Tony Jackson Journal #3

Source #1 http://www.jstor.org/stable/view/3193945

          I learned from the first read that if today’s art teachers take the time to enlighten their students about the possibilities in art that are now present the youth may not be so discouraged to take positions in the field upon entering the work force. Because of this source I no longer think of art careers being limited to illustrators, painters, sculptors, etc. I see that my major has roots in art and could even be considered an art career. I am also happy to see evidence that all art related careers are not low-paying, dead end jobs. This source really made me question my original perception of the boundaries of a career in art. The information from this source strengthens my views in regards to this topic because I refused to believe that most people employed in art-related careers are poor. When the writer made the point that city planners, art administrators, and architects are also considered art careers I was realized that there is plenty of money to be made in art-based careers. The author is writing from the third person point of view and is speaking to any and everyone concerned about the way our students are being educated about careers in art by their art teachers. I believe Ulbricht is speaking for the same group of people, in addition to the group of artists, art lovers, and art historians that can see a possible fall-off in art career interests if things do not change. I definitely feel that this text is looking through a biased lens with a slightly cloudy view of primary and secondary art education curriculums. Because of the author’s career in the art history field they probably feel a disservice being done to students who have talents or passions in art. This article is sparking my interest in finding out more of the different careers that can fit under the art umbrella and what an average initial salary estimate for those careers might look like.

Source #2 http://www.schoolsoup.com/careers/career_info.php?career_id=87

          From this source I learned that an artist’s education and training requirements truly depend on their special area of expertise and that a majority of artists are self-employed. I also noticed a side note at the end of the text reiterating the relation between design-oriented jobs and art careers. The two fields share so many qualities that their defining lines cross and can be described as one. Because of this I see that I have to look into how broad I will allow my art career specifications to get. I now see that the careers I include in my art group will definitely skew my salary, job availability, and employment numbers so I must be careful. With that being considered, if art or aesthetics are at the forefront of the job’s purpose, I feel I should include it.

This source again strengthens my stance on disproving the “poor artist” perception much of the world has. With closely related fields factored in, an artist can make more than enough for a living wage, initially. The writer is speaking from the third person point of view and seems to be speaking on a strictly statistical basis. The author is speaking to those interested in hard numerical facts. All of the reported information seems to have been collected in a survey or census-type fashion. This text seems like it could have been taken from a general almanac on the topic of art careers. Because of the nature of this type of informational writing I see no way for any bias to be present. I have noticed a recurring trend between this passage and the last. The jobs that are generally thought of when pondering art careers (such as cartoonists, sculptors, painters, etc.) have far lower average estimated incomes than that of related jobs like designers, photographers, and curators.

journal 3 Nicholas Giokas

Nicholas Giokas

            For my first source I consulted the journal titled “Cancer Awareness and Self-Examination Practices in young men and Women”.  I chose this journal because it covered one of the two sides of my cancer awareness argument.  Cancer awareness can have two main effects on society.  The first of the effects and the most obvious is getting the word out about cancer to help with its prevention.  Cancer is a disease that can usually be dealt with if it is treated early.  This article covers the subject of self-examinations.  In men the common examination is for testicular cancer and for women the common is for breast cancer.  The article is very statistical throughout leaving a lot of things that I could use in my paper.  This paper helped me to get a view of how important cancer awareness is in regard to cancer prevention.  This source did not strengthen or weaken my view on the topic.  I knew that this side of the argument existed because an obvious reason for cancer awareness is for prevention.  I don’t believe the author has a bias towards either side.  The article stays very professional and seems to mostly be about getting the facts across to the audience. 

            My second source covered the topic that I most wanted to cover in my paper.  The term “pink washing” was coined a couple years ago and deals with breast cancer awareness.  The article goes over how breast cancer is one of the most publicized cancers and how companies offer “pink” versions of their normal products to help with the cause.  This pink alternative was originally a form of charity.  Many companies would a percentage of the profit.  The article tells how many companies don’t actually give any money to breast cancer research.  Countless companies are using the disease as a type of merchandizing.  This source will prove to be very helpful in my paper because it covers the topic that I care most about.  I do detect some forms of bias in the article because it is a very heated issue and some viewpoints are bound to come out when it is brought up.  I hope to find more on the topic of pink washing as I continue my research.  

article 1:http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/734/art%253A10.1007%252FBF01857661.pdf?auth66=1360821457_4dac215e4f087b3de742f2f3971767f7&ext=.pdf

article 2: http://su8bj7jh4j.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Pinkwashing&rft.jtitle=Dayton+Daily+News&rft.au=Kevin+Lamb+Staff+Writer&rft.date=2007-10-30&rft.issn=0897-0920&rft.spage=D.8&rft.externalDBID=UABS&rft.externalDocID=1375276351

Richard Parks Journal #3

Intercountry Adoption

This source seems as though it will definitely put me on the right track to success with my paper. It is chocked full of valuable information that answered a lot of questions that I had about adoption. It specifically outlines what needs to be done in order to get started with the adoption process. For example, in order to adopt a child in Bolivia, one must follow these steps:

1. Choose an Accredited Adoption Service Provider
2. Apply to be Found Eligible to Adopt
3. Be Matched with a Child
4. Apply for the Child to be Found Eligible for Immigration to the United States
5. Adopt the Child in Bolivia
6. Bring your Child Home

This website seems to be trustworthy and reliable because of its apparent affiliation with the United States government. It also has many laws and policies that seem to match up with other sources I have encountered. There are also various contact options for reaching the organization that is running the website. The source serves primarily to inform its audience, whom of course would most likely be those seeking to adopt a child from a country outside the U.S. The source also provides access to crucial forms needed for the adoption process.

JSTOR

This source challenges the parameters of my topic focus. The author's intent is to concentrates mainly on the effects of international adoption on population size of receiving states (those areas in which the adopters live). This makes me think of focusing on adoption from a statistical stand point, but I'm not sure if that's what I would like to heavily focus on in my paper. Regardless of my choice of concentration, the source seems to be reliable, in that, it has been added to a list of journals provided by Virginia Tech, specifically. Also, there are signs of publication and multiple volumes. In addition, there is overlap of information from the source I evaluated, above. This source mentions the 1993 Hague Convention, which plays an important role in the rules and regulations of most intercountry adoptions.

Matt Williams Journal #3

http://su8bj7jh4j.scholar.serialssolutions.com/?sid=google&auinit=T&aulast=Lobstein&atitle=Obesity+in+children+and+young+people:+a+crisis+in+public+health&id=doi:10.1111/j.1467-789X.2004.00133.x&title=Obesity+reviews&volume=5&issue=s1&date=2004&spage=4&issn=1467-7881

            This source gives an extraordinary amount of information on childhood obesity. It goes into which kids are obese and need help, the causes of why they are obese, and potential ways to keep children from getting obese and to get those who are already obese down to a healthy body fat level. Reading this publication did not change my point of view of children today, if anything it made it stronger. I have read through studies on the same topic, but not this extensive before. This publication goes into more depth than anything I have read before. It also makes me wonder why there isn’t more emphasize on the physical education in the lower grades when there are publications out there like this that show how big of a problem it really is. This author, like all the others writing about obese children, are trying to get it out there that this is a huge problem and that there are some fairly simple steps that can be taken to prevent kids from becoming obese from things other than genetics. The audience of this publication are the people who have the power to change the system today. These are people that have a fairly advanced education that can understand most of the terms and statistics the author uses to get his point across. The author is just trying to show that it is a problem, but he understands why kids are obese and sympathizes with them. All he wants is to see them live a nice full life that would not be possible if their life was full of health problems that come along with being obese. After going through this publication, I want to continue to explore how physical education can help solve the national pandemic that plagues our country today.

http://su8bj7jh4j.scholar.serialssolutions.com/?sid=google&auinit=R&aulast=Bailey&atitle=Physical+education+and+sport+in+schools:+A+review+of+benefits+and+outcomes&id=doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2006.00132.x&title=Journal+of+school+health&volume=76&issue=8&date=2006&spage=397&issn=0022-4391

            This source goes into detail of all the ways that being physically active, especially from an early age can be beneficial for the rest of one’s life. It goes into more than how it feels to be physically fit and health makes life easier. It goes into how it helps socially and with cognitive thinking. If people who make decisions about children’s education read this article, they would change the way they currently do things, and that is what the author intended for it to do. They would make sure to include more education in schools to help develop the kids into well-rounded teenagers, which is exactly the point I want to make in my paper. While reading this, I learned more about how being physically active from a young age has changed how I have developed into the person I am today. I am wondering how I would have turned out if I wasn’t constantly active when I was younger. This journal entry continues to persuade me that I am right about wanting more physical education in schools. I do wonder though how they determined the differences between the physically active and the people who were not. There is a small chance that being physically active could be a character trait just like anything that they were studying.  Maybe these people were physically active because it is just who they are. I don’t truly believe this, but there is a chance. This author does say that he could be wrong about all of this, but he believes what he has published. I am starting to wonder what more physical education would be replacing. Everything in elementary school is important, even learning cursive (the reason we learned it was to make sure that we could read every single persons hand writing and to show that we could learn how to write again). The decision would have to be made what to cut out to include physical activity, because it is sorely needed.

Stuart McDonald - Journal 3

http://www.jiem.org/index.php/jiem/article/view/384/280

From this source, I learned that the main reason that people chose to study computer science was because they had an interest or passion about it before they began their schooling.  The main reasons that people did not study computer science were that they did not want to identify themselves as ‘computer nerd’ types and that the content of the degree sounded too difficult.  People studying other professions chose their fields based on career outlook and passion for the field, but this passion was far less evident than it was for computer scientists.

                After reading this source and learning that over half of the respondents chose CS out of passion for it, I feel that that may back up the argument that one does not need a degree to have interest or gain experience in the field.  If someone is interested, they will pursue it regardless of their education.  I would have liked to know more about the prior knowledge and experience the students had before they opted to study CS, so that may be some information to seek out.

                My view on my topic feels strengthened a bit by the statistics provided, mainly just due to the number of students following their passion, which is an ideal trait in entrepreneurship.  The author was very factual and unbiased in language mostly but if I had to guess I would say he is from a CS background trying to influence educators and institutions to promote more CS education abroad.  If he is from a dwindling CS market, he will try to promote an increase in interest by explaining what will happen if it continues to decline.  I think that a good place to go from here would be to try to find more information on what kind of people go to college for CS and what their interests and talents are.

http://search.proquest.com/docview/366885367

                I learned about starting salaries for graduates in many fields, including computer science.  The data provided showed that computer science salaries grow at a respectable rate per year.  This source will mostly just serve as a source of data to compare the incomes of college graduates to the incomes of those that do not hold a degree or that go and start their own business.  After seeing the starting salaries of graduates, I feel that going through school and obtaining a degree could be paid for shortly after graduation, assuming cost of living is kept low.  This makes it an economically viable option, but the matters of time spent and experience gained are still important to keep in mind.  I would have liked to know more about the specific job titles and what income those provide, but that data might be too tailored and hard to come across in such detail.  I feel slightly more inclined to support the traditional schooling process now, just due to the decent starting salaries being able to support a good standard of living rather quickly out of school.

                The author seems to be speaking from some sort of economist’s standpoint, possibly the likes of a forensic economist.  The author directly states that this paper and data are intended for forensic economists to use to predict lost income of college graduates.  If they are involved in predicting how much a person would’ve made, they may be inclined to skew the numbers upward to show higher net incomes.  After reading this, I would like to further investigate the salaries of specific job titles such as ‘Java Developer’ as opposed to broad terms pertaining to the degrees obtained.  Perhaps I can find salaries of positions that are more relatable to the work of an entrepreneur as well.

Brian Crittenden - Journal #3

The Nature of Procrastination

From this source, I learned that the majority of college students procrastinate. About 80%-90% of students in college engage in procrastination. In addition, there are two types of procrastination: positive procrastination and negative procrastination. Positive procrastination is defined as waiting until new information comes out before making a decision or completing an action. Negative procrastination is defined as deferring an action without a good reason. This source also dives into the history of procrastination and characteristics of procrastination. Based on this source, I never realized how big of issue procrastination is for humans. Procrastination has been an issue in society since 800 B.C. I believe that procrastination has always been and will always be an issue for humanity. Some questions came up from examining this source: can procrastination be considered a trait, what specifically causes procrastination, and how do males/females react differently to procrastination. This new information strengthens my view that procrastination is definitely a problem and that is causes stress and anxiety. The author speaks about procrastination in the point of view as a negative thing. In my opinion, the audience is intended for those within the psychological field as well as for those who are concerned with procrastination.

Academic procrastination and anxiety statistics

            From this source, I learned that in fact 95% of college students procrastinate. Academic procrastination has been associated with negative academic outcomes, including missing deadlines for submitting assignments, low course grades, and course withdrawal. In addition, procrastination includes a tendency to nearly always or always experience problematic levels of anxiety. Based on this source, I can really see how much procrastination affects peoples’ behavior and emotions. I feel like procrastination has a negative effect on people because it causes stress, anxiety, and a decrease in work ethic. A big question that came up from this source is how would the statistics differ if a larger group of participants were used. The statistics in this source strengthen the argument that procrastination has negative side affects because anxiety levels were significantly higher for those who did procrastinate. In my opinion, the author has a neutral point of view and reports the findings from the investigation of the relationship between procrastination and anxiety. The source is intended for those who are researching the effects of procrastination or for those in the psychological field. The author may be biased towards procrastination as being negative due to the results of the reports.      

Eric Breedlove-Journal #3

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/62/1/264S.full.pdf+html

My first source has taught me that the use of sugar and sugar free foods all depends on the good balance.  If the intake/outtake ratio is off, then it can lead to obesity.  Based on this source I am beginning to believe that sugar free is not necessarily the right route to go when dieting.  It all depends on the balance of what foods you are taking in that matters.   However, I am curious as to how many people on average are misled about sugar free foods, and therefore end up hurting their body instead of helping it, and if that is a reason people find dieting unhelpful with their weight loss.  This article strengthens my thoughts that many people are not dieting properly.  The author of the article speaks in a third person point of view, and there does not appear to be any bias because the author is simply relaying data that was recorded in a study.  I think this article is speaking to both men and woman of any age between 18 and 50.  The article is pretty easy to read and only minor knowledge of anatomy is needed to help understand the article better.

http://su8bj7jh4j.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Sugar+substitutes%3A+Health+controversy+over+perceived+benefits&rft.jtitle=Journal+of+Pharmacology+and+Pharmacotherapeutics&rft.au=Tandel%2C+Kirtida&rft.date=2011-10-01&rft.pub=Medknow+Publications+and+Media+Pvt.+Ltd&rft.issn=0976-500X&rft.volume=2&rft.issue=4&rft.spage=236&rft.externalDBID=n%2Fa&rft.externalDocID=269500245

My second source taught me that studies have proven that consuming foods with artificial sweeteners can result in weight gain.  This source again strengthens what I think, which is that artificial sweeteners are very misleading, and are not necessarily a great substitute for natural sugar.  However, I still want to know more on how many people are still naïve about artificial sweeteners, and solely eat foods with it than with natural sugar.  The author of this study again is in third person, and simply describes the results of studies done and gives reasons as to why those results were found.  I think this article requires a little higher education than my other, however it is still a pretty easy read and most men and woman of adult age could comprehend what it is saying.  The audience for this article is again the same as my other source.  I do not see any biases in this article, and it has hit my interest on this subject perfectly and helped me confirm that this is what I would like to research.