I've been doing more and more thinking recently about the water crisis that affects many parts of the world, and the charities that are there to assist. charity:water is one of those charities (I discussed it earlier a few posts back). Although charity:water is providing thousands of people worldwide with access to clean water they did not have before, I feel like there is so much more that could be done.
If people were only aware of this crisis that is happening in other parts of the world, I feel like so many more people would reach out to help by donating their time and/or money. When I say this I mean that I believe the main problem is the lack of awareness people have of the situation.
I think charity:water could do so much more if they put more emphasis on informing the masses of this epidemic. Also, it seems to me that there are so many obvious, simple routes of doing this that charity:water has yet to explore. Sure, widespread advertising campaigns would cost money, but also they would bring in revenue to make up for it, and certainly in the long term they would have more resources to use to help people. The charity does campaign and advertise, but from what I've gathered those campaigns are poorly marketed and usually relatively small and/or only realistic for certain people to participate in (due to the location of the campaign, which many times is a dinner or special fundraising event).
One obvious route the charity could take is to hook up with a news texting service such as ESPN or the New York Times. When one subscribes (free of charge minus standard texting rates) to these services, they will receive personalized text updates. These texts include sports scoring updates and breaking news.
When the disaster in Haiti occurred, for around a month every time I received an ESPN text update at the bottom it would say "text the word HAITI to ##### to donate X amount of dollars." I feel like if charity:water took advantage of something this simple, they would be able to accomplish so much more.
Before this English class I had never even realized that there was a severe water crisis in undeveloped nations throughout the globe, and I certainly hadn't heard of charity:water. They could do things as simple as commercials or ads in newspapers and magazines. They could put up billboards or recruit people to hang informational pamphlets in different places. The internet is also a huge avenue for advertising, and I haven't seen a single ad for charity water, anywhere on the internet, ever. Better yet, I haven't seen an advertisement for charity:water in my life anywhere, ever.
I guess this post was more of a rant, and I'm not saying at all the charity:water is doing a "bad" job. It just doesn't make since to me why they aren't taking advantage of such obvious ways to spread awareness, and in turn receive more donations that would help them better accomplish their mission...
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Rolling Stone 2
The second issue of Rolling Stone that I have looked at was much more politically fueled than the first. There was an eight page exclusive interview with President Obama, as well as a five and a half page article discussing the tea party. The rest of the magazine was filled with much of the same information as the first. There were articles talking about various singers/actors, as well as movie and music reviews.
The last issue of Rolling Stone that I read did have liberal tones to it, but this second issue leaves no doubt in my mind that it has a very left wing agenda. The questions directed to Obama in his interview set him up to speak his mind about the Republican party, and some of the questions were negative towards the party in general. He was asked questions like "What do you think of Fox News? Do you think it's good for America and for democracy?" and 'When did you realize that the Republicans weren't going to work with you?"
Although I am a Republican, I did not mind reading through the article. Of course Obama is going to disagree with some of my views, but I am still interested and willing in what he has to say. I have to admit, when I was reading through it I couldn't help but think to myself, 'man, this guys really not bad, maybe he's even doing a good job!' But at the end of the day I still have to disagree. About Fox News, he said that since America promoted freedom of speech he could not say much about the subject other than that.. and it's a good thing he didn't. All a Republican would have to say is "Wait just a minute! What about MSNBC?! MSNBC is an extremely liberal news channel, just the opposite of Fox News!"
The President also commented on other questions saying that although we as a nation haven't seen much "change" he has been making progress and passing the laws he promised in his campaign. He said he keeps a list of the promises he made during his campaign and he has accomplished 70% of them already, and still has two (or six) more years left to accomplish the other thirty percent. He said that America won't really see the effects of the laws that he has passed already for another year or two, and that we should just be patient.
He discussed clearly his views about the tax cuts his administration is trying to pass. He wants to increase taxes for those making over $250,000, and reduce them for the middle class families which in turn would cause them to spend a little more, which in turn would stimulate the economy and create a need for jobs. This all sounds good, but I think that $250,000 is a rather low number in the scheme of things. What I mean is that $250,000 isn't totally unrealistic for somebody to make after years of hard work and maybe a little luck. I think he should make the number $500,000, and only tax every dollar after that number a certain percentage. This would really hurt if you were a person making $100,000,000 each year, but come on, who needs all that money. Not only that, but it's unrealistic for any one person to make that much, simply meaning that one would have to get really really lucky and make some really good business decisions. That's just what I think.
Overall, my initial views of Rolling Stone stay the same. I think this most recent issue narrows the target market down to liberal men and women ages 25-45 interested in current pop culture, but like I said in my previous post I think that if someone is interested in the cover story they would buy the magazine regardless. For example, anybody interested in Obama might have bought this issue to read the exclusive interview, which took me about 45 minutes to read and would probably be worth the $4.99 cover price to somebody interested in what the President has to say.
One last thing. I noticed that there is one page dedicated to correspondence, a section where people write in their thoughts about previous articles. I really think this is kind of absurd. It would make more since to me if the magazine dedicated a few pages to a section like this, but it doesn't make since to me why anybody would write in in hopes of being published if only ten or so letters make it to the magazine. I guess it gives the reader a chance to submit feedback, but I really can't understand how one page of this stuff really serves any purpose.
The last issue of Rolling Stone that I read did have liberal tones to it, but this second issue leaves no doubt in my mind that it has a very left wing agenda. The questions directed to Obama in his interview set him up to speak his mind about the Republican party, and some of the questions were negative towards the party in general. He was asked questions like "What do you think of Fox News? Do you think it's good for America and for democracy?" and 'When did you realize that the Republicans weren't going to work with you?"
Although I am a Republican, I did not mind reading through the article. Of course Obama is going to disagree with some of my views, but I am still interested and willing in what he has to say. I have to admit, when I was reading through it I couldn't help but think to myself, 'man, this guys really not bad, maybe he's even doing a good job!' But at the end of the day I still have to disagree. About Fox News, he said that since America promoted freedom of speech he could not say much about the subject other than that.. and it's a good thing he didn't. All a Republican would have to say is "Wait just a minute! What about MSNBC?! MSNBC is an extremely liberal news channel, just the opposite of Fox News!"
The President also commented on other questions saying that although we as a nation haven't seen much "change" he has been making progress and passing the laws he promised in his campaign. He said he keeps a list of the promises he made during his campaign and he has accomplished 70% of them already, and still has two (or six) more years left to accomplish the other thirty percent. He said that America won't really see the effects of the laws that he has passed already for another year or two, and that we should just be patient.
He discussed clearly his views about the tax cuts his administration is trying to pass. He wants to increase taxes for those making over $250,000, and reduce them for the middle class families which in turn would cause them to spend a little more, which in turn would stimulate the economy and create a need for jobs. This all sounds good, but I think that $250,000 is a rather low number in the scheme of things. What I mean is that $250,000 isn't totally unrealistic for somebody to make after years of hard work and maybe a little luck. I think he should make the number $500,000, and only tax every dollar after that number a certain percentage. This would really hurt if you were a person making $100,000,000 each year, but come on, who needs all that money. Not only that, but it's unrealistic for any one person to make that much, simply meaning that one would have to get really really lucky and make some really good business decisions. That's just what I think.
Overall, my initial views of Rolling Stone stay the same. I think this most recent issue narrows the target market down to liberal men and women ages 25-45 interested in current pop culture, but like I said in my previous post I think that if someone is interested in the cover story they would buy the magazine regardless. For example, anybody interested in Obama might have bought this issue to read the exclusive interview, which took me about 45 minutes to read and would probably be worth the $4.99 cover price to somebody interested in what the President has to say.
One last thing. I noticed that there is one page dedicated to correspondence, a section where people write in their thoughts about previous articles. I really think this is kind of absurd. It would make more since to me if the magazine dedicated a few pages to a section like this, but it doesn't make since to me why anybody would write in in hopes of being published if only ten or so letters make it to the magazine. I guess it gives the reader a chance to submit feedback, but I really can't understand how one page of this stuff really serves any purpose.
Rolling Stones Magazine
The last time I had really read through a magazine was in elementary school. My mother ordered me "Highlights," a children's magazine that aims to educate children while making it entertaining. (I don't remember reading articles, I only remember using it for the "Hidden Pictures" section.) But one of the assignments for my college English course was to pick out a magazine to follow throughout the semester. The class was instructed to analyze the magazine of our choice throughout the course. I chose to follow "Rolling Stone" magazine, a publication that discusses current events including music, movies, television, and politics. I am semi-interested in those types of things so I figured this would be a choice I could live with. The cover price (price issues sell for at bookstores) is $4.99 so I decided to go ahead and buy a subscription--26 issues for $19.99. Since the magazine is issued bi-weekly I figured I'd save some money, and if I ended up enjoying them I would have something to do every other week for a year.
The first issue (September 2, 2010) had an eye catching cover. It showed the cast of "True Blood," a television show that features vampires and their sex/relationship lives, naked and covered in blood holding on to each other. The main article takes around 30-45 minutes to read, and other side articles take anywhere from a few minutes to ten minutes to read. About a quarter of the pages are advertisements, ranging from chewing gum, fast food, and alcohol, to cell phones and gasoline. From the looks of things the magazine would appeal to both men and women, probably ages 20-45, however I'm sure this "True Blood" edition would appeal to any True Blood fan. And those fans are probably the people who pay the cover price of $5 at a local bookseller. So, what I'm gathering is that the magazine's main audience would be your young adults-middle aged individuals, but there will always be those uninterested in the magazine as a whole, but will still buy it if the cover story is appealing to them.
The articles in this edition really focus on, not gossip necessarily, but just irrelevant information about the lives of stars. The people who enjoy this magazine are the ones that pay a lot of attention to television, music, and movies.I guess I can understand why these fans would be interested in the personal lives of the actors and musicians, however, because I can put myself in a similar situation.
I've always been a huge Tiger Woods fan. I've been a golfer from an early ago and my Father has had some rare Tiger Woods memorabilia (hundreds of pairs of unused tickets from when he won his first US Amateur title) that sell for a couple hundred bucks a piece on eBay every time he wins a major tournament. So, from an early age I knew that if Tiger won Dad made money, and now when he wins Dad usually gives me a few pairs of tickets to sell. So now its a personal thing--if Tiger wins I win. (about $500) To get to the point, I was always a big fan. He was so good with the press and seemed like such a family man. He had a lot of the things I want; a family, a lot of money, and a good golf game. I really looked up to him.
When the news emerged about his infidelity it really upset me and I was extremely interested in what had happened, especially what the truth was. I guess what I'm trying to say is that even though my life isn't affected at all by his actions (except for the fact that the value of those tickets depreciating) I'm still interested because I have a impersonal connection and interest in the happenings of his life. And I can easily understand why people would enjoy reading this magazine - because they have an impersonal attachment to the people that are interviewed and written about in Rolling Stone.
Summary:
Rolling Stone targets people who spend a good deal of time listening to music, and watching movies/television. These people who truly are passionate about these things will naturally have favorite actors and singers, and that is who the Rolling Stone aims to talks about. ((There is a hint of politics found within the September 2nd issue (and I'm it's included within many if not all of the issues), however if someone was wanting to read about politics there would be better magazine choices.--the politics are presented in such a way that it ties in with pop culture )) To sum up what I've gathered, Rolling Stone aims to provide their audience with exclusive articles/interviews/stories about the stars that people have impersonal "relationships" with, and in doing so fulfill a need inside those people.
Monday, September 20, 2010
My First Impression of charity:water
Before taking English 255, I had no idea how bad the worlds shortage of clean water is. I was aware that some places on earth didn't have it, but I never really gave it a second thought. As a matter of fact, I never really even thought about what that fact meant. Lots of people don't have enough clean water.
When I was assigned to pick out a nonprofit to become familiar with and to work with throughout the semester, I chose charity:water. To make a long story short, I chose it because this past summer I got really close to suffering a heat stroke, but instead suffered through what is called heat cramps. They are terrible cramps associated with lack of hydration and electrolytes, and they are extremely painful to say the least. That experience made me truly realize what a lack of water could do to a person, and made me realize how vital it really is to life.
In getting to know charity:water, I learned that there is a severe shortage of safe drinking water in lots of places around the globe. These people do have access to water, but it can take all day to obtain and it contains bacterias that cause diseases and even death. It can take hours to walk to a location with water, then once they have the water they must carry it, usually miles, back to where they live. Then they drink it and get sick. This water causes 80% of all diseases in the world. The diseases kill 4,500 children every day and kills more people than all the violence, including wars, in the world combined. One billion people, one out of every eight of us, have no choice but to drink this stuff.
Charity:water is doing something about this problem, however. Scott Harrison, the founder of the organization, started it after taking a mission trip to Africa. He saw that the shortage of water in the area led to all types of health and education problems. Obviously, the water itself led to disease, but obtaining the water led to a lack of education. Children can't spend their days in the classroom, because instead they are spending their days obtaining water. He decided to "give up his birthday," meaning that instead of asking for gifts he asked for donations to this cause.
To date charity:water has provided a source of clean water to over 1,277,430 people in seventeen different countries, and have funded 2,906 projects. They have twenty-five local partners that pay for overhead costs such as building expenses, salaries, supplies, and so on. Since the partners pay for the cost of operations, 100% of donations go to building wells. A well costs $5,000 to build and provides water to 250 people for about twenty years. Basically, for ever dollar raised one person gets clean water for one year. It's as simple as that.
I really believe in what the charity is doing at this point in my research. All the time you'll hear about some guy at the head of a "nonprofit" that's getting rich. I don't know if Scott Harrison is making a large salary for what he does, but if he is it's the partners that are paying for it and not the donations. I am really interested to see where the rest of my research goes with this, but for now I am pleased that I am more informed about this issue and to know that there are good people out there doing something about it.
-Bill
When I was assigned to pick out a nonprofit to become familiar with and to work with throughout the semester, I chose charity:water. To make a long story short, I chose it because this past summer I got really close to suffering a heat stroke, but instead suffered through what is called heat cramps. They are terrible cramps associated with lack of hydration and electrolytes, and they are extremely painful to say the least. That experience made me truly realize what a lack of water could do to a person, and made me realize how vital it really is to life.
In getting to know charity:water, I learned that there is a severe shortage of safe drinking water in lots of places around the globe. These people do have access to water, but it can take all day to obtain and it contains bacterias that cause diseases and even death. It can take hours to walk to a location with water, then once they have the water they must carry it, usually miles, back to where they live. Then they drink it and get sick. This water causes 80% of all diseases in the world. The diseases kill 4,500 children every day and kills more people than all the violence, including wars, in the world combined. One billion people, one out of every eight of us, have no choice but to drink this stuff.
Charity:water is doing something about this problem, however. Scott Harrison, the founder of the organization, started it after taking a mission trip to Africa. He saw that the shortage of water in the area led to all types of health and education problems. Obviously, the water itself led to disease, but obtaining the water led to a lack of education. Children can't spend their days in the classroom, because instead they are spending their days obtaining water. He decided to "give up his birthday," meaning that instead of asking for gifts he asked for donations to this cause.
To date charity:water has provided a source of clean water to over 1,277,430 people in seventeen different countries, and have funded 2,906 projects. They have twenty-five local partners that pay for overhead costs such as building expenses, salaries, supplies, and so on. Since the partners pay for the cost of operations, 100% of donations go to building wells. A well costs $5,000 to build and provides water to 250 people for about twenty years. Basically, for ever dollar raised one person gets clean water for one year. It's as simple as that.
I really believe in what the charity is doing at this point in my research. All the time you'll hear about some guy at the head of a "nonprofit" that's getting rich. I don't know if Scott Harrison is making a large salary for what he does, but if he is it's the partners that are paying for it and not the donations. I am really interested to see where the rest of my research goes with this, but for now I am pleased that I am more informed about this issue and to know that there are good people out there doing something about it.
-Bill
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
About Me
I believe that we are all a product of our environment, and I believe that it is what makes us all individual. I believe that I am a result of the way I was raised, the events that have occurred in my lifetime, and the people I have encountered along the way.
My name is Bill Dodson. I was born on January 1st, 1990 in Nashville, Tennessee to my Mother, Rebecca Dodson and my father Mike Dodson. I really couldn't tell you a "story" of my life up until around the time I was 14. I remember specific events before then, but I couldn't really put an age to those events or describe them in chronological order.
What I can say about my earlier years of life is this. I idolized my father and loved my mother. I thought my Dad was super man and wanted to be just like him. My mom had chosen to quit work to take care of my younger brother Ben and me. I recall her always coming up with fun daily activities to keep us occupied in the days leading up to grade school, and the afternoons once we were old enough to attend.
I feel like my earlier upbringing will show once I have a child of my own. I believe that I will be a product of my environment in the way that I will be a provider for my family, a loving husband to my wife, and an idol and teacher to my children.
I think I really started to develop as an individual around the age of fourteen. I started making real friends and being let out of my parents constant watch. I started noticing girls. Now that I think about it 2004 was about the time that the cell phone became mainstream, and it was also around the time my parents got me one. So I guess the cell phone had something to do with my development at that age, too. It was easier to contact the people in my life at that time, and with my parents letting me do things on my own I began to get a taste of independence.
When I was fifteen I met my first love, Nickie Lancaster. We dated for around seven months. I had never known such strong feelings of emotion. When she left me it broke my heart, and took another half year or so before I finally forgot over her. But it seems to me like about the time I forgot about her was the time I found two new companions, booze and gasoline. It wasn't a very nice tag team to have, but I'm still here today so I guess things could have been worse.. But I would like to mention that booze and gasoline are still two of my best friends, I just try my best not to hang out with them together.
The last few years of high school were certainly the most life changing/shaping years of my entire life. I met my best friend in the world and the first true love of my life. I got in to a bunch of trouble with Mr. Bud Light, Mom, Dad, and the police. In those same two years I finished high school, got out of trouble with the police, got back on Mom and Dad's good side, and got my heart broken.
In the midsts of all this going on I had gained a fondness for running. Good thing I did, too, because I needed to figure out a way to loose weight. Luckily for me it worked and I dropped forty pounds to about 160, and have kept all but ten pounds off to this day.
Then it was time for college. It was time to say goodbye to Mom, Dad, and the best friend. It was time to start over. I started off college at Middle Tennessee State University where I joined Sigma Chi Fraternity and got through my freshman year with a 3.35, a much higher grade point average than I had expected.
I transfered to the University of Tennessee simply because I came to my senses; I should have come here in the first place.
The point of all this is that I'm a product of my environment. My mother have never been divorced and have taught me through their actions the value of marriage and the importance of a wedding vow. I have had my heart broken several times so I am a little uneasy when it comes to trust, but at the same time I have tasted true love and therefor always have my eyes open for the next time it rolls around. I have a best friend, and due to the fact that he wasn't always around I value friendship. I have been overweight, and I lost it the hard way. I therefor feel empathy for obese individuals but at the same time have a lack of respect for their laziness. I value exercise and music, because those things were there for me along my weight loss journey. Lastly, in the back of my mind I love the Lord. My mother and father brought me up in the way I should go, and although I make so many mistakes every day I know what is right and wrong. I am Bill Dodson and I am a product of my environment.
My name is Bill Dodson. I was born on January 1st, 1990 in Nashville, Tennessee to my Mother, Rebecca Dodson and my father Mike Dodson. I really couldn't tell you a "story" of my life up until around the time I was 14. I remember specific events before then, but I couldn't really put an age to those events or describe them in chronological order.
What I can say about my earlier years of life is this. I idolized my father and loved my mother. I thought my Dad was super man and wanted to be just like him. My mom had chosen to quit work to take care of my younger brother Ben and me. I recall her always coming up with fun daily activities to keep us occupied in the days leading up to grade school, and the afternoons once we were old enough to attend.
I feel like my earlier upbringing will show once I have a child of my own. I believe that I will be a product of my environment in the way that I will be a provider for my family, a loving husband to my wife, and an idol and teacher to my children.
I think I really started to develop as an individual around the age of fourteen. I started making real friends and being let out of my parents constant watch. I started noticing girls. Now that I think about it 2004 was about the time that the cell phone became mainstream, and it was also around the time my parents got me one. So I guess the cell phone had something to do with my development at that age, too. It was easier to contact the people in my life at that time, and with my parents letting me do things on my own I began to get a taste of independence.
When I was fifteen I met my first love, Nickie Lancaster. We dated for around seven months. I had never known such strong feelings of emotion. When she left me it broke my heart, and took another half year or so before I finally forgot over her. But it seems to me like about the time I forgot about her was the time I found two new companions, booze and gasoline. It wasn't a very nice tag team to have, but I'm still here today so I guess things could have been worse.. But I would like to mention that booze and gasoline are still two of my best friends, I just try my best not to hang out with them together.
The last few years of high school were certainly the most life changing/shaping years of my entire life. I met my best friend in the world and the first true love of my life. I got in to a bunch of trouble with Mr. Bud Light, Mom, Dad, and the police. In those same two years I finished high school, got out of trouble with the police, got back on Mom and Dad's good side, and got my heart broken.
In the midsts of all this going on I had gained a fondness for running. Good thing I did, too, because I needed to figure out a way to loose weight. Luckily for me it worked and I dropped forty pounds to about 160, and have kept all but ten pounds off to this day.
Then it was time for college. It was time to say goodbye to Mom, Dad, and the best friend. It was time to start over. I started off college at Middle Tennessee State University where I joined Sigma Chi Fraternity and got through my freshman year with a 3.35, a much higher grade point average than I had expected.
I transfered to the University of Tennessee simply because I came to my senses; I should have come here in the first place.
The point of all this is that I'm a product of my environment. My mother have never been divorced and have taught me through their actions the value of marriage and the importance of a wedding vow. I have had my heart broken several times so I am a little uneasy when it comes to trust, but at the same time I have tasted true love and therefor always have my eyes open for the next time it rolls around. I have a best friend, and due to the fact that he wasn't always around I value friendship. I have been overweight, and I lost it the hard way. I therefor feel empathy for obese individuals but at the same time have a lack of respect for their laziness. I value exercise and music, because those things were there for me along my weight loss journey. Lastly, in the back of my mind I love the Lord. My mother and father brought me up in the way I should go, and although I make so many mistakes every day I know what is right and wrong. I am Bill Dodson and I am a product of my environment.
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