Final Creative Work

Prevention is Key

Eat your vegetables. Say no to drugs. Drink eight glasses of water everyday. Don’t drink and drive. Drink milk. Exercise at least thirty minutes every day. Eat a balanced meal. Sound familiar? Sure they do. It’s what we have been told to do all our lives in order to grow strong and live a healthy life. Yet knowing that following this advice is crucial to our health in the long run, how many of us can truly say we are an example to follow? Sadly, the truth is that we are lazy and complacent when it comes to our health. We know what we shouldn’t do and yet we still do it. As in many other areas of our lives we choose instant gratification and prefer not to think about the consequences until they become a problem in the future. So when James Martin, author of “The meaning of the 21^st Century”, mentions that “Some people, determined to enjoy old age, will be careful to avoid cigarettes…may bicycle to work… and do everything their doctor or personal computer tells them to,” I don’t see these people constituting the majority of our population.

I’ve had the opportunity of witnessing the many implications old age has brought to our aging population. Taking the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) course during my senior year in high school, I assisted residents in a nursing home and patients in a hospital for four weeks. Although being at such places isn’t necessary to know the problems old age brings, being able to witness these problems first-hand has made me realize how crucial it is to caring about our health despite our young age. I have assisted people who needed help cleaning their dentures to people who required assistance getting out of bed. I understand the importance of having someone there to help when you’re not able to reach for some water or when you need help taking a shower or go to the restroom. We usually take these things for granted and don’t realize our bodies might slowly be heading towards that same future of dependence. It is these experiences we associate with old age that ultimately drive us to not “want to spend the final 30 years of [our lives] in a wheelchair” (209) unless technology will be able to prolong the inevitable for as long as possible.

Preventive medicine can no doubt help prevent or prolong many of the changes our bodies will undergo as they age. However, if change to become more proactive about our health doesn’t improve as a society, these new technologies can only go so far. The rate of obesity today is astounding regardless of all the options for weight loss that exist. And, despite all the tests and preventive measures an individual can obtain or act upon, the number of people with diseases that could have been prevented is increasing at an alarming rate. Staying up to date with our vaccines/flu shots can prevent many diseases and even a yearly routine checkup could prevent letting many types of cancer reach untreatable levels. If our society could follow simple steps to a better lifestyle and learn to take advantage of the medical advancements available today, preventive medicine could probably have a profound effect in the health of our future generations and ultimately redefine the problems associated with age.

Dr. Cullen on Diversity

Having to wait in line to attend yet another required presentation at nine thirty on a Thursday morning did not please the majority of SU’s first-year students. For many this brought back memories of monotonous orientation week events and knowing ‘diversity’ was the topic of this presentation began to place it in the same category even before we found a seat inside the auditorium. I wasn’t so pessimistic, since I had read the details about the event on the online SU Calendar. Claiming Dr. Maura Cullen’s lecture titled “Taking Adversity out of Diversity” was “entertaining and educational,” I doubted we would be disappointed since SU seems really interesting in receiving positive feedback from their events. And thankfully I wasn’t. Dr. Cullen successfully engaged us the entire time, even when relying on a PowerPoint presentation, not just by stating obvious facts about diversity issues but also by requesting audience participation. Doing so made her claims go beyond words into realities that have impacted our lives. Not only are we as diverse as cars, but also such diversity requires us to do our part in embracing, acknowledging, and supporting each other’s differences. It is not until we start with small changes, such as learning to react differently toward a disabled individual or seeing the importance a postcard has, that we will understand and appreciate the benefits or diversity. Besides, what would our world be without diversity?

Problems and Solutions

Problems complicate everything. They interfere with how we want our daily lives to play out, put non-stop pressure on governments to take effective actions, and make our world more chaotic. The opportunity to live in a world without problems would probably not be turned down by anyone, but unfortunately such an opportunity is unrealistic. While we would be delighted to be worry-free and watch all our plans work effectively with one another, our world brings us to our senses and proves it is not an easy task. Today more than ever, it is full of problems and the best way to approach them is to acknowledge they exist, make an effective plan to solve them, put that plan into action, and if necessary go back to the drawing board to produce effective results.

As James Martin mentions in his book, “The Meaning of the 21^st Century,” “good news will be accompanied by serious bad news” (273). The human race may be creating new and better ways to sustain itself through new technological methods, but doing so is only creating a bigger problem that is not being effectively tackled. Not only are our natural resources being depleted, they are not being replenished at the same rate they disappear. And while it’s undeniable that worldwide efforts are being made to bring our planet back to health, the lack of education and willpower from ordinary citizens around the world prevents this problem from being effectively solved. For example, Southwestern University has a good recycling program in place. We have designated areas for recycling, different bins assigned for what can be recycled, and our individual bins in our dorms. The system is successfully broken down so that every individual at Southwestern may view recycling as an easy, manageable task. However, I have many times witnessed people throw recyclable materials in the trash rather than in a blue bin. Technology has made it easy to obtain and enjoy a soda bottle, but if by using such technology people don’t realize the harm they are slowly creating on the planet by not recycling the bottle, technology goes beyond its purpose and starts creating more problems without effective solutions. We can do our part to help the planet by changing small habits but if people don’t realize their importance for the future “all delays in implementing solutions make the situation worse” (274).

Problems that try to be solved until they are unmanageable often require more time and resources. Identifying problems as soon as they become a problem prevent time and money to be spent on impulsive proposals that lead to unsuccessful results and more problems. The extension on these response papers accurately depicts this situation. Realizing it would be difficult to meet the deadline for the response paper, not only was more time spent on arranging such extension, but also many of us had to take time out of our Monday schedules to finalize our assignment when we could have finished it over the weekend and used that time for other activities. Waiting until the last minute to resolve to complete this assignment might even to poor writing and ultimately an unsatisfactory grade.

Despite these problems we have to acknowledge that with the right attitude, willpower, and cooperation, worldwide problems in the environment, education, and resources can be resolved to achieve desirable results. It is essential not only for our future wellbeing but for the wellbeing of future generations as well.

“China and the Internet: An Uphill Fight for Freedom” Summary

Since the introduction of the Internet to the Chinese public in 1996, China has become the country with the most Internet users. It went from having only 20 million users in 2001 to having more than 200 million users in 2008. However, this achievement is suppressed by the fact that the Chinese government maintains strict control over the Internet.

Chinese authorities are heavily involved in every aspect of the Internet in order to ensure that they do not lose the control they have had over their citizens for centuries. From the Internet’s beginning in China, they acknowledged “the potential contributions of the Internet and other ICTs [information and communication technologies] to economic modernization and growth” (68) and felt it was necessary to maintain authority over this new method used to share information. Although China claims its goal is the “limitation of pornography, gambling, and other harmful practices,” (69) it seems more concerned on censoring subjects such as the “criticism of top leaders, independent evaluations of China’s rights record, [and] violations of minority rights in Tibet and Xinjiang” (69) regarding the Communist Party.

Despite having access to “video-sharing websites, social-networking tools, and email services,” (68) Chinese citizens cannot reliably access popular overseas services such as You-Tube, Wordpress, and Blogspot, while Gmail and Hotmail face constant complications. Even Facebook, which is extremely popular among college students, was blocked last year especially around the time when the Beijing Olympics took place. And while some outside online services, such as Google and Skype, are available, it is only due to the fact that these online companies have agreed to alter and censor their services to the Chinese public. Cybercafes are also under strict regulations. The Ministry of Culture (MC) is responsible for providing them with licenses, and, since 2003, it has made cybercafes operate as chain stores. Their popularity has increased so much to where the MC is no longer issuing new licenses and the police physically monitor many, if not all, of them. Online discussions have even tried to be guided by the government through the recruitment of commentators to guide opinions. Such activities are even responsible for the fact that “China has the world’s largest number of individuals imprisoned for their online activities” (68).

The Communist Party in China is able to have Internet control over its citizens through four different strategies, which involve technical filtering, prepublication censorship, postpublication censorship, and proactive manipulation. Technical filtering mainly involves blocking foreign websites. This large task is enforced through six or eight state-run operators in some of China’s largest cities. By using lists of taboo topics provided by the Chinese government, prepublication censorship is implemented. Postpublication censorship in many cases involves removing posted information off the Internet. Lastly, through proactive manipulation, the government is able to make its citizens believe what is most convenient for its political goals.

Chinese citizens who go against censorship regulation or upload controversial information are liable to different punitive measures such as “criminal and financial liability, long term imprisonment, and loss of a business license, though enforcement is selective” (71). In April 2008, Hu Jia, a “well-known human rights activist and winner of the European Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought” (71), was imprisoned for three and a half years for “inciting subversion of state power” (71) after articles he had written and posted online. In July 2008, China also had at least 49 cyberdissidents in jail. This number supersedes that of any other country. And while the average prison sentence in other countries is six months to four years for illegal online activities, in China the range is anywhere from three to ten years. “Extralegal intimidation and harassment” (72) are even becoming more frequent as more citizens are participating in activities that are unfavorable with their government. Wei Wenhua, a construction company executive, was a victim of this in January 2008, when he was “beaten to death in Hubei providence by 50 law enforcement officers after he used his mobile phone to film them in a violent clash with demonstrators” (72).

The Internet, regardless of all its limitation in China, has become “a primary source of news and a forum for discussion” (72). It has allowed many civil society organizations to exist online with the agreement of the government, and it is still a better alternative to the more traditional media in China. Yet the Internet is still facing many uncertainties as the Chinese government has two options for its future. Chinese authorities could either continue limiting the opinion of its people in order to stay in power or, although unlikely to occur in the near future, could broaden the limitations of the Internet in order to increase connectivity. Either way, China has a long way to go, which is extremely clear given that the author of this article has remained anonymous.

Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle Presentation

Dr. Bradley Jensen’s Presentation on the Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) made me realize how much an average individual, with no significant background in the science of computer technology, is unaware of the risks computer and Internet usage could bring. I admit there were times when I had no idea what Dr. Jensen was talking about, especially when it came to computer terms, such as namespaces. However, I was able to understand some of the main themes in his presentation. I learned that many times security is left out because it costs more money, takes more time, and is not started from the beginning. Also, if security is too difficult to practice, many people will go around it or prefer to disable it (like the company who complained about the difficult passwords having to be renewed frequently). And regarding Threat Modeling 2.1 companies could do one of three things: nothing, take action to prevent it, or do something in between. Lastly, I refreshed my memory as to what phishing was and learned that it took 35 seconds to attack Windows 7. The topic about fuzzing was also greatly discussed, but I don’t believe I grasped the concept of it very well. Overall, I learned that security could prevent many complications if done properly. Dr. Jensen was very knowledgeable in this subject and his presentation was very interesting.

How College Students Cope

If you haven’t read Thomas L. Friedman’s book, The World is Flat 3.0, having to do a comparison between a company and a college student might seem deviant and even lead to a few or no significant similarities. On the other hand, anyone who has read Friedman’s book and understands his viewpoint on how much technology has impacted our world would agree that they have much more in common when it comes to thinking globally about technology and the future.

Today, a company can no longer be successful being “vanilla” (474) when “Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, or Cherry Garcia, or Chunky Monkey” (474) companies are doing everything they are better, faster, and cheaper. As Friedman demonstrates in Rule #9 of the chapter titled “How Companies Cope,” the speed with which technology transformed business procedures around the world has surprised many companies and led them to work harder just in order to be at the same level of an equally qualified company or individual. They not only have to work harder, but they also have to do so knowing they will most likely not make a bigger profit since it becomes an expectation of the customer for doing business with them. Knowing then that their services can now be done by anyone anywhere, a successful company must “reach for a shovel and dig inside [themselves]” (469) to find out what makes them “totally unique” (474).

The educational journey of a college student towards their ideal career can reveal to be interrelated to the challenges and strategies companies have to undertake in order to survive in today’s flat world. Just as a company continues to improve their tools and services so that they won’t be left behind in the global market, more and more students are continuing their education beyond high school in order to have better opportunities in life and ultimately not be left behind with an undesirable job. For example, nowadays after graduating from high school it is expected that you go to college and at least obtain an undergraduate degree. Even at my high school, where the majority of the student population was of a Hispanic background, most of us were going to college, even if it was a community college, because we knew it was essential if we wanted a better lifestyle than that of our parents. However, with more and more students going to college, not just in our country but worldwide, it isn’t enough if you want to have as many doors of opportunity open when it comes to securing your future. At Southwestern, as in many colleges, getting accepted into college is just not enough to make you a better individual. I have realized that now with more students attending college, GPA’s become more important, community service or other types of school participation are no longer optional but strongly encouraged, and knowing what you want to do with the rest of your life become significantly more important. Before when people would ask me what I wanted to do after college I could tell them I wanted to go to medical school to become a doctor knowing it required years of college but never really realized how much work that would require. Now that I am at Southwestern, I am frequently asked what my major is or what I want to do after college and as I reply I am reminded of the effort that will be required since many other students have the same future plans. Also, what happened in high school is no longer of important significance. College is on a whole new level where you can no longer be on top without doing your best on everything. You have to be more determined and realize that everyone is also working just as hard or harder than you. And just as there are companies who can’t withstand the pressures of how business is done today, there are college students who unfortunately can’t handle the increased workload and drop out.

In order to stand out among the crowd and thrive in any kind of environment, whether it be to increase revenue or make a successful career, going beyond the normal expectations and finding out what makes you different from the rest is what will ultimately keep you from becoming a “vanilla” (474) among “Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, or Cherry Garcia, or Chunky Monkey” (474). Doing so is not so simple as change is not always easy, but in the long run, when you look back and see how far you’ve gone you can realize it was worth it and necessary in an environment where only the best succeed.

The Year of the Pirate

The Year of the Pirate was without a doubt much more interesting and entertaining than many of the scheduled events we were required to attend during Orientation Week. Having actual Southwestern students put together a show that is humorous yet educational is definitely much more interesting than attending required presentations put together by school representatives where well-known facts are presented or humor is strenuously constructed. However, despite the humor, some of the suggestions to follow in order to succeed at Southwestern seemed redundant just like the popular phrase “Say No to Drugs.” I do realize, though, that many times constant repetition of what to avoid is necessary, especially when we humans are so prone to avoid well-known advice and later end up suffering the consequences. The play also seemed to point out that partying and the activities revolving around it are given more time than academics, which don’t seem all that accurate in reality. Overall, the play succeeded in maintaining us engaged through the entire hour and nicely summed up the most important points to keep us safe at Southwestern.

My experience at Southwestern so far in relation to The Year of the Pirate has been very positive. I have had to stay up late in order to complete some assignments but I certainly did not have to recur to unprescribed medication. I am also hoping I don’t have to ask for an extension on an assignment any time soon or throughout my four years at Southwestern. Finally, the Commons food, if it hasn’t already, will certainly get boring and will require variety in one way or another.

Determination in Education

Twenty-two minutes, under different circumstances, could go by in an instant or so slow it actually feels like time is coming to a halt. We could be surfing the web or reading a good book and not even give much thought to how much time has just passed, yet while we wait in a long line, to get school IDs or lunch, we are constantly checking the time and wondering why the line is moving so slow. However, while twenty-two minutes might not be enough time to do a wide variety of activities, it definitely seems to be enough time to solve a mathematical problem. But would you dedicate an entire twenty-two minutes to solve a single mathematical problem to the point where you fully understand the reasoning behind it? Many of us would probably say yes, but when it comes down to actions, we would probably give up and ask for help or just find the answer without really knowing why that is the answer. This lack of determination is one of the main educational differences between our country and the countries which we are being leveled with due to the flattening of the world. And since this difference puts us at a great disadvantage in a global educational perspective, we need to aim at improving the way we learn in order to improve our chances of success in a flat world.

The reference to the twenty-two minutes needed to solve and understand a mathematical problem is derived from an example in Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers. In his book, Gladwell mentions a videotape made by Alan Schoenfeld, a math professor at Berkeley, which clearly demonstrates the importance of determination in solving a troubling problem (239-244). The participant in the video, a woman named Renee, is using a computer program and is given the task to find the slope of a vertical line directly over the y-axis. Failing to recall basic “middle-school algebra,” (240) it takes her a good twenty-two minutes to realize that “a vertical line has an undefined slope” (240) and thus can’t be done. Gladwell goes on to say that while Renee never gave up until finding an answer and understanding the logic behind it, Schoenfeld learned from a group of high school students that they only take an average of two minutes to attempt finding an answer to their individual homework problems (245). Such time differences are an example of how little importance our country is placing on the education needed to maintain the upper hand in today’s world. Realizing the positive impact determination in mathematical problem solving can have on a country, Gladwell concludes by making us “imagine a country where Renee’s doggedness is not the exemption, but a cultural trait” (246-247).

In The World is Flat 3.0, Thomas Friedman also understands the importance of “a very high ethic of education” (212). While we attend school five days a week and are relieved to have numerous breaks throughout the school year, in India, students in an “intensive, seven-days-a-week class” are “rapt…[and] eager” (213). Proof of their hard work is evident through studies that show it “sent more students to college in the United States in 2004-2005 than did any other country in the world” (213).

I can easily recall certain instances throughout my education where I have lacked the determination to fully understand a concept or where I have taken the easy way out, and in certain aspects does provide some disadvantage in the long run as I continue my education. The most recent experience involves the CLA Assessment. Although I knew it was important to a certain extent, the length of the exam ultimately led me to become slightly vague in my responses as the assessment came to an end. I might not see the consequences of such a decision at the moment, just like the United States is currently not being greatly affected by the lack of intellectual determination in many students, yet in the future such carelessness might have a significant impact. Going back to our high school years, many of us could also probably remember those classes in which we would constantly keep our eyes on the time and instead of focusing on the material given by our instructor we would focus our thoughts on the plans we had for the day. I can also recall the times when I would be relieved to know that our high school calculus class, instead of speeding up in order to catch up to the syllabus, would be fine with not covering the more advanced topics later in the semester. Such decisions seemed fine at the moment, but now that I am currently taking Calculus I at Southwestern, I sometimes wish our high school calculus teacher wouldn’t of have been so complacent with our desires.

Overall, I believe the United States needs to implement a solution in order to prevent its students from becoming complacent in their studies. We need to realize we will inevitably need to increase our drive to improve the academic determination of our country. It seems that if we fail to take action right now before it’s too late, we will be at a great disadvantage in the future as countries continue to become part of the flat world in which we live in.

Revised Response Paper

The Slow Implementation of Technological Advancements

I was left behind. As technology continued to flatten the world throughout my late childhood and teen years I had, at some point, many of the latest electronics at my fingertips. Yet as technology improved with very blink of an eye and the “latest” electronics soon took the backseat, I, along with my family, have failed to take many of the necessary steps to facilitate the way we communicate with the world around us.

With today’s technology “the world has changed in profound and unsettling ways…at warp speed and directly or indirectly touching a lot more people on the planet at once” (49). According to Tomas Friedman in The World is Flat 3.0, this rapid change may either “overwhelm people or leave them behind” (50) if they are reluctant to change, and since they are “inevitable, even predictable, changes” (49) people must find the best way to adapt. Failing to take part in the technological advances of today does not automatically mean one could not properly function in today’s society. Doing so only means one would probably face more obstacles when it comes to doing something where technology is required and communicating with people in different locations may be limited or never occur. Of course, at the fast rate technology is affecting our everyday lives it is only a matter of years until it will become necessary for everyone to have their own devices through which to communicate.

            My family is a great example of how the slow implementation of technological advancements negatively affects the daily lives of people. When my sister and I were small and technology did not have the tremendous impact it does today, our parents, over the years, actually invested in a typewriter, a Nintendo with two or three games, and a huge desktop computer when such items were popular. We also had the basic electronics such as a television, VCR, stereo, cassette players, and a cord home phone. But as we grew up and technology began increasing at an astonishing speed, our parents failed to modernize the slow, big, simple, and inconvenient electronics with fast, thin, updated, convenient ones. It has become apparent they only do so if the device has stopped functioning correctly and updating it is the only option or they decide it is not worth updating it at all. Sure, we now have an HD television but only because the analog television before it stopped functioning correctly and it doesn’t have cable television (it only did for a few months after we got it). And after our huge desktop computer got numerous viruses, which inevitably led it to have a slow online connection to the point it was unproductive, our family failed to update it since we could have access to the internet and the world wide web elsewhere. Although it can many times be inconvenient and time consuming, we have come to rely on the free computer and web access from our public library only two blocks away from our home and on school computers during the school year. For the most part our family has been left behind in the technological world for the simple reasons most of today’s technology revolves around electronics which are not essential for our daily survival (but which are essential in the worlds of entertainment and communication) and because technology is not yet to the point where it is economically available in all households.

            Apart from the decisions that have been taken in my family regarding our current relationship with technological devices, I have for various reasons also chosen not become too involved in the ownership of technological devices. Preferring to reduce the economical burden on my parents, being energy conscious, environment-friendly and not much of a social person, I have only recently gotten my first cell phone and ordered a laptop online. Although such decisions have ultimately kept me away from online communities and from becoming more technology dependent, through them I will inevitably become less distanced from the fast paced realm of technology. However, even though I am only recently obtaining such technological tools, I have had to rely on them through others in the past, such as asking someone else for their phone or utilizing internet access away from home, and it has many times been inconvenient.

            The fact our family has yet to obtain many of the technological tools needed to stay up to date in this busy and interconnected world demonstrates how, despite the fast speed at which technology is evolving, many people are still being left behind and unable to take full advantage of all the benefits such technology offers. Perhaps part of it has to do with our Hispanic background and the fact we live in an area where most of the people do not spend large percentages of their income in updating their electronics. Being in this situation is certainly not easy and I realize the fact we are slowly being required to become part of this technology tapestry even though it is at a much slower rate.