I really do not watch stand up comedy, because I never get the jokes or I just don't understand them, because my knowledge of current affairs and politics is not as good as it should be. However, some night I had to stay up late and I had the TV running and I caught a show called "Puppet Up", which is a comedy show featuring puppet artists who are given a subject and then they have to spontaneously come up with something funny for a couple of minutes. I watched the first episode and I immediately fell in love with it. Here is an example of it:
The thing I liked about it is that nothing can be prepared and therefore they artists come up with simple things that everyone would come up with if you can't give something like that too much thought. I admit that when I watch TV, then it's when I find time in my busy schedule when I can just relax and not use my brain too much. I use those moments to just detach from the world and the current affairs that bother me every day and I just want to laugh, cry, be scared, or just watch in an easy way. Puppet Up makes me laugh without needing me to think too much and it's not just someone standing on the stage, it's even funny to watch the puppets and how the people "underneath" them act
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
The Media and the rest of the world
Normally my life is pretty busy, but I do take the time (as often as I can) to check out the newspaper to get a glimpse of what happens outside of my own busy world. I have to admit that although I live in the United States, I still read a German newspaper called Die Welt (translation The World). However, it is an international newspaper, which doesn't only give me some basic information on what is happening in my homecountry, but also the basics on what is happening in the world. Here is the website http://www.welt.de/.
One thing that astonishes me again and again is the amount of information about US politics that you can find even on the title page of this and many other European newspapers. I recently asked my Dad, who lives in Germany, who he would vote for in the upcoming US election, if he was living in the United States. The answer he gave me almost made me fall off the chair. He argued for about 5 minutes on why he would vote for Obama rather than McCain and he gave me facts that I never thought any German would be informed about! He said that you don't even have to be very interested in US politics to get a good amount of information about these issues in Germany, because every night German newscasts inform their viewers on what is going on in the world's biggest nation. There is almost no possible way around it other than not listening, watching or reading news at all. Not only is this more than I think the American media informs the people about the US election (I know many people who unfortunately do not even know if Obama is a democrat or a republican), but it is also more than any American news outlet informs you about any other nation's politics. My roommates were even surprised to hear that the German chancellor (we do not have a president) was a woman and not even just a woman but a woman who was voted "most powerful woman in the world at the present time" by Forbes Magazine.
I think since the world has become more unified than in ancient times when travelling was expensive and not very easily accessible (some continents were not even discovered), there needs to be better coverage on affairs in other nations. Sure, America is big and has a lot of things to deal with, but in my opinion people should be better informed about other nations, especially about those in the UN to have a better appreciation on their own country and the countries that work together in world affairs.
One thing that astonishes me again and again is the amount of information about US politics that you can find even on the title page of this and many other European newspapers. I recently asked my Dad, who lives in Germany, who he would vote for in the upcoming US election, if he was living in the United States. The answer he gave me almost made me fall off the chair. He argued for about 5 minutes on why he would vote for Obama rather than McCain and he gave me facts that I never thought any German would be informed about! He said that you don't even have to be very interested in US politics to get a good amount of information about these issues in Germany, because every night German newscasts inform their viewers on what is going on in the world's biggest nation. There is almost no possible way around it other than not listening, watching or reading news at all. Not only is this more than I think the American media informs the people about the US election (I know many people who unfortunately do not even know if Obama is a democrat or a republican), but it is also more than any American news outlet informs you about any other nation's politics. My roommates were even surprised to hear that the German chancellor (we do not have a president) was a woman and not even just a woman but a woman who was voted "most powerful woman in the world at the present time" by Forbes Magazine.
I think since the world has become more unified than in ancient times when travelling was expensive and not very easily accessible (some continents were not even discovered), there needs to be better coverage on affairs in other nations. Sure, America is big and has a lot of things to deal with, but in my opinion people should be better informed about other nations, especially about those in the UN to have a better appreciation on their own country and the countries that work together in world affairs.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
How some students are different than others
I am taking four classes this term and in all of them, there is at least one adult student in the class. Now, since I am an adult student myself, I think I can dare to make this point: Some of them just behave like they know everything and they do not need to be in a class!
In my one class, two of the adult students sit in the first row and basically talk the whole time as if the class was a private session between them and the teacher. One day, our teacher forgot to give us a quiz that was supposed to happen that day. Naturally, nobody reminded him to give us the quiz so the teacher just begun his lecture. All of a sudden, one hand in the first row shoots up in the air and what comes out of the mouth of the adult student? "I think we were supposed to have a quiz today". Honestly, and those guys wonder why traditional students do not like adult students.
Another example comes from another class in which one of the adult students had to give a presentation. While he was setting up his PowerPoint, the teacher realized that he had forgotten something in his office. While the teacher apologized for having to run back to the office, the student just says: "Don't worry, I'll just go ahead and explain the kids what I'm doing". Honestly, we're in College, which means that everyone is at least 19, which in my opinion is clearly AFTER childhood!
A really big thing that some adult students do not realize is that if they sit in class rolling their eyes and continuously looking at their watches because they already know ALL the material from all their precious life experience, the teacher actually realizes that behavior and gets annoyed. Naturally, the whole class has to suffer because this teacher then gets frustrated and angry and as punishment might assign an even bigger work load. Honestly, if you already know it all, why don't you just take the class as a tutorial and stay out of the classroom!!
Fellow adult students, we need to fit in here, because we are the minority! Traditional aged students rule the College campuses. We should not try to stick out like that by calling everyone a kid or showing off how much knowledge and life experience we already have. This just makes our classmates angry and the teachers as well. Why not go with the flow, pretend to be young again and just enjoy college with FRIENDS amongst the traditional students. I tried it and it works perfectly fine for me!
In my one class, two of the adult students sit in the first row and basically talk the whole time as if the class was a private session between them and the teacher. One day, our teacher forgot to give us a quiz that was supposed to happen that day. Naturally, nobody reminded him to give us the quiz so the teacher just begun his lecture. All of a sudden, one hand in the first row shoots up in the air and what comes out of the mouth of the adult student? "I think we were supposed to have a quiz today". Honestly, and those guys wonder why traditional students do not like adult students.
Another example comes from another class in which one of the adult students had to give a presentation. While he was setting up his PowerPoint, the teacher realized that he had forgotten something in his office. While the teacher apologized for having to run back to the office, the student just says: "Don't worry, I'll just go ahead and explain the kids what I'm doing". Honestly, we're in College, which means that everyone is at least 19, which in my opinion is clearly AFTER childhood!
A really big thing that some adult students do not realize is that if they sit in class rolling their eyes and continuously looking at their watches because they already know ALL the material from all their precious life experience, the teacher actually realizes that behavior and gets annoyed. Naturally, the whole class has to suffer because this teacher then gets frustrated and angry and as punishment might assign an even bigger work load. Honestly, if you already know it all, why don't you just take the class as a tutorial and stay out of the classroom!!
Fellow adult students, we need to fit in here, because we are the minority! Traditional aged students rule the College campuses. We should not try to stick out like that by calling everyone a kid or showing off how much knowledge and life experience we already have. This just makes our classmates angry and the teachers as well. Why not go with the flow, pretend to be young again and just enjoy college with FRIENDS amongst the traditional students. I tried it and it works perfectly fine for me!
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Are soldiers better than civilians?
This summer I took a design class in the Mercyhurst Pre-Summer session. I was one of the few people that took this class for a major requirement and the rest of the students basically needed three more credits in order to graduate. Naturally, these students were not really gifted when it came to creativity, but the teacher handled it really well. However, one student (an adult student, and I'm not discriminating, because I'm an adult student myself) didn't really accept that he can't get an A for something that isn't that well done. So, one day when the teacher wasn't in the room, he told the rest of the class, that he thinks that the teacher doesn't treat him right. When he asked him what he meant by that, he answered that he used to fight in the Iraq War as an army soldier and that because he risked his life in it, he should be treated way better than ordinary people and therefore should receive all A's in every assignment.
Now, my cousin used to be a soldier too and he was in Iraq and Afghanistan and I told him about this ex soldier's opinion. My cousin said that he never even thought about himself as being special because of that and that he hates people who make such a ridiculous difference between themselves and non-soldiers. I'm glad that he reacted that way, because I never thought that soldiers are anyhow different than regular people. However, I have a high respect for people who go into the war and risk their lives for their country, because I know I would have a very hard time with it, but I do not think that this should effect the way that they are being treated when it comes to normal life that is not related to the war. There are even many people who do want to join the military but are not accepted, maybe because of a medical problem. Does that make them less valuable in life than the soldiers? According to that adult student, yes!
Here is an example of a soldier that probably should not be given such a higher value in life:
I know that war is terrible and usually people behave differently in times of war, but it doesn't seem like the soldiers in the video are afraid to be killed in that situation. So why does such a person deserve more respect than any "civilian" in normal life? I hope that there are not too much more soldiers who think the way that this adult student thought...
Now, my cousin used to be a soldier too and he was in Iraq and Afghanistan and I told him about this ex soldier's opinion. My cousin said that he never even thought about himself as being special because of that and that he hates people who make such a ridiculous difference between themselves and non-soldiers. I'm glad that he reacted that way, because I never thought that soldiers are anyhow different than regular people. However, I have a high respect for people who go into the war and risk their lives for their country, because I know I would have a very hard time with it, but I do not think that this should effect the way that they are being treated when it comes to normal life that is not related to the war. There are even many people who do want to join the military but are not accepted, maybe because of a medical problem. Does that make them less valuable in life than the soldiers? According to that adult student, yes!
Here is an example of a soldier that probably should not be given such a higher value in life:
I know that war is terrible and usually people behave differently in times of war, but it doesn't seem like the soldiers in the video are afraid to be killed in that situation. So why does such a person deserve more respect than any "civilian" in normal life? I hope that there are not too much more soldiers who think the way that this adult student thought...
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Mercyhurst Webmail...
So this week was the third time that webmail was not working for the Mercyhurst students. Ever since I came to Mercyhurst I didn't like it for several reasons.
1- You cannot check your emails when you're not in the United States! How about those people who either study abroad or go to their homecountry over the breaks? Does Mercyhurst see a national threat if I check my email when I'm in Germany?
2- Every 180 days you have to change your password and it can't be the same password as before. Every year this password seems to even grow longer and longer. First it had to be six letters, then it had to be 8, then it has to be at least one number, and finally it has to be at least 8 characters long, include at least one lower case and one upper case letter and at least one number. Since I have a password for everything imaginable (internet, email, blogging, online banking, ITUNES store, facebook, etc.) I try to use similar passwords if not even the same for many of those things to prevent me from forgetting all those passwords. So, how the hell am I supposed to come up with a new password every 180 days and still remember it? What is even better, the system doesn't notify you when those 180 days are over (so you better count!!!).
3- It doesn't work when you need it. Since I'm a Communication major (yeah, email would fall under this topic) I am constantly communicating via email. This week our Multimedia Storytelling teacher had to cancel half his class, because he sent an assignment via email, which didn't work that day...
4- If you have two pictures or several bigger files in your inbox your space is full and you won't get any new emails until you free some space. Honestly...
So, in conclusion, why does the Mercyhurst webmail have to be so complicated? I don't think that any student will post a threat to the college by checking their email. Trust me, there are other ways to do that!
1- You cannot check your emails when you're not in the United States! How about those people who either study abroad or go to their homecountry over the breaks? Does Mercyhurst see a national threat if I check my email when I'm in Germany?
2- Every 180 days you have to change your password and it can't be the same password as before. Every year this password seems to even grow longer and longer. First it had to be six letters, then it had to be 8, then it has to be at least one number, and finally it has to be at least 8 characters long, include at least one lower case and one upper case letter and at least one number. Since I have a password for everything imaginable (internet, email, blogging, online banking, ITUNES store, facebook, etc.) I try to use similar passwords if not even the same for many of those things to prevent me from forgetting all those passwords. So, how the hell am I supposed to come up with a new password every 180 days and still remember it? What is even better, the system doesn't notify you when those 180 days are over (so you better count!!!).
3- It doesn't work when you need it. Since I'm a Communication major (yeah, email would fall under this topic) I am constantly communicating via email. This week our Multimedia Storytelling teacher had to cancel half his class, because he sent an assignment via email, which didn't work that day...
4- If you have two pictures or several bigger files in your inbox your space is full and you won't get any new emails until you free some space. Honestly...
So, in conclusion, why does the Mercyhurst webmail have to be so complicated? I don't think that any student will post a threat to the college by checking their email. Trust me, there are other ways to do that!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
