Week of November 5 - 11 Discussion #2

Sadler’s argument revolves around how Internet Plagiarism is wrong presented through ten arguments. Each argument explains why it is bad and immoral and won’t help a student at all in the long wrong and how it motivates them to plagiarize more in the future. She explains that it becomes a practice that will have a negative effect in the student themselves and the society itself. She believes that Universities should have strict policies when it comes to students committing plagiarism. On the other hand Hunt explains that educators should be happy about Internet Plagiarism because he believes that this will help educators re-evaluate the old model of teaching that sparks Internet plagiarism and it’s a chance for them to make a new model. He believes that the motive of Internet Plagiarism is the fact that educator’s style of teaching is outdated and that students will easily plagiarize for an easy grade. Hunt believes that the University is built for encouraging plagiarism. I believe that Sadler’s arguments are more convincing compared to Hunt’s because she appeals to my values more. I believe that plagiarism is wrong because it is something that I grew up learning ever since grade school. It was never taught to be something that was positive but always taught to be a negative if were to be ever committed by someone. I was always taught that if it was ever done, it will result in major consequences. Sadler’s argument appeals to me more because I found those arguments something I can relate to in my moral values and was something familiar. In the other hand Hunt’s argument was something I've never heard before and was something that was shunned upon my most educators.

Week of November 5 - 11 Discussion #1

The media has been reinforcing my views and values for many years and grows each and every day. A lot of my time spent is in media and I see lots of information across many websites.  I find many in blogs, twitter, youtube, and major search engines. These media networks have really influenced my views mainly in politics, especially this year. I gained a lot of new knowledge on both party sides whether they were good or bad. It helped me realize what their values were and if it actually relates to my values. During this year’s election, it has really tested what I find must be valued. Both presidential candidates had different views and beliefs in which I thought were both good and bad. I thought it was a challenge for me in which to side with the most because both sides had conflicted issues in which I thought was either right or wrong. I knew that if I had to choose one side, it would still conflict with my values.

Week of: Oct 29 - Nov 4 Discussion #3

One concept that I enjoyed in this section was “Avoiding Confirmation Bias and Other Errors in Thinking”. The example that was given in this part was when companies over commit in trying to sell something. It was defined escalation of commitment, which means the over commitment of marketing to a particular answer. A good example that was talked about in this section was the manufacturing of Japanese automobiles that was supposed to sell in the US during the 1960s. It failed because the engines were smaller to the engines in US, which meant that there were no consumers buying the cars from Japan. The engines were smaller in the Japanese cars because it was sufficient enough to be driven in Japanese roads. But the fact that they were trying to sell here in America, the small engines were not sufficient enough to be driven in American roads. This section was a good concept because it basically says that if one thing sells in one place, it doesn’t always mean that it will sell elsewhere. Companies should research other demographics before committing on selling their products and wasting money for something that won’t sell.

Week of: Oct 29 - Nov 4 Discussion #2

Both Wooton and Liodice have different and compelling reasons on why they take such stance for children’s food advertising. Wooton believes that government regulation should be implemented into our children’s food advertising and that certain television channels should be watchful for what kind of food ads are being displayed in the channels that children watch. He believes that that the CSPI guidelines is the solution to end the childhood obesity that is going on in our society and that these criteria’s should be met if we want them to be healthy. On the contrary, Liodice strongly disagrees with the CSPI guidelines. He believes that it is violating the First Amendment and if the CSPI guidelines were to be implemented it would take away those rights. He believes that it shouldn't be the government’s duty to regulate what children see on television to help reduce childhood obesity. I believe Liodice had the most compelling argument because when it comes to violating the First Amendment I am for the person who defends that right. He gave strong evidence that if these guidelines were implemented, that would be a violation to our rights and if that happens who know what things the government might try to slip in. It shouldn't be their responsibility to regulate what children see, it should be their parents. The parents should be and are responsible for their health.

Week of: Oct 29 - Nov 4 Discussion #1

This week I the most memorable marketing strategies I encountered this week was through media. As a person who uses media every day, there is a lot of marketing strategies I see on a daily basis. Through Facebook, Youtube, Google, and e-mails all these types of media has some kind of advertising that I see every day. When subscribed to sales on line through e-mail I see daily sales on an online website that sells computer parts. These e-mails come in ad’s as if they were printed in paper a whole list of parts go on sale that go about to 50% off. I think that when they advertise a lot of their products, a lot of them go on sale and I think that’s the most effective way. Another effective way is letting their consumers choose if they want to be notified if there are sales. I thought that was effective because for sure if the consumer has bought there before they would want to be notified if there are great deals going on on the site. What I found least effective is the way the design their ads. I thought that they were sloppily placed around the page with unappealing design. I thought they could have organized the ad better in which would be appealing.

Week of October 15-21 Discussion #3

I thought that the section about Direct Experience and False Memories was in important concept that was talked about in this chapter because I believe this is something that everyone does experience and actually do in their everyday lives. In this section it talked about how language has the ability to alter one’s memories and this is a problem particularly happens a lot during people’s testimonials. The power of words can actually change the shape of our reality by the way questions are given to us. There was a study on how a person answers differently by just the change of verbs in the question. There was an example in the book where people were given a video of a car accident and was asked about the speed of the cars. Despite the fact they all saw the same video; participants responded with higher speeds based on the verb in the question. This was a good explanation and example used for false memory and direct experience for this is what people actually experience and do on a regular basis.

Week of October 15-21 Discussion #2

All three authors talk about the existence of aliens, whether they are real or not. They all have different views about this phenomenon. Condon believes that alien sighting reports should be addressed to the public and there should be a scientific field for it to be researched. Hynek also believes that the UFO phenomena have been overlooked by authorities resulting in it not being studied in a scientific manner. Paytner thinks that aliens don’t exist if there is no physical evidence and argues that without evidence we must remain skeptical about claims about aliens. Each author author’s conclusion is backed up with evidence that they used in their part. Condon has evidence from reports commissioned by the US Air Force that he used in his excerpt. With that evidence he concluded that he hopes to see that these reports can help those in the scientific field and those responsible in the public policy. Hynek uses evidence from his studies, his book, and the Blue Book Project. With his evidence he concludes that UFO investigations cannot be overlooked and should be studied in a scientific manner. Paynter uses evidence that revolves around “highest standards of scientific inquiry” and that if there is no physical evidence of aliens then we should remain skeptical about UFO/alien claims by people. He concludes by saying that if the UFOlogical community wants support for their claims, then they should have physical evidence to show proof.