Revised Statement of Purpose

       For Major Assignment 3, I will be presenting on the leadership opportunities in Greek life. I will be outlining some of the various positions held by members of the Greek community within their respective organizations, and I hope to interview some Greeks to get a wide range of information and examples. I will also be using my own experiences, describing the positions I've held and how they have forced me to improve as a student and a member of my sorority.
       My audience for this project is students at Michigan Tech who are either uninformed about Greek life or who have a negative stereotype about all Greeks. This group could range from freshmen to seniors, include both males and females, and all races and religions. I simply would like to reach those college level students who don't know about leadership opportunities in Greek life. This moves me along to the context, which is informational. I'm not trying to recruit new members, I simply would like to inform people of my topic.
       To convey my message, I believe I will be using a Prezi presentation, and I am considering trying to use music. I would like to set up my presentation so that it begins by addressing the Greek stereotype (all they do is party) and then move on to state my thesis and some general examples of leadership opportunities. I'm then going to move into the interview examples, and finish with my personal experiences.
       I plan to test my presentation on my friends who are non-Greeks; in the past they've been really good at being unbiased and telling me what works and what doesn't. They know about my experiences, and so they are more open to the idea of Greek life being a positive thing. Overall, I hope to use the presentation to change some minds and open some eyes, so that more people know how positive Greek life can really be.

Leaders in Letters

     For Major Assignment 3, I decided to base my project on leadership opportunities in Greek life. I've been very involved in Greek life since last semester when I pledged, and this is something I really feel strongly about. I began my pledge process at the beginning of the spring semester and was initiated in February; within a couple of weeks I already had my first position. I was nervous to take on a position so early, but I found the responsibilities and leadership role that came with it were exactly what I needed to keep me on track, and I found my grades going up a great deal. Coming into this semester I had two relatively important positions and a couple of small ones, and just last week I was elected president. As a second year, only in my first semester as an active sister, this was very exciting for me. All I had to do to achieve this was to put myself out there for positions that people, in most cases, didn't actually want. My sisters saw my leadership abilities and gave me the opportunity to showcase them.
      Since taking on positions in my sorority, I've found that I'm much busier, and sometimes more stressed, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Something that originally made me wary of Greek life was the negative stereotype that all Greeks do is party; however we are the furthest thing from that. I've been able to convince some of my non-Greek friends of this, but it is still a very prominent stereotype. I felt that doing a presentation on the leadership opportunities in Greek life would be one way to reach out to those who have heard only the stereotypes, and show them that there really are benefits to being Greek. Overall, I hope to use this project to display Greek life in a positive light,  and to show everyone that with a little hard work and confidence they could have the same opportunities.

Designing Compositions Rhetorically and CRAP Principles

     In "Designing Compositions Rhetorically," Wysocki and Lynch break down how to create a composition rhetorically; in other words, the steps to creating an argument and then backing it up while addressing the appropriate audience and keeping them interested. I found this to be a very interesting read, as it relates to the composition course I took last semester. Rather than just write papers on various topics, my professor gave us a variety of assignments that forced us to address all these aspects in different ways, as we presented them in different forms of media. For instance, we wrote persuasive essays, group research reports, and advertising analyses, as well as creating short movies and Prezi presentations. In each of these we were forced to recognize the audience we were trying to reach, and to design our argument around them. The key is always to have a strong, recognizable argument and keep it consistent throughout the piece. This is where rhetoric comes into play, as stated in the Bitzer reading, as you have to have the right situation to form the argument, and then you must present your argument in a way that will persuade your audience.
     Something we worked a lot with in my composition course was CRAP principles. CRAP stands for contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity. These principles can and should be applied to any piece of media which conveys an argument, be it a written document or a presentation. The goal is to use them in a way that makes the argument stand out, while still keeping the supporting arguments consistent and easy for the audience to follow. Keeping the audience interested and supporting arguments with sound evidence will make it much easier to convince them that what you are saying is right, and they should share your views.
     Overall, the topic of most importance in this reading was stating your argument and having a concrete sense of purpose. If you know what you're trying to convince your audience of, and you feel passionate about it, designing the composition to fulfill this goal should come easily. CRAP principles are a great way to enhance a composition and solidify the argument to the audience, and knowing the situation to which the argument applies will allow you to formulate an argument that is strong and convincing to the audience.

Copyrighting

     With all of the technology that surrounds us, it is easy to access digital copies of nearly any type of media whenever we want. For that reason, copyrighting is a huge issue today. As described in Copyright and Fair Use, students have access to not only all the information they could ever need online, they also have access to term papers, test answers, and other education based materials that may allow them to cheat and receive scores they don't deserve. They can also download movies, music, and more all for free, cheating the artists and production companies of profits they should be making. While the music and movies are still an issue, this article is a little unsuccessful in proving its argument, as it seems to be a little outdated. Since I started high school, my teachers have all used websites that compare your paper to any written piece on the web to identify those who buy papers or who plagiarize. This is an improvement to past methods stated in the article, which included writing outlines and rough drafts to prove that your work was your own. Still, using copyrighted documents to cheat is an issue with today's students. Overall, I have to agree that we must find even more proactive ways to prevent students from cheating with copyrighted documents.
     On a similar note, the article interviewing DJ Spooky addresses the issue of downloading copyrighted music for free. Spooky stated that he feels this should be legal, as it allows for a better free flow of music; it is free advertising for new artists and it allows cultures to be better shared through their music. I completely disagree with DJ Spooky. While it is true that free downloading may benefit new artists by giving them free marketing and spreading their music much farther and faster, it fails to benefit the established artists, and they are the ones being downloaded the most. We are in a digital age where people download music, few still by CD's. Therefore, artists are only making money from shows and from music downloads. "Record Sales" are kind of a thing of the past. Overall, I feel that permission to download any type of document, be it educational, entertainment, or some other form, should come from those who created it.

The Rhetorical Situation

      This article, The Rhetorical Situation by Lloyd Blitzer discusses the rhetorical situation: how it arises, what it entails, and what it produces. While using half a dozen forms of the word "rhetoric" in each paragraph might not have been the most concise way to get the point across, the article is fairly clear about rhetorical speeches and written pieces, and what types of situations are responsible for bringing them about. One of the most prominent points Blitzer makes is that the "discourse" or speech/writing doesn't bring about the situation, it is prompted by the situation; he also makes it clear that not all situations are rhetorical, and therefore don't prompt any discourse at all.
     Blitzer gives speeches as an example of discourse a few times; for example the Gettysburg Address was a piece of discourse brought about by a very specific situation which called for exactly that type of rhetoric. After the Battle of Gettysburg the people needed to hear something that would provide them with a sense of hope and purpose; the situation called for a very specific piece of rhetoric. Abraham Lincoln was able to address the people based on what they needed to hear; the situation prompted his speech, he considered his audience, and he responded accordingly.
     I found this to be a very relatable point, as I've been in similar situations on a much smaller scale. In holding position elections within my sorority, one must be nominated for the position before she is expected to prepare a short speech on why she would like the position, and then the position is voted on by membership. Having been in this situation a few times, I've had to assess the situation, and speak accordingly. All of my rhetorical decisions were based on the situation I was in; my tone, language choice, and the content of my speech all reflected the maturity and professionalism I was trying to portray in order to best meet the requirements of the situation. The vote wasn't brought about by my speech, I spoke because the vote was occurring. I did my best to analyze the rhetorical situation and reacted as best as I could. I considered my audience, and what would be appropriate to say in that precise situation.
      While all of this seems a little repetitive, I feel that the best way to sum up this article is to state that the rhetorical situation is the root of the rhetorical discourse. The situation decides all other factors, and is the prompt for what is said or written. While the rhetorical situation isn't always the first thing we think of when analyzing a writing or speech, it is in fact extremely important to consider why that writing or speech is necessary in the first place.

Technological Literacy in Small Schools V. Large Schools

            As a student from a very small town, I arrived at Michigan Tech and immediately felt intimidated by the technology that surrounds us here; from Mac computer systems to SmartBoards, to MatLab, I had no idea how to operate a great deal of it. I was forced to learn as I went, asking questions often and relying on others’ advice; I was fortunate in finding a job at the J.R. Van Pelt and Opie Library where I was given hands-on training and valuable work experience. However, not all are given the same opportunities I was, or are as readily able to ask questions. It is these students who find themselves falling behind their peers in all aspects of their education, as Michigan Tech demands its students use technology in nearly all aspects of their educations. The majority of students from small school districts with significantly less money to appropriate to technology arrive at Michigan Tech at a disadvantage to those with more technological experience.

                Graduating with a class of 91 students, I can very easily relate to this topic. I attended Manistique High School for four years, and experienced a variety of budget cuts during my time there; loss of revenue was one of many effects of the economical downfall our nation experienced. I first researched the 2010-11 budget for Manistique Area Schools, and found that approximately $49,000 was appropriated to “high school supplies,” which I assume includes technology such as new computers and software. During that fiscal school year $11,000 was cut from the same supplies budget, meaning over 20% of the money for computers and other necessary supplies was needed elsewhere. As a result, students go another year without new technology in school, and fall further behind in their technological educations. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Livonia Public Schools; though this district consists of several different schools, including 6 high schools, it still had a comparatively massive technology equipment fund of $1,000,000 during the 2010-11 school year. Stevenson High, one of Livonia’s high schools, has pages on its website dedicated to the many educational programs it offers as well as a link specifically directed toward “academically gifted students.” It can be assumed that this school focuses on giving its students only the most advanced technology in order to be competitive with other schools in the state as well as across the country, thus giving them the opportunity to become more technologically fluent.

                Fluency in technology, as described by Kate Williams, is having “contemporary skills, foundational concepts, and intellectual capabilities.” In other words, one must be reasonable, able to problem solve, have knowledge of computers and their systems, and be able to use basic computer functions and programs. Growing up as “digital natives,” today’s students automatically have some of these requirements, as they are exposed to technology from birth, and receive some form of formal education on the subject regardless of what public school they may attend. As stated in the article by Kate Williams, “there is a literacy divide between school and home.” This statement is entirely true, as many students do have access to technology at home, on which they can learn a great deal more than is offered in school. Unfortunately, not all students have any access to computers or internet, and therefore are restricted to what their school can offer. Thus, the rate at which students learn to use new technology as well as their comfort with technology depends heavily on the amount of money their school districts invest in new technology, as well as how often these systems are updated. As Samantha Blackmon states, students who are unfamiliar with technology and who lack competency, comfort, and confidence in their abilities are more likely to shy away from learning to use new technology. Though Blackmon’s piece is in reference to minority high school students, the same idea applies here. Students who come from school districts with less money for technological advances will come into college with less experience and potentially a fear of learning to operate new technology, or to ask questions about it. Speaking from my own experiences, I was extremely intimidated by some of the programs we were expected to use in my first semester here.

                Speaking with fellow classmates as well as an employee for MTU’s IT services, it was fairly easy to conclude I was not the only freshman to feel this intimidation during my first semester. During my struggles I banded together with others whose schools hadn’t offered them the technological head start we saw many of our classmates had been given. It was easy to relate to others whose schools had offered only basic knowledge of computers and their programs; we were the ones spending endless hours in the learning centers struggling over what many considered basic concepts. Chris, an IT employee, stated that he has dealt with many freshmen who have no idea where to begin when it comes to dealing with the technology we use here at Tech. Though he couldn’t be sure where each student was from and how much they had been exposed to technology at their respective schools, he did say that he’d often encountered students with issues that had simple solutions to someone with his experience. One potential solution to this common occurrence may be to offer a course educating students in some of the more advanced technology offered by Michigan Tech. Similar to “Creating Your Success,” this course would be optional to incoming freshmen who may feel that they need an introduction to those programs that are unfamiliar to them. The university could even require a placement test for all first year students, similar to the spatial visualization test given during orientation week, which would determine which students absolutely needed to course to be successful. I feel that there are many opportunities to even the playing field when it comes to technology, and Michigan Tech should make the effort to give all incoming students an equal opportunity to succeed. Regardless of where students come from or what their technological literacy is upon arriving here, they all deserve the opportunity to be a successful Husky.

Computer Literacy and Fluency with Information Technology

        This reading, Literacy and Computer Literacy, summarized a report on technology fluency by the National Research Council, as well as eleven theses on computer literacy. The article defined computer literacy as having "contemporary skills, foundational concepts, and intellectual capabilities." This means that to be computer literate one must be reasonable, able to problem solve, have knowledge of computers and their systems, and be able to use basic computer functions and programs. The article focused on college graduates, as they are the group most likely to have these skills as well as to be using the technology.
       The eleven theses on computer literacy were basically rules defining exactly what qualities make up computer literacy. Some of these were in the report by the NRC while others were relevant but not in the NRC report; these also contained ways in which the report might be expanded to include them. Rather than list all eleven theses and summarize them all, I will state a few which I found most prevalent to today's society and my own life.
         "Literacy is a technical skill." This is one of the few theses contained within the NRC report; I found it to be both true and very prevalent no matter the user's generation. In order to be truly technologically literate, one must be able to operate the technology. This includes the technology in one's own generation as well as the most recent and up to date technology. Growing up with an old dinosaur of a desktop, I was a little slow when getting used to my laptop and even slower when trying my hand at Mac systems. As a college student, however, I was forced to adapt and learn new technology to be both efficient and productive. To borrow a term from another reading, growing up a "digital native" has allowed me to be somewhat more technology inclined than your average grandma; overall my knowledge of technology allowed me to pick it up relatively quickly with the help of others more proficient than myself. However, I feel that it was my own initial technical skill which I built my knowledge from that allowed me to receive my education and improve my technical literacy.
        "There is a literacy divide between home and school." While this thesis was not in the NRC report, I personally think it is one of the most relevant points made. Your personal starting point in technology has a huge impact on how quickly you pick up new technology as well as your knowledge as a whole. While I was restricted to an outdated desktop for most of my K-12 career, I still had internet access and was able to learn a great deal of the qualifications listed for one who is computer literate. There are places in the US in which students have no access to computers or internet at home, which puts them at a disadvantage because they are only able to learn what the school teaches them; there is no room to experiment and teach themselves to be technologically proficient.On the other end of the spectrum there are students who are raised with only the newest, most current technology; these students are forced to waste their time learning information that is completely irrelevant to them, as they have already progressed beyond it at home. There is really no perfect solution to this issue, as schools cannot control the technological education students recieve at home. However, one potential solution may be to give students a placement test and offer different levels of technological learning.

Blackmon Reading

     This reading, while slightly outdated, focused on the trend of African American computer usage to be much lower than that of whites. While I'm unsure of whether this is still the case, the author of the article provided very strong evidence to prove not only that African Americans tend to be much more technology impaired than their white counterparts, but also why they have such a difficult time with technology, more specifically computers and the internet. According to the author, African Americans tend to be at a great disadvantage when it comes to learning the basics of computer usage; this is the case due to the fact that African Americans typically come from poorer school districts which are not equipped with computers. The fact that they are disadvantaged from the start does nothing to encourage African American students to get involved with a world they see as predominantly white. Students in the article saw the internet as a place where they might be stereotyped or judged, and therefore they chose not to use it or computers at all.
    I could relate to this reading on the basis that I come from a relatively poorer public school district, where we did have computers, but not excess money for some of the great new technologies afforded by other schools. While my school has computer labs in which all students learn to type and operate the computer in differents ways, we are not quite as encouraged to branch out into more specalized diverse groups to suit our own needs. Our school did not always have the resources to support us when it came to our own personal interests and desires. For example, one thing I've seen a lot of since coming to Tech is the FIRST Robotics teams. I've met many people who participated and helpled to build a robot while gaining some great work experience; were I an engineer, I would be seriously interested in FIRST and what it could offer me in terms of work experience. However, as  a second year with other educational interests and no other experience in the program, I turn away from it and completely eliminate it as a possiblity for my fuure. I also feel this way about any classes involving programming; while they could be very beneficial to someone in my area of education, I feel very intimidated by those who already have the basic knowledge and skills and who would be starting a step ahead of me.
      Overall, it was easy to see the theme of this article: until African Americans can feel that they are on a level playing field with whites in cyberspace, they will continue to avoid using such technology at all costs. As someone from a less fortunate school district with many options regarding students' future plans, I could relate to this feeling of unequal opportunity between two or more socioeconomic groups. I think that this article could serve as a reminder to all of us that we don't all come from the same levels of opportunity, and must remember to help those less experienced than ourselves to prevent any feelings of suboordination.

Palfrey and Gasser Reading

    This reading was focused on the generational gap between the "digital natives," and the "digital immigrants," or the digital generation and their parents and grandparents. I, as a digital native, could relate easily to this article, as I've seen firsthand the difficulties my parents have with technology. They don't understand why I prefer texting to phone calls, or why I check facebook several times a day; they don't trust the online sites where I order clothes from. Because it was so long before we even had internet at our house, they have always trusted me not to visit unreliable sites; however, it took me a long time to convince them that myspace and facebook wouldn't give our computer viruses. They do, however, have a certain respect for the efficiancy with which I work and communicate; they understand how useful technology has been in my work process as well as finding job opportunities. Overall, they respect technology and see how important it is for success for someone in my generation, but they have no interest in becoming as proficient as I am in technology use; they are content to learn what they need, and to ask me to do the rest. Like many digital immigrants, they are happy to joke about their lack of technological capability, and to simply rely on old methods to get the job done. They are less concerned with privacy, bullying, and predators than the writers of this article; I was old enough when I got online that I knew the consequences of my actions online, and I knew not to get involved with sites that would allow strangers to  find me or my information.
      This brings me to another interesting point in this article: the crossroads we find ourselves at with this new technology based era. Having witnessed some of the negative outcomes of living in a technology based world, I've seen the damage kids are subject to when they find themselves entangled with bad websites; for instance chat rooms with pedophiles in them, or gambling sites that take their parents' credit card information. There are many places on the web that are not safe; I am inclined to agree with the article that we should inform kids about what is safe and acceptable rather than simply trying to block them from what we think isn't safe. This means that all generations must have some understanding of the digital world to successfully guide their children to use technology to benefit themselves. One story that comes to mind in reference to this argument is that of a teenage girl who was cyber-bullied to the point of committing suicide. Megan Meier was a 13 year old girl who was harrassed via myspace until she committed suicide. Megan's mother Tina came to my high school and spoke about the incident; it was her way of finding something positive in such a tragic event. Megan's story was really strange because of the identity of her attackers: it was a classmate and the classmate's mother. The unnamed girl's mother helped her daughter to create a fake myspace account and then helped her use it to harrass Megan repeatedly. This is a prime example of digital immigrants using technology the wrong way, and setting all the wrong examples for their children. Though digital natives grow up knowing how to use the technology, they must be taught to use it to benefit themselves and others, not to hurt others or endanger themselves. I feel that there is a fine balance that must be obtained to reach this goal, as we will only become more technology inclined.
     Overall, I feel that this article was a positive one, highlighting the benefits that can come from growing up a digital native. Technology is our future, and growing up in the middle of it gives digital natives a great advantage. However, there are other aspects of this technological era to consider, for instance the dangers that are out there on the web. I feel that the best way to deal with these is to embrace technology and do what we've always done, trying to raise our children as best we can and with strong values and morals to keep them on the right track.