Activist Proposal as. #3

For my group i would like to collect more members and more cans. The group currently 40 active members. Working members that is, there are several other people in the group but they don't do anything. It would be nice to have alot more members in the group to help out. I would also like to make this group really well known. I want people to collect cans at home to help out the cause. The more people who know about this group and take it seriously the more cans we would recieve. I think flyers and posters would help inform people. I could also put it on my status upate in Facebook. That would also help people to know about it. So then maybe they would want to join the group and help out. I ask around and tell people that they need to save their old aluminum cans. More members would equal a lot more cans. I could ask around at resuraunts or eating places that have drinks served in aluminum cans what they do with the cans. I would also ask them to please save them to help out the cancer patients. Throwing away aluminum cans after you use them is easy. But is it really that hard to have a bag to throw your cans in to save people's lives? Another idea i had for this group to bost the number of cans would be to go to parties and collect the empty beer cans. People drink alot more beer than they do anything else and this would really add up the cans. Not only are you recycling but you are, reducing landfill space, room in your waste basket, and helping out people in Riley's childrens hospitals. You could save a life!

Public Discourse Betches!

The Story

About 4 weeks ago i was at my apartment and there was a knock on the door and the door was locked. So i went and looked out the peep hole and saw that it was USI maintenance so i unlocked the door and let him in. Right when he walked in he said, "where's that broken toilet at!?" i looked down and he had a plunger. I got to thinking and i realized that there wasn't any problem with my toilet or my roommates toilet. Nobody called maintenace and filed a complaint anyways so why was he at my apt. in the first place? So i mentioned to him that he might be at the wrong apartment and he asked me what my apt number is and i said 920. He said, "I am at the right apartment so why don't you tell me where the broken toilet is?" he proceeded to walk into the bathroom and began to plunge an unbroken toilet. I was confused and started to get a little scared. We had had a few problems with our shower so i thought maybe there was confusion and one of my roommates might have called and i didn't know about it, so i told him about it so he could get it fixed while he was there. So i told him the story about how our hot water heater wasn't keeping water hot enough to take a 5 min. shower. It use to work just fine but lately it had been turning cold mid-shower. He told me that i was lying and that we just took showers too long and close together. He was pointing at me and snapping his fingers. He said, "i know i liar when i see one!" I noticed that he was losing his temper and was way too (confused) to know what was going on. I realized tha something wasn't right and i was actually getting scared for my safety I then told him to please leave and that we would get the problems fixed by someone else. He told me that he was only trying to do his job. It took me awhile to get him out of my apartment. I left when he did because i had class i noticed that the maintenace guy was acting enraged yelling the story to one of his co-workers that happened to be in the parking lot. The rest of the day i thought about it, and it really bothered me as i tried to concentrate in class.

Discourse:

After talking with my parents, roommates, and other residents around the area i began to notice that what he did wasn't very professional and was disracting me. My roommate and i made plans to drive to Residence Life and speak with the head of Maintenace. It took alot of time out of both of our schedules' and was extremely nerve racking. My cousin and i explained the main boss (Greg) how one of him employees mistreated us and wasn't very professional while trying to complete a simple task. We told him the whole story not leaving out any details. He was very understanding and told us that he was glad we said something about it. He told us that we would have to write a written complaint. We followed suit and got the situation taken care of in an adult matter.

i am glad i chose to take part in public discourse because:

It was happening to not only us but other people, but nobody had time or patients to deal with is.

I wanted my voice heard.

I pay too much to live in an apartment with negative things occuring all the time.

I didn't want it to happen anymore.

I wanted the guy to face the consequences for his actions.

I wanted to get my shower fixed.

I felt much better after i told Greg the story because i knew he would help the situation.

After i participated in the Public discourse:

I worried for my safety (that guy has a key to my apartment) he could get in any time he wants.

I worried about what the guy would do after he was confronted with the issue? would he know it was my cousin and i that complained or was all of that information kept discreet?

I wondered if that guy would even be punished or hear about it?

I wondered what would happen if we ever called maintenace again for a problem and he showed up. What would i do? would i let him in?...

All together i don't regret a thing, i am glad i did it! :)

commented blogs..

The blogs i commented on are the following:
-wildcat
-live.laugh.love
-Blog Analysis

Page 10 Excersise

Will Obama get assasonated?
Why are there cars parked in front of my apartment complex without parking stickers?...they never get tickets and whenever i park in a different parking lot i will get a ticket.
In the shape of our economy, what will my job outlook look like?
I worry about the classes i am takin and if i really need them or not.
Will we see a huge change in heathcare in 2009?
Will i have to move far away to get a desent Grapic Design job?
Does USI offer summer housing?
Why can't i get RAVE texts even thouh i signed up for it?

Blog Analysis

The blog I analyzed is called “Being a Starving Graphic Artist Sucks” I chose this blog because it has a lot to do with the field I am majoring in here at USI, Graphic Design. This blog caught my attention because I can relate with the author and understand completely where he is coming from. The author of this blog is a male, by the name of Jeremy Tuber (Tuber 1). Jeremy is very public about his identity and has a link on his page where you can see who he is and what he is about. He is a unique combination of a savvy business marketer and creative designer. Throughout Jeremy’s experience he has found out all of the dos and don’ts of the system. Jeremy was self taught, self-motivated designer, Jeremy worked his way out of the corporate world close to ten years ago to pursue his true passion in design, studying and learning the profession from the bottom up (Tuber 1). This author knows exactly what they are talking about. The blog gives out good advice due to Jeremy’s past experiences in the industry. Jeremy enjoys providing value and education to creative freelancers and business owners looking to bring more sales and “take their business to the next level.” He has been invited to speak to art students/ alumni at colleges, including the Art Institute of Phoenix. He continues to develop insightful resources to give designers an opportunity to make their dream of running a creative freelancing business a reality: “work smarter not harder.” Jeremy has published a book to help out freelance artists, he does alot of advertising in his blogs (Tuber 1). He posts blogs for the low income graphic artists who may not have the money to buy his book. Jeremy seems to be a democrat because he knows the struggle of low income. I have a lot in common with the writer. I plan to one day be a Freelance Graphic designer, I have heard horror stories about how going freelance could cause suffering. With Jeremy’s tips and advice I could overcome these bad thoughts involved with “starving artists.” I am different from Jeremy in a few ways, I don’t know much about business and this makes me believe that not all of the advice given could be executed to the fullest by someone like me. I think that Jeremy is being honest about himself because he has published a book and is well known by a lot of people. He tells his story and doesn’t care about what people think because in the end he is successful. I believe that Jeremy maintains his blog because he cares about the struggling artists out there. He wants people to take notice to him and his ideas because he wants people to purchase his books. He states that he wants everyone to see what his thoughts are, and wants them to recieve without purchasing his book. The writer seems to know a lot about the subject he is addressing. He knows a lot more about designing things than I do and I go to college, he didn’t. He states subjects in his blogs that could only be known from experience. Jeremy targets this blog toward people who study brand identity, web design, marketing strategy, advertising creations, direct mail, content editing, custom photography, photo editing/manipulation, and multimedia presentations. Jeremy assumes that everyone is gifted with the knowledge of both art and business. He makes a lot of comments how you can’t be successful without knowing your business, however you can hire an office assistant to take care of the business aspect. He doesn’t mention any middle man. Jeremy fosters loyalty by letting all of the blog readers know that he will give them help and tips free of charge if they don’t have to money to purchase his book. I think there are probably a lot of males and females who are some type of artist that visit this blog to get advice. Maybe even low class designers in need of assistance. As far as I have notice nobody comments his blog posts. I don’t understand this because I think he gives good advice and should receive kudos for a job well done. There are a lot of aspects that attract the readers to Jeremy’s page. He has added a lot of information, photos, color, and navigation links to his page. His page is easy to follow and understand. I am attracted to Jeremy’s page because I am a member of the intended audience. If a reader is not part of the intended audience they might be uninterested since the whole goal of the blog is to help out graphic designers and not everyone is interested in graphic arts. I would definitely visit this site again a lot in the future because I am sure I will need all the help and advice I can get once I decide to enter the scary world of freelance art. The layout of the blog is very interesting and captures the attention of graphic designers. Jeremy organizes his blog posts by dates; a lot like journal entries. Jeremy advertises his book, cds, DVDs, and cell phone applications for iphone. When Jeremy advertises his products he explains them and tries to persuade the reader to buy the product by adding good opinions. I don’t know if Jeremy is really as good as he says he is, but readers of the blog may fall into a trap and buy his merchandise without fully knowing its contests. It all depends on how easily you are persuaded to buy something.

Public Spheres

A public sphere is a geographical, textual, or technological sites and forums that are accessible to people (usually at no expence), invite their participation, and provide opportunities for that participation. Examples include sidewalks, public libraries, city council meetings and the internet.



Over the past few days,i have carried my English 201 writers notebook around my neighborhood and around the USI campus. I have been taking notes on all of the different public spheres i have noticed.



Princeton Daily Clarion, Am 12.50 radio station, mail in my mailbox, bulliten boards at Wal Mart/Allstar video, Information boards at USI and on MyUSI account, CNN news, CBS News, News 14, News 25, Fox 7 News, basketball games, text messages on my cell phone, Myspace and Facebook news, group invitations on Facebook.

These are just a few that i noticed. Some of these are easy to get ahold of depending on your lifestyle and what you do for a living, you may never notice any of these for yourself. For instance, it's hard to get Myspace and Facebook news when you haven't signed up for an account with either.

Hello everyone my name is KelCan, i am currently a freshman at the University of Southern Indiana. I will be creating blogs throughout the rest of the semester for my English 201 class. There will be several different subjects, some will be personal experinces and others will be class assignments and questions that are assigned by my priofessor.