Apple HQ

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-apple-new-hq-20110609,0,6877722.story

Steve Jobs announced on june 7th that he plans to build a new apple headquarters in Cupertino california, where apple had its original headquarters. The old facility simply is just to small for the rapidly growing corporation. Apple's new building plans, not only look amazing but Mr. Jobs has every intention to make them as eco friendly as possible. Technology really is benefiting society, just in this new building alone apple will simulate the economy by hiring more employees, and they will reduce their energy consumption with new technology.

Dr. King

Dr. king’s letter from Birmingham jail could be conceived as addressing various groups of people, not just the priests. He may be directing the letter towards these priests, but it could be argued that Dr. King had a larger population that he wanted to notify about his concerns. Dr. king repeatedly mentions that his followers and himself were a non-violent group of individuals, yet they are accused of being extremist. At first Dr. King was offended by this accusation, shorty after he reflected on this idea, he realized that many inspirational and revolutionary individuals including Jesus Christ were considered radicals or “extremist”. Initially Dr. King was under the impression that these priests would be supportive of the civil rights movement, because the segregation laws we immoral. Many of these so-called holly men were fearful of getting involved because they didn’t want to be scrutinized by their community. Many also ridiculed about his timing, although this individuals were not is his position. Certain things can never be conducted at a good time, but they do not have time to wait either. Dr. kings message was urgent, and his fellow brothers had been oppressed for far to long. This was not just demoralizing but flat out dehumanizing. The oppression needed to stop and Dr. King was not going to rest until he had achieved equality for all.

            Initially Dr. king could have been writing to the priests because he was appalled by their cowardly behavior. After the church had be so powerful, and influential for thousands of years, despite all the ridicule, it was natural for Dr. King to expect some support.  Although as his letter progressed he also notifies the community about the police officers disorderly conduct against large numbers of black individuals. This letter letter could have been his final attempt to reach out for the support of the church, and if all else failed he would resort to other means of action. 

Concluding Thoughts On Technology

Information technology and news media can be a topic of conversations in many forms. Personally I am still convinced that technology is benefiting societal knowledge, and individual productivity. As we conclude our discussion on technology I drew upon yet another issue, are certain devices we are using giving off forms of radiation, causing health issues? Radiation has been known to be very bad for ones health, causing cancer, and many other horrible diseases. Have we been asking the wrong questions? Not only should we be addressing whether these devices are making us dumber, but also if they are posing a health risks that could amount to cancer? Today I saw a news clip on yahoo, there is a women who has recently written a book about the radiation and electromagnetic waves that cellphones, computers, cordless phones, and all kind of other devices are giving off. It would be really interesting to do some more in-depth research on what kind of side effects have been appearing in recent years, and that experts think are related to new wireless technology. 

Information Technology

Information technology is keeping students, and young adults informed.  Whether you get it from your news feed on Facebook, or you see news highlights while you are checking your email, we are constantly having news information shoved down our throats. For those of us who have an interest in what is going on, it is even easier to get access to news information. On my iphone I have both a CNN application, and a BBC application, which I can check instantaneously, these applications are constantly updating with lives news feeds. I cannot tell you the last time I picked up a newspaper, yet I still seem to be pretty well informed. In regard to this making us more stupid, its not possible. I doubt our parents, when they were our age went to the news stand or wherever you find these “paper things” every morning to get a paper. We don’t have the choice to not be informed anymore, unless you have no internet, and live hidden in the woods. News just follows you everywhere. 

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

With any change you will always have skeptics who are convinced that these new technologies, or advances in any from, are the demise of the “old” traditional way. Yes, most of the time these individuals are radical, and try to make some crazy analogize as to why this new improvement are horrible. But, to their credit sometimes they have good points of opinion under all the crazy antics. The points and opinion of these people typically do not outweigh the tremendous improvement in technology.

I am baffled as to why they don’t come of as more sane? One would think that they would get more attention and followers with a more normal plan of action. On the other had you have outstanding innovation, such as Google. The key is to find the equilibrium. It seems slightly extravagant to say that Google is making us “drummer”. A better way to approach this is, how is Google changing cognition, and is this good, or bad. 9 times out of 10 it is both.

As mentioned earlier both sides have valid contributory points, thus you need to be aware of all aspects. As argued in the Carr article, online reading is making our attention span shorter, and making us more efficient opposed to deep thinkers. Well what if we can do both? Isn’t that the objective to new technology to make life more efficient, to improve society, and so forth. The human species are extremely adaptive, and smart, so why would we not be able to take the good aspects from the former technology, and the benefits from the new technology?  

Blogging and Journalism

I wouldn’t say that an editorial in a newspaper or magazine is credible just because of where it is published. The articles that are published in newspapers or magazines have to be reviewed and edited by others in that firm. So more times than not this information is credible. If the main author decides to go on some rant about politics that is absolutely irrelevant to the topic they are supposed to be writing, I am sure that article will not be published. On the other hand, if a blogger with no set work agenda decides to compose a rant about a political stance, they can post whatever their heart desires without having anyone even edit it. The dialog on blogs versus newspapers and magazines tends to be completely different. The frank Partsch quote is referring to the fact that the editorial is a representation of the newspaper or the magazines view as a whole, not the personal opinion of the author who wrote it. A blog on the other hand is a completely personal response, not to say that the person writing it has not done their research, but they have the choice to do so. Their job isn’t on the line. That is why the comparison of a blogger being a shout in the crowd is made. The blog is really that one person’s feelings on a given topic, and their interpretation of the matter at hand. Still, institutions are not always superior to a community of blogs. The only reasons that would make them superior are that, they comprise a group of professional writers, and they have done the research to support their evidence. 

Technology Era

Whether you like technology or not, it really is paving the way for our future. As with anything else there are bad and good aspects revolving around it. Most would agree that technology is a positive thing, and that it is improving our lives. Its insane to even think about how much things have changed in the last five years relative to the release of the first Iphone.

The varieties of applications we can use on our Iphones are quite revolutionary. You can pay your my bills, check the weather, send an email, get the score to the Giants game, and much more all within seconds on your phone. What is there not to like about being more efficient? The technology era definitely has some competitive advantages over previous generations in seeking pretty much any information we please, by having the Internet at our fingertips. Our parents would have had to spend countless hours in the library researching, when we have the ability to do it all in seconds on the computer.

There are apparent disadvantages in the increasing demand for technology. It was just release that apple keeps track of all the Iphone users locations, and where they travel. This is most likely done to make some kind of marketing analysis, and they disclose it in the fine print of the contract that no one reads. But this seems a bit invasive of our privacy. Facebook is probably the worst about privacy. People assume that their Facebook pages are secure if they enable certain security options, however prospective employers, and school that you are applying to definitely have access to all you “secure” photos and information. If that prospective employer sees a bunch of photos on your Facebook of you drinking and parting I guarantee that they will think twice about how responsible you are. Essentially those photos can jeopardize whether you get that job or not, even if you are well-qualified candidate. As mentioned earlier about computer access, one has to be carful on the validity of the information we read, a lot of people post junk on the internet that has no relevance to the topic that we made our Google search on. Being selective, and making sure the sites you are using are credible sources is needed.

One might add that these disadvantages make critical thinkers. You really have to analyze what you are reading in order to make sure it is accurate information. In respects to the privacy concerns, it is just a matter of being carful what you post, and what you publicly talk about. This can be applied as a filter on what the outside world gets to know about you personally. It seems that a lot of people lack a filter on what they say or do, what they don’t realize is that people are making judgments on them just based on only what they see, not who you are. It is certain that previous generations had some partying habits too, but it wasn’t publicly displayed, and to be honest I think our generation has taken it to a whole new level, surpassing even the 1960s hippie movement. But that is a completely different topic of concern. On thing that really gets on my nerves is when someone texts you, and you don’t respond instantaneously. People are so off put by this, they can not seem to fathom that you might be doing something else which does not involve your phone being glued to your finger tips. The movie we watched today talked about a multi-tasking generation, which can be helpful and time efficient, although there is something to be said about being fully immersed into what your doing and not constantly having other distractions. It is all a matter of being selective on how we use technology to benefit ourselves. “Everything in moderation” as I am sure we have all heard our parents say. Might be something we want to consider with our use of, cell phones, computers, Facebook, videogames, etc. 

Final thoughts on the "educational system"

Most would agree that education is beneficial to the individual that is learning, and to society as a whole. Furthermore we should have college easily accessible to everyone. In addition to easy access, the tuition at a junior college should be affordable for everyone. Hence why the budget cuts, and increase in tuition needs to stop. Which most of us addressed in our letters to Jerry Brown.

            We need to take things one-step at a time in reforming our educational system as well. So many people seem to bring up issues, but lack a plan to improve them. And if they do have a plan they seem to be extremely radical, such as Gattos plan to home school all the children. Which is Clearly not realistic for many reasons, if we could just start improving school conditions in inner city “urban” areas (including both teacher and facilities) this would benefit them greatly. Then move on to the teaching to the test model. The STAR testing system is not working anymore, it does not provide accurate data, and none of the kids take it seriously. A system with more than one data point to accurately assess school improvement might be a start! 

Jerry Brown

Dear Jerry Brown,

It is pretty apparent that the California public colleges took a huge hit do to the recession, and continuingly with all enormous budget cuts. This current situation is putting California’s great reputation for Junior colleges at risk. For the past two years I have been at Foothill College in Los Altos, CA and have observed drastic academic changes ranging from a massive increase in tuition for students to a major downsize in curriculum. This does not sit well with me.

The first year I enrolled at foothill, I had the option to take geology for my laboratory science requirement, which I thoroughly enjoyed. When I went to enroll the following year for the second geology course, the course was no longer available. In trying to figure out why, I discovered that the entire Geology program had been cancelled due to budget cuts. When I took the fist geology class there was a very high demand for this course, I remember students continuously trying to add during the fist week of the quarter. Unfortunately most of them didn’t succeed because the class was extremely full.

A large amount of students attend community college, because it is a much cheaper option in comparison to a UC, state, or private school. How much longer is this cheaper tuition going to be cheap? Where will we draw the line with tuition costs at junior colleges, when they seem to be getting steeper every year? How many students will be denied education before we realize that these steadily increasing prices need to stop. When the cost of gas and everything else in our economy seems to be skyrocketing, why should our education be at risk too? Do to these fiscal increases, it is pretty apparent that people in my generation will need to get a college degree to not only survive, but to stimulate the economy. Given the current circumstances, a lot of people wont have the opportunity to go to college if the cost of education is so high.

The vitality of California students, and our American way of life is being jeopardized. Do you realize what impact this has on the next generation? If we are expected to run the country how are we supposed to accomplish this without a post-secondary education? These budget cuts are limiting not only the number of students who can attend school, but also the level of education. These budget cuts and increased tuition is going to end up eliminating our countries stability and the American way of life. We need to stop this destruction before things get any worse. Reallocation of cost to individuals who can actually afford a small decrease in their net profit might be a temporary solution. 

Education

In my opinion, educational rights should be granted to everyone; just as any other right we receive being American citizens. But it is also evident that we are not all granted equal educational opportunities.  I believe the following points are important:

First, there is no doubt wealthier locations and districts get better educational opportunities.  Wealthier locations seem to offer more opportunities and better infrastructure.  This all comes from the application of affluence.

But, whether in rich or poor areas, good teachers make all the difference. So many teachers just follow the guidelines, grade the students, and move on to the next class. If teachers can try to integrate some kind of interest that your students have for the curriculum that would make all the difference in the class involvement and student engagement.

The economics of teacher compensation really needs to be reformed too.  Although most people do not go into teaching for an extremely lucrative salary they still have to support themselves. So naturally most of the good teachers will seek out the higher paying jobs. The students and teachers that really suffer from this are the urban inner city schools.

There is also responsibility on the part of the students. How can people be taught if they don’t want to learn? It is fair to say that a lot of students don’t seem to want to be in class, by not showing up or coming late and texting on their smart phones the whole time.

One solution to improving post-secondary education could involve transition program that required such students with low GPAs, and poor high school education to take certain classes to better prepare them from more difficult college course. Integration would prepare them, and I think would reduce the drop out rate incredibly.

I am going to explore some of these ideas furthermore in my essay later this week. 

Introduction

Hey everyone, my name is Mike and I am currently a business major. I plan to transfer to a UC School after I complete all my general education and major requirements. After I finish my undergraduate work I would like to either intern at a venture capital firm, or try and get a job at a start-up. I am still undecided on whether or not I would like to go to graduate school. I guess I will have to see what opportunities present them selves after graduation. My dad is the founder of a biotech company, so it has been a life long goal to fallow in his footsteps and start a company of my own one-day. My goals for English 110 are obviously to improve my writing skills, especially concerning grammar and sentence structure. This blog will help me articulate my thoughts on writing, and present any other topics I see fit to share with the public.