Further Discussion

For this class, we read a chapter that focused on Marketing and Advertising. We only had one week of discussion on this topic, and I feel we could have gone deeper on the subject. Marketing and Advertising is a very complex topic, I would know because I was majoring in this topic. There is a lot of potential to discuss critical thinking and logic skills, both as the consumer and the company. As a marketer, you are challenged by the company and the consumer to make ethical decisions. The subject of what is considered right and wrong in the marketing world definitely leaves space for discussion and arguments. Although it may sometimes be a personal decision, but when if the company requires it? The controversial topic of PhotoShopping could also be discussed because there are many different points of view people can stand from. Multiple arguments can be made and challenged through class discussion of this topic. I do not think Marketing and Advertising will have to be further discussed than this. I just think this subject is interesting and could be elaborated a little more.

These are a few of my favorite things...

My favorite thing about COMM 41 has been the ability to blog and, in a way, learn on my own. I have never taken an online class before because I was always hesitant to take one. I was afraid that I would forget about it or that the material will be difficult to learn without a teacher.
To my surprise, I loved the way I learn the material. I was very organized and straight-forward. Every week we would read a chapter or two, then blog about it the rest of the week. This pattern helped me from forgetting about the class, and allowed me to learn on my own pace. Blogging about a specific topic each week helped me explore and engage the subject more than I usually would. By the end of a week, I felt that I was fully informed and knowledgeable about the topic. Additionally, I was able to let my voice heard by other students anonymously which made it easier for me to say what I wanted to say without my identity being revealed. This class, although it was online, was the most interaction I have done between classmates because of this method.
My least favorite part about the class was the lack of structure when it came to group assignments. If it wasn't for my nagging ways, many of the group members would not have done their work correctly, on time, or at all. This can be improved by requiring students to check in with the professor where they are at with their group project personally. That way the students can keep up with the project, and the professor can see their progress.

Art of Arguing: What I Have Learned in Comm 41

Over the course of this semester I have learned so much about the art of arguing. I always knew how to present at argument during a discussion in a way that would convince them or to sound believable. I was unaware of how technical arguing can be. From deductive and inductive, to marketing strategies and hearsay, I learned about breaking down arguments and challenging them . I specifically learned to look into arguments presented around me. When being advertised to, informed on the news, being presented scientific facts, and many other interactions, I have developed the skills needed to evaluate and analyze the arguments made. When someone proposes an argument to me, I now go through a process so I can make a decision on whether or the argument is valid. I take in to account how they present it, where they are pulling there facts from (if there are any), and if their conclusion makes sense. This class has taught me to challenge my thoughts and to not be afraid of presenting my own opinion. I had always been afraid of giving my opinion on a controversial topic or issue because I was worried that my argument would not makes sense (leaving those with opposing views to question my judgement). Thankfully, I have adapted the skills to present and analyze arguments for everyday interactions, making me a much more improved critical thinker.

Websites

This week, we were instructed to review the Mission Critical and Causal Argument websites and discuss the usefulness of them. Each website provided text-full, informational pages with exercises to review the material. For me personally, I think the websites could use a little editing. On the Mission Critical website, each page provided plenty information on that subject, but the pages were sometimes hard to read due to the amount of text and that some of the text went outside the designated area. However, most of the pages gave great examples and I found it very convenient to have the exercises on the same page as the text, so I could always scroll up and review if I was unclear on a question. For example, on the page discussing Loaded Questions and Complex Claims, the text was interesting to read ("Sometimes, answering a loaded question with another loaded question is the best reply") and right below was the exercises. On the website about Causal Argument, there was a lot of reading of text and on some parts I got lost. But jut like the other website, the text included great examples that help me connect to what is being explained. For example, using and analyzing the argument regarding who is to blame for a car accident which included a illegally parked car, a bicyclist, an incoming car, and the car who failed to break. By using this example, I was able to follow the lesson easier because I was applying it to real life. However, the exercises where on a separate page, which made it hard to review before answering a question if I wanted to.

Whether the Weather Be Cold..

Last weekend was really warm down here in San Jose, if you all remember. The temperature was in the 90's and everyone was either at the pool or heading to the beach. I myself enjoy both of those activities last weekend to take advantage of the warm weather. When Monday was coming up, I had expected that the weather then would be warm as well. When friends asked me what the weather will be like Monday, I would reply with, "Warm of course!" Little did I know, I had filled not only my mind, but my friends’ minds, with incorrect information and misled them into thinking the Monday was going to be just like the weekend. I had made the observation from previous days and concluded that Monday will be like the days before. This kind of weather forecasting is named Persistence, where we believe tomorrow will be like today. I discovered that my observation was misleading when I walked outside the next day to significantly colder weather compared to the weekends. I was prepared for hot weather and dressed accordingly. Scientific knowledge taught me that my observations were not a strong enough argument for my conclusion. My hypothesis was incorrectly formed from a wrong analysis, leading to a false conclusion. Next time, I will form a better hypothesis by using correct experimentation SO I won't be wearing shorts in the cold wind.

Libra Love?

Libra Horoscope
You can normally appreciate the smaller things in life, but it's perfectly understandable if you draw the line at small minds. Some petty people will irk you to no end today, even though you're going to impress the heck out of them. Make sure that your pride doesn't stop you from dealing in a constructive way with one of these people -- remember that you don't have to have everyone like you, especially someone who is interested in you only for what he or she can get out of you.
In my humble opinion, I do not think this horoscope prediction was very accurate at all. So yes, it is falsifiable. My day has actually been the completely opposite. This morning I drove home to my brothers and sister to spend the weekend with them as my parents were traveling. I have spent the day appreciating my family and the "smaller things in life". I was definitely not trying to impress anyone, just enjoy the company of my siblings and spending time with them. All of us kids went to both of my sister’s softball games, then we went out of Slurpee’s, made dinner together, and now we are bonding over video games. Maybe somewhere out there there is a Libra that this horoscope applies to, but not in my case. Rarely do my horoscopes apply to my life, nor do I actually try to follow them. They supply us with very obvious advice and do not always to the reader’s current situation- like mine.

Sensationalism

In this chapter, the book discusses sensationalism and the News as Entertainment. It covered how many stories are chosen because of their entertainment value rather than the "newsworthiness". This topic was very fascinating because I started seeing this happen and notice this as I read or watched the news. It is very interesting how the media plays on our human tendency to engage in the memorable events. The book used the example of the news stations cover the story of Michael Jackson's death week after week when it happened, while much more important news was being neglected by the media and people. I personally saw some sensationalism of the news when "Snooky" revealed she was pregnant, or when Jaycee Dugard was found. Jaycee story lasted for weeks, and although we were fascinated by her story, they was much more going on around the world that the people should have been informed about.

Internet Plagiarism

One of the most important things to avoid in college: Internet Plagiarism. One wrong or missing citation and the student could end up failing the assignment. An already-used research paper could mislead the professor teaching abilities. Brook J. Sadler provides ten arguments as to why Internet plagiarism is wrong. Some of her arguments are interchangeable, such as the topic of students who plagiarize do not benefit from the hard work and the topic of how plagiarism prevents opportunities for the student to take pride in creative self-expression. Although some of the arguments ring true, like how it is unfair to other students and not beneficial for the student themselves, I believe she spread out the arguments too thin. Some of the arguments could have be put together while others are not strong enough to stand on their own. In the reading by Russell Hunt, he provides arguments how Internet plagiarism is an opportunity for educators to reexamine current teaching methods and to develop a new model that is more "active, cooperative, context-bound, and problem-and-project-based". He challenges the current method and explains why they are not working and actually turn students to plagiarism. What I liked best about one of his arguments was that he wanted the educators to emphasize to students the strength of their own work. What I would have liked to see in both of these articles is the discussion of how the growth of Internet had also played a huge rise in Internet plagiarism over the years.

I can kind of compare Internet Plagiarism to rape. We can blame the students or the educators, and we could blame the woman or the rapist. People can debate that it was the woman's fault for what she was wearing or how she was acting, while others can debate that she was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. It seems we live in a society where we teach women how to avoid rapist, but we don't teach men not to rape. So with that said, I think Russell Hunts argument is the strongest because I agree we should try to stop the issue instead of preventing it.

Media Experiences

Most of my media experiences come from being on the Internet. I spend most of my time on the Internet on social websites like Facebook. On Facebook, I am surrounded by all my family and friends. This reinforces my existing worldview and values because many of my Facebook friends and I can bond together to discuss an issue or an idea. An example would be if I were to bring up an incident that occurred in town, and go on about how is what horrible, many of my friends would "like" the post or comment and agree. However, Facebook can also challenge or expand my views. Being in college and lacking access to a TV and newspaper, it had been hard for me to keep up with current news going on. When the pepper spray incident at UC Davis occurred, my Facebook was flooding with status updates from friends about the subject matter. There were videos and links left and right showing or discussing footage of what had happened. On many of the statuses, there were debates between people discussing who was at fault and whether the situation was blow out of proportion or not. In this case, Facebook opened me up to a lot of information I would have not otherwise received. Also, the debates and multiple sides of the story allowed me to get a whole perspective of the pepper spray situation, and help me to form my own conclusion.

Regulating Children's Food Advertisments

While reading Wootan's and Liodice's arguments regarding the government regulation of children's food advertising, I notice that both of these authors provide a well written argument. I agree with Wootan's point how advertising unhealthy food to children can be misleading and unfair to them. Wootan's argument was valid because he used statistic and the negative effects of these advertisements. Liodice's argument was valid an effect as well. Liodice addressed the first amendment, freedom of speech, and explained how regulating these advertisements would violate the first amendment. He explained how CSPI is like the "nation's food nanny", and how it undermines parents authority for their child’s diets. Near the end, Liodice brought up that this issue goes further than just regulating advertisement by explaining that the food itself needs to be healthier and communities should ban together to bring heath into the country. I think if these two authors combined their arguments, if would make both of theirs stronger because it would challenge each other’s points, forcing a more accept solution.

Marketing Strategies

During the past week, I have encountered many different marketing strategies. First, I noticed many advertisements on my Facebook page that were placed there based on my likes and what my friends like. I found this marketing strategy somewhat successful only because I was able to see what my friends like, so I know the company is legitimate. Another marketing strategy I noticed was product placement in a music video I watched. The product was a Ferrari which the characters were driving fast. I don't think this strategy work very well because I made the product seem much more out of reach, giving me the impression that I had to be a celebrity to own the vehicle. I usually find product placement marketing strategies most effect because I do not feel like I'm being advertised to when the companies do it correctly. I almost always notice the product and I feel closer to the characters when I do because I too use that product. The least effective marketing strategy is when they use the fallacy of appeal to inappropriate authority, such as using celebrities to promote the product. It undermines the actual product because many consumers know that the celebrity is just promoting the product for the money, and not because it actually works.

Hearsay and Anecdotal Evidence

Hearsay, by definition, is evidence that is heard by one person and then repeated to another. It is most commonly known as gossip or rumors. Hearsay is notoriously unreliable, where words are twisted and comments are taken out of context. This kind of evidence is all too common for me and many people my age. Over a short 24 hours, my friends were giving my roommate and me cold shoulders. We soon realized we were the subject being talked about by another friend. My friend and my roommate and I were having a small tiff, which soon became known to the people around us. Those friends giving the cold shoulder were being given biased information and forming opinions only knowing one side of the story. Thankfully, we were able to sort everything out.

Anecdotal, similar to hearsay, is evidence based on personal testimonies. This is also unreliable because of inaccurate memory and the tendency exaggeration. Anecdotal is popular when telling a story to another friend is an attempt to brag about your experience. Both of these types of evidence should be avoided at all costs, even in everyday conversation. People can be misled and those on the other end, like me, can be hurt.

UFO No...maybe.

While reading "Perspectives on Evaluating Evidence for the Existence of Unidentified Flying Objects", three scientists gave their opinion on the research being done on UFO sightings. Edward Condon explains how UFO research is not beneficial for major scientific discoveries and should therefore not be looked into. He concludes that the research should be dismissed based on misrepresentation of UFO sightings to the public and the reoccurring rejection of the sightings by scientist. However, Astronomer J. Allen Hynek defends the UFO sightings saying the research should be given a chance, statistically or specifically. He concludes that if "definite patterns and other correlations" can be established for UFOs reported throughout the world, the probability that they represent something real in science would be certain. Royston Paynter sits in the middle of the two, explaining how the UFO community would need to take on proper scientific standards of investigation and proof in their work in order for conclusions to be made. He defends his conclusion stressing how many people need physical evidence in order to believe something or to be convinced.
I see Royston Paynter's argument as the most convincing argument because he explained how he could neither accept nor deny the UFO sightings, and stressed how important high standards would need to be placed on this kind of research, this including "probative evidence" and "rigorous reasoning" in order to form a plausible conclusion. I personally would like to see more effort and research put into UFO sightings because it is a very popular topic, and whether it is found real or not, people want answers.

Knowledge and Wisdom

Knowledge and wisdom may come across as the same thing. In reality, they are quite different. By definition, knowledge is information which we believe to be true and for which we have justification or evidence. Knowledge can be gained uniformly between students, can be pulled from a book, and is easily accessible with today's technology. Wisdom, on the other hand, cannot be found in books or on the web. It must be gained through experience and life events. An example of wisdom is knowing how to live on a college budget, which can only truly be learned through going to college. At college, I am acquiring both knowledge and wisdom. The education aspect is giving me knowledge, through textbooks, researching, and lectures, while the college experience (such as living in the dorms, having low finances, becoming independent) is giving me wisdom on life situations. The information age has made us much more knowledgeable because all of our questions and curiosity can easily be answered with a few clicks on a computer or phone. Many people are forgetting that the best way to find answers is to answer them yourself, instead of have the web answer for you.

Lies.

Lie: A deliberate attempt to mislead without the prior consent of the target. We have all done it, in one way or another. A study was shown that people lie a third of the time in their interactions with others. Its frightening to learn how much lying occurs, and the individual must conclude what really is the real truth. When people tell lie, there are cues that can be picked up to uncover them. Those telling a lie tend to tell the story chronologically, while those who are not will jump around, adding parts of the story here and there. Liars will move and blink less when telling their lie because they are using all their energy to keep thier story straight. They will also make fewer speech errors than truth tellers, and become more tense or high-pitched. This information can actually be very usefull in my life. I cannot wait to actually apply what I have learned to my everyday life. Can't wait to catch those liars!

My Use of Rhetorical Devices

Rhetorical devices is the use of psychological persuasion, as opposed to using reason, to persuade others. One is the most common form of device I use is sarcasm, which is the use of ridicule, insults, taunting, and/or caustic irony. The most recent occurrence of sarcasm I have used was when I walked into my dorm after a shower, my room looked at my hair and asked if I had taken a shower. I responded saying, "No, I just dumped my head in the toilet." She laughed right away, so I knew she understood it was sarcasm. Another device I used was hyperbole, which is used as an exaggeration. I used hyperbole when I made a comment about the weather at night. I had said, "It's so cold, I could freeze to death." Obviously, I was exaggerating as I was not going to die from walking in 45 degree weather for three minutes. I have used both of these rhetorical devices countless number of times, but almost always jokingly.

Ride: Critical Thinker

Sally Ride was the first, and the youngest at the time, American woman in space, and "loved to solve problems". It was not hard to noticed that displays good critical thinking skills. One of the characteristics of a good critical thinker is having effective communication skills. Ride displays being an effect communicator through her double major in English and Physics. She applied these skills when she had to address the United Nations and compose a report for NASA. Later on, Ride's communication skills were used to write several children's books on space exploration. Ride's double major also helps for the research and inquiry skills need for critical thinking because she took into account the importance of communication to achieve her goals. Ride has also used collaborative learning when she helped create NASA's Office of Exploration. These examples, and many more not mentioned, show that Ride was a true critical thinker.

Dreams

One fascinating piece of information that I was drawn to was the section about dreams and problem solving. It was interesting to learn how through a persons dream, problems could be solve just by depicting what was going on. I had never though that my crazy dreams could actually be my own way of figuring out a solution to a problem I've been having. I recently had a dream that I had to move into a new, one-story apartment complex to trade places with a girl who wanted my dorm room. The apartments were creepy, old, and disgusting. When I went into the bathroom to see if there was drawer space for me, a mouse crawled in front of me. Following the mouse was a HUGE cricket, who actually eating parts of the mouse. If that wasn't weird, a human baby was crawling after the cricket. Also, the whole apartment was surround by a pool! We had to cross over a bride to get to the rooms! That was one of the weirdest dreams I had. It would be awesome if it actually meant something, any guesses?

Claims about God

Evolution and a belief in God are not incompatible as Dawkins claims. Dawkins targets and nit-picks at Aquinas argument and discusses how Aquinas claims will not work for his argument. Dawkins never really gives his answers the questions that Aquinas answered, such as when Aquinas addressed the question of movement, cause/effect, or degrees of perfection. Here, Aquinas gives his reason to all of the questions and answers them by explaining God was the reason for all of these. Dawkins only points out that his claims are not a sufficient proof that God exist. It would have made his argument stronger if he had not only said that Aquinas was wrong, but proved him wrong with what he believed was the real reason these things occurred. If Aquinas was alive today, I believe he would be asking for the same thing I am, what he believes is the correct answer to why those things are. Anyone can have an opinion on a view point - but it does not mean much if you cannot back it up.

My Reasoning

The type of reasoning I tend to be strongest in is how my decisions will affect me in the long run, such as when choosing a career. I ask myself, how will it affect my financial stability? Will I need to travel a lot? Will there be a position available for me in this career? How will it affect my future family? Most importantly, will I be happy will my career? I first began college being a Marketing Major. I know I was going to get paid well, and I would be about to comfortably support my family. I know that it was not going to an easy career, with long hours and Marketing being a competitive field. I chose this major because I had taken Marketing classes back in high school. I felt, since this is what I know and I good at, I should select Marketing as a lifelong career. That was until I discovered Hospitality, Recreation, and Tourism Management as a major. I had always DREAMED of becoming a wedding planner even since I was a little girl. I had never though it was an option for me because I was always told that they do not get paid well, and since I appreciate the finer things in life, I never did consider it. But as I went through my own reasoning process, I came to realize that as long as I have this passion and love for the job, my career path will be just fine.

Mentor/ Protege Experience

In the reading in The Essential Guide to Group Communication, the book discusses the roles of a mentor and a protege. A mentor is a experienced, well respected role model to a lesser experience person, know as a protege. This relationship helps develop the protege faster because they are leaning from someone with past experience. The protege also receives "support, recognition, and friendship from this mentor, who benefits by demonstrating their value to the company. The four different stages this relationship goes through are initiation, cultivation, separation, and redefinition. I am currently in this type on relationship with my RA Laura. We are in the cultivation stage because we have formed an interpersonal bond and she has begin to teach and support me in becoming an RA. She is showing me off to all her friends and she is always talking highly of me. Laura is also very supportive of me becoming an RA, and has volunteered to help and work along side me for the job interview for this next weekend. I hope that we do not ever drift apart, which occurs in the separation stage, because she has become more than just a mentor to me.

Youth & Smoking

Dr. Novello uses cause-and-effect inductive reasoning when she explains how the number of teens and children who smoked "increased dramatically" once Joe Camel ads for Camel cigarettes were first introduced in 1988. The effect she states was the increase in the number of teen and child smokers, which was caused by Joe Camel ads for Camel cigarettes. This simply concludes that the ads managed to market towards teens and children enough to where it caused a dramatic increase in teen and child smokers. She uses this cause-and-effect inductive reasoning to come to a solution to the issue. Because the ads had done so much damage, Dr. Novello worked to ban cigarette ads that targeted youth. She targeted down on the cause and changed the effect. From a basic knowledge of what I have learned about the history of youth smokers, I know that the ban of those ads caused a decrease in number of youth smokers. So Dr. Novello’s use of cause-and-effect inductive reasoning was successful.

Inductive Arguments

An inductive argument that I found myself dealing with went as follows:
My friends and I were going to see the movie Big Miracle until we heard that the movie was targeted for children, where as Safe House (a rated R movie) was more acceptable for college students. We decided to that we would probably enjoy seeing the movie Chronicle more, seeing as we are college students.
The two premises were (1) My friends and I were going to see the movie Big Miracle, (2) the movie was targeted for children, and (3) Safe House (a rated R movie) was more acceptable for college students. The conclusion was that we would probably enjoy seeing the movie Safe House more. This is an inductive argument because premises 3 is a generalization about a population, college students, where we would be categorized. We drew a conclusion that, begin as we are college students, we would probably like Safe House over a children's movie. It is also an inductive argument because it suggests that the conclusion probably follows the premises when I used included the indicator word "probably".

Types of Leadership

In The Essential Guide to Group Communication reading, the chapter discusses types of leadership. They are authoritarian, consultative, participation, and laissez-faire. The authoritarian leadership is mainly controled by a leader with little or no input by other group members. Consultative leadership promotes collaboration of ideas between group members. Participative leadership usually guides and facilitates groups, but no other involvement. Lastly, the laissez-faire leadership is as if there is no actual leader and the group proceeds with the task with no assistance from this "leader". I personally believe I am an participative leader because I do not like when a group is unorganized and lacking a foundation. I am usually not the one to give in the most input or find the solution to the problem, but I help guide the rest of the group through the task. Like when working with my assigned political party group in a Civics class, I helped the group organize into the different jobs and informed them of which task they were to complete and bring back to me.

Lawfull

If we perform an unlawful punishment on the convict, then we are in violation of human dignity. We are not performing an unlawful punishment on the convict. Therefore, we are not in violation of human dignity. In Ernest van den Haag's argument, he discusses how the death penalty does not "legitimize the unlawful imposition of identical unpleasantness". Van den Haag points out the difference between a crime, such as kidnapping or murder, and execution, is that the first is "unlawful and undeserved" while the second is "lawful and deserved punishment for an unlawful act". The scriptural passage that Sister Helen Prejean quotes does not prohibit the usage of the death penalty. She mentions Jesus of Nazareth saying, "...not to return hate for hate..," and while all this is true, in contrary, we are not returning hate because the same crime is not being returned or done upon the convict. Just as when a teen is given expulsion for seriously harming another kid, the kid does not hurt the troubled teen in return.

Fact or Fiction

When Sherlock Holmes is explaining to Watson that "when it comes to the art of reasoning, many people rely on opinion and unsupported assumption", he is saying that many people believe that their own knowledge, built up from rumors or poorly constructed conclusions, is true. He emphasizes the difficulty to "detach the framework" of facts from assumptions. Being a woman having gone through high school and middle school, I am well aware of this issue. Most recently, I asked a close friend of mine what her boyfriend’s sister was like. I almost immediately got a negative response. My friend described her as vulgar, sleazy, and conniving. She had minimal evidence to back her up, so I had a difficult time being convinced. Upon meeting her boyfriend’s sister, I could assume that she was not a very nice person from what my friend had informed me, or I could conclude for myself what kind of person she really is. Until then, I do not have an official opinion of her. It would not be fair to just believe what my friend had to say about her, just because my friend believed it to be true.

Group Roles

In our reading in the Small Group Communication book, the authors go into detail about how there are roles that people play in groups. They describe a person's role at "the function that member performs in the group". The authors explained how there are two roles each member performs. The first are task roles, which are the information giver, information seeker, elaborator, initiator, and the administrator. As for my self, I am an initiator because I always feel that I am placed in a group that never wants to get the project going and I am always having to jump-start and organized the group. The second roles are the personal, which can be either the harmonizer, gatekeeper or sensor. These roles deal with the "relationship" between group members and are not task related. Reading over each role, I see myself as the gatekeeper. This member makes sure that communication is open for all members, and may even "restrict information" if need be. I am always the one to make sure everyone has an input, by either having us go around in a circle and speak up, or asking directly. What roles might you play in a group setting?

Standing My Ground

While spending time with my friend Racheal, another friend and I expressed to her how we felt about her current boyfriend. My friend spoke first by saying how she adores them as a couple, and felt that he is a really nice guy. These comments made Racheal feel really good, and she was glad that my other friend had approved of him. Then when my turn came around, I knew I could not say the same. There was a moment when I thought that I should keep my opinion to myself, but alas I could not sit there and lie to her. I knew that if I communicated it to her correctly and sincerely, she will not be too offended. I had to make sure the words I used were not insulting or attacking. In short I stated to her that I did not like him, that he did not treat her well, and that I felt in a few months, she would find a new guy who will sweep her off her feet. I laid my opinion out in the open and I stood my ground, knowing I could possibly risk damaging or losing our friendship. Little did I know, she ended up valuing my opinion and was curious to how I came to that conclusion. She seemed to dismiss the nicer comments made by my other friend, and respectively focused on where I was coming from. Racheal did not seem the slightest bit mad or upset, and she thanked me for me honesty. The critical thinking skills did help me stand firm in that I was able to analyze how to communicate to her correctly what I wanted to say, and taking into considering what she might say or how it sounded to her.

Is Obama Hypocritical?

In regarding same-sex marriage? No. I believe President Barack Obama opposes legalizing same-sex marriage on a federal level because of his up-bringing, and what he believes in right or wrong. On the other hand, he does support civil unions and equal rights for same sex couples, along with the other 66 percent of people who support civil union with the same legal rights as married couples. While this may seem misleading, I see it as Obama's greatest gesture he could have given while still standing behind his beliefs. I would see him as a dishonest or hypocritical if he did legalize same-sex marriage because he has already informed the public of his views on this issue, and for him to give in to the popular demand would be a lie to himself. I do notice that he wants what is best for the people, but there are moments where he must make sure that he is also being true to himself. Obama might respond to Nava and Dawidoff's argument first by thanking them for their input, then reminding them that he is doing most he can do while still following his own beliefs.

Introductory Post

Hello everyone! My name is Miss Summer and I am a first year student here at San Jose State living on campus. I am from a small town about an hour north of San Jose, so I am still close to my family. I do not have much communication experience besides ordinary communication via computer, like Facebook, and in person. Although, I did take a Public Speaking course last semester that helped me with many aspects of communicating with others, such as, speaking in front of crowds. My current major is Business Marketing, but I am hoping to change it to Hospitality, Tourism and Event Management. I am really into interior decorating, reading random articles online, photography, and almost any outdoor activity. I love shows like 30 Rock and Modern Family, to Parenthood and Pretty Little Liars. I hope that everyone has a great semester and I can't wait to get to know y'all!