On the Media II: Zika Virus

This week, It seems we really only had one choice of topics and that was the Zika virus. I listened to a few of the excerpts highlighting some of the different viewpoints of the Zika Virus. Apparently, this virus has made huge waves in the media and is reminiscent of the panic surrounding the Ebola virus in late 2014 and early 2015. My remaining question: is this virus worthy of panic or is the media sensationalizing it to get higher ratings? After some listening and further research, I think the latter is true.

Apparently the Zika virus, isn't even new. It was first discovered 70 or so years ago. It is only now getting attention now that there is a "treat "on American soil. So far there has been one confirmed case in Boston, and in the winter in a cold climate like Boston the likelihood of it spreading is so slim. Why is the media up in arms about it? Because it now fits into our context. Now that there is a threat of it spreading here, people suddenly care. The exact same thing happened with the Ebola virus, West Africa got no media coverage and no attention was given until the virus hit home. Once there was a single confirmed case in Atlanta the media swarmed, going as far as to live-stream the ambulance ride from a news helicopter. Once things become relatable, the media jumps and the public suddenly cares.

OTM began this week's podcast with a series of actual news reports about the Zika virus. As an uninformed observer, you would think the world is on the verge of an absolute meltdown just from listening to these sound bites. The first guest was Jonathan Katz, who wrote an article depicting his contraction of the disease while in Hati titled "Reporting Zika When You Have Zika." I found his perspective really interesting because he expressed similar feelings on the sensationalizing of diseases (as well natural disasters.) He had the interesting perspective of listening to these types of news reports while actually suffering from Zika. He made it clear that the news made it sound much worse than it was. And should maybe start diverting its attention to much more severe mosquito-carried diseases.

On one hand I do believe it's a vital part of our human nature to prepare things that are are seemingly out of control. However, while everyone prepares only a few are really ever affected and those who prepared are left feeling embarrassed, feeling a little boy-who-cried-wolf. Maybe that is why I haven't seen much about this on my social media feeds, maybe my peers are growing weary of this over sensationalizing. I know I felt the panic with the Ebloa virus. I traveled internationally during the outbreaks and had to fill out extensive paperwork to be allowed to exit the plane. I remember when my flight landed our plane had to be quarantined while men in face masks filled our plane with what I would describe as a bug bomb. It was really unsettling, yet shortly after we never heard anything else about the virus. I will not be likely to send myself through this psychological turmoil over the Zika virus, no thank you.

All in all, I  believe the media is over sensationalizing a disease that probably won't affect many of us. Yet, I am still grateful that other nations are getting some much-needed attention. I wish Americans could care BEFORE the outbreak or before they felt personally affected. It is hard to ask people to understand something that is out of their context and doesn't resonate with them.

Learning 2.0 Homeschooling: Not Just for Hippies and Religious People Anymore

I have been thinking about different institutions of education for a while now, and why some are valued more than others. This topic is especially relevant to my family because in the past few years my high-school-age sister has switched from public school, to charter school, to private school and now online school. She never really enjoyed the dynamics of school and had a lot of trouble making friends with her peers. Now she loves online high school and is accelerating academically. I think learning from home really took the pressure off of her, she doesn't feel isolated or judged by her peers. She now can be honest and ask her teachers or parents meaningful questions without feeling embarrassed. This switch was the best option for our family, but there are a lot of options out there.

This has lead me to think are some forms of education better than others? Why did my fiance's parents pay $6,000 a year for his private education yet mine was essentially free? Is he better educated than me? What about homeschooled children do they have any hope of exceeded academically and socially when they are taught by one single person? While researching this topic, I found a podcast by "Stuff You Should Know" Click HERE if you would like to give it a listen. I highly recommend it.

Compulsory education has an interesting history in the United States. Through 1852-1918, the states slowly began mandating attendance by law --Mississipi was the last to require this in 1918. This made homeschooling illegal even as recent as the 70's. Free and public education meant free babysitting for some people, with the added bonus of creating indoctrinated unquestioning little drones. Eventually, a grass roots group decided to lobby to make homeschooling legal in the states. They attempted to take it to the supreme court to create a federal law all around protecting families who chose to homeschool. They failed on a federal level, however, each state now has its own homeschooling laws.

Parents choose homeschooling for different reasons. Most states require you to fill out paperwork with the intent to pull your child out of school. In these forms, researchers have found 30% of parents say it is because of the environment of the school, 30% say it is for religious or moral reasons, and 16% say they are dissatisfied with their students education.

This podcast pointed out some interesting bits about learning through classical education --the education that you and I probably received. There are three main components that public schools still use. 1. Grammar school age, which focuses on memorization and facts. 2. Middle school age, which focuses on critical thinking 3. High school age, which focuses on rhetoric. To me, these approaches seem very streamline, cut and dry. I have especially strong opinions when it comes to memorization, I have little memory of what I memorized in elementary school. I do remember how I learned to make friends, the stories my teachers would read us, and the tactile and creative learning that took place. These I feel are much more lasting and beneficial for a young child.

There are several other approaches that I learned about that can help cater education to children. Among these, my favorite tactic was called narration. You basically tell the child everything you can teach them about a subject...say whales. Once you, the educator, feel like you have explained everything to him you then ask him to teach you everything he knows about whales. I feel like this is ridiculously applicable to real life. In real conversations, whether they be social or job-related you can't look at your notes. You don't pull out your book report and cite your sources. Instead, you tell people what you know and understand and they tell you what they know and understand. This is one of the few ways we open up a dialog and is the basis of communication.

I could go into greater depth comparing the different approaches to eduaction. All in all, it is hard to say which approach is better, I think the best thing a parent can do for their child's education is to be honest about it. Ask real questions with real explicit answers. Is this working for my child? Do I have the time, energy and resources to change it? Does my child want to change? By opening up this dialog we can choose the education best suited for each child. Thankfully to the few who have fought for homeschooling, private school vouchers, and charter schools, parents now have viable and legal options.

Facebook Campaign Revisited: DSU Films

As I have discussed before, I am in the midst of launching a broad social media campaign for DSU Films. Many people are still unaware of the Film Department's existence, we are using the influential nature of the social media to change that.

While meeting with Phil Tuckett, we decided we wanted to reach both future students as well as future clients. DSU Films has been fortunate to generate enough paid productions to finance their equipment. It is through these paid clients that the department is able to purchase the "latest and greatest," which then better prepares students to enter the job market. Students not only graduate with a resume, they are also very familiar with equipment used on real sets.

Ideal Followers:

Jared: 30-somthing project manager from California. He has been delegated to create a promo for dirt bikes. He has chosen to show off these bikes in the gorgeous red rocks of Southern Utah. He knows little of the area and is looking for an all inclusive production crew. Ideally, someone he could rely on to direct the commercial, shoot and edit it. He finds out about DSU Films from social media, he is directed to the landing page and fills out at enquiry form. Someone contacts him to do a follow-up and he chooses DSU Films to produce his commercial.

Josh: a first-year student at Dixie, he knows he wants to go into something media related but isn't quite sure. He finds DSU Films through social media and likes a lot of the student's behind the scenes photos. He clicks on the hashtag #dsufilms and is immediately connected to current students as well as successful Alumni. Josh then decides he wants to be a part of the film department and takes the initiative to declare his major and enroll in the classes.

Abby: 22-year-old student at Dixie. She hated her generals and was really turned off by school, she had no desire to finish. While on facebook, she saw some of her friends liked some DSU Films photos. In the pictures, students were pushing each other around on a dolly and laughing. Abby realized that this picture was actually taken during a class. She couldn't believe it, up until now all of her classes had been a total snooze-fests and now this class actually seems fun. Abby signed up for the intro class and discovered her love of filmmaking, she continued to work hard pursuing her degree in the Film Emphasis.

In a nut-shell, this campaign will help draw more attention to the film program and hopefully generate more enrollments as well as more paying clients. I believe through some consistency we can make more people aware that the Film Department is alive and well.