Thursday, June 30, 2011

Diversity and Nonprofits

Diversity is a major issue within the nonprofit sector. Problems consist of the makeup of the leadership within organizations being predominantly white. Also, through a quantitative study I noticed that Latinos were underrepresented on the websites of 12 nonprofits, 6 being local organizations serving a large percentage of Latinos. Nonprofits are handling diversity well though when it comes to the absence of stereotypes, and good job on placing different races in different roles as employees, volunteers, leaders, and those being served. Overall, nonprofits seem to be dealing with the topic of diversity better than most organizations and groups out there.

Cosmopolitanism

Chapter 5 of Cosmopolitanism deals with the subjects of agreement and disagreement. One example deals with the First Amendment, and how it is possible to agree on what to do without agreeing on why it's right. He goes on to talk about how some might not agree with the Muslim faith and the building of a mosque, but agree that it is allowed. Another example involves the Israeli Palestinian conflict. He talks about how the problem is not that these sides disagree, rather that they both agree strongly in their belief that Jerusalem is a holy city. Therefore, agreement can still lead to conflict. He finishes the chapter stating a major point of the book, that conversation is not to persuade but to get used to a certain idea and to understand it better.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Images in Video Games

Through a study of the most popular 10 games for each six consoles including computer in 2001, topics of violence, racism, and sexism all had interesting reoccurring themes. Half of all games used either contained serious violence, or used violence as a significant part of the plot. Also, no punishment was given for killing in any of the games, and instead a reward normally ensued.
Looking at racism, the study showed that out of the 53 heroes in the 70 games used, 46 were white. Also, most minority characters were in sports, wrestling, or fighting games.
Sexism has a more glaring role than racism in video games, with females being severely underrepresented. Females are most likely to be portrayed as props or bystanders instead of player-controlled characters. Also, the typical female is not representative of an actual female, with a very disproportionate body, exhibiting large breasts, a very skinny waist, tight clothing, and showing lots of skin.

Marriage and Coding

I just began listening to Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink on CD in my car, and heard an interesting example of a coding analysis used for married couples and whether their relationships would last or a divorce was in their future. In the study, couples are asked to discuss a topic within their relationships for 15 minutes. A code of 20 different emotions, such as defensive, contempt, and criticism, are given to both the husband and wife for each second of the conversation. The man who created this analysis has a 90% accuracy of predicting whether a marriage will last or not. While it is an extremely tedious and meticulous example of such an analysis, I thought it was a good example of what is possible through coding.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Senator Harry Reid

There was another story in the article about Democratic Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader and an Obama ally. According to Reid,"In 2008, Obama could succeed as an African-American presidential candidate partly because he was "light-skinned" and because he didn't speak with a "Negro dialect"". While he was defended by black leaders, who regarded him as a decent man after the comments, it is surprising that one of the most important political figures in our country would make a comment like this, knowing that he is a public figure and and must watch what he says. Just reading something like this and thinking about what is going on with Representative Weiner's scandal, it makes you wonder who has really been elected to serve our country. Representative Weiner's ability to put on this mask to gain voter support is interesting when looked in comparison to who he really is.

Obama and Race

I found an article on President Obama's thoughts on how racism has affected him as president, his legacy as president, and the public's perception of him. In the article, Obama talks about how race is still a problem, and says, "race was probably a key component in the rising opposition to [my] presidency from conservatives, especially right-wing activists in the anti-incumbent "Tea Party" movement that was then surging across the country." I found it interesting that our president is this open about the issue, almost calling out certain groups as being racists. While race is still in the forefront of some people's minds, I feel that there are much bigger issues that are focused on among these conservative groups.


http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/03/02/obama-says-race-a-key-component-in-tea-party-protests?PageNr=3

Monday, June 6, 2011

Cosmopolitan and Sex

Out of about 25 links and videos on Cosmopolitan.com’s home page, I found that 18 of these links and videos either directly said the words sex/sexy, or related to sex. While most of the others had to do with partying and drinking. With Cosmopolitan being one of the leading Women’s magazines, this constant exposure to sex has to produce results over time when it comes to young women and their decision making. Magazines like this do not expose readers to what true life is like, creating a false sense of reality and pressure that would seem to weigh on someone who reads such a magazine.
No matter how well someone is raised, people buy into what the media says, and friends buy into what their friends say. Overall, it is tough to screen out what you see everyday, and media viewers must make a conscious effort to understand what the real world should be like.


Sunday, June 5, 2011

LeBron and the NBA

In relation to brand image and identity, I feel that LeBron James has had a big influence on himself and the NBA over the past year.  His controversial way of going about letting the public know which team he will be joining drastically changed his image.  Previously a well-liked superstar who brought one of the worst teams in the league to become one of the best, LeBron's hour-long show in which he "took his talents to South Beach" showed everyone a completely different side.  Ego took over, and now while he is in the NBA Finals, I feel that the decisions he has made over the past year will affect the player he could have been.  His new image of being egotistical and selfish will appeal to certain people, but his previous like-able image around the U.S. will most likely be gone forever.  
Through all this, I wish basketball was more about basketball, instead of three very talented guys who seem to be able to do whatever they want now.  It will be interesting to see if rules or changes come about in the NBA to keep things like this from happening.  But it will also be interesting to see if this continues and gets worse for the next generation of basketball.