04
Dec 12

Rhetorical Skills

My professor for PLSC 001 is very, very good at taking complex government policies, tendencies, origins, and practices and simplifying them down into easily grasped concepts.  As expected in an introductory level course, there are a lot of definitions to memorize, though when he introduces terms in the lecture, he tends to stray from sticking to the text on the slide (the definition) and talk about real-world and historical examples of when or how what’s on the slide has affected/changed government.  I find that these examples help the concepts stick better than just reading the slide would because it gives us a model of what the concept actually looks like in practice.  My professor also uses iClickers to poll the class on public opinion questions, or to review/further enforce a concept, and then compares our results to that of any national polls conducted (if applicable).  This teaching strategy ensures that the students in lecture are actively listening to what you have to say, and once again displays immediate support for many concepts learned in class (Ex:  Public opinion polls: class results typically align with national results, national results support governmental claim/policy/tendency explained in class).

My professor is also a stimulating public speaker.  He uses hand gestures often, and tends to walk around the front of the lecture hall while presenting as opposed to standing behind a podium.  He places emphasis on certain words to avoid sounding monotonous, which I have found other professors to fall prey to after talking for 20 minutes straight.  I have never once doubted his credibility, as the way he presents information and to what extent really displays his passion for and in-depth knowledge of political science.


04
Dec 12

“If you swallow your gum, it takes 7 years for it to leave your body.” – Fact or Fiction?

If you’re a 90’s baby, you’ve probably seen that episode of Nickoledon’s cartoon series Rugrats where Chuckie swallows a watermelon seed and fears a watermelon will begin to grow inside him as a result.  Many children fear similar, disastrous things will happen when they swallow something they believe they shouldn’t, and in most cases, their fears are not warranted.  However, when it comes to swallowing gum, even adults are concerned with the negative consequences that result (or at least, what they think will result).  Most people are under the assumption that when you swallow your gum, it will stay in your digestive tract for a total of 7 years, and if you swallow too much of it, a mass of the sticky substance will begin to form inside your body (certainly that would cause adverse health affects!).

Today is the day all those believers reading this can breathe a little easier, for the rumor is nothing but an old wives’ tale (for the most part).  According to this article, the concerns associated with swallowing gum most likely arise after looking at the list of ingredients – something the author refers to as “a delicious mix of indigestible compounds” – and assuming that our bodies just can’t process that sort of unnatural creation, when in fact, the opposite is true.  As the previous article so eloquently states, “our stomach muscles contract and relax, earthworm style, to force the things we swallow down and out. So, unless you’re replacing meals with the stuff, you’re probably OK.”  Basically, unless you’re being force fed wads of gum on a daily basis (which, I assume, most believers in this notion are not), you shouldn’t worry about swallowing the occasional piece here and there, because our bodies are equipped to flush out the bad stuff!

So go ahead, kid-chewing-gum-in-lab-when-you-shouldn’t-but-you’re-too-lazy-to-walk over-to-the-trash-can-and-spit-it-out, swallow that gum!  Just don’t make it a habit.


04
Dec 12

WIP: Problems w/ Project

A problem we were having with the history of a public controversy iMovie was finding a direction to go in that displayed the exigence of marijuana legalization, whether for medicinal or recreational purposes.  We had a lot of historical informations/facts/statistics, as well as lists of pros and cons of marijuana as a whole (though we found that information to be largely biased), but we weren’t quites sure how to arrange it in a way that displayed why the issue was relevant today.  The discussion we had with Kyle this morning during class really helped us think about what point we’re trying to get across, and altered our thinking regarding how we should go about doing that.  Hopefully, we’re able to produce a presentation that is effective by reorganizing our information.

Personally, I was having problems adjusting to iMovie as I have never utilized the program before.  It took me a whole afternoon to figure most of it out, but since then it has been pretty smooth sailing (thanks to YouTube help videos)!


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