E-Portfolio

https://drive.google.com/#folders/0B5WinFoCjSpPR2puLTZoc3pxakE

Link to Group Project

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1B1BSXKoPLcRVsTrzVdvk4KxuF5NI3RduwO7tK4cZFVA/edit#slide=id.p

May 2nd Presentations

“Should college athletes be paid?” by Andrew, Ivan, and Francisco. Did a good job relating their project to their own situation. I also thought it was smart how they suggested realistic amount college athletes should be paid unlike the other group who thought they should get hundreds of thousands of dollars. However I thought they could have used more statistical evidence to back up their points. Good over all presentation with nice visuals.

(I was in the second group)

Group Presentation Reviews 4/30

“Hypocrisy is a Whore” The presentation about prostitution by Brian, Carlo, and Saul was interesting. I think it was more entertaining to hear Brian swearing than it was to pay attention to the content, just being honest, but they did make some good points. In our society today everything revolves around money… eating, having a place to live, and any possessions we may have all are because of money. So of course sex can also be tied into the equation. Their main point was to point out: what’s so different about treating your girlfriend out and spending money on her verses paying a whore for sex. Again, an interesting concept but I feel that they stretched the truth a little, I don’t think every guy who buys something for his girlfriend is thinking about sex… maybe I’m wrong.  

“Space exploration” by Blake, Doyle, and Daniel was enjoyable to listen to. The project was done on an interesting topic so that was a positive aspect; it’s always amazing to think about the future and imagine what it will be like and their project assisted with this. The visuals were good and helped add to the flow of the presentation. They could improve on everyone speaking for more equal amounts of time, Daniel I think talked about 90% of the time. He is a good public speaker so I understand why they divided it up that way but still. Over all it was a good project that really got your mind thinking.

“The Truth Behind Diets”- Irania, Jessica, and Randee was the most relevant topic because like they pointed out, a lot of people are going through self-mage problems in our society. Although a lot of the content was pretty obvious, to me at least, it was still interesting to hear about how they used an example of a famous singer who had gone through the same struggle as “normal” people go through. This did a good job setting the tone and getting the audience engaged. Another strength is how they covered all types of eating disorders not just the generic overweight one. What I thought they could have done better is give some specific examples of diets that have been successful and also they could have mentioned certain foods that are good for losing weight and which to avoid, etc. Over all a relevant topic that might have applied to some of the audience, which I cant say about most of the other presentations.

Annotated Bibliography - (Group Research Project)

The first article I found was on the webpage Psychcentral.com, written by Rick Nauert (PHD). Dr. Rick Nauert has over 25 years experience in clinical, administrative, and academic healthcare. He is currently an associate professor for Rocky Mountain University of Health Professionals doctoral program in health promotion and wellness. The article discusses the many ways different types of videogames can impact kids for good or bad, including a study headed by Dr. Douglas Gentile. The study covered kids who repeatedly played violent videogames. According to Dr. Douglas, playing videogames is similar to practicing mathematics or the piano. He states, “If you practice over and over, you have that knowledge in your head. The fact that you haven’t played the piano in years doesn’t mean you can’t still sit down and play something”. As a result researchers found that over time the kids began to think more aggressively. The article appeals to a younger audience because the paragraphs are short and the language is relatively easy to understand. The information in this article seems reliable because it is written by a doctor with a PHD and has been studying in his field for many years.

            The aspect of this article that I would say was most useful was how the information is organized in a way that is easy to understand and gets straight to the point. It presents hard facts and evidence to back up its points using statistics to make the concept clear. The only thing I would have liked to see more of was for the article to go more in depth when describing the experiments that were conducted, just to make it clear that there’s less confusion.

I found a useful article,titled “Feelings of Failure, Not Violent Content, Foster Aggression in Video Gamers” that explores the reasons behind aggression experienced in gamers. Researchers from Oxford University, and The University of Rochester preformed the study. Andrew Przybylski, a researcher at Oxford University conducted an experiment where students played a variety of videogames and there reactions were observed when they felt frustration from loosing in the game. Andrew explains “in our experiments, If you press someone's competencies, they'll become more aggressive, and our effects held up whether the games were violent or not." Basically Andrews point is that the feelings of failure and frustration are more of a cause of aggression rather than the more common belief that the violence is the sole cause. The text is reliable because its not opinion based, everything voiced in the article is derived from experiments and studies.

The website had many images to compliment the content being discussed that added to the detail. As far as weaknesses went in the article there were not many. The only complaint I have is that it could have included more background information on the authors and the people that preformed the studies just so I could get a better feel for who they were and what specific qualifications they had. The strength of the paper was that it showed a non biased viewpoint that was clear and concise.

4/4/14 Summary of "Selection, Slanting, and Charged Language"

The reading discussed the process in which we participate when deciding how to express ourselves in a verbal form. This process is called the principle of selection in which we organize our memories and experiences in our mind. A second process of selection, known as slanting, is used when we select the emotions, emphasis, and way in which we chose to convey our message. The passage goes into depth on the variety of factors that contribute to the thought processes discussed, for me it got a little dry and repetitive but still is an interesting topic.

Spring Break Assignment

In the last year my older brother Dylan graduated from UCLA, so we traveled down the coast of California to pay him a visit. UCLA is a remarkable college in terms of architecture, every building is constructed from stone and the library resembles a small castle. UCLA is located in the nicer side of Los Angeles and borders a small college town, Westwood. Westwood is pretty much a small college town made up of mostly apartments and small houses. UCLA is known for having one of the best medical programs in the country. For the most part, while I was visiting and attending the graduation ceremony at UCLA, I just hung out with family and celebrating with my brother, who graduated in the class of 2013. I don’t know if I will ever visit UCLA again, but I’m sure ill go down to LA some time in the near future because I really like the area and now my brother in attending UC San Diego, so I’m sure ill be headed down to that area later this year when he graduates from there. If I could travel anywhere in the world it would probably be Hawaii because I have always wanted to go there and kiss a dolphin and ride its fin all the way out to some secret island, or something like that. Also I would like to surf there and go on the beach because I hear the water is wonderful and it has some of the best waves to surf in the world. I would also like to travel to Australia and attempt to climb inside the pouch of a mother kangaroo.