Modern Communication Capabilities

Mary-jane Garasi
14 December 2011
FD4

Modern Communication Capabilities

Among the most cherished values, the First Amendment protects freedom of speech. The U.S. Supreme court struggled to determine what exactly constitutes protected speech. The First Amendment states, that “Congress shall make no law…abridging freedom of speech.” Criticism of the government that are distasteful or against public policy, such as hate speeches are almost always permitted. Censorship is not always evil, but is a tool like anything else; it can be used to accomplish good or evil. Modern communication capabilities can affect free speech in a lot of ways, both enhancing and diminishing, depending on how it is used.Our communities are communicating free speech in a lot of different ways. Modern technology like our daily newspaper, conversation with peers, emails, television, and even the radio expresses our communication for freedom of speech. [THESIS]It is our human right to be able to express ourselves freely with expression.[THESIS] No matter how you look at it, freedom of speech will be affected in every country.

Modern communication is everywhere. For Ward Churchill his communication of his free speech all started with an essay. Ward Churchill, a former ethnic studies professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, wrote an essay in September 2001 titled Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens about the September 11, 2001 attacks. He argues that American foreign policies provoked the attacks. He describes what he called the “Technocratic corps at the very heart of America’s global financial empire” in the World Trade Center as “little Eichmanns.” This phrase was an allusion to Hannah Arendt’s depiction of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann who was an ordinary person promoting the activity of an evil system. Churchill stated that there was simply no argument to be made that the Pentagon personnel killed innocent victims on the September 11th attack. He compared the American people to the “good Germans” of Nazi Germany, claiming that the vast majority of Americans had ignored the civilian suffering by the sanctions on Iraq during the 1990s, which Churchill claimed had killed millions of Iraqi civilians, including over 500,000 children. Churchill characterized these sanctions as a policy of genocide.

According to the article published by the Rocky Mountain News, some agreed that whether they argued on the content or not, Churchill has the right to say his opinion. Rocky Mountain News launched an online poll asking readers whether Univeristy of Colorado professor Ward Churchill should resign over his essay about the Sept 11 terrorist attacks. Majority of the respondents in this unscientific poll- 72 percent- want the professor of ethnic studies to resign, while 28 percent insist that church not leave his post. One response was “Isn’t that the type of democracy that we are trying to promote in Iraq? Isn’t that why we ousted Saddam?” (1) While another said, “Churchill is entitled to his opinion (freedom of speech) and to publish it (freedom of the press).” Modern communication such as newspapers have a 100% capability to write whatever the writers feel. Although Churchill testified that he didn’t mean his comments to be hurtful to the September 11 victims, he was simply arguing that if you make it a practice of killing other people’s babies for personal gain…eventually they’re going to give you a taste of the same thing. When you are thinking about it, Churchill wasn’t trying to gain anything from his speeches about September 11. He didn’t ask for money, but was simply fraciticing his First Amendment rights.

As Simon Lee expressed his defense for Churchill, he commented “Everyone have different thoughts and values...nobody can force others to have same one, neither blame others because they have different thought or values. This is the base of the freedom and the base of America. Even if someone like Ward Churchill writes something that is hurtful, it is his right as an American citizen. It is a staple that helps keep this country the land of the free.” (Lee) In this essence it is hard to please everyone in trying to understand your values. When you come across feeling so strongly about a certain point, no other opinion can deter your process in analyzing that your statement stands firm. This reminds me of my Business Law class last semester. It was a full blown speech class of politics and democracy. We would get points when we would talk about events that have happened in our lives like court cases, drug habits, kids, etc. One day a student went up and explained that she will not be attending the last week of the semester because she is getting an abortion. She was so many weeks and have come to terms that she is aborting the baby. I was in complete shock being that I am a mother. I just looked at her and couldn't help, but shake my head. During her speech the class started to engage in a discussion to whether it was a good idea or not. For or against abortion became the topic in class for the rest of the hour. In some cultures it would be considered outlawed and impossible to even discuss the topic of having abortion as a choice. After our class ended I had the utmost respect for her. Given the courage she had to come out and be open to let us know what she is going through. I have learned that when we gather the courage to be different, there will be a great exchange of differences being discussed. It would be up to the person gathering the knowledge the ability to either interpret what was being said offensive, informative, or with no such feelings at all.

Our whole democracy is based on opinion and forever finding the explanation. I don’t think a solution could ever be found without discussion or even experimenting or trying. “Without that freedom some things may never get reported, just because they are uncomfortable” (Suguitan). There is always a first to everything. Someone being the first to discover the moon, trials and tribulations of finding the latest drugs to cure some type of disease or cancer. These all starts with discussion.The capabilities of today's society are filled with freedom of speech in every direction possible. Television news and the local radio station are always announcing on who said what. Some maybe too uncomfortable in expressing their findings only to fear what the outcome will be, but not Churchill or even his followers. I agree with Jessica’s expression in saying that it may never get reported. Without discussion of new ideas, we probably won’t have a history to remember. Nothing revolutionary that can actually push our country towards new creations that will better our society.

Ward Churchill’s essay did seem rather hurtful, but what happens to the thousands of other people who believed the same thing, but did not come forward in actually taking about it like he did? This huge ordeal that caused Chuchill to lose his job didn’t amount to anything that he could have possible gained except to be heard. The article posted by Steven K. Paulson stated that “Hoffman told lawmakers that tampering with tenure would be a mistake that could drive away other faculty members and make it difficult to hire new ones.” (Paulson) Some believed this was like recreating the Nazi holocaust. Ward Churchill did make malicious comments to the public towards the victims that were in the devastating September 11, 2001 tragedy. Churchill’s actual analyzing and historical research did point out deceitful flaws that our county is filled with imperfection, but did not deny the fact that he is an American. Just disgusted with the Administration of what our county has done. I do commend that he did have an abundance of courage to bring up these points to our administration which he probably knowingly knew what was in line, but still did it to be heard by his fellow Americans. Like my interesting topic of abortion in Business Law class, I commend her courage telling the students that she believed abortion was the only way she can succeed in life because she was just simply not ready. Truth is what makes people like me listen. Readers of Churchill’s essay can be taken as not having censorship only as long as the middlemen are being truthful about what sort of information manipulation they are performing. You could equally well say that it is impossible to characterize how a message is being manipulated because a message is such a complicated thing once you take context into account.

It is our human right to be able to express ourselves freely with expression. In order to be able to understand and relay the opinions that we feel strongly about it has to be said. Ideas are meant to create history otherwise we would be living a dull boring life without new innovative ideas to better our society and broaden our education on certain materials. It is our right to be able to be able to get feedback on our opinions’ even though it may seem malicious, just as long as the message is crossed over to someone else. Another person’s knowledge should always be treated with respect as if it was your own. Free speech is the right to express any expression in public, and the corresponding right to experience anybody's expressions in public, without being pressured, denied access, arrested, or otherwise punished by anyone, subject to somewhat fuzzy, but fairly well-understood exceptions. Modern communication capabilities are everywhere and we use these capabilities every day. It can affect free speech in a lot of ways, both enhancing and diminishing, depending on how it is used. Some may think it is okay depending where you are and who is your audience. No matter how you look at it, freedom of speech will be affected in every country.

Works Cited:

Steers, Stuart. "Churchill, the Man, an Enigma." RockyMountainNews.com 2 Feb. 2005. 19 Feb. 2005 .] (1)

JURY: Ward Churchill was wrongly fired from University of Colorado. OnePeoplesProject.com 27 April. 2009.
http://www.onepeoplesproject.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6:jury-ward-churchill-was-wrongly-fired-from-university-of-colorado&catid=39:stupid-right-wingers&Itemid=24.

Lee, Simon. “Defend Churchill” Online posting 23 Nov. 2011. Laulima Discussion. 27 Nov. 2011 [https://laulima.hawaii.edu/portal/site/KAP.XLSENG215js.201210/page/70638c63-3d48-4275-828a-7e37acace01e].

Suguitan, Jessica. “Defend Churchill” Online posting 24 Nov. 2011. Laulima Discussion. 27 Nov. 2011 [https://laulima.hawaii.edu/portal/tool/e24f70fd-6ce1-4c3b-8cb9-78e4e4cff63d/posts/list/424902.page].

Paulson, Steven K. “University leader urges calm in professor decision.” Associated Press. Starbulletin.com 23 Feb. 2005. 23 Feb. 2005 .]

Free and Easy

Mary-jane Garasi
13 December 2011
FD5

Hate crimes are known as bias-motivated crimes which occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group often defined as racial, religion, sexual, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, or even social status. People such as you and I cannot be changed. At times, hate crimes can be vicious and brutal since the crimes come from intense anger or rage. Our characteristics are what make everyone different and many may be motivated to hate a certain class. The magnitude of hate crimes are increasing every year in America. Hate crimes do tremendous damage and cause injury not only to the victim, but to the entire family and communities leaving them angry, intimidated, and fearful. [THESIS]To minimize hate crimes involving ethnicity, education and communication would be the key. With freedom of speech and education, our communities and elders have the duty to educate the next generation with their knowledge. [THESIS]

Hate crime statistics reported that 6,628 hate crime incidents were reported in 2010. In 2002 almost 49 percent of hate crimes were based on race and antoher 15 percent were based on ethnicity or national origin. In the New York Times post regarding the Cornell Student that was accused of Hate Crimes in stabbing, explained that alcohol was consumed at the time of racist slurs were being exchanged during this confrontation. (Foderaro, Lisa)It seems like hate crimes come out from even the nicest people sometimes. In this case, a little alcohol gave them some liquid courage to speak their mind. The offender may often times suffer from severe mental illness or sometimes do it to gather a sense of “thrill.”

Going to school in Hawaii is pretty diverse. We have a lot of Hawaiians and mostly Filipinos in Hawaii. I am one of them. Although I have Chinese, I was born and raised with the Ilocano dialect at home. I was born here on Kauai, but eventually learned English in elementary school. Today, you would have never known that English was my second language because with so much practice in school and among my peers I can easily turn my choice in language on or off. I always found it difficult when parent teacher conferences would come around the corner. With everyone’s parents coming to see what each student has done throughout the course of the year, my experience was a bit difficult. Instead of my teacher’s conversation with my parents, I would always have to be the middle man in translating. At 6 years old and having to do this in front of all my classmates led to kids teasing me and giving me a hard time. Even until today, I have seen many people con other people of different ethnicity just because they have a hard time understanding. If only the other students were educated about the differences in ethnicity and language at an earlier stage it would have been easier. This experience would have been avoided if other students would learn to accept the differences in ethnicity. I couldn’t help the fact that my parents could not speak fluent English. Although this experience was hurtful, it gained me the knowledge of being bilingual today.

Hate crimes are usually selected because of who they are, not something they have done. Attacks are generally based on personal characteristics of which victims have no control, such as skin color or gender. “When people are victimized as individuals or as a group, it creates a diminished sense of self, a view that the world is a more dangerous place.” (Ervin Staub, PhD). From this example, people classify each other belonging to a certain group which is the pure origin of the conflict. It is possible that deeper education about different social ethnic groups may prevent hate crimes against them. The more you are educated about the different classes of people decreases the crime of rage. People wouldn’t classify as being better in one ethic group than the other. When you know more about the different types of ethnicity, the less you will be angry of not knowing.

There may be a lot of objections with educating as the key to banishing hate crime. Not everyone will be able to afford to be schooled with the knowledge, have role models to teach them what they know, or most people wouldn’t even have the time in trying to understand the differences. This wouldn’t stop the huge advantage of underlying that this is possibly the best solution. Although there are many state laws that punish the crime offender, it could be stopped before it even happens. Education does not necessarily have to be done in school with instructors giving you long lectures about hate crimes and the different types. Knowledge is not limited to just school alone. It is able to spread like Ward Churchill’s speeches. Knowledge is free throughout communities, peers, experience, friends, or even reading resources. We always have to keep an open mind and accept the things we cannot change. Hate crimes can immediately be prevented from even becoming an issue if we just take the time to educate one another with something free and easy.


Works Cited

Foderaro, Lisa W. “Cornell Student Is Accused of Hate Crimes in Stabbing.” New York Times online. 5 May 2006. 5 May 2006 [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/05/nyregion/05cornell.html]

Race and Ethnicity-Hate Crimes. [http://law.jrank.org/pages/12135/Race-Ethnicity-Hate-Crimes.html]

DeAngelis, Tori. “Understanding and Preventing Hate Crimes.” Monitor on Psychology 32.10 10 Nov. 2001. 9 Dec. 2004 .

Modern Communication Capabilities

Mary-jane Garasi
28 November 2011
RD4

Modern Communication Capabilities

Among the most cherished values, the First Amendment protects freedom of speech. The U.S. Supreme court struggled to determine what exactly constitutes protected speech. The First Amendment states, that “Congress shall make no law…abridging freedom of speech.” Criticism of the government that are distasteful or against public policy, such as hate speeches are almost always permitted. Censorship is not always evil, but is a tool like anything else; it can be used to accomplish good or evil. [THESIS] Modern communication capabilities can affect free speech in a lot of ways, both enhancing and diminishing, depending on how it is used. No matter how you look at it, freedom of speech will be affected in every country.[THESIS]

Ward Churchill, a former ethnic studies professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, wrote an essay in September 2001 titled Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens about the September 11, 2001 attacks. He argues that American foreign policies provoked the attacks. He describes what he called the “Technocratic corps at the very heart of America’s global financial empire” in the World Trade Center as “little Eichmanns.” This phrase was an allusion to Hannah Arendt’s depiction of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann who was an ordinary person promoting the activity of an evil system. Churchill stated that there was simply no argument to be made that the Pentagon personnel killed on September 11. He compared the American people to the “good Germans” of Nazi Germany, claiming that the vast majority of Americans had ignored the civilian suffering by the sanctions on Iraq during the 1990s, which Churchill claimed had killed millions of Iraqi civilians, including over 500,000 children. Chruchill characterized these sanctions as a policy of genocide.

According to the article published by the Rocky Mountain News, some agreed that whether they agreed on the content or not, Churchill has the right to say his opinion. Rocky Mountain News launched an online poll asking readers whether Univeristy of Colorado professor Ward Churchill should resign over his essay about the Sept 11 terrorist attacks. Majority of the respondents in this unscientific poll- 72 percent- want the professor of ethnic studies to resign, while 28 percent insist that church not leave his post. One response was “Isn’t that the type of democracy that we are trying to promote in Inaq? Isn’t that why we ousted Saddam?” (1) While another said, “Churchill is entitled to his opinion (freedom of speech) and to publish it (freedom of the press).” Although Churchill testified that he didn’t mean his comments to be hurtful to the September 11 victims, he was simply arguing that if you make it a practice of killing other people’s babies for personal gain…eventually they’re going to give you a taste of the same thing. When you are thinking about it, Churchill wasn’t trying to gain anything from his speeches about September 11. He didn’t ask for money, but was simply fraciticing his First Amendment rights.

As Simon stated in our Laulima discussion for defending Churchill, he stated, “Everyone basically have different thoughs and values and nobody can force others to have same one, neither blame others because they have different thought or values. This is the base of the freedom and the base of America. Even if someone like Ward Churchill writes something that is hurtful, it is his right as an American citizen. It is a staple that helps keep this country the land of the free.” (Lee) In this essence it is hard to please everyone in trying to understand your values. When you come across feeling so strongly about a certain point, no other opinion can deter your process in analyzing that your statement stands firm. This reminds me of my trip to Las Vegas. I just got home yesterday and the night before a group of 7 of us, all boys with me being the only girl decided to watch The Circque du Soleil show at the MGM. Coming from Hawai‘i we like to applause the cast by giving, “Chee-hoos!” With the reaction of the other thousands of people sitting around us did not understand. We were pretty much the loudest ones in there. It took the security guards five times until we understood that it was inappropriate. Of course we understood it wasn’t a luau show or even the Merry Monarch, but we thought everyone would be all hyped up that we were giving the cast a lot of whistle blowing and chee-hoos! After the fifth time of the security walking a flight of stairs to just come to tell us that we were being inappropriate we were forced to leave the premises. This goes to show that our thankfulness of being entertained with a good show was not appropriately gestured when given chee-hoos! Although our freedom of speech seemed okay to people who have been raised in Hawaii, others certainly expressed different values of knowing what was appropriate and what wasn’t. I have learned that when we gather the courage to be different, it may not seem gracious to other people.

Our whole democracy is based on opinion and forever finding the explanation. I don’t think a solution could ever be found without discussion or even experimenting or trying. “Without that freedom some things may never get reported, just because they are uncomfortable” (Suguitan). There is always a first to everything. Someone being the first to discover the moon, trials and tribulations of finding the latest drugs to cure some type of disease or cancer. These all starts with discussion. Some maybe too uncomfortable in expressing their findings only to fear what the outcome will be, but not Churchill or even his followers. I agree with Jessica’s expression in saying that it may never get reported. Without discussion of new ideas, we probably won’t have a history to remember. Nothing revolutionary that can actually push our country towards new creations that will better our society.

Ward Churchill’s essay did seem rather hurtful, but what happens to the thousands of other people who believed the same thing, but did not come forward in actually taking about it like he did? This huge ordeal that caused Chuchill to lose his job didn’t amount to anything that he could have possible gained except to be heard. The article posted by Steven K. Paulson stated that “Hoffman told lawmakers that tampering with tenure would be a mistake that could drive away other faculty members and make it difficult to hire new ones.” (Paulson) Some believed this was like recreating the Nazi holocaust. Ward Churchill did make malicious comments to the public towards the victims that were in the devastating September 11, 2001 tragedy. Churchill’s actual analyzing and historical research did point out deceitful flaws that our county is filled with imperfection, but did not deny the fact that he is an American. Just disgusted with the Administration of what our county has done. I do commend that he did have an abundance of courage to bring up these points to our administration which he probably knowingly knew what was in line, but still did it to be heard by his fellow Americans. Like my incident with screaming chee-hoos in an audience of over one thousand didn’t cross my mind that it was inappropriate, I give Ward Churchill a standing ovation of his courage to do what he has done. Many may have not favored his essay and ridiculed him for plagiarism, but I commend his courage in his message that the truthfulness is what makes people like me listen. Readers of Churchill’s essay can take this as not being censorship only as long as the middlemen are being truthful about what sort of information manipulation they are performing. You could equally well say that it is impossible to characterize how a message is being manipulated because a message is such a complicated thing once you take context into account.

It is our human right to be able to express ourselves freely with expression. In order to be able to understand and relay the opinions that we feel strongly about it has to be said. Ideas are meant to create history otherwise we would be living a dull boring life without new innovative ideas to better our society and broaden our education on certain materials. It is our right to be able to be able to get feedback on our opinions’ even though it may seem malicious, just as long as the message is crossed over to someone else. Another person’s knowledge should always be treated with respect as if it was your own. Free speech is the right to express any expression in public, and the corresponding right to experience anybody's expressions in public, without being pressured, denied access, arrested, or otherwise punished by anyone, subject to somewhat fuzzy, but fairly well-understood exceptions. Modern communication capabilities can affect free speech in a lot of ways, both enhancing and diminishing, depending on how it is used. Some may think it is okay depending where you are and who is your audience. No matter how you look at it, freedom of speech will be affected in every country.

Works Cited:

Steers, Stuart. "Churchill, the Man, an Enigma." RockyMountainNews.com 2 Feb. 2005. 19 Feb. 2005 .] (1)

JURY: Ward Churchill was wrongly fired from University of Colorado. OnePeoplesProject.com 27 April. 2009.
http://www.onepeoplesproject.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6:jury-ward-churchill-was-wrongly-fired-from-university-of-colorado&catid=39:stupid-right-wingers&Itemid=24.

Lee, Simon. “Defend Churchill” Online posting 23 Nov. 2011. Laulima Discussion. 27 Nov. 2011 [https://laulima.hawaii.edu/portal/site/KAP.XLSENG215js.201210/page/70638c63-3d48-4275-828a-7e37acace01e].

Suguitan, Jessica. “Defend Churchill” Online posting 24 Nov. 2011. Laulima Discussion. 27 Nov. 2011 [https://laulima.hawaii.edu/portal/tool/e24f70fd-6ce1-4c3b-8cb9-78e4e4cff63d/posts/list/424902.page].

Paulson, Steven K. “University leader urges calm in professor decision.” Associated Press. Starbulletin.com 23 Feb. 2005. 23 Feb. 2005 .]

FD3 Honesty and Integrity, Its our Only Hope

Mary-jane Garasi
14 Nov. 2011
FD3

Honesty and Integrity, Its our Only Hope

Aloha everyone, my name is Mary-jane Garasi and I welcome all of you to the Kapi’olani Community College graduating class of 2010. I am before you today to leave you with a few words before you embark on your life long journey of happiness and success. Today you are graduating and tomorrow you will become leaders in our society. There will be many challenges and decisions that you will face in your future. Before you see a glimpse of light at the end of your tunnel towards success, there is one vital thing to remember. Honesty. There are some cases, a lie is spoken to ensure the well-being of a person, but the overall result is that it creates a bad impression and makes it difficult for the liar to be trusted. I'm sure you have told many lies throughout the school years. Lies that were harmless, but so deceitful. Whether you're a judge, a caring wife, or a concerned parent, lying is one of the most common things done by individuals in society. Lying does not only take place within families, but between governments; businesses to customers; and others. [THESIS] The idea that a person's truthfulness can be detected, regardless of what they are actually saying, may be not much more than a throwback to ancient ideas of trial by ordeal.[THESIS] It is important that each and every one of us take a look in the mirror and make a commitment to honesty and integrity, it is our only hope.

I’m sure everyone has heard that honesty is the best policy. Although it sounds like the simplest thing in the world, being truly honest with others and even with yourself can be a real challenge. Being sensitive of other people’s feelings, and facing uncomfortable truths about yourself usually requires lots of patience, vigilance, and hard work. There are so many reasons that people lie. It could be as a joke, to escape punishment or to even land a great job. I catch myself lying to my friends in a way just to not hurt their feelings intentionally, just so that I wouldn’t hurt their feelings. For example, when my best friend came to me and asked my opinion on the new hair cut she just got, I told her it looked great, even though I thought it looked horrible. Believe it or not, I could have told her that it was horrible. It isn’t that my relationship with my best friend was too insecure that I can’t tell her the truth, but by not telling her is just so that I wouldn’t hurt her feelings after seeing how great she loved it. I believed that it wouldn’t matter if I liked it or not, just as long as she did. Sometimes innocent things like this wouldn’t be a real issue.

There will be challenges not only between friends and family, but within your work employment also. Many of you are undecided of what you want to be in the future, but we all have one thing we are striving for which is success. Sometimes poor self esteem can block your ability to move forward in your life and may prevent you from living your dreams’. I came across an article about honesty and integrity that Thomas Palubicki wrote about his dad being a successful businessman. He explained that his dad had four characteristics essential to his success which is honesty, vigilance, hardwork, and kindness. He lived by these principles and people recognized this and that is why he was so respected. This is not why he did it, but because he understood that the greatest value in life is when you can look in the mirror and say I respect myself and who I am. Thomas also explained that these four characteristics are not automatic to anyone, but have to be developed. With this commitment this world can be a much better place and would not have the problems of stealing, cheating, and killing that we see today. Remember that in a work environment, people tend to remember the bad before the good. Working in a bank for six years gave me the opportunity to analyze what Thomas was writing about. Our clients look at us as bank tellers to be trusted with their money and to be honest when selling a product to them. It would be deceitful to sell someone a product knowing that they don’t need it just to make your quota. This would be unethical and greedy. Gaining that trust that you are there to help them with whatever financial needs makes them not only stay with the bank, but to gain that much trust that they only love coming to you.

Reversing psychology is how I always look at it. Our classmate Robert Gornichec explained that it is hard to ever trust or rely on someone who has lied to you before, if you are not considered an honest person it will hinder your ability to form and build good relationships with others. I’m sure none of you would be able to trust or look at the other person the same way if they had lied to you. Imagine if this role was from upper administration like our governor or even president. Respect would be lost so fast that it would take a long time until you can trust that person again or even believe another statement that comes out of that person’s mouth.

As I leave today, I hope I have left you with some words that will stick with you for the rest of your life. It will always be a challenge to be honest, but honesty is vital to making effective changes and identifying who you really are and what you really want. Without the truth of who you are and what you really want, you cannot have clarity in life and you cannot achieve your dreams because you have no true direction. Stay honest with yourself, be honest with others and always come from a loving place. Once again, CONGRATULATIONS! And best of luck!


Works Cited
"A Brief History of Lying." BBC News. 6 Jan. 2002. 8 Apr. 2003 .

Palubicki, Thomas. Honesty and Integrity Are the Cornerstones to Business and Society. http://ezinearticles.com/?Honesty-and-Integrity-Are-the-Cornerstones-to-Business-and-Society&id=4686902

Gornichec, Robert. "Honesty in Employment/White Lie/Honesty." 28 Oct 2011. Online Posting to Lailima. Web. 31 Oct 2011.

Log of Completed Activities
_x_ Oct. 13- Intro to Paper #3. Read the Guidelines for Paper #3.
_x_ Oct. 17- Complete readings for paper #3 for paper #3.
_x_ Oct. 21- Laulima Discussion #1
_x_ Oct. 28- Laulima Discussion #2
_x_ Oct. 31- Submit RD3 [50 pts] Review the guidelines.
_x_ Nov. 4- Submit three RD3 evaluations [50 pts] Review the guidelines.
_x_ Nov. 8- Submit FD3 [125 pts] Review the guidelines.

Honesty and Integrity, It is Our Only Hope

Mary-jane Garasi
31 Oct. 2011
RD3

Aloha everyone, my name is Mary-jane Garasi and I welcome all of you to the Kapi’olani Community College graduating class of 2010. I am before you today to leave you with a few words before you embark on your life long journey of happiness and success. Today you are graduating and tomorrow will become leaders in our society. There will be many challenges and decisions that you will face even long before you see a glimpse of light at the end of your tunnel towards success, but one vital thing to remember is honesty. There are some cases, a lie is spoken to ensure the well-being of a person, but the overall result is that it creates a bad impression and makes it difficult for the liar to be trusted. Whether you're a judge, a caring wife, or a concerned parent, lying is one of the most common things done by individuals in society. Lying does not only take place within families, but between governments; businesses to customers; and others. [THESIS] The idea that a person's truthfulness can be detected, regardless of what they are actually saying, may be not much more than a throwback to ancient ideas of trial by ordeal. [THESIS] It is important that each and every one of us take a look in the mirror and make a commitment to honesty and integrity, it is our only hope.

I’m sure everyone has heard that honesty is the best policy. Although it sounds like the simplest thing in the world, being truly honest with others and even with yourself can be a real challenge. Being sensitive of other people’s feelings, and facing uncomfortable truths about yourself usually requires lots of patience, vigilance, and hard work. There are so many reasons that people lie. It could be as a joke, to escape punishment or to even land a great job. I catch myself lying to my friends in a way just to not hurt their feelings intentionally, just so that I wouldn’t hurt their feelings. If my best friend comes up to me and asks my opinion on the new hair cut she just got, I would tell her it looks great, even though I think it looks tremendously horrible. Believe it or not, I could have told her that it was horrible and it isn’t that my relationship with my best friend was too insecure that I can’t tell her the truth. By not telling her is just so that I wouldn’t hurt her feelings after seeing how great she loved it. I believed that it wouldn’t matter if I liked it or not, but if she did. Sometimes innocent things like this wouldn’t be a real issue.

There will be challenges not only between friends and family, but within your work employment also. Many of you are undecided of what you want to be in the future, but we all have one thing we are striving for which is success. Sometimes poor self esteem can block your ability to move forward in your life and may prevent you from living your dreams’. I came across an article about honesty and integrity that Thomas Palubicki wrote about his dad being a successful businessman. He explained that his dad had four characteristics essential to his success which is honesty, vigilance, hardwork, and kindness. He lived by these principles and people recognized this and that is why he was so respected. This is not why he did it, but because he understood that the greatest value in life is when you can look in the mirror and say I respect myself and who I am. Thomas also explained that these four characteristics are not automatic to anyone, but have to be developed. With this commitment this world can be a much better place and would not have the problems of stealing, cheating, and killing that we see today. Remember that in a work environment, people tend to remember the bad before the good. Working in a bank for six years gave me the opportunity to analyze what Thomas was writing about. Our clients look at us as bank tellers to be trusted with their money and to be honest when selling a product to them. It would be deceitful to sell someone a product knowing that they don’t need it just to make your quota. This would be unethical and greedy. Gaining that trust that you are there to help them with whatever financial needs makes them not only stay with the bank, but to gain that much trust that they only love coming to you.

Reversing psychology is how I always look at it. Our classmate Robert Gornichec explained that it is hard to ever trust or rely on someone who has lied to you before, if you are not considered an honest person it will hinder your ability to form and build good relationships with others. I’m sure none of you would be able to trust or look at the other person the same way if they had lied to you. Imagine if this role was from upper administration like our governor or even president. Respect would be lost so fast that you may develop a long time until you can trust that person again or even believe another statement that comes out of that person’s mouth.

As I leave today, I hope I have left you with some words that will stick with you for the rest of your life. It will always be a challenge to be honest, but honesty is vital to making effective changes and identifying who you really are and what you really want. Without the truth of who you are and what you really want, you cannot have clarity in life and you cannot achieve your dreams because you have no true direction. Stay honest with yourself, be honest with others and always come from a loving place. Once again, CONGRATULATIONS! And best of luck!


Works Cited
"A Brief History of Lying." BBC News. 6 Jan. 2002. 8 Apr. 2003 .

Palubicki, Thomas. Honesty and Integrity Are the Cornerstones to Business and Society. http://ezinearticles.com/?Honesty-and-Integrity-Are-the-Cornerstones-to-Business-and-Society&id=4686902

Gornichec, Robert. "Honesty in Employment/White Lie/Honesty." 28 Oct 2011. Online Posting to Lailima. Web. 31 Oct 2011.

FD 2 Cognitive Filters

Mary-jane Garasi
FD2
October 12, 2011

Advertisements stick to you like glue. There are thousands of advertisements that we see every day. Once you see an ad, especially if it is a good one, you will remember it. Advertisements are simple, easy to remember, and pays a vital role in complete communication to the world. Without them, we wouldn't know about certain new products companies have out, the best places to eat, or even the best schools to send our kids to. Advertisements are trial and error; the ones that actually target the consumer are the ones that have an impact on the consumer's interest. [THESIS] Impacts are simply based on their consumer. Children lack cognitive filters and adults respond to commercials by automatically putting on cognitive filters.[THESIS]

Although there may be millions of ads every day, who really pays much attention to them? During the commercial breaks, the average American is running to kitchen for a soda or zapping around the other channels to see what else is on. There is distraction of hitting up your phone or computer just to see that status on everyone's facebook. In other words, we as consumers are watching TV. We are just not 100% focused on the additions that come up while watching our favorite show. This is where many marketers invest their millions of dollars in. Commercials. Not just any commercials. These are sales ads, compassion ads, statements ads, you name it. These marketers put out the most eye catching commercials in just thirty seconds. These thirty seconds can change a viewer’s point of view on whatever object they are marketing.

The average American child views up to 40,000 commercials a year. A growing body of research suggests links between children’s advertising and obesity, parent-child conflicts, violence and aggression, later tobacco and alcohol use, and a brittle self-esteem based on possessions. Mala Arkin also emphasized, "According to TV Free America the average child watches 20,000 30-second TV commercials a year. That number is staggering and has a direct effect on our children’s notion of what is necessary for life. Consumerism for the sake of consuming is promoted with no regard to impact this is having on our society. Many children in this country are blessed to have good lives with their basic necessities meet like food, shelter, clothes, and yet they are not happy because advertisers have told them they need more." A child's inability to grasp the definition of need fills their desire to want more.

For example I was watching a commercial on the Iphone. It starts off by showing the iphone's body all around and ends by saying it is built so you can rule the air. Verizon's sales blew up so fast that majority of the people who have bought the Iphones are from parents buying them for their children. Children seem to be more up to date with the new era of computers that most of marketers like Verizon are circled around the younger consumers. The average senior citizen would prefer something easier and a lot less complex to use like a regular Motorola cell phone without any use of data.

Children are too young to grasp the reality of what advertising and commercials are there for. They cannot grasp the notion to believe that the purpose of TV commercials have a purpose other than entertainment, and they completely believe what they see and hear. With all the credit card frauds happening in the world, most of them are done by children simply calling the 1-800 number just to be able to have free money, not knowing what the product actually is. As Carmen Lee said, "For example, young children who like to mimic what adults do, do not know who or what to believe in, if they see sometime on an ad, they would most likely think it is a right thing to follow." Completely true, when you were 8 years old, do you remember watching the commercials that advertised some of the best clothing brands? The cute little bell bottoms that said "juicy" in the back or the high rise shoes that gave you lift that you really had to buy it cause everyone in school was talking about it?

Adults on the other hand, respond to commercial advertising by automatically putting on cognitive filters. They are old enough to understand that these advertisements serve a purpose to inform, persuade, and inform the consumer with biased information. These advertising agencies pay millions of dollars and conduct thousands of research to deliver their interpretive strategies in as little as 30 seconds. Older adults produce more relevant thoughts about the advertisements than younger adults. When you are older, you tend to remember more and are able to distinguish the products on TV that is being marketed. Adults are capable of turning their "off" button on their brain to certain selling ads that are persuasive and biast.

I am 28 years old, when I watch a commercial on TV that is trying to sell me car insurance like the famous green gecko who is the branded trademark for Geico not only makes me believe that Geico may seem like a good option to look into. This "Piggy Commercial" had a pig yelling, "wheeee!" in the back seat of a toddlers car seat screaming out the window. There was no relevance to the commercial of having Geico as an insurance when the time of an accident occurs. All it showed was the driver (a lady) looking very irritated at this pig rushing to get this pig to its destination. A saving consumer like me would check not only Geico's rates, but I cross reference other insurance companies to make sure I have the lowest possible rate for the best deal. I believe adults tend to turn their cognitive filers on and are able to make choices. We can wheel and deal with the marketer on TV just to find the best suitable offer we can find.

When adults are watching TV, they aren't 100% focused on it. If they were they would be glued to their TV, attentively absorbing every word. Analyzing and deconstructing every image. Adults have a sense of control where they are able to distinguish marketing or just an informative ad.

Negative or positive impacts are primarily based on the consumer. It is highly distinguishable that negative impacts tend to be followed by children who have no sense of cognitive filtering. Their sense of filtering happens over time when they are able to understand the notion of these biased advertisements. Adults have this wonderful ability to be able to filter these notions in greater understanding that they do not have to be suckered in into these advertising agencies that continue to prove that their item is, "the next best thing."

Works Cited

Lee, Carmen. “Con Forum.” Online posting. 23 Sept. 2011. Laulima Discussion. [https://laulima.hawaii.edu].

Arkin, Mala. "Yes, Ads Have a Negative Impact!" Online posting. 20 Sept. 2011. Laulima Discussion. [https://laulima.hawaii.edu].

Verizon Iphone Commercial. 2011 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P88YDftKPhE]

Geico Piggy Commercial. 2010 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F_G2zp-opg]

Log of Completed Activities
_x__ Sep. 19- Intro to Paper #2. Read the Guidelines for Paper #2.
_x__ Sep. 23- Laulima Discussion: Ad Pros and Cons
_x__ Sep. 26- Complete readings for paper #2.
_x__ Sep. 30- Laulima Discussion: Logical Fallacies Exercise
_x__ Oct. 3- Submit RD2 [50 pts]. Review the guidelines.
_x__ Oct. 7- Submit three RD2 evaluations [50 pts]. Review the guidelines.
_x__ Oct. 12- Submit FD2 [125 pts]. Review the guidelines.

Cognitive Filters?

Mary-jane Garasi
October 3, 2011
RD2

Advertisements stick to you like glue. There are thousands of advertisements that we see every day. Once you see an ad, especially if it is a good one, you will remember it. Advertisements are simple, easy to remember, and pays a vital role in complete communication to the world. Without them, we wouldn't know about certain new products companies have out, the best places to eat, or even the best schools to send our kids to. Advertisements are trial and error, the ones that actually target the consumer are the ones that have an impact on the consumer's interest. [THESIS] Impacts are simply based on their consumer. Children lack cognitive filters and adults respond to commercials by automatically putting on cognitive filters.[THESIS]

Although there may be millions of ads every day, who really pays much attention to them? During the commercial breaks, the average American is running to kitchen for a soda or zapping around the other channels to see what else is on. There is distraction of hitting up your phone or computer just to see that status on everyone's facebook. In other words, we as consumers are watching tv. We are just not 100% focused on the additions that come up while watching our favorite show. This is where many marketers invest their millions of dollars in. Commercials.

The average American child views up to 40,000 commercials a year. A growing body of research suggests links between children’s advertising and obesity, parent-child conflicts, violence and aggression, later tobacco and alcohol use, and a brittle self-esteem based on possessions. Mala Arkin also emphasized, "According to TV Free America the average child watches 20,000 30-second TV commercials a year. That number is staggering and has a direct affect on our childrenʻs notion of what is necessary for life. Consumerism for the sake of consuming is promoted with no regard to impact this is having on our society. Many children in this country are blessed to have good lives with heir basic necessities meet like food, shelter, clothes, and yet they are not happy because advertisers have told them they need more." A child's inability to grasp the definition of need fills their desire to want more.

Children are too young to grasp the reality of what advertising and commercials are there for. They cannot grasp the notion to believe that the purpose of tv commercials have a purpose other than entertainment, and they completely believe what they see and hear. With all the credit card frauds happening in the world, most of them are done by children simply calling the 1-800 number just to be able to have free money, not knowing what the product actually is. As Carmen Lee said, "For example, young children who like to mimic what adults do, do not know who or what to believe in, if they see sometime on an ad, they would most likely think it is a right thing to follow." Completely true, when you were 8 years old, do you remember watching the commercials that advertised some of the best clothing brands? The cute little bell bottoms that said "juicy" in the back or the high rise shoes that gave you lift that you really had to buy it cause everyone in school was talking about it?

Adults on the other hand, respond to commercial advertising by automatically putting on cognitive filters. They are old enough to understand that these advertisements serve a purpose to inform, persuade, and inform the consumer with biased information. These advertising agencies pay millions of dollars and conduct thousands of research to deliver their interpretive strategies in as little as 30 seconds. Older adults produce more relevant thoughts about the advertisements than younger adults. When you are older, you tend to remember more and are able to distinguish the products on tv that is being marketed. Adults are capable of turning their "off" button on their brain to certain selling ads that are persuasive and biast.

When adults are watching tv, they aren't 100% focused on it. If they were they would be glued to their TV, attentively absorbing every word. Analyzing and deconstructing every image. Adults have a sense of control where they are able to distinguish marketing or just an informative ad.

Negative or positive impacts are primarily based on the consumer. It is highly distinguishable that negative impacts are tend to be followed by children who have no sense of cognitive filtering. Their sense of filtering happens over time when they are able to understand the notion of these biased advertisements. Adults have this wonderful ability to be able to filter these notions in greater understanding that they do not have to be suckered in into these advertising agencies that continue to prove that their item is, "the next best thing."

Works Cited

Lee, Carmen. “Con Forum.” Online posting. 23 Sept. 2011. Laulima Discussion. [https://laulima.hawaii.edu].

Arkin, Mala. "Yes, Ads Have a Negative Impact!" Online posting. 20 Sept. 2011. Laulima Discussion. [https://laulima.hawaii.edu].

FD 1 / Society Obsessed with Image

Mary-jane Garasi
September 16, 2011
FD #1

We live in a society obsessed with image. So powerful is the influence of image that other terms of self-definition are difficult to identify. Men and women confront challenges that relate to body image and self-perception daily but why? Where does this pressure come from? Why are people at war with their bodies? These are some of the questions that mind boggle our minds everyday like in the mind of Mary Pipher. Does this imply why the time essence from a adolescence child to a woman be so traumatic? I believe this is true only because I have seen the way women dress as their age progress. When a girl is young, society doesn’t seem to take them seriously. A young girl might not gather the self respect they should be deserving especially in a job interview in comparison to a middle aged woman. When this happens, women go through traumatic stages. [THESIS] Psychiatric Trauma typically stresses the physical adjustment from a young girl to a woman instead of being looked at as an object in society.[THESIS]

Trauma is defined as an emotional experience that is painful, distressful, and shocking, which often lasts in mental an physical effects. Mary Pipher says that changing social expectations can be overwhelming especially for girls and in additional to dealing with these physical and emotional changes, many adolescents must try to adapt to shifting social roles. In today's society, we know when a woman is drafted into the NFL becomes a “topic headline.” Also when a woman becomes a member of our legislature, or when a woman gets a job in a field that is only specialized by a man's skills. This then becomes a case of occupational segregation.

A female gender going through adolescence may find it harder to find a long term career job. Picture a young, teen dressed in black stilettos using a high fashioned business suit only known to be made by a famous designer's award winning collection walking through the doors of wall street trying to get a job as a stock broker. Even though she may be a girl who graduated her 3 years earlier than her class, her interviewer does not know the skill and capabilities of this young girl by just looking at her. In the interviewer’s mind, he or she thinks this young teenager is trying to score a part time summer job. She is not looking for a career, or a steady job. She looks so young, she may not be reliable. I believe this young teenager’s intentions wouldn't be second guessed if she was a middle aged woman entering the office in a thrifty bought business suit. She will no longer be looked at as an object in society.

Although studies have shown that adolescents' responses to trauma, compared with those of younger children and adults, have not been well studied, a few studies have shown that differential effects on adolescents consistent with the existence of particular vulnerabilities during this age. As Michael Sabetta stated, "The severe emotional stress that a woman might feel, in adjusting to her gender role, could result in a disordered psychic or behavioral state. However, I would venture to say that this type of an extreme reaction would probably not be the norm, or even fairly prevalent." Agreeing with what Michael said, this young girl trying to get a job as a stock broker goes through emotional stress just trying to fit the profile of a highly professional stock broker. If this young girl feels even a little uncomfortable during her interview process or if she does not get the job, this trial process of taking the chance to even go through the interview process would scar her life forever. Many questions could be running through her mind of why she was not “good enough” for the job.

Trauma exists in both gender roles through out our daily lives, particularly in women. I take it that women always over analyze any situation that is given to them. Personal appereance have alaways seem to be the number one judgment in today’s society. We all have become obsessed with the way we appear to others, especially in women gender roles. "Simone de Beauvoir believed adolescence is when girls realize that men have the power and that their only power comes from consenting to become submissive adored objects." (350) Who is to say that this young teenage girl cannot manage your finances with Wall Street?


Works Cited

Pipher, Mary. “Saplings in the Storm.” Dialogues: An Argument Rhetoric and Reader. 7th edition. Eds. Gary Goshgarian and Kathleen Krueger. New York: Pearson-Longman, 2011. 347-354

Becker, Daniel F, Daley, Melita, Green, Monica R, Hendren, Robert L, Et al. "TRAUMA AND ADOLESCENCE II: THE IMPACT OF TRAUMA." 2003

Sabetta, Michael. "Trauma." Laulima: KAP English 215 Discussions. 2011


Log of Completed Activities
X Aug. 22- First Day of Instruction. Read the welcome message, which includes instructions on how to navigate our class blog. Next, log in to our Laulima discussion forum and your hawaii.edu mailbox. Become familiar with these instructional media. Carefully review the information in our class blog, especially the schedule and syllabus (click on the tab at the top of the page). In the syllabus, pay special attention to the grading policy and the document “Am I Ready for an Online Class?” These will give you an understanding of online classes in general and this class in particular.
X Aug. 23- Laulima Discussion: Who Am I? Post your response by midnight. Possible topics: your academic and career goals; your favorite pastime; favorite book, movie, song; favorite physical activity or sport; favorite quote; personal philosophy on the purpose of life; your personal thoughts on why it’s important to become an excellent writer; favorite food or restaurant; favorite vacation destination; etc.
X Aug. 23- Intro to Paper #1. Read the “Guidelines for Paper #1” by midnight.
X Aug. 23-31- Set up your personal blog for all class papers. Click here for instructions. Alternately, see the “Blogger” links in the right sidebar in our class blog. To begin, complete the initial setup. You’ll be able to add finishing touches as the RD1 due date approaches. If you need help, post a request in the “Q&A About My Blog” forum in Laulima.
X Aug. 26- Laulima Discussion: What Is “Trauma”? One definition or many different definitions? Post your response by midnight.
X Aug. 29- Complete readings for Paper #1 by midnight.
XSep. 2- Laulima Discussion: Causes & Solutions: What causes gender role trauma? What’s the solution? Assume that there is more than one cause or solution. Post your response by midnight. [10 pts]
X Sep. 6- Submit RD1 (Review Draft #1) [50 pts] Review the guidelines.
X Sep. 12- Submit three RD1 evaluations in Laulima. [50 pts] Review the guidelines.
X Sep. 16- Submit FD1 (Final Draft #1) [100 pts] Review the guidelines.

Would You Let a Teenager Manage Your Funds?

Mary-jane Garasi
6 August 2011
RD 1

We live in a society obsessed with image. So powerful is the influence of image that other terms of self-definition are difficult to identify. Men and women confront challenges that relate to body image and self-perception daily but why? Where does this pressure come from? Why are people at war with their bodies? These are some of the questions that mind boggle our minds everyday like in the mind of Mary Pipher. Does this imply why the time essence from a adolescence child to a woman be so traumatic? [THESIS] Psychiatric Trauma typically stresses the physical adjustment from a young girl to a woman instead of being looked at as an object in society.[THESIS]

Trauma is defined as an emotional experience that is painful, distressful, shocking, which often lasts in mental an physical effects. Mary Pipher says that changing social expectations can be overwhelming especially for girls and in additional to dealing with these physical and emotional changes, many adolescents must try to adapt to shifting social roles. In today's society we know when a woman is drafted into the NFL it is a head turner, when a woman becomes a member of our legislature, it is a head turner, and we also know that when a woman gets a job in a field that is only specialized by a man's skills is known to be an occupational segregation.

A female gender going through adolescence may find it harder to find a serious career job. Picture a young, teen dressed in black stilettos using a high fashioned business suit only known to be made by a famous designer's award winning collection walking through the doors of wall street trying to get a job as a stock broker. Even though she may be a girl who graduated her 3 years earlier than her class, her interviewing employer would have never guessed. In their minds they are probably thinking this young teenager is trying to score a part time summer job. This person wouldn't be second guessed to what her intentions of a career job is if she was a middle aged woman entering the office in a thrifty bought business suit. She will no longer be looked at as an object in society.

Although studies have shown that adolescents' responses to trauma, compared with those of younger children and adults, have not been well studied, a few studies have shown that differential effects on adolescents consistent with the existence of particular vulnerabilities during this age. As Michael Sabetta stated, "The severe emotional stress that a woman might feel, in adjusting to her gender role, could result in a disordered psychic or behavioral state. However, I would venture to say that this type of an extreme reaction would probably not be the norm, or even fairly prevalent."

Trauma exists in both gender roles through out our daily lives, particularly in women. "Simone de Beauvoir believed adolescence is when girls realize that men have the power and that their only power comes from consenting to become submissive adored objects." (350) Who is to say that this young teenage girl cannot manage your finances with Wall Street? 


Works Cited

Pipher, Mary. “Saplings in the Storm.” Dialogues: An Argument Rhetoric and Reader. 7th edition. Eds. Gary Goshgarian and Kathleen Krueger. New York: Pearson-Longman, 2011. 347-354

Becker, Daniel F, Daley, Melita, Green, Monica R, Hendren, Robert L, Et al. "TRAUMA AND ADOLESCENCE II: THE IMPACT OF TRAUMA." 2003

Sabetta, Michael. "Trauma." Laulima: KAP English 215 Discussions. 2011