Celebrity Puppets Essay -- Personal Narrative

Celebrity Puppets The concept of using sports stars to market non-sport items has soared to new heights. Every corporation in the world is trying to get the edge over their competitors. The classic example is that of the â€Å"Cola Wars.† During the 1980s, Pepsi and Coca Cola began an advertising slugfest, in which Pepsi emerged victorious by using Madonna and Michael Jackson as puppets in their commercials. These two companies, as well as thousands of others, have taken advantage of exposing celebrities in their commercials and advertisements. This is done as a means to persuade the public that these products are worth buying. As the years went by, marketers began to realize that in America, sports imagery constituted the most popular way of communicating to the public. The major sports organizations that corporations use to market their products consist of the National Football League, Major League Baseball, and the National Hockey League, but more groups are beginning to get in on the act. These groups include the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), as well as many others as a result of their increasing popularity and a younger group of stars. A little over a year ago, San Francisco Forty-Niner star wide receiver Terrell Owens caught a touchdown pass and began a unique celebration. When he reached into his sock and pulled out a Sharpieâ„ ¢ marker and signed the football, giving it to a friend in the stands. His touchdown celebration was covered by many major media sources. As a result Owens was offered a partnership with the marker manufacturer. Sharpieâ„ ¢ agreed to donate five hundred dollars to the Alzheimer’s Association in Northern California/Northern Nevada for every touchdown Owens scor... ...ich the rock band Metallica wrote, entitled â€Å"Master of Puppets.† The lyrics go: Master of Puppets I'm pulling your strings Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams Blinded by me, you can't see a thing Just call my name, `cause I'll hear you scream This reminds me of today’s marketing world because these corporations all over the world are trying to twist our minds and make us believe that their products are superior to those of their competitors. In today’s world it is no longer who makes the better product, but who can present the product in a better fashion. There is no major difference in the quality of sneakers throughout the world. But unless the Nike, Adidas, or Rebok logo is not there, the sneaker is viewed as poor. It just goes to show how a song written in the 1980s can reflect the marketing era of the year 2003.

Schoolhouse or Home School

What do George Washington and the Hanson brothers have in common? Do you give up? Well, the answer is that both of them were educated in their homes. Queen Elizabeth, Thomas Edison, and Theodore Roosevelt were also educated at home. According to the Home Education Research Institute, 1.5 million students are staying home for class today. This number is five times more than ten years ago (Kantrow and Wingert 66). This trend leads to many questions. Does home school education work? Do students receive a proper education? How does a home school student†s education compare to that of public school student? Does home schooling isolate a child socially? These questions are concerns of parents, educators, and politicians alike. The future of America rests on the academic and social education of our youth, and home school education should be considered as an effective alternative to public school education. In the past, parents mainly chose to educate their children at home because of religious preference. These parents viewed the public school system as a source of negative influence on children. Violence, sex, drugs, and peer pressure were influences these parents sought to avoid. However, today parents have other reasons for home school education, which primarily all point to a lackluster public school system. Other reasons include a desire to build a strong family closeness, safety, and a handful of parents chose home school for their children because of special needs such as disabilities or special talents. However, no matter how good the reasons, the home school education system must prove to be an acceptable alternative to public schools. There are many advantages to giving a student a home school education. First, parents can make direct decisions concerning what their children are taught. According to the Home School Statistics and Reports in 1997, written by founder and President Dr. Brian D. Ray, seventy-one percent of the parents who educate their children hand pick the curriculum from a variety of books, videos, and educational manuals. Another twenty-three percent order entire cirriculum packages (Ray 14). With the technology of today, parents have an unlimited source for information via the Internet, which can be easily integrated in home school education. The study also shows the education level of the parent supervising and administering the curriculum has little or no effect on the quality of education received by a student. Home-educated students whose parents did not have college degrees scored equally high on tests compared to students whose parents had college degrees(Ray 56). In addition to students† own parents teaching them, groups are formed among home school families. These groups allow students to be taught a variety of subjects by different parents that have a better understanding of subjects such as algebra, chemistry, and biology. These groups also take field trips, participate in sports, and do volunteer projects together. Another advantage of home schooling is the quality of education received by the student. How do home school students compare with public school students? This is a very important question to answer, but the answer can never be a concrete one. However all of the research I did shows that students educated in their homes have an equal or higher level of academic skills compared to the public school students. In the 1997 and 1998 ACT test scores, home school students averaged a score of 23; meanwhile the public school students averaged a score of 21(Farris 8). Also, on nationally standardized achievement exams home students again outscored public school students by at least thirty percentile points(Ray 7). While these numbers can†t truly reflect the comparison, an equal percentage of students from both groups seek college education(Ray 9). The government on all levels faces problems concerning the public school system. Funding for schools tops the problem list; local school boards and city governments are continuously fighting for tax proposals, meanwhile students in the schools suffer because of poor facilities and low salaries for teachers. The cost for taxpayers to send one student to a public school for one year is approximately $5325, while a home school student costs a parent $546 per year (Ray 11). Could an increase in home schools cut taxes? Could the money allotted for education now be used more effectively if there were fewer students? Maybe or maybe not, but if fewer students were in public schools, the chances of giving the public school student a better educational environment would increase. Many people who oppose home school programs claim interactions with other children at school are vital to their education. However, this argument usually does not work because parents who home school do not want to release their children into the negative influences that infect the public school system. After an interview with Beverly Decateau, a mother who taught her children at home for over seven years; I found that home school students participate in equally as many or more activities than public school students do. Her children and many others she knew of were active in church groups, Four-H groups, sports teams, and dance squads. All of these activities can be considered social interactions. I don†t believe the public school system has a responsibility to socialize students; that job belongs to parents. In a public school system, some students can be pinpointed and teased, and these images can damage children for life. Despite the several advantages of the home school system, many people still oppose home schooling. Home school students may not miss interactions with other students, but they will miss the experience. Certain experiences at school are considered an important part of the American way of life. Public school students will never forget experiencing homeroom parties, pep rallies, and finding classes on the first day of high school. Can a home school student†s experience compare? Probably not, but to what importance these experiences play in the education and socialization skills of a student depends on each individual student. Home school education can cause problems among children and parents. Children who have parents constantly looking over their shoulders may have difficulty breaking away from home to attend college or enter the workplace. Children might also have trouble respecting their own parent as an educator, and this lack of respect may have a negative effect on the student†s education. In order for home school education to work, the parents must be willing to sacrifice time and patience above and beyond the average parents. The parents must also be willing to give up their own careers for the future of their children. Furthermore, not all children can be successful home school students. The children must be able to make friends in informal settings, and see home school education as a way of exploring different avenues of learning. Not everyone can educate their children at home, but the more students who can receive a solid education at home would improve the education given to students at public schools. Fewer students would lead to smaller classrooms where higher paid teachers could give more attention to public school students. Funds and taxes could be used more effectively because there would be fewer students to accommodate. In the future we should support home school programs and public school education to interact with each other for the benefit of all students. Regardless of where the education of America†s youth takes place, it is vital that parents have a major role in the education of their children in order to build strong families and a strong America.

Health Promotion Stis And Community Resources - 1847 Words

Health Promotion: STIs and Community Resources According to www.healthypeople.gov/2020 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that there are approximately 19 million new sexually transmitted infections (STIs) every year with almost half of them being diagnosed among young adults ages 15 to 24. The financial impact of these commonly transmitted diseases on the healthcare system is estimated to be as high as sixteen billion dollars annually. Often times these cases of sexually transmitted diseases go unreported and undiagnosed. For example, the cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis that are reported may only represent a small part of the true influence these infections truly have on our nation’s healthcare system†¦show more content†¦The tool will also be directed to at risk patients who may be seeking information after a possible exposure to an STI. The projected outcome of this project will be to better educate this at risk age group of young individuals about the dangers of unsafe sexu al practices as well as provide them with the necessary resources to treat these infections and prevent them from spreading. Finally, this tool will provide resources to help prevent the contraction or spread of STIs. According to healthypeople.gov/2020, the spread of STIs in a community can be directly attributed to social, economic, and behavioral factors. Such factors may cause serious obstacles to STI prevention due to their influence on social and sexual networks, access to and delivery of care, willingness to seek care, and social norms regarding sexuality. Among certain vulnerable populations, historical experience with segregation and discrimination exacerbates the influence of these factors (Healthy People 2020, n.d.). Peoria County, where my hospital is located has a large population of low socio economic patients, which are at a greater risk of contracting STIs through risky sexual behavior and lower educational awareness of these diseases. In 2013, the rate of Chlamydia in Peoria County was 1.7 times greater than the rate of Chlamydia in the United States with some zip codes within the county being 4.9 times greater than the