Fighting Fifty Shades

OH is it valentines day already? Fifty Shades of Grey is finally being released into theaters! With this grand opening of this erotic R rated film, many people are voicing there opinions about how morally wrong this trilogy is. Although in my opinion, if it is that bad of a series, how did it sell over a hundred million copies? I'm not the only one who bought them! I also think, as a reader, these books are open to many interpretations yet construing the author intentions to create the idea that men can abuse women without consequence is something that is just fat out wrong.. No where in these books is the cantonment of abusive relationships or un-consensual sex . These books are written in Fantasy and should be treated as so by the adult genre they were written for.
Here is the link to an article that's raising money for a good cause but also throwing a good trilogy under the bus! Enjoy you filthy animals ! http://www.wbur.org/2015/02/11/fifty-shades-of-grey-boycott

Gay & Lesbian Rights

Gay and lesbian rights have been an issue in America & all over the world for many years. One of the main issues with gay & lesbian rights is the right to marriage. Over the past few years more & more states have allowed same-sex marriage. Just recently the ban on same-sex marriage in Alabama was ruled unconstitutional, allowing same-sex marriage in the state. On Sunday, Chief Justice Moore ordered probate judges to not issue marriage licenses to same sex couples because he felt the ruling had no bearing on probate judges. Read more in the article below:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/13/us/alabama-same-sex-marriage-ruling.html

Education

This video is about the ongoing issue of education. We're all told to go to college to get a good job but most of us have to pay our way through college because getting an higher education in our country is not cheap. This video talks about the issue of education and school, education is the key to a bright future. To get the education we must go to school but in the end students just end up being in debt to student loans or college students tend forget what they learned after an exam or a semester. Education is suppose to be about learning but recently education is about going to college to pass certain classes to get a degree that cost thousands and thousands of dollars that might not even guarantee anyone a job that they worked so hard for. This video talks about the importance of education, and how college is losing the importance of education everywhere because of increasing student fee's. In the link below there's an article that talks about a federal law kicked in the year of 2010 that requires all colleges to give reasonable estimates for fees, books, tuition, room&board and personal expenses. This allows students to be able to calculate the expense of their college for the next four years this can give students a better chance at choosing the best college that fits their financial situation.
College-tuition-New-law-aims-for-more-transparency-in-costs

Hey what's up guys super stoked to be in this group and to post on this blog.

social issue

Hello world!

Hello

Hey guys, can't wait to blog with you guys

The best blog in the class.

Hey guys you guys are super great people! Thanks for being in the social issues group.

Finals

National dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrUT960ApTE&feature=youtu.be

National song:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAGZ7i72UZk&feature=youtu.be

Mentorship

I feel that a mentor just falls into your hands from chance. In my experience with people that I've talked to and what I know, you gain a friendship either through work or school. You get a bond by working with that person and come to realize that this person is guiding you, someone that your looking up to and before you know it this person is someone that you rely on. You would be able to go to that person and they wouldn't expect anything in return. I have personally never had a mentor, however, I look forward to either having the opportunity of having one, or being one myself someday.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2011/06/18/how-to-start-a-mentorship-relationship/

Mentor

Finding a mentor can happen multiple times throughout ones life. Finding one can also happen a matter of ways. Making yourself known is the first step, especially to whomever you chose to be your mentor. Getting them to help you is after you established some type of relationship with this person, getting to know them and them getting to know you. Once a relationship is established there is trust and similarities that get realized and then one may dedicate time and energy into helping you. Sharing similarities can help because then it may take less convincing in order to have this person mentor you. 

Guerra e Pace National Anthem

We are the country of Guerra e Pace

We are the country of freedom and equality

 

The people united can never be divided

Together we stand

For the people

For the mother land

Guerra e Pace

 

We were once part of a nation

That was destroyed from an explosion

And out of the ashes we have risen

We are Guerra e Pace

 

The people united can never be divided

Together we stand

For the people

For the land

Guerra e Pace

Nation State

                    
        I am realizing that this game is more fun than I thought it would be. I think that it took a while to pick up and get interesting but now I think it is very interesting. I do not like that sometimes we only have a few minutes to come up with laws, I think that having more time is helpful. But I also recognize that Odin is trying to give us more time.
        Personally I think our group is very good at making decisions together. We all very reasonable and hear each other out before making a decision. I really like it because we are able to come to decisions quickly and are all comfortable talking truthfully about our own opinions on the different problems that are thrown at us.
         I think it would be cool to have someone a little more aggressive in the group. It would make things a little more interesting to have more "heated" debates.
         When it comes to others nations or countries we are all have talked about making decisions as a group, presidents opinions come first of course. But overall we work really good together coming to a conclusion that we are all okay with.
Honestly I think that I am proactive as is our whole group. I like  that the whole group comes up with multiply ideas for us to go over. I also think that we all help with the wording and terms of the laws.
         I don't necessarily think we are trying to take after any one nation. But we do have the knowledge of mistakes some nations have made and we do talk about that and sometimes it does weigh on our decisions. I do think that we use that to our advantage.

                                            

Blog Assignment 8

The game is interesting. It makes you look at the hard decisions law makers have to make. Our group works well together to make decisions on how to run our country. We have not had much chance to see how other countries are run or a chance to interact with them other than once. If I was to change something I think it would be to come up with the laws for homework and interact with other countries during class. I think our group is trying to be proactive, but it difficult to think of all the possibilities that could come up.

The Game

My group definitely works together in making decisions for the country and I am very happy with the way my group works. When we meet up in groups, my group always just throws ideas onto the table and we pick and choose the ones we feel fit our country the best. I like the route my country is in and I think it is good where it stands because we have a president that is for war and against war and the creativity just shows. We have not discussed a strategy when dealing with other countries.  Our country is based off original ideas, I guess you can say that growing up in the USA has influenced some of my ideas, but I wouldn’t say our country wants to be like any country that is already existing today.

The game

I think the game is interesting and it's starting to be more fun. Our group seems to agree on a lot which makes decisions easier. It would be nice to have more interactions with other groups so we could get a feel for what it's like to deal with other countries. I like that were making laws that the United States is focusing on right now. Its also interesting to see how other people feel about national issues. We are sort of basing our country off of the United States. Our group has some ideas on how we'll deal with other groups and controversy. However we haven't had that much so it would be interesting to see how things would play out. Our group isn't that aggressive, we're ok with just keeping to ourselves.

For our midterm, I believe our group did very well over all. We all did more than our own fair share of research and all did well presenting the information we found on our topic. Not only did we all take time to meet up but we all helped each other add information to the areas we were presenting but also helped each other pick the most important information so our presentation was direct and to the point. I think we all contributed equally so I would rate myself and the other group members at an 8.

 http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Gr-Int/Group-Dynamics.html

I am very happy with our group. We all get along so well and are able to discuss assignments and come to an overall conclusion very easily. As of right now I would not vote anyone out of our group. I also do not think that we need anyone else added to our group. We work very well together compliment each others work well, so I am pleased with how our group is and would not change it at all.

A.  Showing up :  10
B.  Doing your fair share : 10
C.  Being on time : 9
D.  Responding timely to email and communicating effectively with other members : 8
E.  Handling conflict among group members : 10
F.  Being present in the group -- not distracted by outside cell phone calls or text messages when the group is meeting. : 9

Five Rules for Having an Effective Group:
1)  Communicate effectively
2)  Enjoy each others company
3)  Be open to each others ideas
4)  Take time to meet up collaborate information
5)  Respond quickly to each other

Midterm Reflection Overview

1.  In your group were there people who did more than their fair share, and those who did less?  How did that affect your group's performance?  Where would you put your own contribution, among the most or among the least?  On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, please rate your performance compared to the others in the group (5 would be the average contributor).
         I know that everyone in my group performed spectacular during our presentation. There was little to no problems communicating our presentation to the class. Days before our presentation we had met at a local location to discuss further details of our project, and anything not taken care of then was taken care of through electronic mailing. I would rate my work an 8. I think I did better than I thought I would, but when reading my speech I never looked up from the paper to make eye contact with the class. I also read my paper quicker than I anticipated and I don't think I filled my portion of the time given to each speech even if the time was made up for with questions from the class.

2. If I was given the ability and the choice to remove someone from the social issues group I would not have anyone removed. I think that we all carry our weight and responsibilities, and I am glad to have picked this group as my group.

3.  How important were basic workplace rules in your group?  Rate on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, how important they were the following:

A.  Showing up - 10
B.  Doing your fair share - 10
C.  Being on time - 9
D.  Responding timely to email and communicating effectively with other members - 8
E.  Handling conflict among group members - 9 There has been very little conflict.
F.  Being present in the group -- not distracted by outside cell phone calls or text messages when the group is meeting. - 10 Although our group has used their cell phones we agreed upon the use as long as it does not interfere with group productivity. It has yet to become a problem.

4.  Please come up with Five Rules for Having an Effective Group.
1. Communications
2. Personal Responsiblity
3. Leadership Responsiblity
4. Teamwork Success
5. Respect for others and their ideas

Midterm Reflection

Everyone in our group did their share of the work for the midterm. However, I would like to recognize Zach for keeping us organized by sending reminders emails and arranging for us to meet so we would be prepared as well as other things he has done. I thought we were well organized which made our presentation flow well. I was happy with my performance. I feel I did my best. The rate I would give myself would be a 5 because, I felt we all did our best.  I would not remove a member of our group. I think we work well together. If I could add someone it would be someone who is willing to do their best.

 

The importance of basic workplace rules in our group:

Showing up - 10

Doing your fair share - 10

Being on time - 10

Handling conflict - 8

Being present in the group - 10

 

5 rules for having an effective group:

 1) Respect others

 2) Communication

 3) Listening

 4) Participation

 5) Be on time

Midterm Reflection

I think that my group spread out the work evenly. I also think we did very well with our presentation. We had organized things well so it worked outn nicely. I honestly think everyone in my group did a great job and we all did an equal amount of work. I would probably rate my performance as an 8. We all did our own research on the specific subjects that we wanted to talk about.
I wouldn't remove any of our group members right now. I think that our group as a good flow to it and we seem to be working really well together. Everyone was able to set aside time to meet out of class and that shows dedication.
Workplace Rules
A. Showing up - 10
B. Doing your fair share - 10
C. Being on time - 9
D. Responding timely to email and communicating effectively with other members - 10
E. Handling conflict among group members - 10, althought there wasn't really any conflict.
F. Being present in the group -- not distracted by outside cell phone calls or text messages when the group is meeting - 8. Some of us still used our phones when we met, but we all focused on what had to get done. It wasn't like anyone took a phone call and ignored what was going on in the group. I know that the project was really important to all of us and that showed.

5 Rules for an Effective Group-
1. Respect and communication giving everyone a chance to have input.
2. Responding to emails and keeping contact outside of class.
3. Everyone needs to be willing to do their own part, and be willing to meet as much as needed.
4. Working together and staying focused on the issue at hand.
5. Having fun and getting along. If you look at the project like a chore, it gets boring! But if your able to have fun and get things done at the same time, it makes it an enjoyable time!

http://www.peernetbc.com/category/group-dynamics

Reflection

http://www.polyu.edu.hk/learn-to-learn/student/html/GroupProject/basicElements.htm

1.  In your group were there people who did more than their fair share, and those who did less?  How did that affect your group's performance?  Where would you put your own contribution, among the most or among the least?  On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, please rate your performance compared to the others in the group (5 would be the average contributor).

Our group was able to meet up over the break and discuss what work we needed to work on and what was working so I believe we all contributed the same. We all had a good amount to say and our presentation went very smoothly. I would rate my contribution an 8.

2.  If you could, would you remove a member from your group at this point?  If you could add someone, what would be his or her characteristics that would add to the ability of your group to do its job?  No need to name names.

I enjoy working with my group so no I would not add or remove a member. Everyone in my group has really good thoughts and insights so I think were good.

3.  How important were basic workplace rules in your group?  Rate on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, how important the were the following:

A.  Showing up - 10

B.  Doing your fair share - 10

C.  Being on time – 10

D.  Responding timely to email and communicating effectively with other members - 8

E.  Handling conflict among group members – 10

F.  Being present in the group -- not distracted by outside cell phone calls or text messages when the group is meeting. – 9

4.  Please come up with Five Rules for Having an Effective Group.

1) Communication is key

2) Resolve conflicts quickly and fairly

3) Assign members of the group primary areas of responsibility

4) Have group meetings along the way to check your progress

5) Listen to each others thoughts