Assignment 11: The Media = Golden Ruler

I have never had to think about what specifically I believe are the biggest problems in America today but when faced with the question, it was harder than I thought to come up with a solid answer. I believe that Global Warming is by far the largest problem facing America and the world today because it not only is affecting us right now, but will continue to affect us in the future. Another large problem in America is immigration. This is a major problem itself but it also poses problems in many other related categories like poverty, overcrowding of the population, and child labor to name a few specific issues. Thirdly, something affecting the entire country is the war going on overseas. I think this limits resources and government spending is ridiculous regarding war costs. This problem also affects millions of Americans and their families.

These problems are covered by the media regularly, if not daily and this popularity of controversial topics allows the information to be spread far and wide to get the word out that change needs to occur now more than ever. Everyday when I turn on the news, the war is covered and causalities are shown and talked about for about ten minutes. Also, global warming is discussed and the effects that it is having on the world. Also, many celebrities have come about to campaign the stop of global warming which shows that it is a major problem in America. As far as immigration goes, it is not talked about heavily because I believe it is censored somewhat from American media. The government does not necessarily want citizens to know that the border patrol is too weak, that immigrants are taking our jobs, and that these people are illegally living in our country without paying taxes.

I learned a great deal about immigration from my American Pluralism class last semester. Although I learned about it somewhat in high school, college has brought it to the forefront because in college, such raw topics are discussed with an open mind. In American Pluralism, we discussed major controversies relating to crime and the restriction of laws regarding immigrants. We read and discussed stories of specific people being affected by laws set by America and how these laws are affecting immigrants near and far.

Without the media coverage on topics like global warming and the war, I do not believe that I would have a great deal of knowledge about these topics. After all, although the war is affecting me because it is America fighting, I do not know anyone specifically who is fighting in it and I do not think about it on a daily basis. As far as global warming goes, I do not think about it regularly because it is not really affecting me now either. I know that in the future it will but as of right now, it is not. The media has played a crucial role in censoring information the government does not want Americans to know, but they have also informed Americans on important topics that continue to affect us all.

Assignment 10: E-mail Efficiency

In my research of this topic, I found some shocking information regarding e-mail and its usage. To me, e-mail is just another technology that I can use to communicate with others. As a college student, I have never realized the benefits of it. E-mail allows me to communicate with my advisor, my fraternity, my friends, my mom, and my distant relatives ON MY OWN TIME. Sometimes I feel that it even elicits faster responses than a phone call.

When I talked to three adults about their e-mail usage, all of the results were very similar. All three of the adults work in office atmospheres where they are in front of a computer screen for most of the day or attending office meetings. One of the three interviewees has a blackberry with internet capabilities. All three people said that in the business world, e-mail is extremely important. They rely on it to receive and send memos and communicate with their families and friend alike. My mother said, “I don’t know what I would do at work without e-mail because I would be bored all day.” The second person I interviewed stated that she has her e-mail open on her computer so that instantly when she receives an e-mail she is notified. In a way, this acts like an instant messenger feature.

All three people said that they get anywhere from about 20-50 e-mails per day depending on the season, what business is going on, and what is going on in their personal lives. I found it interesting that they all use their business e-mail as their personal e-mail as well. They spend on and off about 2 hours a day depending on whether or not the work they are doing is going to be e-mailed to someone or not. My mother stated that all of the e-mail she receives is important, especially the ones she gets from me which I found to be funny because she also calls me everyday. My aunt and uncle, the other two interviewees, said that most of the e-mail they get is junk. They are pharmacists and they get advertisements and junk e-mail from companies and legal services all over the world.

E-mail simplifies everyone’s lives is an understatement to them. They cannot fathom picking up the phone and calling everyone that they e-mail and nor could I.

E-mail might have some negative implications as well. For starters, it is a less personal approach to communicating with someone but in the business world, being personable is not valued; it is all about getting the job done and doing it as efficiently as possible.