THE O(PRAH)BAMA CONNECTION - TAKE TWO

This blog entry by LIndsey Crouse

The story: "Oprah Shines Her Star Power on Obama"

The analysis:

In Des Moines, Iowa on December 8, TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey addressed over 18,000 people on the presidential campaign and her belief in Barack Obama’s ability to lead our country. Oprah makes an argument for change from the Bush administration other than another Clinton in the White House making it clear that Obama stood with clarity and conviction against the war in Iraq. The question is whether Obama will win votes merely from having one of the most popular daytime talk show hosts by his side. “Winfrey said she does not know if her influence on the presidential campaign will have the same impact as she has in driving up the popularity of books and products featured on her show”, but it should seem obvious that she will definitely have some sort of impact.
I chose this article because it is amazing to see how our society flocks towards celebrities and television stars. One woman that was interviewed admitted that she was not involved much in politics before, but was drawn to the rally both by Oprah and Obama. It seems to me that she was mainly drawn to the rally for Oprah because she then goes on to “jokingly” say that she hoped Winfrey would have one of her famous giveaways because she’d love to have a new car.
Having Oprah Winfrey speak out for Obama’s campaign definitely grabs people’s attention not only because she’s an extremely popular talk show host, but people also look up to her because of her many donations and acts of selflessness. Although I would like to be able to say that Oprah would not have any affect on voting matters, I think she will have a huge impact on people who are not normally involved in politics like the woman interviewed. People who aren’t knowledgeable in politics and do not make the effort to do research on politicians may vote for Obama just because of Oprah, this woman people may see as unselfish and positive in our society, and not because of what Obama stands for.

HO, HO, HA?

This blog entry by Andrew Sanchez

The story: "Ho-ho-ho is a no-no"

The analysis:

A Santa Clause recruitment firm Westaff, which has office in the United States and Australia, told its Christmas trainees that the traditional festive greeting of “ho, ho, ho” would be banned and replaced with “ha, ha, ha.” I chose this article because is shows how even the most innocent of characters like Santa Clause can be censored. I mean, wow! I understand there are regulations on T.V. and radio, but Santa Clause? The firm was worried that the traditional “ho, ho, ho” would frighten children and would seem derogatory toward women. A month later after the recruitment firm issued its new regulation, a Santa Clause was allegedly fired for not complying with the new holiday greeting; he was also let go for the singing of “Jingle bells.”
When children hear the traditional Santa Clause greeting of “ho, ho, ho,” do they instantly think of prostitution? I don’t think so. Perhaps if Santa went around calling kids “nappy headed hoes,” I would understand the outrage, but I don’t understand why anyone would want to change the traditional greeting to something so politically correct. I mean, “ho, ho, ho” is everywhere. It is the classic Santa Clause utterance, and it can be found inside books, Christmas cards, and just about anything Christmas and Santa Clause related. Children will eventually come across it in one form or another. What is the next step? Will we remove it completely? Ridiculous! So now with “ha, ha, ha,” can we say that it is evil? “Ha, ha, ha,” is always tied to villains when they get away with any illegal activity. Everything is getting to politically correct so as to make everything bland.
I do not believe that this phrase is of any danger to children or women. These organizations are taking the traditional “ho, ho, ho” completely out of context: it is the P.C. (politically correct) police trying to impose their views on society, to gloss over the real problems of society by masking it under a cloud of “everything’s just fine!” I have heard the term “the pussification of America” associated with this case. The P.C. police are ruining it all.
It first began when little league baseball associations began giving every child a trophy regardless of the outcome of their season. What happened to competing for the 1st place trophy and being competitive? And that’s certainly not the end of it. This past October, some schools went so far as to not allowing children to dress up and they were not allowed to call Halloween, Halloween. They had to call it harvest day. G-Damn it! Next thing you know, little boys are going to be told that they are not allowed to pee standing up. Enough of my ranting and back to Santa,
It’s bad enough that we cannot say Merry Christmas without worrying about offending groups of people who do not celebrate this particular holiday. The P.C. police are starting to water down our customs and culture, to homogenize everything. I wouldn’t be surprised if my grandchildren’s grandchildren will no longer celebrate some of the holidays we take the joy in celebrating. Christmas may very well be a thing of the past one day, a phantom holiday that once existed.

THE O(PRAH)BAMA CONNECTION - TAKE ONE

This blog entry by Juan Carlos Ochoa

The story: "Oprah lends star power to Obama in Iowa"

The analysis:

This article is discussing how Oprah, when she promotes a book, it turns out to be a best seller. So now the nation is wondering, if she starts promoting Obama for presidency, will he become the next president of the US? As the tickets were being distributed, many people grabbed the tickets, which went fast, where Oprah and Obama were going to be campaigning and many others were waiting outside to see if they could get a glimpse of Oprah. So many where questioning, of the people that showed up to the campaigns, were they there for Obama or for Oprah. The people that showed up had to deal with packed rooms. Also most of the people that attended did not usually participate in politics, but they volunteered for his campaign and took some caucus training just to be able to get some of the 18,000 tickets that they had available.

The reason I chose this article was because it just comes to show how such a big pop culture icon in our society could have so much influence in our nation. This is a good strategy for Obama to try to get votes for his presidency, but more particularly the women’s vote. But I don’t think that in the long run it is going to help him win the white house.

Oprah is a great remodel for women and she is very influential person that many listen to. I would be surprised to see if her campaigning for Obama will help him out. But this is not the only time when a celebrity is used to promote something for a certain cause. In our society having a well known face can become very influential in our society and influence people to fight for a cause or in this case get votes.

MORE HIV FOCUS IN POP NEEDED?

This blog entry by Jason Chung

The story: "Figures on H.I.V. Rate Expected to Rise"

The analysis:

The CDC (Center for Disease Control) estimates that over 40,000 people in the United States are infected with the HIV virus every year. However, recent reports and studies have shown that the number of HIV infected individuals have risen up to 63,000 cases annually, and is expected to rise again next year. Whether this drastic rise in American HIV cases is due to the lack of education and prevention of the HIV virus, or due to the fact that HIV symptoms tend to show up years after the virus is contracted, it is clear that HIV is becoming more of a prominent problem in American society.

December 1st was World AIDS Day. All over the globe, people were being made aware of the disease that has infected over 42 million people in the world. CSULB and other universities have dedicated a week to education and promote awareness about HIV, because the general population of students are unaware and confused about STD's. I chose this article because I believe that students should be more aware of the HIV virus. Health and science is a significant aspect of popular culture. We watch commercials and see media references about dieting, exercise, depression, smoking, alcoholism, and other health-related issues, but the only time you hear about HIV & AIDS in our society is news about the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Popular culture tends to glaze over global health problems like HIV. Unless Angelina Jolie adopts a new HIV-positive baby from Africa, you will rarely hear any references to HIV virus and its effects on people. Education of health also plays an important role in popular culture. While we have plethora nutrition specialists and physical trainers all across the United States, there are students who don't even know that the Student Health Services (which is free) on our CSULB Campus gives rapid HIV testing. About $45 of our tuition money goes directly to the SHS, and students don't take advantage of the care that is there for them.

What I'm trying to get at with this entry is that education and awareness of global diseases like HIV should become a prominent force in popular culture. By looking at the statistics and figures (ex: LA county is the 2nd nationwide for the # of AIDS cases), it is of grave importance that people get the facts straight about HIV. The government needs to stop cutting back on domestic efforts programs and our culture needs to take our overall health and knowledge about diseases such as HIV into greater consideration. You, as a student, have all the resources to learn about HIV and prevent it from happening to you. And no, don't worry, you can't get HIV from saliva.

MARRIAGE IS A GAME?

This blog entry by Pablo Ildefonso

The story: "'Who Wants to Marry a U.S. Citizen?'"

The analysis:

The newest reality show, "Who wants to Marry a U.S. Citizen?," is set for independent distribution according to Reuters. The premise of the show deals with an American bachelorette chooses her future husband between 3 immigrants. Creator of the show, Adrian Martinez says, "We're out to prove love knows no borders," and, "besides, that's what America is all about – a multicultural nation." And at the end of the show the bachelorette chooses whom she will marry, though the contestants are not guaranteed citizenship. The article had a link to a video that I was not able to load, though I did manage to find on YouTube. Where the end promo reads: One will win and stay in the country, two will be probably deported.

This comes at a time when immigration is a hot topic in the U.S. and has recently been on YouTube presidential debates. Candidates will soon be in a position of power to implement public policy that deals with immigration. At a time when this campus it self had a tense emotions about immigration, there is a xenophobia climate where exposing your self as an immigrant is not a popular thing to do. Because when someone thinks of immigrant, they think illegal. No one wants to be labeled an illegal because that's when one is seen as threat.

It's seems the creator of this show exploits that vulnerability, not consciously (which is problematic in its self). If you say to someone they have an opportunity to be a U.S. citizen in a game show, they'll do it, especially when becoming a U.S. citizen is such a hard process. I wouldn't be surprise if there were a game show where one has to eat testicles to win a green card. Oh wait, there is. It's called, "Gana la Verde," Win the Green. To add to the injury, its promo amplifies this message: oh well, good luck next time on your citizenship. If Adrain really wants a multicultural nation, maybe she should participate in the political arena to guarantee immigrants their U.S. citizenship as oppose to making a game show out of it.

ONLINE BULLIES

This blog entry by Christina Saunders

The story: "Online bullying a growing part of US teen Internet life"

The analysis:

This article discusses a growing trend of online bullying. “Cyber bullies” have increased from 6 to 50 percent in the past seven years. Kids and teens are finding ways of expressing aggression via the internet. Popular technologies such as instant messaging, text messaging and social networking websites are used to tease, threaten or insult others. Many kids will just turn off their computer or ignore messages, but others are more fragile and easily offended. There have been incidents of violence and suicides as the result of these messages received through the internet. A girl hung herself after exchanging insults on her MySpace with a person that pretended to be a 16-year-old boy. The last message reportedly being sent was “The world would be a better place without you.” This boy was flirting with the girl for weeks before the insults came. The fake boy was actually the mother of former friend of the girl. The mother wanted to find out what the girl thought of her daughter.
I chose this article because I found it so shocking. Social networking websites, such as MySpace.com and FaceBook.com, are very popular in today’s society. They are used to communicate with friends and others, advertise music and trends and many more social activities. It has become the “cyberworld” playground. It’s so sad to read about what people do to other people because of a comment left on their MySpace. People warn you about sexual predators and pedophiles on these social networking websites, but don’t warn you about “cyber bullies”.
I think it’s important because technology is so important. These social networking websites are great for people to make new friends, whether they are shy or not. They are also a great way to communicate, advertise and spread news. Music, movies and almost anything can be advertised on these social networking websites. It’s convenient and fast. The article says that some U.S. cities restrict access to the internet and mobile phones on campus. I think that’s very unfortunate because the internet has loads of information. There are bad things you can view on the internet, but there are also many things you can learn on the internet. As in everything, there are both benefits and consequences.
I also think this article is important because people need to learn to be kind to others and also not to take things said on the internet too seriously. Everyone is a critic, and people sometimes don’t care and sometimes get hurt. When I hear about drama on MySpace, I think to myself, “Calm down people, it’s just MySpace”. But for some or maybe more, MySpace has become the social hub. Being insulted online is just as bad as being insulted in person. Unfortunately, it’s much easier to insult online because it is so convenient and fast. As reported in the article, a girl from Tennessee stabbed another girl because of a comment left on FaceBook. These incidents are what has risen the percentages in electronic aggression and youth violence. I think it’s up to parents and internet user to be responsible when using the internet.