I Got Nothing

2004-05-03T07:42:00.000-07:00

Ah..So you have to do a deliberative speech. Don’t worry they really aren’t that hard and they are actually a pretty fun. The first that you should do is go to a national news site and see what some of the major controversies or topics in the news are right now. That is what my group did and we came up with peer to peer file sharing as our topic. My Group's Blog After choosing your topic you should then decide where you stand on the issue. When doing this you have to remember that you won’t be able to move your constituents all the way to where you stand so you should try to move them one step in your initial proposal. This belief comes from the social judgment theory. After deciding where you think it is possible to move your listeners you then need to come up with a social judgment spectrum that has around twenty different viewpoints on it. These viewpoints should be placed by other views that are similar to it. So on one end of the spectrum you have the most extreme view and on the opposite end you have the most conservative view. In between these two views you then place all the other views in accordance to where they stand, extreme or conservative. After you have done this you are more than half way there.

Next, you need to come up with the text to the speech, which is the easy part. When you are coming up with the text it is important to try to relate to your audience as much as you can. For instance, my group did peer to peer file sharing and how the RIAA is suing people haphazardly. This is a topic that a good amount of people can relate to and are familiar with. We then hit the listener personally and brought in the fact that the listener’s child could be one of the people on the list of people that are about to get sued for downloading music. This strategy of writing is called pathos. Another good way to relate to your audience is to use some different literary terms from Silva Rhetoricae . For instance, if you are speaking of gun control you can use “Protrope” which is a call to action by using threats or promises. With this term you sound like you are actually talking to a specific person. This allows for you to have much more of an effect on the listener it is much more personal and direct.

Lastly, possibly the most important part of the speech is the delivery. When you give the speech you should be very familiar with it and don’t just stand up in front of the audience and read your speech. You should know what you are going to say before you say it. It is very important to also to know where you are going to be placing your inflections and what words you are going to emphasize the most. I recommend marking these on the speech before you give it. If you give a speech in a monotone voice your audience isn’t going to take in everything that you say. They will fall asleep and be disinterested. Before you give the speech you should do it a few times in front of a mirror or someone you know so they can tell you if you are going too fast or if you are giving it in a monotone, boring voice. Another good way to train your voice which worked for me is to do Mcguffey Drills It costs a few dollars but it really does help. This is very helpful because it also helps you get over the stage fright feeling you may get if you are new to being in front of an audience. That is all there is to a deliberative speech. When doing it you need to be sure to do the intermediate steps I mentioned because if you don’t your speech won’t come out as well as you hoped for.
Another good source of advice for doing a deliberative speech is from
Kyle's Blog

2004-05-02T16:17:00.000-07:00

Ahh...another rainy Sunday in Columbus. Now that school is almost over though things are beginning to look better because summer is almost here. And for me this summer is almost eight months because I'm going abroad for the first semester of next year which is going to be tight. But first I have to get through a shitty exam week. It really isn't that bad but I'm just taking courses that I'm not interested in and have no motivation to study for.

On another note as I was reading through blogs something struck me and that was what was written in Dr. Gilbert's Blog , and that was the whole US torture scandal going on in Iraq right now. I watched something on the world news tonight about this and I do believe that these people would not have done this without being told to like the New Yorker reporter said. However, Dr. Gilbert makes a good point that in the pictures the servicepeople involved look like they are having a great time. I don't understand how people can do things like that and still look at themselves in the mirror let alone laugh and smile about it. Recently my whole feelings about the war have been changing more and more. At first I definitely thought that war was needed to curb some of the terrorism that had occured. However recently as more and more Americans are getting killed I just want to say...let's leave the people be and if they want to kill themselves os be it. i know that is a controversial and non-compassionate thing to say but as the days go by...I beleive it more and more.

2004-04-30T09:43:00.000-07:00

Well a common topic talked about on blogs recently is dorm living. I was reading Jordan's Blog and I saw how he was saying how dorm living is killing him. I agree man I thnk that Denison has alot of work to do if they are going to make students live in the dorms for all four years. The facilities are unacceptable. The bathrooms need to be updated so that when all the showers are on you still have water pressure and this may sound picky but there needs to be air conditioning. At most of the schools I visited even the big state schools there is air conditioning in the dorms. Here though the heat goes on in the middle of a warm spring day. Also another change that needs to be made is that if the school is going to make you be on a meal plan....they have to offer better, healthier food. Everything in the dining is either fired or cooked unhealthily. I many sound like a little shit for saying that but I kind of like eating well and it is not possible to do so while here. On that note....I'm done.

2004-04-29T19:53:00.000-07:00

I was looking through some of the many blog postings of our class recently and I read something that I related to. Liz's Blog I have become so frustrated with the network at Denison as well as computers as a whole. Recently, I went home for the weeken came back and not one thing on my computer was working. So I ended up carrying my computer around on Monday asking where I could get it fixed. So after running around for an hour I end up having to take it to Huffman that night for someone to help me. I do this, find out that I have nearly 350 infected files and now my computer kind of works. And much like Liz's experience trying to get her computer fixed mine als took a fair amount of time.

2004-04-29T11:02:00.000-07:00

I have nothing to say........

2004-04-27T18:52:00.000-07:00

I was looking through Dr. Gilbert's Blog today and noticed the repsonse to a post made by Ryan on the comment he made about how Curtis is only giving one slice of turkey. When you read a response like that you really have to wonder what some people do with all their time. The fact that that guy took such offense is ridiculous. I truly believe that people being so thin skinned like this guy are what is wrong with society. People need to toughen up and not be so offended. Granted I am not as versed in Tito as the two people speaking in this blog but I know that something is wrong.

2004-04-26T14:05:00.000-07:00

I've recently come to the conclusion that the world would be better off without computers. I have had more issues with the damn computers on this campus in the past two days. I went home this weekend, forgot to turn off my computer and I come back and nothing works on it becasue I have countless viruses that were able to break through Denison's "powerful" firewall as well as the two anti-virus programs that I have on my computer. On top of that I go into the Knapp computer lab to log on and mess around for a little bit and none of the computers are allowing anyone to sign on. Okay enough of that!

I had a real interesting fun weekend that makes me want the summer to come that much faster. On Friday I went to that party I was talking about and Chad Johnson and, Wee Man, and Ron Jeremy were all there. Hustler Magazine hosted it. It was an interesting experience. Got to see all my boys and got way too drunk....so good times. Then I had to come back here where nothing works. Except as I was writing this it is now fixed. Aight, I'm out!

2004-04-19T10:06:00.000-07:00

So there's only about two more weeks of school left and I can't wait for the summer. But I this weekend is going to be crazy though. A friend of mine rented out a club's VIP room in Cincinnati and is having like 40 of us there. The crazy thing is though is that the other half of the room has been rented out by HUstler magazine because they are based in Cincy. Should be a real interesting night.

So today I was supposed to do our group's speech, but we didn't get around to it. I thought that many of the speeches were very good but especially Group 7's Blog . I thought that it was very well thought out and the speaker did a nice job of projecting his voice and being outgoing with the way he delivered it.

2004-04-11T16:05:00.000-07:00

So, it's Sunday and this day is one of the shittiest days of week. But it's not too bad today because I got a little break from Granville and went home for a bit. On Saturday I got to see the Reds play who have been surprisingly playing really well lately. They were fun to watch and played some good baseball. It was 75 and sunnyt for most of the game. After that I got a dinner in me that was about a thousand times better than the wonderful Huffman dining. After that, the bar and oh what a good place that is. So overall it was a good weekend and then I come here and have to study for a great econ test. I also wanted to mention that class on Friday was kind of interesting and it would be good if we did more things like that in the short future to come.

2004-04-09T10:04:00.000-07:00

It's easter weekend and we have no break. I personally don't make a big deal about easter and neither does my family but I do know that it is a big Catholic holiday. I am still trying to figure out Denisons total disregard for national holidays. We start classes on a holiday, and change MLK day. I just don't get it. But on a better note this weekend I am going home to party with some of the boys. One of my good friends is throwing a bash tonight you know to celebrate Easter. Tomorrow night is the bars with my older sister and some of her friends. It's gonna a little bit of a difference from the crazy party life around Denison. So I'm looking forward to it. Aight I'm out...talk to u Monday.

2004-04-08T11:02:00.000-07:00

So it's Thursday and I'm so bored. There's not going to be anyone on campus this weekend so I decided I might as well go back to the nati and see some of the boys. Yeah so I was reading Scott's blog and I also think I should mention how it's finally nice outside. There's no rain and people are coming out of the miserable winter hibernation. And the best thing is that America's pasttime has begun, baseball. I'm a Reds fan and it's finally nice to see Ken Griffey Jr. do well. I don't want to jinx him though because he'll probably get hurt in the next week. So on that note I'm out.

2004-04-07T07:03:00.000-07:00

So....I guess I'm going home this weekend due to the fact that there isn't going to be a soul on campus. It should be a tight weekend though because most of my good friends are going to be back from school. Yeah boy. This week has been a joke so far so there has been alot of drinking and it's going to continue for the next few days. I don't think I updated you on my last weekend which was fathers weekend for the fraternity. Well I saw a side of my dad that I never saw before...one that drinks. Normally my dad only has one beer then falls asleep on the floor by the dog but this year he was a champ. I kept him up until one both night and even got him to take a shot of tequila with all the younger dads. Funny shit. Well I just tried to get into some other people's blogs to coment on but for some reason none of them are working so I'm out.

On a more serious note I would just like to say to Dr. Gilbert that shit happens and I'm sure you'll find a job man. Don't woory bout it.

2004-04-06T17:09:00.000-07:00

So today I had a very ridiculous experience called the Housing Lottery. It was one of the most shoddily put together, unorganized displays of Denison I've ever seen. First off the people running it were not at all tolerant and patient, they were even a little bit snide. Not knowing that it has changed recently and that if you are going abroad in the fall you don;t get to reserve any space at Dension for the spring. Not knowing this I sat in that damn room for nearly two hours and then I am told I can't do anything. The women then proceeds to tell me that this rule is printed in the Housing Lottery Handbook. You think I have the time or the need to read a stupid handbook. Yeah let me whip it out real quick and show it to you. Well that is my shitty experience with the Denison Res Life people.

As I was looking through some of the blogs there were many comments on this same topic but the most interesting point that I read was by Brie . That was the comment about how people somehow begin to get really good picks after a parent calls or donates money. That is bullshit and Denison needs to stop not practicing what it is preaching. The whole Res Life committee needs to stop and look at themselves. I am done. Goodnight!

2004-04-02T10:07:00.000-08:00

Well today is Friday and it is our fraternity's father son weekend. There seems to be alot of dads coming in for it so it should be a real good time. Tonight we have a cookout and some activities then we all go to the bar. It should be interesting at the bar becasue my dad usually goes to bed at like 10. Tomorrow we all go play golf if it doesn't rain and then we do some stuff I don;t know about and then we go to a sports bar around here somewhere. It should be a great weekend and I'll update you on it later.

2004-04-01T11:40:00.000-08:00

So, today is Thursday and I've done nothing. The first thing that I will do today is the meeting with Professor Gilbert. I woke up at 1, went down and had a shitty lift and now I'm back thinking of something to blog about. The only thing I can think of is that I'm kind of frustrated with the speech. Our group wrote in a very formal fashion thinking that because it's a political speech it should be that way. However, we were wrong. So now we gotta fix it which isn't a big deal. Oh yeah last night there was an interesting and charitable event here at Denison. There was a an auction of students at the school and all the proceeds went to the YES children's club in Newark. It was a neat event to see most of the school there and also have the money go to charity. If you want to see more about this go to Brew's Charity Event

2004-03-29T16:04:00.000-08:00

So I was reading through blogs today and I really don't understand everything about this OC show. It sounds to me like it is a shitty new version of 90210. As I was reading Greg's Blog I felt like I was reading a ninth graders' journal, all the gossip and the shit talking. Granted reading it was enetertaining because I know who Greg is and I can make fun of him for it. But other than this comment to Haar I really don't have much to say other than that there has to be something better to watch on tv than the OC and if there isn't the world is coming to an end.

2004-03-28T17:03:00.000-08:00

So I'm sitting in the study lounge tosay at around three o' clock when I notice something in the front hall of Crawford. There was a cage and it in it there was either a gerbil or hamster (not sure what it was). I don't know if it was a case of the gerbil wanting to see the nice weather or if it was a case of abandonment. There was no food and no water so I'm thinking abandonment. I wanted to post this because if anyone has information on this, it would be greatly appreciated. I'm jujst kidding. But the gerbil was there.

2004-03-26T10:12:00.000-08:00

So today is finally Friday and I've been waiting for a real long time...more than four days. We have alumni coming in this weekend so it should be a fun weekend. However like I posted yesterday about how I have no clue what is going on in the tournament i've found something out. My Muskies are playing tonight at 7:35 against Texas. I truly beleive that they will win tonight because of the great basketball that they have been playing as of late. On a random note, if you all want to check out some pretty tight pictures on a blog check out Ivan's Blog .

2004-03-25T17:12:00.000-08:00

So I was thinking about the NCAA tournament today and how I have no idea what is going on in it. I don't know if it is because the teams that are in it aren't as well known as in the past or if it is because it began over spring break. I know the major teams that are in it but I have no idea of the Cinderellas other than Xavier because they're from my hometown. I bring this up because as I was reading through some blogs today, Fatima's I saw people talking about their teams. I am just real disappointed in myself for my lack of NCAA basketball knowledge during the most important time of the year.

2004-03-23T15:50:00.000-08:00

So I guess yesterday was St. Patrick's Day here at Denison. People even had St. Patty's Day bar parties, Jordan . I woke up from my nap to be told to go get a bunch of beer. This was at 4 in the afternoon and all my boys were already three cases deep. I really beleive that St. Patrick's Day is one of the better holidays. Everyone goes out and has a good time while meeting people due to the ambition that they get after drinking. After the beer run I went to get my Spring Break pictures developed. I am a shitty photographer and ended up wasting 10 dollars on picture. There were two or three good ones though. Finally after my trip to get my shitty pictures it was time for my non-Irish self to celebrate a very late St. Patricks Day with a case of Natural Light, a true Irishmen's beer. Well that's really all I want to talk about my St. Patty's Day.

2004-03-22T10:15:00.000-08:00

So, it's the first day back to the wonderful, cold town of Granville Ohio. My spring break was probably one of the best I've ever had and I still want to be there. My friends and I went on a boat in the British and US Virgin Islands. We ended up hitting up more than 4 different islands and saw many of the sites most people would never be able to see.We cliff jumped, snorkeled and srank alot. Great times! While I was there I came to the conclusion that everyone needs to take a year off after college and just mess around somewhere, just like Dr. Gilbert talked about today. You should do it while you don't have the responsiblities you'll have when you're older and have aa family and a real job. The only tough part of the trip was that we flew out of JFK airport in NYC and on the way there it took us over five hours to find an airport that should have only taken us two to get to. However, on the way back it only took us eight and a half hours to do the whole trip back to Columbus. I'm interested to see what everyone else ended up doing over break, so I'm excited to check that out.

2004-03-11T17:10:00.000-08:00

Here are examples of the rhetorical figures that I had to find in the State of the Union Address:

1.Insinuatio: Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens
2.Abominatio: And by our will and courage, this danger will be defeated
3.Abuse:Colonel Qadhafi correctly judged that his country would be better off and far more secure without weapons of mass murder.
4.Apposito:The men and women of Afghanistan are building a nation that is free and proud and fighting terror -- and America is honored to be their friend
5.Proverb:Congress has some unfinished business on the issue of taxes. The tax reductions you passed are set to expire. Unless you act -- (applause) -- unless you act.
6.Abusio:These institutions, these unseen pillars of civilization
7.Protrope:We can go forward with confidence and resolve, or we can turn back to the dangerous illusion that terrorists are not plotting and outlaw regimes are no threat to us.
8.Dialogismus:Many of our troops are listening tonight. And I want you and your families to know: America is proud of you. And my administration, and this Congress, will give you the resources you need to fight and win the war on terror.
9.Interogatio: none found
10.Apparent Refusal: none found
11.Inopinatum: none found

2004-03-11T17:07:00.000-08:00

Steroids and Baseball
So I've been thinking about the whole steroid issue and baseball. It really upsets me that baseball is now in the news more for steroids than it is for being America's pasttime. I grew up playing baseball and will always love the game. However, it really pisses me off that many of the most prestigious records that have been broken in the last 10 years have been broken questionably. I do beleive that Mark Mcgwire and Barry Bonds have used performance enhancing supplements (steroids). If you look at a picture of Barry Bonds when he first came into the league he was a stick. Now he's an extremely big guy who has obviously put on a questionable amount of muscle. Also on that note the fact that noone hit 50 home runs in the pros last year after two to three years earlier everyone was hitting 50 is sketchy. All of a sudden when the idea that there might be testing for steroids, everyone's offensive performances drop off. Hmmm. wonder why? Is it becasue everyone stopped doing what they were doing so they would test negative. If the players want to gain any of the respect back from the fans they need to all be tested. Screw the Player's Union...the sport needs to be cleaned up and if it isn't right now there will be a bigger backlash than there was when the strike occurred not long ago.

Hey and if you want to check out an interesting response to my last blog check out Nate's Blog
"

2004-03-09T20:00:00.000-08:00

So I gotta study for this Econ exam tomorrow and I'm just ready to get this week done with. I'm ready for spring break and the Caribbean on that note i gotta go study.

2004-03-08T21:01:00.000-08:00

So as I'm reading through blogs today I came across something that was pretty amusing. I was reading Alex's Blog and I saw that he almost got into a fight in Value City. In my opinion I think you should have kicked his ass. You should have taken your aggression out on him. I would have. On that note I'm out. And I want more details on this fight.

2004-03-05T10:19:00.000-08:00

So finally it's Friday and I've got to go home for the weekend. Only one week away from Spring BReak and I have to get clothes for St. Thomas. Can't wait for it. Well yesterday was shitty, worked all day on a paper, econ and on our proposal for this class. Hopefully you like it. On a topic that we've been talking about alot and that is the Colorado scandal. So yesterday Colorado implemented a new process for when recruits visit. "Supposively" the parents and coaches are going to supervise them and they have an 11 pm. curfew. The day that that actually occurs consistently is the day that I die. There is no way that this is going to occur and if for some reason it works for a little they are going to have a shitty football team...even though they aren't that good. Aight on that note..I'm out.

2004-03-02T12:09:00.000-08:00

Well I just thought about something that pisses me off and that is the stupid fucking award shows that the stars throw for themselves. Yes, the Oscars are legitamate and have been around for quite a while. And by the way I give props to Scott's Blizzog because he got from what I saw all his picks for the Oscars right. But what I'm talking about is all the other 100 awards shows per year that are so stupid and pointless. It's comparable to the may pointless bowl games that occur every year at the end of the college football season....(The Humanitarian Bowl)! That is the only one I could think of right now but trust me there are tons. Well on the awards show note, I know that recently there was a Video Game Awards, honestly who cares I mean they could not be making money on that.... On the same note I really don't understand why these celebrities also throw million dollar birthday parties for THEMSELVES. Rather than throw yourself a million dollar party why not "only" spend a half million dollars for a party for your mom and donate the other half million to someone who is less fortunate. I mean honestly I think you can do without 500 bottles of thousand dollar bottles of Cristal.

2004-03-01T17:55:00.000-08:00

Today has been a great shitty Monday as usual. I got more bad grades back and have alot of work to do "Good shit". But something more important than my shitty Monday is the controversial topic of same sex marriages that has been sweeping the country and will play a big factor in the political races I believe. I bring this topic up because a fellow classmate had a very adamant stand opposing same-sex marriages, Fatima's Blog I personally believe that they are fine and homosexuals are not homosexual by choice. They are born that way. Very often religion comes into play like Fatima says in her blog. She says how, "All most all the Holy Books (Bible, Quran, and Torah, etc.) state that being gay is not allowed. God created Adam and Eve to reproduce, not Adam and Steve or Eve and Geneve." I am not a religious person so I respect this opinion but I truly believe that people are born gay. It has been proven that long ago, there were homosexual Native Americans. Obviously back then it wasn't the mainstream thing to "act" gay and perform homosexual activity. I don't think that long ago someone would just wake up one morning and say I like my own sex. It is a predetermined characteristic and for that reason I believe that gay marriages should be legal. There is a reason the writers of our Constitution allowed there to be changes made to the Constitution and that is because the nation is always changing and in this case it involves gays wanting to get married and lead normal lives just like the rest of the country.

2004-02-25T14:04:00.000-08:00

When coming into Granville for my first year of college I saw a small, quaint town where people look like they were all very laid back and fair. However that changed when I had my first experience with the unjust, petty Granville Police Department. I was arrested last year for underage drinking after having drank only one beer at "college" while on lower campus which is part of GPD's jurisdiction. This was one of the most ridicluous experiences of my life due to the negligence and ineptitude of the GPD to do their job. First, they took the thirty kids I was with to the station without telling anyone what they were being charged with and without reading us our rights. We then sat at the station for around four hours while these officer tried to figure out how to work the computer. Remember we still hadn't had our rights read to us yet. So now there have been two violations of our civil rights by the honorable GPD in a period of four hours. Around a month later we had our hearing to which most of pleaded no contest. But then came the surprise. The mayor felt it reasonable to give a 280 dollar fine and two days suspended jail time. My beleif is that the department needed new computers and decided to have us fund it with exorbitant fines. The disrespect I recieved from this department was one I have never seen before and I've never seen anything like it, and I'm from a decent sized city. If you would like to read more about this wonderful department go to Granville Police Department Website

2004-02-24T12:16:00.000-08:00

For our upcoming speech we are doing the large issue of peer to peer file sharing of songs, movies, pornography and the many other things that are being sent back and forth from computer to computer. As I think about this topic, I'm split. I don't really know where I stand on the issue. On one hand I know that compact discs and music have become so expensive it definitely doesn't seem worth it to go out and buy a CD for almost twenty dollars. However I also think of myself from the other point of view which is that of the artists or director. The artist are losing thousands and thousands of dollars and they have been able to curb the amount of pirating by not allowing there CD's to be turned into mp3's. There have been many issues and lawsuits that have been filed recently on this topic. However the most absurd one to me was the one the RIAA filed against over 500 people at one time who file share. The RIAA then forced the defendants to pay restitution of up to 17,000 dollars to the RIAA which to me I beleive is extortion. The RIAA was totally out of line by threatening people with lawsuits and then extorting money out of them so they don't have to go to court. One thing that I am sure of on this issue is that this is wrong and it has been recognized in recent lawsuits that did spell this out as extortion. Mass lawsuits never occur the way they do with this topic, judges don't even looks at all the writs, they just sign a pile of lawsuits and let the lawyers battle. There needs to be legislation that stops this type of lawsuits, and I think that is what legislation our group id going to propose.

2004-02-20T10:06:00.000-08:00

The University of Colorado issue is just one of the many issues that are going to come out of the woodwork. This was bound to happen. In Division I sports across the nation the athletes are not being held to the fact that they need be law abiding citizens. At U. of Colorado it is very distressing and sad that this has occurred. If the allegations are true, women have been raped and as of right now noone has been found responsible for it. In order for these types of things to not occur universities are going to have to learn to punish these players by suspension or expulsion and to look past winning and the game of football as a business. I have an example of the preferential treatment that these players are used to receiving at these huge schools. I have a very good girlfriend that goes to a major college football school and is friends with many of the stars on the football team. I went down and visited her one night and we went out where all those guys were partying. At the bar they go to they have a special "VIP" liquor area which are all bottles of Grey Goose and other types of liquor that the athletes get. Rarely do they pay for this liquor and none of the kids are id'd, even the recruits that they have visiting. Then after the club gets out the local food place gives all these guys food, none of them pay for it, it is all free. On top of that most of these kids, freshamn included are driving Cadillacs, and other SUV's with tv's and nice rims. I saw that from this experience these guys for the most part are untouchable. The police are scared of them and many of the people in the community idolize them. This is going to be a hard problem to overcome but it needs to be done somehow.

2004-02-19T20:31:00.000-08:00

Yo my boy Ramanan needs to get a round of applause for working safe ride on Wednesday nights. That is a great thing to do and I know he likes to party so that's quite a sacrifice. To be honest with you other than to get a drunk ride I don't understand how people could feel unsafe on this campus. I'm sure that's just the ignorance in me talking but I don't get it. Well after making my comments, I'm out got a big test tomorrow...gotta study more. Shit sucks.

2004-02-17T19:52:00.000-08:00

When looking through some blogs after I posted tonight something really caught my eye and that was something that was spoke of in
Ivan's Blog In his blogs I saw that there was a topic about whether Denison was a good school or not. I believe with what Ivan said, people that are complaining about Denison need to know that they ARE taking what they have here forgranted. I may sound like a dad here but I truly believe that you can get as much out of Denison as you put in. If you sit in your room and play video games and bitch about the school, obviously you won't have a good time. If you take courses you are interested in and go out and party and get involved then you'll have a good time while learning something too. What a novel idea.

For people that talk about how this school doesn't have classes that they are interested in you should take a look back at the decision you made to come here. I don't think that the courses here have changed. There has never been construction management courses here or specific law based course. If you thought there were maybe you should have read that this school was a liberal arts school and not a huge university or vocational school. Ivan also supports this argument very well. If you had taken the time to make an "educated decision" you would have seen that and gone to a Wisconsin-Madison or Michigan or any other non-liberal arts school. On that note I'm out, and i would appreciate if people responded to this, those that are in agreement or not, all are welcome. respond to this.

2004-02-17T19:37:00.000-08:00

Yo my group has a new blog and if for some reason you need to see some rhetorical figures picked out from President Bush's State of the Union address check it out at Our Badass Blog of Rhetorical Figures .

2004-02-16T16:40:00.000-08:00

Persuasive Speeches? When most people think of a persuasive speech, you think that you aren't successful unless you persuade someone to believe exactly what you believe. I thought this too before a class I had today. During this class a theory was brought up that was called the Social Judgment Theory. This theory evaluates an issue by putting all poosible viewpoints for a subject on a spectrum. The spectrum is arranged accordingly and then you put the person you are speaking to in categories that are labeled as: latitude of acceptance, latitude of non-committment, and latitude of rejection. We were then told that the whole idea of a persuasive speech is to not move your audience all the way to where you stand but to shift them closer to your viewpoint by way of the spectrum you have set up. If you get in their face and tell them to believe what you believe you will understandably alienate your audience. This is a novel idea for me because I have always been one to be pretty in your face when I speak about something that I'm passionate about. Now I have a new understanding of how to talk to someone and it will definitely help me in the future.

On the whole persuasive speech idea for our group we have decided to talk about the peer to peer file sharing because of how it is a very out there subject right now and our audience will definitely be able to relate to this topic.

As I was looking at other people's blogs today there was one that really got me think. It is the blog by Fatima's Blog . This blog brings up the great point that the dining halls here are fucking awful. Like she said we do pay nearly 7.50 a meal and I often eat a wrap at the most for lunch and dinner. This is sad, the school needs to sack up and get us good food where everything isn't fried and where there is a little bit more variety. So check out Fatima's blog for even more on this topic. It's some good shit.

2004-02-15T10:59:00.001-08:00

Sunday's are the worst day of the week when you're still in school. All it does is tell you that the week of work is coming and that you need to get your ass moving. For instance, now is it's time to study for my three tests this week. I know that college is supposed to be "the greatest time of your life". I diagree with that because if this is the greates time of my life, Oh shit. I think that the greatest time of your life is the time that you spend with your family and if you get married, with your wife and kids. Those are what is imprtant in life and not your GPA. That is why kids that take school so seriously and fret over a b, piss me off. Shit happens and trust me you will still succeed in life with a B or lower average GPA. Too many people at this school care way too much about grades and it's sad to be honest with you. You shouldn't be unhappy if you get a B, you should always be happy because most of us have a good family whether it be 5 people or just one person. On that note I'm out and I know that this a really random blog.

2004-02-15T10:59:00.000-08:00

Sunday's are the worst day of the week when you're still in school. All it does is tell you that the week of work is coming and that you need to get your ass moving. For instance, now is it's time to study for my three tests this week. I know that college is supposed to be "the greatest time of your life". I diagree with that because if this is the greates time of my life, Oh shit. I think that the greatest time of your life is the time that you spend with your family and if you get married, with your wife and kids. Those are what is imprtant in life and not your GPA. That is why kids that take school so seriously and fret over a b, piss me off. Shit happens and trust me you will still succeed in life with a B average. Too many people at this school care way too much about grades and it's sad to be honest with you. You shouldn't be unhappy if you get a B, you should always be happy because most of us have a good family whether it be 5 people or just one person. On that note I'm out and I know that this a really random blog.

2004-02-13T10:10:00.000-08:00

Today in our class we talked about some of the issues that we may do for our deliverative speeches. As our group was discussing things that we may do we narrowed it down to two: gay marriage, and the internet sharing of music. We then looked at what would relate most to where our constituents are which is in Cincinnati, Ohio. I live in Cincinnati and I know that is a very conservative city much like the rest of the midwest. For this reason I think that it would be more beneficial to do something that relates more to them which is the sharing of internet MP3's. There is a ton of information on the internet about it and it has been a hotly debated topic recently. For that reason it's a good topic.

On another topic today in class we discussed why we are doing these blogs. I really do see them as being beneficial because this BLog website is a public site and with our blogs we are representing ourselves to he public. Therefore we are publicly speaking but not by doing so aloud. In a sense we are expressing our opinions in a speech form but not aloud. I think this a good way to polish the way you think and tell people how you feel without inhibitions and while polishing up on your skills speaking publicly. Many of these ideas are represented in a blog by a classmate of mine,
Adam Wolford . This is a good site to refer to if you would like to see another student's view on the whole blog situation.

2004-02-12T17:49:00.000-08:00

Well, Once again nothing big has been going on other than I saw that the Blog I thought I lost night ended up saved somehow so that's aight. I finally got to get out of Huffman today (I'm broke), my dad was up doing some business in Columbus so I was able to meet him in Easton at P.F. Changs....good shit. It was really nice to see him. I was also able to get a little bit of money out of him. I found out my sister just got a job at a premier advertising agency in Cincinnati, Landor . They were the ad agency that did all the Salt Lake City Olympics and they also do all of Procter and Gamble's products, so they are huge. I'm happy for her. I got three test next week so I'm going to try to get ahead a little bit so I'm out.

2004-02-11T20:14:00.000-08:00

Well I truly am an idiot, I typed a long fucking blog on class today and I just lost it so I'm done.

2004-02-11T19:57:00.000-08:00

Well I know I must be boring everyone by now with these lame blogs. So I'm sorry. The only news that I have to report is that I am now going on a much needed Spring Break. I got my tickets to St. Thomas last night and it should be a great time. Got a decent deal on them too. I'm going with about five friends of mine that go to Denison. On the topic we spoke of in class about the use of the word "faggot". I truly believe that there is a hierarchy among the many derogatory terms in American culture. For instance, the word "faggot" is most often said to guys. The word bitch is often said to women. Give me a second I promise that I am getting somewhere. Next, even though many may not agree with this, there is a noticeable hierarchy in society that is men first, women second then animals at the bottom of the food chain. At the top of the societal food chain you have "faggot" which is stereotyped as an effiminate male that is often gay. This is a strike on a guy's masculinity which is the one thing that you cannot do to a guy. If someone threatens a guy's masculinity there will be problems. So now a man has been degraded to the class lower than him,women. Next is the word bitch that is often said to women. Bitch obviously has the meaning "female dog". This is a very offensive term to women. The hierarchy comes in here also, with this word a woman is degraded to an animal, a female dog. However far fetched this may be I think that it gives people something to think about regarding terms that are very degrading to eveyone but especially to a specific sex. So my professor isn;t a fan of Ohio so I recommend that he go to the wonderful The Nati website where he will see how wonderful our farmland truly is. I'm out.

2004-02-10T15:31:00.000-08:00

Well, it's Tuesday so it sucks. I got a good amount of work going on and for that reason I'm venting. The only good new I got today is that I'm probably going to go to the Caribbean for Spring Break so that should be real tight. I really have nothing to say today but if you want to check a funny site go to
College Humor Website

2004-02-09T15:24:00.000-08:00

What's up all. Another Monday has gone by and it wasn't that bad for once. I had all four classes and perhaps the most interesting one of the day was the one that I'm doing this blog for. In my COMM class today we talked about the use of the word "slut". We talked about the double standard that exists between male and females. Most people know that a when a girl is called a slut, it has a negative connotation. However if a guy was to have the same sexual habits as a girl that is called a slut, he's the man. My response to this is that most of the time the people that call the girl a slut are other girls and that guys for the most part could care less. So in a sense it is the girls that are creating the double standard and the girls that are truly offended are the one's that may fall into the "slut" category that other girls and women have created among their sex. That is my stand on this subject and I welcome anyone's response. Another topic we discussed today in class had to do with the whole Janet Jackson saga. I found the discussion we had in class today very interesting. From what I heard there wasn't anyone that seemed to be extremely offended by this. I agree, the exposing of Janet's breast wasn't even close to many of the other things that are on televison today. For example, today I came back after class and turned on the TV and saw a soap opera. This was at about 3 o' clock and I know that some kids are home at that time. The scene I saw in the soap opera was a male and female having sex. Even though there was no nudity the whole thought that kids would have when seeing this is much worse than the ideas that may have gone through there head when and if they saw Janet's breast. In the end I think that America needs to lighten up and become much less conservative like many of the countries in Europe. On that note I 'm. If you want to see another response relating to this topic check out
Ben Stapeton's Blog .

2004-02-06T11:35:00.000-08:00

So yeah, Today I've gotta analyze a personal ad off Nerve Personals. As I was looking for one to analyze I came across one that definitely stood out. The first that I saw was that there wasn't a picture which was a point of interest for me. From there being no picture I had the idea that the person wasn't very confident in themselves and that they may try to divert what they believe to be their inadequacies by shocking the reader by talking of something everyone likes, SEX. Below is the post of this person that I am goiung to attempt to analyze. Here it is!

Last great book I read
that would have to be the life of Pi

Most humbling moment
spending time in a hospital in Nepal with the sick and realising how fortunate some of us are in this life.

Favorite on-screen sex scene
home videos

Celebrity I resemble most
molly ringwald

Best or worst lie I've ever told
that I look like molly.....

If I could be anywhere at the moment
in a huge bed with a white duvet and lots of pillows drinking wine listening to great jazz with the person of my dreams

Song or album that puts me in the mood
any thing french

The five items I can't live without
my vibrator, my clit cream, my music, wine and good food

Fill in the blanks
laughter is sexy;
the scent of another is sexier

In my bedroom, you'll find
music, candles, my toys...., and a good time

As you can see by these personal ads this person only seems to talk about sex. The only thing that she speaks of which is the moment that she believed was her most humbling which she said was visiting a hospital in Nepal and seeing how fortunate we in America are. This to me definitely shows compassion and obviously a sense of gratefulness. However this is one of the only things that this woman says that is not blount and sexual. Perhaps the most intersting comment that the woman made was the things that she couldn't live without which she listed in order as:my vibrator, my clit cream, my music, wine and good food. This obviously shows that this woman is a very aggressive type that is not afraid of saying what she feels sexually. This isexual blountness is also visible in the fact that this woman is bi-sexual and lives in New York. In no way am I putting down her characteristics but I believe that she may be so insecure with herself from all her comments that she is using the things that she knows people want to hear. I just don't think that she is being honest and genuine. The fact that she lists her "clit cream" as something she can't live without strikes me as a bit odd. I know there are open women but this throws me off of her because you just wonder? She also says that her favorite on-screen sex scene is her "home videos". This once again is in no way showing this woman's personality other than that she is pretty blount and to me would sketch me out. Overall I thing that this woman is a little too desperate which is visible in her comments. I also think that this woman is very insecure and looking for anything that comes her way so she can make some movies and play with her clit cream. On that wonderful note, I'm out.

2004-02-05T20:01:00.000-08:00

Fuck, I just worte this nice blog and then I had an "error" on my computer. That sucks. But I'm not about to write everything again so I'll sum it up for you. It's Thursday I've got my shit done and now am just chillin. Oh yeah I won't be posting anything for a few days because I've gotta go to something out of town. Other than that I got nothing and I'm out. Later

2004-02-05T19:58:00.000-08:00

What up y'all. It's Thursday and I've got all my shit done so I'm just taking it easy. I really don't have anything great to tell you except that I won't be posting anything for a little bit because I'm gonna be out of town. I've been reading some blogs lately and the Scott Towler kids blog is pretty clever i recommend checking it out it's funny shit. Well shit other than that I got nothing so I'm out. Later

2004-02-04T11:41:00.000-08:00

Well, Today has been a very long, boring day. I had all four of my classes and shit just sucked. However I'm done now and that's great considering I don't have class on Thursdays. All I've got to do tonight is this history blackboard assignment which should be a "great" time. I'm ready for the weekend though man. I'm going home to Cincinnati for this conference thing so I'll get to see friends and do some big school partying at University of Cincinnati. Man those fucking Bearcats blew it last night though. They lost to Xavier again and they lost by turning the ball over with four seconds left and down 2. They really do know how to blow it. Even though they lost last night, they are good and they have a pretty informative, neat website, UC Basketball. So I'm about to take a nap because for some reason I haven't been able to sleep lately which really blows. Later

2004-02-03T14:14:00.000-08:00

Oy, school is so much fun. Alll the damn homework, tests and other dumb shit. I bring this up because as I was reading a fellow classmates blog I saw this. You can check this out, it's pretty entertaining. I don't even know who the kid is but his blog is Scott Towler's Blog

2004-02-02T11:38:00.000-08:00

What up everyone. Monday is over and I just got back from one of the most boring classes I've ever been in. It was a great time. I'm already ready for next weekend. I've actually got to go to Cincinnati with some friends of mine for a leadership conference it should be interesting. I've never been to one so it'll be new for me. I'm actually going to it with one of the guys in the class I'm doing this blog for. If you want to learn more about my friend Greg Haar go to Haar's Site. IT's a real interesting site and has alot of useful information about computers n such. Well I'm out. Talk to everyone tomorrow.

2004-01-27T16:15:00.000-08:00

Well I'm back and tomorrow is the first day back for classes after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. This has been one of the best long weekends I've had here at Denison. It was a rush weekend so there's been alot of parties going on all over campus. This campus is usually pretty quiet compared to other campuses so it was a good change of pace. I had an interesting experience this weekend also. Around Thursday, my fraternity started interviewing freshman to get to know them better. We ended up interviewing around thirty freshman and most of them were good guys. However, it ended up taking almost 10 hours to do all the interviews. It was a long, tedious process. Well I'm out, just wanted to give everyone an update on the weekend. If you want to see more about the fraternity that I am in go to the Sig Ep Website

2004-01-23T15:39:00.000-08:00

Well, this is my second blog and it's Friday. This has been the first week of classes at Denison so it sucked getting back into everything. On top of that my fraternity is recruiting so that's about two hours a day so far. On top of that it is bitter cold here. Today as I walked to my first class it was only nine degrees with a wind chill of under zero. Sounds fun huh? With the cold usually comes snow which has just hit and has been continuing for quite a while. On a lighter note, this should be a really fun weekend. We have Monday off for our observance of Martin Luther King Jr. day. I also have no classes on Tuesday so I have a four weekend. Not too bad.
Just to give an update on my classes this semester. This is a real tough semester for me because I've had to double up in Economics classes with both Micro and Macro. I'm also taking an Early Modern Europe course and a great Public Speaking class. Everything is going pretty well so far but we're not even close to the tougher part of the semester. I have to so really well in my two Economics courses because I haven't done badly in my first two but I haven't done as well as I would have liked. Wish me luck. So we'll see when all those tests come about. Overall, this has been a very hectic first week back but it has also been alot of fun being back and I really hope the rest of the semester goes this well. Well I'm out but if you want to see more about my small liberal arts school go to the Denison University website.

2004-01-22T19:28:00.000-08:00

Hi my name is Sam Bortz and I am a sophomore at Denison University in the small, quaint town of Granville, Ohio. I've never done this before but it is a requirement for my Public Speaking class but I like it. It's pretty neat and easy so far though. As for a little bit of background on myself, I'm 20 years old and from Cincinnati, Ohio. I have a great family where I am one of three children. I'm in the middle of two sisters, one who is 22 and the other is 13. My parents' names are Arn and Sue, both great people.
In 2002, I graduated from Cincinnati Country Day School. It is a very small private school in the township of Indian Hill, which is about 15 minutes outside of downtown Cincinnati. To give an idea of how small it was, I graduated with 53 other kids. While at CCD I played basketball and baseball for all four years. I was most valuable player for the basketball team my senior year. I was kind of the garbage man for the team so that was fun. I got all the rebounds and the cheap points. However, the most fun I had in sports during high school was during my junior year when we won the state championship. Overall, I really enjoyed my high school experience and wouldn't change it for the world.
After my senior year I came to Denison University where I decided against playing baseball and basketball. I am happy with that decision as I see all my friends spending hours and hours a week year round with their sports. While at Denison I have become involved in volunteering at the Humane Society and have joined the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. Those two things have allowed for me to meet alot of very nice people and learn how lucky I am to be where I am right now. I've decided to become an Economics major, as of right now. We'll see about that though. I am very interested in business and entrepeneurship so that major matched my interests the most. I have recently applied to The Wells College in Florence where I hope to go in the Fall of 2004. I'll be sure to keep everyone up to date on that process while hoping to be there in the fall. Well I'm out, I'll talk to you soon thought most definitely.
-SAM BORTZ