RSS Feed

‘Uncategorized’ Category

  1. Advocacy Project

    April 18, 2013 by Taylor Kantner

    domestic violence brochure

    This is the final product of my advocacy project. I decided to create  a brochure to spread awareness about what domestic violence is and how someone can figure out when it’s happening. Hope you enjoy!


  2. CI #4 Discrimination in Certain Jobs

    April 16, 2013 by Taylor Kantner

    There have been studies for both men and women in the job market with findings that the more attractive people are hired. Most would say this type of discrimination is not fair and this should not be allowed to happen. I have come across an article from 2010 that actually says the complete opposite. Another study was done and showed results that contradicted the idea of hiring someone because they were more attractive. Coming from a professor from Denver Business School at the University of Colorado “attractive women face discrimination when it comes to landing certain kinds of jobs.” The findings from this study were particularly focused on women and that the more attractive weren’t hired for certain types of jobs such as, “manager of research development, director of finance, mechanical engineer, and construction supervisor.” I guess these jobs wouldn’t typically be considered a woman’s job, but that’s the problem. There is a stereotype for each of these jobs, especially for the construction supervisor. The fact that attractive women aren’t hired just because of what type of job it is is an issue all in itself. An interesting point that the article does make clear is that attractive men weren’t affected by this and seemed to have the advantage all of the time. This is for sure a double standard within the workforce that shouldn’t be occurring.

    The article goes on to say that there is a name for this type of situation occurring, ” the ‘beauty is beastly’ effect.” The fact that these women may be more attractive than others is actually hurting them when it comes to being hired for certain jobs rather than helping them, which is usually the case. I guess it makes more sense to hire attractive people in jobs that deal with sales and having to interact with people and convince them to buy a product, but that shouldn’t be the only quality an employer looks for.  Also, another point the article makes is that attractive women are still put into roles such as secretaries or receptionists or any other stereotypical feminine occupation. I think these jobs will always be considered more feminine and more of a woman’s job, but I don’t think a male should be ashamed or embarrassed to be hired as a secretary. I think it’s definitely time to move forward and make further progress in striving to get as close to equality as we can within the workforce.

    http://phys.org/news200318394.html


  3. CI #3 Powerful Women

    April 15, 2013 by Taylor Kantner

    Men may be considered by many as the most successful or the best in business, but women are close behind. There are important, successful women all throughout history and today classified in Forbes’ “World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.” The article about powerful women all over the world just goes to show that women are certainly more than capable of making a name for themselves and do so in a most elegant fashion. The Forbes’ World’s 100 Most Powerful Women includes women that have succeeded in politics, media, business, etc. It covers a huge range of jobs, women making it clear that you can be successful in just about any job you work hard for, no matter man or woman.

    Some of the women that made the list are Hillary Clinton, Oprah, Lady Gaga, and Diane Sawyer. The women I just named are from the United States, but there are women on the list from all over the world, such as Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Ministers, and CEO’s of companies all over the world. One of the youngest women on the list is the Yahoo! CEO as of July of last year. I think most people were shocked when she was chosen and decided to take the job. At only 37 years old it just shows women and younger girls what you can accomplish when you work hard for something. I think that’s a great thing about all these women making a name for themselves, young girls can look up to them and see what they have succeeded throughout their lives and these girls will want to follow in their footsteps. These women are role models to young girls. I think every young girl should have some sort of role model in her life, someone to look up to and strive for similar goals.

    These women on the list of Forbes’ “World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” give girls something to strive for everyday. I love the fact that these women are accomplishing things that not too long ago  many would have thought to be a man’s role in society. I would love to see women’s names on that list in the future that are younger and show the world that they have worked hard to get where they are and women too can rule the world.

    http://www.forbes.com/power-women/list/

     

     

     


  4. CI #2

    February 6, 2013 by Taylor Kantner

    http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/05/opinion/york-male-secretaries/index.html?hpt=op_t1

    I found an article on CNN by Anne York for my civic issues blog dealing with my topic of women in the workplace. The article, “Men, feel liberated to become secretaries”, brings up the idea that even though women have made a great deal of progress in the workforce, the most common job for a women even today is still a secretary. Certain jobs have been stereotyped to be a “feminine” job and that’s the reason why many men don’t want to enter into those jobs. Women have made much success in striving for more male types of jobs, while men have not really strayed outside of male dominated jobs into ones that are thought of to be more of a women’s job, such as a secretary. One job that has attracted more men in the past few decades is nursing. There are many more male nurses today than in 1970, but this seems like the only large exception. Although nursing is becoming more of an equal occupation with men and women, there are certain jobs, such as librarians, that are not attracting any men at all and “have become even more female-dominated.” So in this sense, even though women are making progress, like with anything, it takes time.

    One interesting fact that I read in this article is that these more female dominated jobs pay less than male dominated jobs. York then goes on to say that this may be true, but there are also male dominated jobs, such as landscapers or janitors, that earn less than most other male dominated jobs. In this respect, there are certain male dominated jobs that equate to female dominated jobs. One other change that has happened within families is that women are now contributing to more of the income between her and her spouse, maybe even more than her spouse in some cases, too. I think women are slowly but surely catching up to men in the workforce. After all, York does mention that “of the top 10 occupations projected to grow in jobs in this decade, half are female dominated.” Maybe it’ll be a while until women and men are equal, or maybe it will never be completely equal, but with the facts from this article it seems like women will only keep striving for more until we finally get, or as close to, the equality that they want and deserve.


  5. This I Believe

    January 23, 2013 by Taylor Kantner

    Everything Happens For a Reason

    I didn’t really understand it when I was younger; I only knew to go along with it. I was a first grader that went back and forth from my dad’s house to my mom’s apartment. I don’t think it really bothered me much since I had my own room at each place decorated just the way I wanted it. I just remember it being weird that my parents lived in separate places. They weren’t divorced, but separated. Though many stories like this don’t end with happy endings, this one does. My parents got back together and have been together ever since. Like I said, I couldn’t really understand this situation until I grew up and was able to look back and realize that even though this was an unpleasant situation, maybe it was supposed to happen. Maybe my parents needed to take a break from each other for a while only to come back to each other later. My parent’s separation has made me believe that everything happens for a reason.

    Some things in life we don’t realize until we get older. Whether it’s who our true friends are, that working hard in school will eventually pay off in the future, or even why we break up with our girlfriend or boyfriend, it takes some time to process. The only way we finally get to that place of understanding is when we start to think about how much our lives have changed just because of that one thing that happened to us in the past. Those “why me?” moments have happened to all of us. I truly believe there is a reason for every single one of those moments. It may take some time to figure out what those moments mean, but in hindsight we will more than likely realize they were meant to happen to only open a door to greater opportunities.

    Personally, it has taken some heartbreaks and rough times for me to recognize that everything happens for a reason. People may think differently or the opposite, but I know that from my personal experience there are definitely times that have knocked me down, but have only made me realize that they needed to happen. Those times were needed to happen to keep me moving forward.

    Just like with my parents, people have to find that light at the end of the tunnel after all is said and done, in order to fully understand why it all happened. Now in my life today, this is a belief I live by. I believe everything happens for a reason.


  6. RCL #8 – Rhetoric of Protest Signs

    October 25, 2012 by Taylor Kantner

    The protest sign I chose is this one above clearly showing how in this day and age we’re still having a hard time accepting homosexuals. It shows how we’ve conquered the issues of women’s rights and African-American rights, but still the issue of gay rights hangs in suspension. It has gotten a lot better than it used to be, but nonetheless it is still a fight that shouldn’t have to be fought anymore. This sign definitely shows questions of conjecture and that there is a problem that needs to be discussed and resolved in some way. It also shows questions of definition since it states the issue of gay marriage in relation to the resolution women’s and African-American rights. Questions of quality come up in this image due to the fact that this is a debatable topic and there are different viewpoints on it, good and bad, fair and unfair. Lastly, I think it also brings up questions of policy because something does need to be done about this issue. Specific  action should take place and sooner rather than later, so we are able to get past this issue as well. This sign is saying women and African-Americans had their time for movement and change and now it’s time for the gay community to have the same opportunities.


  7. WIP #5 – Focus for Paradigm Shift

    October 17, 2012 by Taylor Kantner

    I’m not too sure yet, but the focus I think I’m going with for my paradigm shift paper is the evolution of theater within the past century. Theater is one of my favorite things. I love being on stage and watching performances from the audience. It’s something that I thoroughly enjoy and would love to learn more about. So through this paper, I hope to learn how it has come to be the theater it is today. I also think this topic would be pretty interesting for others that don’t necessarily have the love I do for theater. Everyone loves a good show and it’s always interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes.

    In the past century, theater has gone through a couple changes. One started in the early 1900s and is known as expressionist drama, including ensemble and absurdist theater. This type of theater focused on more frightening and more violent aspects to create a kind of nightmare onstage. Then as time went on after World War I and through the rest of the 20th century contemporary drama emerged. During the 60s and 70s expressing ideas through language was how most playwrights chose to write their plays.

    I think it’s really interesting how theater has evolved over time, especially since it’s something I love to be involved with. I’m pretty excited, as well, to research the evolution of theater over the past century and learn more about how its changed. I still don’t know a lot about it, only from looking at one source, a website called history of drama, but I don’t doubt I’ll be able to find much more information on the topic. I only wonder how much more it’ll change in the future.


  8. PAS #1 Every Day’s a New One

    September 16, 2012 by Taylor Kantner

    Today is a gift, that’s why it’s called the present. This advice is what I try to live by. I believe that life is short and in order to live a happy and fulfilling life, one should try to take on and learn new things every day. Through my passion blog I hope t0 convince other people to get out and try new things because that’s what life is all about! I think it’s healthy for people to get out and try new things, whether it’s just trying new food or even traveling somewhere they’ve never been. Every week I will write about something new I experienced and hope to inspire others to try it as well. I’ll pick something new to try or experience and then blog about it here. I’m also pretty interested in hearing some suggestions from my classmates. There is so much out there to do and I’m the kind of person that tries to  take advantage every opportunity that comes my way. Everyone has their own “bucket list” in life and this blog will hopefully push me to cross some things off mine that I’ve been wanting to do. I like to set goals for myself in order to get that ultimate feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. It’s quite an empowering feeling and just builds my confidence even more. I’ve learned to live life to the fullest and I hope people can come along with me for the ride.


  9. WIP #1 – Ideas for Civic Engagement Speech

    September 13, 2012 by Taylor Kantner

    The artifact I have chosen for my civic engagement speech is based on an email I have received recently. It is the Student Philanthropy Council, specifically for students at Penn State and encourages students to get involved in philanthropy here on campus. This Student Philanthropy Council wants to increase the awareness of giving back among students and to get others involved as well. It strives for creating a legacy of philanthropy here at Penn State and just to get as many students as possible involved with such events in the community. I think this organization, or in this case council, is right for this assignment since that’s basically what civic engagement is. Getting involved in the community in some way for the purpose of bettering the community. This council is a great way to get involved in something that does help the community not in one way, but several and find a place for anyone to do something they feel great about. This council will show the rest of the community that students do care about what types of things go on in the community and want to help out when something or someone needs it. I think it shows that students are willing to help when it is needed and even in the cases when it’s not but do anyway just for the sake of community service. The Student Philanthropy Council is a great way to get involved on campus and feel good about yourself for helping others in need.


  10. RCL #2 – YouTube Delivery Analysis

    September 12, 2012 by Taylor Kantner

    Miracle speech

    The YouTube video I chose to analyze is the speech from the movie Miracle. Coach Brooks gives his team a pep talk before the big match against the Soviets. This speech lasts about 2 minutes, but greatly emphasizes the delivery concepts  we learned about in class. Coach Brooks uses extemporaneous speaking in this situation since even though he probably has the main points of the speech planned out in his head, but not memorized down to the exact words he wants to use. You can tell just watching him speak he takes pauses to think about what he wants to say next and this ties into his dynamic speaking throughout it all. The team in the film, and even the audience watching the film, are so engaged in what he’s saying there is not much notice of the verbal delivery behaviors. This point is what makes the speech more effective in the long run, too. When Coach says “this is your time”, he puts such an emphasis on it by raising the volume of his voice along with the pitch and I think this is really where the adrenaline kicks in for the teammates. Even for me, I know I felt those goosebumps you feel when something gets you really excited and pumped up for something big. He made sure to turn around in the circle and address every one of the players, making sure they all knew they were all in it together. He had to make this speech catch the players attention and get them fired up to win, so in this case what you say and how you say it were both important to obtain the effect he wanted. Coach Brooks does a great job of avoiding vocal fillers, as well. He doesn’t once say um, like, or anything like that, but instead pauses and thinks of what he wants to say next. Granted, this is a movie and it’s scripted, but he no doubt pulls out a great vocal delivery to the team before the big game. Speakers like Coach Brooks do a great job engaging the audience and making people WANT to listen to what they have to say. Overall, Coach Brooks’ really showcased how to present a speech that engaged the audience, both on screen and off, and that what you say and how you say it are both equally important in this situation.


Skip to toolbar