LAST ENTRY

Hello all, since this is our last entry, i’ve decided to post something closer to our hearts i.e. UB COUNCIL ELECTIONS .

So, the presidential candidates we have are :

Elly Sim and Delip Saravanan

In an attempt to promote themselves, they carried out a range of promotional activities such as speeches in lectures and campaign videos being played, posters on display and flyers being given out; all of which was  to achieve the aim of communicating with the student body, to inform and garner support.

This brings me back to rhetoric. Rhetoric is defined simply as the study of effective speaking and writing, and the art of persuasion. Hence, through this election campaign we see rhetoric being put into play, ultimately whoever the next UB president will be, is highly dependent on how effectively they employ Rhetoric.

 

Fashion’s Night Out in NYC ! LATEST!

In any case if you guys didnt know, September 10, 2009 saw the first Fashion’s Night Out in New York City ! More than 800 stores in Manhatten, Queens and Brooklyn stayed open until 11.00pm.

The objective behind this event is to save the tumbling fashion industry due to the depressing economy and even with discounts, event organizers doubted if anyone would actually turn up.

Event organizers used models, actresses, muses, designers and famous people to appear in ads, and stores hoping to garner the masses support.

Even though hopes are low as the economy is doing so badly that the fashion industry is at its lowest, however, on September 10, stores were bursting with people like its “a fashion mardi gras”!

Indeed what i am raising here is the effect of media. Recently we learnt in class that the media has such an influence over the people that they sometimes do not have a mind of their own.

This event clearly show the power media have on people. It reflects how this fashion event predicted to have a poor turn out due to the depressing economy, after going through publicity endorsed by famous people became a success, littered with people.

Indeed, stores that dot their streets and democratized the notion of shopping with the help of Media.

LGBT

” Obama pledges to repeal military gay ban “

President Barack Obama promised gay and lesbian activists that he will repeal a ban on gays in the US military on Saturday. However, despite his promise of ensuring the end of discrimination against gays, Obama is still not supporting same-sex marriages.

Geert Hofstede said

” Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another… includes systems of values and values are a,ong the building blocks of culture”.

In my humble opinion, Obama is trying the dispel the culture we are accustomed to, the culture that is so integrated in us. This is, to me, merely a move by Obama to secure support from the LGBT crowd, because he is facing tremendous pressure to act on what he promised.

But, culture in our society i feel is so deeply integrated that even though people would love to deviate, but they dare not for fear of punishment or prejudices.  Culture dictates the way we communicate to one another, as a result of culture, laws are enforced, groups are segregated, and people only communicate to others of the same ranks. I am being stereotypical here, but what i say is what i see and feel/

Feel free to comment on it.

Thank you.

A Disaster.

I am sure all of us heard of the earthquake which hit Padang,Indonesia. This calamity brought the world once again to an alert after events like the 911, Hurricane Katrina… …

What i want to bring to everyone’s attention is the truckloads of relief supplies, international relief team with their sniffer dogs and specialist equipment pouring into the country. Indonesia needs serious help, this is a disaster and all of us ought to help her. But, COMMUNICATIONS made this available for Indonesia.

Without communications, the television,the satellite,radio,radar,the internet and many more communication medium, the world will not be able to know that an earthquake actually broke out in Indonesia, and hence help will not be able to reach Indonesia. Isnt communication powerful in this sense? This is just a personal insight.

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1009245/1/.html

Entry 3

Dialectical distinction; Communication interaction vary in terms of how interpersonal they are.

As mentioned, interaction depends on how interpersonal they are, and for myself,i am often engaging and socializing with people too close for their and my own comfort. I find myself believing people too easily ( did not employ screening mechanism) and sharing with them my stories , money etc.

i used to have a friend (a girl)with whom i find her pretty nice to socialize with, in fact, hung out with her despite the cries from my friends, because i find her genuinely nice. To think that i trusted her, shared with her everything i had, and one day, i found her stealing my ipod, and coupled with previous incidents of compulsive lying, borrowing my money without returning, and many other insanely grosteque incidents.

Moral of the story, apply screening mechanism before you befriend anyone, and make sure not to get too personal before knowing the person entirely.

OBAMA

US President Obama saturated the US television talk shows on sunday, trying to  promote his health care agenda. Well, but still, he met plenty of opposition, and people even took to the streets calling him a liar.

What i am trying to put across here is the limitation of verbal communication. Through speaking we try to eliminate the misunderstanding, however, this is a very hard thing to do. President Obama may assume that his messages are clearly received, however, it may not be through shown by the reactions to the agenda.

All said, it is impossible to please everyone through public speaking.

Source : http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/21/health/policy/21obama.html?_r=1&hp

Color barrier, broken down

Beverly Johnson, first African-American Model to appear on the cover of Vogue, 1974.  Once again, in September 2009 issue of Vogue, Johnson’s inspiring and truly sensational feature 35 years  ago was back in the spotlight.

Johnson’s feature helped to break down color barriers, of prejudices against anyone of black origin. She made black people appear normal, and that black models are actually beautiful not aliens. Her cover made cultural and historical impact, and provided more than a myopic view.

In my humble opinion, if i were to be brought up in the 1970’s, and to come across the magazine cover, i would be shocked that a Black has finally been able permeate the media in this case magazines. I will be too shocked for any words, yet i know that finally the Blacks are able to come out of the white’s shadows.

She is truly sensational, she is a legend. Because of her, communication medium such as magazines strayed from being myopic and featuring only white models, but that because of her, communication medium has help to break down barriers.

♥Beverly Johnson
Source: http://www.style.com/vogue/feature/2009_September_Beverly_Johnson/

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