The Effect of the Automobile and the World Wide Web on Society

Journal 2-2

Last week I asked if there were any other troop greeting groups in the US. After some research I found a group in Portsmouth, New Hampshire called the Pease Greeters. There is also a group that greet soldiers at Minneapolis St. Paul Airport in Saint Paul, Minnesota.   A group of troop greeters at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport recently gained national recognition for welcoming their millionth soldier.

Last week in class we watched a TED talk about the Nine Shift and then had a discussion on how technology is affecting our generation. I'm not actually sure what a nine shift is, but the speaker discussed the difference between 1900-1920 and 2000-2020. For example, in 1900 the automobile was a revolutionary invention that changed society. Now automobiles are becoming obtuse because there are quicker and more cost effective way of transportation. We also discussed how things like the internet and automobiles changed society. Through this discussion we realized there was a generational gap between current students and our parents. We were given a project that encompassed the past couple lessons of value assumptions, The Way We Get By documentary, and the nine shift to discover more about the differences between generations and how society has changed from our great-grandparents time to now.

I thought the Nine Shift TED talk was very interesting. Although the speaker was not that good, what he was actually saying was thought provoking. The automobile and the internet are the two most important inventions of the 20th century. In the early 1900's, the car changed all aspect of life. It effected the economy, lifestyle, home, work, and environment. People no longer had to live in cities, they could live outside of the cities and commute to work. Transportation was faster and self-reliant. You didn't have to wait for a train, bus or street trolley, you could go anywhere anytime that you wanted. Car also became a sign of wealth and status. The rich would go for a drive just for a leisure activity, while the poor walked wherever they went. Automobiles also made more jobs. The manufacture, sale, and repair of cars opened up new job opportunities.

The internet also restructured American life. People could work from home, and email became another source of communication. Social media has also exploded in recent years. There are very few people without a Facebook, Google, Twitter, or YouTube page. But social media is also has negative effects. Anyone can talk to anyone, even if they are halfway around the world. As a middle schooler I remember being warned about stranger danger on the internet, because who you are talking to isn't always who they say they are. Social media also opened up the realm of cyber bullying, which can lead to depression and suicidal behavior in teens. The internet created more jobs as well. Software and computer companies, electronic stores, and computer program makers are all jobs that didn't exist before the internet was invented. People can also shop online for convenience, but online shopping can cause debt when shoppers don't monitor their spending.

Technology and the internet have been great for society, they have also created a generational gap. Kids are always plugged in and accessible by cell phone and internet. They often lack face-to-face communication skills because they are used to communicating online or through texts. Kids my age hardly wear a watch unless its a accessory because they have a cell phone or iPod that keeps time. We don't often have a need for analog clocks and thus have trouble reading one when it is the only clock available. I know that I have to really think about it when reading an analog clock because I'm so used to knowing the time instantly with digital clocks. Our parents are of the Analog Age, and we are the Digital Age. We have a hard time entertaining ourselves without an iPod or cell phone or television, when the games are parents played with very much more low-tech;they could play by themselves or just read and be happy.

Talking about the Nine Shift and generational gaps last week made me think of a recent experience I had babysitting. I often watch a family that lives down the street from me with a eight year old girl, five year old boy, and two year old girl. Each child only has 30 minutes of "screen time" a day, which includes TV, video games, and being on the computer or iPad. The youngest girl at one point asked me if she could play on the iPad, but since I didn't know where it was I told her she could if she could find it. She knew exactly where its was kept and immediately opened the case and started navigating through to find a game she wanted to play. There were many children's games because this was the "family" iPad and not the one her mom used for work. The fact that they even had designated iPads was insane to me. At this point she wasn't even two years old, but her knowledge of navigating a tablet computer was second nature. This amazed me because when I was her age playtime was much more low-tech. You could watch TV, play Nintendo 64, or insert a computer game CD-ROM into a boxy monitor that still made dial up sounds and took 10 minutes to turn on. Everything else was playing board games or "house" or "school" with friends and siblings , or entertaining yourself with a book or individual game. I never really though there was much difference between my childhood and the childhood of the kids that I babysit, but after this I realized there was even a generational gap between myself and a two-year-old.

I wonder what the Nine Shift actually is. I know it has something to do with how society has changed over the 20th century, but I didn't fully understand it from the TED talk.



Works Cited:

1) FAQ. (n.d.). peasegreeters.org. Retrieved December 6, 2011, from http://peasegreeters.org/faq.htm

2) Troop Greeters Welcome Millionth Soldier at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. (2010, January 10). abcnews.go.com. Retrieved December 6, 2011, from http://abcnews.go.com/US/PersonOfWeek/troop-greeters-millionth-soldier-dallas-fort-worth-airport/story?id=12593760#.Tt7Q4nrleSphttp://

3) Note to Babies: Magazines are not iPads. (2011, October 14). mamamia.com. Retrieved December 6, 2011, from http://http://static.mamamia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Screen-shot-2011-10-14-at-11.49.37-AM-380x335.png

4) Use Analog to Digital Converters Properly. (n.d.). videomaker.com. Retrieved December 6, 2011, from http://http://www.videomaker.com/article/14560/

"The Way We Get By" and the Benefits of Volunteerism

Journal 2-1

Last week I asked who made the documentary This Divided State and how they made it so objective. The movie was directed by Steven Greenstreet and produced by Phil Gordon, Kristi Haycock and Steven Greenstreet. Greenstreet also edited the film. I think it was so objective because the cameramen were young people like students from local colleges including BYU. Also the way it was edited made it objective. It was not trying to promote either agenda, it was just showing the events that happened surrounding the decision to bring Michael Moore to USVC. It true that the movie did not have all 76 hours of raw footage which would have been truly non-biased, but the way it was edited didn't make me feel like the filmmakers were trying to sway me to one side of the debate. This Divided State showed the feelings and opinions of both sides and let the viewer decide who they agreed with. TDS was Greenstreet's feature debut. He dropped out of film school and quit his job to dedicate his time to making TDS. I tried to find information on Greenstreet himself and not just his career so I could know what his likely opinion was of the USVC debate. But there was nothing about his personal history on IMDb, Wikipedia, or even his personal website.

Steven Greenstreet, filmmaker

 For the past two weeks in class we have been watching a movie called "The Way We Get By." It follows the story of three elderly people living in Bangor, Maine. Joan Gaudet, Bill Knight, and Jerry Mundy are all part of a volunteer organization called the Maine Troop Greeters. The Greeters go to Bangor International Airport where they say goodbye to or hello and thank you to members of the armed forces who are coming and going from the country. The provide snacks, cell phones, and company to those who are coming home from overseas. They greet every single flight that comes in and out, no matter what time of day it is. As of November 2008 the Maine Troop Greeters have greeted more than 5,000 flights and more than a million troops. Before and after watching the film we read articles that talked about the benefits of volunteerism. The parents of the Baby Boomer generation make up a vast percentage of our population, and they are all elderly now. They don't really have a place in society, because according to some they have outlived their usefulness. They are alienated and lonely. Many elderly live alone and have decreased mobility and social interaction. But volunteerism provides something for them to do. In addition to being beneficial for the community, volunteerism has health benefits as well. Those who volunteer have increased mobility and social interaction. For the elderly volunteering slows the pace of degenerative health conditions. It also has mental health benefits. Volunteers have improved ability to function in daily life and lower levels of depression later in life. The health impact of volunteerism increases with the amount of time spent volunteering.

I really enjoyed the movie. It provided a lot of insight to something I never knew was an issue. I didn't realize so many elderly Americans feel isolated and useless, but volunteering gives them a purpose. I guess I should have figured that elderly don't really do anything because they don't have anything to do, but I never realized that made them feel alienated. TWWGB was also really depressing at times and made me cry. Especially when Bill was talking about how he doesn't care about his life, but by volunteering he makes it mean something to someone else and that's where he finds his will to live. It was shocking how unsanitary his living conditions were and sad how creditors kept calling him because of his debt, yet he could do nothing about it. Eventually he was forced to sell his farm. I was also sad when Jerry's dog Mr. Flanagan died, because he kept talking about how he was his best friend and only companion. Joan's comment to her daughter about how she was a grown woman and be out after dark if she wanted to made me think about the role reversal of children and their parents as they age. When kids are young they parents are the ones always keeping up with them and their whereabouts; they set restrictions on where their kids can be and when. But as parents and their children age, kids are more concerned about where their parents are at all times and the parents are less concerned. I think its because children and the elderly are not capable of everything, and the person who is neither the child nor elderly person has to be concerned about the person who is.

The Way We Get By reminded me of volunteer EMS and firefighters. Like the Greeters they don't get paid for their work, but volunteer their free time to helping others. Their time spent volunteering greatly effects peoples' lives, and in the case of EMS and firefighters, saves lives. Also like the greeters they work at all hours of the day, whenever someone might need their help. Volunteer firefighters and EMS are selflessly devoted to the cause which they promote, just like the Maine Troop Greeters.

I wonder if there are there other troop greeting groups in the United States? The greeters in Maine have made a huge impact and have greeted a huge number of flights, soldiers, and service dogs but i wonder if there are other groups in the US who do the same thing.


Works Cited:
1. Cook, W & Gaudet, A. (2009) The Way We Get By [Film]. United States:The Way We Get By
2. About Steven Greenstreet. Retrieved November 20, 2011, from http://http://www.stevengreenstreet.com/?page_id=2
3. Retrieved November 20, 2011, from http://www.themainetroopgreeters.com
4. Li, Y., & Ferraro, K. (2006). Volunteering in Middle and Later Life: Is Health a Benefit, Barrier, or Both? Retrieved November 20, 2011, from http://exproxy.library.edu.2082/pqdweb?RQT=318&pmid=29232&TS=1229118854&clientId=9269&Vinst=PROD&VName=PQD&VType=PQD
5. Review: The Way We Get By. (2009). livingincinema.com. Retrieved November 20, 2011, from http://http://livingincinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/WayWeGetBy-001-medium.jpg

Kay Anderson, UVSC, and Free Speech

Journal 1-4

Last week I asked what Michael Moore thought of the movie Michael Moore Hates America. In the movie, when Wilson tried to get an interview with Moore, Moore attacked him and said his film was a joke. He thought  the title was slanderous and libelous, and told Wilson "Everything I do is because I love America, its people like you who hate America!" He immediately shut Wilson downed and ridiculed him, and was clearly not receptive to his film idea. I could not find any information on whether or not Wilson ever got the interview, but we know from the movie that Moore  was not willing to sit down with Wilson. We also know that Moore told the press, that Wilson's movie was a fraud and would never be released.

This week in class, we watched the documentary This Divided State, about the 2004 controversy at Utah Valley State College. Utah is the home of the Church of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) and is a very conservative, republican community. The student government at UVSC, which is in Orem, Utah (aka Family City, USA), made the decision to have two very different political activist come speak at the school, rightist Sean Hannity and leftist Michael Moore. What happened next was unprecedented. The community and many students were very upset that the school was paying Moore to come speak, when his political views are not looked upon kindly in the red state. There were petitions to cancel the event, lawsuits filed against the student body president and vice president, and many heated debates about whether is was right to have Moore come speak the the students. One outspoken community member, Kay Anderson, offered the school $25,000 to have the event canceled.

I really enjoyed the movie. The overall story was very interesting, and I had no idea that it had ever happened. I knew Utah was a conservative state, but I did not know the residents were so hostile, to say the least. Not to say all Mormons or Republicans are angry, outspoken people, but many represented in TDS were. Kay Anderson and other residents saw Orem as its own little bubble, and did not want it infected with other views, or real life in any way. He believed that Moore hated their way of life and was out to destroy them, and would corrupt the minds of the students. He believed this so strongly that he did not think Moore had the right to speak at UVSC, which violates the First Amendment. The people who made the decision to bring Moore however, thought just the opposite. Since his views were so different from their own, they believed his ideas should be heard, even if they didn't agree. One foreign student even brought up the point that free speech is not allowed everywhere, and that everyone should be able to exercise their rights.

Watching This Divided State reminded me of what is happening in North Korea. For many years N. Korea has been an isolationist country and is under strict rule by their dictator, Kim Jong Il. No one in the country knows about the outside world because the government think that if they learn about them, they will overthrow the tyrannical government in place. The citizens have also been taught that the outside world is a bad place, and that North Korea is a safe haven. Everything that is out stays out and everything that is in stays in. This reminded me of Kay Anderson's views about the safe haven that is Utah. He doesn't want his children to experience the outside world, because in his mind where they are now is the only good and safe place.

I wonder who made the documentary This Divided State and how they made it so objective. Out of all the documentaries we watched it is definitely the least biased one, because the filmmakers weren't trying to promote a personal agenda, they were just trying to show the facts.



Works Cited:
1. Wilson, M. Brian Cartmell & Michael Wilson. 2004. Michael Moore Hates America [Film]. HCW Films.
2. Greenstreet, S. Steven Greenstreet, Kristi Haycock, and Phil Gordon. 2005. This Divided State [Film].
3. North Korea. (n.d.). wikipedia.com. Retrieved October 29, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Koreahttp://
4. (2004, November 4). Retrieved October 29, 2011, from http://sensoryoverload.typepad.com/sensory_overload/2004/11/free_states_vs_.htmlhttp://

Michael Moore vs. Michael Wilson

Journal 1-3

In answer to my question in my last blog posts, I could not find any reactions to the film specifically from  residents of Littleton, or families of the victims. But in watching Michael Moore Hates America this week I learned the reactions of those who had been in the film, like employees of North Country Bank. An employee at the NRA also spoke on Heston's behalf about how he had been construed in a false light. The workers at North Country felt they had been taken advantage of. They were told Moore was doing a film on unique businesses in America, which was a lie. Moore staged his visit to make it seem like the guns were right at the bank to hand out, when really they were kept 300 miles away, and shipped to a licensed firearm dealer for the owner to pick up after the account was made. But Moore contacted the bank ahead of time and had the gun shipped so that it would be ready for him to take home the day he made his account. The NRA representative talked about how the Heston's speeches had been spliced to make it look like it was all one speech, when really they had taken place at two separate times. It made Heston look insensitive for coming to Denver ten days after Columbine, when by law the meeting could not be canceled. There were also parts in Heston's Denver speech when he showed respect and remorse for the community of Littleton, but that was not shown in BFC.

Last week in class we finished Bowling For Columbine. I was out of class two days for college visits, but in the last part of the film Moore got a sit down interview with Charlton Heston. We also learned about the death of six-year old Kayla Rolland, who was shot by a classmate at school. When talking about Rolland, Moore ultimately blamed Dick Clark for her death, which made no sense. His reasoning was that Kayla's murderer's mother was evicted, and forced to move in with her brother, which is the home where her son found the gun. But since his mom worked on the welfare-to-work program, which employs some of its workers at Dick Clark's restaurant, it was his fault. In his interview with Heston, he also made him feel guilty for Kayla Rolland's death, which again made no sense to me. Heston invited Moore into his home, and completely disrespected him and made him look stupid. He asked questions Heston could not have possibly known the answer to, and left a picture of Rolland on Heston's property. Heston is in no way responsible for Rollands' death. Though he does support gun ownership as president of the NRA, Rolland's murder was a six year old who stole the gun, and the second amendment which the NRA supports is for people eighteen and over. This week we also started the film Michael Moore Hates America which follows filmmaker Michael Wilson as he tries to prove America is not the horrible place Moore makes it out out be.HE also discredits Moore editing techniques.

Although I definitely like Wilson more than Moore, I think that they both use incredible sources. For example, Wilson has a lawyer talking about Moore's supposed narcissistic personality disorder, when he is not even a a professional in psychology. This is a fallacy of unqualified authority. And when Moore is talking about how much greater Canada is than America in BFC, he talks to three high schoolers who are skipping school at Taco Bell, and a couple of intoxicated people in a bar. This definitely doesn't  represent all the people in Canada. But Moore is a lot more deceitful in his editing. He stages scenes, lies, splices clips and sound bites but never admits that any of it is in the smallest way untrue. But when Wilson deceives a county representative from Moores' hometown of Davison, Michigan, he talks about how it was unethical and sends the man an apology.

I feel like Wilson is a more ethical filmmaker than Moore. Although its impossible for a documentary to ever be completely objective and truthful, Wilson does a much better job. He points out his faults in order to make his movie as truthful as possible, like in the situation with the Davison representative when he pretended to know less than he actually did. Also in the scene at North Country Bank he leaves in the cameraman's commentary on how Moore was not completely unjustified in making fun of the bank, because a bank giving out guns is funny. Moore on the other hand, seems to use every trick in the book to make you believe what he believes is true. He makes himself look smarter and funnier at other peoples' expense. In MMHA, the employees mention that while filming BFC one of the tellers made a joke that made Moore look stupid, and he admonished her and said it was his movie, and he'd be the one making the jokes.

Although Moore and Wilson's film making ethicality is a related topic, this reminded me of how sometimes two things are compared or attached to each other when they really have no logical connection. I feel like Moore sometimes does this in his films. In BFC he somehow related the death of Kayla Rolland to be Dick Clark's fault, which makes no sense. Because the welfare-to-work program employs some people at Dick Clark's restaurant chain, and Rolland's murderer's mother did not make enough money on the WTW Program to keep her house, and was forced to move in to her brother's house where her son found the gun that killed Kayla, it is Dick Clark's fault she is dead. The WTW program employs people at other stores that all happen to be in a certain shopping mall, which includes Dick Clark's restaurant. I don't believe he should be faulted for Kayla's death because the chance that he has control over who is employed in his restaurant chain is not likely.

I wonder how Michael Moore reacted to Wilson's film. He already chastised Wilson for making it at the University of Minnesota, and told press that movie was a fraud. I wonder if Wilson ever got his interview with Moore, or if Moore ever gave his review of or reaction to the film to the press.






Works Cited:
1. Wilson, M. Brian Cartmell & Michael Wilson. 2004. Michael Moore Hates America [Film]. HCW Films.
2. (2007, August 20). The Gun Zone. Retrieved October 16, 2011, from http://www.thegunzone.com/rkba/images/bc
3. Buell Elementary School demolition doesn't mean we'll forget Kayla Rolland. (2008, November 22). mlive.com. Retrieved October 16, 2011, from http://www.mlive.com/opinion/flint/index.ssf/2008/11/flint_journal_editortony_deari_1.htmlhttp://f_bankpromo.jpghttp://

Fallacies In Documentries

Journal 1-2

After studying heroic imagination last week, I was curious about the health effects of 9/11 on first responders. I found out that many firefighters had a steep decrease in pulmonary function. About four times as many firefighters and twice as many EMS workers had below-normal lung function for their ages six to seven years after 9/11 as they did before the attacks. Many are also suffering from cancer, but there is no proof that it is related to the dust they breathed following the attacks. Many rescue and recovery workers who started work on or soon after 9/11 are more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder, and almost 1 in 5 adults enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Registry reported PTSD symptoms. 

For the past two weeks we have been studying fallacies, which is an invalid argument. There are four different types of informal fallacies, which are caused by the words used in an argument. Fallacies of relevance, weak induction, presumption, and ambiguity. I found it very interesting, but I was a little confused since I was absent the first day we learned about what fallacies are and the different types. After we had studied all the different kinds of fallacies, we started to watch Bowling for Columbine, a documentary by Michael Moore about gun laws and the Columbine Massacre. As we watched, we realized how Moore skewed evidence which made the documentary biased and used many types of fallacies. He edited sound bites to make a person statement prove the point he was trying to make. He also had phantom questions, guerrilla interviews, and loaded language. He would make hasty generalizations about people and use loaded language to make a person or group of people look bad, without giving background information on those people or the situation they were in. Studying fallacies made me realize how I often used then as a child to win arguments. For example, if I got into a fight with my best friend, I would tell her to let me get my way or I wouldn't be her best friend anymore, which is appeal to force, a fallacy of relevance. 

After beginning BFC this week, I wonder what the community of Littleton and friends and families of victims thought about the movie. It didn't portray them in a bad light necessarily, but the way Moore presented the events and the reasons for what happened at Columbine and the days after was not all that positive or completely true at times. 


Works Cited: 
1. Farley, T. (2011, October 1) A Message from Thomas Farley, MD, MPH, the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. What We Know About the Health Affects of 9/11. Retrieved from www.nyc.gov/html/doh/wtc/know/know.shtml  
2. (2011) michael-moore-young [Photograph], Received from http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Entertainment/images-8/michael-moore-young.jpg
3.  (2011) Comunbine_High_School_sign [Photograph], Received from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Columbine_High_School_sign.jpg

An Introduction to Ethics - Week 1

Journal 1-1

Since this was my first week of Ethics class, I do not have a question from previous weeks to answer.

This week in class, I learned about Heroic Imagination. During 9/11 many people exhibited heroic imagination and we learned the stories of Welles Crowther and of the city of Gander, Newfoundland. I also learned about loaded language, euphemisms, and power words and how these literary techniques are used in media and marketing. I also learned about informal logic, fuzzy logic, ambiguity, and vagueness.

In our discussions of logic this week, I learned about loaded language, power words and euphemisms. It made me think about how often I heard this type of language in my daily life and never realized it. I am now more aware of literary techniques used in the media to portray a certain message that might be not quite true or exaggerated. I already knew about vagueness and fuzzy logic, but informal logic and ambiguity were new concepts to me.

The lesson I enjoyed most this week was heroic imagination. When we were first asked to describe it, we had not seen the videos about Welles Crowther or Gander. But my definition was "ideas that have the power to change the world or someone's world." I think that was what Welles did. In the last hour of his life, amid the crisis of the Twin Towers being attacked, he led those he could to safety. He was a firefighter at heart, and he saved strangers that day just like other New York City firefighters did. The city of Gander also showed heroic imagination by the kindness and hospitality they showed to the thousands that showed up in their small town that day. The visitors had been passengers from international flights headed to the US, but all flights were rerouted following the hours after planes flew into the Twin Towers. Hundreds of those flights ended up in Gander, Canada, and thousands were without anyplace to stay. Although it was not as local, the story of Gander reminded me of the support showed to tsunami victims in 2004. It happened December 26, 2004  off the coast of Indonesia. St. Mathias, a church in my community that my family often visits, had fundraisers and sent money and supplies to the relief effort. I also remember how myself and fellow classmates from Robious Elementary school had a bake sale and lemonade stand to raise money for relief efforts.

After all the things I learned about this week, what I want to know most about is what happened to the other heroes during 9/11. I have heard that they paid a price for their heroism that day and the days that followed. The dust first responders and other volunteers were breathing is causing serious health issues, and I wonder how extensive the damage to their health is and who is being effected.