Last Blog

This is the final blog for mass communications. The course was a very good one. Before this course I did not know how to blog, and look at me now, I have 26 of them! I really enjoyed this course even though some of it was

Firday Night Hoops!

This upcoming weekend the mens and womens teams will be facing Regis and Metro State. Tonight the womens team played at 6 taking a win over Regis, but the men fell one point short to Regis in the final 2 seconds of the game. It was a devistating loss because the guys played there hearts out. But Regis just kept up with the skyhawks and got a lucky shot at the very end, also the refs were horrible, but nothing can be done about them. Hopefully the women will repeat their win again tomorrow, and the mean will pick their heads up, get their game right and win tomorrow as well. DeAndre made two dunks tonight both laid up by Jordan Brooks.

Classic Results

The skyhawk men took two wins this weekend in the pre-season classic. Their first opponent St. Edwards was a very intense physical game. From the stands you could clearly see bad sportsmanship from both teams, with trash talking, and unnessary roughness. Despite the drama the skyhawks took the win with a score of 83-73. In this game Jordan Brooks and DeAndre Landsdowne both got a dunk.

Finals Stress!!

This week is the last week of class and extreme crunch time. For mass communications I have my presentation tuesday and really need to put the finishing touhes on it. For my business class I need to complete a 5 page portfolio, which is not hard just very time consuming. Finally for my comp class I need to make a memo of my class reflection, read an article in my major field, write a rhetorical analysis of it, and take my last paper and re write it according to a learning objective! FUN!! Just got to keep my head up and know that it is all over once I finish these.. Good Luck To Everyone On Their Last Week Of Class In Preperation For Finals!!

Texas Permian Basin... Defeated

The lady skyhawks had a home game last night against Texas Permian Basin, where they continued to show their strength and dominated the falcons. I was at the game and it was an extreme shout out.. when I had got to the game they had been playing for maybe five minutes and the score was 25-6. The skyhawks took the win at 75-38, an amazing performance. Top three scorers for the night were Abby Jackson, Mary Rose Paiz, and Audrey George, 13, 12, and 09. The ladies will continue there season with the record 5-1.

More Basketball!!

This weekend is the Skyhawk Classic, this is an annual pre-season tournament. The teams who are attending this year are Western State College, St. Edwards, and Westminister College. The skyhawks will only face St. Edwards, and Westminister college. The men have been performing well so hopefully they can pick up a few more "w"s this weekend. Everyone be at the game!! First Home Game and JORDAN BROOKS, will be starting!!

The Break

Being home was so good. Being with all of my family but also getting to see my other family for the holidays was nice to. This year we spent Thanksgiving with my step dads family which was nice because we (I) never see them. Over the break I spent a lot of time with my mom running ahrens and picking up all of our meat from hunting season. MMMM eld jerky is AMAZING!!! Now I am back in Durango hoping these next two weeks go by super fast!!

Trouble getting Home

So home was amazing but getting there, not so amazing. On my way home my car broke down on Wolf Creek Pass. Something was wrong with one of the belts, or something and almost to the top on the west side my car quit working. Of course there is not cell phone service. So I sat there for about an hour until a very nice couple and their friends stopped. It was two couples on their way to Estes Park, which is by where I live. They were so kind to drive me to the next town to get a tow truck. Thank God there are still a few nice people in this world. Once the tow truck picked me up we went and got my car drovet to the next town and took it to the shop. After that the boys fixed my car and $600 dollars and 5 hours later I was on my way again.

Snow Storm

Wow, I definently live up in the high country. While I was home we had a really bad storm. It is Saturday the 29th and I am stuck in Leadville Colorado because Freemont Pass is in no condition to drive on. Over the last 24 hours here at the house we have got atleast 9 inches of snow, and yes it is still snowing. Hopefully I will be able to go home tomorrow. But wont be able to leave for Durango until Monday morning because Sunday at my house is supposed to be a HUGE storm!! Wish me Luck!!

Post Baby Shower

After going home this weekend I did not want to ever come back to DURANGO!! I love being at home, seeing my family, and my friends. Saturday was anitas baby shower and it went amazing, she recieved a lot of gifts, and we had a great turn out. I also got to spend some time with her boyfirned which was good because I did not really know him. Also I got to see my family which was really good. I miss my mom so much, she is so fun to be around, I cant wait to go home this weekend for a whole week and be with family and friends again!!

Its A Boy!!

Im so exited!! My best friend is going to have a baby, a little boy and he is due December 15, and I am going home for her baby shower. I am so excited, I have not seen her very much, and when I left home she didn't have much of a belly. But now she tells me that she does!! I have never been around anyone pregnant, and have never seen a new born baby so this experience is very new, yet very exciting. For her baby shower I bought her a Car Seat, Stroller, and Tons of Clothes and Blankets for the baby. Another plus is Anitas sister ANGIE is coming and I have not seen her since Graduation!! YEEEE!!!

Lady Skyhawks

The Lasy Skyhawks are a team to put your money on, they are dominating their opponets so far. So far they have only played two teams, but took complete control of both games. Their first opponent was Utah Valley State where the girls took a win of 82-53. In there second game they did not let up at all, they dominated Northern Arizona University 71-47. It is obvious that last years end of the season struggles are not taking a tole on the team this season.

Disney Tip Off Classic Results

While the mens team was in California they held their standards in two of the three games. The Skyhawks took a win against Humboldt State at 91-86. They also conquered Alaska-Anchorage with 66-62, but fell to Southwest Minnesota State outscoring them in the last 12 minutes with a 33-18 run, the final score was 65-79. In this game Ryan Yates had incredible numbers with eighteen points, seven assists and six rebounds.

Obama

Our new president is Barach Obama... wow. I am glad that my generation has made history by electing our first black president. Hopefully Obama is sucessful with everything he has talked about doing, and he is successfull in his presidency.

Basketball Season

This weekend the boys basetball team is in Aneheim California for the Disney Tip Off Classic. While in California they will play three games with opponets including, Humboldt State College, Alaska-Anchorage, and Southwest Minnesota State. The Basketball boys are defending RMAC champions, so this trip and pre season tournament is the perfect warm up to another successfull season.

Voting

Ah... The Presidential election. Well I did not vote today for many small reasons, but two main ones. I was raised republican, that no matter who the cantidate is you vote repuublican. So when I had thought about voting I just knew I would vote McCain. When I came to Fort Lewis I was told the rich people vote republican and Middle and lower class vote democrat, I had never heard of this before ever. I kind of took it to heart when right after Iheard that I was walking to class and somone had wrote on the side walk feed the poor eat the rich. I had never in my life felt like an outcast because my family has money. With this event happening I chose not to vote, beins how this is all I knew about either cantidate I could not vote based on being rich or poor. Once the election went on and I became more educated about the cantidates I would have voted for McCain. But I was not registered and I did not vote.

Family Weekend

Yes!! Family weekend happened, I haven't seen my family in so long, well 6 weeks but it feels like forever. My mom grandma and step dad came down to see me. During Family weekend we went to the football game, (in the rain), it was good the football boys finally won a game!! My parents got here and I showed them my room and then we went down town and got them a hotle room at the Durango Lodge where Jessica works. Once they got all of their things in we went and ate dinner at the Ore House, it was so good to eat something besides the CUB. We had a good dinner got to talk and catch up on things, oh and Stephanie went to, we kinda do everything together. After dinner we went to the volleyball game against Metro State, It was the best game I have seen all year. It was nice just doing something as a family. After the game we went shopping down at Wal Mart and got me everything I will need until the next time I see my family, because the reality of it is I am a broke college student with no job. Once we finished that my parents went to their room and went to bed. The next morning we all went to breakfast and then had to say our goodbyes. Goodbyes are hard but they help remind me that I am growing up and distance fromm my family is a good thing, even though I miss them.

Movie Ratings

WOW! To me It is so crazy the system that is in place to rate movies. I Never would of thought that was how they came up with ratings and to me some of it is outrageous. Like how they don't want sex in movies but other movies are completely perverted, and to me that is worse then someone having sex on film. Another thing that really stuck out to me was that the people have to be anonymous, because they don't want them to be infuluenced, but i think they are anonymous because they break all of the rules that they tell to the public and they don't want anyone to find out. For example that you can only work for ten years, but the film told us that they have broke that rule. Also that the raters are typical average american parents, but they are older, kids grown, and way out of the age and generation. Which brings me to my next point with the film, I personally thiink that the people who are rating our films should be young educated people. People who are up with the generation, because someone who is 40 years old or older is going to be shocked by things in movies that a younger person would not be. This is because sex is apart of our lives and our time, and sex was not apart of theirs.

War Of The Worlds...

This was such an outrageous broadcast to listen to. Moslty because thinking about peoples reactions is entertaining, the fact that some people took this play so seriously. One part of the braodcast that really stuck out to me was when the people were going to go and fight these "aliens" that were supposed to come and attack them. I mean we all think aliens are cool when we are little then you take a science class and learn that they are not real, so that was crazy to me. Also how angry theses people were when they found out that it was not real and burned down the newstation where it was sent out from. I guess i should say the peoples reactions didn't really impress me but the media did. Learning how powerful the media is in our lives, it can make you believe something crazy that you think you know is not true but at the same time, you ask yourself why would they lie?

Out Foxed

Fox news channel will never be the same to me again, this movie really had an influence on my thoughts about news. As we are stressed to in class media is a powerul thing, whether we feel it is to us or not, it effects us in some way shape or form. The video about fox news we saw in class was unbelievable to me, I could not grasp the thought of controlling news like they do, cutting out parts of news like fox does. My grandparents always have on the fox news channel whenever I would go over there, and I can remember listening to the television while eating dinner and being blown away by some of their news stories. But now that I know there was another side to some of the incredible stories I heard really set me back. So many things I believed and would talk about could of been not as true as I thought they were. Persoally this made me feel rediculous, like I was being lied to and therefore I was lying to others when I would talk about what I had Seen or heard. Another part of that movie that really set me back when O'Reilley, as I talked about in a previous blog of mine I was raised with respect for my elders and everyone around me. Eventhough you dont' agree with someone, or do not like what they are saying you never be-little them because you think you are right. O'Reilley has no respect for anyone, at all, I mean I can't say I had ever heard anything about the man before to think he was great or anything but now I think he is a terrible man and should not have his job at all. All in all this film was very good to see and I learned a lot about how you can not always believe the media because what they are telling you can easily be cut or mis interpreted depending on the subject.

Magazines

Today in class we learned a lot about magazines. How certain magazines are targeted for a certain audience.

For example the magazine cover to the left is not going to be a magazine that a man would pick up and find interesting, well most men anyways. This magazine is trying to draw women as a reader of all ages but mostly the young soon to be bride, having her first wedding and not knowing what she wants, and who is seeking ideas. Or the older women who is manybe having a second wedding and is looking for themes or ideas that are more new.

On the other hand the magazine to the right would not be one a woman would pick up for any structural reason. This magazine is trying to grab the attention of males of any age who are looking for that fit hot body and the secrets of how to get it.

Now this magazine is one I think both male and female readers would pick up. Mostly because motocross is not just a male or female activity. Also because the sponsors of motocross don't just associate with men.

Life At Home

Coming to Ft. Lewis and Durango I have experienced many things, some I was prepared for, some I was not. One big change I went through was my change in living. Back home I live in a really big house with a lot of space in my room. Then I came here and my dorm room is as big as my closet back home, I was in shock when i first saw my room. Granted I am thankful I do have a place to live but wow I was not quite sure what to do with myself when I had to send things back home with my mom. Another change from home is the meals, meals made in mass quantity, and that sit there until enough kids come through the line and eat, then its changed to fresh, just does not compare to a good home cooked meal. Although this is a huge change for me to deal with I am thankful it is happening, because it really helps me appreciate what I have back home. Another change that I am still experiencing and will for a while is the people. Where i come from there is basically one type of people, and maybe a few here and there that break the mold. For example girls are really pretty all high maintenance, every girl either plays volleyball or basketball. Guys are very athletic, most of them cowboys, hard working and play either football or basketball. People are raised with the same morals for the most part, raised with respect for all elders, and raised to be responsible. The majority of the people I have seen here are not like me and the people back home, which is a good thing but is hard for me to accept. So many people here do not care at all what others think, and I really have never met anyone like that. Also I have met a lot of people who have absolutley no respect for anyone and that amazes me as well. Even though I am dealing with all of these changes I am glad that I left my box i call home and came to see other possibilities the world has to offer.

Photoshop

Photoshop is a powerful source of media in our lives, the woman to the left was skinny and looks the way we see some celebrities looking. But to critics she must be flawless, so in this picture instead of making her smaller they had to add meat to her bones, bring the picture in, make her look like she has some breasts, make the arm bigger and change it to black and white. This picture amazes me mostly because all we hear about is how women should be skinny but here skinny crossed the undefined line for women in society.

Many people believe the models we see in magazines are everything we should strive to be. But as we learned a little about in class photoshop plays a huge role in the people we see as "perfect" or "flawless". Like take the example of Christina Aguilera, we all know who she is, she is famous and glamorous in everyshot we see of her. the pictures to the right are of her body that always looks so perfect, granted she does not look bad in the picture on the left but they had to fix the few flaws in the picture to convince people or the press that she has no flaws.

Books

In class today we talked about books, and in all of the many things we went over one really stuck out to me. That people try to ban books. Like in the video that was showed where Mayor Pailin tried to make the local library to remove books from the library. If someone already sets the rules on what books can be in libraries, then nobody should be able ot change that. If they got the chance to read the book, how can they think they can decide if it i an okay book for other readers. If someone does not like a book they should simply not read it rather thab ban it from everyone.

Ch. 1 Culture

As we spoke about in class culture is a very imporntant part of society, the world would not go round with out culture. But some people ask well what is culture? Which is a very good question, and has many different answers. To me culture is what makes a person an individual inside a group of others with the same base. For example you have the culture of Mexicans (people who are from mexico) that is a culture, but you can meet different people from that culture and you begin to notice they are all different but have the same or similar base. Their individual culture is what makes them different, whether it is from how they were raised, to how they speak their words, to how they dress, and many other things. Depending on where the person is from in Mexico they can teach you many different things that you may not of learned from an individual from a different part of Mexico. This reason is what makes culture so beautiful, because it is not the same, when things are similar it gets old ad boring, but culture is never the same. As we read in the book culture is the world made meaningful, it diffirentiates us as well as unites us. Taking in culture and having an open mind is the best thing you could do to better yourself as a person.

News In Football

Broncos vs. Raiders Monday W 17-0

Ft. Lewis vs. Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) L 7-58

CSU vs. Sacramento State W 23-20

University of Texas Austin vs. UTEP W 52-10