Passions.

Passion 2011: a four-day gathering of eighteen to twenty-five year olds united for His renown. It’s been almost two months since the last morning of this conference. Not only were there a ton of people, but I learned a ton too. My mind was blown and my brain was fried (figuratively speaking). But really, it was awesome, and God is even more awe-some. In college, we wrack our brains about what major to choose and what we want to do in our lives upon graduation. The common question of “what do you want to be when you grow up?” takes on much more meaning and much more importance. College gives us a special opportunity to redefine or discover who we are as individuals. We’re able to explore our interests and passions. Whether you have dreams of owning your own business one day or becoming a nurse practitioner, a higher-level education is a tool to achieve such. Many people are the first of their family to attend a college or university. Their parents or grandparents may not have had such a grand opportunity to learn and experience such an institution. Situations and circumstances in our lives can affect us greatly, but circumstances do not have any power over us living in Christ. We were chosen, redeemed, and saved so that He could use us. What do we want our lives to be known for? Do what you love to do, and do it exuding Christ and God’s love. Skills, gifts, and passions are your platform for the advancement of the kingdom.

Our life is a response to His love. You think about what you care about and what you care about you chase. Go wherever your passion leads you. What matters is what you carry. God wants you to carry the right thing with grace. You can’t detangle from this mess of consumerism we live in but you can determine what you carry. Carry the name of Jesus. The world isn’t dying to hear names like Nikon, Adidas, Ray Ban, Converse, Taylor Swift, The Beatles, or Paramore, etc…The world’s dying to hear the name of Jesus.

“And whatever you do, do it all, in word or deed, in the name of our Lord Jesus, and give thanks to God the Father, through Him.” -Colossians 3:17

Even if you aren’t passionate about the Lord or find yourself not wanting any ties to a relationship with Christ at all, know that it’s still important to follow the desires of your heart. College is a field of exploration. If you can dream it, you can certainly do it. It’s all about your passions in life. It could be a passion for sharing God’s word, a passion for helping those in need, a passion for becoming a successful businessman or woman, a passion for teaching, etc. Try to enjoy every minute of your college experience, and don’t be afraid to try new and exciting things. You never know where they will lead you. Have faith in yourself!

Is Outsourcing the Change America Needs?

Is outsourcing the right thing for America to do? Well sure if you’re the president or CEO of a high dollar company who is making way more money through outsourcing. I believe that outsourcing is really hurting our nation as a whole though. Over the past few years the United States unemployment rates have skyrocketed. Working class Americans are losing their jobs to other countries like China, Mexico, and India. I believe that it is important to keep big money businesses in the United States so that our people will have jobs and can support their families. America has thrived over the past few centuries by working hard and doing things independently. Now they have realized they can send high dollar corporations to other companies and receive cheap labor. The problem is this isn’t really helping our economy. Sure the corporation owners are making good money from it, but our country is losing money by having such high unemployment rates.
For example over the past few years U.S. companies have been outsourcing software development to other countries. Especially India where they can pay workers low wages but yet get good technical expertise. Thousands of Americans attend nationwide universities in software development and computer technologies yet they graduate with low chances at having a career in that field. These jobs are becoming slimmer and slimmer in the U.S. These students are well trained to do the same jobs that Indians, Mexicans, Japanese, and Chinese people are now employed to do. If America wants to keep its status as a world super power then it is going to have to make changes. The growth of white-collar jobs in developing nations is not the answer to global peace and prosperity, it’s far from it.
American business owners need to stop being so greedy and realize it’s time to return America to the roots that it was founded on. To many hard working class citizens are watching their families crumble because they were unemployed and can’t get back on their feet. I think that America needs to stop sending jobs overseas and instead start a new era in American history. This could be an era of American prosperity and wealth!

Is the Whole World "Lovin'" it?: The Globalization of McDonald's

With people’s lives becoming busier and busier each day, it is becoming less common for families to be able to sit down and eat meals together every day. The classic picture of a family sitting down in the dining room while eating dinner and enjoying in conversation with each other is a nice thought, but unfortunately it isn’t quite as common as it used to be. Even though families aren’t spending that quality time during meals together, it doesn’t mean that families are growing apart or don’t want to spend that time with one another. It’s just a result of families, mostly with many children, have jobs that sometimes keep them at work later than expected and kids lives are so packed with activities to where they have to be at dance or baseball practice when they would normally be having dinner at home. However, just because family members aren’t eating as many meals at home and not always with each other, they obviously still have to eat, and the fastest, easiest, and cheapest solution is to stop at a drive through of a fast food restaurant.

This is most commonly seen in America, however, that doesn’t mean it’s the only country home to popular fast food restaurants. McDonald’s, one of the highest grossing income fast food restaurants, can be found on just about every highway exit across the country. With its diverse menu, everyone can easily decide on something to enjoy off of McDonald’s menu. With it being so popular here in America, it really only makes sense that the fast food company would grow and extend its stores to other countries. Today, McDonald’s has over 32,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries; and they are still growing. Europe and Asia have shown the most growth when it comes to McDonald’s stores. Maybe this is because McDonald’s is just that great of a place to eat, or maybe it has just become something like a habit. It could be possible that just because this fast food chain is so successful and popular here in the U.S., that other countries started to open the stores near them because they think that if it’s popular here, then it would be in their countries too. While this is not the case with many things, I believe it shows to be true with McDonald’s and probably many other fast food chains yet to come over seas.

Advergame: Are they really helping Advertising?

The advergame is the cross between video games and advertising. It can be compared to the cross between radio serials and household-cleaning products. The main goal of these advergames is to try to appeal to players of video games and advertisers. The main question is, are these advergames as effective as advertising on television and in ads.

Advertisers are trying to fix the problem of the decline in the watching of televisions by teens and younger people because of the interference of video gaming. Not only are creators putting these advertisements in video games, but they are also being put on computer games and software. Creators feel that gamers seem to feel more positive towards in-game advertising. Having real advertisement and not the generic brand of products makes the game more real. I believe if I could see brand name products used in sports and racing games I would be able to relate more with the game and it would seem more real having things that I’m familiar with.

Most of the advergames today are played on the Internet or PC because many game consoles can’t be connected to the Internet. One example of an advergame is America’s Army, which is a realistic war game promoting war missions and different tactics of war. Another positive of advergames is that they are less expensive than television advertisements and are easier and take less time to develop. These games are used in the awareness of global hunger, advertising feminine sanitary products, and to promote real trees over plastic ones. Even though these games have a realistic approach and can increase a gamers’ interest in advertising and possibly playing more games, not everyone plays games and the increase isn’t that effective.

The use of these games can help in increasing advertising to young people but not all teens play videogames. There is still a large percentage of the teen population that doesn’t play video games and advertisers have to come up with a way to reach this population. Advergames is a good idea to reach the video game population, but how will advertising increase with such a larger population of people not playing these advergames. Are these advergames really causing a huge increase for advertisers? In the future advertisers need to think of ways to reach out to the population of non-video gamers.

Music Makes the World Go Round

Music is a global phenomenon. Every country has its own genre of music that is well known, but in the end they all share the term music. Many of those different genres have been introduced to the world daily. For instance, the US is famous for pop, R&B, alternative, and many other types of music. A lot of countries have similar music to the US. Even though this is true, different countries have their own unique music as well. An example would be African Tribal Music or Traditional Japanese Music that is used in different ceremonies. A lot of musicians take their music to a global level.

A bit of recording artists in the US and other countries get the title “international singers” by performing and sharing their music with other countries other than their own. A few singers in the US who I believe are international recording artists are Beyonce’, Madonna, and the late Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson’s music is a great example of an international artist. His music is known all over the world, and the announcement of his death affected more than just the United States. I believe, globally, we were brought together through embracing Michael Jackson's music while mourning his death. Another example of international artists would be the Spice Girls. Their group was started in Europe and they instantly became a sensation here in the North America and in other continents as well. With hits like Wannabe and Spice up Your Life, they sold millions of records across the globe. My overall point is that everyone likes different types of music from different places around the world. If Americans were only allowed to listen to music produced by American artists, I would definitely be upset about it. I doubt I would be the only one upset in that scenario. You have artists like Adele, Leona Lewis, and Shakira who came from different countries and have amazing music touching people from all over the world. If you are eclectic as I am, when it comes to music, you appreciate the ability to have a global connection in the music world. Music makes the world go round.

Gaming: Is It All It's Cracked Up to Be?

Gaming is a growing epidemic that is taking our society by storm. All ages, from elementary to elderly, are finding themselves wrapped up in the madness and addictiveness of such games. Computer, online international, iPod, Wii, Nintendo, Xbox and PlayStation games are all part of this fantasy world so many of us are falling into. Are they really all they have cracked up to be?

I believe gaming is becoming such a strong fad in our society that many people are losing sight of reality. I am not saying playing a few video games here and there is a bad thing, but when it gets to a point where you choose video games over everything else is a problem. Not only do video gamers not get to interact as much with the real world, but they are living a fantasy life that has no possibility of coming true. Video games as a whole isolates people and captures their interest so fast that they barely have any time to “fight back”. They find themselves in front of a television or computer screen for numerous hours a day, losing interest in the real world. They do not interact with other people as much because they would rather interact with the characters in the games. They would rather play the game than hang out with friends or sometimes even their own family. What once was a fun way to play with your friends has now turned in to an addictive, captivating and isolating way of life.

Not only do video games deter us from interacting with our society and other acquaintances, online social networks also contribute. Facebook is one of the most popular networks that has hit the web and includes millions of users. Although Facebook seems to possess positive qualities, it has the same effect as gaming. We would rather be on Facebook and chat than to actually talk to someone face to face. It has become so easy that we cannot see ourselves turning back to the way things used to be. With the easy access to the internet and games, we have lost sight of reality and would rather stare at a computer screen and build relationships online than to actually go out and do things for ourselves. Our society should use gaming and the internet in adequate amounts and should not let it control our lifestyle. Gaming is a fun way to spend time with a group of friends, but we have to be careful that we know how much is too much.

A Violent Society

Our society today is filled with violence and hate. Humans today witness violence in just about everything that they do. Violence is seen in our music, movies, television shows, books, video games, newspapers, magazines, and so much more. I believe that our nation has gone down the wrong path. I feel like the United States has abandoned its roots and left the foundation that our forefathers built for us.
The image above is from the high selling game Grand Theft Auto, also known as GTA in the gaming world. This image just goes to show for the violent games that young children are playing these days. To me there seems to be little benefit that a child could take from playing a game like this. Especially when one of their ads is of a thug looking man covered in tattoos holding a handgun. Although not that many bad things come from children playing video games, I still believe that it is unhealthy and a waste of time. Life doesn’t last as long as people realize, therefore I think playing video games is useless. They need to get out and see the world, spend time with nature and enjoy God’s creations. If people really think about it video games are violent. Any game that involves shooting other people, stealing cars, having sex, or promoting drugs is just wrong. I am not just relating this violence to Grand Theft Auto either. There are many violent video games children are playing. I believe that these violent games could definitely have psychological effects on children. Parents need to be stricter about what games that they buy for their children. They need to encourage their children to play outside, hang out with friends, or play sports. These are the things that will build children up and have a positive influence on their lives.
Violence isn’t something that should be over looked; it should be taken care of with good and put in its place. I believe until people start banning violent video games and other violent things our society will stay violent and we will continue to see our country crumble. I think that America as a whole needs to start living like the generations before us did and live productive lives, not lives in front of the television!

Dance: Uniting the World

Dance on TV: Uniting the World

Almost everyone has seen the television shows So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing With The Stars. The celebrities on one and the young and talented dancers on the other intrigue viewers and keep them coming back to watch every week. But did you know that you are being exposed to hundreds of world cultures just by watching these popular TV shows?

The forms of dance that are chosen by the contestants each week are each from a different culture. The Paso Doble, a dance from Spanish cultures, and many variations of it (the samba, rumba, etc.) is a great example of the spread of cultures across the world through these dance shows. This dance encompasses the feel of Spanish bullfights, with the male dancer as the matador character and the female as either the bull, the matador's cape, or his shadow. The music is that of the entrance of the matador during a real bullfight in Spain, making this completely symbolic of Spanish culture.

The costumes, although tweaked to be more flashy and stage-appropriate, are designed to look like the original costumes. The choreography is traditional of Spain, and most times an actual Spanish ballroom dancer creates the dance.

Learning these dances is also a cultural experience for the dancers, because they are able to be exposed to the traditions of Spain while doing what they love and are competing for.

Although these shows are extremely entertaining and addicting to viewers in America, the Spanish spice in specific dances gives each and every audience member a cultural experience and an insight into Spanish culture without them knowing.

mp"free"

Remember when CD releases in stores was such a big deal? I do. There would be such hype about buying CDs in stores. Then everything became more technological and people would just buy CDs from online. That became the easier and more convenient thing to do (especially when iTunes came out), so it became poplar. After that, people just stop buying CDs all together; instead, they would just simply download them for free. This new method of getting music went viral. It was fast, easy, and free. Millions and millions of people started downloading music for free through programs such as Limewire, Kazaa, and BearShare; just to name a few. These programs are easy to download and navigate which make them attractive to consumers. They also make it easy to download many songs at one time and in a short amount of time. This was every music-lovers dream come true. At first, things were fine and dandy with these programs, and people started getting fined thousands of dollars for using these programs to get free music. This was when illegally downloading music became a serious issue. People were getting into big trouble for not paying for their music. But how was this issue going to be solved? Millions of people were (and still are) actively downloading music illegally. There was no way everyone was going to get caught. Although people knew many other people were getting in trouble for this, I think they figured the chances of them getting in trouble were slim (I know this was my mentality) so they continued downloading for free.

Many people who are against downloading music for free argue that by illegally downloading music, one is stealing money from the artist. While this may be partially true, what these people may not realize is that much more of the money is actually being taken away from the greedy record companies. While that fact does not necessarily make it right to download music for free, it puts many peoples’ minds more at ease. However, the issue still remains: should downloading music for free be legal? People are going to continue doing it no matter what, so in my opinion, a deal should be met. Restrictions or guidelines should be set that protect artists but give consumers power and freewill when it comes to getting the music they want.

"Ming Dynasty" Yao Ming and Race in the NBA

Cultural and race diversity has become a big deal in sports today. Different players from different cultures and ethnicity travel to America to become apart of the athletic world of sports. Many face criticism and controversy, but for the most part they are accepted and used as moguls for promoting diversity in sports and media. There is an increased level of globalization in the world of sports. The National Basketball Association better known as the NBA is a host for many foreign basketball players that have had an impact on American society and sports.. With these players having this impact on American culture could there possibly still be racism and discrimination against these future moguls of international basketball?

In the case of a foreign star player of the Houston Rockets in the NBA, Yao Ming has brought a new outlook on Asian culture and customs. Yao Ming is a seven foot five basketball star who is known for his passive ways and timid personality. These features are closely associated with Asians today. With Yao coming to America and constant advertising and media showing he has brought Asian culture into America. Its seems as though the NBA is using Yao popularity to sell tickets to the huge population of Asians and attract more fans to the Houston Rockets game. Yao Ming's popularity and success in the NBA can show the decaying of the barrier between America and Asian countries mainly China. Although Yao has been accepted and is popular in America sports commentators and even fellow NBA players still criticize and associate Yao with the stereotypes of most Asians.

Stereotypes associated with Asians are difficulties speaking and understanding the english language, being bad drivers, eating weird kinds of food, and being shy and passive. In an article discussing Yao's career and advertising it talks about him being a passive player and being very humble. The article talks about how Shaquille O'Neal a fellow basketball player criticizes Ming and doesn't get a response from the public. This is where the question of racism towards Asians arises. Shaq was not criticized or punished for his racist remark. This could show that Americans accept the racism against Asians and even other cultures and races. I believe that the non-response from society shows that America still has not really accepted Asian culture even with the popularity of Yao Ming.

In the future I feel that the globalization of basketball will continue to increase. Whether or not there will still be the acceptance of racism against certain ethnicities and culture is not known, but it is obvious that the popularity of the player has no effect on the racism of others. If a fellow basketball player's racist comments is accepted then there will be many other comments made by people in America. So no matter how popular a foreign player is there is still that level of racism present that shouldn't be there. I feel that these players come to America for a better opportunity not to be discriminated against.