Summary:
Protests are occurring around the world in hopes of making a change. They mainly started in September with an exception of one that started in July and they are now increasing in numbers and areas. The first article discusses who much the movement has grown. It is now up to around 900 cities that are participating. People are pitching tents and living in the streets for days, months, and weeks just trying to make their voices heard and wanting a change in the economic issue of money. While the second one is a series of questions to some of the participants of the movement in New York. A general summary of there responses were that they have all been a part of this movement for a while, most are unemployed or not making a decent living, and they all want to see a change.

To be completely honest I guess you could say I’m not news savvy. There are a lot of issues in our country and around the world I have never heard of. Before reading these articles and doing a little research on my own I was unaware of these movements taking place. I don’t think there has been much of a threat or harm in these movements taking place so I think they should get to continue. I agree that it doesn’t seem the government is doing what is necessary to pull us out of debt and make the citizens stable. I do also see that it is a large task at hand and that it takes time and won’t be fixed in a day. Numerous people year after year complain about the presidents we have had but I sure most of them wouldn’t do any better of a job. I know I couldn’t. I think the protests are a good way of helping the government try and focus on one issue to resolve the problems.

Summary:
In Strong Arts, Strong Schools by Charles Fowler he discusses how schools that have good art programs then in turn have a good curriculum (best schools have the best art programs). He then proceeds to discuss how the arts complement all the other subjects such as science, math, and history. Art gives students the ability to make their own decisions where as science mainly has correct ways to do things. Art tends to make students more attentive due to the fact that students have to make their own decisions and they can come up with multiple ways of coming to a conclusion instead of there only being one way to accomplish a task. Art also makes students more open-minded and makes them think deeper due to unanswered questions and different perceptions. Arts also bring in a multicultural view since art can be created universally. A final important note that was brought up in this article is that art brings out feeling and the schools that have better art programs have better schools because they address feeling which humans run off of.

Analysis:
I thought this article was interesting and really made me think. I could see that art may be beneficial to a student to help them open their minds and think in different perspectives, which is why liberal arts colleges incorporate art, music, or theater classes as part of its curriculum. I do not believe that the best schools have the best art programs. I personally have no artistic bone in my body. I am a science major so of course I think with reason which I believe is necessary for science. I believe it depends on your major to whether an open-mind through art is beneficial.

Summary:
In the Vanishing Hitchhiker it discusses how urban legends formed through tradition. It then discussed that legends are able to hold up for years if they contain story appeal, foundation in actual belief, and a meaning or moral. Legends are heard as if they were news. People listen to them and take them into account because it is an “exciting” story. Legends typically form two variations. One of them being that the storyline is based upon the setting and situation while a second type is based on the introduction of new characters, plots, or objects. In general legends are believable due to the fact that they are exciting and mind-bottling but also have real circumstances involved. The reason for legends is to one excite people and two make them think about there decisions.

Analysis:
I believe that this article is very true in its content. I agree that legends are fun to here and they usually do have a useful message to go with them. I personally do not believe in ghosts or strange creatures who kill people but I do think each of those stories has a lesson. Numerous legends have the same or similar messages, but they are fun to hear about. I feel as if many legends have changed how they were written as the years have gone on.

Summary:

In “Christmas was not Always like this: A Brief History” by Bruce David Forbes the debate of whether Christmas is overrated and accurate is discussed. Forbes discusses how he learned that many common beliefs of Christmas’s history seem to be inaccurate. One being where and how Christmas originated. Many believe that it was discussed in the bible which is why we celebrate it. Forbes found that only two of the gospels discussed Jesus’ birth and the two gospels were meshed together. He also discusses how there is no where that states Jesus was born on December 25. It is believed the date was chosen due to winter festivals already celebrated. The next discussion was that Christmas was not viewed by everyone. Puritans viewed Christmas as a day on penance instead of celebration. Christmas was just recently re-accepted as a holiday by many denominations. The final point was that of gift giving. The origin of gift giving came from Saint Nicholas aka Santa Clause the only thing is is that Saint Nicholas day is in early December rather than on the 25th.

Analysis:
I thought this was very interesting. I guess I have always had the pieces of this information but never put it together as a whole. In my house we used to celebrate both St. Nicholas day and Christmas. On St. Nicholas day we would get an apple and candy in our shoes where at Christmas we would get large presents. All of this information really makes me think especially after hearing that the story of Christmas was only in two of the four gospels and it was a combination of the two. They both did not have the same information. I am very strong in my religion but hearing this makes me wonder what else our religion could be incorrect.

So far we have had the common theme of beauty. We started off with trying to define beauty and discussing the positives and negatives of beauty through calli. We then read and found beauty through speeches, athletics, fractals, and finally through Kurt Vonnegut even though I’m not really sure we found much beauty out of it.

I have found that after taking a step back and analyzing the pieces we have read and watched I have found a few underlying similarities. The first one I came upon doesn’t necessarily tie in all on the readings but it does for majority. I found that discrimination and strong view points were found in many of them. In calli it was the difference between seeing beauty and not seeing beauty. Then we went to the speeches and it varied depending on the speech that was read but my speech was about birth control and the discrimination between those who are for or against. We next had major controversial views on women and sports. Fractals there isn’t much to work with, but finally Vonnegut’s speeches could have been viewed as offensive or discriminatory.

Another common point I found was that in each reading we have read about things that we take for granted and thinks we see as simple and we then analyze them and find the complexity and also the usefulness of that object or point.

So far I have like honors because it is a discussion based class where only your opinions matter instead of a right or wrong answer.

Summary:

In his first speech Kurt Vonnegut talks in a very random manor he goes on about the love he had for science and then talks about how that love went away after science was used in war to make the nuclear bombs. He also talks about the effects of a tank and a machine gun how the only way to beat a tank is with another tank. He also rambles on about having children and how he claims to pessimistic but has to lie to his wife to keep her from leaving.

The second speech was read by his son due to Kurt’s death two weeks prior. This speech is all about bashing on people. He talks about how the claim that the “Mona Lisa is a perfect painting” is completely wrong and that it was not drawn correctly. Then he goes on to say how dentistry should not be a job and he goes on to say that he is not a religious sort of person. He also then goes on to talk more about science. Where here is where I wonder what is absolute true feelings of science are because he goes back and forth on his views.

Analysis:

To be completely honest I was not very enthralled and interested in these speeches. I believe some of the satire made them better but there was still no spark for me. The only part of the speech that I really thought related to me would be when he was telling the students to not go and try and save the world by themselves right away. I believe this is true. There are always smaller ways to help out the community and environment but don’t take it on all at once especially right out of college. We all need to take the time to learn what we can handle and control in our lives before trying to reach for the stars.

Summary

This video from Nova was describing to us what a fractal is. A fractal is a shape that is very jagged. Beniot Mandelbrot was the main discoverer of the fractal. You could make a fractal by taking a normal shape for example a triangle and continue to break down the triangle by adding more inside of the original. This discovery led to many discoveries and advancements. Special effects have extremely been affected by fractals and are now able to look real. Also they were able to use computers to create fractals and then able to produce designs on clothing. Another example was cell phones and wireless computers. Fractals enable us to carry around smaller devices and still access power and internet and other sources. Fractals are everywhere landscaping, in objects, they make up the human body, and much more. Fractals are hopefully going to be able to help us discover cure for cancer. Fractals are also used to determine that larger animals use less energy. This is found by a mathematical formula. Fractals all trace back to math and even deeper to geometry.

Analysis

I thought this was very interesting. I really enjoy math and have always been good at it but I never looked at it in this perspective. I always saw it has numbers and general shapes. I think the shapes and designs they are able to create now with the discovery of fractals are crazy. I believe this is where I see beauty and individuality. I thought this weeks reading assignment was cool because of the fact that it made me analyze math deeper than just numbers and general shapes.

Summary:

In whats ‘manly,’ and whats not for athletes it described how women are starting to not be housewives and are becoming part of the workforce but not many are sports broadcasters. It also gave an example of Mark Sanchez taking off the playoffs for maternity leave and how people were appalled and upset. Then in The Televised Sports Manhood Formula discussed how it is a majority of white men watch sports and are seen on the commercials. It also talked about how women are usually found only as sexy figures or paired with a male. Finally the video clip was on the top ten shots in hockey.

Reaction

In the first article I have to say that I think it was dumb of the fans to get upset for him leaving for the birth of his child. He is a human too not just an athlete and he has a life outside of football. I would want my husband there. It is a once in a life time chance. I think it is very true what was said about males watching sports and how it is manly men who watch them. I also agree with the fact that it is usually better when men broadcast sports than when women so. I’m not saying women can’t or aren’t good at it but usually men are more natural at it and it also attracts men to watch the sport more than if a women was broadcasting. I also really liked the clip insert.

Summary:
Book one is mainly about speaking and He talked about how you must speak with wisdom and eloquence to be heard and for it to be worthy speech. He also went into the goods and evils of speaking. He also talked about being persuasive and how there has been good that comes out of persuasion. You must draw in your audience.

I also read the speech The Morality of Birth Control where it talks about the different views and the three groups of society. It talks about how women should have the right to use it and that it should help regulate population. The steps are to one have the backing of the audience and two to give the right of population control.

Analysis:

I believe that defining if a speech is “beautiful” or not is determined by the listener. Everyone has their own tastes that is what makes us individuals. For me personally it’s not always about the content of the speech as it is about the way it is presented. Also I am going to find a speech better if I enjoy the topic than if I don’t care about it. What makes a “beautiful” speech?

In the speech I read I also have mixed feeling about not only if it was a ”good’ speech but also with the content. I believe the speech could have elaborated more and found more pros and cons of birth control

Summary: In this world there is the option of calli which is a devise that turns the part of your brain off that judges beauty of the face. Calli is an option. In this story there are numerous different views presented. Also there is a girl Tamera who had calli until college when she got it switched off. There are many different views where people wish to make it mandatory for everyone and then there are people that want to eliminate it. Tamera finds that after going a few weeks with her calli turned off that she likes it better with it on. The real debate is whether or not it should exist and if physical appearance is what corrupts our world today.

Reaction:
As of right now I stand pretty close to the middle of this discussion. I believe that there are way calli could be a great thing to have. I have to agree that it is very intimidating to see models and to want to be like them. There are many people across the world that spend their day comparing themselves to others around them. I believe that calli could be a very helpful attribute for job interviewing.Another way it could be beneficial is when finding a soul mate. There is a great possibility that the number of divorces could drop significantly because marriage would be more based on compatibility than on looks. I also believe that if calli were to be used it would have to be used by everyone and there would not be the choice of turning it off.

There are reasons I don’t think that calli should exist. I feel that God made us who we are because that is how he wanted us to look. I’m not saying judging is a good thing by any means but I also believe that each individual is unique and calli might take that uniqueness away. Each individual has their own talents and I believe we should use those talents to our advantage.