Stephanie Rathbun

Group Cohesiveness

sjrathbun — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:43:20 +0000

The activity that we did in class in which we were asked to determine whether each statement was supportive or defensive was very helpful. This activity helped me to think about the way I speak to others, and the way my message is received. Determining whether each statement was a supportive or defensive statement made me realize why some of the communication methods that I may have used in the past have failed. Rethinking the way I convey my ideas, and the way that others have attempted to convey their ideas to me has broadened my understanding of the miscommunications that can happen among group members. These findings will allow me to change the way I communicate with others on a personal level, and when working with others to complete the assigned task.

In our last class we discussed Group Cohesiveness, and how it can influence the decisions that group members may make. Group cohesiveness can be defined as the driving force that keeps group members together on a personal and task related level. Group cohesiveness can greatly affect the group climate. The more cohesive the group is, the better the group climate will be, and the more trust the members will have with one another. The activity that we did in class in which we were asked to determine whether each statement was supportive or defensive was very helpful. This activity helped me to think about the way I speak to others, and the way my message is received. Determining whether each statement was a supportive or defensive statement made me realize why some of the communication methods that I may have used in the past have failed. Rethinking the way I convey my ideas, and the way that others have attempted to convey their ideas to me has broadened my understanding of the miscommunications that can happen among group members. These findings will allow me to change the way I communicate with others on a personal level, and when working with others to complete the assigned task.

Drug Testing for Welfare

sjrathbun — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:50:00 +0000

A recent issue that has come to my attention is the idea of drug tests being required for all welfare recipients. This topic has been widely discussed in the media, and even has groups dedicated to the idea on social networking sites such as facebook. Some states have even begun to implement this idea. States such as Michigan have been randomly drug testing welfare recipients as far back as 1999. I think this is an excellent idea, and should be made a requirement in order for any individual to receive welfare.

The economy is difficult right now, for everyone, including both middle class and impoverished people. Programs like food stamps and welfare acquire their funding through taxes paid by the U.S. citizens. The money given to help the needy is taken directly from many hardworking people, that have earned their money honestly and deservingly, and because of this, it is of dire importance that this money is used in the way it is intended to be used.

Understandably so, especially in this tough economy, things can be very difficult for working mothers, who simply cannot afford to feed their families on only the income that they make. This type of situation is the reason that welfare was set up in the first place, to help the needy. Unfortunately, at times money that should’ve been spent towards food and necessities for the family, is being spent frivolously, in order to feed the recipients drug addictions.

As a result of this, I believe that implementing a required drug test for all welfare recipients would greatly reduce the amount of Americans hard-earned money being spent dishonestly. This testing would weed out the population that is receiving this money, and using it for purposes other than what it is intended for.

This Emotional Life

sjrathbun — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:19:02 +0000

In the movie “This Emotional Life” that we watched in our Human Communication class, I found some particular theories to be interesting. Particularly, the theory that early life experiences can lead to emotional or relationship problems later in life.

I believe this theory to be true in my own life, and the lives of a number of my friends that I have observed over the years. One of my friends in particular has dealt with a string of failed relationships and difficulties with men. I believe that these issues could be a direct result of an abusive and dominating relationship she had at a young age. That instability laid the groundwork for all of her future relationships to fail, because it gave a false example of the way one is supposed to behave when in a serious relationship with someone you love.

In my own life, my father’s demeanor was harsh and pretentious a good majority of the time while I was growing up. I feel like that example of what a male figure is supposed to act like has changed my perception of what to look for in a future spouse. I find myself sometimes attracted to similar qualities, in the men that I date. It is very difficult to overcome these perceptions that have been ingrained in my mentality from an early age, I find myself dating men with flaw’s and thinking that I can somehow change them, when in reality I should take a step back and re route the type of men I am attracted to in the first place.

Calendar Change at RIT

sjrathbun — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:32:57 +0000

A topic that has been recently debated around the RIT campus is the possible change from the quarter system in place now, to the two semester system that most colleges have in place. I believe that this change could bring about both positive and negative results.

Making a change such as this would be in some ways extremely beneficial to RIT students. A longer winter break would allow more time during those cold winter months to spend time with family and possibly work a part time job in order to save money for the coming spring term. The semester system could also be helpful in that, as most of us know, in Rochester the weather can be unpredictable and at times close to impossible to drive in. For those of us who live off campus, digging the car out of the snow and driving to class in unsafe conditions sometimes twice daily can be a large hassle. A longer winter break would allow students some time off during these months in that weather conditions are harsh and travel is difficult.

Aside from the clear and obvious benefits to a calendar change there are obvious downfalls. A typical college requires about 120 credits for graduation, more or less. At RIT, particularly in my major, New Media Publishing, I am required to complete 182 credits. If the calendar were to be changed it would be very difficult to complete this amount of credits and still graduate on time. In order for this system to work degree requirements would need to be modified. As a result of this it is possible that the high academic standards held for students at RIT would be compromised.

Personal Speculation

sjrathbun — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:15:40 +0000

I believe that the future of publishing will be drastically different than we see it today. More and more publications will go digital, We will start seeing less and less physical paper waste. While in the very near future print publications are still the leading way for magazines and newspapers to deliver information, we could see this start to change drastically as time moves forward.

Search Advertising Vs. Traditional Print Advertising

sjrathbun — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:04:03 +0000

When surfing online one may be exposed to hundreds of various pop up ads all over the internet. In some ways, using this method could be more efficient than traditional forms of print advertising or broadcast. When one receives a newspaper or magazine one can usually find many ad’s packed inside. Readers who are not looking to purchase anything may just throw these ad’s away without even giving them a second look. Ad’s on T.V. can also easily be ignored by changing the channel when the commercial comes on, or getting up and doing something else, instead of watching these ad’s.

When one is searching online and an ad pops up, the user is forced to view this ad, whether they are interested or not, because it has just interrupted whatever they were previously doing online. Whether one is interested in this ad or not is irrelevant, this company has just gained exposure. The more people that find out about their product, the more they will sell, the more money they make, and the more successful they will be overall. These ad’s can be cheaply created and do not cost as much as a company may be spending to have their ad published in the newspaper, or in a magazine. Because of this, online advertising is becoming more and more popular, because it is easy, cost efficient and effective.

New Devices Revolutionizing the Publishing Industry

sjrathbun — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:51:11 +0000

New Manufacturing capabilities such as digital print-on-demand and devices such as the Amazon Kindle are revolutionizing the publishing industry.

The new technology created and produced with the Amazon Kindle could make enormous breakthroughs in the future of publishing. This particular device allows users to search for ebooks online and download them straight to the device. It is much cheaper and less time consuming than going to the bookstore to purchase the book. After downloading virtually any ebook one could want, This device allows the user to read directly from the screen as if they are reading a real book. New technologies such as this are crucial to the world of publishing because they could someday eliminate all printing on paper and speed up the crossover towards going digital.

Print Publications Making Crossover to Internet

sjrathbun — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:42:19 +0000

With the way technology is evolving it is becoming more and more common to see print publications like magazines and newspapers making the cross over to the internet. This drastic change in technology presents various challenges and opportunities along with it.

At first, making the crossover to the internet may be difficult. That particular publication may feel like they would be losing readers if they were to stop printing and post only online. This could be very true. Many readers would stop reading that publication if it required them to go to a website to read it, instead of having it delivered to them or physically in their hands.

Despite the challenge of keeping readers interested using a different medium of delivering information, making the crossover to the Internet could be well worth the readers they could be losing. Readers who are devoted fans of that publication would make the effort to go to a website in order to acquire the information that they desire. While making this change could cost them some of the more casual readers, the amount of money and physical waste they would be saving by making this change, would outweigh the loss by far.

Role of the Daily Newspaper in Our Society

sjrathbun — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:24:24 +0000

The newspaper, more locally the Democrat and Chronicle, plays a crucial role in the way our society acquires information. Every morning many Americans receive or purchase a daily newspaper. For those of us who do not depend on television, the Internet, or other forms of media for information, there is the newspaper.

The newspaper plays a unique role in our society. Its purpose is to inform the general public of news going on locally, nationally, and all over the world. It has a tremendous influence on the opinions of the millions of people who choose to read it. What were to happen if this source of news disappeared? Technology is rapidly changing and headed towards going digital. We are starting to see more and more sources of news publishing stories online, as opposed to in print. This method saves a monumental amount of waste and is clearly a more eco-friendly option for acquiring information, but what will this mean for the future of our culture?

If the newspaper were to stop being printed, individuals would have to resort to other means of acquiring the information that they need. Online newspapers and televised news would become increasingly popular among previous newspaper readers. At this point in time, I do not believe our society is ready for a change such as this. As time goes on I believe it will become more acceptable for newspapers to go digital, as our generation has grown up using the Internet, watching television and has been greatly influenced already, by digital media.

Six Vectors of Print Value

sjrathbun — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 01:52:07 +0000

The six value vectors of print value introduced in Chapter 7 of the New Medium of Print by Professor Frank Cost included:

Informative – the ability of the product to convey information from sender to receiver.

Ex. Newspaper

Instructive (directive) – The ability of the product to convey instructions or directions from sender to receiver.

Ex. A recipe book

Persuasive – The ability of the product to persuade the receiver to take some course of thought or action.

Ex. Sales brochure

Evocative – The ability of the product to induce an intended emotion.

Ex. Book of poetry

Decorative – The ability of the product to favorably alter the appearance of an environment.

Ex. Wallpaper

Operative – The ability of the product to enable actions or transactions to take place.

Ex. Passport

These six vectors create an excellent way of describing various types of print by their intended function. Perhaps something that could also be included would be Entertainment. This would include the ability of the product to entertain its audience. Certain types of print are created for the soul purpose of entertaining the receiver. An example of this could be a video game, or a tabloid featuring photographs of your favorite celebrities.