Assignment 5 - Jacquelyn Engel

Through countless social media sites, everyone is notified before, during, and after these entertainment type award shows. There is a constant 4 hour period where 80% of the people are talking about these award shows. Everyone is consumed second by second and detail by detail with these award shows, yet they many probably don’t even know what the purpose of the Nobel Peace Prize is. The way our society acts like this makes us superficial and narcissistic. It portrays how materialistic we are which shows our deteriorating compassion for more whole, worldly issues. Sure they’re fun to watch, seeing the fashion, the performances, and recalling those great productions, but I don’t think this benefits or improves our society the least bit. However, I do think it’s appropriate; I just don’t believe that it’s good for our society. We already have 20 plus other entertainment type award shows and about 6000 plus t.v. shows and movies, what more do we need to entertain ourselves?

Assignment 4- Thomas Ueland

In April of 2010 the Deepwater Horizon oilrig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, beginning a disaster whose effects are still being dealt with today. It has impacted, and continues to impact, the sea environment and the lives of many near the water that depended on the sea. The actual explosion killed 11 people, a tragedy by itself, but then the broken rig began to pump oil into the sea for 87 days. In total 4.9 million barrels of oil flowed through the sea, and the picture below is just a glimpse of the devastation that ensued. Habitats were ravaged, species were put on the brink of extinction, and thousands of people were left without work because of BP’s inability to fix a problem they could have prevented from the start. One specific example of the impact involves hydrocarbons, which are toxic materials that pose a threat to marine and human life and are responsible for the dreaded dead zones. By the end of the spill, it was estimated that the Gulf’s hydrocarbon level was an absurd 40 times what it used to be. Eventually, the leak was fixed and BP was faced with the daunting task of cleaning millions of barrels of oil out of the sea and offering compensation for those affected. Many Americans volunteered to clean up the mess, but public opinion of the company still fell steeply and they dealt with a plethora of lawsuits that still have not been finished.

assignment 4

A recent occurence that comes to mind when I think of an event that shocked or comforted  our country was the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary; an act of complete insanity that shocked everyone who heard about it. The suspect was believed to be a man by the name Adam Lanza... guilty for the slaughter of so many young children and teachers. Imagine how the parents of these children felt when they received the news of their child's sudden death. It would be almost unbearable, as you can see on the face of this mother. That morning she had brought her child to school; a place where she should feel that her child is safe, and where they should feel safe.
After this event took place, America united and realized that we should never adding that any place is completely safe, and we need to take precautionary measures to make these places more safe in order to protect adults and children. In addition to this, many teachers were recognized for putting their lives in danger to protect  thes
While America might have been torn apart after hearing about this tragedy, It became more united through the process.

Assignment 4 - Julian Perry

On the morning of December 7th, 1941, America was thrust into a second world war. This was a day of silence, of pain, of remembrance even today. Four years later, the war was over. A bloodied army marched no more. A tired navy set sights for home. A nation could finally breath a sigh of relief. This iconic photograph, first appearing in Life Magazine in 1945, shows a sailor's embrace of a long-missed loved one. While ironically, the two people in this picture were actually complete strangers, it still encompasses an entire country's feelings perfectly. The excitement of being home, families being brought together again, was overwhelming for many (making some want to kiss the closest stranger). Everyone knew someone overseas, or at least they knew someone who knew someone overseas.
Beyond this picture is a celebratory nation . Americans were out in the streets, or in their homes with their whole family for the first time in years. National pride was abundant, and happiness as well. The love and joy portrayed in this picture reflects it perfectly. This picture ended the America at war, and reinstated the America that made Americans proud.

Assignment 5: For the Love and Hate of Television

The Emmy Awards are kind of a big deal. Not a big deal in that life-altering-kind-of-way, but a big deal in the sense that a lot of celebrities dress up, that a lot of companies pay more money in advertisements, and a lot of people stop watching reruns.

The Emmys are not the only award extravaganza of the season though. During the first week of October, without the advertising, paparazzi, or celebrities, the Nobel Prizes are announced. But how many people are listening? With the Emmys comes television's fall lineup, but what does the common person get after the announcement of the Nobel Prize in physics?

So, what are your thoughts? Choose one or two or all of the following prompts:

Why do you watch TV? Why do you not? What shows do you love or hate?

Does TV provide a good form of entertainment? Is it just a convenient delivery system for advertisers to send their messages to the masses? Is it an inane use of time? Can it be all three?

What does it say about our society that the Emmy's have so much glitz and attention and the Nobel Prizes are quietly announced in the news? Is this bad? Good? Appropriate?

Check out these sites for more information:

Turn off your TV

Television and Health

Positive Benefits of TV on Toddlers and Children

Due Sunday September 22nd at 11:59 pm 

Assignment 4-Eliot Smith

     On July 20th, 1969, Neil Armstrong descended from the Apollo 11 spaceship and imprinted his footstep into the sand-like substance covering the previously untouched moon.  This monumental event arguably won the Space Race of the Cold War for the United States, a feat that Americans thought very unlikely, considering the fact that the Russians were the first to send a man, Yuri Gagarin, into space.  The landing heavily boosted the morale of the American people and strengthened the concept of American exceptionalism. Additionally, the accomplishment presented a new realm of possibilities regarding extraterrestrial expansion and research.

     The picture represents an advancement for the human species as a whole.  As someone living in the 60's, to think about a man flying into a endless mass of black sky and landing on a speck of white out in the distance is nothing short of astonishing.  As Neil Armstrong himself said while bouncing around on the surface of an unexplored moon, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."  This leap is one that launched the world, especially the United States, into a strange dimension of potentiality.

Assignment 4- Vietnam Protests

This pictures captures the biggest demonstration ever held in America.  In 1969, two million people from all over the country gathered in Washington D.C. to protest the Vietnam War. It was the Tet Offensive in 1968 that really changed America's psychological feelings towards the war. During this battle, American's came to the unsettling and unfamiliar realization that they were involved in a war they could not win. It was a wake up call for most. The American's who swallowed their pride, protested in a demonstration that allowed American Government and war officials to understand the capability of the Vietnamese as well as America's unnecessary presence in Vietnam. The protest shaped America's self-image from unstoppable and ignorant to humble and humanitarian. It was a much needed reality check that although the headstrong are unwilling to admit, benefitted the country.

Blog 4: Pearl Harbor by Margaret Cashman

At 7:48 in the morning on December 7, 1941, most people were still asleep, not having any idea that the world would be forever changed in a matter of 90 minutes. On this day the Imperial Japanese Navy conducted a surprise military attack on the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor. The shock of the Americans was almost tangible, as was their rage. So far America had vowed to stay out of World War II, but after this bombshell from the Japanese support for non-interventionalism ceased to exist. The photo below is of the USS Arizona in the midst of its demise. This single explosion, brought upon by a modified 40 cm shell, accounted for nearly half of the total 2,402 fatalities. After this catastrophic event, The United States entered the Second World War with a vengeance and allied itself with the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. December 7 will always be remembered with grief but it was the spark that ignited the American fury that blazed though the war in tribute to the fallen at Pearl Harbor.  

Assignment 4- Iraq

I'm not a proud American. There a multitude of things that I love about this country but there are also many things about this country that I despise. One of these things is the picture above, it is a picture of an Iraqi soldiers imprisioned by American soldiers and humiliated. I condem most warfare and the things that go along with it, and the war in Iraq is not exceptions. Somehow Americans think that we know what the "best" form of goverment is, and the "morally right" option is in every situation and that we as a country need to use our "higher thinking minds" to fix the worlds problems. But, how can we as a country try to tell others what it right when, as seen in the above picture, we can't even respect basic human rights. Americans say our country is based on the basic principles of freedom, equality, and liberty. But, when I look at this picture all I see it oppression and harsh judgment of people who we slaughtered, took away their land, and left their country in shambles. So, before we try to step in another countries shoes, let us first take ours off and take an honest look as what our country is really doing. 

Assignment 4 Megan Woodrum

January 27, 1945 the Auschwitz concentration camp of World War Two was liberated. This is a picture of the people of the Aschwits camp and some soldiers celebrating. Around the camp the soldiers are discovering the horrid lives the holocoust victims had to live. It is photos like these that startled the world. Noone truly understood what was going on inside these camps until after the war had ended.in this photograph you can clearly see the relief and joy all of these people felt at this moment. This is a celebratory moment for everybody seen in the photograph. Off the picture, on the other hand there were probably many German soldiers who did not feel so great at the moment of defeat and the moment where the world saw the extent of everything terrible the Nazis were doing. 

Assignment 4 - Drew

This, as many can guess, is the mushroom cloud that the atomic bomb "Little Boy" released after detonating over the city of Hiroshima in 1945. This image captures one of the most important events of the 20th century and perhaps in all of human history. But the power of this picture goes well beyond the the equivalent 16 kilotons of dynamite "Little Boy" unleashed on Hiroshima. In it is a whole new humanity, a humanity that has the ability to wipe itself out. On August 6th, 1945, the nuclear weapon made its debut on the world stage as a feasible weapon of war. From that day, a new kind of war was made known man-kind, a new kind of total war; a kind of total war that would terrorize a generation and threaten the planet. This snapshot, while only of a single mushroom cloud, would go on to represent the fear of the world in the 1950s and 60s that such a terror would be discharged upon their city or country. And to this day this image represents the gruesome reality that while the atomic alarmism of 50's and 60's is past, the shadow of nuclear holocaust cast by the vast arsenals of the nations of the world still looms over us.

Assignment 4- Brittany

This picture is a shot of a city in Haiti after it was hit by the disastrous earthquake in 2010. In Haiti, until January 12, 2010, activity was carrying on normally until tragedy struck. An earthquake of a 7.0 magnitude hit Haiti leaving mass destruction everywhere in its path. Cities and buildings were reduced to rubble in minutes. The earthquake left Haiti with an immense death toll and seriously in need of help. Countries from all around the world came together to help this part of Hispaniola. Planes from many countries flew in with medical aid and food and help of every sort. The world united to help one country. In this picture you can see the aftermath of the earthquake. You can see debris and rubble everywhere. What was surely buildings and homes and a city is now unrecognizable smashed cement and wreckage. With the death and destruction this was a truly sad moment for the country of Haiti. I can imagine the people in this photo running along the streets searching for lost family members who may or may not be alive in the rubble. I can imagine how they must feel to have just had their entire lives ripped from them and having no idea where to go or what to do next. They must have felt so helpless looking in the face of what used to be their city and seeing nothing but wreckage.

Assignment 4- Katy

Sickening. Horrifying. Distressing.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, this picture is worth a thousand and one shocking adjectives. On  the morning of December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese air force, killing thousands of innocent lives. This moment is still remembered as a very sad, tragic day in history, and will always be remembered for the lives lost. This picture shows just how devastating the surprise attack was, and can project how horrifying it was once the smoke cleared. Bodies scattered, fire building, debris as far as the eye could see, those who survived this had an awful view.
Just before this picture was taken, the naval base was running smoothly. America had not yet entered the second world war, and all was fine in Pearl Harbor. Although you can't see any people in this photo, one can infer that there are plenty of innocent lives being taken away in the explosion. It takes hundreds of men to run a naval base, and a lot of their lives were taken that day. Those whose lives were not taken and were merely spared with injuries are most likely feeling panicked and desperate for help. This was a complete surprise to everyone in America. Outside of the frame of this picture there are planes flying around, dropping bombs. Once their bombs are gone those planes are diving towards the ships and causing more destruction and loss of life.
When I look at this picture my heart aches for those innocent men and women who died and were injured. I imagine them just going about their daily business. Maybe they were in a meeting in a stuffy room with an oval table and old coffee, discussing some tactics. Perhaps some were outside, walking around, not knowing that the beautiful morning would turn deadly in the blink of an eye. None of them knew what was going to happen next. At the moment of this picture, everyone knew. Everyone knew that they were under attack and it would be hard to escape with their lives. This picture shows how catastrophic the loss of lives is.

Assignment 4

The 1930's were a rough decade, as the Great Depression took its toll on our nation and eventually the world. Unemployment reached an all time low, profits and prices dropped, and international trade plunged. The photograph portrays a mother with her children during the Great Depression. The pain in her eyes depict the struggles she was facing to feed and take care of her children. We have seen this picture in a textbook before and remember feeling sorry and sympathetic to her. At that time, the Great Depression was affecting everyone and the whole nation felt the burden of an economic depression.

Andy- Assignment 4

Arnold Genthe

       On April 18, 1908 a 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit the city of San Francisco.While the earthquake itself was devastating, the majority of the damage resulted from fires that tore through the city for days after. While only 375 deaths were reported is estimated that more than 3,000 people were killed throughout the area. After the incident the U.S. Army sent troops and equipment to put our the fires and provide relief. An estimated 250,000 people were without homes after the fires finally subsided, and while the Army built relief housing for 20,000, many people remained homeless for a long time. An earthquake of this magnitude and devastation was unprecedented in the United States. Many Americans feared more natural disasters as Hurricane Galveston had killed more than 8,000 people only six years before. While the earthquake resulted in thousands of deaths and 400 million dollars in damage it also helped us prepare for the future. The Great San Francisco Earthquake is what alerted scientists to the danger of the San Andreas fault line. It also showed Americans the need to prepare for these disasters by constructing some of the first earthquake-resistant buildings and using fire-proof building materials. This photograph by Arnold Genthe was the first image of the disaster many Americans saw. It showed the sudden destruction and chaos that natural disasters could cause at any moment. The realization of the unpredictability of nature led to many developments in natural disaster protection and safety. 

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/nca/1906/18april/index.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_San_Francisco_earthquake#Magnitude_and_geology

http://americanhurricanes.weebly.com/analysis.html

Assignment 4- Katrina

This is a picture of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana a day after Hurricane Katrina hit. Hurricane Katrina was the largest hurricane, and third strongest hurricane to hit the United States of America. A total of 1,836 people died as a result of Katrina. Katrina's total economic impact could have exceeded 150 billion dollars. Although this was very tragic and disturbing for the people in Louisiana and Mississippi,  it showed the goodness of people from all over the world. Upon seeing pictures of Louisiana people were distraught and upset, however rather then trying to abate their vexation, a lot of people tried to abate the situation. Over 4 billion dollars were donated from America alone. Moreover, millions upon millions of dollars were donated from countries all over the world! Kuwait alone donated 500 million dollars to help Katrina relief, along with Qatar donating 100 million, and many more. In spite of the tragedies that occur during terrible disasters like this one, I like to look at the silver lining, how during these tough times those who are more fortunate tend to band together and help those in need.

Napalm Girl

This Pulitzer-winning photograph, commonly known as "Napalm Girl," was taken by Nick Ut in 1972. It depicts a nine-year-old girl running from her destroyed village of Trang Bang after a napalm attack by South Vietnamese forces. This image really showed the senseless brutality of the war in Vietnam to the public when it was published on the front page of the New York Times. It humanized the violence and showed people that much of the damage in Vietnam was being done to villagers and, like in the photo, even small children. The juxtaposition of the innocence of childhood and the horror of war is inarguably powerful, and works to create one of the most iconic anti-war photographs of all time. People could talk about the violence in Vietnam as much as they wanted to, but it wasn't until the publication of this photo that it really began to feel real to American citizens. It shows how a photograph can change the mindset of a whole group of people, and even the whole course of history.

Assignment 4

This picture, taken during Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous I Had a Dream speech on August 28 1963 helped change the way we live today. As Martin Luther King gave this speech both African Americans and Whites were coming together to help create equality for all. Even though 250,000 people attended this demonstration this image helped send a message through out the country.  As Dr. King looks out into the crowd we can see the vast amounts of people willing and ready to make a change. This picture gives the feeling of empowerment and determination, similar to how all the bystanders and MLK felt. The iconic speech was the turning point in the civil rights movement. Without this moment we as Americans would not be where we are today.

Assignment 4 -Garrett Uebelhor

      This picture shows one catastrophic failure in history, the explosion of the Hindenburg.  Nick-named the Hindenburg disaster this event in history shocked America and many others. At this time in history we believed our future was to move towards zeppelins. The Hindenburg explosion caused us to rethink the way in which we would move forward . If we had not stopped making zeppelins imagine where we could be today.  Our current technology could be completely changed.  This picture truly shaped history by giving bad publicity to zeppelins.  For me this picture stimulates a lot of thought. It causes thoughts about whether we would be the way we are today without the disaster. If instead of becoming interested in designing and redesigning planes all that focus went into zeppelins.  Without the Hindenburg to set a example of the horrific failures possible in zeppelins our world would be different, whether better or worse for the Hindenburg disaster this picture is obviously very important in the  path of techno-logic innovation and with it how our world is today.

Assignment 4

Before this picture was taken, the American presidents have only been of one race: white.  This picture shows President Obama and his wife and children in 2008.  He changed the stereotype for a president.  This event made national news, not only because we had a new leader but because he was black.  This had major implications for the black community of America.  Though we had already gone through the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s, there were still invisible walls holding back the black community from complete equality.  Once Obama was brought into office, it became clear that the blacks of America really can do anything that whites can do.