Employment

This entire semester I have been taking Communications 203 with Dr. Kevin Williams. Within this class I have acquired quite a few new skills that I never thought I would have.

Now, I am far more capable of using a Mac, which has become a skill worth knowing. It has helped me immensely. Working with different types of computing systems (Mac, Windows, Linux, etc etc) I believe is going to help me in whatever field I choose to go in for a few reasons:

1. Converting files between different formats can be difficult and some don't know how to do it. Working between these three operating formats has helped me in doing that.
2. A knowledge of all systems means less training and therefore less time needed to get me running where I need to be when I start at a new job.
3. Not only do I have a knowledge of the system, but in the Comm 203 course I took this semester, there is an even better knowledge of the programs running on the different systems. I have a knowledge of producing, editing, and have a final cut of film ready. I can also make a comic strip (which will come in handy if I become a Child Psychologist. I mean, who doesn't love a good comic book to express your emotions through?)
4. This class has given me a huge jump on online networking for scheduling, sharable documents, and mind mapping (which is way more useful than earlier thought).

Those are a few things that this class has helped me with. There are so much more. I have become a far better writer, planner, and even negotiator because the acceptance level is no less than astounding.

I never thought that I could learn how to edit video, let alone produce one that I could be proud of.

How does this translate to employment in the field of my major: Psychology?

With graphic novel skills I hope that the people I aim to counsel will be able to not only use words, but pictures to describe how or why they are feeling the ways that they do, or to just be able to describe what they feel they cannot say.

With video production I have always wanted to just give a client a camera so I can see a day, week, month or even more through their eyes. If that information was given, could there be an end to the ways that treatment could be given? There it is, a stretch of time in someone else's life that can be used to help them.

Again, these are skills I will be able to use when I become employed and they will further my dream to help people in different and more exciting way.

Violent Video Games

When it comes to violent video games there are a lot of arguments on both sides and both think that they are right. Some say "Violent video games are dangerous and will make people violent" and others say just the opposite "Violent video games are just fine, it is up to the parents and the child to decide which behaviors are okay!".

Well, I am  going to argue that both of these views are wrong. If people look into basic psychology, they will find that there is an argument of Nature versus Nurture. This argument states that either a person is born with all of their qualities, or that they are learned through their environment. However, if one combines the two, the argument sounds more solid, right? Logically, yes, and it seems to be that way throughout history.

The games aren't too blame, over saturation of the media with violence may give kids ideas, but they aren't the ones teaching the morals, and the games aren't the ones telling people that they have played enough.

If a child is in a home that is violent, their self worth is affected, so they may turn to violence to help release those feelings. Video games are a safer way to do that. Granted, there are alternatives to the use of violence, but there is still that primal drive that makes some people feel violent, and the only way to soothe that particular beast is... with violence.

So yes, there is a drive, and I also feel that there is environment to blame as well. If parents are more actively involved they can recognize the signs that their child needs to be 'cut off' from violence for a bit.
Parents need to be more decisive when buying their children violent video games, especially if they are prone to violence in the first place. This is becoming increasingly difficult for parents to do because if they have a child that is hyper active and they are able to get them to be quiet with a video game, no harm no foul. There is also the Dopamine Effect argument where people get hooked on the "high" they receive when they play such games. Again, monitoring is the best way to make sure this doesn't happen. If someone has been playing a game for four hours, that isn't as bad as four days, but it may need to be looked at in the long run.

No one is to blame but the people making the decision. A person knows when they are feeling violent and can help to stop themselves. Also, if there is no structure as to what "okay violence" is versus "not okay violence" then how will a child know when  and where is too much?

Simply put: there needs to be a sound structure as to what is okay and what isn't when violence is involved. Don't blame a video game if a child doesn't know right from wrong and knows there are consequences behind it if they do wrong.

Movie Magic: What I Want to Learn

When it comes to making movies, there is a lot I want to know.

First, why is the 1-2-8-7 sword fighting choreography so often used? If you don't know what that is, here is a clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFVX-JKdYVo (between the seconds of 45-48 is where you can see it best), or I could simply say that a 1-2--8-7 is basically the circle around and over that swordsmen make with cutting over the right shoulder, bringing it back over the left and cutting down and then going down from the left knee to cut up and switching to the right knee and cutting up. Anyway, it tends to be seen in a lot more than just the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and I would like to know why it is so often used when there is far better choreography out there.

The next thing I would like to know is how do you get one effect to happen within a condensed place. (example: Hellboy where Liz is on fire but not the whole scene). Within the movie I'm creating, that would be pretty nice to have for a small area, but again, not the whole scene.

When it comes to other ideas, what can you do to make your storyline better?

There is one last thing I would like to know, and that is what makes one movie more memorable than another. I've always wondered, what made Bruce Almighty more exciting to people than say Evan Almighty, or Sin City over the Watchmen? I understand with the Watchmen the Graphic Novel was never as big as Frank Miller's Sin City, but the plot for me is the same: Good versus Evil. Sort of like comparing any super hero movie to any other super hero movie. What makes them different?
It is something that has bothered me for a long time.

I suppose when it comes right down to it I just want to know why one thing is better than the next. What makes a film so special that people are willing to spend 20 bucks at a Regal to see it, when most will refuse to spend 10 dollars on the book that the movie is based on?

Generation Girl: Ready for the 'Finicky Era"?

Intro:

In times of struggle, lay-offs, and money being cinched so tight we can barely breathe, this generation (and those before it) have to wonder "Where do I go from here?"

Growing up, I thought that was an easy question like a lot of people, and like most of those people I found out how wrong I was. I went from wanting to be a veterinarian to scientist with Pre-Med intentions and finally landed in a Psychology Major and Minor in Communications. I've wondered how I ended up in this field. Oddly enough if was by asking the following questions that were presented to me by a professor:

Questions:

1. Can a computer do it faster? 
-Well I would certainly like to see a computer psychoanalyze problems and fix the world for us, but I think that is a ways off. However, computers are now able to do a lot of things in the science fields and have greatly improved the animal medicine field as well.


2. Is what I'm offering in demand in an age of abundance?
- Not exactly, but if the Stock Market ever crashes again, I'm pretty sure people like me will be needed to help people. (At least I hope so). Also, it's human nature to feel things either positive or negative, I'm just a tool to be used to let people know how/when/why people may have crossed lines of overly positive or negative. 


3. Can someone overseas do it cheaper?
- Well in their country, sure. However, I don't think (recently looking at ticket prices) that bringing people over to the US is all too cheap. 


Pause:


So, yes *clap clap* Yay for choosing a major that a computer can't replace. However, what does the future hold for this Major that has a minor piece in society. Some people call Psychology a pseudo science (Mind you, that is far from true) and others rebel against that stereotype. What I'm asking is what employers will ask everyone "What do you have to offer that no one else can?"


My Tools of the 'Trade':

To be honest with you, when it comes to design, story, and symphony to the work I would like to do, I have no idea where to go. 


However, with the other three it is what my work is supposed to be based around? Trying to empathize while spacing one's self away from the situation?


Playing around and goofing off to make people more relaxed?


Then getting right to why they are there in the first place and getting them away from that plateau? 

Conclusion:


All I know is that I want to reach people, and that's as basic as it gets. I like analyzing and understanding things. It is the best way I know how to help. This may sound selfish, but getting right down to a person's basic side and right to the fruit of who they are makes me feel more accomplished than most things. A person at their basic is the most complex thing anyone can experience.

LEAP VS NCLB

         Think back to High School. Your feet are kicked up, friends are chit chatting, and the room has the usually beige or white walls that are beyond standard along with the smell of chalk and eraser burn. It's the end of the day and you just want to go jump in your car and get out there. When it happens. Your teacher comes in with that grin that can only come from comic books. It's big, wide and creepy making you reminisce back to the first time you saw Batman's Joker. They stride across the room and shut the window, continuing that grin. "Crap" is all you can think. You know what's coming.
         "Class, in the next week, we are going to be starting on our Standardized Tests. If you don't get a decent grade, then not only does the school suffer, but the school will make sure you suffer as well."
You have been trained most of your school life for this. Teachers are freaked because their jobs, funding for the school and students' grades are riding on this. However, some of the more twisted ones, who like torturing their students are elated.
         In West Virginia, pre 2002, we had the WES TEST. Then came in No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and now Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP) is starting to make some waves. Standardized testing has become popular, and here is a look at two programs that claim they want to help make public schools a better place for everyone.


No Child Left Behind:
Enacted: January 8, 2002
By: George W. Bush
Proposes:
         That all students will help children 'make the grade on state-defined education standards by the
end of the 2013–14 school year." (US Department of Education 2004 with their explanation of how NCLB is supposed to work)
         It also implies that parents, teachers, and other staff members will have a say in what happens at 'their' school if it appears that it is in need of an educational boost. Along with that, they are saying (on more flexible spending) "In exchange for strong accountability, No Child Left Behind gives states and districts more flexibility in the use of their federal education funding".
        Along with all of the other great things NCLB does is that it is supposed to support America's Teachers, bring better report cards in, and allow for schools with problems to get better teachers.


          Before I go any further, I just want to say that this is a nice idea. It would be great if NCLB actually did what it was supposed to do, and it looks fantastic on paper. However, the biggest problem with the program is that it does not take into account children with handicaps or the fact that now teachers are being forced into teach what the government wants them to teach.
         Back when I was in school, I honestly learned so much more when the teachers were in 'their element'. Pigeon holing them is really not a great way to go when they're on pins and needles about not only their funding getting cut, but the fact that the are at risk for being fired if the students are not 'up to par'.
         So instead of redoing this Legislation, there is another idea circulating around with LEAP. Here is what they are trying to do:


LEAP:
Established: 2005-ongoing
By: Ronald A. Crutcher
Proposes:

• Essential learning outcomes—as a guiding vision and national benchmarks for college learning and liberal education in the 21st century
• High-Impact educational practices—that help students achieve essential learning outcomes
• Authentic Assessments—probing whether students can apply their learning to complex problems and real-world challenges
• Inclusive Excellence—to ensure that every student gets the benefits of an engaged and practical liberal education. (Found through LEAP's home page)

     Instead of using Standardized testing where it's nothing but a bunch of 'bubble testing'. LEAP is trying to use other methods that include real life. Making sure that students can keep up with today's college standards as well as focusing on figuring out complexities. 

     The difference between these two is simple. One is giving us tests that force a certain style of teaching (NCLB) where as the other is giving more of fluid approach. Personally I feel that using LEAP may be more beneficial if students are trying to solve real world problems. I mean, that is what we're supposed to be doing isn't it? Preparing students for life? 

      So let's go back to the scenario of preparing for a foul Standardized Test while you're sitting in that classroom. The teacher presents you with a choice. You can go for the test that has Scan Tron Sheets or you can take the test that let's you think and apply what you've learned through experiences with your class mates. Which would you choose?