Movember

Movember

Movember Slogan

Movember is an organization with the goal of raising money for prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men's mental health. This organization was created because of the generally shorter life expectancy among men because of these three health issue.

What the Movember organization does is has people create an online account and grow a mustache for the whole month of November. People then donate money to their individual account and then the organization spreads the money throughout different charity organizations. Movember acts as the middle man for collecting money, and shares it with different research groups and charity organizations. 

This is the first year since my sophomore year of high school that I have not taken part in the movement. In years past, I have raised over $500 towards the cause, but this year I simply became too busy to promote my account. 

Although I have slacked this year in my donation efforts, many of my friends have been passed the torch and are taking part this year. I have about eight kids on my team that are currently signed up through the Movember website and are raising money for the cause. 

I love this organization because it allows people to grow a creative, or even hideous mustache for one month of the year without people judging you. When you see someone with handlebars in July you may question their choices, but in November you can assume that they are doing it for a good cause. The organization sees the struggles that are apparent in men's health today, and aims to attack these issues head on. It is something that I would strongly suggest people take part in moving forward.

Movember Website

JUUL: My Personal Experience

JUUL: My Personal Experience

JUUL Logo

Vaping has quickly taken over the college and high school student bodies all throughout the United States. JUUL is one of the most popular vaping companies. The company claims that their electronic cigarettes are meant for adult smokers, but it is easy to read through that claim with them selling fruit flavored pods aimed at the younger generation. Flavors like mint, mango, fruit medley, cucumber, and creme brulee are extremely popular among the younger generations. 

When I came to High Point University from Canada I had never even heard of a Juul, but that quickly changed. Within the first couple weeks I saw most of my friends with one of the e-cigarettes, so like most curious college students would do I took a hit. It was my first time trying any form of nicotine because I never liked the idea of smoking cigarettes. Why did I feel like this device was better that an actual cigarette? I don't have a good answer for that question, but seeing my friends vaping made me feel like it was okay. 

I vaped for 2 years. I started my freshman year and stopped within the first couple weeks of my junior year. I always felt like it was bad for me, but when trying to quit before I had quickly realized I was addicted to nicotine. 

I always thought that quitting smoking would be an easy task, but I was very incorrect. I would see someone hit their vape and feel an itch. For the month while I was trying to quit I realized that I was noticeably more irritable and tired.

Today's issue is that both college and high school students are under the impression that vaping is cool, but are not thinking about the potential health risks. Lately, people have been getting sick and in some cases even dying from these devices, but kids continue to vape. The addictiveness of these vaping product is something that most people do not understand and is what is keeping people from stopping.

You would think that with all the research that is coming out about the negative effects of vaping that people would stop, but like smoking it is not that easy. My goal moving forward is to help kids quit. I now realize how hard it is, so I want to make it easier on other people.

JUUL Empire

Vaping Related Deaths

Total Information Awareness

Total Information Awareness

Total Information Awareness Diagram

The Total Information Awareness program was created by the United States Government in January of 2003 as a part of the Homeland Security Act. It was created to collect data from both public and private servers to detect any potential national security threats. It was also commonly referred to as Terrorism Information Awareness. 

In September of 2003, the same year that the program began, Congress officials voted to terminate the program and cease its funding. This stopped it for a while, but it was reported that the software used for the program shifted to the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2006. 

The issues that arise from this program is the amount of power that it gives the United States Government. While there are clear benefits in finding potential terrorist threats, there really are no boundaries on who they can spy on. This means that everyday citizens were, and still are, being spied on by the government.

This program gave the government access to some very private information that many may not realize. Things like bank deposits, credit card purchases, passport information, web browsing history, license registrations, etc., are now able to be seen by the U.S. government. 

This poses some very serious privacy issues. Should the government be allowed to access our personal information like this? Absolutely not, but to think that we could stop them would be very naive. While there are some clear benefits to this program, the negatives clearly outweigh the positives.

Total Information Awareness

Total Information Awareness (TIA)

My Online Presence

My Online Presence

Clarington Green Gaels

In today's class we discussed the power that private companies have in regards to our online information. It is scary to think that agreeing to most companies privacy policies allows them to have full access to your personal data. From there, these companies are allowed to share the information with whoever they want simply because you "voluntarily" gave them the information by agreeing to their privacy policy. 

Luckily for me, I am the opposite of a social media junkie. In honesty, I really hate the idea of social media and what it represents. I find that it is an escape for some people from their reality, but does not paint a true picture of what their life is really like. People are able to post pictures of their fancy vacations or extravagant parties, but in reality they probably do not live that type of life for most of their life. 

I express my hatred for social media because it helps understand why I have such a small presence when searched on the internet. I do not even have Facebook or Twitter. This makes my digital footprint a lot smaller than most peoples. 

When you search my name on the internet the first thing to come up is a UFC fighter, but secondly you will see pictures of me playing lacrosse. This is because over the years I have had articles posted about me from newspapers in my town or from organizations that I have played for. I do not necessarily love that these articles are so readily available online, but I would rather these types of articles be posted than ones talking about my personal and social life. 

When companies are looking to hire me in the future, I am now a lot less worried of what they may find. I have tried to keep my online profile very clean over the years because I was trying to be recruited for lacrosse, which I think will help me out in the hiring process. 

If I had advice for young people with social media it is to never post pictures with alcohol present. This is something that I have seen a lot over the years in both high school and in college. While it may not seem like a big deal to most, posting a picture with a beer in your hand while in high school is you giving proof of underage drinking. Legal repercussions never come of this, but it paints the wrong picture for yourself online. This is something that my high school coaches instilled into me and I have carried with me into college. Even though I am now 21, I still refrain from posting pictures at parties for the effects on my self-image. 

I left the ad industry because our use of data tracking terrified me
Clarington Green Gaels
Tyler Stinson Team Ontario

Diffusion of Innovation Theory

Diffusion of Innovation Theory

Effectiveness

Theory Explication:

The Diffusion of Innovation Theory describes how people within society adopt new forms of innovations over time. Obviously technology is not created and adopted by everyone overnight, so this theory describes the gradual adopting of these innovations into society.

It begins with the pioneers/innovators. These are generally the people who created the form of technology, or colleagues that work along side the inventors. At this point in time they are both using their innovation for their personal benefits and to improve any possible bugs that can be found within the technology.

Then the innovation will move into the early adopters/early majority section of the diffusion process. At this stage generally the younger generation who is eager to learn about new technology will be the ones to adopt it first. This is where the innovation will really get its feet off the ground and start to earn some popularity.

At the climax of the Diffusion of Innovation Theory is the tipping point. This is where there is a moment in time, normally where something significant occurs that pours the technology over the hump into the remainder of society. An example of this may be the iPhone being launched and grabbing the attention of the rest of society in regards to cellphones.

This then leads into the late majority/late adopters portion of the diffusion process. This is where you will typically find older generations who are late to the punch on new technology. It after the tipping point occurs where they almost feel out of the loop without the given innovation.

Lastly, you have the laggards. These are the people who may have low incomes so they can not afford the technology, live in remote areas so it does not reach them, or simply are not interested in adapting with the new era.

Theory Application:

Instagram Logo

This theory can be applied to almost any new innovation, but for the sake of this blog I will discuss the diffusion of Instagram into society. Instagram was the fastest growing social media network as of 2015. The app allowed for people to share pictures and videos to people of their choosing without needing to send them individually. It was one of the first times that any easy to use platform like this was created, and people quickly began to love it.

The pioneer/innovators section in the case of Instagram likely took place before the public launch of the application. This is because it was the fastest iPhone app to reach 1 million downloads. Therefore, the pioneer section of diffusion would likely not be happening within that time frame.

The early adopters section of Instagram would have likely come withing the first 2 years of the apps release. This is the moment where users starter really picking up interest in the app and using it for more than just sharing photos with friends. People started to see it as more of a marketing tool, and with that it lead into the late adopters stage.

The late adopters are the people in this case that did not see the importance of the app from the start, but realized its significance in today's modern world. Now there are people who use Instagram as a way to promote either themselves or their company. Since so many users are now on this site it makes for a great way to create free advertising for yourself.

Lastly, the laggards would be people who are left without internet connection on their phones, or people who simply do not like the way social media is taking over. There are still many people in this category, but most have adjusted with the times.

Diffusion of Innovation Theory
fastest growing social media network
Why is Instagram so Popular?

Maymester

Maymester

Paris: Picture

I was approached by my french professor who asked me to sign up for the french Maymester. The trip looks absolutely beautiful and completely submerses you into the french culture. You start in Paris, and make your way all throughout France on a two week adventure. I would get to experience the culture, learn the language, try new foods, etc. 

Being a french minor, this is a very appealing trip to me. I want to learn everything there is to know about different french speaking places worldwide.

But, I have now reached a dilemma in my academic career. I have been told all throughout my life that school always comes before sports, but while in college sometimes that is not always the case.

I am on the lacrosse team at High Point University and my games are played in the spring. Our conference tournament would end on May 6, but our team has much bigger aspirations this year. We feel like we should not only win our conference, but make a good run in the NCAA tournament.

The issue that arises here is that the Maymester would commence on May 12. This means that if we were to win our conference, then I would not be able to go. I am stuck in a weird place between being in love with the french language and the game of lacrosse. I know that whatever happens I cant have both. It is a sad, but simple realization.

For me, the chance to tour the world has always been something that I have wanted to do, and to do it with friend and classmates would make the experience even better. On the other hand, this is my third year on the men's lacrosse team at HPU, and I am hungry for a ring.

Decisions...decisions.

Maymester

Promote Tolerance

Promote Tolerance

SELMA: Promoting tolerance and empathy online

The idea of the promoting tolerance is one of the eight values of free expression. It is the idea that there are no laws restricting people from hateful and upsetting speech. The reason for this is that it created a more tolerant and overall better society. 

It allows people who use hateful speech to be called out by individuals in society rather than having to deal with a court system. People are allowed to voice their opinions whether it be good or bad, but if it crosses boundaries than we are responsible for holding them accountable. 

An example of this idea being put into place is in the case of the old Atlanta Hawks owner, Bruce Levenson. Levenson was caught sending racist emails to a colleague talking about how "the black fans scared away the whites." He was forced to resign from his position of the team, and got a lot of backlash from the public. 

I personally love the speech theory of promoting tolerance because it singles out the hateful people within our society without needing the help of the law. It allows citizens to hold each other accountable without relying on higher powers. I am not saying that we could survive without law, but the idea of letting our citizens stand up for what they believe to be morally right or wrong is something that I would love to see more of. 

The sense of community and togetherness that this theory brings forth is amazing. Do I think it is cruel and ignorant to use hate speech? Absolutely. But while we as citizens hold these awful people accountable for their actions, the law is responsible when their evil thoughts turn into actions. This cohesiveness mostly works well and is what makes this country special. 

Lee Bollinger, The Tolerant Society: Freedom of Speech and Extremist Speech
Promoting Tolerance
Bruce Levenson