barely escaping with their lives. The least countries can do is offer them refuge.

Another one of my compadres who I met in High School posted a link to a video in September about the refugee crisis. I found his post when I searched the refugee crisis on Facebook. In his post, he said “Very painful to watch and to know that this is a tiny percentage of people who live with this every single day. What are we doing as humans when a 13 year old is absolutely defeated and is asking for something that should never have to be asked for. Breaks my heart.” The video is about the drowned Syrian child from back in September, and it’s really powerful. I commented on this as well, but didn’t receive a response yet. Video is here.

I tried to contact people that I haven’t met online, and I unfortunately didn’t receive anything back. I’m trying to build a Twitter base, but it’s taking some time. Overall, I think that to get a social movement going, or a group, you need to start small. Start within your friends and family, or colleagues who share similar opinions. Like that one Ted Talk explained that all a leader needs is one good follower, I think that’s how it starts. So that is why I reached out to people I know who don’t go to school here, and who may know something about the refugee crisis. It was engaging, and quite helpful.

Insight and Expression 2015-11-03 22:30:50

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Since i have been on twitter i have been looking for more information on higher education.  the problem with only looking for textbook information was the information and especially the conversation seemed pretty stale.  This week i began to lurk more in a broad terms about higher education and the cost of it and while i did find some similar information i noticed that a noteworthy point was the winner of the NLSS which is an award given to people who help progress and innovate the world of higher education.  While lurking and hesitantly commenting on twitter about the topic of our project i found a more open and plentiful conversation about the general environment. while i do have your time i do want to say that after reading a few articles (here, here and here) there is a sense that the only way for anyone to see a cost effective reason to go through college is to get the same monetary gain out of college.  For students this isnt the case, Most students chose the classes and major they have and they are willing to do more to study these courses but higher education makes it difficult.  Personally i go to college to experience and find out morethings to understand body language while not putting much effort in my grade (a dramatic problem i am well aware of) and the price of education makes it harder to possible study and do something with something that i love.

Hi

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Sunset at C street

Sunset at C street

Sorry if I’m slow. Trying to figure out WordPress.

Chapter 8/ Relationship between TV viewing and unhealthy eating

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While reading chapter 8 it is evident that obesity, anorexia, and other eating disorders are caused not only by TV usage, but also how the child is raised.  For instance, obesity has been a growing problem in America for kids, but adults as well.  Some of these parents may buy them junk food each month; as a result, the child only has bad foods in the house to eat.  On the other hand, a parent that eats nutritional food may only buy those foods; as a result, that adolescent only has healthy foods to eat.  Additionally, poverty is a predictor for obesity because fast food is cheaper than organic foods, and these children also don’t have access to sports programs to stay fit.  Another health problem is anorexia and bulimia, which consists of 7-9 million individuals.  It was interesting that this group consists of young women, but men also have these eating disorders as well.  Many people say that the fashion industry is to blame, but I think that it is only a part of it.  I have heard of the “thinspiration” websites before and was astonished to learn that these sites actually exist.  To add, numerous models in the fashion industry are naturally skinny, and I don’t think that young girls take that into consideration.  Also, there are a variety of TV shows based on weight loss, like The Biggest Loser.  I think these types of shows are putting an idea in these kids mind, although not all kids are obese, have anorexia, or another form of eating disorder.   To sum up, I agree that the health care system is a problem.  Many individuals can’t afford health care; as a result, kids don’t have access to nutritional doctors in order to stay at their healthy weight.

While reading the article, it was crazy to me that on a daily basis, children view 15 food advertisements.  I think that this is a factor to develop unhealthy eating habits, although I agree that parent-child communication is vital.  If a parent talks with their child about unhealthy food ads, than they may think twice about eating a bag of potato chips.  I also think that parents should speak to their kids about nutrition, and providing more healthier foods in the home (if they have the means of doing so).  Additionally, I found it interesting that the participants in this study consumed more healthier foods.  Ultimately, I believe that eating habits come from the food provided from parents and schools, and that TV commercials are just a portion of the problem.

End of Life Thoughts

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End of life care

This topic is very interesting to me because my grandparents are getting older. My grandma just went through a difficult chemo and radiation cancer treatment. A year later she is doing much better but there were some tough months where the family was trying determine where she was going to live and who was going to help her. She wanted to just go home and not have any help. They did find a balance but it has created a lot of talk within our family about end of life care. My mom, after trying very hard to get her mother to move closer to one of her children and only getting extreme resistance, has told me sisters and I, when she gets older she will move closer to one of us. Sounds great right now but circumstances might be different if she is really sick and needing a lot of medical care and even more challenging if insurance didn’t cover most of it. What if the natural order of end of life doesn’t follow suit. Then what? Those are very hard discussions to have with your family.

There is a very good podcast with Freakonomics that I recently listened to called “Are you ready for a glorious sunset?” It discusses the reality of end of life care and the cost of living your last few months. One of the most interesting guest on the show was a doctor and he said he would not want all the tests and days in the hospital. He believed a financial incentive for patients who didn’t forgo end of life treatment was a good idea for the patient and the family. Go on one last trip, buy a house for their family or buy that last dream sports cars. On paper that seems very desirable but there are some tricky aspects. I think it also comes down to the family making life saving measures of someone they cherish without fully knowing the costs. In moments of dying loved ones, cost isn’t the issue but maybe it needs to be information that is available to the decision makers.

I hope that I can have more discussions with my parents before it becomes a tricky decision making process.

http://freakonomics.com/2015/08/27/are-you-ready-for-a-glorious-sunset-a-new-freakonomics-radio-episode/

Participation Attempts Continued (Challenge 5.2)

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This week’s assignment was to continue participation in social media. Similar to my results last week, I did not get feedback from the many users of the Internet. I went to Instagram to attempt to make contact with other users. I commented on several images that were shared in the #lgbtrepresentation tag asking how users felt about representation in the media with the preface that I’m gathering information for a class. I did not receive any replies.

While this was somewhat discouraging, I continued to at the very least lurk the Internet while awaiting responses to my comments and replies to posts. I looked to Twitter for different accounts that I felt had active users that spoke about LGBT rights and topics, and I found the @BuzzFeedLGBT account! I thought that this account was a very good source especially because BuzzFeed is a site that many young adults browse for information (whether that information is a food recipe or something more worthwhile). I scrolled through their feed and favorited some tweets, but I did not find anything that I felt warranted a retweet.

Unfortunately, from Tuesday to Saturday, I came down with a cold and this limited the amount of time I spent online. Because of this, I did not do too much participation or any browsing online. Hopefully this week, I will be able to commit more time to the assignment at hand. In the meantime, I may continue to participate online; maybe this week will produce more activity!

Santa Rosa part 2

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While I was at the Santa Rosa Island I learned a lot but two things that I remember are the species on the island are all originate from the main land , also that since the plates are in constant motion, this island has been moving north along the coast. Now what I was able to deduce from these two facts I learned from my faculty lead session is that the animals from southern California starts to vary as the island moves further north some species begins to change and as a result. To help understand what I’m talking about I will first explain each theory that I learned while on the Santa Rosa Island then draw a clear connection to these two things I picked up.

The first one I will want to cover is the theory of Island Geography, which states that the number of species on an island is based on the island distances from the main land and also based off of the size of the island. So since the Santa Rosa Island is part of the channel island (3rd farthest of the mainland) and is the second largest island of the Channel Islands it is susceptible to the main land but with a few differences. These spices are able to get to the island through birds, humans, floating, and fecal matter. Once a species finds its way onto the island they evolve or mutate to help survive or thrive on the island.

300px-Californian_Channel_Islands_map_en

The other concept that I picked up at the Island was that the island is in fact in constant shift. My guides was also able to tell me that the Island is in fact moving north and the island run East to West it’s a constant line moving up. Since it’s constantly moving north that means that the islands are never in the same place and who know they could even end up outside of the San Francisco Bay.

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Now let’s put these two ideas together, if the island thrives on the main land for species and biodiversity. So if the island is dependent on the mainland then if it moves far enough north toward a different area then the species provided by the main land then change and the island will experience a new type of a species, so in a few hundred years we may find that new species now live on the island.