Author Archives: 0alloldusers

US Schools Ranked Below Average

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Surely, a high-performing student body may be representative of a competitively skilled future workforce. Consequently, this becomes an issue for Americans as their results on international tests continue to fall behind other participating countries, leaving the US ranked below average in subjects such as math.

There’s more to the story however, US test results were exceptionally polarized, a significant number of students scored high along the top performing countries while a large portion failed to even pass international standards. This illuminates an observation about US schools that differentiate them from other nations. American schools rely more heavily on local property taxes for funding, leading to an uncanny disparity between the rich and poor. This is especially disheartening when considering that many areas that need the most additional support for their students, such as English language learning programs, also happen to be drastically underfunded. It’s unfortunate that one’s ability to access a quality education depends on their parents economic status. This is not the case in Canada, and much of Europe, where their systems favoring egalitarianism produce more uniform results across the board.

I hope to further reiterate this message using an infographic that displays statistical comparisons visually. Additionally, I plan to produce a video remix highlighting news reports and case studies to incorporate an anecdotal aspect to my project. The website included, these media objects work together to convey different aspects of the issue in an engaging way for a better understanding overall that will hopefully motivate initiatives for improvement.

What Does it Mean to Plagiarize

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For my capstone project, I am going to explore plagiarism. During this semester, I have had personal experience of the effects of plagiarism in a group setting. While this act may or may not have been innocent, the fact it happened does not go unnoticed. The hardest part of the whole experience is knowing the actions of the one person can impact the entire team as a whole. When the act was discovered it brought forward various comments and questions, and these questions are the basis of my project. I will define plagiarism and when things should be cited, provide tools to check to see if work contains plagiarized information, and how plagiarism affects others. This will be done using two media objects.

For my project, I will be producing two different media objects along with a website. The first media object will be an infographic. This infographic will be created in illustrator, and I will create the imagery myself. This infographic will be designed to act as a tool others can use to avoid issues associated with plagiarism.

The second media object will be a remixed video. I am hoping to find enough content under creative common guidelines but may need to create some content myself. My overall goal is to provide enough content that anyone can understand and not be confused about the topic. I feel that many people take the topic lightly, and they do not understand how much of an impact it can have.

Capstone: Metal Music Stereotypes

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You know the moment when you make a new friend and decide to go out for coffee? You pick your friend up, they get in your car, and you crank up the tunes. The friend looks over at you and says “EW. You listen to screamo?” or “EW. You listen to death metal?” No matter how many times I introduce someone to the music I listen to, nine times out of ten these are the responses I get.

I feel like there is no other music genre that gets are stereotyped or as generalized as metal. While the outside world classifies all metal and “screamo” or “death metal,” true metal fans will tell you that these are just two genres of music that could be classified as metal. Much like country music has many different types like bluegrass, folk, modern country, and honky tonk, metal also has a large variety of different genres within the main metal genre. The differences between these genres can be extreme both in lyrical content and in instrumental makeup. Throwing every person that listens to metal into the screamo or death metal categories is like a slap in the face.

Metalheads are also subject to getting stereotyped for their appearance and lifestyle. When people envision metal concerts they envision a group of people dressed in all black, with thick black eyeliner, long grungy hair, piercings and tattoos all over the place. However, the reality is that most metal fans are no different than myself, a 28-year-old dad of a two year old who wears jeans and plain colored t-shirts 99.9% of the time and doesn’t have a single tattoo or piercing. I don’t do drugs, I am not gothic, I don’t worship the devil. I’m just your average guy, and I listen to metal.

For the reasons stated above I will be addressing some of the many metal stereotypes plaguing me and fellow metalheads.

The Capstone – Call of Duty

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Call of duty is one of the most popular and profitable video game of all time. Call of duty is an arcade shooter that lets the gamer experience the life of a soldier in a war setting within its campaigns, and competitive shooting scenario against their friends or online players. In media, call of duty is infamous for its inclusion of violence. A new call of duty is developed by studios which are Treyarch, Infinity Ward, and Sledghammer. Every year a new call of duty is released from one of the studios under video game publisher Activision. Also, every year when the trailer is released, the media criticizes the video game.
I am going to create a website that will include 3 pages with an Introduction, an Infographic file (at least 1600 x 800 pixels), and a Remixed video (2:30-3 mins. long). The Introduction page will include background information of call of duty. The information will consist of how the franchise was started, initial reaction of gamer community, and what the earlier call of duties were based upon. With the Infographic, I will present facts and stats about call of duty as a franchise. With the remixed video, I will present the arguments made by media and will also include some counter arguments. This way I will be able to present what call of duty is, from a perspective of the company itself, a gamer’s perspective, and the perspective of the media (which is mostly insignificant).

Capstone – Kevin Ngo

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My Capstone project will be on esports and the aspects of whether it is a sport or not.
Currently, most esports are not considered sports in many countries, which disallow players from attaining work visas for extended travel to tournaments outside of their country.
For a long time, socially many people haven’t considered esports to be a sport, generally because esports doesn’t have any major physical aspect to it, as many mainstream sports do. However, there are many sports which also don’t have the same major physical aspects which are indeed considered sports, such as poker, chess, racing, target shooting, etc.
Esports would share some similarities to these other sports in needing high expertise in knowledge (of the opponent), tactics, endurance, precision, and more.

The one of the media objects which I’ll likely take is an infographic, which likely will comprise of stats such as viewership, sponsorship, and population participation.
The other I’ll take is a remix, which I’ll be taking a variety of clips of the many interviews that occur during large tournaments in esports, as well as any related videos of people comparing sports to esports.
Also a mention of the size and impact of esports in South Korea and potentially China as well, where they are much more widespread.

Capstone Project – Jacob Martin

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I’d like to complete my capstone project on the issue of the arts being defunded in some schools. A lot of schools first thought when having money issues is to get rid of the arts, but things like theater, music and art have a lot more use than just looking pretty or doing it as a hobby. I will most likely be creating an infograph and a remixed video for my project. I think the remix would be a good thing to use because I can get a lot of different news reports or interviews that show students and teachers talking about whats going on in schools, so that the audience would get information from people who have actually had it happen to them. My infograph will be more focused on the informational side of things, and will include graphs and charts to show how many schools have had to defund the arts. These will connect well together because the video will apply more to the person’s emotional side, and the infograph will appeal to the more logical side of a person. Since I’ll be hitting both of these points, I think I’ll be able to make a good impact on the person with my project. I haven’t fully decided on what my website will look like, but I think it would be cool to see if I could find some pieces of art from high school students to display as the pictures on my site. Not only does it apply to my topic but it takes it a step further by showing what art can do and why it’s important.

The Capstone: A Day On Mars

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The thought of leaving Earth and traveling to another planet is quite a cumbersome thought. We have seen many ideas about the journey to Mars, and the struggles of going off into the unknown, but I want to focus on something a little different. Instead, I want to focus on the individual experiences people will have after landing on mars. This will include both the technical struggles people will experience, as well the mental struggles associated with living in such a foreign place. I will probably incorporate a mirroring of the cultural shock that people often experience in visiting a foreign locale.

To present the thoughts of living in the great beyond, I will create a website that includes two different mediums of delivery. The first medium will be an info-graphic about the technical difficulties associated with living on Mars. An info-graphic would be effective in communicating this information because it could act as a “manual to living on Mars.” It would mimic the style of ads from the 1950’s. This would create an image that is both visually compelling, and relatable in form.

Assembling the feelings people would have interacting in a foreign space may prove harder to portray, but I predict that a remix video could do an effective job. A remix video would showcase news footage about living on mars, and the discoveries associated with those endeavors. Also, incorporating clips from movies about life on mars would yield an interesting cross play of perspectives. This blending of a technical based info-graphic, and a personal themed remix video would help viewers grasp what life may look like beyond the stars.

Reality TV & The Television Industry

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For my Capstone Project I will explore the rise of reality television and its influence on the entertainment industry and viewers in America. Since the 1990’s, reality TV has grown exponentially. Channels like The History Channel and Discovery run dozens of reality television shows every day, from Duck Dynasty to The Bachelor.

The reality television industry revolves around constant scouting for talent and material rather than the slow development process of the narrative and documentary television industry that came before it. Before reality TV, networks would hire large Hollywood-based studios to employ writers, actors, and directors to create scripted series. These shows would take large budgets and months of production time to create. With reality TV shows, far fewer writers are required, and high-cost actors are completely unnecessary.

As more TV channels switch to a reality-based model for the majority of their programs, viewers are migrating to streaming services like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu to fulfill their desire for traditional narrative television. These streaming companies have begun to fund their own shows, bypassing cable companies altogether. The most popular example of this is Netflix’s Netflix Originals, shows that are funded and produced by Netflix including Orange is the New Black (2013), Stranger Things (2016), and House of Cards (2013).

Over the past decade, reality TV has played a major role in shaping the television industry. As reality TV becomes more popular, traditional television is finding new niches to fulfill in the streaming industry, and television is becoming dominated by low-budget reality pieces. This low-cost-high-gain trend is great for production cost, but quality of television is suffering because of it.

 

 

Student Stress – Capstone Topic

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Well, about a year and a half ago, I ended up in the hospital for severe sleep deprivation. I had insomnia for a while and had a lot of trouble sleeping, and the months of struggling to get the sleep I needed finally took its toll on me. I wasn’t just lacking in sleep, but it was like my brain was so wired up on drugs or something that I had no real sense of the world. I wasn’t on drugs, of course, I couldn’t sleep well. While, today where a lot of my life has vastly changed, I still struggle with stress. It may not give me insomnia, but with everything going on in my life, unpacking because my parents insist it, getting my homework done, going to school, driving three to four hours total every day, and keeping my job amidst it all… stress has become such a constant thing in my life. It’s something many of us can relate to. While a lot of us might not end up in the hospital, specifically in the fashion I did, we all know what stress is and all struggle to keep up in our daily lives without killing ourselves over it. I guess I just wanted to bring more awareness to the issue. I think my two media objects will be an infographic and a remix video. I’m not totally sure on the call to action, maybe bring awareness, or plan a way to contain or mend your stress.

Capstone Project- Oil Pumping and Oil Spills

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My name is Richard Lockett and the focus of my DTEC 120 course Capstone Project is on the risks of oil spills from over-shore drilling and refineries.
I will be using two media objects to present my topic: First I will be using an info-graphic that will point out how much oil has been spelt in past from over-shore oil rigs and the sea life which has been harmed from the oil spills.
I will also use the info-graphic to highlight the amount of oil rigs that has caused spills in the past.
Both of my sources will be presented on my new web-page that will have the infographic on one page and the video on the other page.
I am planning also using the info-graphic to show the pros of over-shore oil refineries.
My next media object will be a video remix utilizing several ocean related videos under creative commons, and several videos of people speaking about oil spills, and how they have harmed the ocean.
These two sources will relate to each other by presenting two sides to the argument. The info-graphic will provide facts dealing with the positive nature of over-shore oil refineries such as: Cost effectiveness from pumping oil in our oceans, the jobs created by the construction of new refineries, and relying on US oil. It will also provide facts on the cons as well such as: the number of oil spills in the past, dangers to sea life, the time it takes to clean up oil spills, and the cost of cleaning up oil spills.