Campus Signgage Project

The campus signgage project is a fun little project I think. Going around campus I never really look around campus much, especially looking at signs. I more times than never just walk right past signs and never bother to really look at them. One sign that I did notice was a Einstein Bagels sign. It is relatively new to campus and when I have been there there has been a lot of people there seeing as it is pretty popular. The sign that I noticed was in a spot far from the library though. I noticed the sign over by Anderson hall which is quite a walk from the library. I wondered why the sing would be all the way over by Anderson hall and not closer to the library like on Normal Rd. I think if the sign was on Normal Rd. like on the way to the library the sign would be more effective.

Exercise #1

I think that the accessibility of the NIU homepage is good. At the bottom of the home page there is numbers, address, even a Contact Us link. In terms of clarity, the homepage is pretty precise on where most things are. The homepage has links for almost everything, from academics to student organizations. It even has a directory. The professional appearance of the homepage is good. Its clear precise, there is nothing too flashy and it is easy to navigate.

Reflection of How to Change the World

This film based on Bob Hunter was as amazing watch. The film starts off with the story of how Hunter was a journalist during the presidency of Richard Nixon. Hunter was a journalist in Vancouver at the time and was writing about the nuclear tests that Nixon had been planning. The nuke that was to be set off was off the coast of Alaska and was named the Amchitka bomb. Hunter had set off on his journey and was trying to find ways to broadcast this to the world. He wanted to stir the world about what was going on. He found a crew that he was going to work with and rode with them towards the bombing site but was stopped by coast guards. This scene was mind blowing because it was the 1970’s and who would even think about sailing out to sea during fall with winter approaching on a local fisherman boat. He was persuaded by Ecologists to think about the world and how it would affect the planet we live on. When they returned from their voyage their voice was easily heard across many countries and they decided to name the boat Green Peace for the combo of the peace movement and Ecology movement. I think that what they were doing is great. Especially for their time because as a world right now the movement of saving the planet is big and always growing. All these groups talk about what we can do to help save the world. Hunter had met a man on his journey that worked as a psychologist at a local aquarium that worked with the killer whale there. Hunter had checked him out and got enlightenment from the man and the whale because of one thing that whale had done. Hunter had put his head into the mouth of the whale and realized at any moment the whale could have easily snapped his head off but didn’t. Hunter saw this as a sign and wanted to help more whales around the world. The next part of this was something that I personally have seen on TV. Hunter had gone with his crew out to sea again and were trying to stop men who hunt whales or whalers which Hunter and his crew had called them. They were hunting the whalers and looking to save these whales which were getting killed by the dozens at a time. One scene which included them getting face to face with a russian whaler group had me speechless. What crew would risk their lives on these small rafts against a giant boat able to carry these whales. Hunter on his raft had come so close to the whale whilst the whaler shot the harpoon that when shot, it went merely 15 feet over his head. Hunter had risked his life for a shot of that and used his journalist skills and crew to help spread the word of these mass whale killings. I was impressed by how much media was able to spread the word of what the Green Peace was able to accomplish. It had spread so far and the movement grew so much that countries around the world began to make their own Green Peace buildings and offices around the world. Their movement only grew from there in which a crew member named Paul Watson started a new crisis in parts of Vancouver. He wanted to stop these men from slaughtering baby seals for their white fur. The scenes shown in the film are to be watched with discretion. The scenes were graphic and it was really impactful to see what actually happened, real footage of these hunters slaughtering the baby seals and skinning them on ice. It was hard to watch and also sad to see these baby seals ripped away from their mothers. This movement also drew controversy to them because it was not actually approved from their leader Hunter. Following more scenes of Green Peace hunting for these whalers they had finally made a impact. The film shows of one scene in which they were out on sea and had gotten information from CIA agents that also agreed with what Green Peace was doing to protect the world. Green Peace had confronted a group of Russian whalers and the whalers had stopped because they knew who Green Peace were and had seen the images shared around the world of what they were doing. This blew my mind because government officials were even impacted by their movement, but what could they do they couldn’t openly come out and say they wanted to support them because they’re tied to the government. Then in 1977 Hunter had proceeded to resign as he was seen as not stably sane.  He was getting old and wanted to step down and start a family. He passed on leadership to his friend and crew member Paul Watson who had his phD in ecology. Their movement was getting big and didn’t have efficient funds. Watson knew this and wanted to start something that could fix this. Watson had met up with all the old crew members and decided that it was time to make Green Peace international officially. They had made a movement an official organization internationally. At that time it was impressive because media was just beginning to bloom. Soon Green Peace began raising millions. This film was definitely a great watch. I would recommend it to anyone willing to watch and learn about how much movements in the past have really affected organizations now. It was amazing to see how far people have come to change the world for a better place.

My summary of Scaredycat

In the film Scaredycat by Andy Blubaugh it begins with him telling others about his time when he was younger. He would do things such as aligning books or magazines to feel “safe”. He would line his feet with the floor boards as he walked. Then the story turns into a story of him getting jumped by seven or eight men. Next Jan Hawkin a clinical psychologist speaks of responses to violence. She speaks of two responses to violence one of which where people tend to turn away and go with the flow. The other of which is Andy Blubaugh’s response of worrying and such. After the scene with Jan, Andy proceeds to explain how his life goes, for example when he sees a young black man out on the streets he will do what he deems safe; i.e. crossing the street or getting off the train. He then explains how when he was jumped by the men not all of them were black some were white and hispanic. He responded with racism from his fear. Andy then proceeds to call one of the men who jumped him and asked what went through his mind during this, and if he had any past experiences with violence. At the end of his conversation with the men who jumped him, all the convicts sentences were told. The one who Andy was speaking with deemed the sentences unjust because what were they to do when they get out of prison with no education. Andy saw the sentences as unfair but also appropriate because he wished to see them in prison for what had happened that night. Andy ends the film with explaining how we as humans we do all these things to eliminate fear.

Work that we have done so far in class...

Well seeing that I missed the first day of class this week. I'd say it was pretty successful. I think this class seems like a very interesting class. I am more use to writing papers and just handing them in like a traditional English class. After watching the short film "Scaredycat" it really makes me look into perspective of how we actually see fear. I do believe fear is a natural thing in all of us. I mean we are all built with a fight or flight mechanism. And I have seen people take cautions with fear like Andy does in the film. Also writing a summary how Dr. Kyburz explains made me really think what a summary was. You don't really want to tie in a opinion to a summary other wise it does become a review. I think this week was a good week of class and I look forward to the rest of the semester.

A little about myself.

Hi, My name is Gilbert Bounchaleunsouk. Yes, I have a very long last name and yes the ACT's were a pain. I messed up a couple times filling in those bubbles. Some info about myself is I am currently studying for my bachelors in EET-Electrical Engineering Technology. I started my first semester here at NIU last spring. I also like to travel a lot. I like sight seeing and discovering what the world has for me and others to see. My favorite place that I have visited so far was my parents home country of Laos in south east Asia. And theres a little about me.