Here We Go!

DONE!!!

2009-05-06T15:51:00.000-07:00

As Final's week comes to a close, I dig deep to find that feeling of accomplishment. Nothing. Even though I am finished with tests and projects, blogs, papers, and quizzes, I do not feel "DONE." To take the a step further, I am done with college, graduating on Friday although I can not attend the ceremony because I will be in Grand Junction, CO competeing in the Regional tournament for tennis. So if I were to attend the ceremony, would I feel 'done'? Chances are NO! A friend pointed out, 'Maybe it's because you are still going to practice every day and playing tennis so since that hasn't ended yet you still feel like you are in the same routine." This is a great point. One that I had considered but never really paid too much attention to. Another fact is I am not moving out of my house so the huslte and bustle of packing, like I had experienced the past three years when school was out, just wasn't there this year. Perhaps it is the fact that tennis hasn't come to a close for me yet. Let's hope that this weekend doesn't end it either. Should we win two matches this weekend we proceed to Nationals in Florida!!! What a wonderful graduation present, I think!

Commentary C.D. Review: Taylor Swift’s Fearless

2009-04-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

“We all have fears and there are a lot of things we’re afraid of, but we jump anyway.”

Taylor Swift, an eighteen year old songwriting, guitar playing artist, seems to have definitely ‘jumped’ regardless of her fears. From performing at the young age of ten in every karaoke contest, festival and county fair that passed through her hometown of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, to signing her very first record deal before she could even drive, Taylor has leaped head first to fulfill her dreams—she is the definition of fearless.

Upon its release on November 11, 2008, Fearless sold nearly 600,000 copies in only its first week. This savant, lyric-writing genius, with a gift for verse-chorus-bridge structure saw her sophomore record, in which she wrote almost every one of the thirteen songs, remain number one on Billboard’s Top 200 chart for eleven consecutive weeks. From this accomplishment, Taylor holds the longest reign at the number one spot on this all-genre chart.

After listening to her lyrics, one can picture themselves as a character in her musical story tales. Her music is written based on her own, real-life experiences. Rarely does she change anything about the situation or the people involved in the experience she retells through her lyrics. She paints a picture in her audience’s mind where they can truly relate to the situation the song’s character faces.

Though only eighteen, Taylor’s lyrics are words of wisdom, support, determination, power and confidence that, if you listen you would think were coming from a fifty-something year old who has long lived life—something of an 18 going on 50 affect I guess. She combines her passion for music, talent for writing and expertise at playing the guitar and belting her vocal cords to deliver her fans the absolute best music possible. It’s no wonder that in such a short time Taylor has scored four number one country singles from her two records.

Fearless currently has a hit single that put Taylor at number one in another realm. ‘Love Story’ made history as it hit number one on both the country and pop music charts. In this song, Taylor adds a twist to Shakespeare’s story of Romeo and Juliet giving her fans a more likable and desirable ending than what the literature gives its readers.

Her second number one on the Fearless record, ‘White Horse,’ is a slower, melodic tune of inspiring words that may help one get through a break up or get out of an unpleasant situation. It brings our fairy tale visions of love and relationships to the context of real life. We can dream about our princes and princesses but we must wake up and face reality; sometimes we have to tell our prince charmings it’s too late for you and your white horse to come around.

Based on the sounds and lyrics of Taylor’s eleven other songs on her triple platinum Fearless record, it would not be a surprise—at all—if she had a few more hit singles top the charts. As the youngest artist in history to win this year’s Album of the Year at the Academy of Country Music awards, it is evident Taylor took a jump, head first, Fearless.

Fearless C.D. Review--Taylor Swift

2009-04-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

Taylor Swift's website

RMAC CHAMPS!!!!!!!

2009-04-27T12:46:00.000-07:00

WE DID IT!!! For the second year in a row, the UNK women's tennis team has captured the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title. It was a very very cold Saturday morning. Drizzle floated down from the overcast sky and a small breeze was enough to send a cold chill up your spine. We began our warm-up with layers upon layers on our bodies. Knowing that soon we would be warm, we continued moving around to produce warmth throughout. Our poor but amazing fans sat through six-hour period of turning their heads to the left and then the right time after time again.

After doubles play, we were down 1-2. Cruising into singles, we soon tied the score with our number 3 player capturing a win. Just after losing our number 2 singles spot, our number 1 girl won as well as I at number 4! Only needing one more win to be the first to 5, our number 5 and 6 girls took the court. Before the 5 spot could finish, UNK's 6 girl clinched the match, crowning us RMAC Champs!

The level of excitement was rather low as our opponent's 6 girl lost the match on a double fault (missing two serves in a row), not the way we want to win! But when we were rewarded that shining plate, the excitement and joy finally set in.

Now we wait. We wait to hear whether we will host Regionals in Kearney or if we will have to travel to another site to compete. Should it be in Kearney, we need all the support we can get! If we receive the number 1 seed, we would advance to the finals and should we win that match, its off to FLORIDA for the sweet sixteen!!!

Heading to the Finals!!!

2009-04-24T17:41:00.000-07:00

Sooooooooooooo PUMPED!!! Today we had a HUGE win!! First, we won our first round of tournament play 9-0. That was great but our next challenge was staring us in the eyes as we left the Gates tennis center and headed to Denver University's courts for our semifinals match against Montana Billings. After losing 4-5 to this team last weekend in Montana, we were out to get revenge. AND.....we pulled it off, this time defeating them 5-4! It came down to our final match and what a great victory she had. We sent Montana home with the feeling of defeat...ah yes, revenge is so so sweet! Our cheering section was so awesome and kept us pumped the entire time. Their support definitely helped carry us through!

Now, tomorrow we head to the heart of Denver, to play the Championship match at 8:00 am. The weather was absolutely perfect for the most part today. However, unfortunately tomorrow does not seem to be the same case. Rain, 41 degrees and isolated thunderstorms is what is in store for us tomorrow. We will use it to our advantage and hopefully bring home the plate! We are still unsure of who we play in the finals but it will either be Mesa, who we lost 4-5 to in the regular season match or Metro, who we have lost to once 4-5 and beat once 5-4. Either way it'll be a battle to the very end! Our adrenaline is up and we are fierce. By our wins today we secured our spot to compete at the regional tournament during finals week, so whether we come home with a win tomorrow or not, our season is still not over. We will continue working hard at practice and hitting the book for the next couple of weeks! What a great way to end my final year--it will only be sweeter with a big win attached onto it as well!!!

RMAC TIME!

2009-04-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

As I miss class for yet the fourth Thursday in April, I promise that it is all for good reason! This weekend we are in Denver, CO for the Rockey Mountain Athletic Conference tennis tournament. We are contending for back to back titles. A Cinderella story as a matter of fact last year. We found ourselves seated 4th and rose to the occasion beating the number 1 seed in the semi final round. Then knocking off the number two team in the finals, but one match point. This year it looks as if we are in the same ranking. Crossing our fingers for another title, we hope to perform at our highest level and bring home the trophy (plate in our case!) The teams seeded ahead of us were all close matches between the two of us, only losing by one point to each of the teams ranked above us.

Tomorrow we head to the courts for our first round of match play. Our poise, footwork, timing, consistency, and many other factors will be key in our overall performance. With higher altitudes, we are required to play with special balls making them heavier with the light air. Stay posted for our results after tomorrow's matches. Hoping for a win at 8:00 should bring us to play later tomorrow afternoon as well. Wish us LUCK!!!!

Column 3--Final

2009-04-23T16:57:00.000-07:00

“I stole things…a lot.” “I was a bitch and I knew it.” “I started drinking when I was in seventh grade.”

Looking at her today, one never would have guessed such confessions would come from that mouth of hers. However, she wasn’t always that way growing up. One, life-changing event caused these imperfections at a young age but more so has helped her become that great person she is today, a strong-willed, big-hearted, outgoing, and caring individual who is occasionally stubborn and knows what she wants and just how to get it. But most of all to me, she’s my best friend.

Growing up in Arizona’s elite suburb of Scottsdale, McKenna lived a great life. She had a lot of friends, an overprotective big brother and two supportive and loving parents. It was summer year round in her world and that was just the way she liked it. One particular Saturday in February will remain in her mind for the rest of her life.

It was 1999, a warm February day in Arizona. A little convincing the night before had earned McKenna and her brother, Dan, the opportunity to spend the night at a friend’s house, an event of great deal when you are 12 and 15 years old.

Dan, a typical sports fanatic, teenage boy, rushed home from his night of fun, excited for a basketball date with his dad. Walking in the door and heading up to his room, he passed his father who seemed to be peacefully napping on the couch. When Dan returned to inform his dad that he was ready to go, he looked closer and realized his father was only a motionless, lifeless corpse. Home alone, Dan raced outside, dropped to his knees and began to pray.

When he was able to break from his overflow of emotion, he got on the phone and contacted his mother, Chirs, who was away in Colorado for the weekend. She took the next flight back to Arizona, but until she arrived home, Dan and McKenna would have to grow up too fast.

“When I got home that day, my Grandma hugged me and told me that my dad had had a heart attack. I knew in my mind that he was dead but I refused to believe it. Then, when my mom, Dan and I walked into the house to see him together it was unreal. It was the weirdest feeling, something I can’t explain. I saw him there but knew it wasn’t my dad anymore, his soul was gone,” McKenna said.

My best friend had lost one of her best friends that day. Jeff Irwin, a very well-known and likable person, suffered from drinking and drug abuse, which in the end got the best of him. An overdose of cocaine had taken over his body and caused his heart to fail.

Immediately after this tragedy, McKenna struggled. She stopped believing in God, started drinking often, began to steal and turned into someone she was not. The now threesome moved to Omaha, Nebraska where McKenna would search for that person she was deep inside. After an unpleasant morning due to a night of drinking, she decided this lifestyle had to go. “I thought to myself, ‘Why am I drinking when this is something that killed my dad?’”

McKenna cleaned up her act—big time. She didn’t have a sip of alcohol until her 21st birthday. She began believing in God again, the criminal in her ceased and she became the person she is today. “Yeah, that was a tough period to get through. But I strongly believe everything happens for a reason and the incident I went through and surpassed with my dad has helped me to be a better person in the end.”

Column 3 Draft

2009-04-23T16:47:00.000-07:00

It was the end. The end of a fabulous foursome, the end of a loving father and wonderful husband’s life.

That Saturday in February began as any normal day for the Irwin family in 1999. It was warm, as the sun glistened in Arizona’s elite suburb of Scottsdale. A little convincing the night before had earned the two children the opportunity to spend the night at a friend’s house, an event of great deal when you are 12 and 15 years old.

Dan, a typical sports fanatic, teenage boy, rushed home from his night of fun, excited for a basketball date with his dad. Walking in the door and heading up to his room to get changed, he passed his father who was peacefully napping on the couch. When Dan returned to inform his dad that he was ready to go, he looked closer and realized his father was only a motionless, lifeless corpse. Home alone, Dan raced outside, dropped to his knees and began to pray.

When he was able to break from his overflow of emotion, he got on the phone and contacted his mother, Chirs, who was away in Colorado for the weekend. Without saying a word about the life changing event that had just occurred, Chris knew right away that something just wasn’t right. She soon took the next flight back to Arizona, but until she arrived home, Dan would have to grow up too fast.

His younger sister, McKenna, a strong-willed, big-hearted outgoing individual, had not yet come home. Her dad was to have picked her up and taken her to dance class that day. “I waited and waited and he never came. Finally, Rachel, a family friend, showed up and I got in with her,” McKenna said. What heartache must have faced Rachel as she knew she had a big task ahead of her. “We talked as if it was any ordinary day, conversing back and forth. Then, as we turned the corner to my street, she started balling and said ‘I don’t think you’ll be going to dance today.’”

Cop cars, police men and neighbors flooded the sidewalk and driveway. “My first instinct was that my mom’s plane had crashed, but then I remembered she wasn’t coming home today day so she wouldn’t have been on a plane,” McKenna said.

Still clueless as to what was going on, McKenna found her Grandmother in the backyard and ran to her. She held her close and told McKenna that her father had a heart attack. McKenna knew he was dead, but she refused to believe it.

Moments later, Chris pulled into the driveway and hurried out of the car. Dan, McKenna and Chirs would now face this unrealistic tragedy together. They sobbed, grasping each other tightly for comfort. The three decided to go into the living room together, to see their beloved father and husband one last time. “It was the weirdest feeling, something I can’t explain. I saw him there and knew that wasn’t my dad anymore, his soul was gone,” McKenna said.

Jeff Irwin, the biological father of my best friend, McKenna, had lost his life that day. He was very well-known, liked by many and extremely important to those with whom he was close. After years of drinking and drug abuse, they got the best of him. An overdose of cocaine had taken over his body and caused his heart to fail.

More discussion on Disney...

2009-04-17T18:03:00.001-07:00

In response to my previous post, I have thought about and discussed some more information concerning the topic of Disney's situation. During a further discussion with a classmate, he discussed the following topics of this issue:

Recently Disney announced a new club called D23. The goal of this club is keep members up to date and involved with the company. In the past many Disney fans have lost interest in the companies offerings as they got older. This brings up the question, what web strategy should Disney use to keep these fans involved in the company as they age. One option is to offer multiple websites that appeal to different demographics. However, I believe that a better option is to offer a single web portal that offers content that appeals to all demographics. This approach eases the transition to new content as a member ages.

I also believe that Disney's approach to internet business with D23 is not ideal. Most internet user's are not used to paying for internet content, and while the D23 club offers other benefits besides website access, these benefits are very limited. According to http://disneyshopping.go.com other benefits include early screenings to new Disney movies, access to a Disney convention, a “surprise gift” and a membership card. However the only early screening listed for the club is for the movie “Up”, and the screening is only one day before the actual release of the movie. Disney says that in the future there may be more benefits to joining the club. If this is the case perhaps more people will be interested in paying the high membership price.

I think having a single website that offers appealing content to multiple demographics is the best strategy for a company such Disney. However they will be more successful maintaining fans if it costs less to join.

My response to him was rather similar as I agree with many of his points. My response follows:

I completely agree with him in saying that Disney should offer a single web portal that allows different content that is appealing to all demographics. He make a standout statement in saying that this approach eases into the transition to new content as a member ages. I totally agree with this statement because the more and more a user goes to this site the better it remains in their long-term memory. The more familiar they become with only having to go to one site when they want Disney products, services, news, etc., the better one is at navigating the site.

On the website Webpage design for beginners it discussed a particular page that was created and then went on to ask people to go to it and respond to what they liked and what was difficult to follow. After reading many of the responses, it was clear this page needed some help. The thing that seemed the most commented on was the organization of the page. With Disney choosing to have only one web portal, which I believe is the best strategy for them, they must make sure to stay very, very organized. Links to specific pages must be checked and double checked for error or broken links. I think having users try out the Disney site before its release to the public will be a huge benefit in the long-run. This way they can work out any mishaps before it gets out and negative talk begins.

He also make an interesting comment saying that their approach to the D23 business is not ideal as users will not want to spend the member fee. Lower these costs is something they should consider, at least until they see if people are truly wanting to be a part of this membership. Once they see that there is some interest in this product, then they can maybe begin discussing an increase in membership. Since many other sites do not force users to pay a fee, I think it is a good idea to shoot low and see what kind of response the public gives on this issue. Also, if they want to keep the price where it is, they may want to consider greater benefits to those who actually pay the fee to join.

What is Disney to do?!

2009-04-13T11:49:00.001-07:00

A controversial topic came up in an article I read in the Wall Street Journal online today discussing Disney. The idea for Disney to create a new web portal has been on the agenda at various Disney staff meetings. The decision needs to be weighed out as to whether Disney should create separate websites for distinct target markets and brands or should they create a single portal strategy instead? After reading the article titled, Disney Angles for Cash, Loyality, I decided that the best strategy for Disney is to have a single portal strategy.

First, in earlier discussion topics we have discussed the fact that easy domain names and keyword search terms are necessary in helping to make one’s site easy to find and easy to remember. If Disney chose to incorporate different web sites for distinct target markets and brands I think it would become a huge mess. People would become confused and just give up on what they are searching for. As I remember from the readings of both my website design and e-marketing classes, a design of a website must be convenient for the user or else there is no way of keeping their interest if they can’t find what they came to find in the first place. As big as the Disney Empire, I think the best option is to keep it simple by only having one portal and then from that keep it very organized and user friendly so that users can navigate around it easily and conveniently.

As the article Disney Angles for Cash, Loyality, states ‘One of the most persistent thorns is Disney's side has been the proliferation of unofficial Web sites and blogs that sometime spread rumors and opine about various aspects of the company and its doings,’ by only having one site to maintain this may help diminish these not-so-friendly remarks and rumors (Sanders) . One portal will allow users to go to the site and find the information they desire about false or untrue statements about this great company. Also, many websites have a comments link available, those who question something they have heard and can’t find information they seek elsewhere, can write in a comment and know that with only one portal site the comments/questions will get to the right people and a response shall come in a timely fashion.

The article goes on to further explain that Disney wants to continue targeting the younger generation as they grow older. By just having one site, these members have, from the time they were Whinnie the Pooh and Tiger fans, to High School Musical followers, embedded in their minds the site’s address and a general idea of where to navigate to find the info they desire. As this group continues to grow up, they will still remember that address, how to get around the site and perhaps even all the words to every High School Musical song! Having one single portal is evidently the best possible strategy for Disney. What do you think would be Disney's best approach?!

Column 2--Final

2009-04-13T06:05:00.000-07:00

Where in the World is Katie-Mary Outhwaite?!

Four years ago, Katie-Mary was in Kojonup, Australia. A year after that, Perth, Australia. She entered her first year of college at the University of Memphis in Memphis, Tenn. just short of two years ago. Now, feeling like this is where she belongs and thanking her lucky stars for bringing her here, Katie-Mary, more commonly known as Mary, resides as a student at the University of Nebraska Kearney (UNK) in Kearney, Neb.

Saying good-bye to all she knew was one of the toughest moments in her life. Mary, then a newly 18 year-old, was ready to set out on a life-changing journey. Leaving friends, family and her way of life in Australia behind, Mary chose to keep one thing she knew close to her—the game of tennis. Deciding to further her tennis years growing up and pursue her dreams of playing tennis at the collegiate level in America, Mary arrived in Memphis, Tenn., luggage and racquet in hand.

“I knew absolutely no one! When I got to that city [Memphis] I thought ‘ok here we go, what do I do now,’” Mary expressed. I must say, it is a shame this column is not a radio broadcast because when Mary speaks that Aussie accent grabs your attention and makes you listen.

Concluding her first season of competition as a Memphis Tiger, Mary was informed that the head tennis coach was to be replaced and that his replacement had decided to cut her from the team. “It was a huge slap in the face after finding out that news. I had no clue where to turn or what to do. I was on scholarship and when I was cut that was taken from me,” Mary said.

Realizing he had made a mistake, Mary was offered her spot back. “I turned down his offer. I guess my pride just got in the way and I didn’t want to play for him,” she said.

It wasn’t long before a friend of her previous coach at Memphis, urged her to check out Kearney, Neb. She had also received an offer to play for the University of Texas (UT). Each option created new opportunities that she was forced to weed out.

Option one was to pack up her dreams of being in the States and playing college tennis and go home. “At the time, this choice seemed to be the one that sounded the best. But I thought, I’ve come this far and surpassed many obstacles in my way, so why give up now?” she said.

Her second and third options would bring her to new surroundings, yet again. The thought of being able to continue playing collegiate tennis and fearing the let-down of not sticking to this new adventure excited her to seek out option two or three.

With no ounce of emotion left in her body due to the triumph of the past months in Memphis, Mary decided against going home and focused on whether she would be attending UT or UNK in the fall of 2007. “I was so emotionally exhausted from everything I went through in Memphis that I don’t really remember feeling anything as I went about making my decision,” she said.

When the 2007, fall semester convened, Mary walked to class on UNK’s campus. “I felt so incredibly welcomed by everyone I had met that I just knew I had made the right decision,” Mary said.

Now, almost a year and a half later, Mary looks back at her experience in Memphis as stepping stones for helping her become an emotionally strong individual. “Looking back I guess I am thankful for what I had to go through. It definitely helped shape me into the person I am today and because of those experiences I am the Katie-Mary Outhwaite I am,” Mary said, laughing.

Column 2--Where in the world is Katie-Mary Outhwaite?!

2009-04-08T14:05:00.001-07:00

Four years ago, she was in Kojonup, Australia. A year after that, Perth, Australia. She entered her first year of college at the University of Memphis in Memphis, Tenn. just short of two years ago. Now, feeling like this is where she belongs and thanking her lucky stars for bringing her here, she resides as a student at the University of Nebraska Kearney (UNK) in Kearney, Neb.

Saying good-bye to all she knew was one of her toughest moments in her life. Katie-Mary Outhwaite, then a newly 18 year-old, was ready to set out on a life-changing journey. Leaving friends, family and her way of life in Australia behind, Mary chose to keep one thing she knew close to her—the game of tennis. Deciding to further her tennis years growing up and pursue her dreams of playing tennis at the collegiate level in America, Mary arrived in Memphis, Tenn., luggage and racquet in hand.

“I knew absolutely no one! When I got to that city [Memphis] I thought ‘ok here we go, what do I do now,’” Mary expressed.

Soon she was well acquainted with the girls of the Memphis tennis team and ready to compete. It was concluding her first season of competition that the head tennis coach was to be replaced with someone new. Mary soon discovered that the new coach hired on had decided to cut her, as well as three other girls from the team.

“It was a huge slap in the face after finding out that news. I had no clue where to turn or what to do. I was on scholarship and when I was cut that was taken from me,” Mary said as a tear began to form in her eyes. Thousands of miles away from home and Mary thought she was left with nothing but shattered dreams.

Realizing the new coach hired had made a mistake, he contacted Mary and offered her a spot back on the team. “I turned down his offer. I guess my pride just got in the way and I didn’t want to play for him,” she said.

It was at that moment where her next biggest decision, her most pivotal moment in her life, came to be. Mary needed to decide whether she was going back to Australia or search out other possibilities in the United States.

An unexpected offer from the University of Texas came to her soon after she had heard of the devastating news. Then another from a friend of her previous coach at Memphis, wanting her to check out Kearney, Neb. Each option created a plethora of opportunity that she was forced to weed out.

Option one was to pack up her dreams of being in the States and playing college tennis and go home. “At the time, this choice seemed to be the one that sounded the best. But then I thought, I’ve come this far and surpassed many obstacles that have been in my way so why give up now?” she said.

Her second and third options would bring her to new surroundings, seeming to place her back where she was when she first arrived in Memphis. The thought of being able to continue playing collegiate tennis and fearing the let-down of not sticking to this new adventure excited her to seek out option two or three. “If I chose to attend the University of Texas that fall I would have remained playing Division I tennis. Playing for UNK, I would have stepped down to Division II and a smaller university,” Mary said.

With no ounce of emotion left in her body due to the triumph of the past months in Memphis, Mary decided against going home and focused on whether she would be attending UT or UNK in the fall of 2007. “I was so emotionally exhausted from everything I went through in Memphis that I don’t really remember feeling anything as I went about making my decision as to what school I wanted to attend,” she said.

When the 2007, fall semester convened Mary walked to class on UNK’s campus! “Before I even got to Kearney, the girls on team that I would soon be joining were already calling to see if I wanted to get together and meet everyone on the team. I felt so incredibly welcomed by everyone I had met and I just knew that I had made the right decision,” Mary said.

Now, almost a year and a half later, Mary looks back at her experiences in Memphis as stepping stones for helping her become an emotionally strong individual. “Looking back I guess I am thankful for what I had to go through there. It definitely helped shape me into the person I am today and because of those experiences I am the Katie-Mary Outhwaite I am,” Mary said, laughing. Coming from a girl who has been there and knows, Mary is convinced that, “Our experiences really can build character.”

Google and Twitter

2009-04-06T12:08:00.000-07:00

It is evident that there is a growing popularity of social networking sites popping up all over the internet. We’ve seen Facebook, MySpace, and Wayn. Now site known for other purposes than social networking are choosing to jump on this band wagon and go with it! As the popularity increases, adding these functions seem to have more positive outlooks than negative.

As with Twitter and Google, two powerhouses in their select industries, it seems right that the two combine, enhancing each others functions.

For consumers this move is great. Because of Twitter’s microblogging service, consumers are able to post brief text messages on this site. This has amounted to consumers obtaining and sending information concerning their topics of interest such as how the feel about specific goods. From this, advertisers are able to get a better idea of the products and services consumers are most likely interested in, raising an overall awareness of these products. This then aids the marketers in developing, improving and producing these products based on the customer feedback. Afterall, as we have encountered time after time in our text and of course throughout our marketing classes, pleasing the customers and giving them the best possible services/products possible is the goal of any company or business.

As with consumers, marketers will too benefit. Like I mentioned, the marketers will be able to see what customers are discussing in dealing with certain products. This allows them the ability to improve products/service based on the form of feedback they receive. Word of mouth is the fastest growing segment of the media industry (Marketing VOX). With consumers utilizing this medium through Twitter, marketers will be able to get a better idea of what’s in, out and desired.

Google will certainly benefit as well. Twitters microblogging mechanism has emerged as the ‘custodian of a valuable online index of real-time facts, comments, musings and announcements, information that is clearly valuable for Google's search engine index’ (Perez). Google’s way of collaborating with major web sites to determine the best possible way to index one’s site content for its search engine (Perez), would stick with that same consistency of Google’s purpose should Google and Twitter choose to do the same.

Finally, this move would benefit both Google and Twitter financially. Google selling the ads to marketers and Twitter being used as an advertising mechanism will increase their incomes greatly. The awareness of Google is obviously very strong now but this also gives Twitter a chance to become better known allowing more users to jump on as they hear of Twitter and its functions.

Social Networking

2009-04-03T22:56:00.000-07:00

The idea of Hulu, an up and coming video company, adding social networking functions is, in my mind, a key to the success of the company and I completely support this effort. The more interactive users can be allows marketers a greater plethora of consumer information in deciding how to better target specific groups. Marketers have seen a trend in the popular social markets such as MySpace (myspace.com) and facebook (facebook.com). Through these networks word of mouth, the best way to simulate messages, is the main way users communicate with one another. Like facebook’s feature of adding a friend because you have common interests with that person or because you know someone they know, is similar to the concept Hulu is considering. Connecting with each other and sharing video preferences is Hulu’s way of adding this concept and customizing its product.
With this idea of building user loyalty and mining data to attract advertisers, marketers can get a better idea of what products to promote/advertise because they will better know what kind of groups they are targeting. According to the article, Social Networking Gets a Sanity Check, the number of dollars spent on advertising on facebook and MySpace together is $1.02 billion. Obviously from these numbers, it is evident that advertisers believe social networking sites are great places for advertising. Though assumptions may still be made about certain users, overall this is a great concept. The article, Hulu Embraces Social Networking, stated that users would be able to create their own profiles for this particular site. Seeing the success that has come from social networks like facebook and MySpace, even Google, Amazon and eBay, I believe Hulu is heading in the right direction. Allowing users to create their own profiles, puts them in the driver’s seat, as they are the ones who choose what goes on and what is left out. Overall, adding social networking functions is a great idea that will help capture consumers, build brand loyalty, and better fit advertisements to specific target groups.

Taken--Movie Review

2009-04-01T11:01:00.000-07:00

"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you do. But I will find you. I will kill you." Ah, the famous line many of us heard during the promotional commercials for the thrilling movie Taken. That line alone, sparked my interest and plunged me into the set of Taken.

Bryan Mills, who is played by actor Liam Neeson, is a retired X-CIA spy. Overtime he has acquired a certain set of special skills in which he can fight, investigate and kill. His daughter Kim, played by Maggie Grace, lives with her mother. Dad and daughter have a drifting relationship due to the fact that previous years in the CIA has kept him busy and on the road. Mills decides to retire in order for him and his daughters relationship to rekindle and so that he can be close to her. Kim approaches her father with a question asking to go on an international trip with her friend Amanda, played by Kate Cassidy. Still being in high school, her father is reluctant to let two young girls travel overseas alone. Finally, he agrees to letting her go but only after Kim agrees to daily phone calls and of course one letting him know she arrives safely.

When the girls arrive at the airport in Paris, they grab their bags and walk out to the streets where they try to get a cab to take them to Amanda's cousins house. A cute boy that the two meet, who happens to be a recruit for a sex slave ring, offers to share a cab with the girls in hopes of getting some information from them. They make the mistake of telling him where they are staying and that they are in fact there alone. After saying good-bye he makes a call informing the person on the other line of the information he has obtained.

Kim, forgetting to call her father when they arrived, noticed she had a missed call from him so takes her phone in another room and calls her father. Here's where it gets interesting...! Only moments after their conversation begins, Kim sees Amanda being taken out of the house by a group of men. Frantically informing her father of this, he tells her to enter another room and get under the bed. She does this and then goes on to say that what he tells her next is key. Kim is told that she will be taken. Once she is, her father instructs her to yell out everything she sees and then he will come find her. With only 96 hours to find Kim, we see her father's set of special skills released throughout the chase.

The action that unfolds kept me on the edge of my seat and I instantly developed a sense of hate for the men that had kidnapped Kim and Amanda. A father's love is so strong that when his precious joy is taken from him anyone can become invincible. The clues that Mills collected and his clever ways of obtaining them was an excitement in its own. Based on instances that have occurred in our world, with women being kidnapped and taken to other countries, Taken posed as a real eye-opener as to what may be going on when these women are captured. Families may rethink sending their students overseas, but if anything it should teach us that you can't be naive and never too careful. The determination Mills shows in getting his daughter back is a prime example of a father's divine love.

Spring Break Column

2009-03-31T11:04:00.000-07:00

You hear grunts, and howls, squeaks and pounds. You see green and yellow, scorecards and crowds. It isn’t football, but it’s just as hard on your body.

For spring break, I got the privilege of going north, to the land of 10,000 lakes. A perfect place to spend spring break! Lakes are frozen over, snow piled high and due to the below freezing temperatures you can bet any activity will be done indoors. So, why was I there? I, along with the rest of the UNK men’s and women’s tennis teams, was there to compete.

The fortunate change of regions requires us to compete against division II schools in Minnesota, instead of heading a bit further south to Kansas and Missouri. The desire to contend at the NCAA Regional tournament in May is the drive that propels us forward.

Sitting about the very middle of our season, we have already faced numerous injuries. Though some good has come from it, like the addition of a wonderful, new teammate; some has not been in our favor. Playing two matches a day, a possibility of four or five in any given weekend, takes a great toll on one’s body. We need our legs, the lower body, to carry us from one side of the court to the other, lifting us up and down as we take each shot. Our arms, shoulders, abdomens and backs to control our swings, serves and power. Eyes help us make the judgment call as to whether or not our opponent’s shot was in or out. Our vocal cords, of course, enable us to call out the score and the hair on our heads, or perhaps lack thereof, holds in place a sweat band, head band, hat or bandanna. Each and every part of our body is working to allow us peak performance. When one limb goes down, the others must work twice as hard to keep up.

This spring break started out for me as any other weekend of match-play. As I began warming up, I could still smell my clean, just washed uniform and the strong scent of fresh linen dryer sheets. We pulled together and triumphed through both matches, defeating Augustana and Minnesota-Duluth, but a familiar pain underneath the big toe on my left foot began to show that my body had taken a pounding throughout the day.

Sunday night faded into Monday morning and soon enough we found ourselves back on the tennis court, not so fresh as the previous day. St. Cloud had one of the top seeds in our region so our biggest challenge of the week was about to get underway. Seeming to feel more and more pressure from my foot throughout my doubles and singles matches, I kept thinking, “pull through, this is the last one and then I’ll have a few days off.” My thoughts erased the pain even more as I finished my singles match felling pretty good. Another victory, only this one was a bit closer.

As soon as my head hit the over-stuffed pillow at our hotel, I was out. Should I have known the pain in my foot I would be feeling in the morning, the thought of ever falling asleep would not have crossed my mind. As I stepped out of bed the next morning, placing both callused-over and blistered feet on the floor, I took a step with my left and the agony that shot through my body was enough to sit me back down on that bed. “Could it be broken, again” I wondered as more and more thoughts developed in my head.

As athletes we sacrifice our bodies for our sport. When our mind is set and our goal is in focus, it doesn’t matter what sport we compete in, we go to great lengths to get to where we want to be, injured or not, and in the end, that defines who we are—athletes.

So I wrote this piece the evening of the day I woke up and thought it was broken. Since then, I have had some very generous family and friends help do what they could to get me back on the tennis court 3 days later. A day after this incident I saw a family friend who happened to be a trainer and without looking at x-rays he believed it to in fact be broken. His recommendation was to get in a boot or on crutches if there was any chance of me playing that weekend. You see, this was a big weekend for me as all my family live in MN so many were coming to watch our matches on Saturday. After doing some searching we were able to track down a walking boot, without being in Kearney and having the trainers there, I felt helpless due to my limited actions because I was not with the team and too far away. When Saturday came, I was determined to at least play doubles. When that went ok, I played singles and another round of doubles. Assuming my foot would be hating me in the morning, I was pulled out of our last singles match for precautionary reasons; that being because I was encouraged not to play at all by UNK training staff. To my surprise, the next morning it didn't feel too bad at all, in fact besides the inflammation, it felt pretty good. Still I have not gone to get another set of xrays done. The trainers are hoping that because it was not sore the day after I played that means progress. I was told just to continue watching it throughout the weeks and monitor and changes I may find. The week after spring break was filled with a lot of non-tennis activity except for a match last Sunday in which it seemed fine. The true test will be this week and those that follow as our competition increases and our weeks are jammed packed with tennis!

A Roller-Coaster ride...

2009-03-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

We get tossed and turned, thrown in and out, told yes then no, first come then go. Yes, this is exactly how the lives of the players on the UNK tennis teams, both men and women, seem to be going this season. If it's not one thing its another. We get told we are playing at this place at this time and then it changes about 7 times, usually ending with what was said at the beginning. It has gotten to the point where parents just say call me right before you are getting ready to go on for warm up so I actually know what time you will begin match play. It's absolutely ridiculous to say the least! I feel like I am on some sort of over-thrilling, yet extremely annoying, never know what your going to get, roller coaster ride. And believe me when I say I do not recommend waiting in line for this one!

Believe it or not, its even happened again. We were scheduled to play in Hays, Kansas both Friday and Sunday. Well, due to the unfortunate weather Kansas was experiencing the past couple of days, it was decided that tennis may be difficult to play on a court full of snow; not to mention the fact that it would probably be freezing outside as well. So, Friday's match is canceled due to weather. Fine, we can handle that. However, Sunday's match was still to be determined. So we await all day Friday for an answer--nothing. We keep waiting into Saturday, only less than 24 hours until we would actually have to leave to play, and nothing until about 2:00p.m. What is the news we received?! We are leaving Kearney at 6:00 a.m. driving 3 1/2 hours and are now playing two matches, one of which wasn't even scheduled to begin with! Two matches, both women and men plus a total of 7 hours driving time = getting back to Kearney super late when each of us must get up and be in class the next day. On top of that, we have injury, sickness, and the bulk and most important part of our season begins next weekend. To top that off, instead of catching up on school work Monday we will most likely want to sleep and then all classes on Thursday and Friday will be missed for pretty much the remainder of the semester. Come on, is this really necessary?! Of course, I forgot to mention, the two matches we are supposed to play on Sunday do not count for anything other than our record because they are not conference or regional matches.

I am a little disgusted by this matter to say the least. It just seems so inconsiderate of those whom randomly decide to thrown in a match and expect us to all cheer and shout in an excited, over-joyed manner. Instead, we get 'the look' in our eyes and steam sprays out of our ears. The one who throws this on us and responsible for the disorganization that seems to come up numerous times a day, is also the one who sits back and watches, not having to put forth any physical effort whatsoever. Perhaps the ones who compete should deal with the matter of scheduling and rescheduling matches, after all they are competing and know how much their bodies, both physically and mentally can take.

I apologize that this post was basically my place to vent, but in doing so I got out what I wanted to and still don't really feel much better! I hope everyone else has had a wonderful weekend though!

It has its own website?!?!

2009-03-26T21:44:00.000-07:00

So as I searched for some interesting stories concerning the topic of spring break, I came across a website that was strictly for the purpose of spring breakers showing information results for destinations, tips, and tours. Springbreak.com is the official website that I cam across in my search. As I began looking through the site, besides the hilarious YouTube videos that were posted, were actually some pretty informational pieces. The first that comes to mind was the news story, alerting travelers to Mexico to use extreme caution as they venture out of the United States. This of course coming from the State Department. Though this site is promoting vacation hot spots and offering luxurious places to stay, it is also getting viewers proper information to issues that may be a concern to this type of travel group. I was somewhat shocked to see this link on the website. There was also informative pieces on passports, a useful tool for those wishing to travel outside the U.S.

Those in search of that perfect tropical swimsuit, look no more, springbreak.com has numerous links to some of the most popular swim wear brands linked on to the site. This site is almost the only thing you need to get everything taken care of before spring breaking! I'm sure if any of you read this, you may be saying, DUH! where have you been?! But being on the tennis team has pretty much wiped away my dreams of planning any spring breaks so I really have never looked into anything like this before. I guess I thought it was pretty neat!

College Graduates and jobs...

2009-03-23T13:08:00.000-07:00

Along with the fears of many current employees wondering whether or not they will be the next one ‘let go,’ into the sea of unemployment and economic hurt, there’s yet another group that seem to be facing these harsh times and may really feel the punch come May graduation. College graduates, specifically those graduating this coming May, 2009 have already dug deep in the search of scoring a job upon obtaining their degree.

Since human resource management has a great deal to do with hiring, firing and finding that perfect candidate, I found two articles that relate to this topic. An article I read in the Rochester, MN Post-Bulletin, explained that even students with the upmost, impressive resumes, are going to receive numerous rejection letters and may have to turn to alternative options. Even the number of employers who have attended career fairs this year is down.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers released the results of a survey that was conducted earlier this month showing that employers expect to hire 22% fewer graduates from the graduating class of 2009 that they hired in previous years. According to an article in the magazine, Building Design in the October 24, 2008 issue titled, Students Hit First by Recession, explains that students are set to be among the first victims of the recession. “Record numbers of graduates are chasing fast-disappearing jobs in recession-struck practices,” the article noted.

One particular student from Winona State University, Kyle Berg, had planned on participating in an internship with a small marketing firm in Winona, but the day he was to begin his internship the company went out of business. Students now must become even more desirable to company’s more than ever. With jobs decreasing and more and more students graduating the competition is fierce. Companies are beginning to weed out resumes based on years of experience, which may be a downfall to many college graduates who lack in the experience category.

According to the article found in the Rochester Post-Bulletin, the key to making way through this labor market is to be focused. “They are going to have to know what they want to do and then how to get there.” Despite the chaotic state of our economy, career councilors still emphasize that a college diploma is still one of the most effective means of enhancing one’s job prospects—finally some good news for May graduates!

Staying engaged in the labor market is key, Phillip Gardner, director of the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University said. Some graduates have already begun seeking alternative routes. In the article from the Building Design Magazine, an architect and placement coordinator at Sheffield College of Architecture, Stephen Leighton said, "Everyone just walked into jobs 12 months ago. Now, students have to be more creative.” Getting out and volunteering is one way to stay engaged in the labor market. The people from the community are also the ones giving their time and are also employers, connected to jobs. Establishing a relationship with them can only help chances of employment and networking.

Another tip the article from the Post-Bulletin gives is not to run off to graduate school assuming the labor market is too harsh. Attending graduate school will only add to one’s financial debt. Although employers may send current employees to graduate school, choosing to enroll after obtaining a bachelor’s degree has no guarantee of job placement or higher earnings.

At the beginning of February, the United States unemployment rate was the highest it has been in 25 years, coming in at 8.1 percent. The unemployment rate for college graduates was only at 4.1 percent, 8.3 percent for high school graduates, and those lacking a high school diploma soared to 12.6 percent.

Sure, the economy isn’t great, but it is like that for everyone. As one who will be amongst many other May graduates, I found both articles to be encouraging, uplifting and helpful in continuing my search to obtain that dream job and also in making me more desirable and compatible to the human resource personnel searching for that perfect candidate.

A little humor...

2009-03-14T12:34:00.001-07:00

As we begin our well-deserved week of spring break, my dad sent me a little humor to help kick it off! The following video, I found to be very humorous and rather intelligent at the same time. It gives a very good analogy comparing a party to a party in our stomach. I highly recommend watching it, I know it will give you a good laugh. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4sfJr10wFs

Comedian Jim Breuer, discusses this concept as he preforms on stage to a large audience before him. I guess those of us that are 21, able to consume alcoholic beverages, can keep this video as a remembrance when placed at the Tiki bar on a scorching hot day. Remember who always shows up to the party last--perhaps you won't let them in!

Jimmy Who?!?!

2009-03-12T16:01:00.000-07:00

During class, actually this particular blogging class in which this blog was created for, Dr. Hanson mentioned a name that is all too familiar to me. The second he began to say 'Jimmy' my eyebrows began to raise, after hearing 'Buffet' it was certain that he had my attention to the fullest!

Why is this name so familiar to me you may be asking. Well let's just say that growing up I knew more of his songs, memorizing lyrics, and facts about him then perhaps most of his feeding frenzy of parrot-heads (Jimmy's fans).

You see, my father, known on the water as Captain Joee, is a huge Jimmy Buffet fan, an all-around, full-out parrot-head to say the least. From as far back as I can remember, every song we listened to while boating, driving to get to our boating destination, or even just riding in dad's car was from this gifted artist. I went through my stages of hatred towards this music, but after I passed through that stage I began to find myself listening to it on my own, as a personal choice of music. Perhaps this is because his melodic tone and clever lyrics took me to my absolute favorite place, with some of my favorite people--boating on a hot summer day with close family and friends.

Today, I still find myself presetting Margaritaville to my Sirius satellite radio settings. After I turned 21, my parents were so excited to announce that I had now graduated from being a parakeet to a parrot-head. At first, years back, I despised when they would joke about this title they had given me, but now I can't really deny it. I've been to my fair share of Jimmy Buffet impersonators, cheeseburger and paradise and margaritaville restaurants, concerts and certainly know my fair share of songs and facts about this talented man. In fact a few summers ago I thought he should know just how idolized and loved his fans truly are that I wrote him a personal letter describing many of these instances and more particularly informing him about my father's enjoyment of his music and image.

So, now you know why hearing 'Jimmy Buffet' raised my head in class. Honestly, it seemed as if Dr. Hanson had mentioned a best friend or family member's name. It seems that's how familiar I am with this figure! Oh yah, and Boat Drinks, if you haven't heard it you should(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n54wvBOMeT8), it's a great song!

A Conflict Journalist

2009-03-11T19:21:00.000-07:00

Kevin Sites

I attended the World Affairs Conference both Monday and Tuesday this past week at UNK. Though I did not hear the message(s) every speaker delivered, I will say, I was most inspired and interested in what Conflict Journalist, Kevin Sites, discussed.

Sites took part in a project, sponsored by Yahoo!, where he came in contact with the task of covering as many conflict war zones as he could in one year. Sites proceeded in this challenge alone. His equipment consisted of a hand-held video camera, a camera, pen and paper and other portable digital technology in which aided him in transmitting his multi-media reports back to his production crew at home, in the US.

Working for NBC, Sites was faced with a difficult decision. He had captured some gruesome footage of a US soldier who shot, at point blank, a man from the opposing side. After pondering whether or not to use Sites’ video, NBC decided to use his footage and the video aired, however it had gone through many edits before his footage was actually released. The entire scene of the shooting was not captured in full, leaving audience members confused and wondering. Sites choose to leave this high-profile network and turned to his blog, where he posted the actual, non-edited footage. He decided that through his blog, he would fulfill his duties as a journalist—capturing information and giving his audience the truth.

It was being across the world, interviewing civilians and obtaining their stories in the forms of video, still photography and/or text that really changed Sites and opened his eyes to the many struggles and truths of our world. I was touched by the stories he told describing the lives of numerous rape victims, combatants, and other civilians living through these difficult times.

The manner in which Sites presented himself and the message he had to tell was very professional and he related well to the crowd before him. I was privileged enough to have him come to my Blogging class on Tuesday and hear a little more of his experiences. He told us that if we took one thing from him he wanted it to be, “Take a gap year, a year off after graduation, before we get tied down with a job, and get out and experience what is out there.” Along with the many other pieces of information I received from Sites, I will definitely keep that one at the top!

Editorial 3--Campus/Local Issue

2009-03-06T06:55:00.001-08:00

NCAA Drug Testing: Pulling My Hair Out!

Short-haired, shaved, skin-headed athletes may soon be a common trend among student-athletes at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and other NCAA college campuses. Why this, one may ask? In response to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) switching to test athletes for drugs through the use of hair follicle testing instead of the current method, urine tests; student-athletes may react.

Though hair follicle drug tests may have the capability to track the drugs from a longer period of time, hair testing can only detect ‘street’ drugs, such as marijuana. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s chief executive officer and founder of The National Center for Drug Free Sport, Frank Urasz, there is no proven research that hair testing can identify performance-enhancing drugs.

Why would the NCAA, or any NCAA accredited university such as UNK, want to adapt hair testing for drugs when it doesn’t even detect performance-enhancement drugs, which are most commonly used by athletes?

Drug testing was developed to ensure fair play amongst athletes in competitive sporting events. Urasz notes, “urine, the body fluid the NCAA uses to test for performance-enhancing drugs, street drugs and masking agents -- remains the best test for a number of reasons.” Urine tests are far less expensive than hair tests and detect drug use primarily within the past week.

Hair testing remains far more expensive, often times cannot detect drug use within the past week, needs specific, certified personal to obtain a sample, and require approximately 50 to 70 strands of hair about 1.5 inches long to complete the test. Drugs can remain in the hair follicle up to 60 days for every one inch of hair exposed, much longer than in one’s urine. Suppose an athlete chose to use a performance enhancement drug, such as steroids, just once. Though they tried it and decided not to ever use it again, evidence of this drug could still be detected in a hair follicle drug test some two months after the athlete engaged in this activity.

Why should an athlete be punished or suspended for something they tried just once, or did, but discontinued using? A urinalysis, or urine test, is the best way to identify drug use in athletes. It detects the most recently used illegal substances and does not linger on the fact that use may have been many months ago. With the desire and determination an athlete has to be the top performer, chances are the illegal substances one will partake in are in fact, performance-enhancement drugs. Therefore, it would not be beneficial for the NCAA to switch to hair follicle drug tests because hair testing cannot detect these types of substances.

So, cancel your emergency hair appointment at your preferred salon and don’t dull those razor blades by shaving off every inch of hair on your body. If the NCAA wants to keep its athletes from using illegal, performance-enhancement substances, they will stick with their current method of drug testing.

I found a video discussing athletes and steroids and why athletes choose to partake in these performance-enhancement substances. The guy has some very interesting points and arguments! Check it out!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DukyZiY_K5w

Marijuana:To legalize or not to legalize?

2009-03-04T07:20:00.000-08:00

There has been much controversy concerning the topic of marijuana. Many myths have surfaced over the decades. However, these claims have no factual evidence to support the negative perceptions that individuals feel towards this substance. The drug policy website, www.drugpolicy.org, specifies and disembodies many myths associated with marijuana use. This article gave me more of an insight on whether marijuana, as a controlled substance, should be legalized.

For years marijuana has been thought to cause Amotivational syndrome (laziness). Twenty-five years of research has shown that among working adults, marijuana users tend to earn higher wages than non-users and college students who use marijuana have the same grades as nonusers.

Another common myth associated with marijuana use is that it is addictive and causes long-term dependency on the drug. The fact is that people who smoke marijuana only engage in smoking it on occasion. Less than one percent smoke marijuana on a daily basis.

Claims that marijuana has no medical value are yet another common myth heard today. In reality, marijuana has shown to be effective in reducing the nausea induced by cancer chemotherapy, stimulating appetite in AIDS patients, and reducing interocular pressure in people with glaucoma, just to name a few. We may ask, is marijuana a harmful drug? Hundreds of studies have disproved many of the myths associated with marijuana use.

Other than being less harmful than previously thought, the legalization of marijuana could reduce crime, create tax dollar revenue and allow better government regulation. Governmental control of marijuana sales and trade would reduce the amount of marijuana in underground markets, also decreasing illegal trade and gang involvement, while creating dollars in tax revenue. Should marijuana be legalized? Are the negative attitudes towards this substance only a matter of the misinformed becoming informed and educated about marijuana use? Still, I do not know where I stand on this issue. Until reading the article on the drug policy website,clearing up some myths with respective research studies, my views have always been it’s a bad drug that people only use for the purpose of getting high. However, understanding the studies behind the facts I don’t feel that it is as bad as I once did, yet I can’t say I am for the legalization of marijuana either. What are your thought?!

Websites more adaptable for cell phone viewers

2009-03-02T10:07:00.000-08:00

Overall there are still many small firms that have not adapted a web site for consumers to view via the web, let alone via a cell phone. As the increased demand continues to rise about websites on the internet more and more firms must choose to create a website to differentiate and compete with industry competitors.

As the article from the Wall Street Journal points out, there are ways to having one’s website be viewed via cell phones and the web but tradeoffs do exist. First, we know that graphics and other eye-catching accessories such as links, placed on a web-viewed site are great additions to having a web site. However, trying to view these web pages on a cell phone, make it quite difficult and s l o w due to the extra add-ons. So of course there is some inconsistency here—we want extravagant websites with lots of color, picture, video, links and whatever else we like to incorporate in them, but when we want to view these same sites on our cell phones, we seem to only want text, text, text!

In creating a single web site that can display on computers and mobile devices we run into the issue previously mentioned. If we only put important information onto a website with the cell-phone users in mind, we may be cutting out information/add-ons that the web-viewing consumers desire.

A feature that I would suggest a mobile site contain would definitely be a link to turn the site into a mobile compatible form for viewing on a cell phone. This site would consist on mainly text that was on the original web-viewed site.

However, I would also incorporate an alt text over images, marked with an {X} so viewers can choose to look at the images if they desire and want to wait a bit for them to upload. This way those who just need the information the site contains can get what they need fast, but if they want to see the images/graphics on the site they too can see this, only it will take some time to upload. There should also be a notify message that comes up saying by choosing to view these graphics, it may take a few minutes to upload. That way the consumers know that what they want to view is available but they may be waiting for it to show up.

Also, I would make sure that when companies do create their websites and add graphics to them they be sure to take any unnecessary color, footage, etc. out before producing it in their website design programs. This will also help websites to load much faster.

Even now, for people that have slower internet connections, they have to ability to view pages without loading graphics onto the pages. This enables a faster connection to that site, which I think would also help out in consumers who wish to view a company’s pages via their cell phones.

Indoor Tanning

2009-02-26T16:46:00.000-08:00

As I sit here at work, I ponder over the fact of how many people despise indoor tanning and think, 'you're going to have skin cancer period, if you tan.' When it comes down to it, indoor tanning can actually minimize health risks by embracing the two main concepts that are embraced in the tanning industry--moderation and sunburn prevention.

Growing up, I became very familiar with the tanning industry. My parents decided to open an indoor tanning salon and that has just been something I have struck an interest for. Having attended indoor tanning seminars and conferences with my parents and their staff, I quickly became excited and knowledgeable about this up and coming industry.

We've all heard the too familiar claims against indoor tanning. 'It causes cancer.' 'It gives you wrinkles.' 'Tanning dehydrates my body.' and 'It damages my skin.' However, it is clearly the uneducated and misinformed out making these claims.

The International Smart Tan Network, is basically the tanning industry's scripture. This corporation holds the information anyone could ever want to know about the tanning process and the positive effects of the sun. Though I have spent countless hours reading through the books this company puts out, the Internet site also has some very interesting topics and usually the latest news.

Tanning Truth.com is yet another informational site where I highly recommend those misinformed to go!!!

Currently, the main fight against tanning is that fact of receiving the proper amount of Vitamin D that our bodies need. The sun, or UV rays, is where the most abundant source of Vitamin D comes from. Many articles related to this fact can be found on either one of the sites that I have mentioned. In fact, on tanningtruth.com, I found a great article for those caught in the middle of what to believe or what side to take should definitely read. Here is the link to the article: http://www.tanningtruth.com/index.php/indoor_tanning/.

I guess tanning is something that I feel rather passionate about. When you are around it as much as I have been throughout my life, I guess it just becomes another thing you just know!

The First Dog

2009-02-25T14:44:00.001-08:00

It's getting close to that time. A time when spring fever swipes us from our studies and homework only to enjoy the wonderful weather outside. It is also a good time for those who have their thoughts on a new puppy to get one because training will be easier as the weather turns warmer.

That is why an article on MSNBC discuss the matter of the Obama's first dog. When will they get and what kind will they get seems to be the two main questions popping up. As society seeks answers, First lady, Michelle Obama, informs MSN that she is rather surprised about all the talk this topic has received. I am with her on this one. Shouldn't we be a little more focused on things occurring in our struggling economy right now then worry about why the Obama's haven't gotten a dog yet?!

Since this topic seems to be of interest to many, the Obama's have decided on a Portuguese water dog, one that is old enough and a match for the family dynamic. Their reason for choosing this breed is because many others they know that have this type of dog have been very pleased by it. April seems to be the mark that the Obama's are looking at for purchasing a new pup. Below is what the Obama's new dog may look like...

Talk of getting a new addition to the Obama household from the President's daughters has seemed to decrease, Michelle Obama said. However it seems the nation has picked up where they let off. Instead of discussing when they will get a new dog, Sasha and Malia have been thinking of names to call him or her. Frank and Moose have been the popular votes from the girls, however, if mom has anything to say about it, which I'm sure she does, these names will fall just short of what the new pup is to be called.

Five Keywords to find 'UNK' in a search engine

2009-02-23T14:39:00.000-08:00

Often times I have been asked, "you go to school where!" As I repeat back to them 'UNK' a confused almost dumbfounded look appear on their face. Let's face it, to us UNK is the University of Nebraska @ Kearney. But to others, confusion as to what UNK stands for remains. Common thoughts of what UNK stands for is the University of Northern Kentucky. This as we know, if far from our beloved UNK!

I was challenged with the task of coming up with five keywords in which a prospective out-of-state, high school senior, who is not from any of Nebraska's neighboring states might use to bring up our university's home page when doing a web search. This may sound easy but I was also told that I could not use the words Nebraska, Kearney, University or Undergraduate--these were specified as obvious keywords and were prohibited to utilize.

The first word I thought to use is ‘Lopers.’ This brings us to the lopers.com site which directs us to the UNK website too. Also, because athletics is a selection on the main UNK website, that web page should come up in a search as well. The fact that Loper is a rather odd mascot, may help in one’s search to finding our school as well.

The second key word I would use is 'Antelope newspaper' or 'KLPR radio'. Our school newspaper is titled the Antelope so there should be a link directed to UNK’s homepage and also to where the Antelope can be viewed. KLPR is our school’s on-campus radio station that would locate UNK as the direct site containing this station. However, a prospective student would have to know that was our school’s paper and radio station to locate the site.

A third key word I would use is Industrial Distribution Universities. I believe this word would be relevant because UNK is one of the few universities with an industrial distribution degree program. Because of that fact, UNK should be one of the websites that is displayed when searching with those keywords.

The fourth word I would use to is Midwest universities. Obviously due to UNK’s location, directly in the middle of the Midwest, the UNK home page should come up. Other universities such as UNO or UNL may be found as well which would only help the prospective students’ efforts because these schools are in the same university system as UNK and may provide a link to our home page.

The final word I would use in a search for UNK is education degree schools. We know that UNK stresses its education programs and is commonly known as a teaching college so a student looking for a university with an education/teaching degree program would most likely come across UNK in a search.

It is obvious how important it is to carefully select keywords in which your site would be found in a search engine. Without advertising numerous aspects of UNK and having distinctive programs, techniques and even a mascot, UNK would just be another university left in cyberspace. It is important to differentiate yourself from competitors in the business world and the same can be applied to this situation dealing with university searches.

An article I found discussed some tips to follow when selecting words to be used in a search engine.

What other keywords might you use? I'm completely up for suggestions!!! Give me some feedback on what you would search.

Editorial #2--Final

2009-02-21T19:28:00.000-08:00

Hats Helmets On to that!

It’s a warm, summer day in the state where its common slogan preached ‘the good life.’ Perfect weather for being outdoors and for those whose obsession is motorcycling; it’s a fine day for riding. Specialized gloves are pulled on for comfort where they meet the cuffs of a zipped-up jacket. The ‘hog’ is gassed up and ready to cruise on into the sunset. It’s go time baby! The summer air brushes through a head of hair on a helmetless rider, without a care in the world they think to themselves, ‘nothing could be better.’ That is when two tires screech across the road and sparks fly from the metal connecting with the pavement. If the motorcyclist could have prepared all over again that day, would a helmet have been worn?

For the continued safety of motorcycle operators, Nebraska needs to keep its state helmet law.

Let’s face it, as we look forward to the fun things in life we sometimes forget the precautionary necessities that allow us to keep having that fun. We become caught up in the moment and the thought of safety seems to almost disappear, at least until we sense trouble up ahead. Of course, as our circumstances change, so do our thoughts.

Requiring operators of motorcycles to wear helmets seems all too obvious when it comes to the overall safety of the rider, but this issue is quite the controversial topic to say the least. According to a University of Southern California analysis, helmets were the single most important factor in surviving motorcycle accidents. Chances of surviving a motorcycle accident is 60 percent higher than if the rider chooses to ride helmetless.

Life is precious. Though wearing a helmet may not be the most desired fashion statement in the world, if it’s going to protect one from being seriously injured or save a life, it is well worth wearing. Currently, just 20 states, including Nebraska, require all motorcycle operators to wear helmets when riding. Specifically, the Nebraska state legislature states, “A person shall not operate or be a passenger on a motorcycle or moped on any highway in this state unless such person is wearing a protective helmet of the type and design manufactured for use by operators of such vehicles and unless such helmet is secured properly on his or her head with a chin strap while the vehicle is in motion.” Since Nebraska repealed this law in 1989, the number of serious head injuries in motorcycle accidents has decreased 22 percent.

Should Nebraska choose to keep the state helmet law, we may find a reduction in motorcycle theft. Due to the fact that riders would be required to wear helmets, police would easily spot a helmetless thief, assuming the thief did not own a helmet.

Within the past ten years, the total number of motorcycle accident deaths has more than doubled, increasing deaths by about a third. The Gannett News Service has produced an analysis of federal accident reports saying motorcycle deaths have well increased since 1995. In 1997, there was a reported average of 5.5 deaths for every 10,000 registered motorcycles, this number jumped to 7.3 deaths in 2006. With 2009 settling in, do you want to be one who increases these statistics? Is that what you want to become—just another statistic? Do yourself, your family and your friends a favor…strap on a helmet if you’re going for a motorcycle ride and vote ‘yes’ for keeping Nebraska’s state helmet law.

So, that was how the final draft of my editorial read. I know I hit on safety quite a bit! Throw your comments at me on which position you take concerning this issue. If you're going to ride and one of these brutal accidents happens to you, wouldn't you at least like to know that your chances are much higher of survival if a helmet is involved?! Here's one more video I found with a great message!!!

Editorial #3--Local/Campus Issue

2009-02-21T18:34:00.001-08:00

For our third editorial we are to write on an issue concerning the UNK campus or Kearney community. After conversing with others about what they view as top issues on campus or in the Kearney area, many blurted out---parking! That certainly didn't help me out because we are strictly prohibited from writing on that topic.

So as I set out to think what my three topics of choice would be, I continued to ask people what they thought and before they could answer, I informed them that parking could not be one of them.

The first issue I came across was that concerning the debate of passing the bill to require school buses to have seat belts in them. An article in the Kearney Hub explains the sides that voters take for passing/not passing this bill. Though we may think right away that of course we need seat belts in buses, the article touches on some reasons, ones of which never occurred to me, as to why seat belts should not be added to school buses.

The second issue I came up with was that discussing the topic of online classes in the University system. As we advance further into the technological realm, we are seeing universities add more and more online classes for its students. Because students may not necessarily actually be on that campus they are taking the online class from and may never see the professor face-to-face, should these classes cost the same as a 3-credit class that students actually attend? Of course the first semester a professor partakes in an online class there may be more work cut out for it than any other class, but once the class is up and running and information is posted does the same amount of work go into it in the coming semesters? An article from fldcu.org discusses the costs of traditional versus online education. It contains some rather interesting insights on this topic.

The third issue I came up with is concerning the fact that if someone wants to host an event or hold some sort of get together/seminar with food to be involved, Chartwells, our food provider, is the only one that can cater for that event if it is held on campus. As far as I'm concerned people want specific foods for certain events and the selection is not very diverse; to say the least! An article found within UNK's website discusses this policy.

Just a little confused...

2009-02-18T11:48:00.000-08:00

So we've established the fact that I'm a tennis player for UNK. And though we've been off to a rough start with the lack of facilities to practice in (we've been driving to Grand Island every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) we have been doing what we can to prepare for our upcoming meets. This Friday, we are to head to Lincoln where we will take on UNL. Yah, I said UNL, a Division I team. Well to throw a little more chaos into the mix, instead of our minimum of six players we need to fill all scoring spots, we are down to four, possibly even three. Why are our numbers so low you might ask--injury and sickness are the culprits. So, my confusion begins with the fact, why would we drive to Lincoln to play a very strong Division I team when we may only have three healthy player to compete? The fact is we will already start the meet at 0-5, which means even IF we won the other four matches, we would still lose the meet. If that isn't a reason in itself not to go, here's another one.

We already know that because of the struggling economy universities have been forced to make budget cuts in various areas. UNK has made some cuts in the athletic department. So, now that we may have lost the match before we even set foot on the UNL courts, we are still going to put money into gas, food and lodging just to get to Lincoln to play this match?!?! Doesn't make sense to me! Players are injured and sick, this match doesn't even count towards conference or regional's so I just don't understand why we are spending the money and time trying to play it!!!

Just felt like letting a bit of my fristrations out! Here's the link to our tennis schedule if any of you are feeling up to coming and watching a match or two. http://www.lopers.com/tennis/09schedule.htm. There aren't a whole lot of home meets to choose from this year, as we were spoiled with many home meets last year. I guess all I can do now is sit back and see what happens on Friday!

Nebraska Helmet Law Opinions

2009-02-14T18:12:00.000-08:00

In my last post I mentioned that I assumed my boyfriend was pretty opinionated on Nebraska's helmet law. To my surprise, I found that my assumptions were rather incorrect. After discussing this topic with him, I asked what side he takes when it comes to this issue. He said that he actually thought it was a pretty good law, especially considering the fact that should there be a motorist accident chances of survival may be greater if the individual(s) involved are wearing helmets. Though I was somewhat shocked to hear his input a lot of good discussion came from it.

Next, I thought I'd talk to his uncle, a motorcycle owner himself. When asked which side he takes on this issue his response was just the opposite. Again, I was surprised by his response thinking that since he has children, a family, and a good job safety would be more important to him than looking cool and feeling the rush on the open road. However, his response was that he did not think there should be a helmet law. His main argument was because he doesn't believe the government should have that right in telling riders whether they are required to wear a helmet or not. Though he does not know specific statistics, he claims that if a motorist is involved in an accident, chances are most are life-ending anyways, whether the individuals involved were wearing helmets or not.

So, now I have discussed this topic with two different people who have two completely opposite views on this law. I can see both sides as they made great arguments for their opinions. Now, I just need to figure out where I stand!

Editorial #2-State/Regional Issue

2009-02-13T13:59:00.000-08:00

After Thursday's class, we came up with a great list of Nebraska issues that one could certainly write an editorial on. One that particularly caught my eye was Nebraska's helmet law. Currently, our state has a mandatory helmet law requiring all operators and passengers aboard motorcycles or mopeds to wear helmets. Should such a law be broken, the fine is $50, plus court fees. Personally, a fine for not wearing a helmet is strictly higher then $50 especially if the individual were to get in an accident--perhaps death would be the result.

Many claim that riding without a helmet causes many head injuries if an accident should occur. It seems as though individuals who own these types of machines are usually the ones against the helmet law, however, in an article I read from the Lincoln Journal Star discusses a Harley Davidson owner who believes that Nebraska's helmet law should indeed stay in tact.

Last spring, as soon as classes were finished, my boyfriend and I went to the Carolinas. While in Myrtle Beach, numerous bikers flooded the streets. Later we found out that it was Biker Week there. One who hopes to someday own a motorcycle, I remember my boyfriend saying to me, "They must not have a helmet law here." As a matter of fact, we can be driving anywhere besides Nebraska and he always mentions, when seeing a biker, whether they have or do not have a helmet law.

Two of his very close uncles have motorcycles and so his desire to obtain one is rather persistent. Though I do not know what his views are on Nebraska's helmet law I am now curious to know what he thinks. Seeming those who own or want to own don't like the law, I have somewhat of an idea of what he may say. However, whatever his view is I am sure I will get a number of other insights that I never even thought of in helping me with this next editorial!

Nebraska State Issues

2009-02-11T18:21:00.001-08:00

As like any state, Nebraska has its fair share as issues as well. For my next editorial, I am to write on a state issue in Nebraska. After searching some articles, I found a rather interesting one from the Fremont Tribune interviewing Gov. Dave Heineman. This article posed the question for Gov. Heineman, "what do you consider to be the top priority for 2009?" Gov. Heineman responded with "the state budget." Three concerns going along with the state budget was education, helping those less fortunate and economic growth. Gov. Heineman hopes to improve these issues without raising taxes for Nebraskans. The comments following the article are rather humorous, as Nebraskans debate amongst themselves.

I too agree that economic growth should be the top priority as we continue to roll with 2009. As I finish college in May it sounds so great to say that I'm done with college, however, what will the economy and job market be like once I'm done?! I definitely feel like this issue should take priority.

Helping those less fortunate and improving educational standards are also two state issues to consider. Perhaps focusing on these issues will create more jobs; helping out the economy, a main issue, in turn.

The article linked to 'educational standards' gives us some key facts to be known about the views of the Legislature when considering Nebraska's higher education progress report. The article linked with helping those who are less fortunate discusses economic hardships that the state of Nebraska is to work towards improving on.

Rising Above the Bar...

2009-02-07T17:22:00.000-08:00

As I ventured out, driving away, far away, from our wonderful 65 degree weather Friday afternoon, the temperature dropped immensely. I arrived in Mankato, MN where the wind was blowing and flurries were in the air. My purpose for this road-trip--watching my sister compete in one of her track meets. This seemed to be the best one to attend since, in two weeks, tennis will control my weekends!

Having the gymnastic background that she does, my sister, Kacia, competes in the pole vault field event. After watching her compete all through high school, this event still seems to amaze me! An event that involves running down a runway with a very long, over sized pole in hand, trying to place the pole in a pit, in order to uplift the athlete and flip them over a vault like bar seems very intense, fun and exciting and somewhat dangerous to me. Though I have tried this event with sis alongside me before, my fear overcame my excitement to follow through with it after I ran down the runway and came to the part where I had to flip myself upside down to vault over the bar.

The amount of respect I have for her, really an athlete that attempts this event is very high. Though she did not compete her absolute best today, still watching her flip over that bar was enough for me to know that the trip I made was totally worth it and we even got to celebrate her birthday!

For those of you who may not know exactly what pole vaulting is, or are just amazed by this sport as I am I've linked a pretty sweet You Tube video of athletes competing in this event. Enjoy!

Ohhh the weather outside...

2009-02-05T13:38:00.000-08:00

Ok, so, whose ready to be teased again with 65 degree weather at the beginning of Feb?! Sure, its great...while it lasts. Today and Friday are supposed to be really nice out, temperatures in the 60's. That's warm considering the usual temperature for Feb, our winter season, is, well- COLD, COLD, COLD! So we'll get a taste of spring fever in the next couple of days and then its time to break out those winter coats, scarves, gloves, under armour layers, boots and face-masks. Hope you didn't pack all that winter gear up yet!

So is the cause of our crazy, indecisive weather really Global Warming? Perhaps you've heard someone mention, "that's Nebraska weather for you!" Or is there some other factor to consider in finding an answer for this bizarre event?

I found a fast facts article on National Geographic giving the low-down on global warming. It's pretty interesting and gave me a clearer understanding of what actually is going on. Here's the link: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/12/1206_041206_global_warming.html.

After looking through the National Geographic website, I found quite a few more articles on, believe it or not...Global Warming. One in particular was published in 2007 titled, Global Warming Can Be Stopped, World Climate Experts Say.

This YouTube Video give us a little more information on Global Warming and things we can do to help. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJAbATJCugs. So are we all doing our parts to put a twist on Global Warming and cause it to drop back down? Some changes are huge and we have no control over them, but always remember...the little things add up!

The Internet's Negative Uses

2009-02-02T11:35:00.000-08:00

In one of my marketing classes today, a discussion of the Internet was brought up. This discussion was concerning the negative impacts it can bring. More specifically we approached these three topics: 1. What are the other negative behaviors consumers/people engage in when using this new medium? 2.What makes people behave differently when they are on the net?
3. Should marketers be concerned about these negative behaviors, and if so, and how can they neutralize them.

Negative behavioral patterns different from those of one’s real life can certainly be present when engaging in some form of communication on the Net. One behavior in particular is saying you are someone other than who you really are. For instance, in some type of chat room/social media who really knows who the person truly is across the communication line?! So often we here about predators online who have faked their identities, making one believe they are someone else. This can be something as simple as lying about an age, location, or hair/eye color; or as complex as lying about the relationship to which the predator claims they know their chat ‘buddy.’ Brad Paisley’s “Cooler Online” hit sums up what bad behaviors can take place on a chat/social media outlet. Click on the “cooler online” link to view this video.

I think the sense of freedom and thought that nobody will find out makes people behave differently when they are involved in some kind of activity on the net. Referring back to the chat example, who is actually going to find out that you were lying about your age or eye color? In the video I linked to this post it states that the guy is so much cooler online. The phrase ‘I grow another foot and I lose a bunch of weight, every time that I log in,” shows that people will engage in this activity and lie about statistics concerning oneself.

If the behavior is something small such as faking what someone looks like is nothing to for marketers to be concerned about. However, lying about the success and image of one’s company is a huge no-no! A way to neutralize that would be to really research that company and find out information for yourself, not just what the company website or a few opinion sites have said about that particular company. Though the Internet has brought us so many great channels of communication and ease, we still need to protect ourselves by being careful and checking up on what someone or something might tell you.

Continuing with my editorial topic from last week, I came across an article concerning eating disorder websites and the negative affects of them. Often times people with eating disorders turn to websites where others who are suffering from the same disorder can join in on conversations. This can be a good and bad thing. Individuals with an eating disorder find it difficult to talk to other about their problem, when they know others are dealing with the same issues it makes it much easier to talk about it. On the other hand, some look at websites for eating disorders as a source of motivation to continue starving oneself. This definitely is a result of a negative use of the Internet.

Food: An Athlete’s Fuel--Editorial #1

2009-01-29T12:28:00.000-08:00

Below is my editorial for the topic-- Athletes and Eating Disorders.

When hearing the term ‘athlete,’ the words that come to mind tend to be tone, fit, muscular, in-shape, and even work-out fanatic. These all relate to the body image perceived by an individual. Of the many activities, professional occupations for some, one can become involved within a society; athletics seem to be the culprit for accepting frail, thin, almost sickly looking figures.

In sports such as gymnastics, ballet, dancing, running and figure-skating, an emphasis for the athlete to be thin is present. This explains why a study done by the American College of Sports Medicine claimed that eating disorders affected 62 percent of females involved in these activities. The two most common types of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Anorexia Nervosa, more commonly known as anorexia, occurs when one limits their food intake, even though they are already too thin. Someone who is anorexic has an intense fear of gaining weight and tends to think about food often. Bulimia is when one eats an excess amount of food in a short time frame, known as binging. Binging causes feelings of shame and guilt, so the individual with bulimia tries to "undo" the binge by getting rid of the food, resulting to purging.

So, what or whom is to take the blame for these unrealistic body images? Often times an athlete feels pressured to be thin in order to impress coaches or judges with hopes of receiving the highest score possible and a pat on the back for a performance. Besides running, the athletic events mentioned previously require the athlete to take part in an atmosphere where judges are the ones who determine the participant’s score. Far too often, a judge considers the athlete’s body image—how thin they are—to play a factor in their overall performance score. Even wrestling requires a specific weight limit based on the weight class in which you want to compete. Many men involved in this sport resort to an eating disorder to cut weight before a meet. Due to the mindset that being on top and performing to one’s utmost level will occur if the athlete is thin, and having the pressure of coaches ‘be thin’ policy in the back of one’s mind, an eating disorder evolves.

Let’s face it—food is a necessity. An athlete with an eating disorder is at a higher risk of organ failure, leading to cardiac arrest, than a non-athlete. Research from the University of Leeds revealed that one in ten of Britain’s female distance runners has some kind of eating disorder. In 1994, Christy Henrich, a top world gymnast, lost her life at the age of 22 due to multiple organ failure. Henrich resorted to anorexia and bulimia after being told by a U.S. judge that she was too fat and needed to lose weight.

Athletes need food to replenish and nourish their bodies after putting themselves through strenuous, physical workouts. Dropping digits on the scale by refusing to eat and/or purging will not make an athlete compete better or perform stronger; the only result will be a handicap to their performance.

There are numerous ways to keep the weight off, in a healthier, body-friendly manner. Athletes today should not be judged by their skeleton-like figures. They compete in their sport for the enjoyment it brings them, not the body transformations some must undergo. As the race or competition comes to an end, what athlete wants to cross the finish line in a wheel chair? Worse yet, fail and not finish at all.

Signs and symptoms of eating disorders are often times difficult to see. While searching other resources for information on this topic, I came across some material that helps distinguish myths from realities of eating disorders. Some of the information came as a shock to me, while other facts cleared up some misconceptions that I had. One fact in particular was that you can not always tell that someone has an eating disorder by the size of their body. In many cases an individual is only 5 or 10 lbs. underweight but they may still have symptoms of an eating disorder. Here is the link to the Myths/Realities page: http://www.mirror-mirror.org/myths.htm. Look around the site for other interesting information discussing this topic.

Athletes and Eating Disorders-Personal Observation

2009-01-28T10:55:00.001-08:00

Among my research to the National/International topic of my editorial, I began paying more attention to my fellow athletes that I am surrounded by daily. Though tennis was not on the list of sports where eating disorders are most commonly found, I realized that watching the kinds of foods we put into our bodies tends to go along with just being an athlete. For instance, chowing down on a Big Mac with cheese, a large order of fries and a soda is enough to make me want to gag, let alone I'm sure I would feel incredibly sluggish during a match or practice had I chose this for a meal. Instead, my choice would be somewhere along the lines of a turkey sand which, trisket crackers, and an apple, orange or banana. Making healthy choices when it comes to meals goes hand-in-hand with the amount of energy I feel to get me through a practice or meet, or at least that is how I think.

This same theory can be applied to those in the sports of gymnastics, dancing and ballet, our thin-bodies desired sports. Those who choose to starve oneself, anorexia, or binge-eat and then purge, bulimia, are not getting enough nutrients to go on doing their daily regimen of practices and competitions. They are running out of energy because their bodies are so low and scarce of these necessities. An affect of this is their bodies turning to other organs to try and find anything to help energize the body to keep it going. Let's face it...food is an essential part of all of our everyday lives. We NEED food to survive--that's obvious! Starvation and/or binge-eating is not the key to keeping weight off. It's simply supplying our bodies with the right foods it needs to allow us to do the daily things we want/need to do.

Athletes, more than ever we need food. Think of the total amount of calories one burns in a practice setting alone. What about a day filled with lifting and conditioning, practice and then a competition the following day? Now think of the strain you put on your body when in competition, it tends to be far more than just at practice. Often times I wake up sore and stiff from a meet, however I know that eating the right foods help restore the muscle fibers I have slightly torn from competing and lifting. Without these essential nutrients replenishing my body I would continue to break down muscle fibers in my body resulting in possible injuries.

I have known other athletes who think being thin will help them compete at a higher level, well, if you are starving yourself from the nutrients our bodies need...Good Luck with that!

Athletes and Eating Disorders--Editorial #1

2009-01-26T10:30:00.000-08:00

For our first editorial assignment we are to write on a National/International Issue. Sticking with my desired interest of athletics, I found some interesting articles while researching sport/athletic issues today. The first I came across, of course, was that concerning the ever-so-talked-about Title Nine. Seeming that this topic has been discussed time after time, I searched further and discovered some articles pertaining to athlete's and their body image. It was interesting to read how sports such as gymnastics, running, ballet, figure-skating and dancing, athletics in which thin bodies seems to be a crucial element, have numerous cases of athletes with eating disorders. Anorexia and Bulimia are the two most common types of eating disorders found in athletes. According to womenshealth.gov, someone with anorexia has an intense fear of gaining weight. They tend to think about food a lot and limit their intake of food, even though they are too thin. Many claim that anorexia is more than just a problem with food. It's a way of using food or starving oneself to feel more in control of life and to ease tension, anger, and anxiety. Someone with bulimia eats an excess amount of food in a short time frame, called binging. The fear gaining weight after a binge is present in this case. Binging also can cause feelings of shame and guilt. So, the person tries to "undo" the binge by getting rid of the food, purging.

One of the articles I came across discussed the fact that some athletes have a desperate desire to be thin in order to please coaches and judges. This makes sense why we see these issues in sports like dancing and gymnastics instead of basketball or softball. In every gymnastics or dance competition the individual is constantly judged for every leap, jump, turn, and flip they do. The athlete with the highest, tightest, most perfect trick is the one who will score the best in that particular event. Even though how thin the performing athlete is should not be a factor to the judges score or coaching staff, it still tends to play a role. Because of the strain to be thin placed on these athletes, the choose to undergo outrageous tactics to please themselves by being the best they can be at their sport.

Over the years, many athletes have admitted to having eating disorders that developed while training to perfect their sport. Some have been able to come out of the disorder with help of nutritionists, doctors and even support from family and friends. Others have not been as lucky. In 1994, Christy Henrich died due to multiple organ failure from her eating disorders. At the age of 22 her weight dropped to 47 lbs. One of the most common outcomes of having an eating disorder is the heart failing and going into cardiac arrest. With the intense workouts athletes already undergo, they need essential nutrients to replenish their bodies. When the athlete chooses not to eat, their body becomes deficient in those nutrients in which organs begin to fail. If you are working off calories be sure to out them back on!

Tennis--Not what you'd expect!

2009-01-23T09:43:00.000-08:00

Many of you, after hearing the term tennis, think of a ritzy, leisure activity that elderly people play in the beaming sun of their southern retirement homes/complexes. A sport so different from that of, let's say football. Of course it is not uncommon in the realm of football to see beer-drinking fans guzzle a few down and then strike up an argument with the opposing team's fans. As for tennis, an outbreak such as this is almost completely unheard of...that was of course until Serbia's tennis star, Novak Djokovic, the defending men's champion, beat Bosnian-born American Amer Delic. Thursday night during the Australian Open at Melbourne Park.
News reporters refer to it as ethnic violence. Numerous chairs were thrown around at the conclusion of this match, one chair striking a women and leaving her unconscious. Along with chairs, insults, water bottles and almost anything one could get their hands on to throw were invloved in this chaotic event. Police told reporters that about 30 Bosnian and Serbian youths were ejected from Melbourne Park last night. Some of the men being charged with riotous behavior and one in particular was fined immediately.
Concluding a match, players are brought in to an interviewing room where they are asked questions about thier match, training up to it and how they felt they played. Due to the outbreak during Djokovic and Delic's match all the focus during their interview was centered on the vilence that had occured in the stands between the two players' fans.
On a lighter note, this same day, a man ran down on a court dancing and wearing nothing from the waist down. Security must have had enough antics for the day because he was immediately taken away and arrested for his behavior.
What a day in Melbourne! I can assure you that in all my years of playing tennis, a match has never been so exciting and action-packed as those played yesterday at the Australian Open. However I can tell you that the level of competition the UNK tennis team shows is definitely one reason on its own to come out and support us this season! http://www.lopers.com/tennis/09schedule.htm

President Obama, Our 44th President

2009-01-21T07:35:00.000-08:00

It's official! President Obama has taken his oath and has been sworn into presidency. For those of you who were not able to catch this historical event I have included a link to President Obama's inauguration speech. As I first watched there seemed to be some confusion with words as Obama was being sworn into presidency. Later I discovered that it was not President Obama's fault. He was given the wrong phrases to repeat back to Chief Justice John Roberts, who chose not to read the words from a script, instead from his own memory. Concluding the oath, President Obama took the stand and greeted the 1.2 million plus people that attend this honorary event. His speech spoke of the road ahead and he left out policy after policy like the many speeches during the running for President-- it was a nice change to not hear all of that...again! President Obama's inauguration speech. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27721638/vp/28657278/#video Indeed, he has his work cut out for him, that is evident! But with the backing of the people of the United States of America, I believe we can foresee change, for the better, in our country!

The President's Last Good-bye

2009-01-19T12:48:00.000-08:00

The President's Last Goodbye--Slate Magazine http://www.slate.com/id/2209137/

In this article, Slate Magazine reporter, Christopher Beam, describes the good-bye party for President Bush, Sunday night at Glen Echo Park in Maryland. Beam was among a mix of White House, State Department, Treasury, and Justice personnel. He described this event as more sweet than bitter. A casual attire was the dress code for this chilled evening as the invitees celebrated the past eight years together. A common question seemed to be what was next for many of those that gathered. A few high-profile personnel that Beam approached questioned his presence at the party. One in particular telling him that he hopes he makes it out alive.
After the band stopped playing President Bush and his wife were applauded onto stage where Bush expressed his appreciation to those he had worked so closely with over the past eight years. He concluded by saying, “if anyone needs a nice meal, come knock on our door in Dallas, Texas,” then waved good-bye.
I think this was a great way for President Bush to go out. Having a farewell party with those he worked so closely with, side-by-side each day, shows a great deal of appreciation and sincerity.

Hello World!

2009-01-15T12:55:00.000-08:00

As a senior Journalism student at the University of Nebraska @ Kearney I am enrolled in the class JMC 425-Blogging. I have created my first blog and now, my first post, I guess it is safe to say...Here We Go!!!