Broadcast version for Final Feature

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb48Q7J4c1c&feature=youtube_gdata

IMHO #2

After last year’s devastating loss for the No on Prop 8 campaign the talk of marriage equality for gays and lesbians has been in the news. A shocking defeat in the so called “liberal” state has proven that California is just another state to add to the list of states that are behind the times. Many lived through a campaign where they watched their loved ones have their rights stripped from them. The hatred of America came out, a hatred that many still deny, words where uttered that would make our fearless leaders in our county’s history roll over in their graves. After a year later, the holes in hearts can still not be filled so the country watched as Maine voted on the same Prop on their ballot this November. Just as California saw its equality slip away, Maine felt the same sting that California felt. Maine was supposed to open the doors for the states to catch on. California supporters made phone calls, knocked on doors and went at this campaign as if it was its own, and yet again a bigger hole is just being made. It makes you wonder what goes through people’s heads when they step into the polling booths, because it only persons conscious that is in charge then, a flyer, phone call, or promise cannot change the way a person feels all along. The year 2012 marks another year for the marriage equality prop to appear on the ballot. The California campaign only has a few years to ensure that when people step into the polling booths they will feel the pain and understand what it feels like to consider a second class citizen.

Health Care Forum- Extra Credit

The Democratic Caucus at SJSU held their major event of the semester, a Health Care Forum on Nov. 10th in the Pacifica Room at the Student Union. The event was decided upon by the club because they felt that is was necessary that SJSU students had a chance to listen to a group of panelist decipher what the Health Care Bills meant and how they would affect young adults and students. Two panelists, Dr. Peter Arellano who is a Gilroy City Council Member and just announced that he would be running for the Santa Clara Supervisor in 2010 sat on the panel along with Ashley Roybal a Congressional Aide to Mike Honda, a Representative that covers most of the San Jose district and surrounding areas Dr. Melinda Jackson and Political Science professor served at the events moderator. The welcome was done by Erica Schaefer the clubs president after the welcome Jackson started in on the questions. Questions included if the panelist favored a public option run government health care bill. Both panelists agreed on a public option and felt that it was the best for the country to include one in the bill. Dr. Arellano pulled from his experience as a practicing family doctor for 25 years and Roybal being younger could relate to students needing health coverage at an affordable price. Pre-existing conditions were discussed and how the panel felt about it. Both panelists agreed on many topics. There was a 15 minute time allotted for questions from the audience many which included what would happen to students if the bill was passed or not passed. There were a total of 11 questions asked to the panel for an hour long event. After the event the club asked attendees to write letters to Congressmen and to local newspapers, flyers were provided with email addresses and what to include in a letter. There was also a story board provided by the club that allowed attended to share why the favored or did not favor a Health Care Reform.

Fish Out of Water

This past weekend my roommate and I decided we wanted a change from our typical college Friday night so we searched the internet for a unique cultural event and wandered upon an Ethiopian music night at an Ethiopian restaurant in San Jose. Walking into the restaurant I had no idea of what to expect, I have never had Ethiopian food and I sure do not have Ethiopian music on my brand new shiny iPod touch. We when we arrived at the restaurant it was already packed and the sound of laughter filled the air. We sat at a small table directly in front of the band which had tribal drums and unique instruments that was intriguing to find out about. I was starving so we took suggestions from the couple next to us that seemed to have a grasp on the large menu. We settled for what seemed to be a thick stew of spices that made my eyes water with every bite and used the injera, bread used to eat most Ethiopian foods. Shockingly you only eat the food with your hand so it got a bit messy, not the best place to take someone on a first date. I was shocked to find out that we had ordered ketfo, which raw meat is served with an array of spices. My eyes must have grown three sizes when Greg, half of the couple that helped us order announced that it was raw. Having always been taught to not eat raw foods I lifted the injera full of raw meat and forced myself to swallow realizing it was not as bad as I thought it would be. After a delectable meal that left my palette feeling very sophisticated I focused in on the music that was picking up beats. The music resembled folk music and I was informed that in Ethiopian it is made more Westernized by playing on more contemporary instruments such as pianos and guitars. The music was the type to get people engaged and the audience was clapping and moving to the groove. Overall, I thought that I would have a sub-par experience at something new but I learned that overcoming my fears gave me a chance to experience something new that I can share with my friends and family.

Targeting Media- AD's

The ad I picked is a Dolce and Gabbana ad that I found in Cosmo magazine. The ad is target to older people and not teenagers or children, possibly women in their early to mid-twenties. Since the brand is an expensive brand I would expect it to be targeted towards upper class women. I would think that it is targeted towards women that are sexual or are not afraid to discuss sex.
I think the ad’s key message is that if women buy the Dolce and Gabbana products then they will be sexy and sought after. It shows a man overpowering the women, demonstrating that a man can be the dominate one in a relationship. The men around her all greased up and are very attractive. The color scheme in the ad is simple but it allows the focus to be on the woman that is wearing black while the men around her are in blue.

The second ad that I picked is a Seventeen Magazine. The ad is a Got Milk ad that features singer Rhinanna. The ad is probably trying to target teenagers and young women in their twenties. Rhinanna is wearing a black dress which showcases maturity. She is wearing a low cut shirt is possibly catch the eyes of younger men. The background is darker with use of browns and reds. She is giving a seductive look which symbolically sexy.
I think that this ad’s key message is about getting younger women to drink milk because it is necessary to build strong bones. I think that by having a celebrity in the ad it will catch the eyes of people reading the magazine. Since Rhinanna has been in the news she is well known among all age groups. I think that it recommends to women that they have to be sexy to be noticed.

Word #10

1. Pursuant
2. I read this in a Equality California Volunteer Application that I filled out.
3. Intern agrees that, at the end of the internship, he or she will return all notes and data or reproductions of any aforementioned items developed by Intern pursuant to this contract or otherwise belonging to EQCA.
4. Proceeding from and conformable to; in accordance with. (adj.)
5. The man had no other choice but to be a pursuant to the idea.

Blog #9 – Japanese internment memorial essay

I never realized that I walk by the Japanese Internment Memorial in Downtown San Jose on a daily basis. What the memorial lacks in size makes up in details and artistic vision. Artist, Ruth Asawa, who was one of the many Japanese-Americans who were interned during World War II, used a structure which can be compared to a bronze wall with detailed sculpting on both sides. She was interned in a camp when she was 16 and it is there that it people believe that she developed a strong passion for art.
Her piece in downtown is comparable to a story board. Starting from one side of sculpture and looping around to the other side one can get a sense of what the sequence of events that happened during the internment. The brutality that the Japanese were shown with the sculptures of the burning buildings and unsanitary conditions of many families forced to share tents that were divided by a single bedding sheet. Facial expressions were caught by Asawa and the frightened faces of the Japanese reached out of the sculpture and grabbed your heart. Such grueling details were put into the sculpture including barbed wire that stretched across the whole statute. The wire symbolizing the Americans ability to keep the Japanese-American under their control, and representing a trapped citizen in a country that was built on freedom. The symbol of a single paper airplane is the only image that was sculpted above the barbed wire representing the freedom that families did not have in the camps. Another image that caught my eye was the image of the Congress building where they voted to stop internment camps. This was ironic to me because a country that was founded on freedom had to vote on a law that it wrote itself. Families also sent Asawa mon or family crests that were put on all four corners of the sculpture along with a description of the Japanese Interment in America.
Many wonder why a memorial would be put in the middle of downtown outside of a federal building. During World War II San Jose State had a major impact of the camps.The Civil Control Station at the Men's Gymnasium of San Jose State College was where families were to report too. I had no idea that SJSU had such an impact on the internment camps until visiting the memorial. The memorial may just be a reminder of what happened in American and it may or may not do justice for some people who have viewed it. The memorial for me educated me on a topic that was often just brushed by in my previous classes. It was a new adventure for me to be able to see a sculpture that told a story without having to look through documents. The raw emotions of expressions that were present in the sculpting gave me a sense of what pain people had to go through just because of the ethnicity and the color of their skin. It has proven how far our country has come, or not come.