Annotated Bibliography of Digital Story

Cantu, Aaron. "Scary New Surveillance State Idea: Government Tracking Students from Preschool to Workforce." Alternet. N.p., Jan. 2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.

http://www.alternet.org/education/scary-new-surveillance-state-idea-government-tracking-students-preschool-workforce

This source discusses the thoughts of the American education system in their efforts to raise the standard of education in the country. Their solution was to monitor every moment of a childs life when they enter into the educational system in order to better determine a trend for the best way to teach children. Although this has great intent, there are many potential problems with surveillance and logging too much of a child's life through this program. This program is known as “P-20” and will have logged every moment from pre-kindergarten until a student enters the work force. It has already been listed that several other agencies besides the Department of Education will have access to this data that the DOE will collect. Many speculate that this data will be used much more than for pure research intent.

Sengupta, Somini. "Warily, Schools Watch Students on the Internet." The New York Times. The New York Times, 28 Oct. 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/29/technology/some-schools-extend-surveillance-of-students-beyond-campus.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

This source argues the legality of schools monitoring the students social media and other internet outlets and levying punishment on students because of it. It brings up the questions if the school administrations can actually do this or if they are truly overstepping their bounds. Not only are the administrations wrongly punishing students but they are paying outside companies to filter through the students social media to help them find wrongs. Originally those outside companies only had access to certain information on medias such as facebook and twitter but as time goes on, the companies have announced that they will have access to view and evaluated a lot more personal information. Already at the time of the article it was predicted by the end of the year over 3000 schools will have bought into the program. This causes a major issue of how can these programs legally have access to that information as well as can the schools really penalize students based on this information.

http://www.infowars.com/schools-new-spy-system-places-children-under-complete-surveillance/

Daniels, Kit. "School’s New Spy System Places Children Under Complete Surveillance." Infowars. INFO WARS, 13 Nov. 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.

This source discusses a new system which is intended to monitor for gunshots in schools and be the response unit for when these shootings would take place in order to get help to the school as fast as possible. It is very interesting how they go about doing it though. The schools will have to have something similar to that of 1984 where everything is monitored including voice interactions. Clearly this is something similar to Big Brother and was proven to be even more similar to that when a man faced trial and was charged based on some of the recording that this system had picked up. The worst part is the system itself is not even fully functional. It has been known to go off with the sound of loud noises rather than gunshots. The ACLU does not approve of this device and monitoring software at all and believes it is a breach in security as well as privacy.

http://www.academia.edu/362383/Editorial_Surveillance_Children_and_Childhood

Steeves, Valerie. "Editorial: Surveillance, Children and Childhood." Academia.edu. Academia, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.

This article in particular talks about how early the children have been montoried in a day and age where technology is becoming more and more depended on. It starts off talking about being monitored all the way back to day care when people can see feeds of you in the day care. It talks about all of the different ways that we as children growing up are kept under a watchful eye by people as we go through the educational system. It says that “ social networking has opened up the child’s world to surveillance on the part of parents,schools, corporations and governments alike.” Our lives, our identity, our relationships are all monitored and taken note of as we are growing up. It talks about the major problems that we face in a day and age where surveillance is used because of disciplinary measures. It talks about the limited freedoms that we have because of the surveillance that we face.

Digital Story Proposal

In an age where we are more and more dependent on technology many issues have arisen with it as well. Coming from a school which required iPads for educational purposes, it is very easy for me to see the potential in these devices. I started using the devices in high school in the middle of my four years there so I was able to see both ends of the spectrum. However there are a large list of possible problems that go along with it. It can definitely be a great learning tool for students if it is limited to only that but as we see that is not always the case. 

For one the technology can easily be misused and used for games or other non-educational distractions. Ill be the first to admit, when class starts getting dull or its just one of those days, there is absolutely the temptation to turn to social media and the internet to provide entertainment during those hours. When we should be involved in the classroom all of a sudden our minds are else where doing all sorts of things. This has caused major concern with administrations as they are beginning to monitor every students involvement on social media and other outlets as a result of cyberbullying and many other issues out there. There has been much controversy as to how much schools can actually penalize students based on their social media. Schools now days are paying outside companies to monitor students internet “foot prints” so to speak claiming that it is for a good cause. (Sengupta)

This rings loud and clear with the discussions that we have been having about government surveillance problems that our nation is facing such as in the movie Citizenfour. The question remains where is that line that indicates these administrations and governments have gone too far. At what point do they overstep their bounds and begin to take on roles not meant for them. 

Many different groups of people have already expressed the grave danger in this. As many companies look to monitor people from as young of an age as possible, this inclusion of technology in education is helping them right along the way. Businesses and other companies claim it will help them discover the methods that make the most successful students and other claims. However it is still the issue of them monitoring our every move in our lives. (Cantu)

Already the Department of Education is setting up programs such as “P-20” which will monitor our every academic step all the way from preschool until we prepare for college and the work force. Apparently to them, all of the standardized testing and entrance exams are not enough. (Cantu)

If the government is choosing to monitor our calls, emails, texts, and conversations; what is to stop other organizations and administrations from doing the same thing. Things that were once thought to be personal and off limits are now open for the world to see whenever they like. 

The fact of the matter is children in schools are being very controlling with children these days. Children in schools are monitored and controlled more than children that aren't even in these institutions. They are receiving penalties for things that are out of the administrations jurisdiction. The rights of these children are being compromised and violated more so than children who are not even in these institutions.

There are several ways this information can be used. An interactive website displaying some of this information to show what is really going on would be a great possibility such as word press. Powerpoint presentations could be used to get the information across.

Works Cited

Sengupta, Somini. "Warily, Schools Watch Students on the Internet." The New York Times. The New York Times, 28 Oct. 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/29/technology/some-schools-extend-surveillance-of-students-beyond-campus.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Cantu, Aaron. "Scary New Surveillance State Idea: Government Tracking Students from Preschool to Workforce." Alternet. N.p., Jan. 2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.

http://www.alternet.org/education/scary-new-surveillance-state-idea-government-tracking-students-preschool-workforce

Gender Stereotypes

For our project we decided that instead of going with the regular stereotypes that a lot of groups did, we wanted to specifically find people that stood out and broke these socially acceptable parameters of what a person must be based on their gender. This case in particular talks about a woman who is not at all your typical female. This goes to not only show what can happen when you fight the social parameters, but the feedback you will receive. It is honestly quite sad the things she had to deal with for pursuing the lifestyle that she did. She was forced to change who she was because of shame for the way she looked.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Nz_pFD426c_GuVKlsTXb_kYhU1WhHP7kUBoOZHk3SpU/edit?usp=sharing

Gender Roles

For our group digital story project we are are pairing up with another class to look further into gender roles and the effects that it has. After watching a couple of videos in class we were asked to look further into this. As a result the most common discussion is the typical stereotypes associated with each gender. In the video sports illustrated was brought up. The film broke down all of the different sections it had. For instance, in all issues women were portrayed as helpless and usually less clothed than the men. It was quite the opposite for men. They were portrayed to have this dominance and superiority and masculinity. It went further to replace the male models with female models striking the pose that a male model would. The same goes for the female models with men. After this transition everything seemed to be off. Our group decided to pursue this issue further. We looked for all of the examples as to things that go against the typical stereotypes of women. We looked for women who showed power and dominance and men that looked sensitive and fragile. Our results were astounding. One thing in particular stuck out. It was a female who had recently gotten involved into body building. She started off as a bartender and eventually took up lifting in her spare time. As her training got more and more serious she began steroid use. She became so masculine in her physique that she began dressing as a man because people were accusing her of being a man dressing up as a woman. This and many other examples are evidence that we are quick to judge with these stereotypes on what a male and female should look or act like. 

Discussion Questions 10/27/14

http://mkopas.net/files/talks/UVic2013Talk-WhatAreGamesGoodFor.pdf

1. What makes Video Games such a perfect medium? Why do we choose this medium over blogs, articles, videos, etc?

2. Do you think that video games have the potential to be used much more beneficially and if so how?

3. Are there severe negative effects with these video games on a wide scale use?

4. Is this process making issues too simple and systematic?

5. Can this be used to get important information across? Does this show the proper issuers of that lifestyle?

Digital Media Social Action Project Overview

Our Digital Media Social Action Project is addressing the issue of cyber bullying. Most people do not take this as seriously as it should be taken. This issue rings home to me as there was a very severe instance resulting in a stabbing at my high school a couple years ago when one student was bullied both in person and over the internet. Eventually he took matters into his own hands and attempted to stab and kill the bully. Although he did indeed stab the bully, the bully survived the incident and clearly shows how serious of an issue this can be. Now this is different from the typical issue. Usually cyber bullying results in suicide which is extremely devastating that someone would take their own life because of the words of their peers. The frightening thing that is on average well over 50% of teens and kids have experienced some form of cyber bullying in their lives. What is even worse is only one in every ten of these kids will ever report to their parents that this is going on. For the majority of the instances it is kept secret and the parents have no idea what is going on. With one in every three kids receiving threats of some kind online clearly this is becoming a serious issue as we move to a culture and world based more and more on the internet and technology. Through social media, our group plans on getting these facts out to the campus at JCU as a start. Our goal is to raise awareness on this issue and hopefully will cause others to stand up and defend those who face these problems. We will be using the social media forums of Twitter, Instagram, and Yik Yak to get this information out to the students on campus. We will be displaying these account information across campus encouraging students to take a look at the accounts and hopefully gain their interest on the matter. It is time to take a stand for cyber bullying now. 

"Cyber Bullying Statistics." - Bullying Statistics. National Crime Prevention Council, 2013. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber-bullying-statistics.html

Invasion of Privacy and Social Media

       Through much of the class discussion we have talked about the concept of Big Brother and Government poking their nose where they ought not to. Even corporations and businesses use social media to find better information about a potential employee. We hear stories about this all the time. Usually it can be an aid to law enforcement to find criminals who post pictures or videos of their acts and are ignorant enough to post it onto social media. However, when is too far? How far is the law enforcement allowed to go with searching through our lives looking for even the slightest hint of wrongful action. There is a fine line between exposing criminals and invasion of privacy not on the basis of wrongful action but on suspicion of fraudulent activity.

The article in particular talks about several sets of people around the world who were mistreated and faced serious consequences due to social media. Law enforcement in Canada charged and arrested a woman for being in a bar fight and she was not even in the bar that night. In fact she was at an art gallery and had proof that she was not at the bar. However the police overlooked this because there was a Facebook photo taken near the bar that matched a woman with the same hair style. Although her lawyer had the charges dismissed, she is still required to pay all of the fees associated with the wrongful conviction and has not received even an apology from the police. 

Similarly there was a man who was arrested for posting racial comments directed towards an athlete and was charged and jailed. Many speculate how this is a clear violation of freedom of speech regardless of what was said on the social media. Even in the United States a boy was expelled from his high school after posting a tweet using the “F” word. Regardless of how the school feels about his vulgar language, how are they going to expel a student on those grounds? Clearly in these circumstances some people have overstepped their bounds and used social media to such extremes to penalize people for what they are posting or doing. 

After looking at all of this it is kind of scary to think of how much our social media can actually be used against us. We must be careful of what we put out there as a lot of times this outlet can be used against us. In certain circumstances, like catching a criminal in the act, these methods prove to be very helpful to law enforcement and other agencies. But where is the line at? At what point does the government and other bodies go too far in analyzing our medias and give wrongful or extreme consequences for things that are not that serious. Clearly in several of the examples above the line has been obviously crossed. It is very scary to think of how powerful social media really is and the overlooked consequences that it could have.

Warmington, Joe. "Social (media) Injustice." : Prime Time : SunNews Video Gallery. Sun News, 04 Apr. 2012. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/1547642366001

Proposal

As we have been talking in class about this project and the endless possibilities, an idea popped into my mind. How do we link the e-waste, which has been a huge part of our class, to the ideas of protests and informative discussion? I propose this: We take a campus wide survey to both students and faculty and ask them what phones they have, what phones they had two years ago, and how often they replace their phones. It is very typical to find that the average person will replace their phones every two years if not sooner due to damage or other factors. It seems we are always looking for the latest and greatest things. As the new iPhone 6 has released, many people who have either just gotten a new phone or have a relatively new one are already buying another so that they can the latest and greatest.

     After doing this survey we can research and see what harmful chemicals and other pollutants can be involved in the particular device and how it affects the environment. We can fully incorporate this into the e-waste discussions that we have been having during class. Then we can set up a teach-in on campus. We can have speakers such as Dr. Shutkins and other qualified people come in and give the statistics and global impact just from our students on campus. From there we can inform people of the true impact they are having and what we can do as a campus to limit our global impact on e-waste.

Class Discussion 10/6/2014

http://www.wired.com/2011/02/ff_joelinchina/all/1

Article Discussion Questions:

What are the major causes for the suicides in Foxconn? Are they all related to the living conditions?

Why are other companies not providing better conditions such as Terry Gou did with his company?

Do we have a direct responsibility for the deaths of the workers because of our constant need for the latest technology?

Is the solution to these suicides regulation on work availability (safety protocols) or should moves be made to completely revamp the working conditions?

Is the standard of living we envision in the United States possible in locations such as China for these workers?

Women in the Military

The presence of women in the military has always been an issue and as women are fighting for more and more equality this has come to the forefront of some of the issues. This specifically has caused much controversy particularly in the Marines. Women who have the desire to serve feel that the standards that are being asked of them are outrageous and setting them up to fail. Now clearly there are two sides to this argument. It is hard to find a middle ground to this argument as either you are for women serving or against it.

The marines, along with the stamina requirements, only requires women to do three pull ups to meet this standard. Now clearly for some women this may be a struggle as they struggle to pull their weight along with the gear that the Marines are required to use. This has lead to a lot of problems with women advocates arguing that theses standards should be reduced for women. To me that is quite preposterous. Women already have a lower set of physical standards and times that they must meet compared to men. To lower these any more just because women cannot meet these standards is ridiculous.

Now do not get me wrong, I am all for women serving. If a woman feels that it is her patriotic duty to serve for our nation I fully agree that she should have that opportunity to do so. However, putting an unqualified woman into the field who cannot meet the basic necessities is like giving a weapon to a child. Those standards are for a reason. They are there so that in the heat of battle a person is physically able to undergo any issues that should arise. To lower these standards would be putting others in harms way as they cannot rely on the person next to them to have their back.

The reason that the Marines have been brought into the spotlight is that they have the hardest physical standards for a basic infantry unit to get in. In fact there are a very small amount of women that have ever become Marines let alone Marine officers. Women do have every opportunity to join these elite positions. It is not that they are being excluded from them but rather there are very few who can meet the requirements necessary to perform the given tasks.



Knickerbocker, Brad. "Just Three Pull-ups: Too Many for Women in the Marine Corps?" The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Jan. 2014. Web. 03 Oct. 2014.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2014/0104/Just-three-pull-ups-Too-many-for-women-in-the-Marine-Corps

Democracy Comic By: Conner, Tony, and Joe

Works Cited:

Strauss, Stephen. "Is Our Republic Ending? 8 Striking Parallels Between the Fall of Rome and U.S." Alternet. Alternet, 20 Dec. 2012. Web. 28 Sept. 2014.

Beard, Mary. "The Fall of the Roman Republic." BBC News. BBC, 29 Mar. 2011. Web. 27 Sept. 2014.

There has been a lot of controversy in the news relating to gay marriage. We find that the majority of people relate to one side or the other. It is rather hard to have a middle ground in this situation without a major conflict in fundamental beliefs. Since I am from Indiana this article specifically relates directly to me and where I have grown up my entire life. For the longest time Indiana has been strictly against gay marriage. In fact our state ruled that the definition of marriage is between a man and a woman. This all changed when a district judge ruled in a court case that the definition of marriage being between a man and a woman was unconstitutional. As of that point, it opened up the doors for gay marriages and ceremonies to legally take place in the state. Then within a short time from this ruling the Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the judges ruling and the previous definition of gay marriage was reinstated. 

Obviously with this being such a controversial issue, it is very sensitive to some people. I by no means aim to offend anyone by this. I struggle finding a true stance on the issue for multiple reasons. As i was raised Christian, specifically Lutheran, biblically speaking I am obligated to be completely against it. As some of my friends in my life choose to live a homosexual lifestyle, I want them to have what makes them truly happy in life. One way that I can justify this is that the bible says that no sin weighs more than any other(every sin is equally bad/wrong) except for hardening your heart and denying Jesus. In this way one of the most applicable bible verses would be when it roughly says do not look at the spec of dust in your neighbors eye when there is a plank in your own eye. In this, people judge and rebuke that kind of lifestyle but fall short in so many other areas and in most cases are not sorry for it. We as humans lie, cheat, and steal on a normal basis and are not necessarily truly sorry for what we have done. Although I do not support gay marriages, I do believe that people have the right to live the life that they want. Who am i to judge someone on their homosexual lifestyle when I myself fall short in so many other areas. I have no issue with people who choose to live that lifestyle. The only issue I have with any of it is when someone of that lifestyle deems that I should fully support and agree with that lifestyle. 

"Indiana: Waiting for Justices to Rule on Gay Marriage." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Sept. 2014. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/16/us/indiana-waiting-for-justices-to-rule-on-gay-marriage.html?_r=0

Class Discussion 9/17

http://www.npr.org/2014/08/13/339888170/smartphone-apps-help-to-battle-campus-sexual-assaults

Article Discussion Questions:

Why do we as teenagers and young adults typically not use the provided blue emergency stations on campus but rather tell our friends?

Do you think that people will be willing to "buy in" to circle of 6?

What flaws do you see with the program?

Is there a privacy issue with the app sending data (i.e. location or live feed from phone) to other people?
     Would there be any abuse with people using this system to get your location without permission?

What happens when the circle of 6 is unavailable to respond to the issue?

Racism in Today's Social Media

Since the end of slavery it would be reasonable to think that racism and racial superiority particularly in the United States are about as alive as the latin language. But just how alive is racism in the world today? Platforms such as social media make expressing racial views easier and easier as the days go by. We as a society no longer have to openly proclaim our views in the town square for everyone to see and hear. In modern times we can just as easily express our views without having to physically say a single word. We can and would much rather hide behind a digital mask remaining anonymous.

So how often does this racial discrimination occur? Studies show that on the popular social media network Twitter alone more than 10,000 tweets are sent per day with racial intent. That means every 45 seconds someone, somewhere in the world, is making racial comments indirectly through social media platforms. 

In an day and age where racism is thought to be extinct and ridiculous, it seems to be a lot more prevalent than we may have initially thought. We as a society seem to be desensitized to the whole idea of racial slander. Because of the hip hop industry it is now widely accepted to use the word “nigga” as if it were an every day word. Because of shows like jersey shore it now widely accepted to use the word “guido” as if it were an every day word. The list goes on and on. We deem these things that were once atrocities used only in the most extreme or hateful circumstances to be socially acceptable and the new norm. 

Hoenig, Chris. "Anti-Social Media: Study Finds Racist Tweets Are Sent

     This Many Times a Day." DiversityInc. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2014.

http://www.diversityinc.com/news/anti-social-media-study-finds-racist-tweets-sent-many-times-day/

My name is Anthony Perugini and I am from Fort Wayne, Indiana. I use the regular school email at aperugini18@jcu.edu . Because I am the third, named after my grandfather, it was always easy just to be called Tony.  I have a great passion for football specifically but in the realm of sports/athletics as well. Dieting and fitness has become a large part of my life partially to enhance my athletic performance but to look and feel great as well. I have always seemed to do very well in the sciences, hence my double major, but have always either struggled or did not enjoy most english courses I took. In the long run I plan on either being a Pediatric Surgeon or become a Biomedical Engineer.

I have always done great working together with people. In those situations, through human interaction, I seem to take from the discussion a lot more than if it were more singular efforts. I am a relatively open and personable person, it does not take a lot for me to strike up a conversation with someone.

The internet has to be the single greatest technological advancement in history. It allows us to be connected in so many different ways. We can now keep up with people even if they are thousands of miles away through social media sites such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. We can locate a plethora of information just through a simple search on google instead of having to go to different libraries to try and find the specific information that we need. We can keep up to date on news or other events that we may have missed. To me social justice means social equality. No person should be treated differently for having a different color skin, a different sex, or come from a different standard of living. Everyone should get an equal opportunity; it is what we do with that opportunity that defines who we really are. Some of the main social justice issues are racism, sexism, and poverty. I have tried my hardest to avoid many of the stereotypes that are related to social injustice. Working a lot in the inner city of Fort Wayne, I had first had experience proving that everyone is the same no matter what situation or financial standings you come from.  Everyone deserves an equal opportunity. We should all be held to the same standards and if we meet those standards then we deserve that opportunity.

Some of the questions I would like to know is where the Professor would like the course to go, specifically what areas he would like to focus in on. Along with that I would like to hear everyone's true opinion on things such as racism and sexism. It would be interesting to see how our views or ideals vary from person to person since we are all coming from different areas across the country.