Transcendinng Popular Culture

“If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.”
- Lao Tzu
People often make the assumption that they’re separate entities from their neighbors, cities, nations and the world because they can’t see unification existing or possible. Coinciding, peace advocates believe that there is not a large enough platform for the promotion of peace practices within the mediums that publish information and entertainment to all publics. According to researcher Alice Cherbonnier, television viewers of the USA are more prone to believe that the images they view are true sixty percent of the time (Cherbonnier, 1998). Keep in mind that news television shows are viewed much more than others. Editor, publisher and politician William Randolph Hearst once said “you furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war.” It’s hard to fathom how the USA still thrives on sensationalism that started over a hundred years ago within the news industry.
The information and images projected through the public sphere can be informative to an educated person or very detrimental to a naked mind. The Buddhist teachings of mindfulness help enforce a person’s immunity to the negative, mental food ingested by a medium’s viewing audience. A person who applies Buddhist practices to their own life has the ability to decipher the mental imaging they ingest while discarding information that will resonate in the mind harmfully. The individual who consumes these negative influences as a form of information or entertainment is similar to a child who mistakes hazardous toxins as a tasty treat. Entertainers know this too well as they have to continually be an element of society’s interests and fads. Legendary musician Bob Dylan describes the power of the media in his song “Man of Peace,” an excerpt is posted below.
He got a sweet gift of gab, he got a harmonious tongue
He knows every song of love that ever has been sung
Good intentions can be evil
Both hands can be full of grease
You know that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.
The questions that maybe arising might be: “if entertainers know about the harm they produce then why is the material created;” or “why are viewers consuming entertainment that will lead to suffering?” A person of religious descent may say it’s because there are many lost without a structure of morale that they abide by. This assumption is wrong seeing how 89% of the earth’s human population practices a religion. Practices that are a solution to this problem popular culture faces were created thousands of years before the discovery of the 512 lines of resolution that first projected television or the electromagnetic spectrum that radio-waves travel; not to mention that these teachings became in practice centuries before the birth of Christ (BCE).
Over twenty-four hundred years ago, at the age of twenty-nine Siddhartha Gautama was disheartened with the life he lived and the perceptions he possessed. Gautama was on a quest and in a six year span he practiced meditation under many enlightened teachers. After Gautama’s studying ventures he applied what he learned through deep meditation under a fig tree that’s known as The Bodhi Tree. After twenty-four hours this man felt understanding and he became the Buddha that is referred to within the Buddhist religion today.
The Buddha didn’t intend for Buddhism to be a religion but a practice for people of all religious backgrounds to use and attain understanding. Nyogen Senzaki was a Buddhist scholar and teacher during the turn of the twentieth century in San Francisco, California. In his literary work “On Zen Meditation” Senzaki declares “Buddhism removes heavy and unnecessary burdens from the shoulders of its followers instead of imbuing them with passions and desires of the Spiritual World, as many traditions do” (Senzaki (1936) p.13). Thich Nhat Hanh and other contemporary Buddhist monks describe practicing mindfulness and meditation similarly to constructing a raft out of raw material on a river bed. Every thought that rushes through our mind has the ability to become one of many fibers that create this raft while a thought that isn’t analyzed and put aside can turn into a wave of the violent current. We must cross this river because it symbolizes the past, present and future.
During every moment of life we process thoughts consciously and subconsciously. Everything we view with our five senses (hearing, sight, touch, smell and taste) generates thoughts; this verifies an interconnection we possess with all “things.” Television influences our minds with the average American viewing over twenty-eight hours a week. Not to mention, by the time an American child completes elementary school they have viewed over eight thousand televised murders with 78% of the country believing that violent acts are influenced by television (Herr, N. (2007). Television & Health). Now, a person just learning these facts may appear bewildered but will they break the addiction?
Television’s effects to our culture are very serious but there are practices we can use as crutches similarly to an alcoholic attending an Alcoholic’s Anonymous meeting except without forcing a super-being on the practitioner. There are various teachings that the mind can learn and practice to eventually see how each teaching is part of the others as the other teachings create a specific lesson. The Noble Eightfold Path is possible for the viewing public sphere’s audience to achieve during any viewing of mediums. The first path is right view which is the ability to maintain the mind in a neutral and accepting form. These violent images that children see automatically alter their mind and viewpoints but a simple solution to this is changing the substance that the children are viewing.
Ron Kauffman is a strong advocate and member of Turn-Off Your TV. Kauffman states in the following how violence on television can distort a developing mind: “Children exposed to large doses of violent programming will give them violent heroes to imitate (and it doesn't matter if the TV character was justified to use violence). It will also show children that violence is the right way to handle conflicts and may also whet their appetite for viewing more violence” (Kauffman. (2004) Filling Their Minds With Death: TV Violence and Children). I’ve heard many people exclaim “it’s the only thing on” when justifying what they’re watching but really there is much more than what really meets the television-sheltered eye.
The internet has many peace advocacy websites on it with sites that show interviews with celebrities who are humanitarians while they’re performing great acts of kindness. My Peace TV has materials for all age groups to occupy themselves with from musical performances by artists who regularly appear on MTV to documentaries about courageous individuals. Not only does My Peace TV shape our perceptions but it helps generate the second path, right thinking. There are programs that exist in our public sphere that promote positive thinking.
The people in the entertainment business who make their fads popular without the use of violence are using right thinking. Back in 2000 the LA Times published a summary of the Federal Trade Commission’s Report on Media Violence. "Of the 44 movies rated R for violence the commission selected for its study, the commission found that 35, or 80%, were targeted to children under 17" (LA Times. (2000). Highlights of The FTC Report On Media Violence). There’s evident proof that creators of violent films are targeting children isn’t something wrong here? If 85% of these films are targeted to children than this must be a general consensus that violence is accepted by members of all ages in the American society.
Right Speech is the third path and it’s very obvious that the fads in the entertainment industry can be vile for all minds. Society’s frustration with how children are influenced by the media is very ironic. Material that portrays murders and obscene language also influences the adult mind. Vulgar language and obnoxious, verbal and non-verbal cues generate tension in calm situations. Buddhist practitioners in these “tense” moments don’t view them as tense and think before they speak. If they can’t speak, reflecting their complete thought then the Buddhist practitioner must go back to right thinking.
Not only does violence plague young minds as a solution to a problem but it’s a consensual solution that all age groups participate in. The entertainment industry thrives off the plot of a story composed of protagonists and antagonists. The 8,000 murders that a young child has viewed are alright because those who died were “bad guys,” this ideology carries onto adults. Dualism is a misconception that our culture has been plagued with and it’s lead to fatal tragedies. For a person who is on the path of right action, they know that aggression isn’t a solution to the problem and that reacting negatively not only hurts the person they’re reacting to but it also hurts their mind.
Peace Magazine is a component of pop culture that emphasizes pacifism and reconciliation. They also act as a platform for other organizations worldwide to inform those who don’t have a right view and want to change it. After upon hearing about the deaths, terrorists, drugs and famine in Afghanistan the creators of Roots of Peace were appalled. Roots of Peace didn’t take the approach of annihilating those who appear different from us in the name of freedom but instead they took a much more logical approach. They helped poppies growers whose yield helped the growing epidemic of opium and heroin abusers in the world. Roots of Peace helped these growers by offering the Afghanistan farmers grapes to grow as opposed to the poppies. Someone reading this may think that the Afghanistan farmer made much more money in the other trade but there isn’t such a thing as fair trade in the drug empire of the world.
Roots of Peace helped afghan farmer’s find the fifth fold of the Noble Path, right livelihood and the organization themselves has achieved this to. There are hundreds of thousands of other organization that enable people who don’t know the right decisions of life make them and thoroughly understand. The Playing for Change Foundation has helped set up education structures all around the world for children and adults. This organization is notable for giving homeless people education, shelter and music lessons while also helping the natives of Tibet still escape to a much more promising environment. Here in the state of Maine we have a camp for people of different culture backgrounds from all around the world settle their differences at the Seeds of Peace reconciliation camp.
These organizations may not be in existence for the same purposes as the multimedia corporations of the world but they possess the right livelihood that the entertainment industry lacks. This isn’t an implication that right view, right thinking, right speech, right action and right livelihood don’t exist within the fads of American culture but they seem to not be as endorsed. All of the folds of the Noble Path can be recognized within popular culture it just depends on how the viewing audiences interpret what is before their senses. This interpretation relies on the motivation to view not what’s necessarily popular but meaningful to the mind. This is the sixth fold, diligence and we all possess this with whatever decision making we participate in.
Deborah Tannen explores in her book “The Argument Culture” how everything that’s presented on the news wouldn’t be if none of the viewing audience opposed it. This is sad and what’s more devastating is she gives examples in her book about non-profit organizations reaching milestones then reporting these feats to a news corporation who won’t publish a story on this humanitarianism because there’s not enough conflict. This is negative mindfulness which essentially we want right mindfulness seeing that it’s the seventh fold but this raises a misconstrued image that the predecessors following after Siddhartha Gautama possessed and projected. The three Dharma Seals are suffering, impermanence and non-self.
After the Buddha’s death many believed that they had to spend every moment of life focusing on suffering. This isn’t true and is partial to why there are different branches of Buddhism. If a person were to get up everyday just breathing in suffering and breathing it out then they would be a very depressed individual. We’re supposed to recognize suffering but ignore it when it isn’t present. The entertainment industry has managed to focus on suffering and transcend it to the viewing audience. After we practice right mindfulness and control what we view we have the ability to view elements of entertainment that cause distress with others in optimism. This isn’t to say that a trained mind can view a gripping action scene; it’s to say that a trained mind decides to not view the malevolence.
This optimism is a product of right concentration which is a tool that we can use to not suffer from today’s popular culture. Right concentration is the eighth fold of the Noble Eightfold Path but this doesn’t mean that this is where we stop. Right view, right thinking, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right diligence, right mindfulness and right concentration all describe one another in a trait that describes Buddhism entirely: all in one and one in all.










REFERENCE LIST
Cherbonnier, A. (1998). Study Says TV Crime News Influences Safety Perception. The Baltimore Chronicle & The Sentinel. Retrieved from http://baltimorechronicle.com/tvcrime.html
Dylan, B. (1983). Man of Peace. Bob Dylan. Retrieved from http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/man-of-peace
Herr, N. (2007). Television & Health. The SourceBook For Teaching Science. Retrieved from http://www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tv&health.html#tv_stats
Kauffman, R. (2004). Filling Their Minds With Death: TV Violence and Children. Turn-Off Your TV. Retrieved from http://www.turnoffyourtv.com/healtheducation/violencechildren/violencechildren.html
LA Times. (2000). Highlights of The FTC Report On Media Violence. Blue Corn Comics. Retrieved from http://www.bluecorncomics.com/ftcrpt.htm
Love on Earth. (2001, April). Some Thoughts on Peace. Retrieved from http://www.loveonearth.org/pages/peace.html
Meadows, D. (1990). State of The Village Report. The Miniature Earth. Retrieved from http://www.miniature-earth.com/
Senzaki, N. (1936). On Zen Meditation. Kyoto, Japan: Myoslin-ji.
Think Exist. (1999). William Randolph Hearst Quotes. Think Exist. Retrieved from http://thinkexist.com/quotes/william_randolph_hearst/

Misperception

A wave of swirling water can frighten minds.
Insecurities arise from false images of the wave’s future.
Misperceptions of the wave’s current allow diverse reactions.
The water’s thumping impact on the sandbar possesses.

During intimate moments I am similar to a grazing sheep among its full herd with a little “MAAA” here and a mouthful of grass there. In these times happiness is always around. It is this way until the ferocious pack of blood-thirsty wolves plagues the plot of grass. The herd of my brothers and sisters that once appeared in a pack diminish in all directions as the vicious creatures terrorize, sodomize and eat the weak who submit themselves to the atrocious acts. The antagonist the wolves fear forms within my mind and projects off of my body. The magical potion I’ve consumed that differs from my weak and dead herd is solely ego laced with anger. I stand on my hind legs as my limbs grow long and wide. My fur violently rips across my enlarging chest and the wolves have spotted me. Good sheep do not hide. They cluster together using guerilla tactics in a wedge formation and charge at me. I can’t comprehend what I have done and am still doing because my mind is paralyzed by instinct. My arms crack into the shattered torso of the once strong wolf and my claws decapitate. The sharp pain that is created from the canine’s jagged teeth muzzled around my ankle pains the limb but enrages my body to react in an “eye for an eye” sordid way. The bite cleanly dismembers the once snug paw of the despicable wolf.
The remaining wolves run away from the sound of a distant, angered farmer’s buckshot. My once very large family is dead and they are surrounded by me. My eyes burn from the wolves’ tainted blood as the body hurts from such a brutal confrontation. The shepherd was on his way to lead us back to the barn. He sees me covered in bodily fluids and assumes that I am severely wounded. He raises his rifle and rests the butt upon his shoulder. I did not recognize my brothers and sisters; I mistakenly identified them as a pack of wolves.

Impact

Your pace is adjusted in a more gingerly way as you approach the brick covered park floor. She is one of your happy coworkers who enjoyed the night filled with moderate alcohol consumption and great spirits while exploring the “Old Port.” The conversation about the janitor at work who smells like patchouli changes when she asks:
“So what do you feel like doing now?”
You look ahead to see two Caucasian males shadowing each side of a Hispanic male. The two shadows do not stand out like the Hispanic male who is wearing a flat-rimmed hat, a bright yellow jersey and loose fitted pants that sag way below his waste.
“Anything;” you blurt out quickly because you feel as though the conversation was neglected while focusing on an exemplary stereotype.
“I think we’ve experienced the pub scene; it is one thirty in the morning… We are limited.” The response is good and soothes your distracted mind. The males who once seemed so far away approach and are within fifty feet of walking straight into you and your pleasant friend. The shadow to the left pulls his hand fast up to his face then presses his fingers against his mouth to produce a loud wolf whistle call. The male in the center wearing the fashion statement says very colorful language to your friend; implying consummation of various sorts.
“F*** you,” she yells angrily at the rude insinuations as they pass by.
“F@%* you bitch! I’ll f@%* you real hard-” The anger fills your mind as this obnoxious hip hop impersonator offends her once again. Physical confrontations you try to avoid and the last one you experienced was in a high-school marching practice years ago. You are pissed though and the once well-behaved geochemistry sciences senior in college transforms into a beast- you tell yourself this. You are a tenth of a second from blurting out a line that will illustrate your great charisma- A line that is comparatively powerful to Patrick Henry’s: GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH!
“F@*& off,” your voice squeaks a little and you look down to the ground. Your ears register the scuffing footsteps plaguing towards you. You catch her eyes one last time glancing at you. You turn your body quickly to see the man with the odd clothing step towards you and square off with a puffed out chest and fists packed full of heartless insecurity.
“What now bitch?” His eyes shuffle up at yours. Your once agile body is frozen in a traumatized state. You start to say:
“Leave us aloo-” he takes advantage of your vulnerable stance and interrupts your rebuttal with a fast, right-hook punch to your temple.
The metallic colored stars possess your eyes while your stiff body tumbles backwards like a fallen tree. Through the blurred vision you see her kneeling over you and screaming bloody murder. Your eyes are glancing ferociously attempting to adjust and then they roll up. Darkness protrudes.
The paramedics rush quickly, adjusting a neck-brace to straighten your limp head and strap you to the board-like structure. Mom, dad, your two brother and two sisters sit with you for eleven hours in the Intensive Care Unit. None of them can fathom how you got here but can’t wait for you to get out. The sadness fills the room as you take your last breath of fresh air and exit your body to transition into the after-life.
You the reader have the ability to exit this scene but this is a reality that people of all walks of life are experiencing. This story is inspired by the short, courageous life of Eric Ernest Benson. The Hispanic male dressed with the flat rimmed hat, yellow shirt and baggy pants was later identified as twenty year old William Googins. Googins has an extensive juvenile record for similar acts and is currently at the Cumberland County Jail facing the charge of aggravated assault with a posted bail of $100,000. The lives of all who knew Eric Ernest Benson are forever changed from the hands of his attacker. Googins will experience a life of great depression and remorse because he tragically possesses the life of a good humanitarian on his conscience forever.
William Googins Courtesy of Portland Press Herald
Society should learn from such atrocities and prevent future acts of violence by addressing the issues that continue to arise within consistent offenders. Every member of humanity has a voice. Speak loudly, never be vulnerable and let sad stories like this be the fuel to the machine (you) that ends random acts of violence.


THIS ARTICLE IS DEDICATED TO THE LIFE OF ERIC ERNEST BENSON AND GREAT EMPATHY IS DIRECTED TO THE FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

REFERENCES
Hench, D. May 25, 2010. Portland Press Herald. Gray man, 20, charged in deadly assault.

ENVIRONMENTAL PRESERVATION LIVES ON!

" I remember a hundred lovely lakes, and recall the fragrant breath of pine and fir and cedar and poplar trees. The trail has strung upon it, as upon a thread of silk, opalescent dawns and saffron sunsets. It has given me blessed release from care and worry and the troubled thinking of our modern day. It has been a return to the primitive and the peaceful. Whenever the pressure of our complex city life thins my blood and benumbs my brain, I seek relief in the trail; and when I hear the coyote wailing to the yellow dawn, my cares fall from me - I am happy."
~ Hamlin Garland - 1899

Centuries ago, back before Leif Erickson and an early Christopher Columbus “founded” North America there were indigenous people who lived on this nutrient rich continent solely off of natural resources. These people who appear rare in the contemporary are referred to as Native Americans; they once had various different tribes similarly to the current plethora of subcultures in North America. The tribes practiced environmental ethics in a time where the earth’s deterioration was not a fear. Early settlers characterized the indigenous of North America as primitive because of how the less technologically advanced society physically appeared and spoke. Hypocritically for the Europeans, the Native Americans taught the settlers how to survive off the land and shared their land even when these natives could see through the false promises that lead to major deception. A member of the Wintu tribe which is based out of what is now known as Sacramento, California, once said in the nineteenth century the following: "When we Indians kill meat, we eat it all up. When we dig roots, we make little holes. When we build houses, we make little holes. When we burn grass for grasshoppers, we don't ruin things. We shake down acorns and pine nuts. We don't chop down the trees. We only use dead wood. But the white people plow up the ground, pull down the trees, kill everything. ... The White people pay no attention. ...How can the spirit of the earth like the White man? Everywhere the White man has touched it, it is sore" (Stony Productions. 1996, Native American Quotes).

Today, environmentalists of different ethnicities share this perspective that the earth is polluted from destructive and inefficient acts for the creation of selfish desires. Since the beginning of this close extinction of the indigenous culture the planet has become more polluted from heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are created from: burning, fossil fuels and biomass which is formerly live vegetation (I.E: wood, sugar cane, corn, etc.); and the rising emissions from aerosol propellants (compressed gas) (Solomon, S., Qin, D., Manning, M. 2007, Recent Climate Change). The primary effects of greenhouse gases are a dramatic increase in global temperatures and a rise in sea level which causes the destruction of ecosystems (Mayhew, M., 2001, Appetite for Destruction. Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy).

The technological advancements which progressively started during the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century have created a simplistic life for modern cultures but this simplicity has created detrimental effects on the environment. Native Americans portray humanity as the caretaker of the earth. As caretakers of the earth they tried to share the land without gluttony because every inhabitant is part of the planet. The indigenous noticed this invasion of the “white man” but the wise elders of tribes changed their style of life to allow the new settlers fertile living. Caretakers of the earth must act as humanitarians because humans are among the many inhabitants. Similarly to today, there are members in every culture who partake in malevolent activities. Settlers experienced the fear of, thievery, rape and murder from stories that told of such actions in areas around them. A stereotype developed among both sides. The “white man” was seen by the Native Americans as inconsiderate; coinciding, the indigenous of North America were portrayed as morbid creatures to the growing array of European settlers.

The mass development of prejudices from false stereotypes is still being constructed today. Societies have learned that not one person or group can represent a sole entity; there are “bad seeds.” The knowledge that Native Americans and European settlers of the “new world” possessed could have been shared to each-other; it’s evident that it would have prolonged life and deteriorated bias. This is a case study of the practices and repression of solar technology and energy efficiency that have been administered before and since the origins of indigenous tribes in North America.

-“In any given hour, more energy from the sun reaches Earth than is used by the whole human population in any given year” (Mckibben, B., 2009, Paths To The Future. Natural Geographic. Energy, 95).

The sun has spiritual traits that are recognized among religions and those without religious tendencies. The circulation of the earth around the sun depicts time in every aspect from: daylight to dark night; days to week; weeks to month and months to year. Small clusters of plants grow to become large vegetated areas from the UV rays and heat emitted from the sun. The amount of sunlight a person is exposed to is proven through many psychological studies to affect their emotional state. The following story was contributed by The Stanford University Solar-Center and portrays the significance of the sun to the Hopi tribe. The Hopi is one of the oldest still intact tribes in the United States of America, based out of Northern Arizona.

A boy once lived with his mother's mother for he didn't know who his father was. His grandmother said to ask the Sun about his father, surely the Sun would know. One morning the boy made a flour of crushed tortoise shell, cornmeal, coral, and seashells. He threw the flour upwards and it made a path into the sky (Milky Way). He climbed the path and when he found the Sun he asked "Who is my father?" and the Sun replied, "You have much to learn." The boy fell to Earth. He then made a wooden box from a Cottonwood tree and sealed himself in it as it floated west down a river to find the Sun again. The box washed ashore where two rivers join. He was freed from the box by a young female rattlesnake. Together they traveled west to find the Sun. They saw a meteor fall into the sea on its way to the Sun's house. They asked it for a ride. In this way they made it to the Sun's house. There they met the Sun's mother (the Moon) who was working on a piece of turquoise. That evening when the Sun came home from his days work, the boy asked again, "Who is my father?" And then the Sun replied "I think I am" (Snowder, B., 2005, The Boy and The Sun).

The sun is personified and held in high regards similarly to the existence of Christ (Christianity), Buddha (Buddhism), Ishvara (Hinduism), and Allāh (Islam). This is assumed from when the Sun implies he is the father, the creator of all life. The Native Americans used the sun’s emissions for agricultural activities but they also achieved a sense of place by not using other alternatives that pollute their beloved environment. Modernly, economic tendencies have pushed the world to seek energy sources that substitute the sun’s capabilities.

This substitution occurs because people are aware of their sense of place but are not educated about the consequences of their quick, cheap-costing energy. Solar technology has undergone dramatic research and more recently has resurfaced into society. Native Americans approve of the use of solar thermal collecting because there are no waste emissions from the process of containing and producing the electricity. Research in solar technology has been on going since the Industrial Revolution but it was suppressed heavily in the United States after World War II when there was a need for nuclear technology in the aspect of creating nuclear warfare (Etkowitz, H., 1984, Solar Versus Nuclear Technology: Autonomous or Dependent Technology? Social Problems. 31. 4. 417).

Ironically, the largest nuclear power plant in the US is in what used to be Navajo territory in Wintersburg, Arizona (Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station). The three reactors create 3,872 megawatts which is nearly four times the production of decommissioned Maine Yankee located in Wiscasset, Maine (Nuclear Energy Institute. 2008, US Nuclear Power Plants). Nuclear power plants were not popular among society when they first entered production for several reasons. Information about the harmful effects of nuclear toxins were not clearly stated by President Harry S. Truman but were created exemplary from the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Etkowitz, H., 1984, Solar Versus Nuclear Technology: Autonomous or Dependent Technology? Social Problems. 31. 4. 421). The world’s eyes became glued open from the shock of such fatal atrocities.

“We've raped our homelands to maintain our economies.'' - Roderick Ariwite of the National Tribal Environmental Council

(Satchell, M. 1/11/93. Trashing The Reservations? U.S. News and World Report. 114, 1).

Six years after the nuclear bombings, President Dwight D. Eisenhower endorsed “Atoms for Peace” which calmed the world but disheartened environmentalists. This was a notable transition (from Atomic Bomb to energy) for the development of nuclear technologies but is partial to causing a near extinction of the Native American race and cultural structure. Like many groups of people who are part of a specific ethnicity those of the North American indigenous ancestry contrast in their lifestyles. These people can not survive like their predecessors because of the role money plays in human life. Active tribes all have pride but the economy influences many. There are those who decide to make a tourism site out of their existence and those who don’t want to make their heritage marketable; but instead bury nuclear toxins and trash in their backyard. Hypocritically in the pride aspect, there are some tribes who fall in between; they might consider the tourism industry or the defacing of sacred land but then decide not to partake in the deformation of their culture (Satchell, M. 1/11/93. Trashing The Reservations? U.S. News and World Report. 114, 1).

On February 16, 2010 President Barack Obama announced an 8.3 billion dollar loan guarantee to build a nuclear power plant in Georgia. This decision affects not only people of all walks but the environment severely. From 1968 to 2002, the U.S. buried 47,023.4 metric tons of Uranium (U.S. Energy Information Administration. 5/26/2009,
Uranium Purchased by Owners and Operators of U.S. Civilian Nuclear Power Reactors). A process has not been discovered to transform nuclear waste into a non-harmful emission; instead this waste that has a life range longer than the existence of human beings is being sealed up in deposits all around the world.

Luckily for the wellbeing of the planet and pride of environmental enthusiasts Barack Obama also has funded advancements in Green Technologies. Michael J. Mayhew, President of Heliotropic Technologies based out of Boothbay Harbor, Maine is an Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Consultant with over thirty years of experience in the field. Mayhew develops energy efficiency projects for commercial and municipal clients as he sells renewable energy systems varying from the residential to industrial level. The renewable energy systems include, Solar Electric, Solar Hot Water and Wind technologies.

Mayhew thinks the future energy supply will consist of solar electric, wind, biomass, natural and hydrogen gases. His response to nuclear power was, “I believe nuclear wastes are such a risky problem and potentially can be used by terrorists to create ‘nuclear weapons.’ The development of breeder reactors could use today’s spent fuel as part of the fuel mix that generates electricity thus reducing the large stock-pile of spent fuel which terrorists could use and less agitated, glowing Native Americans. Did I mention that with the government incentives and the low interest rates, solar power has reached parody with conventionally generated technologies? Can I take your order please (he asked for that to be included)?”

The use of the sun is rising back into focus of every able person who consumes electricity. By adopting the use of green technologies and energy efficiency Native Americans won’t be forced to destroy their homelands and relationships among other tribes. Though the use of the sun has been ignored; the once irritated technology has flourished into a conventional idea for all to share. If a breeder nuclear system does become available in the near future, sites like New York’s Mohawk reservation will be preserved physically with pride still intact.

References

Etkowitz, H., (1984). Solar Versus Nuclear Technology: Autonomous or Dependent Technology? Social Problems. 31. 4. 417.

Mayhew, M., (2001). Appetite for Destruction. Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy, 16 (3), 62-70.

Mckibben, B., (2009,June). Paths to The Future. Natural Geographic. Energy, 92-95.

Nuclear Energy Institute. (2008). US Nuclear Poweplants. Retrieved from: http://www.nei.org/resourcesandstats/nuclear_statistics/usnuclearpowerplants/

Quotes about the environment, nature, and trees. (2007). Retrieved from http://www.sapphyr.net/smallgems/quotes-environment-nature.htm

Satchell, M. (1993). Trashing The Reservations? U.S. News and World Report. 114, 1. Retrieved from: http://prxy4.ursus.maine.edu:2060/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid=104&sid=a2958a85- c474-402e-b6e6- 5d6fca0d4bf3%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d #db=aph&AN=9301070143#db=aph&AN=9301070143

Snowder, B. (2005). The Boy and The Sun. Retrieved from: http://solar- center.stanford.edu/folklore/boy-and-sun.html

Solar Symbolism, Ancient and Modern. (2010). Retrieved from http://solar- center.stanford.edu/folklore/symbolism.html

Solomon, S., Qin, D., Manning, M. (2007). Recent Climate Change. Retrieved from: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/recentcc.html

Stony Productions. (1996). Native American Quotes. Retrieved from: http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/quotes.html

U.S. Energy Information Administration. (2009).
Uranium Purchased by Owners and Operators of U.S. Civilian Nuclear Power Reactors. Retrieved from: http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/umar/summarytable1.html

Promoting Student Wellness

Boothbay Region High School, Boothbay Harbor- The second “Parents’ Meeting” went underway on April 26, after the previous one that occurred on the first of this month. The two hour meeting was a successful attempt to preserve positivity in the learning environment among the Boothbay Region Elementary School (BRES: K-8) and Boothbay Region High School (BRHS). Issues surfacing around the health and wellness of students created concern for both parents and faculty. This worry prompted community forums. Through the forums solutions have evolved for students to enjoy the educational process.
“We’ve had a really good year; a positive one. We’re tackling challenges as they come.”
- Boothbay Region High School Principal, Dan Welch
As a member of the Alumni of the Boothbay Harbor school system I was greatly pleased to talk with BRHS’ new principal. His enthusiasm for a “positive culture and climate” transpired through the phone and it created one less unsure Alumni member (hopefully many less from viewing this article). More recently, the school has installed twenty-two cameras and limited the access points. The reaction to the new security upgrade appears mixed among a few current students I’ve talked with. Realistically and contemporary speaking, there are very few schools that don’t have surveillance and a check-in point for visitors.
This measure was made because students don’t appear to touch base with faculty and uneasy situations have aroused. Welch assured preserving a positive environment and a comfort zone between students would lessen conflict. Welch also claims that by conducting community forums there will be no “isolated incidents” which will form an integrity-filled educational facility. BRHS is lowering the class duration from eighty to fifty-eight minutes and twelve new elective courses will be in place in the fall of 2011. Among these changes, BRES and BRHS are trying to promote a healthy education from endorsing exercise. Incoming freshmen will be required to take a course called “School Tools.” This class teaches students how to maintain school work and research development.
It was a great interview! Special Thanks to Dan Welch!

History Repeats Its Self

It has been clearly illustrated that the basic frame for civilization in the “new world” was an abstract of European technology. With this noted, the European settlers strived to be different from “Mother Europe” by creating more democratically correct expressionism. As noted in Starr, the motivation to create oriented communication was halted by the threat of being charged with sedition (Starr, 2004, p.46). In this time communication beyond talk was transferred through the hub system; the majority of active participants in this system were entrepreneurs who participated in the economy. Fundamental properties and aspects of this system still appear in the form of various postal corporations but one can not say the hub system that existed during the Industrial Revolution of 1750 is completely symmetric with contemporary postal systems. Another idea that is still being contemplated today is the two-step flow.

The two-step flow was concocted by Paul Lazarsfeld and introduced in 1944. The first step involves a medium sending out a message. Then an opinionated figure interprets and relays their comprehension to their listeners. The development of focus groups and at random surveys raises the question: could this acquired information be the third step? According to the American Academy of Political and Social Science the two-step flow has converged into a one step developmental process as a result of technological advancements (Bennett, W., Manaheim, J., 2006, p. 222). This theory seems like it’s a one size deal; what about the little people?

“Herein lies a cautionary lesson for thinking about the next paradigm: if we are at a point where both social structure and media technologies are changing rapidly once again, we will be well served by more careful specifications of the underlying social and technological factors involved” (Bennett, W., Manaheim, J., 2006, p. 222).

In order for a country to experience such an upgrade it must contain integrity in both the economy and social structure. Third world countries are poor because of their lack of productivity in the world market; some regions are not blessed with rich natural resources. “Money makes the world go round.” Without any domestic products the people of these nations can’t nurture themselves and become vulnerable of world powers entering and abusing the people through child labor, unfair trade, and pollution. There are other nations of high wealth that do not partake in mediums that are regulated by a democracy.

North Korea and South Korea are exemplary in the proof that wealth is among many factors in creating a public sphere. These two countries once were the Korean Empire until the territory was annexed by Japan in 1910. After many decades the area was split into two regions. The Northern area was controlled by the Soviet Union as the Southern was obtained by the United States. Similarly to a scarce relationship between the “big red” and the U.S., North Korea is seen as the mean little brother pulling his big sister’s (South Korea) hair. The current leader of North Korea, Kim jong-il murdered his father to acquire his position. Kim is portrayed as a totalitarian for: backing out of an armistice with S. Korea; testing nuclear warfare (as recent as 2006); his strict control of the press and forming isolation from the lack of media allowed entering the country (SAN-Hun, C., 2010, Times Topics: North Korea. New York Times).

Contrasting with its nemesis, South Korea is not in isolation with the world and the Republic is a huge participant in the global economy. The country possesses kun-long (KUNWAA) which is idolized in the Buddhist religion as the forbearance and ethically correct decisions a person constructs every moment in their life. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (NK) blames the U.S. for its shortfall. This idea would be fathomed more by people other than those of totalitarian descent if South Korea was failing too. The following is an excerpt from Korea Today of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea:

From the first day of its military occupation of South Korea, the United States harbored a scheme to perpetuate the division of Korea, and it has tried to check at every step the surging trend towards reunification in the north and the south.

The little brother is angry; he thinks it’s unfair. The lack of interaction within multimedia has left the country with a bad label. The citizens are ignorant and misperceived about other nations’ customs. The New York Times clearly states the citizens of North Korea do not know how economically poor they are in comparison of other countries. North Korea has a constitution but until the dictator is out of power, there will be no ramifications similar to the United States’ first amendment to the constitution. Kim jong-il and his father have controlled North Korea since 1948. The territory remains the same and unfortunately one of Kim jong-il’s bastard sons is going to be revealed in 2012 to take the power.

History repeats itself in various forms. This registration is similar to how a person can go into a crowd of strangers and pick out people they recognize as reminders of friends and family with similar attributes. The North American colonies that were occupied by France in the later half of the eighteenth century that are now known as Canada were not allowed to have a printing press. The British colonies were allowed to have the printing press if the publisher had a print license. Sure enough, the British settlers were more literate than the French (Starr, 2004, p.50). Print technology helped the red-backs vocalize their issues about taxation without representation. This complaining that we in the contemporary hear and actively participate in was a severe offense known as sedition. British settlers caught participating in seditious acts were jailed, exiled and murdered to a brutal extent. Contrary to the belief that France always loses, the British colonies did what Canada should have done when the printing press was made illegal.

De facto freedoms are the solution to the contemporary North Korea. The government has been controlled by the same family for sixty-two years. Since when does every generation agree on no freedom but the sodomizing of the seekers?

REFERENCES

Bennett, W., Manaheim, J. (2006). The Two Step Flow. American Academy of Political and Social Science. 608. Retrieved from: http://prxy4.ursus.maine.edu:2149/stable/pdfplus/25097863.pdf

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. (2006). Worst Obstacle To Reunification of Korea. Korea Today. Retrieved from: http://www.kcckp.net/en/periodic/todaykorea/index.php?contents+1803+2006-01+80+36

Republic of Korea. (2010). Exploring Korea. Korea.net. Retrieved from: http://www.korea.net/exploring.do

SAN-Hun, C. (2010). Times Topics: North Korea. New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/info/north-korea/

Starr, P. (2004). The Creation Of The Media. New York: Basic Books.

The Fearsome UMO Ultimate Frozen Fury

The University of Maine Ultimate Frozen Furies dominated at the 2010 UPA East New England College Open Sectionals (4-0) this past weekend on the Orono campus. There were twelve teams that participated in the sectionals: Dartmouth College, Bowdoin College, Dalhousie University, Bates College, University of New Hampshire, University of New Brunswick and the University of Maine at Orono & Farmington. The teams were split into 2 pools entitled Pool A and Pool B. The Pool play games’ duration went up to thirteen points.
The Furies played ferociously in Pool B where they had their first victory in a close game against the University of Maine at Farmington (13-10). Within a matter of minutes the Frozen Fury then stomped on Dartmouth College with a ten point victory. Bowdoin College’s Stoned Clown could not put out the fire and in the haze the University of Maine allowed only one point to be scored upon them. The last game appeared very close with a neck and neck struggle between the University of New Brunswick and the Frozen Furies. After several incredible passes back and forth, the Furies annihilated the Canadians (13-10). Good luck to the UMO Ultimate Frozen Furies!

Outside It Appears Silent

Society is able to communicate more effectively than ever before from the convergence of technologies. Various examples in history have portrayed the advancements in communication from David Sarnoff receiving the news of the RMS Titanic in 1912 through telegraph, to present day, when the citizens of Iran complained about the election scandals through Twitter and Facebook in 2009. These two new, social engines were available for people to use in 2006 and currently have had dramatic integration in states, countries and the world as a whole.
On January 18, 2010, just six days after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Chile tweets from twitter arrived consistently every second. On this same day a vast amount of Facebook members joined a group entitled “Earthquake Haiti,” which contained over 265,000 members who received messages on the minute about the conditions in Haiti (AJR, March 2010, Vital but Complementary). Both Twitter and Facebook relayed information from the survivors containing all the elements for journalists to write here in the United States. This information arrived at a constant flow; surprisingly the media audience may believe the Haiti earthquake is forgotten from the current lack of coverage in the news and press.
The citizens of Iran were in a similar place of mind as the Haitians when they were silenced by their government after hundreds of thousand Iranians protested, pleading for democracy. During the election day of June 12, 2009, cellular devices had trouble sending and receiving messages in Tehran. Later on the BBC urged its viewers that their broadcast was affected by interference of “heavy electronic Jamming” (Horrocks, June 14, 2010, BBC). The people of Iran adapted to this lack of communication by going online to voice their opinions through Twitter and Facebook. Later, on May 23, the Iranian government shutdown Facebook within the country for three days proving that communication from these social engines can still create an effect among a society.
The similarity between Chile and Iran is the fact that the issues these countries face have been silenced from different structures but they have adapted by using other technologies. The devastation in Chile is being silenced by the press from the other stories that include more interest for the viewing audience. This maybe true, but from the use of integrated technologies it is proven that people can’t be held in silence against their will.
REFERENCES
Horrocks P. (2009). Stop the blocking now. BBC News.
Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2009/06/stop_the_blocking_now.html
Palser B. (2010). Vital but Complementary. American Journalism Review.
Retrieved from: http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4864

The Martial Art Of Drumming

March 24, Collin’s Center, Orono- The sold out audience of all walks of life packed the campus auditorium to view twelve Japanese performers play Taiko drums, harps and flutes. The performance opened in darkness with a male performer at center stage sitting Indian style in front of a drum. The empowering sound created from this individual dressed in Japanese attire was accompanied by ten other percussionists. The sound appeared to multiply in magnitude as the visual aid came alive from the growing line of performers sitting in the same position from upstage left to right.
These performers created an overpowering illusion from their percussionist and choreographic skills for the audience to get lost into. The viewing crowd was in silence until one of the performers marched into the seated crowd armed with a drum and drumsticks. Taro Harasaki prompted the audience to become the metronome through clapping hands in a very generic beat. This lead into intermission as the once possessed audience appeared disruptive while exiting to stretch and refresh after the first hour of the performance.
Haha Lung is a martial artist writer and in his book “Mind Penetration” Lung tells how to remain in a peace of mind. One of the tactics often characterized as “black magic” is the use of vocal expression within specific letter sounds. The Tao artists chanted Japanese words as they performed, while the audience who probably didn’t speak Japanese was possessed from the sound coming from the performer’s mouths. This aspect was very interesting to view and experience. It is remarkable that even through a language barrier the audience felt the emotion intended for them to feel.
This performance was one of the last of “Tao: The Martial Art of Drumming” during their 3 month tour in the U.S. For more information about this performance please go to: http://www.drum-tao.com/en/

I will be attending a Tao performance tonight for this week's event. Unfortunately, it appears that it might be hard to capture multimedia from where we are positioned.

Motivation For The Future

Economists believe taxation interferes with the economy and there should be a different method for the gathering of funds for the community, state and nation. Educators may possess an inverse statement to the economists’ which is: funding reflects the productivity of the economy; thus implying the “economy drives funding.” Both these statements are of very different viewpoints but raise the same idea that society needs to adopt a different system to supply the needs of public education and services. The question that arises is: how can society create a new practice for funding?
As I talked with a contemporary mentor of mine, Tim Rice, who is recognized by students, alumni and faculty of the Boothbay Region School District as an exemplary educator, together we could not fathom a new system for the funding. Besides being a renowned athletics coach, Rice is a seventeen year veteran of both the Boothbay Region High School and Boothbay Region Elementary School acting as a teacher of health and physical sciences. Rice took time out of his school filled day to answer the following questions:
SM: The mill rate in Boothbay for 2008-2009 was 11.8 with 37.2% funding education; everywhere in the country the solution appears to be a raise in property tax. What do you think is a solution in regards to the placements of funds?
TR: In this surrounding area there are various schools without a large amount of students. If these few zip codes were consolidated into one school, I believe the budget deficit could be cut.
SM: How has the budget cut affected your school district?
TR: There has been a heavy loss of positions.
SM: Do you think the quality of education has changed due to these measures?
TR: No, in the sense that all of the teachers here are hard-working in providing education for the students.
What really opened my eyes as listening to Rice was the fact that the questions didn’t raise agitation within him but an attempt to create a solution. Also, there was no reference or concern for materialism illustrated, instead the motivation to make the best out of the situation. Before interviewing Rice, I asked the Town Manager of Boothbay Harbor similar questions and he responded:"Mr. Mayhew,
This appears to be more a series of questions for the School
system rather than the municipalities. I would defer you to them for
their opinion."
This transparency of concern that Tom Woodin possesses does not need to be illustrated anymore.

SPECIAL THANKS TO TIM RICE!

Taxation, A True Story

Governor John Baldacci delivered his final state of the state speech on January 20, 2010. In this speech Baldacci declared a $100 million budget cut towards municipality funding. The Governor was motivated to make this decision due to a $438 million budget shortfall. He claims the state needs to have national education and teacher evaluation standards. Many teaching positions for this next year within Maine will be terminated resulting from the words of this governor in his final year.
Aside from federal sources, state and local funding, the tax-payers support their local school administrative unit’s cost by paying a mill rate. A mill rate is “the number of property tax dollars raised for each $1,000 of taxable property” (Maine Department of Education). In my hometown of Boothbay Harbor the mill rate for the year 2008-2009 was 11.8 with 37.2 % funding education, 13.3% supporting Lincoln County and 49.5 going to municipalities. In 2002-2003 the mill rate was 8.20 in Boothbay Harbor this was among Maine’s average mill rate of 11.62(Financial Data Profile Boothbay Harbor CSD). A person can conclude through viewing these ratios that Boothbay Harbor does not have a high mill rate but it has increased twenty percent in a five year margin. To escape this realm of mathematics, I raise the question: what does a citizen do about this?
For any U.S.A. citizen who works or owns land there is no escape from paying taxes. Many people have attempted to do so, resulting in charges of tax evasion (I.E: Al Capone, Wesley Snipes etc.). To avoid this anarchic method citizens can simply vote, contact: local officials, Attorney Generals, State Senators and perhaps the Governor. Every aspect in each individual’s mind counts and helps reshape society as we know it!
REFERENCES
Maine Department of Education. “Boothbay-Boothbay Hbr CSD”. Maine Department of Education WWW School Profiles. 1 Oct. 2009.
Retrieved on 2/26/10 from: http://portalx.bisoex.state.me.us/pls/doe/eddev.msau_profile.financial_data?v_msau_code=903

Chicago History. “Al Capone.” History Files. 1999: p. 1-2.
Retrieved on 2/26/10 from: http://www.chicagohs.org/history/capone/cpn3a.html

Phillips, Rich. "Snipes gets the max -- 3 years -- in tax case." CNN.com 24 Apr. 2008: p.1-3.
Retrieved on 2/26/10 from: http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/04/24/snipes.sentencing/

A New Food Program

University of Maine, Orono- Educators of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, John Jemison and Kate Yerxa are creating a new Food System Extension program. “Think Globally, Eat Locally” will begin on March 1 at 5:30 in the Coe Room at the University of Maine Memorial Union. This outreach program will be covering environmental issues and potential threats surfacing around the processes of food development within the state and nation. People who decide to participate in “Think Globally, Eat Locally” will be active in, hands-on learning, video exploration, and group discussions. Participants of this four week program are also asked to donate twenty-five hours of their time towards an active food system. Examples of these food systems include community gardens, farmers’ markets, soup kitchens and food pantries. At the end of this program participants will attain knowledge of: green technology, the pros/cons of genetically engineered food, how to produce clean food (self-sufficiency); and how an inert object (food) can influence the mind and body. The creators of this program hope to start a formation of new farmers and concepts that will revolutionize the food industry. People who are interested in “Think Globally, Eat Locally” are asked to contact John Jemison at (207)-581-3241.
http://www.umaine.edu/news/blog/2010/02/18/university-of-maine-cooperative-extension-launches-%E2%80%9Cthink-globally-eat-locally%E2%80%9D-initiative/

Not Your Stereotypical Student

Her fingers tap nervously as she responds to the interview questions. Fellow University of Maine student, Cassandra Riegler Fread claims she “doesn’t understand the importance of this interview, or the significance.” Fread continues to say, “what have I done to be the focus of this profile story?” These remarks illustrate her strong independent persona that she claims to have possessed “forever.”
Cassandra is the oldest among her six siblings at age twenty-two. Her parents work as contractors off of Accomac Island, Virginia. She was eleven when her second to youngest sibling, Robert was born. While describing her brother she refers to him as her “baby boy.” Justifiably, Cassandra spent the first two years of her brother’s life providing basic necessities for him to live nourished; while her mother and father were building houses along the Eastern shore of Virginia. At fourteen years old, Cassandra started to work at a restaurant on the side of attending high school.
“At a very young age, I learned that if I wanted something… I had to work and pay for it,” Fread says proudly. This attitude she possesses mirrors those of past generations who experienced the “great depression.”
“Mama’ and Daddy worked really hard to assist me financially.” She pauses. “However, in a family of seven children it is very hard for a parent to focus on a sole child.” Cassandra says this with a gracious smile.
Currently, Fread is a senior at University of Maine majoring in Elementary Education with a concentration in Spanish. She is paying for school out of pocket with the help of “a few scholarships, grants and loans.” Cassandra is also paying her health and auto insurance, among rent and general necessities. This humble woman helps create a positive stereotype for non-college attendees to possess.
SPECIAL THANKS TO CASSANDRA RIEGLER FREAD
& GOOD LUCK!

Newscast Comparison

“After 40 years, what I came to care about most was not style, but the breath of life.” – William Maxwell
Reporting the news in the form of a televised live broadcast requires a more complex structure than that of a viewer’s naked eye. Coinciding, the reporter presenting the news stories takes the material they are exposing and puts the information in a form beyond context that entices the audience to be attentive while viewing the news. The characteristics of the reported information can be compared to those of a lead before an article. To show an example of this contrast the following is a dissection from Bangor’s WABI TV 5 “One Minute News.”
“Thanks for logging on to WABI.TV, I’m Meghan Hayward. Police have identified the vehicle involved in the hit and run accident in Orono that killed a twenty year old woman. They are now asking for the public’s help in finding that vehicle and the driver. Jordan Bakley was found dead on Middle Street in Orono, early Saturday morning. Bakley was from Camden and was a student at the University of Maine at Orono. Police say she was likely struck by a full-size pickup or SUV. They believe it was either a Chevrolet Silverado or an Avalanche, model years 2003 to 2007. It would have front-end damage, and anyone with information is asked to call Orono police at 866-4451….”
This excerpt shows a difference between written news and spoken news. If this dialogue was an article in a newspaper, readers might scream “SLOW DOWN,” or “WHAT? IS THIS A BLOG?” News anchors have a time limit in for each segment and it can be concluded that the choice of wording is different because of this limitation. However, these 119 words can be condensed as follows:
“Thanks for logging on to WABI.TV, I’m Meghan Hayward. The vehicle that was involved in the hit and run accident on Middle Street in Orono, which killed twenty year old, University of Maine student Jordan Bakley of Camden has been identified. Police would like the public’s help in finding the full-size pickup or SUV. They claim it would either be a Chevrolet Silverado or Avalanche, model years 2003-2007 with front-end damage. People containing information of this fatality are urged to call Orono police at 866-4451.”
This newly renovated form of the material is only eighty-five words and covers the exact same points. It appears similarly to a lead by producing the components, who, what, where, why, and how. The element of time also known as “when” was left out from the original broadcast. The use of language is very different from written journalism but is similar in how there isn’t an overly described scene of imagery with the excessive use of action verbs.
REFERENCES
Hayward, M. (2010, February 5). One Minute News.
Retrieved February 5, 2010, from WABI TV5 website:
http://www.wabi.tv/
Mencher, M. (2008). Writing the Story. News Reporting and Writing. 11. 149.

Media Exploration: Consolidation & Convergence

Not too many years ago, multimedia was viewed and considered to be in the form of newspaper, radio broadcast and television. Commonly today, information that once was gathered from different mediums can be witnessed from one device as small as a person’s palm. Technological advancements enable the consolidation of information to form convergence. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, convergence is “the merging of distinct technologies, industries, or devices into a unified whole” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010). Convergence appears to be the “best,” diverse form of information gathering, but this could be a possible reason why printed news is on the verge of extinction. The question that surfaces from this conclusion is: Do human beings control technology; or does technology control human beings?

The aspect of printed newspapers not existing will not interfere with the process of gathering information. A person who is smart with their money may question the thought of buying a newspaper for seventy-five cents. All the while, this person could get the same information off of a website, where the only fee to worry about is the internet’s monthly payments. This payment could be considered very small because of the access to an infinite supply of multimedia.

For the news sources that are experiencing the downfalls of cutting-edge technology, they will only continue to deteriorate. This result is exemplary towards the many views of technology controlling people. Another conflicting aspect that also arises is the decision of which news broadcasting site to focus on. Depending on whether it is state, national, or international information, for each news system they all inevitably have the same information. The consolidation of the news appears to entice the viewing audience as the product of convergence is slowly killing its creator, the media. In the near future, the argument of technology controlling people may appear in conversation at the dinner table and it may become as controversial as political discussion.

Analysis of Journalism

Before a journalist creates a story, they have to keep several components in mind such as, accuracy, language, observation, attribution, verification, completeness and fairness. If these elements are not included in an article, then there are evident dark holes for readers to judge the writer’s work and future work. When breaking news occurs, writers sort through the information as quick as they can to construct a summary of the occurrence. Online news writers often write what they first hear and later correct an error; this error can be made from an inaccurate statistic, an ongoing casualty count, attempting to describe the protagonist and or antagonist, etc.. The use of very complicated language can overwhelm the reading audience and distract from the main point of purpose. Observation is a key in reporting the news, but often articles are written with information gathered from an observer of an observer who witnessed the news transpire. Legal actions can be taken if the journalist does not attribute where they’ve received their facts from. Even if the journalist has attributed their information, they may still be summoned to court if the information appears to be false, in the form of a libel. To avoid writing a libel, a writer should verify the information through different sources. The news reported must be in a complete form, some stories may have a sequel but primarily “answer the questions their readers, viewers, and listeners will ask” (Mencher, 2008, p. 48). Fairness attracts all readers as bias may act as a repellant. CNN World’s article “Aid makes it to Haiti, but not onto streets,” is my test guinea pig for this brief analysis http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/22/haiti.earthquake/index.html?hpt=T2
Accuracy is noted in this article from the vast observers that CNN possesses in Haiti at this time. The statements that are presented are attributed to whom ever they receive the facts from. An example of attribution within this article is in the following statement: “Large quantities of medications, baby formula and other relief supplies are sitting on the tarmac and in warehouses at the Port-au-Prince airport, but no one is moving it out, according to CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta (Brice, Arthur. Candiotti, Susan. Dougherty, Jill. Marrapodi, Eric. Desjardins, Lisa. Labott, Elise. 01/22/2010).
This article verifies the information it claims by interviewing ten different people, from Haiti’s Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive to Air Force Colonel Ben McMullen. A person may find CNN to be extravagant but this exemplary news corporation is the largest in the world; there is no room for error. This story is continuing, the completeness does not appear because it is still developing. The writers of this article show compassion and concern for the victims of this horrific, natural disaster; they achieve fairness by being humanitarians. Without these components, accuracy, language, observation, attribution, verification, completeness and fairness, a story can be portrayed poorly.

REFERENCES
Brice, Arthur. Candiotti, Susan. Dougherty, Jill. Desjardins, Lisa. Labott, Elise. Marrapodi, Eric. (2010 January 22). Aid makes it to Haiti, but not onto streets. CNN World. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/22/haiti.earthquake/index.html?hpt=T2
Mencher, M. (2008). Components of the Story. News Reporting and Writing. 11. 37-49.