Blog #4: Comm 303

People record things for certain reasons. Mainly, to be able to keep an important memory they can play back on. These devices are important because people can show others something funny that has happened or something important such as, your childhood. Its good to be able to look back on childhood memories. If we weren't able to record certain events, then we could lose memories that we want to keep. 

I don't think people generally know how to make proper videos. I think they make them just to make them for laughs later. Like myself, most of the videos on my iPhone are pointless videos that I don't really need. It's just there to laugh at later with my friends later and it's basically wasting space in my phone. A good way to make a video is with an actual video camera and is properly handled. The things that would be recorded would be for important reasons specifically. 

I consider video recording a kind of literacy because you can learn things from certain videos. On YouTube, there are many videos people put up that teach you how to do things. You can basically type in "How To.." on YouTube and find what you need to find to learn something. I don't think a communication major needs to learn how to shoot and edit a video because not all communication departments require you to know that. Some forms of jobs with communication could be in front of the video and you don't have to worry about how to work the camera and how to cut and edit it. There is usually someone else with a different major that needs to know that kind of stuff.

Home video helps out with the expansion of communication because it helps us learn about other cultures. If people weren't able to travel to other countries and record interviews with people or what their culture is like, then we wouldn't be able to learn about it. We could learn about it through writing but not actually be able to see what it's like.

Blog #3: Comm 303

        The theory I will be using for this blog is the Social Learning Theory. The Social Learning Theory is based on how people learn by watching others and observing their behaviors. When we are watching television, we are observing what they do and can mimic what they have show, such as, a cooking show. People watch others prepare meals to be able to learn how to make it for themselves. People may also do that when others are fighting or hurting each other which shows there may be a negative side to television. However, television doesn't actually teach you how to hurt someone, young ones are easier to view and react. It also works by people using work out videos and video games like with the Wii and Xbox Kinect since they are moving to your movements because you have to mimic what they're doing.

I think in the future, there will be more things on television in which people can mimic that will be easier to understand. Technology keeps growing and will keep going to try to make people's lives easier. The future holds a lot for television to where it could be a good thing to watch it instead of reading books. More people can learn if they are able to see it, at least for me it is. To try and learn a recipe, for me, I need to have a picture to be able to see what it should look like. Its easier for me to be able to see a meal being cooked instead of reading instructions. Television may end up being a projector screen where it comes out, so that way it would be the perfect way to imitate since its right there. People want to learn things if it comes easy to them, thats why I think television will be able to help us out in the future.

Blog #2 - Communication 303

I usually listen to my music on an iPod or my iPhone. I also listen to it on my Macbook. I've been listening to music on an iPod ever since the iPod mini's came out. I found that they were much more convenient to use instead of a portable CD player. A portable CD player, you have to change CD's to find the type of music you want to listen to. I even listen to my iPod in my car instead of the radio because I have an auxiliary input in my car where I can plug in my iPod.

I listen to music basically all the time. I listen to it when I'm driving, working out, walking to class, studying and doing homework, and even when I sleep. I listen to music because it prevents there from being silence. I don't like it when I'm in a room or when I am driving and its completely quite. I need there to be some type of sound going on and music what I like to listen to the most. Music helps me work out when I listen to up beat music because it helps keep me going. I enjoy listening to music because it usually puts me in a good mood because it helps me escape the world sometimes and puts me in my own space as what Simun says about "private spaces".

Sometimes I don't just listen to music. On my Pandora radio, I have a radio where you can listen to stand up comedy. I like to listen to those when I feel like I need a laugh. I also like to listen to audio tapes sometimes when I'm reading a book. Since I am taking French this semester, for homework we have to listen to people carry on a conversation in French so we can try to understand what they are saying and learn how they are speaking. 

Comm 303: Blog Assignment #1

        When it comes to communication technology, I am usually the person that is always interested in anything new that comes out. Mainly when it comes to Apple products. I own almost all of the Apple products because I am very interested in them. When the iPad came out, I thought it was kind of pointless so I didn't worry about getting it. I would hear what people thought about them and they said they loved them so when I heard the iPad 2 was coming out, I figured I would get it. I decided to wait in line at the Apple store in the mall for it. I waited in line for almost 5 hours, the news was there and interviewed the people in front of me. I thought that would be the last time I did that, but I'm probably going to be waiting in line when the iPhone 5 comes out.

I think that newer communication technology plays a big part in my life along with many other people. My cell phone and laptop help me communicate with my friends, family, or professors. An iPad helps me when I take it to classes since its lighter and I don't have to carry my laptop in my backpack all the time. My iPod, of course, lets me listen to my music whenever I want. Without the newer technology, people would have less communication to the world and those around them.

I never listen to the radio anymore because I usually find my music on iTunes. The only type of radio I listen to is Pandora but its on my phone and I can customize the type of music I listen to. My parents still listen to the radio while they are driving since they don't really use their iPods or iTunes. My parents are never up to date on the new technologies that are released. My friends are the same as me when it comes to radio, they only listen to Pandora for the most part. 

In one point in time, radio was the only way to communicate to one another. There were no phones or computers to be able to talk to other people. It started off with just AM radio but then FM radio came along. They both receive the same type of radio waves but AM radio has more static to it. People now a days don't listen to the radio as much as they used to just because there are other ways to listen to music now. For the future, I believe radio will stay around for a while since people do still listen to it a lot. I think it will still be a way of communication in the next 20 years. Eventually, new technology will be invented where there will be no need for radio at all. They won't even be in cars anymore. There will be other technologies besides iPod's and radio that music can be played from.

Unit 4- Just a Little Help Goes a Long Way

Just a Little Help Goes a Long Way

                                      We can make this community better, with the help of others

         What is important and meaningful to you? Is it something you own that you have had for several years? Or is it someone who has been in your life for quite a while and has made a huge impact on your life? For others, it could be a monument that has been around for a while and they want to visit it to bring back memories such as, an old house they grew up in or an old church they used to go to. Maybe even a memorial to visit an old friend that passed away. In Tom Sawyer Park, there is a certain barn that is sitting on the outside of the park, surrounded by barbed wire, basically waiting to be torn down. A fire happened about a year ago that completely burned down a greenhouse, as well as another building, and almost the entire barn. It stayed up after hours of water being poured onto it to try and get the flames out. Now it is being treated like a dump and no one wants to help and clean it up. In this paper, I will discuss the importance of the park and how helping the barn and keeping it up will help the park and the community by showing they care about their surroundings. Also, to keep history remaining and how important it is to see where places started from.

Part of the barn

         There are several people, such as regular visitors of the park or people who own the park, who want to tear down the barn because they feel like it has no meaning and it's just sitting there and being treated like a garbage can. Many people don't want to stop and help out our community. Mainly it's because of laziness or they don't care. Once we let one thing go, then we let everything go and that could cause our city to be a dump or not have old monuments to look at. People, who live outside of Louisville and come to visit, would want to look at the monuments to think about the history. No one wants to think about their city as a dump and some old monuments do have meaning to others. It’s important for us to keep our city clean so people want to visit it and enjoy their time here. By showing that we don’t care will cause others to not care. There are many local visitors of the park who would agree to tear it down because it’s just sitting there and they could put something more entertaining there like a huge jungle gym for kids to play on or a few basketball courts. However, that would mean money needs to be saved up to add these things in and by keeping the barn up, there would be no money because we wouldn’t want to change anything about it. We would just need volunteers to help clean it up on the inside since there is a lot of trash, as well as the outside because people have littered. If we are able to get enough volunteers in, we can make the park looking better and keeping the barn up.

         When you are at a park, you never really think much about its history; where it came from and how it began, there’s much more to the places you spend lots of your time at. Now, after all the research I have looked at, when I walk through Tom Sawyer Park, I understand the history of it and how it’s important to our community. Tom Sawyer Park is just one of the 52 Kentucky State Parks there are and it is about 570 acres. It was once just farm land that was part of the Kentucky Department of Mental Health. The park was purchased in June 1969 by the Commonwealth of Kentucky and was first opened in 1974 (“History of Tom Sawyer State Park” 1). Now, there are many people who enjoy their time walking around and getting some fresh air whenever they visit the park. The part of the park that interests me the most is the barn that is surrounded by barbed wire along the walkway. It’s just right outside of the park and it’s hard to see because it is surrounded by tall grass and trees. It's all beaten down and looks like it hasn’t been used in years and it may have some sort of interesting history. One day, as I was walking the trail, I walked past the barn and I decided to snoop and see what could be in there. I walked inside and found old, abandoned computers and desks scattered everywhere. The place was a mess; there were many papers all over the floor. I was curious as to what was on them. I picked up several papers and found people’s names on them that dated back to 1995. It just had their names written down basically like a list in alphabetical order. It showed that they were signing up for some firefighting training.

                Mrs. Sherrer, the lady who was kind enough to speak with me said, "I actually saw the fire happen as I was taking a walk one day, the smoke basically took over the sky, and it scared me because I had no idea where it was coming from. I walked over towards the barn and saw the fire and wondered what could have started it. I heard sirens in the background so I knew someone had alerted the fire department.” The fire happened about a year ago on January 2010 causing a greenhouse and several trees to be burned down. No one knows what the cause of the fire was. Some people speculate that it was set purposely but no one was caught or confessed (“Fire Destroys barn near Tom Sawyer ”1). It's difficult to figure out the origin of the fire when there were no eye witnesses. There were plenty of people around that day, but no one saw and it could have been anyone. It took about 50 firemen from 6 different fire departments and several hard working hours to put out the flames. They were successful with the barn, but not with the greenhouse or the other building (1).

         It's so fascinating to me to think about what the barn looked like before the fire because I don't remember much of it. I would come here a lot when I was younger but I never paid attention to it. I learned that before the fire it was used for storage but now it seems people treat it like a dump and that it’s nothing (“Fire Destroys barn near Tom Sawyer” 1). After the fire happened, everyone just seemed to let the barn sit there and not be taken care of. It has become an eye sore and should be taken care of. No one wants to be walking through the park and seeing beautiful trees and a bright blue sky and then see an old abandoned barn hiding behind trees and barbed wire, looking like it could be haunted. However, to me, the barn doesn’t look haunted or that it’s being hidden, I believe it shows history. Someone worked hard one day to build this barn, whether it was for farming or for storage, it was used for something. Since the land was used for farming before the park was even built, I’m guess it was used for farming to put horses in since that’s what it looked like on the inside (“History of Tom Sawyer State Park” 1).

Fire that happened on the barn

         When you are driving around downtown Louisville, you see many buildings that have been around for years. They haven’t been torn down because they have meaning to them. It’s history and people enjoy learning about where they live now and where it began. If we decided to tear down the barn, it would be a huge empty space for a while until they decide to out something else there, or if they even wanted to. No one would probably even know what the park was before it was built. History is such an important thing for society today. You need to know where everything came from and how it started or else there would be no meaning to it.When you walk past the barn, all you think about was where did this come from? At least I do. It’s something that is interesting to me to look at and think about what it might have looked like before it was caught on fire. 

         There is a huge  emphasis on cleaning up buildings that pose or may cause a hazard, the city of Louisville is working to change the system so it can tear down dangerous buildings more quickly and resell those that can be fixed. So far this year, there has been about seven buildings that have been torn down and about seven repaired (Paul 1). Old abandoned buildings don’t necessarily have to be torn down to make the city look cleaner. They can easily be cleaned and repaired with the help of our fellow commuters. Such buildings that are abandoned are not only unsightly, they can attract children and teenagers looking for adventure to play around in or to be used as places to meet for drugs, drinking, hazing rituals or become targets for random vandalism.  Making a list of specific danger categories could help Louisville monitor structures and schedule tearing down the worst ones (1). By doing this, it could cause fewer kids to wonder around abandoned buildings and end up getting hurt. Most kids don’t think about this when they are wondering around them because it’s a place people most likely wouldn’t want to go to. However, since it is an abandoned building, it could be very dangerous because it hasn’t been taken care of properly.

Fire at Tom Sawyer Park

         While abandoned places can, and should, be appreciated for their ability to stir your imagination and your thoughts about the history, they must also be respected for the very real dangers some of them hold. By their very nature, abandoned places are often unsafe, either in structure or environment, which is why sometimes they're best admired from a distance (“The Six Most Dangerous Types of Abandoned Places” 1). That is exactly why the barn is surrounded by barbed wire to prevent from anyone trying to sneak in a see what’s inside. On the second floor of the barn, there is a huge gap on the floor as well as an open window, so someone could easily fall through the ground or even fall out of the barn.

         Some dangers of an abandoned building include, containing hazardous or illegal materials (people often fill them with waste), they're often subject to vandalism, theft and arson, they could possibly include rotting timbers, making them vulnerable to collapse (like how the barn is), it could have some vagrants or wild animals (such as raccoons, deer, or maybe even fox or wolves), and they may contain abandoned farm equipment that may be corroded and can collapse (1). By tearing down or repairing old abandoned buildings could help prevent from those trespassers who tend to disobey the rules. Since they aren’t safe to be around, it would help prevent from those who could end up getting hurt.

         Many local visitors may think that the barn at Tom Sawyer Park is a complete eyesore and hope it can be torn down to expand and add new things to the park. While looking at the structure, some might wish it could be restored but believe it is too far gone. Since it has been a year that the barn has stayed up since the fire, it is best to keep it up and just restore is so it’s not dangerous or an eye sore to others. Also, it seems as if people are treating it like it's a giant garbage can. I’ve been inside of it and it does not look like how it should look like which is pretty cleaned up. There are papers and broken down computers thrown everywhere. Also, there are some school desks that have been completely destroyed. It seems as if no one cares enough to clean it up. They have also put a barbed wire around the barn to prevent trespassers to enter and damage it even more. However, people still find their way through that and get in bringing in more garbage to just throw in there. There are probably many memories in the barn and we shouldn't treat it like it's nothing and has no meaning to it. It is part of the park so ignoring the barn is basically ignoring the park. It wouldn't be that hard to clean it up and not that long. There more volunteers we gather, the less time it will take and better looking the barn could turn out to be. There may be people who don’t care much about their community and would agree that it would be best to tear it down, but if we tear it down then we're getting rid of meaning. It's interesting to have old monuments around to think about what was here before the park was built. If one person helps and cleans it up, that could bring in many other people to join and want to help out. We could easily make the park a more beautiful and welcoming place with the help of others.

Works Cited

"History of E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park ." Kentucky State Parks n. pag. Web. 19 Jun 2011

"Foundation History." Tom Sawyer State Park foundation n. pag. Web. 19 Jun 2011.

Sherrer, Lisa. Interview by Cailyn Arnold. June 28, 2011. Print. 6 Jul   2011

"Fire Destroys barn near Tom Sawyer." Wave 3 News. N.p., 2010. Web. 27 Jul 2011.

"Arson being looked at as cause of Tom Sawyer Park fire." Wave 3 News. N.p., 2010. Web. 27 Jul 2011.

Unit 4-

Jacobs, Harvey M. "Fighting Over Land: America's Legacy ... America's Future?   (Cover story)." Journal of the American Planning Association 65.2 (1999):    141. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 21 July 2011.

Scott, David, and Andrew J. Mowen. "Alleviating Park Visitation Constraints throu          Agency Facilitation Strategies." Journal of Leisure Research 42.4 (2010):         535-530.   Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 21 July 2011.

Loukaitou-Sideris, Anastasia, and Athanasios Sideris. "What Brings Children to the          Park? Analysis and Measurement of the Variables Affecting Children's Use of         Parks." Journal of the American Planning Association 76.1 (2010): 89-107.    Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 21 July 2011.

"The Six Most Dangerous Types of Abandoned Places & What Makes Them so     Risky." SixWise.com. SixWise.com, 2009. Web. 28 Jul 2011.

Paul, Fredricka. "Vacant buildings spell danger." mlive.com. mlive.com, 12 Oct     2008. Web. 28 Jul 2011.

Images-

"Barn+Fire." Neighbors of EP Tom Sawyer State Park. Web.   28 Jul 2011.

Major fire at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park Park. Web. 28 Jul 2011.

Keeping It Going

What is important and meaningful to you? Is it something you own or someone who has been in your life for years? For others it could be a monument that has been around for a while and they want to visit it to bring back memories. In Tom Sawyer Park, there is a certain barn that is sitting on the outside of the park, surrounded by barbed wire, basically waiting to be torn down. A fire happened about a year ago that burned down a greenhouse and almost the entire barn. It stayed up after hours of water being poured onto it. Now it is being treated like a dump and no one helps to clean it up.  In this paper, I will discuss the importance of the park and how helping the barn and keeping it up will help the park and the community. Also, to keep history remaining and how important it is to see where places started from. There are many people who would agree to tear it down because it’s just sitting there and they could put something more entertaining there like a huge jungle gym or basketball courts. However, that would mean money needs to be saved up and by keeping the barn up, there would be no money because we wouldn’t want to change anything about it. We would just need volunteers to help clean it up on the inside since there is a lot of trash.

thesis statement & bibliography

Bibliography

Jacobs, Harvey M. "Fighting Over Land: America's Legacy ... America's Future? (Cover story)." Journal of the American Planning Association 65.2 (1999): 141. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 21 July 2011.

Scott, David, and Andrew J. Mowen. "Alleviating Park Visitation Constraints through Agency Facilitation Strategies." Journal of Leisure Research 42.4 (2010): 535-530. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 21 July 2011.

Loukaitou-Sideris, Anastasia, and Athanasios Sideris. "What Brings Children to the Park? Analysis and Measurement of the Variables Affecting Children's Use of Parks." Journal of the American Planning Association 76.1 (2010): 89-107. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 21 July 2011.

  After talking to Lisa Sherrer, it made me think about how the barn was before the fire happened and how scared people were when they saw it. There are several people who want to tear down the barn because they feel like it has no meaning and it's just sitting there and being treated like a garbage can. Many people don't want to stop and help out our community. Mainly it's because of laziness or they don't care. Once we let one thing go, then we let everything go and that could cause our city to be a dump or not have old monuments to look at. No one wants to think about their city as a dump. For those of you who have walked around Tom Sawyer Park has most likely seen the barn that is surrounded by a fence that is along the walk path. You can tell it has been pretty damaged and that it is not in its best shape. The park should try to gather people to help clean up the barn along with the park.

         There was a massive fire about a year ago that almost burned down the entire barn. It took about 50 firefighters from about 6 different fire departments and over an hour just to get the fire out. Luckily, it stayed up unlike other things that got burned down to the ground such as some other old buildings, a greenhouse, and many trees. However, it seems as if people are treating it like it's a giant garbage can. I’ve been inside of it and it does not look good. There are papers and broken down computers thrown everywhere. Also, there are some school desks that have been completely destroyed. It seems as if no one cares enough to clean it up. They have also put a barbed wire around the barn to prevent trespassers to enter and damage it even more. However, people still find their way through that and get in.

         There are probably many memories in the barn and we shouldn't treat it like it's nothing and has no meaning to it. It is part of the park so ignoring the barn is basically ignoring the park. It wouldn't be that hard to clean it up and not that long. In this paper, I will discuss the importance of the park and how helping the barn and keeping it up will help the park and the community. Also, to keep history remaining and how important it is to see where places started from. There may be people who agree that it would be best to tear it down, but if we tear it down then we're getting rid of meaning. It's interesting to have old monuments around to think about what was here before the park was built. If one person helps and cleans it up, that could bring in many other people to join and want to help out. We could easily make the park a more beautiful and welcoming place with the help of others.