The overarching theme appears to be that of political and consumptive entities re-adapting to “new-media”.
Q1. Does any adaptation need to be made at all?
While it is true information is more fragmented and entities must compete in ever wider arenas, an opposing argument could be made politics is business as usual. The splitting trend of ideology continues at an arguably accelerated rate, while third parties, theoretically empowered by new media hold less sway at the polls than they they once did even before the rise of television.
Q2. How best to consolidate the influx of information?
A growing issue with evolving media is that of the common vernacular: “Information overload”. Perhaps though, a more fitting appellation is “input overload”. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumbler, Google, the blog sphere, all these and many more vie for increasing shares of a finite resource – attention. Add to that ever evolving techniques for insertion of advertising and subjectivity into all forms of media new or old. The end result is a potentially horrifying mix of misinformation and utter consumer apathy.
So what then is the best technique to resolve or at least slow the tide. Technology solutions range from the mundane concepts of auto dissemination up to disruptive new innovations hoping to change the way we access information. Consolidate your news feed to one coherent screen from dozens of sources today – download a filtered stream directly to your conscious tomorrow.
If that sounds far fetched – it is. Technology is nebulous and ever changing. Each generation tends to pat itself on the back for sitting on the bleeding edge while laughing at the poor Luddites who came before – only to be the next laughing stock tomorrow. So it goes that we’re unlikely to find a permanent solution using technology alone.
Perhaps regulatory? I’m not sure I’d even want to breech thins one – freedom of the press, for all the issues it enables, is a necessity to maintaining a reasonably free society.
This in my opinion only leaves the individual to assume responsibility. It is in turn up to us as a whole society to educate ourselves and upcoming generations to view all sources with a critical eye and open mind at once.
I’d like to say foremost, I actually agree with Ms. DeGeneres on many issues, and for the most part find her hilarious. But when asked to write about the concept of Bic Pens for Women representing ingrained societal misogyny, I found myself having to hide a familiar and festering anger. But the source of my irritation is not what most would assume. Indeed, you might find it is support for women’s causes, not opposition.
As it happens, I was raised by a single mother. But she was not a “mother” – yes I am the most important entity in her life, but raising me was not and is not her identity. For while feeding, sheltering, protecting, and teaching me all of the things she could of courtesy, curiosity, and perseverance, she also worked herself to the bone as part of a growing family business. The latter task she continues to this day. She has been tested in every way a person can be and does not slow down. This she learned from my grandmother, who also built a clothing business even as she acted as the De-facto family matriarch through sheer force of personality. I might add my grandmother, though retired from her own endeavors, now works at my mother’s side and still commands ultimate respect of the family.
In my lifetime I never observed either of these two remarkable women lay claim to any privilege or detriment impressed upon them by society. The simple fact of the matter is they didn’t have time. A sign hangs on the door to my Mother’s office – “She who rows the boat has no time to rock it”. If you are running a race and someone tells you that winning is not possible, do you stop and argue so as to make them right? Or do you ignore the heckling and pass them by on your way to the finish line?
To look beyond my limited experience, one only needs a cursory glance through history. Marie Curie, Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt… these women didn’t waste time or energy concerning themselves with barriers. They were too busy ignoring them and adding something to the sum of humanity beyond a bit of noise.
The truth is that Bic For Women is nothing more than another vapid flash in the pan marketing ploy. Yes, I think we can all agree it was a rather bone headed concept, and sure it’s a fine example of everything wrong with the cooperate hive mind. But a tool of oppression? That’s stretching things a bit I think. So it goes when something so meaningless in the grand scheme becomes a point of outrage for feminists, I feel as though my family and others like them are being belittled and insulted. Do women really need that level of support? Is the colloquialism “boys and girls” really worth more than a passing thought? Was an outcry over INK PENS warranted on any level? I’d like to think women are stronger than that – the ones I know and prefer to associate with certainly are.
If I am wrong, then logically the likes of Barbara Streisand, Whoopi Goldberg, and Hillary Clinton have been greater boons for women than Ms. Cuire, Earhart, or Roosevelt. Furthermore it would seem women have no need of feminine hygiene products. Come to think of it, why do men need facial razors? After all, anything marketed toward either sex is yet another sign of a skewed society yes?
To go even further, there are parts of this world where women truly are oppressed. Where education or even showing their faces in public can result in ostracism, torture, rape, or death – sometimes all and not always in the order listed. Yet here in the west we use the energy that might go to these real problems for quibbling about ink pens and maxi pads. Does no one see the shame in this?
The cool morning air and dewy grass lend their refreshing aroma to a bucolic scene of rolling hills and nearby buildings of classical architecture – even as traffic from one of Lexington’s busiest asphalt arteries rages only yards away. Sidewalks give a welcome reprieve from wet shoes and occasional mud holes.
Amidst all of this peace comes a piercing cry: “Free tee-shirts!” That’s when wandering eyes are drawn to the booth piled high with shirts and other sundries. But of greater curiosity is the ribbed steel trailer and its strange contents – a couch, computer, posters, pizza, laundry – and not exactly in the cleanest of sorts. In other words, all the trappings of a typical college dorm room.
Why is this oddity sitting on a campus lawn, and what’s with the shirts? Closer inspection (i.e., reading the signs) reveals it all. It is September – Campus Fire Safety Month – declared statewide by the Commonwealth of Kentucky Governor’s Office (Beshear, 2014). Naturally, if you’re a student, this is likely something you didn’t know and probably wouldn’t care about if you did. It is that very sort of apathy the already growing contingent around this trailer hopes to change. Fire trucks roll in, cameras are set, and a podium is assembled while yet again… “FREE TEE-SHIRTS!”
Of course, no matter how loud the call, students are used to tee-shirts, and no amount of crafty slogans or declarations will pierce the fog of youthful apathy. That’s where the dorm room on wheels comes in. Rather than merely explaining fire safety to students – or even showing videos and giving shirts – the UK Safety Community (EHS) has developed a far more visceral method: burning stuff. Nothing draws a crowd like fire, except perhaps the anticipation of fire. All you have to do is stick around and enjoy the show as the dorm room in a box meets its pyro-riffic end.
So what is it we are going to analyze? Burning a bit of furniture is pretty straightforward. A couch is either ash or it isn’t – not a whole lot of debate there. But what about the psychological effect? Does it really make a difference to see a replica dorm room reduced to carbon slag? Will learning about flashover and convective heat really convince a tired co-ed in pajamas – or less – to jump out of bed and into the cold night air when the alarm blares? During finals week?
The UK Fire Marshal’s Office certainly hopes so. According to the Governor’s Fire Safety Month Proclamation, 166 individuals have died in campus fire-related incidents nationwide since January 2000 (Beshear, 2014). The proclamation states:
“It is vital to educate the future generation of our nation about the importance of fire safety behavior in order to reduce the occurrence of fires and the resulting loss of life…” (Beshear, 2014).
The real question is how to deliver that education effectively. The University of Kentucky is by no means without fire safety protocols. A cursory glance at the online Fire Policy List reveals procedures outlined for ADA accommodations, evacuation, electrical wiring, floats, open fire camping, office heaters, stoves, microwaves, vending machines, and more.
Even something as simple as a fire extinguisher is taken seriously. The University employs a dedicated extinguisher specialist whose primary concern is ensuring that every location on campus has a sufficient number of extinguishers – and that those extinguishers are inspected, up to date, and always ready (Caskey, 2014).
Still, do these measures actually affect fire safety? To find out, we look at the numbers. In September 2010, the UK Fire Marshal’s Office launched the Don’t Be an Ash program and began conducting public dorm burn demonstrations to raise awareness. According to the UK Campus Fire Log, from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2014, there were 1,913 fire incidents reported on campus. Of these, four resulted in injuries. From 2005 to 2009, there were 2,116 incidents – five resulting in injury (Caskey, 2006).
Statistically, incidents decreased by roughly 9.6%, and injuries dropped by 20%. The injury-per-incident rate also improved by about 11.4%. This reduction occurred despite a slight increase in enrollment during the same time period (Blackford, 2013). One might argue the impact is small, but even maintaining a safety baseline while the student population grows is a success. And if even one life is saved, the effort is more than worth it.
Back to that crisp fall morning. The murmurs of curious onlookers now threaten to drown out the educational monologue at the podium and the cries of “Free tee-shirts!” Most attendees can guess what’s about to happen, but few understand the how. That’s exactly what event organizers are counting on: the shocking effect of a deadly phenomenon called “flashover.” Defined by Merriam-Webster as “the sudden spread of flame over an area when it becomes heated to the flash point” (Merriam-Webster, 2015), it’s further illustrated by Greg Williamson in a recorded demonstration (Williamson, 2012). Flashover is a lethal moment where heat ignites everything in the room almost simultaneously. Even well-equipped firefighters stand little chance once flashover has occurred.
But that horrifying moment also makes for an unforgettable lesson. Seeing is believing. Most people expect a fire to build slowly, like logs on a campfire. In reality, a dorm fire starts small – then hits a critical point and erupts into an all-consuming inferno. All of it happens in less time than a commercial break.
Up until now, we’ve focused on the dorm burn. But here’s the real image we want to leave you with:
A smoke alarm blares. It’s three in the morning. You’re tired. Tomorrow is a big day. It’s cold outside and probably wet. Your professor couldn’t care less that you had to get up, and the last three alarms were false. Odds are this one is too. Or there could be a trash can fire next door—harmless now, but in two minutes utterly impassable. Do you wait and gather your clothes and phone before heading out? Do you ignore it entirely? Or do you remember the dorm burn and that instant flashover, and decide the risk isn’t worth it?
If you get out, then the job has been done. If even one life is saved, it was all worth it.
References
Beshear, S. L. (2014, August 19). Governor’s proclamation: Campus Fire Safety Month. Commonwealth of Kentucky. Retrieved March 8, 2015, from [URL if available]
Caskey, D. V. (2014). Table: dbo.tbl_extinguisher_inspection [Data file]. In J. Ellis, B. Ernest, & R. Harrison (Eds.), UK EHS Extinguisher Inspection Manifest. University of Kentucky. Retrieved March 9, 2015, from [URL if available]
Blackford, L. (2013, September 10). University of Kentucky enrollment tops 29,000 for first time. Kentucky.com. Knight Ridder. Retrieved March 8, 2015, from https://www.kentucky.com or article-specific URL
Williamson, G. (2012, September 19). Dorm Room Burn [Video]. YouTube. University of Kentucky EHS. Edited by D. V. Caskey. Retrieved March 8, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYA2ntW9oNE
No matter what techniques I learn it always seems to come back to spewing out content off my sleeve as if speaking, and then cleaning up a bit to make the end result a bit more legible. This again gives me an advantage in the creation process, but is a serious issue for proper citing and format.
Although it was not the main focus of the article, I personally found one particular bit of wording to be quite poignant:
Unceremoniously, the boy asked, “Are you Asian?”
By use of the the term “unceremoniously” the author, Ms. Kesleyn Potter conveys the power of personal stereotypes in one innocent bit of childish obliviousness. She further reinforces this with her own use of a popular movie that itself relies on many Asian stereotypes (Mulan).
As she further goes on to write, Ms. Kesleyn’s lineage is Hungarian – not even part of the geographic Asian continent. It is only later she discovers the truth of her rich and storied heritage.
I believe this is a clear indication that while they can be amusing and occasionally based in fact, over saturation of such stereotypes can quickly rob us of some of the more beautiful nuances humanity has to offer.
I found it a fascinating experience to listen to the various speeches. Less so because of the content, though that was interesting in itself – but in the delivery. Even the best or worst speaker cannot help but allow bits of themselves to escape in the midst of a presentation. Body language, tone, presence or lack of confidence, these and more tell far more than any PowerPoint on family background ever could. This I believe is doubly so when someone is asked to represent a personal aspect of themselves.
I wasn’t spouting hyperbole in my own when speaking of insatiable curiosity in my own exhibition, and while I am poor with name/faces, I never forget a personality. Though I prefer to work alone (read: hate group assignments with a burning passion), I’ll choose to make lemons into lemonade. It will be a fun exercise to learn more about my classmates and their backgrounds during our upcoming endeavors.
When asked to identify one’s identity in a community space, the first word that probably comes to mind is “nebulous”. To wit, were you to ask X number of individuals to define a community, you’d be likely as not to receive X number of disparate responses. Now ask that same group to identify themselves, and the results are certain to be similar.
I’d call finding an identity to be something like “finding yourself”. And I would then ask, how do you find something that is always in flux? My answer is that you fall back to the process that creates the identity. First, we’ll throw an idea of identity out for discussion. Next, we’ll compare self-identity to activity and occupation. Finally, we’ll see about melding these together into something more concrete and cohesive – perhaps this will answer the question of there really being an identity at all. While we’re at it, perhaps some sense can be made of the pyrograph in progress behind me.
So let us begin with the first point of discussion, the part where I try to tell you who I think I am. If I were to go the route of hobbies and interests, we’d be here all day. I’m a card carrying high functioning ADHD “sufferer” and actually a bit proud of it. As a result of that and general curiosity, my hobby is collecting hobbies. Let’s just say I’m eclectic jack of all trades and leave it at that.
So instead I’ll note what I think is my two most positive aspects. I’m a determined and driven person. I can tell you with confidence that once I set my mind to a task whether it be a local mud run or attaining a PhD, I see it through. This isn’t me telling you I’m unstoppable. Not by any means. It does mean that only success or total failure to the point of no further reprisal are ever acceptable. I can be beaten – but I never lose.
The other trait is curiosity. I live to soak up information, learn new skills, and analyze just about anything I come across. Remember the little kid who takes apart everything just to see how it works? I never grew out of that. Ms. Kolf herself could probably attest to this already when she caught me hungrily eyeballing the esoteric communication system near our class door. Unfortunately, that habit also extends to people, some of whom don’t appreciate my treating them as living cogs to be disseminated.
It’s these “others” that brings us to the second area of discussion, that being self-identity with others and activities. As already mentioned my hobbies and activities are a bit all over the place. Two months prior I traveled to Denver to perform volunteer flood aid. Last night I attended a bi-weekly gymnastics course that I alternate with the UK boxing club. Tonight I’ll be working some on a concept paper discussing an idea of applying four point holographic images and human trance response as a possible conduit to learning. This weekend I’ll be square dancing for Valentine’s Day. The weekend after I’ll assist my family with our jewelry and firearm businesses back in my hometown of Morehead. And when I leave this class, it’s straight to an 11:00 meeting with my supervisor, who happens to be Division Directory for campus Environmental Health and Safety. That’s where I build database and web applications to track pretty much everything to do with safety.
Does this person sound busy? Funny, because I didn’t name half the engagements, and really it’s a light week. I would say, and maybe you agree that it’s really a bit scatterbrained. I DID say I was ADHD and like to stay moving did I not? The constant is no constant.
So now we’ve come to our last point. I’ll keep this one short and simple because I believe that it is. I was raised to eschew any singular concept of identity, and so have chosen a lifestyle of constant stimulation, stress and challenge. I’m not a jock – I just like to play sports. I’m not a nerd – I’m a guy who loves technology, culture and learning. And as is probably obvious, these choices have reflected back to feed my own curiosity in a loop that is a little frenzied, but always fun.
I’m looking at a lot of people here who are probably thinking after saying all that, I must believe I’m pretty special. On that I would implore you to take a look at the video portion of this presentation. Assuming my pyrography skills are not utterly pitiful, you will see that a snowflake has been taking shape while I speak. That snowflake is me. It is utterly unique, ever in flux, and impossible to replicate by any science we are aware of. But it does share certain traits with billions of its brethren. It is a six sided crystalline allotment of dihydrogen monoxide. Which I might add, makes up the physical structure of every person on Earth. Every single one of us, sharing some basic common traits as sentient creatures – but each being nebulous, ever changing. Unique. Delicate, but thus far eternal. I AM special, but no more than any of you. So let me finish by saying, this time of your life where you find yourself? That’s a farce. You can never find what doesn’t really exist. Create yourself instead. You’ll never finish the project, but like me you might have some fun and do a little good along the way.
Topic: Reflect on yourself as a writer. What is your process? Does it work for you? What aspects of your writing are strong and which areas do you think you need to improve on?
If you were to view this recent article (if you wish to, please create an account and let me know so I can give it access), you would find I the following is really a reiteration:
I do have a large body of written work, but am not by any fair standard a “writer”. It simply isn’t within my purview. That said I am a trained and experienced verbal communicator, particularly with improvisational public speaking. When writing, I attempt to leverage this skillset by imagining I am speaking to a group and simply attempt to transcribe the resulting stream of consciousness.
It’s a crude method and of little use for formal research, but does allow quick fabrication of content and by nature is vocally presentable. The detriments are incoherence, source citing and poor reading flow. These are all areas I wish to improve upon.
A semi-professional profile with (silly) picture may be found here. Thank you for reading. I look forward to working with you and the class body!
This blog itself contains dozens of random musings, adventure memories and other writings which you may peruse at will. Given that it was to become my choose subject for the class, I choose to specifically link the following missive about Druther’s, written ~one year before attending this class.
I would like to believe that if one were to examine all of my writing output, they would find that there is little to be read between the lines. Now I will tell you straight away this is not really true. As it happens I take great pleasure in little games, inside jokes, riddles and hidden messages within my writing. But all that said, the overall message itself is as honest and clear as I can make it. If nothing else because I lack the acumen it takes to weave complex imagery and commentary into what amounts to be a collection of thoughts.
So it is with telling you why and how I choose the works I did. Was there some special meaning behind each? With some noted exceptions, absolutely not. Truth be told I simply brought up my blog list, followed in order from earliest to latest and picked the items with more substantial content. Perhaps that’s not really the greatest message to send – especially considering this is part of my academic career, but I DID say I was an honest writer, and I’ll stand behind my choices good or ill.
The contents found are effectively a lead up to more elaborate and (hopefully) superior writings upon the primary subject I choose when presented with the class theme (food). I had already recently made a point to explore and document a restaurant that inexplicably holds sway in my memories – Druther’s, the last of a once thriving regional establishment. It was an easy choice to make. Why reinvent the wheel when I had already finished half the work? It only remained to formalize and find acceptable sources. There is a downside to this approach, and that is the lack of any true linear progression. You may find the thoughts and content to be all over the place, rather than a gradual increase in validity and quality. I can only hope it’s not too jarring.
Now comes the part where I must analyze myself as a writer. This is easy. I’m not a writer. Oh sure, in the technical sense we all are, but in the colloquial application of the term, not so much. That doesn’t stop me from trying. I’ve written dozens of fictional stories, characters, exploration notes, class papers, tutorials, the list goes on. in short, it’s fair to say I’ve actually produced a very large amount of content, though the vast majority will never see daylight. Unfortunately, I have no clue how to write. My strength is in speaking off the cuff and presentation. Stand me before a crowd, give me any subject and I can produce a several minute speech from nothing – making it all up on the spot. Hand me a blank paper and ask the same, and I am lost. Therefore, to write, I simply imagine myself speaking and attempt to transcribe the words. This works about as well (not at all) as you might expect.
Even now I am a bit confused at times which format to choose, flow of dialog and so forth. But I can credit the class with a bit of growth, and hopefully will be able to build upon what I’ve learned. For that, I will thank Ms. Casero’s efforts and promise I will endeavor not to waste them. Here’s to more and better!
