McDonalds

Katie Weimerskirch

English 110.01

Hannah Stephenson

March 14, 2011

English final

The Bigger Picture

When the word McDonalds is mentioned, negative thoughts enter the minds of many. Items like the Big Mac (550 calories) or the Southwestern salad (over 400 calories) is the reason this restaurant is thought of in a negative aspect. What McDonalds does for the community should and does overshadow how many calories are in their food. From the first Ronald McDonald house charity in 1974, McDonalds has provided families with a place to stay at little or no cost near hospitals their child is staying at (www.mcdonalds.com). From then on, they have established 300 houses worldwide. This foundation does not only help families but provides over 1,700 scholarships worldwide for students to achieve a higher level of education, totaling to over 40 million dollars since 1984 (www.mcdonalds.com). These are only two examples of the widespread involvement McDonalds has in the community. It is safe to say McDonalds has gone above and beyond to get involved and help improve the lives of children through out the world.

Ronald McDonald House Charities are involved in working with non-profit organizations like the Kinney Center for Autism Education and Support at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. Without this program, many autistic children would never adapt to their social environment and helps them live their life as normal as possible. This goes to show McDonalds is not just some greedy big business looking to get rich. Six grants alone took place in 2010. The facts speak for themselves, McDonalds has spent millions to help and better the community. RMHC (Ronald McDonald House Charity) is now working to establish sports centers for the disabled, sensory rooms for children with cognitive and physical disabilities and developed other innovative ways to help improve the lives of children all around the world. Knowing these facts, I myslef am more likely to grab a quick burger at McDonalds instead of a fast food restauraunt that is not active in our community.

The heartfelt stories of what the Ronald McDonald house does speaks for itself. When Yana, a four-year-old Russian girl was diagnosed with cancer and sent to Kazan Children’s Hospital, she needed her mother to be there with her, not only for support but because children twelve and under must be accompanied by a parent. Parents slept on cots beside their children, up to six people to a room with shared bathrooms and no laundry facilities. For a parent to have to endure a sick child, the conditions did not make it any better. A year after the treatment Yana and her mother had to return to the hospital for another long stay, luckily this time a Ronald McDonald house was under construction providing her mother with food, laundry facilities and a comfortable place to stay while she stays with her child as she battles cancer (www.mcdonalds.com). Stories like these have inspired the Ronald McDonald charities, that is why it has grown to a world wide organization.

Not only have these stories affected the people receiving help but has been an inspiration to many involved in donating to the chartiy. Supporters such has Al Roker relate to this chairty, “As a father of three, I value every minute that I spend with my children and family” Al is a strong donator and supporter. Along with Al, there are many more celebrity supporters such as actress Cindy Crawford who lost a brother to leukimeia, or Kasey Kahne a nascar driver who donated 50,000 dollars along with helping raise 500,000 dollars in order to get Ronald McDonald care mobile. All of these supporters have one thing in common, they hold this organization close to heart. This may be a result of personally dealing with sick children, being a parent or just caring about children. Futhermore, Ronald McDonald house charities have helped families across the world during hard times. Without charities like this one, many famailies would be separated from their children during times of illness. When families are struggling when children are sick, the community is there for them. People need to recognize the poistive of what this corporation is doing, helping those who need it. The lives that this charity has changed and the foundations it has supported overshadow the fact that some of their food is not the healthiest in the world. Instead of taking something little like the nutrition in a burger, people need to look at the big picture. Rather that be the fact McDonalds has changed the lives of sick children, or donated millions in scholarships to help furhter peoples education. In conclusion, McDonalds supports and gives back to better the world and provide optimism in peoples lives.

Negative Effects on Athletes Marketability

Negative Effects on Athletes Marketability

By: Evan Watson

In todays society many advertisements deal with celebrities and athletes. Many businesses believe that if they use athletes or celebrities to promote their products, consumers are more likely to spend money on their products. This makes consumers want to buy these certain products, because if the athletes use these, customers must use them. Although, being a professional athlete does have its ups and downs. Athletes are placed on a higher pedestal than the rest of society. If they make a simple error on or off their sporting event, they can be hurt financially. Here, I will explain why athletes have more negative effects on their marketability than positive.

Like most professional athletes, they have agents who land them endorsement deals with many different companies, such as, Nike, Under Armor, Reebok, different types of protein supplements etc... This is huge for professional athletes because creates more income on top of what they make playing a sport. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s marketability was mostly affected by the loss after the Super Bowl. Darren Rovell of CNBC.com reports “Roethlisberger's "off-the-field troubles have completely taken him out of the marketing game." Although he "wasn’t charged in the alleged sexual assault case in Georgia last year, he became completely untouchable in the marketing world" (sportsbusinessdaily.com published Jan. 25, 2011). This statement explains how Roethlisberger’s actions show a negative effect on him while out in the public hurt his chances of becoming marketable. After Roethlisberger was apart of the losing team in the Super Bowl, his popularity will most likely drop because his performance was not good enough. In addition, even on the court/field gestures can hurt an athletes marketability. The most recent of side of negative marketability is Tiger Woods and his mistresses. Tiger Woods was one of the most marketable athletes throughout the United States. He promoted many products that are known worldwide such as, Gatorade, Nike, Gillette, and AT&T. After, this incident these companies had removed him from all advertising that he was put in. This had to affect Tiger tremendously because more than half of his earnings came from endorsements. This also affected his personal life and relationship with his wife. When athletes create an odd situation as Woods did, it causes businesses to reevaluate the people they use to promote their products. Bad actions create bad business. Bad business means no money. Companies want athletes to have the best public image so that they can gain a larger net income from selling products, or attending public events set up by the company.

Michael Vick Quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles, has just made his return to the NFL this past season. Michael Vick was accused of using and selling dogs for dogfights. He was sentenced to twenty-three months in prison and fined the Atlanta Journal-Constitution estimated that Vick has incurred financial losses of $142 million, including $71 million in Falcons salary, $50 million in endorsement income and nearly $20 million in previously paid bonuses (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3148549). Also, Ugueth Urbina, a relief pitcher in the MLB was charged with attempt of murder and was sentenced to fourteen years in prison and ended his professional baseball career. Not only did he commit a crime, but he also ended his career thus making him not marketable at all and hurting his chances of possibly ever getting another job throughout his life. The media can come in and can basically crush you as an athlete. Jacob Volkmann a UFC fighter was asked by a reporter who he wanted as his next opponent for a fight. He wanted to fight “idiot” Barack Obama. Yahoo sports were notified about the situation where (MMAWeekly.com) interviewed Volkmann. “It happened on Tuesday, I was coaching youth practice, and then two guys came up and one of the other coaches that was helping me out, they said there was a cop and another guy out there waiting for me, I went out there and the guy introduced himself and said he was from the Secret Service and he wanted to ask me some questions about UFC 125 and my quote”.

In conclusion, these are some examples of athletes and negative marketability. Athletes have to represent themselves in a positive manner at all times in order to be more marketable. Compete hard and stay out of trouble is the best way for businesses to look at an athlete thus creating their marketability.

EBay; Friend or Foe?

Kayla Michel

English 110.01

Hannah Stephenson

English Final

EBay; Friend or Foe?

If you were out for money, where is the first place you would you start? EBay is practically a play ground for criminals, and these days it’s almost simple, Right? The identifier of eBay’s largest company, PayPal, is that it makes online purchasing easy by saving users’ information but the entire idea is obviously not making things ‘easier’ for the users who have been robbed by this service. Shopping online in an ‘e-environment’ of which it is imperative that you question every user’s credibility has never been so dangerous… or easy.

Today, it is usually second nature to zip to your favorite store’s website and begin adding things to your cart, but have you ever stopped to think about what you’re actually doing? Stores like American Eagle or other large corporations have regulations and policies whereas websites like eBay have to be a little skimpy on their company’s policies, and honestly a bit too general to feel any sense of security. On a website where it’s almost ‘free for all’, there have to be some sorts of policies, however if you significantly study them, it is purely the honors system. In corporate America, who plays by the rules if you can get away with something? Even though cyber shopping has become a huge part of today’s society, it is extremely obvious that you are not supposed to hand a stranger a credit card and trust that they be completely honest with it, and do the right thing.

EBay’s largest company PayPal has become famous for being the easy way to pay, but we shouldn’t make it that easy. PayPal makes it ten times simpler for cyber thieves because once they crack the system even a small amount, they have everything they need to crash as many accounts as they so desire. This is abundantly counterproductive in the case of all users but especially those who are not excessively active and just happen to have their information sitting on the web for the rare instance that they would stumble upon eBay or an alternative website that accepts PayPal.

As convenient as it is, why would a company that literally makes theft easier, prosper? In the case of Josh from AboutPayPal.org, it is evident that the PayPal team is not doing a thing to convince customers otherwise. In the article, he describes his discontent towards PayPal from a malicious experience where PayPal actually sided with the e-thief. After he paid an eBay user for an item and never received it, he confronted the PayPal Service Team about the situation, and a refund. When PayPal would not hear his case and hid behind their policies, he knew he was being scammed. If a company cares that insignificantly about their customers, it’s evident that they aren’t worth your time or your money. “In both cases, I was the victim of fraud, but because of the way PayPal structures their policies, I was completely unprotected, and PayPal even went so far as to PROTECT THE PERSONS THAT WERE DEFRAUDING ME!” says Josh (AboutPayPal.org, paragraph 5). The anger comes across crystal clear in this claim, PayPal isn’t exactly what one would call ‘customer friendly’.

There are already a few corporations like PayPal that are on the rise; the difference is that these new companies don’t happen to have large ties to hugely successful enterprises like eBay.com. It isn’t clear what is holding the world back from realizing that PayPal.com is solely out to scam you. Whether it’s the money behind PayPal, the fact that they’ve been around for a long time, or just their affiliation with eBay, but whatever it is, it should be loud and clear to PayPal that they should absolutely head for the hills. So what will the future hold, there has to be a grand alternative for PayPal.com. When it will emerge is not altogether definite but it’s safe to assume that the world is hoping for sooner rather than later.

evaluation

For this course I think that I have opened up my mind to writing differently. Before this course and throughout high school, when I would sit down to write, I always felt stressed out about how I was going to word my thoughts so that they not only made sense to me in my head, but made sense to the reader. I have learned to not stress myself out so much when writing. Writing to me now is not something I need to get all worked up about it has become a way to put on paper, or put in words what I think about something. As a writer, I think that I have improved on making my point more clear to the reader; rather than rambling on about a subject and adding unnecessary words. Something that I still want to work on is coming up with a good thesis statement for my paper. To me that is the hardest part about putting together a well developed essay or piece of writing. During future writing projects, I am going to keep in mind that writing can be fun and doesn't have to be something to dread.

Perez Hilton

Claire Warner

Hannah Stephenson

English 110.01

March 14, 2011

So many people these days are caught up in what’s the newest and juiciest gossip involving celebrities, famous athletes, and music artists. It can sometimes be rough for celebrities to get by each day with living in the spotlight. There are so many people out there who support and are obsessed with their favorite movie star, performer, or celebrity but then there are also people out there who criticize celebrities for their every move and mistake. Perez Hilton is a unique character that has both of these personas. Perez Hilton has his own celebrity blog and loves to sit on his computer all day updating his website with the newest gossip in the media spotlight at the time. Most of his posts are crude and contain doodles on the faces of the celebrity he is blogging about, demeaning them as a person. Some may say he is the most awful person for poking fun at celebrities, on the other hand some think that Perez Hilton is the most honest and hilarious blogger when it comes to the topic of social media and celebrities.

If you think about how much social media has changed in the last ten or fifteen years it is crazy. There didn’t used to be so many celebrity blogs, there wasn’t as many online dating websites, there wasn’t FaceBook, and there were not so many fanatics concerned with social media. People have always been and always will be curious to see what is going on in the lives of a celebrity. Ever since way back in the day, the community has always respected people who had a lot of money, those who were famous because of being on Broadway or being an actor in a silent movie. Today it is the same way. Though people are famous for different reasons, they are still looked up too because of their salary and their status in society.

The Perez Hilton blog is interesting to me. When I first heard about this website, and heard about who Perez was I didn’t expect his blog to be so loud and colorful, and full of his ideas and doodled images. My first impression of Perez was that he was a celebrity guru, and loved to follow and update the world with what’s new in the media spotlight. Some of what I thought turned out to be true. Perez Hilton’s blog is famous for bashing the celebrities that he is blogging about, and demeaning the character they are with doodling on their faces. After the first time viewing this website I was hooked. Every time I looked at it there was something new for me to laugh at, as well as keeping me informed with the newest and best gossip.

Though many people look at the Perez Hilton blog site to get a laugh, his website can be controversial. Many of the celebrities that are on his website, take offense to what he has to say about their lives, and who they are as a person. But this is what makes him such a well-known and popular blogger. He is famous for knowing anything and everything about celebrity news, and celebrity gossip. Though most of what he says comes of to his followers, and especially distasteful to the celebrity he is blogging about, it is his crude way of bashing celebrities that keeps more and more people interested in his site.

Though the Perez Hilton website has undergone much criticism through the years, his website has turned out to be a success. More and more people obsessed with celebrities have began so be loyal followers of his site; and people who are new to his site, have also begun to really enjoy reading his crude posts daily to get a good laugh. Though his posts can sometimes be harsh, or crude they will continue to attract new readers, as long as Perez keeps his ego of being “The Queen of all Media”.

A Rappers Life

The image rappers portray are not accurate to their life style. Rappers live the life of luxury but rap about how hard life is in the hood. On top of that they use random negative remarks just to maintain the limelight. But who's to blame, the rappers or the fans that allow this non-sense to continue. In fact through their twitters pages, songs, life style, and past most of them do not deserve the credit of being a gangster and it is the followers of these rappers fault that they have become such popularity monsters and don't deserve it.

On Kanye Wests twitter I noticed how he follows no one. This shows his arrogance. He says things like "you don't know how hard this life is." In 2008 the Billboard "Music money makers list put him in 20th with $42,552,402". On his twitter he made light of his inappropriate remark toward Taylor Swift when she got an award and he interrupted her insulting her during her acceptance speech. He also did this when Brittany Spears beat him out for number one. He wrote "Yo Britney, I'm really happy for you and I'mma let you be #1, but me and Jay-Z's single is one of the best songs of all time! LOL." Is this appropriate? The next twitter page I went to was Little Wayne's or Weezys. He wrote things like "Ya'll know I didn't say that." But he continually uses it like a defiance mechanism writing things about the people who supposedly started these rumors. He talks about people saying things like happy holiday slime.

In many of rappers music, since the begging of their careers they have used women in negative way's in their music with statements like "22 percent (N = 107) of the 490 gangster rap music songs had violent and misogynist lyrics" (Armstrong 96-126) that one study showed. This means that even when rap first started they were using profanity in songs and treating women badly through word of mouth. Some people even say that "violence and criminality are linked. The Ghetto Boys (1990g) kick a female employee for not quickly complying with their commands during a robbery. Ice-T (1987) mentions another woman's positioning as the object of opposition to drug use. A homeboy broke his girlfriend's jaw "for smokin' cane." (Armstrong 96-126). Kids that think its cool to do these things in songs would also think it's cool to do these things in real life. They act like their role models and do what they say. Rappers like Little Wayne and Kanye have never lived in the ghetto in face their parents are quit wealthy. With songs like "Hustler Musik" and "Drunk and Hot Girls" the two rappers try to portray a gangster, and obviously talk negatively about women. This is just so hypocritical toward anyone from these parts of society. They also demoralize women with songs like "I Invented Sex" and "Fall For your Type". Are they good role models? It is " shown that at between 2 and 25 years of fame, both North American and European pop stars tend to experience two to three times the risk of mortality expected in an average population matched by age, sex, and in North America, ethnicity" (Bellis 896-901). It is good to idolize someone whose life style is killing them faster than the average person. This faster death rate is because a "disproportionate amount of their mortality appears to be related to alcohol and drug use." (Bellis 896-901) So why is it so great to be one of these rappers.

So something important that these ideas have brought up is if the rappers are the ones who should be blamed or the listeners who let them do what they do. First off, no one can be famous without fans. So if people continue to be fans of these rappers why should they stop. If something makes you a whole lot of money would you ever stop doing it? So are the rappers themselves to blame? The answer is no. So I call for a change in how people see these men. If we change how we view them they will change how they act in order to maintain their fame. So I beg you to not feed their ego any longer, but to rise up and demand change in their attitudes. We should destroy the monsters we created.

Film the Success

Dillon Overman
English 110.01
Hannah Stephenson
Film the Success

When people hunt, they want to show others that they have been successful. All of these bullet slinging, beer drinking, unemployed rednecks will go out and shoot 10 deer and bring them back. Sure showing your kill to your family is successful; but do they really know how the hunt unfolded? Do they really know how it happened? No they don’t. The hands down best way to show a hunt to be successful is to film the hunt. By capturing they hunt and kill on camera, the viewer knows exactly how and when the hunt happened. By hitting that “record” button, you are able to bring nature to your kitchen table. After you capture that video, you can show your world to any audience that wants to see it. When I say “your world,” I mean you and your surroundings. What you see when you are in the stand. The trees, the ground, the animals, and even the time of day. They get to see the surroundings that happen at that moment in time when you are hunting. It is simply “what you experience.”

Here is a question for you. If someone said “I just killed a world record deer.” Would you rather see the pictures of it? Or would you rather see the video that captures all the detail of the hunt in its entirety? I think that 99% of the time the viewer is going to pick that video production of the hunt. People now days want detail. They want to see everything that happened, starting from the beginning and going all the way through the end. As technology has increased, so has the public’s wants to see what new things they can do with that technology. Filming hunts is just one of those “wants.”

When people see a filmed hunt, they get to see everything that is experienced through the hunters eyes. They get to live out that moment with the hunter. But what really makes it successful? The fact of the matter is that everything that is captured in the video contributes to making a video successful. Everything that a cameraman gets on footage, can somehow contribute to the final product. What time of day was the hunt? Where was the hunter hunting? How big was the animal? All of these questions can be answered by video footage. On video people get to see the animal before it is killed. This is a big contributor. I don’t know if there is a psychological term for it, but when people see the animal alive and then dead, something in their brain triggers and makes it seem very successful. Although the kill is what everyone is focused on in a filmed hunt, everything that is going on before the kill is what makes the video flow together. All of the pre-kill footage or the “filler” shots, add a great amount of vivid detail to the video. They make the video watchable and more interesting for the viewer. What time of day it is, where you are hunting at, even what season it is. All of these factors are very important to include in the video. Without including this information there is the possibility that the viewer is left with questions. When filming anything the one thing that you don’t want to do, is leave your viewer with questions. When a viewer has a question that is not answered in the film, most of the time they won’t find that answer anywhere else. Questions that a viewer has that aren’t answered leaves that person with dissatisfaction. They feel like they didn’t get enough information.

When you film you own hunt, you are capturing a lifetime memory. With video you can go back any time after the hunt and re-live that moment. Filming your own hunt is hands down the best way to show that a hunt is successful.

Tosh's Takeover

Tosh’s Takeover
By Matthew Klaiber

Daniel Tosh is a 36 year old comedian and he is the host of Comedy Centrals hit television show Tosh.O. Tosh.O is a web clip show in which Tosh will show videos found on internet sites such as Youtube and provides a sarcastic commentary on them. On Tosh.O you will get plenty of videos involving puke, nudity, and testicular injury. According to Rob Sheffield, an entertainment writer for The Rolling Stone, “Tosh.O averages 2.3 million viewers, which means he’s by more people then John Stewart or Stephen Colbert”. One might ask how could such a seemingly childish and grotesque show be such a hit? Using a simple formula that consists of Tosh standing in front of a green screen he is able to make one of the most popular shows on Comedy Central.

One way that Tosh.O is such a funny and popular show is laid back style of hosting and simple style of comedy, but this style doesn’t make the show boring in any way. Sheffield says “Tosh likes his gags broad and his targets easy. But somehow that makes his humor seem lazier and therefore friendlier”. Tosh like to use one-liners and more low-brow humor to make the audience laugh. He also uses mockery as a main way to laughs. The show has a regular segment called “Web Redemption” where Tosh will have Youtube stars on the show to give their side of the story, but Tosh usually ends up making fun of them. Tosh will often go off on tangents, for example in one episode he goes on a tangent on the new Karate Kid remake saying, “Hey Hancock, your son's annoying. Stop buying movies for him to be in, and throw DJ Jazzy Jeff a bone — I think he's homeless". This is a great example of the kind of host Tosh is, a little harsh but mostly hilarious.

A reason that Tosh.O has grown to be a popular show is the uses social media resources to his advantage. With the use of The Comedy Central Tosh.O blog and Daniel Tosh’s twitter account, Tosh is able to connect with his fans in a new ways. Tosh reminds his fans after every show to keep up with his blog and to follow him on twitter. He also will live chat with people via their twitter pages during his show. This is relevant to our society because people are always on their twitter pages so Tosh takes advantage of this and will leave posts on anyone’s twitter page during his show. This shows that Tosh.O is connecting with their fans in new ways.

The use of twitter on Tosh.O helps make the show extreamly funny and original. With 1,387,652 people in the twitter world following Daniel Tosh, using social media on Tosh.O is a brilliant idea. Twitter is used on Tosh.O in different segments on the show; Tosh will ask different questions where the posts will be aired on the show. For example in one episode Tosh featured a segment in which he let his twitter followers write a movie script. This new use of twitter on television is one way why Tosh.O has become so popular.

The Comedy Central Tosh.O blog also helps Tosh connect with his fans but from a more comedic standpoint that shows how hilarious Tosh is. The blog is more focused on comedy and is less of a personal site for Tosh. For example, Tosh features a different bumper sticker everyday, calling it “Bumper Sticker of the Day”, and every Friday he features “WTF Friday”. Tosh also posts funny pictures or funny videos on his blog and follows with a few witty comments about them underneath. This is essentially Tosh.O on the internet. The blog makes a show that in thirty minutes, once a week, but the internet makes it so that the show is always accessible. With a show like Tosh.O being always accessible is important because it allows people to always be able to get their Tosh.O fill whenever they need it.

Tosh.O is one of the funniest and most innovating shows to hit cable television in a long time. Tosh’s hilarious and original style of comedy and his uses of social media recourses make the show a huge success.

Compelling Comedy: Funnyordie.com

In order to have a successful website in this day and age, it is important to be unique. It is important to have your material be completely different and new compared to what everyone else has to offer. If your material is not necessarily new, than the site should at least have options that is predominately unheard of with other websites. This is exactly what funnyordie.com accomplishes.
Funnyordie.com is a comedy based website developed and produced by two comedic masterminds. Will Ferrell and Adam McKay have been working together for the last decade producing films together such as "Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby" and "Anchorman". The two have also appeared numerous times on the extremely popular television show "Saturday Night Live" also known as SNL. After working together for for such a long period of time they decided they wanted to create their own comedy website. However, they wanted their site to be something people had yet to see, for it to stand out away from any other comedy site. They did this by offering options that was very rare to see at the time. For instance, as soon as you entire funnyordie.com one of the first things that the viewer will see is the option to like the site on facebook, or to share it on twitter. The viewer is also able to access tumblr instantly as well.
Right away three of the biggest social media networks are available to the viewer. This is definitely a necessity in today's world where facebook is by far the most visited website on the Internet. From the instant you log onto funnyordie.com is user friendly and will most certainly grab your attention with its facebook logo on the home page as well as easy to navigate options. Cleverly the "sign up" and "log in" options are conveniently placed next to these facebook and twitter links. Also, one will notice that the site is not contaminated by pesky advertisements or pop-ups. The main thing you will see when visiting is hilarious videos over numerous topics along with links to take you to any videos you may have missed in the past couple of days. You may have missed these videos because funnyordie.com is constantly updating, adding new material to their home page.
Another factor that separates this site from others is any individual who wants to can post on this site. Just as Youtube allows for any member of the site to post videos so does funnyordie. In fact, one of the sites original main purposes was to have an easy way for young talents to expose their work to producers viewing the site. An early objective that Will and Adam had was for a team of producers to monitor the site continually, always looking for new talent as far as writers, actors, and directors. This factor has to be very appealing to anyone who has even the smallest amount of interest in one day pursuing a career involved in this industry. When exploring the site one would see that there are many famous actors in some of these movies and pictures, but also that there are many people that the average person would have never heard of. A large portion of these movies and pictures are from average people who created something worth being on funnyordie.com. These are the kind of people who are furthering their chances of one day reaching their goal of being in the entertainment business.
Whenever I visit funnyordie I always know that I will be viewing something new and entertaining. When considering why this site is so successful the reasons seem to never end. Also, once a member (which is completely free to sign up) you will receive email notices letting you know of upcoming events or specials that funnyordie.com is having. If you have never visited the site before it is definitely worth a shot, you may be surprised with how quickly you will be laughing. Funnyordie.com's possibilities are endless as well as its benefits.

Is The American Top Forty a Bad Influence on Our Culture?

The artist and the songs that land in The American Top Forty can be recognized by almost everyone from their teens to their older years. These artists’s are publicized through television shows, news and radio stations, such as WNCI. The lyrics in the music and the way an artist presents his or herself dramatically affects the way the American society behaves. Even though this not the only way to explain our culture, it gives people assurance that the events that they partake in and their beliefs are safe and acceptable. Many artists that appear on the charts are similar and have a negative influence on our society; however, there are a few exceptions.

Every artist has their own personality but some of the recent artists have presented themselves in a fashion that is unnecessary and disruptive to many audiences. Why does Lady Gaga think it is appropriate to wear an outfit made out of “real meat” to the Video Music Awards? Even though Gaga says that she is acting her real self, according to her interview on the television show 60 Minutes, it teaches young audiences that it is acceptable. She also reveals that she is a drug addict and ingests illegal drugs when she is writing music (You would have to be able to come up with the lyrics she does). Ke$ha’s outrageous and revealing outfit at the 2011 Times Square ball drop should not be viewable by adolescent audiences. Even though celebrates are able to get away with outrageous activity, such as taking illegal drugs and looking slutty in front of audiences, it does not mean it is appropriate for the people in our society.

Many of the songs that appear on the Top Forty have a negative influence on our traditional American society. The song “Tonight” by Enrique Iglesias, which is currently number two on the charts, contains lyrics that effects our society but making teens think that sexual acts are safe and acceptable. The song portrays having getting to know and love someone for one night. It uses lyrics like “Tonight I’m loving you,” to show the singers one time love for someone. The same implications can be found in the lyrics of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream”. Since more teen are experimenting with sexual behaviors and teen pregnancies are rising dramatically, parents need to caution their children about such activity. Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” has a very catchy beat however; it contains lyrics that have a negative impact on our culture. In the song, she mentions that it does not matter if you are transgender, lesbian, or bisexual. This is unacceptable because our generation and generations before us were typically taught to have heterosexual relationships. Besides, in the early to mid 1900s, the word “gay” meant happy. These sexualities are becoming more popular and some of the artists in the top forty think this is permissible.

There are very few songs that appear in the American Top Forty that have positive themes. “Marry Me”, by Train, which is currently number 37 in The American Top Forty, is one of these exceptions. The song implies a long and committing relationship. Our society needs positive songs to help reshape our culture and bring it back to the traditional roots. The meaning of love can change dramatically depending on the way the artists present their lyrics.

There are many relationships between the songs on the top forty. I noticed by looking at the charts that many of the songs have negative themes. “Back To December” by Taylor Swift and “Grenade” by Bruno Mars are both top forty songs that are heartbreaking. The lyrics in these songs range from being turned down in a relationship to having bad experiences. Why are why so drawn to these depressing songs? People can relate and fall back on the songs to make their situation seem normal even though it is unhealthy and life threatening to be depressed.

As our society changes, people gain confidence in knowing that the inappropriate and non-traditional acts are acceptable based on the songs in the American Top Forty. Artists never used to present themselves in scandalous cloths or in some cases nothing, to audiences around the world. Why do you think this is acceptable for your children to see? We need to be looking up to the songs that have a positive image about life and instill the traditional values that we have been taught for many years. If I ever become an artist, you certainly won’t be seeing me arriving at the Grammy’s in scandalous cloths or in a gigantic egg.

Athletes, Do As You Please

The rapid development and expansion of social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube has attracted several athletes from all ends of the sports spectrum. From basketball and football to mixed martial arts and cycling, athletes all over the world have started participating in the phenomena known as social media. Athletes are posting their feelings about their latest performance, updating fans about their personal lives, interacting with other athletes, and keeping others informed about themselves through these outlets of communication. This opportunity to easily communicate and express themselves through the internet has provided excellent publicity for professional athletes, but many critics seem to believe otherwise.

Some athletes have found a new way to put a stain on their promising careers. Even though what is posted on the internet is at the athlete’s personal discretion, many are continuing to make poor choices. Professional basketball player, Michael Beasley, recently posted a picture of his new tattoo. Also in this picture was a bag of marijuana, which would clearly suggest he is involved in the use of narcotics. Beasley was not forced to post this picture, but instead he still chose to attach this picture to his Twitter. Instantly, Beasley is frowned upon by the general public, and received harsh criticism from several critics. NBA players, J.R. Smith and Eddie Curry, fed a live streaming video of them being pulled over by the police. After being cited for their violation, the players laugh and joke about the incident and make it seem as if they are above the law. The players were fully aware of the situation, and also understood the consequences of displaying this video on the internet, but they still chose to allow the world to watch.

These incidents give athletes an overall poor reputation, and society has labeled professional athletes as a stereotype. In today’s society, an athlete is considered an over paid, egotistical person who is bound to slip up and ruin his or her reputation. Society thinks so little of athletes and expects the least from them. When that athlete does make that expected mistake, the public strangely seems shocked and appalled by the athlete’s actions. Society has the lowest expectations for athletes, but when the athlete is at his or her worst, the public eye suddenly expects more from that athlete and is disappointed. Doesn’t this seem a little contradictory?

As a fan of sports in general, I can say that I could care less about what an athlete is doing in his or her spare time. The only time I am interested in an athlete is when that athlete is on my television screen, doing what he or she does best. As long as athletes continue to show up on game day and perform, then I will continue to be a sports fan for the rest of my life. Athletes are paid millions of dollars to play sports; they are not paid to develop a strong social connection with the media or public, be strong role model figures, or to live a clean, personal life to satisfy the public. Sports fans have forgotten why it is they even pay any attention to an athlete.

Athletes are constantly under the spotlight, and it would be in their best interest to keep a clean image. There is virtually no incentive for portraying a negative image, but athletes should have the freedom to get away with such acts of mischief. The sports nation expects too much from athletes, and should be less critical about how an athlete conducts his or her personal life. Athletes should be appreciated for the excitement they bring to watching the ESPN channel, and not hated for their latest tweet on Twitter. I have one message for athletes all over the world, who are worried about keeping everyone happy. Athletes, do as you please.

Protect This House

Marketing everything from hats to shoes Under Armour is one of the fastest growing sports gear companies. Under Armour was founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank and has grown tremendously since then. When the company started they first sold micro-fiber shirts to pull the sweat from skin. However, now the company sells everything to cover your body from hats to shoes and everything in between. They first started selling apparel for men, but as the company grew they expanded their grounds to women and children apparel. They also have apparel for all types of weather and climates. In Under Armour’s new I will ad campaign they use professional athletes to show they defend their sport and remain the best.

Brandon Jennings is the star in one of Under Armour’s new I will ads. Brandon Jennings is not only a great athlete, playing for the Milwaukee Bucks, but he is also a good person. In 2008 he donated $50,000 to the National Italian American Foundation after an earthquake left thousands homeless and many dead. In this commercial we see Brandon traveling from Italy to America and we hear a voice warning others of an underdog. The voice tells others they should be prepared to play hard because he will not give up. Although in the middle of the ad it appears he may quit, but he starts training again and defeats all of his opponents. At the end of the ad the voice asks “are you going to protect this house?” Then Brandon walks and says “I will.” This proves that he will not let anyone beat him, that he will protect the sport as if it is his house and he will remain the best.

A second commercial with the same I will technique as the one with Brandon Jennings is one that includes George St. Pierre. George St. Pierre is one of the hardest fighting guys in the UFC today and has a record of twenty-one wins and only two losses. This ad begins with George waking up to a voice calling him, trying to get George to fight him. During the course of the ad you see George training and studying for the fight to come. It shows what he does day to day before the fight, the struggles he goes through and in the middle of the ad it seems that he is going to quit. However, he picks himself back up and begins training harder than ever. He proves to himself that he can do it and he’s not give up for anything. When the fight comes George St. Pierre defeats his enemy and shows that he is the best and that fighting is his sport. At the end of the commercial the narrator as “will you protect this house?” George states that he will proving that the arena is his house and he will not let anyone take it from him and will never give up.

Michael Phelps is another athlete that is in one of Under Armour’s new ads. In this commercial Phelps trains works to be the best. The ad shows how hard Michael works to remain the best as in the 2008 Olympics when he won eight gold medals. Again in the commercial the star appears to give up as in the other two, but Michael finds the strength to get back up and continue training. He proves that he can remain the best if he continues to work hard and not give up. As the ad concludes it ask if Michael will protect this house and he says “I will.” This demonstrates that he will protect the sport as if it was his own home and he will not let anyone take it away from him.

These ads all show how athletes train to remain the best and how they feel about their sport that they will protect it as it was their house. I feel that Under Armour chose the best athletes they could to be in these ads. All of these athletes are very hard workers and they are known for fighting hard and never giving up. These professionals are some of the greatest in their sport and will continue to train hard to remain the best.

Athletes can be positive, too?

More and more these days, you hear about how professional athletes are getting into trouble with the law. Just turn on Sportscenter on ESPN and there is gonna be one story about how an athlete is in trouble with either their college, the law, or the team they are a part of. When my brother and I are watching Sportscenter and they are talking about how an athlete is in trouble he always says, “Oh, what do you know? Another athlete in trouble, pretty typical there.”

You see, professional athletes are held more accountable for their actions causing them to be stereotyped as people who are always getting in trouble with the law or just causing attention to them.

There are a couple professional athletes who have potentially ruined the reputation for athletes amongst non-sport fans. A few trouble worthy candidates include Ben Roethlisberger (has two sexual assault law suits), Michael Vick (accused of dog fighting ending up spending 23 months in federal prison), Tiger Woods (alleged affairs with numerous women, infidelity with this wife). All three of these athlete’s social life are more magnified than any other athlete. These guys are so elite at the respective sports they play causing them to be part of the upper echelon of athletes.

Look, we all get that athletes have millions of dollars to spend causing professional athletes to go wild with their spending (another argument for another time). Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching all of these athletes perform in their sport at a high level but seriously there needs to be severe consequences for athletes actions or else the world will just keep producing them.

But wait, there are athletes who actually do well for the world? Yes! There are a countless amount of athletes who help out their community to help save the negative perception of professional athletes.

NBA Cares has numerous programs to help out the community that their team is located in including NBA Fit, NBA Green, Basketball without Borders, and Read to Achieve.

A couple years ago when hurricane Katrina hit the states amongst the Gulf of Mexico, mainly New Orleans, the NBA announced they would help out saying, “The NBA Cares initiative will feature all members of the NBA Family, including players, teams, the National Basketball Players Association, and all of the NBA’s media and marketing partners. Together, they will perform more than 30,000 hours of hands-on community service”.

The NBA is not the only professional sport to help out with the community; the NFL has programs as well as the MLB and the PGA Golf Tour.

The NFL has a program called the USO that goes over seas and helps support the troops in the war, which first started in 1966 going to Vietnam and Asia. These programs have been going on for a long time but they never get the media attention for it because the media loves to focus on the bad things that happen in sports. I understand that the negative attention gets more publicity over nice, positive news but it’s always refreshing to hear news about the good guys in professional athletics.

Numerous athletes have their own foundation including the Tiger Woods Foundation. He created this program years before his infidelities came out. His program not only introduces less fortunate children to golf but to help them focus on career exploration and preparation.

Sure, the prestigious professional athletes getting into trouble are held more accountable for their actions over other athletes but that doesn’t mean their reputation should ruin it for everyone else. The community service programs that professional sporting leagues create are not to help their personal reputation with the world but because they truly care about the troubles the world is enduring. When the world is struggling say hurricane Katrina and the earthquake that hit Haiti, the NBA, NFL, MLB, and PGA Tour are usually the first to help out to make a difference.

Don’t just listen to the media about elite professional athletes who run into trouble with the law, make an effort to find out about the real professional athletes that do something great for their community and the world.