The semester is coming to an end. I have yet to have the chance to sit back and reflect on the outcome of my first semester here at the big white house. So far I like where I am heading. My focus is very clear and I know what I want to do.

The only thing is having the time to get situated while still going to school. It is very tough to sit down work on resume and cover letters for job opportunities.

For Comm 180 it was a great class by going into detail on all aspects of media. I thought the professor did a great job covering all angles and even brought in guest speakers. It was a very well structured class and I thought that their was numerous chances to boost a grade here and there. Especially with the online quizzes on some assigned readings.

I am looking forward to next semester and hopefully the next goes as smoothly as this one did.

I also though the T.A's did a decent job with what they were required to do.

Since attending this class I have really started to focus more on media techniques and approaches they use to draw our attention. I also pay more attention to how I get my music lately and hopefully I can stay away from illegal downloads. The Tiger Woods scandal has taught me that our generation is getting more and more personal and privacy is becoming non existing.

I enjoyed this class thoroughly and I posted as much as I had time for and it was kind of neat to blog about my time through this class.

I tried to cover in class stuff and then relate to outside personal stories.

thanks,
corey Righter
signing off

Movie I watched over the weekend

I watched the movie "District 9" this past weekend on campus in the HUB on Saturday night. The reason I bring this movie up was the multiple examples of media effects and ways the media influenced the public. The movie is about an alien ship landing on Earth. The aliens are taking in and put into a concentration camp kind of area called "district 9." The aliens have been kept there for 20 years and now people want them out. An organization comes in to oust the aliens and the leader becomes infected. Long story short the guy begins to morph into one of the aliens. He is half human and half "prawn" or alien. He gets taken into the labs and is held to do testing. He escapes and is now a wanted fugitive.

Now the media part comes into the picture. I found it funny, since being surrounded by media teachings for the past semester this situation that I will describe is amusing. As the man is running away the tv's are shown first saying there is a fugitive on the loose. Next it is shown that he had sex with one of the aliens and is considered dangerous. This was not true the government said this to get the public focused on that rather than the conspiracy of half human half alien.

then there is a gun fight and the news describes in first as a "huge firefight." 10 minutes later in the film the TV now says "Massive Firefight in District 9."

Immediately I noticed these media tactics and how the media really does pinpoint and try to maximize and grab the audiences attention.

Until next time, Corey

New post

Last class we discussed the first amendment regarding free speech. Since deciding to to pursue a communications degree I am most thankful for the right to free speech. Without it journalists would not exist and the media would not be where they are today. I think sometime there is some confusion of free speech. For me I think free speech pertains to certain situations. The first example that comes to mind is dealing with the government. In other countries free speech is a bit different.Those countries also believe it is against the law to make comics poking fun at government figures and ideas. They sent to jail simply for expressing their opinion and acting out and speaking out. I think if the United States was like that the government would rule our lives to the extreme. I would not be posting a blog right now to express my thoughts and express the way I feel about certain concepts and ideas.

Yes responsibility comes along with the first amendment. I think there is a line that is not to be crossed and if crossed punishment and consequences should be handed down. For example, threats and derogatory comments should not be persist. Calling someone a racist or curse word can be expression but if it is out of line or context then there will be a problem. Ask Don Imus, when he called the Rutgers womens basketball team "nappy headed ho's." Sure that is his right to say what he wants but is also the women on the other side that will be the next in line to speak their minds. If the overwhelming majority rules and it rightly and did lead to Imus resignation from his radio show.

I think as Spiderman says "With great power, comes great responsibility"

With the freedom to speak your mind you have to watch what you say in certain situations if not then prepare for the consequences.

Media and Music

Hello,

After watching select videos during class in Comm 180 at penn state I have a better understanding how media portrays music and video games today. Girls in the videos talk about sex, dress scandalous, and have questionable lyrics. The girls are singing about the stuff not the men in this case. Yes sex sells it always has. Why did everyone have a probably with Marilyn Monroe and Elvis because they were "sexy" during their time period. I think the blame can not be placed on any particular person or group.

The media as at fault for continuing to cover these women who "dress controversially" however the people want sexy and that is what music continues to be. It is entertainment and music is one of the greatest forms of entertainment to exist.

Men can be blamed to for having the women in their videos as dancers or other provocative ways. Rappers and hip hop artist commonly have these type of women in their music videos. This leads to women thriving for attention in the music industry. It is very tough for females to sell records now compared to men. Men are liked by both guys and girls while most women are not dominantly followed by either sex.

Until next time,

stay happy, happy valley

Halloween costumes and girls dressing provocatively

Halloween for people my age 18-23 is a time for everyone to wear something crazy and wild that they will never wear or usually don't regularly. After the lecture regarding women and hip hop music and suggestive dress and lyrics I thought Halloween could compare very similarly. In the lecture and educational video regarding current pop culture we saw images of celebs and female singers performing various suggestive acts while dancing. Artists such as Britney Spears and Madonna for years have talked about sex in their songs. Many women think the way to get ahead is to dress sexy and be sexy. For some it works but really for females outside the particular industry it becomes degrading.

If a ceo was to dress as sexy as some of these artists do she would be labeled as a "slut" perhaps. these singers are labeled as hot and attractive.

My point with halloween is the girls who want to be noticed will wear the sexy nurse costumes to get attention. While this is a special occasion it is yet another example of how sex sells when it comes to our culture. Being a young college guy I have no problem with this, nor do most kids my age. However for the well being I think women should really consider the whole picture of dressing sexy to get by rather than using experience and education to get a job.

there are many examples of how women will use their beauty to get accepted or rewarded. Examples included Getting out of paying a ticket, getting into a party, and of course free drinks at bars has been the main occurrence. Sure this is all part of our world, but I don't think females should complain when they say all guys want is sex. Or is that all girls want, but labels will be thrown out if they admit to that.

Just saying,

Corey

End of September

First month of class here at PSU is closing and was it ever busy.

In Comm 180 (Elec Media) we had a guest speaker last week on Thursday. The man is also a professor at PSU and deals with wireless technologies. He has a very in depth background with wireless technologies from working for Sprint the Cellular Company. There was a load of information to follow, but it was easy to see this professor has had plenty of experience when it comes to new products and how successful they will be. At one point he was telling a story of how he and coworker experienced the release of the Apple Ipod original. The classic version that now seems ancient in my mind gave the professor troubles. He and his coworker looked at eachother and said "We're screwed." I thought that comment was very intriguing in the sense that it was how many years ago and he knew that this new device would change the way we listen, watch, and download music.

Now years later we have touch screens, apps, 99 cent downloads, and so on. It is incredible the technology that has been created in the last decade that has allowed us to really wonder what it would now be like without all these technologies. We were given a chance to get a feel for what it would be like without all electronic devices. Yeah that was extremely unsuccessful for me and I assume the entire class of 300 students who check their facebooks more than their angel page ( I am one of them, oops)

All in all the lecture on Wireless tech. was interesting and a bit redundant after reading about the stuff in textbooks and being around in for the past 10 years also helps.

Signing out,

Corey Righter

Comm 180 Entry

Hello from Happy Valley,

This past month has been quite eventful. I have left my hometown due to transferring from branch campus. I have had to deal with moving in, getting used to the bus routes, working at a new place, and going to a school with over 40,000 students. Overall I think the transition has been overwhelming but gradual.

In my Comm 180 class we are discussing the effects of Media including radio, newspapers, tv, internet and so on. Since I happen to be a media studies major this type of information is very appealing to me. In a class of 300 plus students we have gone over many aspects of how media has been portrayed over the years. In the last class period on Tuesday we went over the value of nielsen ratings and what the terms involved with those ratings mean.

If a tv show such as Two and a half Men gets a rating of 10.1 on the Nielsen system. That mean 10.1 percent of the 115 million households with tv's that tuned in. While the share is the actually percent of tv sets that were showing this show. The only thing I don't understand is how they can actually make a true rating systems with just a small percentage of the U.S. households. They survey a small number of people by phone and also chips are starting to be placed into the newer tv's. What if there are college students who do not have a house phone line and just a cell phone. It becomes a confusing search for a happy medium concerning the viewership and popularity of certain shows.

They have to take in another factor with the type of technology we have now. First Tivo, now Hulu where people can watch episodes for free in high quality over the internet. There are also illegal ways to obtain these episodes after they air and then are illegally downloaded over prograns such as piratebay, vuze and other torrent programs.

I wonder if any of these issues listed above are taking into consideration when Nielsen is doing their ratings each week.

Overall I am enjoying the class and I am anxious to learn more material so I can prepare myself for a job that is going to be surrounded by the things we are discussing.

Corey Righter