A Mouse Is Not Always A Mouse...in Moldova

Howdy all! I second Josie's comment on phonebooks--for the majority of people, I am guessing they mostly end up in the trash can. I wonder what phone book making companies think about that! I do keep one in my car in case I need a quick bit o' information--my car is not yet wired for internet! In 668 we were also talking about the days when people had to write a thesis on a typewriter! Our teacher said many a person had a mental breakdown (or two.)
One more example--how were races timed before the invention of the racing chip? I ran a race yesterday which was chip timed and the system screwed up a bit. The results were delayed and people got a little peeved--how we love our technology!

Anyway, the video on was quite interesting and thought-provoking. The internet has changed (almost) everything in one way or another whether we like it or not. The internet is pretty darn simple yet so complicated. I read somewhere that "trying to explain what Heaven is like would be similar to trying to explain what the internet is to an ant." Granted the book was about religion, but the "ant" reference reminded me of the extent of knowledge about the internet of my fellow villagers in Moldova. How do you explain what the internet is to someone who doesn't have a phone? A car? Indoor plumbing? Where do you begin? I had the frustrating experience of teaching three of my students (who were 17) how to search for stuff on the internet. Granted we were looking for information on the United Nations in Romanian (which is scarce), but I first had to teach them HOW to use the mouse, navigate a web page, and, of all things, to TYPE! They are not stupid people, they just didn't grow up with a wireless Internet laptop in their little hands.
I agree with Sarah. Yes, technology is great, but who are we to think that everyone wants it and/or needs it? Somehow I think that could introduce more difficulties that it could alleviate.

FEMA..what's FEMA?

Howdy! It's funny, but I usually have a hard time staying awake in most classes except for Health Comm and I think it's because

I appreciate everyone's honesty regarding the guest speaker. I temporarily felt like a jack a$$ not knowing about the FEMA shenanigan. Here's my (perhaps small-minded) view on her comment that we should know everything about everything at every moment in the news--I don't agree. While in Moldova for 2.5 years, I was for the most part cut off from American media except for the Newsweek magazines Peace Corps admin occasionally sent to us at our villages. At first it was hard not knowing what was happening in the world, but then I realized that things keep happening, the world keeps turning regardless if I have heard about it or not-amazing! It was apathetically peaceful for a time to not be bombarded with the latest news, deemed "important" by someone else. This may seem like a horrible attitude to some of you (sorry Dr. E) but while it's good to be informed and up to date, there's something to be said for stepping back and reconnecting with the world in other ways.

Although I procure the newspaper, I don't have time everyday to read it. Luckily it doesn't go to waste as my roommates also snag sections through which to glance. Do I feel bad? Not really--there is only so much time in the day. I have learned that, for me, it makes more sense to pick and choose. I seek out information which I find personally relevant and really dive in as opposed to skimming the surface on every single topic (about many of which I do not care.) I don't like business and (although important) I really can't stand politics. I choose to inform myself about issues in which I can have an impact in my field as well as reading the funnies.

Well, anyway, let me hop down from my soap box. Food stamps--great job! I just might look in to signing up until I get out out of grad school and get a real job that pays more than my rent. I like the idea of directly addressing stigmas and stereotypes--I think that's the best way to make changes!

AFLAC!!!

Happy Friday morning! Congrats to those who survived midterms and good luck to those who still have a few to go!

It feels good to have the first mini-project done--although we still need to nail down our segments. We have a function this weekend and hopefully we will have access to our target audience folks.

It was interesting to hear about everyone else's projects. I am still thinking about the immunization group and wondering what is "right"....filling a quota for a mass vaccination drill or ensuring that people are vaccinated against the flu. I realize the point of their campaign is not to advertise for Student Health Services, but to me it seems a bit off to tell students (who are already on campus) that they should go somewhere else to get the flu shot. I recognize the importance of the goal of the mass vaccination trial, but still, I am furrowing my brow at the cognitive dissonance created with in me because I am a huge proponent of SHS.

Anyway, thinking of fear and funny....I don't know about you guys...but I can start a giggle session just thinking about the Aflac commercials with the duck! I don't need insurance, but out of all the companies out there, Aflac is on the forefront of my mind simply because of a funny duck (and that goat!) I must have seen the ads about 17 times during an NFL Sunday night game.

Another campaign that has stuck with me is the childhood obesity one where the kids are asking for "more diabetes, please" and "a shorter life" etc. It's humorous and sickening at the same time. I wonder what Americans outside of the realm of Public Health think about that campaign....

Reference point---I know it's our job to motivate behavior change, but it seems a bit sneaky to think of ways to frame things in order to achieve our communication goal. I know, I know, I know...this is the entire point of this class--to put them in the middle, wrong reason. etc, but it kind of got to me when we were talking about "saving 200" versus "killing 400." Maybe it's the fact that I felt stupid when Dr. E came up with the "save $10" example--that is exactly how I think. Or maybe it's the fact that Nebraska lost at home to Oklahoma State last week or that it has already snowed in Salt Lake City and I'm stuck in Pleasantville...Who knows...just glad it's Friday!

Hooked on Phonics Doesn't Work for Everyone

Howdy! It seems I am always one of the last ones to post for the week...hmm...Anyway, after almost each class, I come out wanting to take on a new profession--one week I wanted to interview people about their passion for motorcycles, and this week, I thought it would be pretty darn cool to go into teaching. But then I remembered my "fun" with tutoring a 3rd grader for a year using "hooked on phonics". Neither of us were really hooked on it. Nonetheless, I agree with many fellow students saying that they didn't realize health literacy was a problem. For me personally, I had never really thought of health literacy as being a subset of literacy. Now these past few days when I look at an ad, billboard or read an article of some sort, I try to mentally put it into the SMOG thingee and guess what level it would be. For our questions to ask of the Walking School Bus parents, I found my self wondering if they would know what "walkability" means---similar to Jamie D's braniac neighbor not knowing about BMI.

Yes, Laura, I think we should put our theses in and see what grade level comes up....do we really want to know?

As for Module II, it was really hammered home that in order to be effective we really must pick some group, narrow it down--we can't save the entire world in one campaign. And I still think PRIZM is pretty keen---I know what I'll be doing over Christmas break in Salt Lake City with the folks...the fun never ends in Utah!

Wish us luck tomorrow with our PTSO meeting! Hope all is going well with everyone's projects!

Are any professional athletes really clean?

As I was stretching post-run on Friday, I was watching the news and up came the cruddy story about Marian Jones and her confirmed drug use during the Olympics. This made me sad as she is just another athlete in the recent history to be connected to performance enhancing drugs. Here's a clip of her that I found :( It has yet to be determined if she will lose her Olympic medals and possibly face jail time.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3693215&affil=kgtv

My Runnin' Buddies

And they're off!! Two of my close friends, Lindsay Amberg and Kristin McGinley are running their first marathons TODAY in Portland and Chicago, respectively. To track them go to:
http://www.liveraceresults.com/live1/ (Portland) and http://livechicago.mikatiming.com/ (Chicago). Type in their last names and up comes their race splits! Received a text from Linds 10 minutes before her start that said it hadn't rained yet--phew! Spoke with Kris last night and she said it was going to be near 90 and humid--yikes! No worries, both will do just great! Keep on keepin' on!!!
And congrats to my Utah Locomotion friends who ran yesterday's St. George marathon! That's a fun one!!! Race results: http://results.active.com/pages/searchform.jsp#hot_links

What does the N on the helmet stand for? "Nowledge"

I must confess, I went a little nuts with the PRIZM website! It's amazing what you can find to do when you don't want to work on your thesis! I have lived in 4 different areas of the world which have stereotypes attached: Nebraska, Utah, Moldova (Russia) and now California. I guess everywhere has it's stereotypes, but anyway... There were no zipcodes for my Draguseni, Moldova, but I still got a kick out of the differing results from western NE to eastern NE and northern UT versus southern UT. Although I would find this quite useful in learning about my target audience, I wouldn't put my entire energy in this method--similar to astrological signs and Cosmo surveys :), PRIZM only gets a certain part of the person. As with any stereotype, there is always exceptions to the rule--more often than not (but yes, I have shucked corn, had many a hay rack ride, say "howdy" and "tuckered" and LOVE the Cornhuskers...however, I didn't milk my first cow until I was in Moldova.)
The VALS survey reminded me of a certain personality test that my boss ADORES--can't for the life of me remember what it's called, but you end up with four letters such as ESFJ or something of the sort. I have taken it about six times now at staff meetings--a little annoying but not as bad as the MMPI--sheesh!
Group project--yeah, kind of stressing me out as we are having some slight difficulties in reaching our target audience. Also, it seems that the majority of kids already walk to Montgomery Middle School. Hmmmm....
On my blog (or in a couple hours) will be the links to follow fellow grad students Lindsay Amberg and Kristin McGinley as they run their first marathons in Portland and Chicago, respectively. You can track them at various kilometer marks throughout the course! Good luck guys!!! I am proud of you!!!