Compassion

Journal 3-1

I. 
               Last week I was very curious about the number of people who thought that cheating was ethical. I wondered if there were any surveys or statistics to prove it? After much research, the answers have been found!

               According to a Washington Post survey, 64% of high school students said they cheated, and  93% of these said they were satisfied with their personal ethics and character. A Rutgers University found in a survey of 4,500 high school students that more than half of students admitted to plagiarizing materials from the internet, 74% admitted they had cheated on exams or tests, and 97 % admitted to cheating on homework. In surveying faculty, they found almost 90 percent reported being aware of cheating occurring in their classroom, but almost one-third said they did nothing about it.

II. 
                This week in Ethic's Class, we discussed a variety of topics surrounding the "greater good". We spent some time studying the ethics of compassion, and we saw two different view points on the subject. Also, we learned about the "Prisoner's Dilemma" and played a game to showcase how events would turn out. All in all, it was a very interesting week.

                For the majority of the week, we talked about compassion. Compassion can be defined as a deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it. We viewed two different TED talks this week discussing this, and I thought they were both very interesting. One idea that was proposed was a "Charter for Compassion". The Charter has very good intentions; it tries to achieve peace for all people and between all religions. I do feel that it is a little unrealistic. It would be very near impossible to get all people to sign it and agree to admit wrong and promise to obey the Charter. Also we talked about the evolution of compassion by watching another TED talk. Personally, I thought that this talk was very hard to absorb and understand. I do think that the views presented were different and interesting, but I agree more with the Charter than the science.

                At the end of this week we also dicussed the "Prisoner's Dilemma", but we didn't really get a chance to discuss it thoroughly. I thought it was very interesting how everyone answered their questions. In real life, if I was being questioned by police, I would definitely cooperate with them, probably because I would be scared out of my mind.  In the game though, I decided to stay true to my partner in crime. In the end, we actually had the highest scores out of the class! By sacrificing some points to allow both to prosper, we both ended up winning in the end. I think that this situation would not work out in real life, because when criminal's lives are in danger, they do not think of others before themselves.

III. 
                 After talking about the "Prisoner's Dilemma" , I am very curious about the results. When it was studied, what were the results? Did people choose the same way that my group did?

Please stay tuned for the answer next week!

Sources

Boenisch, D. (2008, December 1). Is cheating ethical?. Retrieved from http://schoolhousetalk.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/is-cheating-ethical/ 


Clowes, G. (2004, February 1). Survey results: student attitudes towards cheating. Retrieved from http://www.heartland.org/policybot/results/14378/Survey_Results_Student_Attitudes_Towards_Cheating.html

Compassion. (2011, January 31). Retrieved from http://www.answers.com/topic/compassion

King, M. (2010, October 5). Teachers, tests and cheating: where do we draw the line?. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200907/r399704_3044132.jpg 

The charter for compassion. (2011, January 31). Retrieved from http://signsofthelastdays.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/The-Charter-For-Compassion-One-World-Religion1.jpg

The structure of social networks. (2011, January 31). Retrieved from http://epress.anu.edu.au/cs/chap5Newth-final-10.jpg

To cheat, or not to cheat...

Journal 2-5

I. 
               Since last week's Blog did not have a question, there will not be an answer this week.

II. 
               This past week in Ethic's class, we continued our discussion of the new face of leadership. We also started our unit with case studies about cheating and rules. All in all, it was a very interesting, as well as enlightening, week!

               My favorite, and most interesting, part of the week was when we discussed the ethics of cheating. Ever since I was very young, I have had the ideas of "cheating is wrong" and "cheaters never win" permanently ingrained into my head. I still feel this way, but I was very interested to see that some people in the class did not! Some students were trying to justify it by saying that it was okay since everyone involved knew what they were getting in to. Personally, I do not feel that this is an excuse! Cheating is cheating is cheating. It does not matter whether it is a homework assignment, a quiz, a test, or exam; cheating is always wrong. It denies the leaner the chance to learn, and it mentally degrades them. It hurts the rest of the class and teacher as well. If there are any grade curves, the cheater's grades will throw them off. Also the teacher will get a false sense of how the class is doing. All in all, cheating has no benefits. It is bad for everyone!

               In class, someone mentioned that cheating was justified because the people involved knew the consequences and accepted them. We did not really get a chance to fully discuss this, and everyone did not get a chance to answer. As mentioned before, I feel that cheating is very wrong and unethical. If someone knows the consequences of their actions, they would realize that it is wrong! An example of this would be murder. Murderers know that it is wrong and understand the consequences, but these facts do not make it right! Another example would be the use of enhancing steroids in sports. The athletes know the numerous amount of consequences involved in their use, but this absolutely does not make it ethical! This list could go on and on! Just because someone knows the consequences of a horrible action does not justify it.

III.
               Since the ethics of cheating was a big part of last weeks class, I was wondering how many people actually think cheating is ethical? What are the statistics?


Please stay tuned for the answer next week!

Sources:

A rule of thumb for scientific papers?. (2009, March 16). Retrieved from http://startswithabang.com/?p=1638
  
Cheating. (2011, January 22). Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/emotion/cheating.html 

Hoffman, Dave. (2010, July 21). Could you cheat on an open-book issue spotter?. Retrieved from http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2010/07/could-you-cheat-on-an-open-book-issue-spotter.html
 
What’s wrong with cheating?. (2008, March 12). Retrieved from http://grizzlymedia.wordpress.com/2008/03/12/whats-wrong-with-cheating/

Change

Journal 2-4
 
 I.
            Several weeks ago I was very curious about the effectiveness of commercials. Historically, the most effective commercials have been ones that are simple, straight forward, and either have a touch of humor or discuss making the world a better place. Despite the hundreds of commercials viewed everyday, a very small number actually cause consumers to buy their product.


II.
               This past week in Ethic's class, we have spent a lot of time watching the mid-term documentaries and discussing the techniques used in all of them. Also we have spent time talking about a "new face of Leadership", and what we would change in the future.

               Probably my favorite part of the week was watching the documentaries. I loved seeing all of the different topics and finished products. I thought it was every interesting to see the variety and similarity of the topics. I thought all of the documentaries could be divided up into two different kinds: either a tribute or informational. Within these two topics, the documentaries could be divided up between funny and serious, as well as ethical and unethical. I felt that the tributes tended to be the more ethical ones, and the funny ones tended to be more unethical. While watching the documentaries, I was actually surprised at how well made most of the documentaries were! Most of them, with a little more editing and a viewing audience, could actually be made into real documentaries. I also thought that you could see how much time and effort a group put into their documentary by viewing their finished product. There were some that the viewers could tell had been thrown together last minute, while others had taken hours upon hours creating their's. All in all, I thought that the documentaries were great learning experiences that have taught the class a lot.

               
               Toward the end of the week, the class discussed the "new face of leadership". I thought that our in- class discussion was very interesting. I felt that it was very good to get new ideas out, because no matter how wonderful something is, it has to change over time. I thought that the class brought up many great ideas that could make the Leadership Center stronger. I do think that our discussion got a little heated when the center of attention turned towards the Leadership Council. I thought that the Council got very defensive and tried to throw down anything said after that. This was very interesting to watch. I thought some people's true characters came out that day. In my personal opinion, I feel that two major things need to be changed. One being the Council. I feel that the Council should practice better communication skills and be less seclusive. I feel that students that are not in the Council see more flaws, or areas for improvement, in the Leadership Program, and I feel that it would be best to look toward the basic Leadership population to get new ideas. Another area for improvement, which I mentioned in class, would be to give the Leadership Center "more meaning". This may sound harsh, but I by this I mean the following: to give the center more name recognition, more "meaningful" community service, and to make it more of a powerful community force that changes lives.
All in all, I feel that right now, the Leadership Center provides many opportunities to many students. I do feel though that some changes could be made to enhance the Center.

Sources

Documentary guy. (2011, January 17). Retrieved from http://twitter.com 


Leadership and other ramblings. (2011, January 17). Retrieved from http://leadershipramblings.blogspot.com 


Tart, Nick. (2009, August 15). Top 5 most effective commercial series on tv in 2009. Retrieved from http://juniorbiz.com/effective-tv-commercials

The center for leadership and international relations. (2011, January 17). Retrieved from http://web.me.com/sarah_mansfield/Leadership/Welcome.html

Commercials, and brands, and billboards... Oh my!

I.
               Last week I was very curious about advertising on television and billboards. How much time and money do companies spend on making advertisements?  What is the average price of a commercial or billboard? After much research the answers have been found!
               Depending on the market, the average cost per TV spot ranges from $13 to $63. Companies can reach 80,000 households more than 200 times for less than $10,000. These numbers vary though by television station and amount of views per station. Also the show that is playing while the commercial is being shown changes the price too, a half-minute Super Bowl television commercial costs $2.4 million! National TV spots on the final summer "Survivor" episode sold for $1 million. National TV spots on "Millionaire" sold for $750,000. National TV spots on final "Seinfeld" sold for $2 million each. Also the average billboard costs from $500.00 to $8,000.00 per month depending on the amount of traffic on the road.

II.
               Last wek in Ethic's class, we spent a lot of time talking about advertising and brands. We finished watching The Persuaders  and talked about the hassels companies go through to reach consumers at home. Also we had to do a project on one of our favorite brands and do research to find out the history of that brand. All in all it was a pretty interesting week filled with lots of new interesting facts.

               I really enjoyed listening to the Brand Analysis Projects this week, and it was probably my favorite part. Hearing about the unique histories of some of my favorite brands was very enlightening, as well as entertaining! All of the commercials shown were very different, but they all had one mission: to get comsumers to buy their products. Some companies used entertaining, and some slightly creepy, characters to advertise their products. Others used bright colors and flashy words to sell their products. Despite these two, other companies showed their products in use, and they tried to make them look appealing. I see all of these forms of adertising daily on television, some beign more sucessful than others. Another intersting thing I saw in some of the projects was the amount of controversy certian companies had been involved in. I think the skill and strength of a company are shown best by how fast and easily they can get out of controversy. Smaller, less powerful companies would not recover as easily as some of the larger brands like Pop-tarts and Coco-cola.

               One thing that we did not really discuss in class was which style of advertising we thought was most effective. Personally, I think the companies/brands that do not bombard comsumers with outrageous amounts of commercials and billboards are more effective. Certain brands can actually get rather annoying if they can be seen everywhere one looks. Also I think commercials that are creative, but deliver a strong message are the strongest of commercials. I love seeing something new on a television commercial that I have never seen before. Also I think that the commercials that everyone can recognize have successfully won their audiences, such as the Coca-cola Santa, the Geico Lizard, and the dancing iPod users.

III.
               After all of this talk about advertising, I am very curious about the response people have to commercials. Which ones historically have been the most effective? Which ones do people respond to the best?

Please stay tuned for the answers next week!

Sources:

Billboard and outdoor advertising. (2010, December 5). Retrieved from http://billboard-outdoor.com/

Poptarts vs toaster strudel. (2010, December 5). Retrieved from http://www.sodahead.com/living/would-you-rather-have-a-poptart-or-toaster-strudel-for-breakfast/question-60830/?link=ibaf&imgurl=http://www.waterworldrec.com/Pop%2520Tarts%2520logo.jpg&q=poptart

The cost of advertising on television. (2010, December 5). Retrieved from http://www.gaebler.com/National-TV-Spot-Ad-Costs.htm

The cost of renting a billboard. (2010, December 5). Retrieved from http://askville.amazon.com/cost-rent-average-billboard-sign/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=12691479 http://www.gaebler.com/National-TV-Spot-Ad-Costs.htm

 

http://askville.amazon.com/cost-rent-average-billboard-sign/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=12691479

Shake up disappointment?. (2010, November 14). Retrieved from http://aemmp.org/

Advertising Blues

Journal 2-2

I.
               Two weeks ago, I was very curious about the Troop Greeter program and  others similar to it. I was wondering how many troops have they greeted currently? What kinds of impacts are other groups making? After a lot of research, the answers have been found.

               The Bangor Troop Greeters shown in the movie, The Way We Get By,have greeted over 5500 flights with more than 1,140,000 service members and 281 military dogs. Greeting all of these people, and animals too, is an amazing feat in itself and it is wonderful to know that people are willing to give up some of their time to do that. There are many other groups around the country that have similar purposes.Other groups are not as publicized, so specific numbers and information is difficult to find. Some groups simply greet the incoming and departing troops, but some actually donate American flags, cell phones, and care packages as well. All in all, these different organizations, no matter how small, make large impacts in the lives of the troops.

II.
               The past two weeks in Ethic's class, we have been covering persuasive media and advertising, along with a bit on how to make a documentary and TEDx Conferences. We watched the documentary The Persuaders, which discussed the ever-changing advertising market. All in all, these past two weeks were very interesting and highly enlightening.

                 I found The Persuaders to be very interesting. Before viewing the movie, I had already known that advertisers spent a great deal of time and money coming up with their television and billboard ads. Despite this, I did not realize actually how much thought and research was put into simple 30 second commercials. I still can't believe that certain companies even use support groups and individual questioning to find out crazy ideas. I thought the most wacky of them all was when the researcher asked the man if eating white bread made him feel lonely! Exactly what kind of question is that? I don't think that bread companies target lonely white bread consumers! I feel that companies could save themselves a lot of time and unnecessary struggles by fine tuning their advertisements. Also I feel that they would earn more customers if they spent the money used on advertisements to lower the prices of the goods that they are trying to sell.
               In class we talked a lot about the movie, but we never really answered the question of whether or not we actually pay attention to the swarm of advertisements. When watching television, I actually watch the commercials, unlike some people. I do though, however, only watch the commercials for entertainment only. Normally I do not choose to buy one product or the other just because of their advertisement. I buy things because of quality and reliability, not because of how flashy and unique their commercials are. This past spring break, my family and I traveled to New York City and stayed near Time's Square, which is known for it's over sized billboards and advertisements. Everywhere you look there is another flashing ad trying to make an impact on you. Time's Square, even though companies try to use it as a way to advertise, has actually become a tourist attraction because of the overuse of advertising. No one pays attention to what product is actually trying to be sold; they are looking to see which one would make the best Christmas card background or vacation photo. I sort of understand the advertiser's pain when it comes to advertising. Yes, having your product shown in every other commercial may work, but honestly I feel that quality and low prices are the way to go!

(Above are pictures I actually took in Time's Square this past Spring Break.)

 III.
               After all of this talk about advertising, I am really curious as to how much time and money companies actually spend on making advertisements?  What is the average price of a commercial or billboard?

Please stay tuned for the answers next week!

Sources:

Fanning, Lt. Col. Paul . (2010, November 28). National guard: heartwarming film pays tribute to troop greeters. Retrieved from http://ng.mil 


The persuaders. (2010, November 28). Retrieved from http://identity33.com

The persuaders. (2010, November 28). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/


The way we get by. (2010, November 28). Retrieved from http://www.thewaywegetbymovie.com/


Welcome to the maine troop greeters. (2010, November 28). Retrieved from http://www.themainetroopgreeters.com/

Who's who. (2010, November 28). Retrieved from http://mainetroopgreeters.com/Site/Home-1.html

The Way We Get By

Journal 2-1

I.
                Last week I was really interested about the elections for the U.S. House of Representatives. I wondered who would win the 7th District? Would the Republicans regain the majority in the House? After the elections on November 2nd, the votes have been counted and the answers have been revealed!

               In Virginia's 7th District, the winner was Eric Cantor who won with a 59.4% majority. He was also promoted to the Majority House Leader position in the House of Representatives after formally being the Minority House Whip. The Republican party did regain control of the House despite the Democrat's efforts to retain the majority. We will have to wait and see how this change in power turns out! For our country's sake, I hope it goes alright.

II.
               In class this week, we learned about the military, the elderly, and a group called the "Maine Troop Greeters". We learned background information and watched the movie The Way We Get By to learn more about the Greeters and their stories. All of these topics were centered around support for our troops and Veteran's Day that also occurred this week.

               I really enjoyed the documentary The Way We Get By , and I am so glad that we were able to watch it. I thought that it had a really great message about love, commitment, and sacrifice. I feel that our troops are not appreciated as much as they should be. Because of this, I totally support the Greeters and think that they are doing a very honorable service for their community. The dedication of Bill, Joan, and Jerry is absolutely inspiring and makes me want to go out and greet troops with them! Hearing their stories, both the sad parts as well as the happy, really made me think about our elderly population. Seeing how lonely they can be and how isolated they are makes me feel really sad. I feel so bad for them, but I know that they enjoy what they do. Greeting the troops keeps them going and helps to bring meaning back to their lives. It is amazing what one handshake can do.

               One question that was not brought up in class was whether or not we would be willing to greet troops just the Troop Greeters do. I think that I would definitely be willing to greet the returning troops and tell them how much I appreciate what they do. On the other hand, I do not think that I would be able to handle saying goodbye to the leaving troops. I don't think that I could emotionally handle it. All of the sadness in the air and knowing that some of them will not be returning would be too much for me. I think others should definitley be there to wish them off, but personally I don't think that I should be there.

III. 
               After all of this talk about the Troop Greeters located in Bangor Airport, I would like to know a little bit more about their impact. Currently how many troops have they greeted? Also what about other similar groups? What kind of impact are they making?

Please stay tuned for the answer next week!

Sources

Beyond the results: house of representatives. (2010, November 14). Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/2010-race-maps/house/

Cast and crew. (2010, November 14). Retrieved from http://www.thewaywegetbymovie.com/cast/

The way we get by. (2010, November 14). Retrieved from http://www.impawards.com/

The way we get by. (2010, November 14). Retrieved from http://www.thewaywegetbymovie.com/

Virginia congressional elections 2010. (2010, November 14). Retrieved from http://www.andrewclem.com/

To Speak or not to Speak

Journal 1-7

I.
               Last week I was really curious as to how the elections are going in Virginia's 7th District. I had wondered who was in the lead in the election polls? Who is perceived to win? After a lot of research, the answers have been found!
               According to the Washington Post's Campaign Tracker, Virginia's 7th District has historically voted Republican in both the House of Representative and Presidential elections. Incumbent Eric Cantor has consistently been re-elected since the year 2000. He has always won by at least 62.7%, and he won by 75.5% in 2004. Judging by these facts, he is expected to win in 2010. Not only does he have the historical support, but he also has the financial support. (Cantor: $1,408,116; Waugh: $21,610; Bayne: $6,805)

II.
               Last week in class, we talked about a variety of things centered around politics and political parties. At the beginning of the week, we centered our discussions around political parties and how age can affect view points. Later in the week, we watched and finished up the movie The Divided State and talked about issues concerning free speech. All in all, this week was very informative as well as interesting.
               After using 2 different "Political Calculators" to determine my political party, I have mixed emotions about the results. Before taking any of the quizzes, I thought I was sort of divided between the two parties, but I thought I leaned a little more to the right than the left. My results after using "The Political Compass" sort of showed the opposite of this. It showed me being centrist, but actually leaning to the left rather than the right. The "World's Shortest Political Quiz" showed me being centrist but leaning more to the right than to the left. I find these results very interesting. I feel that the difference in the results comes from the amount and depth of the questions asked. The first quiz asked more questions than the second, so I that would lead me to believe that it would be more accurate. Despite this fact, I still think the results from the first quiz may be off because a lot of the questions were confusing, and I think my results might have reflected that.

              

               On Friday of last week, we finished up the movie The Divided State, but we did not have a lot of time to go into great detail about our views on the movie. I think that it was important for the students of UVSC to be exposed to other viewpoints than just Conservative ones, but I don't think they should have had to pay for them. Michael Moore, despite how controversial his views are, is still entitled to his right to speak. As long as he is not harming anyone by his speaking, he is protected under the First Amendment just as everyone else is. That being said, I still do not think that the college had to pay that much money to get him to speak. They could have found someone who would have spoken for free instead, and it may have been less controversial. I still do think that there would people against the Liberal speaker, but I do not think that there would as many people against it.

III.
               After all of our class's discussions about politics and elections, I am very curious as to how the elections will go on November 2nd. I wonder who will win in Virginia's 7th District? Which party will end up with the majority in the House of Representatives?

Please stay tuned for the answer next week!

Sources
  
Campaign 2010: congressional house races. (2010, November 1). Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/2010-race-maps/house/

Elections 2010. (2010, November 1). Retrieved from http://www.ccfj.net

The political compass. (2010, November 1). Retrieved from http://www.politicalcompass.org/ 

The world's shortest political quiz. (2010, November 1). Retrieved from http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz
U.s house of representatives. (2010, November 1). Retrieved from http://www.idahoreporter.com