Steroids? Good Grief.

Sports games are suppose to be fair competitions between players who work hard to become successful and to outshine their opponents. However, with the introduction of steroids to sports, the idea of a fair competition is distorted. Many players now cheat their opponents, teammates, and their own bodies by using steroids to enhance their muscles without the hard work that was once required. The use of steroids have drastically increased in the numbers of players throughout the years. The majority of steroid use has been involved with baseball. It can be seen from this cartoon that Stahcer from The Columbia Dispatch has a strong argument about this issue. First of all, it is evident that the two characters in this cartoon are wearing baseball gloves, inferring that they are playing baseball. Next, the use of ethos in this characters helps establish the credibility of Stahcer’s argument. Everyone knows who Charlie Brown is. Charlie Brown is a very popular cartoon of an innocent, little boy who hangs out with a group of innocent children. The innocence of Charlie Brown’s character in this cartoon establishes Stahcer’s argument that the use of steroids is very common nowadays. This argument is supported by Lucy’s quote bubble that says, “Good grief…Not you, too?”

Steroid use has not only changed the way that players play the game; it also changes the perspective of inspiring fans that watch their games. Especially with the young children who look up to certain athletes as their role models, the use of steroids could influence the children to do the same. This negative influence now makes the society frown upon athletes who decide get involved with steroids. In a parent's perspective, they don't want their children to receive bad influences, so to prevent them from the influence of steroid use, parent's are more likely to prohibit their children from attending sports games. So the use of steroids can lead to the decrease in the number of fans the athlete will have and it could also lead to a bad reputation for the team that he or she plays on. With the bad reputation, the team will not be favored in any way, which could lead to a decrease in motivation in the teammates to do well and gain back acceptance from fans.

The use of steroids have many consequences that don't just affect the player but it also effects their teammates, coaches, and even their fans. If a professional athlete is found to be taking steroids, serious measures ought to be taken to aware others to not partake in such an activity. The punishment should be the banishment of playing professional for the rest of their life. This severe consequence can scare athletes away from using steroids to ensure they will be able to play.

Copyrights? They're not that important, right?

File-sharing. Free (illegal) downloads. Most people in modern day society use these phrases everyday to discuss their favorite music, favorite television shows or favorite video games. Millions of Americans, both young and old, frequent sites that offer pirated music, movies and other programs without a thought for the copyrights held by the artists and producers of the work that the consumers download illegally. What are copyrights exactly and why do so many people illegally distribute and utilize copyrighted materials?
In today’s society, individuals would probably define a copyright simply as the protection of the work produced by an individual. However, the laws associated with copyrights are far from simple. As demonstrated in the cartoon above, copyright laws often appear to be written in another language. In most cases, the conditions applied by copyright laws work to protect the works created by an individual, as well as any company associated with the work of that individual. In the entertainment industry, the corporations behind artists and actors are quite wealthy. These huge companies are major supporters of copyright laws, which are meant to protect the billions of dollars of revenue raked in by these companies every year. So what’s the harm in illegally downloading one illegal song? Well, people don’t download just one song. Millions of people download millions of songs for free, which means that the producing artists and the record labels don’t get their fair share of revenue. CD and movie sales, specifically, have fallen drastically since the idea of free downloads surfaced on the web.
Let’s look at the other side of the argument: the position of the American public. From this point of view, we can see that the music, movies, games, shows, and every other copyrighted material are all part of the everyday expression of American culture. Even though downloading pirated material is illegal, major corporations are suing individual families for thousands of dollars that the families do not have. In other instances, these lawsuits are filed against people who have used copyright work to create original images, videos or songs. The entertainment industry prepares to launch a campaign against piracy, a strategic move that would allow them to look at a person’s computer history and record their actions. Do copyright laws prevent the public from creating their own unique piece of work from compilations of copyright material? Do these laws prevent the expression of our culture? Would the actions of the entertainment industry infringe on the privacy rights of Americans? It is said that originality doesn’t exist anymore. It is my belief that organizations like Creative Commons, an organization that works with individuals who want to share their works with others while retaining certain rights, show the direction that the debate between the American public and major companies is headed. In order to resolve the copyright conflict, the public, the creator and the companies need to work together to achieve to allow the creativity of upcoming generations to remain mostly unrestricted.

During class we watched Thank You For Smoking, featuring a man named Nick Naylor who goes through some rough times in the occupation he chose. This is one of those movies that have two completely opposite viewpoints: to smoke, or not to smoke? And yes, that is the question at hand in this movie.

During the part of the movie that we watched on Wednesday, Naylor son, Joey, goes on the business trip with him. In my opinion, I’m with Joey’s mother and would not want my son to go on a business trip with my ex-husband who works for a cigarette company, promoting the use of cigarettes and that they are good for you. Let’s not fail to mention that health issues were never mentioned in this movie. It is supposed to be set in the future, when all the health risks have already been addressed, or there are no more health risks for it. But we all know what too much smoking can do to you.

In my opinion, smoking is terrible for you. Whether or not you choose to smoke is all based on your opinions on it. As young adults just starting out in college and being on our own for the first time for some of us, we are now able to think for ourselves. Our parents are only voices in the back of our heads now. We are able to make our own decisions based on what our parents have told us growing up. Most of us listen to them I hope. Lots of people smoke like it is no big deal, as if there are no health concerns. This was what they were portraying in the movie. But we all know the dangers of smoking, even the ones that do smoke.

It is all about personal preference. Smoking is not the only controversy in today’s society. Underage drinking, drug abuse, and pregnancy are among the few that are well known. We are all going to try these different things at some point in our life. As long as we are the legal age if decide to continue doing this, then all is well. We know what is right from wrong. Whether or not we apply it to ourselves is the question at hand.

Clemson's Use of Rhetoric

During the 2010 Clemson football season, the University displayed a thirty-second commercial called “Determined Spirit.” This commercial was played during T.V. network breaks during football games to advertise for the University to perspective students. The commercial opens with Dabo Swinney, the Clemson head football coach, speaking highly of Clemson. He explains that, “you don’t get to pick your mom or dad, you don’t get to pick your color, and you don’t pick the kind of house you live in, but you get to pick the type of attitude you have.” Brandon Clear, a Clemson football player, follows Dabo explaining that Clemson students are strong-minded and are strong willed. While both Dabo and Clear are speaking, a montage of clips of Clemson athletics, academics, and recreation are displayed. The message of the commercial is that settling for anything less that Clemson will just leave you behind following the heard.

Rhetoric, the art of effectively persuading the audience, is displayed in this commercial. Dabo Swinney and Brandon Clear serve as the ethos in this commercial. Ethos is an effective form of rhetoric that uses an appeal to authority or character to induce credibility in the commercial. Swinney and Clear are both serving as recognized ambassadors of Clemson. The two of them give the commercial credibility because the audience is likely to be persuaded by Swinney and Clear.

The rhetoric in this commercial is portraying Clemson as a fun university with great athletics. Having the football coach and a football player describing what it is like to be a Clemson tiger and showing the importance of the athletics at Clemson shows the viewer how great it is to be part of the Clemson family. Clemson also shows the academic side of the university when the endless list of majors and students graduating with “be jealous” written on their hats are displayed. Clemson being displayed as a university that can be appealing to any perspective student because they have everything to offer in addition to a big time sports program.

The music in the background adds to the emotional appeal of the commercial. Clemson University hopes that this video gets perspective students excited and encourages students to apply to Clemson. A peppy and upbeat song in the video instills a positive source or emotion in the view. If the song playing in the background of this video were mundane, it would not spark the emotion for perspective students to be excited about coming to Clemson. In addition, using Clemson’s motto of having a “determined spirit” adds to the emotion appeal of the commercial. Have a university filled with determined students says a lot for Clemson and will encourage other students to want to be apart of Clemson’s determined spirit.

I believe that Clemson’s argument displayed in the commercial is accurate and persuasive. The rhetoric seen in the video effectively reaches the audience and definitely makes its point; Clemson is a great university filled with determined students who value their sports programs. The prospective students who viewed this commercial on T.V, most likely, are sports fans because this commercial was aired during the football games. Clemson effectively uses rhetoric in their commercial, “Determined Spirit,” to encourage perspective students to consider Clemson University.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAvUs4JGJEU

The Life of Being A Teen Parent: A Problem, A Blessing or A Celebrity Status?

Imagine waking up from your sleep to a dark dingy apartment. The sound of piercing screams and cries fills the air. You just fell asleep twenty minutes ago, and you’re up again. There’s no one to help you take care of your baby, only you. You have to be strong and you have to work hard to create a good life for your child and yourself. When I was younger, teen pregnancy was depicted in this way. I do not agree that all teen pregnancies turned out this way. The situation always depends on the financial and family situation of the teenagers that get pregnant. Nevertheless, when I was younger, in middle school, that is what I pictured would happen to me if I got pregnant in high school. We were taught this to ultimately prevent this event from happening.

However, over the past couple of years several events occurred through the media that has turned teenage pregnancy from a setback to a celebrity status.This change started when the world watched Brittany Spears’ little sister, Jamie Lynn- lead actress of a popular Nickelodeon show for children, announce that she was pregnant. She was sixteen years old. I was fifteen, one year younger, and I was shocked. Before that I never imagined teen pregnancy occurring in a person of her status was possible!

Next, the hit movie Juno was released to movie theaters around the country. The movie’s bittersweet story line and comedic lines captured the hearts of many Americans. I began seeing teenage pregnancy in a new light, not as a burden but as an adventure. If the media stopped their movement of teenage pregnancy there, I may have kept my opinion. However, the constant media attention to the situation has made me cringe. When the television show The Secret Life of an American Teenager was released I began to realize that teen pregnancy was becoming a sort of media fad. While I take a pro-life stance in relation to abortion and believe that each child born is a blessing, I did not agree with the message the media was sending to children and teenagers. This show did not truly depict the actual burdens of teenage pregnancy. The Secret Life of an American Teenager disgusted me. I began to worry for my friends that religiously watched the show every week. I hoped and prayed that if teenage pregnancy had to be media related, that at least something would be released that attempted to show the hard times behind being a teen mother or father. Teen Mom was released by MTV a couple of years ago. While MTV attempts to demonstrate the stress of being a teen parent, I still do not agree with the media attention that it brings to children and teenagers.

In my high school alone, teen pregnancies accelerated over the past years since teen pregnancy became a celebrity status. I do not believe that is a coincidence. Media can change opinions and values of Americans and I believe we should be more hesitant in what we allow ourselves to believe from the media.

Smoking… an Addiction or Accessory?

Imagine you are walking out of the library after a long intense study session and you can’t wait to walk through the security scanners and out the doors to a nice breath of fresh air. And you take a deep breath in, but instead of fresh springtime air, it’s a lungful of someone else’s smoke. Not quite what you had in mind after a long evening in the stuffy library now was it? But incase you didn’t know, one of the primary smoking zones on campus is right outside the library on the middle of library bridge, one of the most trafficked parts of campus during the day.

Although smoking is not condoned on campus, it isn’t forbidden either. There are designated smoking areas on campus, usually marked by waist high brown cones with a small ashtray. But have you ever noticed where these smoking cones are? Most likely they are near the entrances and exits to buildings, such that students can quickly put out their cigarette right before class, or light u right as they leave. Yes this is a free country, and everyone has the right to smoke, but what has smoking become?

To some smoking is a way to suppress hunger, or calm the nerves, but what initially motivates a person to light up for the first time? It seems that in the beginning a cigarette is used more to complete someone’s image, or perhaps their outfit. The cigarette is mostly associated with rockers, bikers, models, and rich old men. Did they start smoking just because they wanted to, or because it was what people who looked like them did? Are people just following what they are stereotyped as, or is it a completely conscious decision to smoke?

It may be safe to say that the “reasons” people begin to smoke are just side affects of smoking that they use as excuses to explain why they started smoking in the first place. Perhaps smoking can be blamed society, and the pressure people feel to fit what society sees them as. So has smoking just become an accessory?... A way to complete one’s outfit, to make a punk rocker look more badass?... Or a business man to look more prestigious?

"Skins"

The long anticipated MTV show, Skins, which has been recently premiered, resulted with shocking and disappointing reactions from MTV’s young audience. MTV is a television channel that generally relates to most young teenagers by taking common interests, such as love, appearances, and social life, and projecting them in a comical way that humors and interests its audience. The two main rhetorical devices that are commonly used in these shows are pathos and ethos. Pathos is essential in order to relate to the audience and to create an interest for the show. The creation of humor in these shows helps strengthen the pathos used. Having celebrities appear on the shows is an example of ethos. The presence of well-known celebrities helps increase the credibility of these shows. For example, Snooki is now a famous celebrity thanks to the hit reality show, Jersey Shore. If anything is shown with Snooki in it, it automatically sparks an interest to the young audience because they know how foolish Snooki is and they deduce that anything with Snooki in it is funny. Because Jersey Shore effectively utilizes pathos and ethos, it is a popular reality show.

Even before Skins premiered, the commercials that previewed for the show were very uninformative and confusing. They consisted of clips from the show either showing the characters high, drunk, or stoned. There was no way to decipher what this show was going to be about. These commercials created me to become curious, which lead me to watch the first episode of the season, not knowing what to expect. The disappointing reactions from the new show Skins was primarily caused by the poor use of these two rhetorical devices. The pathos utilized in this show was a sad attempt to make Skins humorous and interesting. However, in reality it exaggerates the typical stereotype of a teenager, which is being an "emotional, wasted stoner." They try to make the characters in the show relate to the audience by making them obsessed with drugs, sex, and drinking. I feel this show is a false representation of the young teenagers and I also find it as quite offensive. The majority of teenagers do not participate in these activities nor to the extent they convey they do in the show. Also, the main characters in this show are not well known actors so it is very hard to rely on their credibility. The combination of the low credibility of these characters and the offensive use of pathos makes Skins a show that causes a disturbance to the audience it is directed towards.

DON'T FORGET TO INCLUDE AN IMAGE

Just a reminder, each blog post should have some kind of visual element to it. You're welcome to post these anytime; posting it late is better than not posting it at all.

Have you ever stopped to think about how much it sucks to watch most women's athletic sporting events? Me neither. However there are certain sports that have their place with the different genders. I feel like the category of "sports" is an almost entirely male dominated field. Kind of like how make-up is an almost entirely dominated field. One reason for this could be a masculine response to competition. It's a fact that lot of guys live to compete with one another. There's something about a 'need to win' attitude. I'd say generally, women don't show this same level of competition. That's not saying women don't get competitive.

Football, lacrosse, bull-riding, hockey, bowling and The World's Strongest Man Competition are some of the sports, from a spectator's standpoint, that are rightly male dominated. When you watch any of these sports, it's just more entertaining to watch guys perform the activities these sports entail. Who honestly wants to watch women's hockey, or the World's Strongest Women Competition? Gross. I think that these sports, maybe with the exception of lacrosse, should only be played by males. Some sports are in the fringe between male sports and unisex sports. It's still acceptable, and even encouraged for women to participate in, however the scene is pretty much male dominated. These would be ping-ping, NASCAR, and extreme sports like rock climbing, mountain biking, skateboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding… list goes on and on. NASCAR is an interesting sport, because you don't ever see the driver until the end of the race. It could be a women driving the whole time and no one would ever know. That's pretty much the only thing interesting about it though. Women should stay away from bowling though.

    There are a few sports out there that should remain dominated by females. There's the category of dancing, in which I've included cheerleading, ballet, and stripping. These could even be considered activities, but some call them sports. Either way, they should stay in the female corner. Men should only be spectators, and not be allowed to participate in them. Some of the others include beach volleyball, running and tennis. It's probably ok for guys to play and compete in beach volleyball, but no one needs to watch them. As the picture clearly shows any televised beach volleyball event should only consist of scantily clad women. It's ok for a guy and a girl to play tennis together, however guy vs. guy tennis shouldn't be allowed. Men might run faster than women, but who wants to watch a guy run? Who wants to watch anyone run? Running shouldn't be a sport. Cheerleading can be a sport if they want.

    

Sports and the sexes

"Best First Date Ever!"

When most people remember Superbowl commercials, they typically think of the Budweiser or Doritos commercials. However in my opinion, the best commercial for the 2011 Superbowl was for the Chevy Cruze (link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxcKoTZOcA8). This commercial was not meant to be funny like most of the ads. Instead it was one of those moments when you just want to say "awwww" when it is over.

Let me recap the commercial for you. The setting is nighttime in the city. A couple quickly kisses then parts to their separate ways, suggesting the end of a date. The man then drives away and pushes a button in the overhead console of his car that allows him to hear his Facebook news feed being read over the car's speakers. The voice reads a woman's status that says "best first date ever." It can be assumed that these are the words of the woman whom he has just kissed. The man's face lights up and looks relieved, making the impression that he really likes the girl and wants to take her out on another date. The ending of the commercial contains information about the car that Chevrolet is advertising for as the man drives on down the road.

I believe that this ad directly correlates with our class because the advertiser employs pathos and logos in the commercial in hopes of persuading the audience to buy the car. Most everyone our age has been in a “first date” situation. This situation is inevitable awkward and typically ends with one or both people wander how the other person felt about the date and if the new relationship will continue. We, as the audience, feel happiness and relief for the man when he hears that his date had a great time and seems to show that she likes his company. Chevrolet does a very good job of connecting to the audience which makes the car seem more appealing to the audience.

For me, there is rarely a commercial that I feel a connection to. So watching this commercial not once but twice during the big game really made me excited. I even looked up the Chevy Cruze on the internet to see what it was like (and to look to see if there were any other cute commercials for it). Overall, I was very impressed with Chevrolet for putting out such an adorable commercial.

Virgin, Mother, Whore

Virgin, Mother or Whore: these titles represent the three corners of an impossible triangle faced by women today. Although no woman could ever be all three, society argues that a successful woman should be able to include herself into at least two out of the three categories.
Advertising, television and all media create a practically unattainable model for what women should look, act and dress like. On the one hand there is the never ending spew of images of scantily clad women whose perfect bodies have been morphed by Photoshop to create such beautiful aliens. These images show the women in compromising positions and call the younger minds of beautiful girls to act like tramps. These images also speak to men, telling them: “This is what women look like and this is what you should look for in a woman.” The stress for women to be sexual in the way they dress and act comes directly from ads and even from television shows such as 90210 and Gossip Girl. These shows are based around high school/ college age young adults. The girls on the show bounce from one guy to the next and almost every female character on both shows have been in sexual situations more than once. For the younger girls who watch these shows they are being fashioned to think that being “easy” is the norm and that is what they should aspire to act like.
Furthermore, shows such as 90210 and The Secret Life of the American Teenager portray young mothers on their shows as having normal lives and still being fabulous and sought after by many prospects. On the shows the female mothers are in high school and continue to live their drama filled lives with the child in tow. Although The Secret Life of the American Teenager takes a more realistic stance on the subject of teen pregnancy it still puts forth the idea to young girls that they should be mothers and still be either a whore like the character of Adrian or become chaste and give up their sexuality altogether following the actions of Amy. It stresses the paradox that women should fit themselves into a certain stereotype in order to please society.
Finally, until their teen years girls are hit over the head with purity propaganda. Church groups, schools and chastity programs telling young girls to be abstinent and not to show any sign of their sexuality. They are told to refuse the advances of guys and stay pure.
Somewhere in the middle of all three is the place where most girls should fall. Instead of being a triangle forcing teenage girls to choose an angle, there should be a natural progression and balance of all three. Finding that balance, girls would be pure until they are ready and eventually become mothers. Thanks to the media, television and religious propaganda the balance between the three categories is nearly impossible to find and thus women accept and even relish their titles of Virgin, Mother or Whore.

Put a Bird On It

This is funny; check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XM3vWJmpfo