Is It Too Much A Good or Bad?

Multiple time in my life I was told that I should stop watching television because its not good for me and that it would rots the brain. My argument against whoever would say that to me is that I actually learned a lot from watch television and that I believe it can actually be beneficial (this was how a younger me thought). I do believe that TOO television vision is actually bad thing for your brain and even for you eye. I also believe that some television shows have negatives affects on children today because children are easily influenced and can pick up bad words and try to imitate something they seen on television and get hurt. Television also influence people to spend money on newer products. Television also has its positive sides. A lot of television shows teaches children how to count numbers, teaches them the names of colors, and some shows even teaches children about good personal hygiene. Television helps keeps some people up to date with what happening around them and around the rest of the world. Television actually brighten some peoples day, when your having a bad day just watch family guy I bet it makes your day brighter. I personally know a few people who say they dont watch television at all because it is just bad. I believe that only extremely too much television is bad for you mentally and physically. What are you thought about television? Do you believe it has a negative, positive, or a little of both kinds of effect on people?

Is CIAA overrated in Charlotte NC

Every year the CIAA basketball tournament is held in Charlotte, NC. The people have voted it will continue to be held there for the next six years. The tournament is mainly focused on the college basketball games, which usually began February 20th and end on the 25th. There are also many other events, for example they have concerts, step shows, fashion shows and etc. Most of the family events began in the morning and end around noon.

After the 25th is when all the overrated activities began. I believe February 25th through the 28th is when all the parties and celebrities come and perform.  Thousands of people arrive to Charlotte just to party and see all the celebrities.

 Party entry fees vary from the range of $20 dollars - $150 dollars just to enter the party. Most parties won`t let you in unless you are the of 21 and above. Club capacities vary 400 people to 4,000 people in one party. As all these people are here just to party many hotel are booked. The booking for hotels are so extreme people may place their reservations a year ahead.

 Parking also is a big deal during this event. Parking services and towing services make a lot of money. I believe parking spots can cost up to $50 dollars a night and if your car is towed i believe it`s $250 for the car to be giving back to you. I understand it`s a great experience and lots of fun but is it actually worth all the money being spent? 

Mickey D's

I went over to McDonalds the other day and got myself a double cheese. Boy was it delicious. Now, one might ask,

“Why wouldn’t you just buy the cheaper McDouble? It’s only missing one piece of cheese”.

You say it’s only missing a piece of cheese, I say it’s missing half of its deliciousness. The whole point of a double cheeseburger is to have 2 pieces of cheese. The second piece of cheese is essential to balance of flavor within the sandwich itself. A McDouble only has a single piece of cheese which is usually stuck between two all-beef patties. This mutes the cheesy goodness by sealing off the cheese from your taste buds. Compare this to the double cheeseburger. You have a piece of cheese sandwiched in between the all-beef patties, just like the McDouble. However, a second piece of cheese is draped over the whole thing, adding to the delectability of the burger.  Now comes the second question:

“Would you like fries with that?”

Hell yeah I’d like fries with that! What’s a double cheese without some over salted potato sticks? A lonely double cheese, that’s what. To say if I’d like fries with that is akin to asking someone if they would like to get an A in English class instead of a B. Fries are great with a burger, but is there a way to take both fries and a double cheese to make it into something better? After a long and hard 2 minutes of pondering this quandary, I have come up with the ultimate solution.

Wait for it…

It’s…

Putting the fries inside the burger!

It’s the perfect blend of meats and vegetables all mixed into one super burger that I hereby dub:

“The Double Cheese W/ Vegan accents”

People can finally feel good about eating burgers because of the veggies that are in it.

Old Generation vs New Generation Music

    As time progresses one thing that seems to change is the type of music that people in this generation enjoys. Whenever I talk to my parents about music ( who are in their middle 30's, so they have a good balance of past music and the music today) they always say old school music is better. Their reason for this is because the music is cleaner, it relates to their lives, and it makes them feel good. However, I always reply that the music now does make people feel better or motivated. The music might not always be clean or have a positive influence; however it does make people feel good. But still to this day I can't determine what makes a generation of music better. People who enjoy older version of music, tell me to listen to what the artist is saying and how it can still relate to today. In that sense I do feel as though, that yes older generation of music is better. Despite that, there still are people who believe artists do relate to today's problems and make good music that is better than past music. That statement also makes sense because the technology today, allows for beats and just the sound in general to be better. From my own research there are plenty of songs which are not that good in the older generation. Despite this, to avoid conflict with the argument of which generation of music is better, I just say if the music gets you going and makes you feel good then it's good music. Which generation of music do you prefer?

Boys will be boys

     This is a poem in response to this article about a fraternity at NC State that was disbanded after a notebook full of offensive content was found. And that the term "Boys will be boys" is used too liberally.
      Link to article: http://www.wral.com/nc-state-fraternity-placed-on-interim-suspension-after-embarrassing-scary-book-found/14528066/

Boys Will Be Boys

Boys will be boys
they say

Boys will be boys
even when they’re holding
a gun to someone’s
throat screaming
‘second amendment”

Moldy green journal
filled with their
hearts’ desires

Southern trees that
bear strange fruit

The intimacy of
a cold body

Replacing ‘no’
for ‘yes’

Trading humanity
for lust

Stealing the innocence
of a child
hoping it replaces
their own

Boys will be boys

Their polo shirts
And pastel shorts
smell of
rotting flesh and
decomposing childhoods

But boys will be boys

Flaunting themselves like
mating flame bowerbirds
because the law
will only tickles
them on their noses

Boys will be boys

Boys will be boys
as long as they
don’t paint their
hands crimson
when the cameras
are rolling

But remember boys
will be boys

Who's more stressed?

So, I went home last weekend and I was having a conversation with my family about how school is going, the classes I'm enrolled in and also telling them that I have a pretty heavy workload this semester. As I'm explaining my classes and giving examples of the assignments I'm having to do, my uncle abruptly interrupts saying: "Jocey, you have it so much better than we had it growing up! Kids kill me nowadays thinking that they're stressed out, you haven't experienced stress until you have a family to take care of and bills to pay." Now, I'm not the type to disrespect my elders, especially members of my family but the things he was saying just really got under my skin. This type of thing always happens when I talk to him and a few of my other family members. It's like my stress isn't significant enough to talk about. I feel like if I'm stressing over school or feel like I have a lot on my plate, I have the right to feel that way. I don't understand how others fell as though they can judge how intense things are, especially for us as a younger generation that doesn't get the credit we deserve for how hard we work. Many people are quick to assume that because I am a part of this generation where technology advances have quickly taken over, that I don't know what it's like to work hard. My questions regarding this topic are: Do you feel that we as a generation have it way easier than the last? Do you think the work load for college has increased since then? Do we think about how bad other people may have it, or simply assume that no one is worse off than we are?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/education/27colleges.html?_r=0
Above I have attached an article I thought was pretty interesting. It's about college freshmen and their level of stress. I've never really taken the time to think about the things that we as freshman go through. There's leaving home for the first time to start a brand new chapter without all of your friends and family that you've been around for 17+ years. When you finally get to college some students take on responsibilities such as an SGA position, band, ROTC, etc. Making the transition somewhat more difficult being that then a trait of time management is even more essential. Do you think that college freshmen stress more than college sophomores or juniors? (I would add seniors, but I think their stress level regarding graduation is more than enough.)

How the Internet gets into our heads

 Read this article first, then my blog post response:  Google Search Results Can Influence an Election 



Someone sent me a link to this article about how Google can influence an election and I found it to be a little frightening. We are all so connected to our devices these days, that I think we forget that the constant stream of information coming at us can affect the way we think about things without us even realizing it. I know for a fact that Facebook has done social experimentation on its members. They admitted as much in 2012 when they altered the feeds of 700,000 member to see their reactions to a variety or negative posts. (Facebook's Not-so-secret Mood Manipulation Experiment ).

I've also heard rumblings about the"gay marriage rainbow profile filter" app that was made available to Facebook users following the Supreme Court's decision to uphold gay marriage. Rumor has it those were a social experiment too. I've read various reports that never definitively corroborate or disprove that it was, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if it were true. Can you imagine what an immensely powerful tool that would be to have access to the thoughts and feelings of a wide and varied range of the population? Old, young, conservative, liberal, crunchy, hipster, religious, atheist, ethnic, white...they're all represented on Facebook.

To be fair, marketers and politicians have always tried to figure out which ways work best to sway us, so none of this is really new.  There have always been polls and surveys and even controversial social experimentation, like the Obedience Experiments conducted by Stanley Milgram, but I think there's a fine line between trying to figure out what makes humans tick so you can learn about human nature either for purely academic reasons or to hopefully persuade them to choose something, and controlling people with manipulation. Some of this stuff just plays out to me a little bit too much like some of the dystopian literature I've read (Fahrenheit 451, A Handmaid's Tale, Nineteen Eighty-Four etc). What are your thoughts? Do you think the "powers that be" are using our Internet activity to manipulate and control us (or at least working hard to figure out how to do so)? If so, what can one do to counter it?

PS: I promise I was not wearing a foil-hat while writing this.  :)

Respect or trust?

I attended a conference meeting Friday, and the speaker was demonstrating how you can respect a person even though you do not trust them and vice versa. He displayed his theory by asking a female student to sit in a chair, then to stand up and fall back into his arms. As she began to fall into his arms, she seemed a little nervous. After that, he asked her “How can you trust the chair before you trust me, even though I am the human being?” He then proceeded to present another example. He said “If someone told you they were going to kill you; would you respect them or trust them?” A lot student said they would trust them but not respect them. One student was not having it. He felt as though respect and trust are the same, and if you respect someone then you also have to trust them, because when you trust someone you also respect them. So the question is, can you respect someone without trusting them? And, do you think that trust and respect are the same?

Professionalism

Where did Professionalism go? There once was a time that you could go to different work locations and customer service was great. As you entered into the workplace people were inviting, polite, and kind. When I first started working, I was taught to always speak to customers, smile, and do not be on my cell phone. Now, it’s a different ball game. My biggest pet peeved is when I go into a store and I’m at the cash register and someone doesn’t speak. I immediately say to myself, am I not standing here? Common courtesy is to always speak no matter. Yes, I understand that we sometimes have challenging days but an outstanding work ethic should always remain. My old manager use to tell us to leave our problems outside the door before we began working. Another one of my pet peeved is for someone to be texting and talking on the phone while customers are in front of them. I have encountered this problem on two different occasions. On the first occasion, I was at Walmart. As I got ready to pay for my items, the young lady was texting on her phone. I thought that as she saw me coming, she would’ve hurried and put the phone away but it wasn’t any shame in her game. My second encounter was at Burger King. This young lady was talking on her cell phone like she was on break. Immediately I don’t want her bagging and touching my food because she didn’t even wash her hands. Let’s keep it professional!

Black History Month

As you all may know, February is Black History Month and we get to celebrate our ancestors and history by awarding them for their gratitude and bravery. It has been a long discussion about if we should have more than one month to celebrate black history or are we fine with being limited to one month of the year. Although the lives of many successful African Americans helped pave the way for where we are now, other ethnicities and racial parties have history that they also want to be recognized. The significance of black history month is simply our heroes being recognized and appreciated for everything they have suffered to make a better life for others. Why is it important that African Americans get one specific month to celebrate their history? Do you think it is fair?

NBA Losing Popularity

I am online and I started reading about this information on the NBA. When someone says something about the NBA who comes to mind? Is it LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, or Michael Jordan? What about John Wall or Derrick Rose? Some studies are starting to show how the NBA is losing its popularity because the "white" fans are starting to get tired of watching African-Americans play the sport. The fans want more of a mixture of races and to see a team sport play. I can honestly understand why the fans are starting to feel this way because the NBA is predominantly African-Americans. No one really mentions anything about Kevin Love. Can you name a couple of players without struggling who plays in the NBA who are not African-Americans? I am speaking of very well known and popular players who will have the same popularity as LeBron James or Kobe Bryant? You will hear about Carmelo Anthony or some other player like James Harden. Yes true enough some people have more talent than others, but the NBA is predominantly African-Americans. Every team has at least four players if not more who are African-Americans. The ratings even show how the attendance of the NBA all star game this year was lower than before. Also, the game is not as much as a team sport like it used to be. Not many people speak out on this, but this is very noticeable. I notice this out of all of the years of me watching the game and studying the game myself. It is not hard to tell the change of the sport and how the teams are starting to change as well. Like I said earlier how this years' All star game had NO whites at all in the all star game. I was watching and seen Pau Gasol. He was the only person I seen who was not an African-American. The games are even turning into one on one games now. The teams are not really playing as a team or a team game anymore. My question is do you feel the NBA is biased and not the same as it used to be? Is the NBA not giving others the opportunity as others? Are the people aware of the NBA losing some of its fans because of the racism issues? Why do people not speak out on this? I feel everyone should honestly have a far chance when it comes to this because we are all humans at the end of the day. But, if everyone is so concern about other races not having the same opportunity why has no one said anything about the situation? This is not the only sport that is having this problem. But, I have been seeing all over social media how the NBA all star game was racist because of the colors and who participated in the events and all star game. I know racism plays a big part in the world we live in today, but do you feel this is the case in this situation?

The Titanic II: To Ride or Not to Ride?

A billionaire has built a replica of the RMS Titanic (see the article) and it is slated to sail in 2018. I wonder if they will completely flout fate and sail its maiden voyage for April 10?

Titanic set to sail in 2018

To ride or not to ride? That is the question. Not that I could afford it, this is strictly a rhetorical question, but is an interesting quandary. On the one hand, statistically, it should be safe. It should also technologically be safe. I mean, what are the odds that TWO Titanics would sink on their maiden voyage? Right?

On the other hand, the first Titanic was also supposed to be "technologically safe" too and my primitive, superstitious inner monkey-brain thinks it goes against all sense of self-preservation to ride anything that is modeled after such an ill-fated ship.

 

Question of the Day

Today in my Criminology class, the posed question was if you were a police officer and you were put in a situation where you had to make a quick decision and shoot a fleeing suspect instead of running after them would you?  In my opinion I would choose to run after the suspect instead of resulting to automatically shooting the suspect. I don't think that I could be responsible for potentially killing a life much less a human life. If I were put in that situation I would chase after the suspect or find other ways of obtaining that suspect. If you were put in that situation how would you handle it? Would you potentially risk your life so that you can in the end save someone else's life including the suspect?

2016 Political Race

It's never a good idea to talk politics unless you want to start a fight, argument, or lose a friend but  most of us are eighteen and are able to vote now. I just wanted to get everyone's thoughts and opinions on this years debates and candidates. Do you guys see anyone that has your attention or interest you? Are you not concerned or care too much about politics or the political race? Are you worried about who will take office? Will you participate in this years election? Personally I love politics. I'm a engineer major but politics interest me because they impact is ALL in one way or another. This is the first election that I'm able to participate in by voting, but I'm not too impressed by this years candidates. I'm neither a democrat nor republican, I'm just for anyone that catches my interest and seem to offer the most for me. The only thing kinda exciting about this years political race is that Hillary is running. The only thing that stands out to me about her is that she is a woman. Other than that their is nothing that really draws me to want to vote for her. Bernie Sanders seems to be a good candidate but his age is one draw back to him. On the other side we have Trump which is will not discuss other than I can in no way relate or see the world and situations the way he does. Rubio and Cruz seem to be very similar too each other which is what makes me not pay too much attention to them. They don't stand out. The president has power but not all the power. So whoever is in office I'm not too worried because all of the branches keep each other balanced and being too radical. 

Jane McGonigal: The game that can give you ten extra years of life.

The speaker is Jane McGonigal and I just love her. She's got a PhD Performance Studies and is a game developer.  She has long been a proponent of gaming and has been trying to convince everyone for years that the world would be a better place if everyone would just play more games. She put her money where her mouth is a few years ago when she suffered a severe concussion and almost died and made up a game to help her heal.

This video is from a TED Talk lecture where she challenges the audience to earn 7 1/2 extra minutes on their lives by playing a game with her. The video is 18 minutes, but well worth the watch.

PROMPT:
How do you feel about what Jane McGonigal has to say about games helping people to live better lives?

All about Me!

Hello! My name is Shauntavia Harvey. I am from Raeford, NC. I pretty much laugh at most things because I am a silly person. Things that make me laugh are movies and comedy.I can watch a movie over and over and you wouldn’t be able to tell that I’ve seen the movie before.  I am a big fan of Kevin Hart. I love to have fun. Hanging out with my friends make me laugh as well because we cut up and be “petty”. Lastly, my godson brings joy to me. There is never a dull moment when we are together and he keeps a smile on my face.