If you were to design a university from the ground up, what would it be like?
I have been dreading this question since I first read it on Moodle and, as you can see, I have waited until the last possible moment to finish it. I have been chewing on it since the first day of class and I still have no idea how I would even begin, so I am going to start with problems I see every day and work from that.
-Cable
-Air conditioning
-access to a wireless router ALL THE TIME!
-more flexibility with meal plans
-option to have all flex dollars
-flexibility to use meals when you want, where you want and how many you want
-Fix the roads and add side walks up Chapel Hill
-Clean and organize the kitchens and laundry rooms of the res halls.
-curtain rods provided in the res rooms
-allow painting of the walls in res rooms
-and many more, I am sure
SO, as you can see, I have some of the basic complaints that everyone at Chatham shares, and some not so usually, who honestly sits in a dark corner and broods about not having a curtain rod? Me, that's right! (I was lucky enough to get a room with a rod holder installed and all I needed was a rod, but in my last two rooms, believe me, I was brooding) Anyways, back to he subject.
My university would have all of the above things but I only really listed improvements to be made to Chatham, which implies that it already is quite perfect(for me, anyways), which is why I chose to come here, verses every other school that I was accepted.
Like I said, this question is one I have been avoiding, so I answered it to the bes of my capabilities.
Shannon
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Extra Credit: Enticing the Trolls
If you all don't know by now, I am very involved with websites. I m not quite deep into coding but I am ll for the ownership and general upkeep, so I decided that today I am going to post about the members I hate the most and if you have ever been on fckbook, myspace, or even youtube, you have come to know them well: Trolls.
If you have no idea what I am talking about, look below and exit stage right.
(A Troll is a person who post off topic remarks to get a rise from forum members. Facebook run an application called The Blood Games, within these are the forums. One of the biggest trolls of these forums is PumpkinEater. There are a number of trolls within this forum who have jumped onto the band wagon, thereby making the forum pointless to use. )
So, I compiled a list that I think fit pretty well.
The OS troll
You will meet this troll on any vaguely IT-related forum or site that allows comments. They come in three colours: greenish brown (open sourcies), shiny white (Mac worshippers) and a grayish blue (the occasional Microsoft fan).
Open sourcies seem the most numerous of these. You’ll recognize them cause they write Micro$oft, with the dollar sign. A sub category will post ‘Get Ubuntu’ under any and all articles involving software problems and they have a tendency to be vindictive. Mac worshippers like to pretend they’re open sourcies, but essentially, they’re cultists. Any criticism on Mac-related products will be met with scathing denial and screams about how the author of the article is paid by Micro$oft. The Microsoft fan will be recognizable by his either shy or near-suicidal character. Also, no one listens to him.
The ‘I’m first’ troll
Has no life and needs to feel they win at something by posting first in any thread or comment section. Usually spells badly.
The bot troll
Posts links to interesting sites and places where you can meet hot women or procure potency enhancing drugs. Usually spells badly.
The advertising troll
Closely related to the bot troll, but oddly, not always a bot. This troll is known to abuse the copy/past feature with any number of usually positive sentences (’You’re so right’, ‘I love this’, ‘This is great’) simply to be able to get their signature (with link to their own site) out there.
The firestarter troll
Posts in a forum for the simple pleasure of starting a fight. Usually plays devil’s advocate. If a thread debates gay marriage and most people in the thread agree that homosexuals deserve some human rights, this troll will come in with the simple message that ‘all gay fags will burn in hell’. Usually spells badly.
The immature troll
Thinks u r a fag and b00bs are omg lol wtfbbq111. Spells really badly.
The macro troll
Is in ur thread, steeling ur arguments and making fun ov u. Also maded u a cookie, but then eated it.
Oddly enough, these troll are not always immature teens and don’t see themselves as in any way related to the above troll. In fact, they feel like their macros are a sarcastic comment on said immature troll, thereby making them part of a postmodern elite (citation needed). Spells badly, but in a parodying critique kinda way.
The spelling police troll
Spells perfectly and will tell you just how bad your knowledge of language is. These trolls are known for asserting that someone’s post has a spelling mistake, and so they must automatically be wrong, regardless of the stance taken by the original poster, or the arguments used.
The nitpicking troll
A close relative of the spelling police troll, this creature will take a single sentence out of a whole article, whether it is meant to be ironic or not, and proceed to break down the author personally, based on said one sentence. Example: in an article on the sustainability of trees in arid environments, in which the author casually mentions they have a red laptop, this troll will post something along the lines of ‘OMG, only commies like red. U r such a fag!’. Spells badly, and is stupid.
The elitist troll
These trolls have some professional interest in the subject of your post or article. They either have a job that pertains to the subject (or had a job at some point in their lives), or they have studied the subject (or flunked out after one year, but it still counts!). Being professionals in the subject, these creatures will tell you that you, because you are *not* a professional, or at least not as knowledgeable as they are, are not entitled to an opinion on said subject, and must certainly not write about it.
There’s also the blind troll, sometimes referred to as the stupid troll. Though, they aren’t always seen as trolls since they only react out of blindness/stupidity.
They react too fast and this causes them to miss key elements of your arguments, or to interpret the message in completely the wrong way.
Example:You: “Bill Founded Microsoft, blablabla… (5 sentences later)… together with Paul Allen.”He: “You forgot that Paul Allen was there too!”
Mostly their random word combinations only harm themselves, but sometimes they start small off-topic/wrong-topic conversations that eventually make your post look bad too.
If I forgot any, please let me know!
Shannon
If you have no idea what I am talking about, look below and exit stage right.
(A Troll is a person who post off topic remarks to get a rise from forum members. Facebook run an application called The Blood Games, within these are the forums. One of the biggest trolls of these forums is PumpkinEater. There are a number of trolls within this forum who have jumped onto the band wagon, thereby making the forum pointless to use. )
So, I compiled a list that I think fit pretty well.
The OS troll
You will meet this troll on any vaguely IT-related forum or site that allows comments. They come in three colours: greenish brown (open sourcies), shiny white (Mac worshippers) and a grayish blue (the occasional Microsoft fan).
Open sourcies seem the most numerous of these. You’ll recognize them cause they write Micro$oft, with the dollar sign. A sub category will post ‘Get Ubuntu’ under any and all articles involving software problems and they have a tendency to be vindictive. Mac worshippers like to pretend they’re open sourcies, but essentially, they’re cultists. Any criticism on Mac-related products will be met with scathing denial and screams about how the author of the article is paid by Micro$oft. The Microsoft fan will be recognizable by his either shy or near-suicidal character. Also, no one listens to him.
The ‘I’m first’ troll
Has no life and needs to feel they win at something by posting first in any thread or comment section. Usually spells badly.
The bot troll
Posts links to interesting sites and places where you can meet hot women or procure potency enhancing drugs. Usually spells badly.
The advertising troll
Closely related to the bot troll, but oddly, not always a bot. This troll is known to abuse the copy/past feature with any number of usually positive sentences (’You’re so right’, ‘I love this’, ‘This is great’) simply to be able to get their signature (with link to their own site) out there.
The firestarter troll
Posts in a forum for the simple pleasure of starting a fight. Usually plays devil’s advocate. If a thread debates gay marriage and most people in the thread agree that homosexuals deserve some human rights, this troll will come in with the simple message that ‘all gay fags will burn in hell’. Usually spells badly.
The immature troll
Thinks u r a fag and b00bs are omg lol wtfbbq111. Spells really badly.
The macro troll
Is in ur thread, steeling ur arguments and making fun ov u. Also maded u a cookie, but then eated it.
Oddly enough, these troll are not always immature teens and don’t see themselves as in any way related to the above troll. In fact, they feel like their macros are a sarcastic comment on said immature troll, thereby making them part of a postmodern elite (citation needed). Spells badly, but in a parodying critique kinda way.
The spelling police troll
Spells perfectly and will tell you just how bad your knowledge of language is. These trolls are known for asserting that someone’s post has a spelling mistake, and so they must automatically be wrong, regardless of the stance taken by the original poster, or the arguments used.
The nitpicking troll
A close relative of the spelling police troll, this creature will take a single sentence out of a whole article, whether it is meant to be ironic or not, and proceed to break down the author personally, based on said one sentence. Example: in an article on the sustainability of trees in arid environments, in which the author casually mentions they have a red laptop, this troll will post something along the lines of ‘OMG, only commies like red. U r such a fag!’. Spells badly, and is stupid.
The elitist troll
These trolls have some professional interest in the subject of your post or article. They either have a job that pertains to the subject (or had a job at some point in their lives), or they have studied the subject (or flunked out after one year, but it still counts!). Being professionals in the subject, these creatures will tell you that you, because you are *not* a professional, or at least not as knowledgeable as they are, are not entitled to an opinion on said subject, and must certainly not write about it.
There’s also the blind troll, sometimes referred to as the stupid troll. Though, they aren’t always seen as trolls since they only react out of blindness/stupidity.
They react too fast and this causes them to miss key elements of your arguments, or to interpret the message in completely the wrong way.
Example:You: “Bill Founded Microsoft, blablabla… (5 sentences later)… together with Paul Allen.”He: “You forgot that Paul Allen was there too!”
Mostly their random word combinations only harm themselves, but sometimes they start small off-topic/wrong-topic conversations that eventually make your post look bad too.
If I forgot any, please let me know!
Shannon
Monday, February 16, 2009
Extra Credit: This I Believe
Everyone in this world is born perfect, right? We all fit the mold and conform to what we are told, am I right? Of course I’m not. Think of all of the millions of disabled children born every day in this world. My sister and I are two of the 140 million disabled children in the Country. I will only talk about my sister’s story, but the principles of mine are the same. Her due date was late January but my Mom went into labor in early November. She was finally born on November 16th, small but a healthy little girl. She had to be connected to a respirator, which the hospital turned too high and she continued to pull it out, she always was a fighter. Finally, they strapped her arms down and turned it on again, but this time she couldn’t pull it out and it blew out one of her lungs. By the time that they caught this, she was completely blue. They saved her, but not without some brain damage, which caused the Cerebral Palsy. She has a less severe case but she still will never be able to run, play sports, and dress herself among many other things. But, she is continuously ridiculed at school. No one will talk to the “Freak”. I am her only friend and she has a terrible outlook on this world, and with what has happened to her, I don’t blame her.
I know I continually hear people say “Retarded” every day. They use a disability as a slang term, but it doesn’t only insult the person intended, it also insults me and every other disabled child, every one of the 140 million.
I believe that everyone one is equal, not matter how different they are. I chose to share this story with you because I have a disability of my own. I know that my sister’s story is her own, but my story is not much different. I did get to live a normal life for about 12 years, while my sister has yet to experience a normal day. I was diagnosed with many illnesses around 12, but the most impacting was when I was diagnosed with Chronic Pain Syndrome at age 16. It is difficult to move, let alone do everyday “normal” tasks. Since then, I haven’t had a normal day and this is how our stories relate. I have dealt with excruciating pain every single day since that October.
We are the same in one way but different in all others. All I can ask is you look at yourself find one thing that you don’t like, and think how would you feel if some used that to humiliate you, even if it was not intentional. I hope that you will carry that thought with you for the rest of your life as every disabled child does every day. Give every person the respect they deserve.
I know I continually hear people say “Retarded” every day. They use a disability as a slang term, but it doesn’t only insult the person intended, it also insults me and every other disabled child, every one of the 140 million.
I believe that everyone one is equal, not matter how different they are. I chose to share this story with you because I have a disability of my own. I know that my sister’s story is her own, but my story is not much different. I did get to live a normal life for about 12 years, while my sister has yet to experience a normal day. I was diagnosed with many illnesses around 12, but the most impacting was when I was diagnosed with Chronic Pain Syndrome at age 16. It is difficult to move, let alone do everyday “normal” tasks. Since then, I haven’t had a normal day and this is how our stories relate. I have dealt with excruciating pain every single day since that October.
We are the same in one way but different in all others. All I can ask is you look at yourself find one thing that you don’t like, and think how would you feel if some used that to humiliate you, even if it was not intentional. I hope that you will carry that thought with you for the rest of your life as every disabled child does every day. Give every person the respect they deserve.
Refletion Four
What do you think are the most unrealistic expectations placed on Ras by students/residents? Administrators? Why do you think they expect those things, and how will you manage those expectations if chosen to be an RA?
Well, I have absolutely no experience with the exact duties of an RA are, but I can only assume. I know that RAs are responsible for everyone in their community, including themselves. I decided to do a bit of research and came across this article:
http://media.www.mainecampus.com/media/storage/paper322/news/2001/03/05/LocalNews/Ra.Duties.Too.Much.For.Some-52368.shtml
Interesting enough, it mentions an aspect that we touched on in class: The Fish Bowl Concept, so I will talk about this challenge. If you think about it, being both friend and foe must be quite a challenge. Trying to keep your environment, surroundings, and community safe while not being the “tattletale” of the group is like running a marathon without drinking enough water: an almost impossible task, unless you know how to handle it properly. Think of any negative situation that you have come across in your life and think how the protagonist handled it. Did they do it right, in your opinion? How would you have changed the situation? I can think of a few good stories, but this is my favorite:
There was a small group of kids in my middle school making fun of a mentally challenged boy named Nick. They picked up his books and papers and through them all over the hall. Then the teacher came over, yelled at the lead bully to get to class. Not for making fun, not for throwing his stuff around and not for breaking his spirit (he was crying at that time and I honestly didn’t blame him,) and she walked away! She didn’t help, she didn’t ask if he was okay, but left him there to clean it up himself. This absolutely broke my heart. At the age of twelve, I walked over and had the maturity or the caring (which ever you prefer) to help him and walked him to class. I was later ridiculed for being seen with the freak, the retard but it didn’t bother me because I knew I did something that she could not. I never forgot that day and never will. The funniest thing happened at Graduation, though. Nick walked up to me and thanked me. He told me that he will never forget that day because I was the first kid that was ever nice to him. I don’t think I have ever been more proud of my actions.
So, pardon my tangent. The moral of the story is that I did what I thought the teacher should have done and I handled it the best way I could figure. As an RA, one has to predict the outcome of one’s actions. If I had decided to join the bullies what would have happened? If I walked away, what would have happened? So, as an RA, you have to assume you are being watched at all times and predict what the repercussions of those actions may be. You are your community’s role model. You must stay true to yourself, but you must remain the upstanding figure, you must be the RA.
Well, I have absolutely no experience with the exact duties of an RA are, but I can only assume. I know that RAs are responsible for everyone in their community, including themselves. I decided to do a bit of research and came across this article:
http://media.www.mainecampus.com/media/storage/paper322/news/2001/03/05/LocalNews/Ra.Duties.Too.Much.For.Some-52368.shtml
Interesting enough, it mentions an aspect that we touched on in class: The Fish Bowl Concept, so I will talk about this challenge. If you think about it, being both friend and foe must be quite a challenge. Trying to keep your environment, surroundings, and community safe while not being the “tattletale” of the group is like running a marathon without drinking enough water: an almost impossible task, unless you know how to handle it properly. Think of any negative situation that you have come across in your life and think how the protagonist handled it. Did they do it right, in your opinion? How would you have changed the situation? I can think of a few good stories, but this is my favorite:
There was a small group of kids in my middle school making fun of a mentally challenged boy named Nick. They picked up his books and papers and through them all over the hall. Then the teacher came over, yelled at the lead bully to get to class. Not for making fun, not for throwing his stuff around and not for breaking his spirit (he was crying at that time and I honestly didn’t blame him,) and she walked away! She didn’t help, she didn’t ask if he was okay, but left him there to clean it up himself. This absolutely broke my heart. At the age of twelve, I walked over and had the maturity or the caring (which ever you prefer) to help him and walked him to class. I was later ridiculed for being seen with the freak, the retard but it didn’t bother me because I knew I did something that she could not. I never forgot that day and never will. The funniest thing happened at Graduation, though. Nick walked up to me and thanked me. He told me that he will never forget that day because I was the first kid that was ever nice to him. I don’t think I have ever been more proud of my actions.
So, pardon my tangent. The moral of the story is that I did what I thought the teacher should have done and I handled it the best way I could figure. As an RA, one has to predict the outcome of one’s actions. If I had decided to join the bullies what would have happened? If I walked away, what would have happened? So, as an RA, you have to assume you are being watched at all times and predict what the repercussions of those actions may be. You are your community’s role model. You must stay true to yourself, but you must remain the upstanding figure, you must be the RA.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Reflection Three
What do you think about your SLPI results? Do you think this will help you in your group project and/or as an RA? How?
I think my results were accurate and I know that they have helped me understand my strong and weak points. I am not sure if it will help me in the group project, but I could see how it could. It really can help a person decide at what points they are strong and in other points, where someone else should take over or assist. As an RA, it would help in the same way. It can show your current limitations, so you ca work on them, and your strenghts so you can help others.
I think my results were accurate and I know that they have helped me understand my strong and weak points. I am not sure if it will help me in the group project, but I could see how it could. It really can help a person decide at what points they are strong and in other points, where someone else should take over or assist. As an RA, it would help in the same way. It can show your current limitations, so you ca work on them, and your strenghts so you can help others.
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