Friday, April 22, 2016

group project blog


Skills that I can offer my group

1. Editing Skills - I can proofread our project before it is submitted.

2. Organizational skills -  I can help organize a group meeting, keep documents organized, etc....

3. I am helpful - If anyone has any questions or feedback, I am always here to help.

4. People skills - I am fairly easy going, and am willing to give positive, or negative feedback when it will help our group as a whole.

5. I am accessible - If ever a group member needs to get ahold of me, I will answer in a punctual matter.

One proposal for conduct code - I would propose that that if a group member has an issue, or is confused that they reach out to other group members for help. This will ensure that we are on the same page. This will also give us as a group the opportunity to assist a group member in need. I would also propose that as group members we always try and help out a fellow group member and answer any questions that he/she may have for the group. I feel that if we can be supportive, we can be unified, and will be able to come up with a great group project.

My Conflict Ratings:

Avoidance - 12

Accommodate - 12

Competition - 11

Compromise - 19

Collaborate - 18

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Conflict


                  I first would like to explain a time when I suppressed my feelings in a conflict. One of my siblings commonly said things that I felt were not appropriate in front of my children. In other words "I felt that this person was a bad influence on my kids". I also found them to be kind of embarrassing in social situations. Rather than say something to them and create more family problems (something I already have way too many of), I decided to just limit the amount of time that my family spends around my sibling. I do this by not inviting this person to most child related functions. I also stay mindful of where I keep this persons company. In other words, I do not bring this person around in situations where they can potentially embarrass me. I realize that I should probably say something, but I feel that a person of 25 years of age should be able to understand these types of things without me having to tell them. By not having this person around at these times I am able to be more comfortable in these situations. However, there is the latent consequences of losing individual closeness, as well as losing the potential of a close relationship between this person and their nieces and nephew.

          Next I would like to explain a time when I decided to express my feelings in a conflict. I have been married to my wife for 10 years. As time went on it seemed like we were always fighting. We eventually started to not talk about things that were bothering us with each other, which lead to a certain level of passive aggressiveness and resentfulness. It got to the point that we were on the verge of a divorce. Every little thing that we did would ultimately upset the other person and lead to more passive aggressiveness. Finally I decided to put it all on the table. I decided to speak up because she is the most important thing to me, and many of my greatest accomplishments would not have been possible without her support. We discussed all the things that were not working, and looked for ways to fix the problems. Instead of thinking in terms of "me" and "her", I made it a point to look at things from the perspective of "us". Ultimately we came to the conclusion that we were having a breakdown in communication. The messages that we were sending out to each other were not being interpreted the way that either one of us were intending. After we were again able to communicate effectively we were able to once again strengthen our marriage.

Saturday, April 9, 2016

Non Verbal Communication Blog

    
     The advertisement that I chose was for Dos Equis beer. I believe this advertisement to have multiple artifacts. The handsome older gentleman known as "The Most Interesting Man In the World" has a full head of hair, with a nice haircut, and a manly beard. He is also sporting a very nice suit with cuff links.

          I feel these artifacts are meant to make this man seem sexy, manly, and sophisticated. I would also like to note that he is holding a cigar, giving him the image of a "bad boy" type. It is rather hard to say who the "potential buyer" would be. This beer is well known not only in the U.S., but in Mexico as well. I also know many people who love this beer who are male, female, old, young, hispanic, white, and black. That being said, I would say that the artifacts would illustrate a potential buyer who is sophisticated, wealthy, single, and adventurous. I think that the artifacts are meant to appeal to men 40 +.  I realize that "the most interesting man in the world" has an accent in the TV commercials, but I believe the accent is to emphasize that the beer is from Mexico, rather than to aim the ad at a specific racial or ethnic background.
     
  
        I noticed multiple other systems of non verbal communication in this ad. The first is spatial relations. The woman directly to his right(woman number one) is in a personal space range that says "I want to be more than just friends with this guy". Also notice that rather than sit on the other side of Mr. Interesting, woman number two sits next to woman number one, almost to make it clear that she has no interest in the other guy in the ad, and in a way it looks like she is waiting for her chance to talk with Mr. Interesting. Age, gender, posture, and touch are also at play here. The young, attractive woman to Mr. Interestings' right(woman number one) appears to be at least 20 years younger than him. She is touching him with her left arm (at least it appears so),  gazing at him like he is the best thing since sliced bread. Mr interesting on the other hand is not even looking at her. The womans' posture shows interest, while Mr. Interesting on the other hand is not showing her any attention. I would also like to note that the ad does not really show the face of the younger man to Mr. Interestings' left, almost to show that he does not really matter. 
       
      Based on all the things I noted in this essay, I feel the advertiser is trying to say the following to the viewer: "Attractive woman find older men who drink our beer more interesting than they find men their own age. If you drink our beer, you can easily get with girls who look like this. So easy that you wont even have to pay attention to them. You will have so many attractive young women into you that you will have a backup waiting for her turn". Just to be clear, these are not my opinions about women. My description was 100% based on what I felt the ad was saying to its viewers.

Sunday, April 3, 2016





            The first thing in the reading that caught my attention was the story about Mel Gibson in the beginning of the Chapter. Really Mel? It is amazing the things people say sometimes. More recently Hulk Hogan has found himself in similar troubles, due to some racist comments he said while being recorded. This is something that I have seen many times in life. People get emotional (often times alcohol is a factor), and just say what’s on their mind, oftentimes forgetting the level of offensiveness of what they are saying. Donald Trump has a problem of doing this also. The first thing that popped into my mind when reading this was the concept of mindfulness, which we learned in a previous chapter. This is a mistake that all people make from time to time. The important thing is to recognize when you’r language could offend somebody.

            Page 86 of the book talks about connotative and denotative meaning. I found this to be very insightful information. I have never heard the term “connotative meaning” or “denotative meaning” before. Take the word “gun” for example. The denotation of “gun” is simply the dictionary definition. The connotation of “gun” on the other hand means so much more. For example when some people hear the word “gun” they automatically think of violence, death, and crime. On the opposite side of the coin, some people hear the word “gun” and think of protection, security, and safety. Others yet may think of hunting or other sportsman related activity. The point is that we all think of different things when hearing the same exact word, regardless of the dictionary meaning. I enjoyed learning the new vocabulary, and have been using the terms since i did the reading.

            Last but not least I enjoyed the sections relating to bias language. First I would like to discuss the section about language and gender(pg.90) As someone who struggles with our country's’ lack of inequality, I find using gender neutral terms very important. In my opinion, the sex of an employee is completely irrelevant in relation to the job that they are doing. I feel that gender related terms such as “stewardess” or “male nurse” are insulting, and assume that only women should be flight attendants and that it is in some way wrong for a male to be a nurse. I really don't feel that a person's genitals should be a deciding factor in the profession that they choose. That being said, I always strive to use gender neutral terms. It also really bothers me when people use exclusionary language. The one I encounter the most is references to race. For example, I have heard people say things like “ have you met Jim? He’s a nice guy. He’s black, not that that matters or anything”. I always feel like asking them: “if it doesn’t matter, why did you even say it?”. I also hear similar comments made about sexual orientation, which again has absolutely nothing to do with a person's job or abilities. I feel that using exclusionary terms separates people into “us” and them”. I also feel that by using terms such as “gay Rob”, or “black Paul” create a master status as being black or gay before an employee, or in some regards a person. People say things like “what's the big deal? He is gay, or he is black”. I think they should consider how they would feel if they were called “ straight Maggie” or “white ronnie”. Ending the use of bias language is the first step to breaking the glass ceiling, and social inequality as a whole.


Sunday, March 20, 2016

Listening



The message in Julian Treasure's video was that we are losing our listening ability. We are no longer paying attention to detail, which is causing poor communication. I agree with this 100%. People are becoming impatient and know longer want to carefully, accurately listen to what others are saying. People are sending messages rather than actively talking, this causes people to lose their ability to recognize the body language of the person sending or receiving the message. The exercise that I commonly try is the "Listening Position" exercise. When communicating with someone, I try to see things from their perspective. I do this by setting aside any biases I have, and listen to what the other person is saying (even if I do not agree). As hard as it may be sometimes, my results are definitely better when I use this approach. It is hard to see things through somebody else's eyes, especially when there are large cultural differences.I guess that's why I have adopted the idea that a person should be able to humor any idea without necessary agreeing with it. 

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Who am I?

The Five Things I am Most Proud Of

- I am proud of how good of a father I am to my kids.
- I am proud of my 10 year marriage to my wonderful wife.
- I am proud of my 4.0 GPA last semester.
- I am proud of how far I have came in life(social mobility).
- I am proud of my ability to adapt to hard situations.

Of the five things listed, I am Most Proud Of how good of a father I am to my kids. I never really knew my father growing up. That being said, I understand first hand hand how important it is for a child to have a good relationship with their father. In other words, how important it is for a kid to have a "dad". I was still in high school when my oldest daughter was born. I am proud of all my accomplishments in life, but none of them come close to how proud I am to be a father to such wonderful kids. My oldest daughter is now 15. I also have a two other daughters, ages 13 and 7, and a two year old son. Without them on my mind, and without their support, I would not be as successful as I feel that I am.

Five Thing I believe In:

- Fairness/equality
- Love
- Family
- Standing up for others
- karma

Although it was hard to choose, I feel that family is what I believe in most. I do my best to teach my children my values, so they themselves can stand up for others, and fight for fair treatment, and social equality. I believe that family should always stick together, under any circumstances. I have witnessed first hand, the strength in family, and I have also felt the weaknesses of not having them I need them. That is why a strong sense of family is my strongest belief.

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Credible source blog



Credible Source Blog



The source I chose is a book called The Words of Cesar Chavez. The book is an anthology of his speeches and writing. I feel that the authors are credible and unbiased, because they are not out to convince an audience of anything. They are more presenting and examining his rhetoric and organization skills. This publication has contributed to the fields of chicano-latino, rhetoric, and social movement studies. The author’s use a variety of Chávez’s’ text to provide an in depth examination of his rhetoric style. The texts were received from national archives in the United States and Mexico. The book was published by Texas A&M University, which is considered a top educational Institution. The original publication was released in 2002, nine years after Chávez’s’ death. That being said, all records and everything needed for the publication were already in archives. Below is a link to the e-book.



https://books.google.com/books?id=QSJF8JJLePUC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false