S4 Advocacy Speech Reflection

With each progressing speech I have felt able to use more skills I learned in class and feel more comfortable. This speech I felt was probably the best because I had practiced it the most and had a lot of experience after my completing first three speeches. I tried to use as many of the strategies we learned in class as possible, I focused a lot on my introduction, including thanking the previous speaker and making sure I signaled my speech well for the conclusion and didn’t go over the time limit mainly. I also wanted and did include an experience many of us were present for, which was when we met the Public Safety Officer because it was related to my project. I still forgot to use some of the skills that I had practiced such as introducing the next speaker. It felt pretty good to discuss a topic other people weren’t doing and that is a controversial debate. It also is kind of a topic that I am actually interested in and really important especially in modern society. I was moderately stressed about this speech particularly because it was on a heated topic ans was my last final speech for the semester so I wanted to do well. It was also easy to relate my speech to Lloyd Blitzer’s exigence theory because I felt the “imperfection marked by urgency” was not really that guns are dangerous and immature but people are uneducated about them. The country of Switzerland has a lot of education on guns and that has contributed to it’s citizens having one of the highest gun ownership in the world. This country is also responsible for very little violence and crime that is related to guns. I also have found it easier that the last two speeches I was one of the first presenters to present their speeches and I think that helped me stay focused on my speech. It was also helpful to warm up to my S4 speech by doing the exercise where we stand in two lines and talk about our topic for two minutes and I could ask what they think worked well in my speech and what wasn’t working. For the future I think I’m gonna stick with the strategies that I know best and can do confidently.

I think Koko’s presentation was interesting to me because I know recidivism happens but I didn’t know there was a word for it. His video about how Norwegian prisoner’s made it really clear as what he was advocating what government should do instead.

 

 

 

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S4 Rehearsal Speech #2

This time I was able to have a friend film me and it made it feel like I was actually in front of the class this time. There were also distractions nearby that may have disrupted my thought process. I also worked on my time limit and it was shorter this time. For next time I think I’m gonna pace myself better and takes maybe refer to the pictures on my slide more often.

S4 Rehearsal Speech #1

For this video I went a little over than the lime limit but I think I said most of what I wanted to say which is good. I also tried to right away without using my notes and I think that contributed to the length of the video. I also like many people on their first attempt slurred and lost my thought process a few times. I also wanted to make sure that I was with my slides because that is how I will be making the speech.

S4 Write Out

A hot topic around the world and especially in America is the gun debate. I think it is important not to take a side but rather advocate to promote better and more gun education. In respect to Lloyd Blitzer the exigency is that there is fear about and around guns in the country and I think people need more experience with them. The message is that guns and other projectile weapons built around bullets have a lot of and think people need more opportunities to explore guns. I know this is an issue because I wish there was more information and education for myself. I think there needs to be more classes available to the public on the variety of guns and their differences. Most modern classes are only for obtaining some type of firearm license but there needs to be classes just for recreation and education. There are so many questions about guns including bullet caliber and gun laws that even I could benefit from these kind of info-sessions.

I am not asking people to go out and buy guns but simply asking for people to get some first hand experience so that they can be more knowledgeable, and feel safer and more comfortable about them. I know that I would feel safer if I knew more people weren’t freaking out about them.

Shortly before coming here I had decided to get a certificate for a Firearms Identification so that I could be licences to buy a gun. The course I had taken was two sessions long, one session you learned about handguns and then the next session you had to fire a revolver before they could give you a certificate. The license that I had received only allowed for the purchase of Shotguns and Rifles and their ammo. Now I have had some previous experience with pistols, rifles, and shotguns and fired all of them, but I was intimidated by the idea that someone can get a license for a shotgun or rifle without ever even firing one let alone seeing one. I would want my child to have a lot of previous experience with the gun they are buying long before they are of legal age to buy one.

The way I could see this issue being combated is for gun stores and other private organizations to offer safety and education courses either for free or at a price. Another idea is that gun ranges could offer live shooting opportunities, it’s just another way to make money for them but could be potentially dangerous.

Exploring S4

First of all I would like to say that Chris Anderson had a really good video about ideas. The visuals in the video is what really sold the it to me and blew me away. After the video I felt like he himself had followed his own formula including having one major topic which was the formation of ideas.  He also had a topic that people care about because people are always trying to spread ideas and think it is worth trying. The part about millions of neurons make up an idea and that they come in different shapes and sizes really helped me understand the whole video. I also like that he used TED talks as examples because I familiar with TED talks and had I had previously seen some of the ones featured in the video. In respect to my S4 ideas, I have been thinking a lot and this video’s formula made be think more about it my topics individually, including making sure I give the audience a reason to and to that my idea is worth sharing. Initially, one of my first ideas to advocate for which was bicycle related was to start tracking bicycles, so that if they got stolen so that they could be more easily recovered. After having a conference with the professor, I came up with another topic that is more personal to me that I think would be worth sharing. I think it would be worth advocating for sports and even professional sports to compensate people with Asthma, a respiratory condition that cause difficulty  in breathing. I know a lot of people who suffer from asthma and seen them suffer asthma attacks during competitions and I think they way coaches and referees let athletes recoup isn’t enough or that they simply don’t get enough time. The last idea that I came up with since watching the video is advocating for free gun education classes. There is a lot of stigma around guns and I think that the least that could be done is educational opportunities for people to become more comfortable with guns and feel safer around them. The country of Switzerland has promoted gun ownership and recreational use but still has one of the lowest crime rates and gun crime around. Lower than the the U.S.A. , Switzerland hasn’t suffered a mass shooting  since 2001. So far these are my biggest ideas!

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SFMTA Open House

On Thursday we went to see a presentation by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency about a possible revision to the bike lane located on the Embarcadero. The objective of this presentation was to obtain information and thoughts from citizens on the two proposed alternative solutions to this problem. I think the SFMTA group members did a good of presenting their information. An advantage that they had for their presentation was that there was multiple speakers who spoke and answered questions. Another advantage they had was that were not always conducting a live presentation but received breaks when no one was around to hear the speech. One thing a noticed is they set up the presentation with a series of posters that went from right to left around the room. Now most people like me read left to right so it made it confusing when I started by going around the room in the wrong direction until one of the speakers told me where to stop and I heard himself repeat himself many times on the issue. Another problem I noticed was that there was a giant layout of one of the proposed alternatives and it took up almost half the room. The issue I had with this was I didn’t know and still don’t know which alternative that layout was representing and felt like to me it was wasting space in the room. However in respect to which alternative is more suited for the Embarcadero, I don’t know, but whatever choice promotes the Vision Zero of having no traffic deaths is most likely the best choice and alternative that will most likely be implemented. Also there are many advantages to using posters instead of PowerPoint in this context. First of all with a poster you can go back and look at the information but with a PowerPoint you are at the mercy of the speaker providing the guidance of the PowerPoint. Also with multiple posters instead of a PowerPoint you can have multiple speakers speaking at the same time about different aspects. In an PowerPoint if there are multiple presenters usually only will be talking at a time.

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Matt Damon’s reading of Howard Zinn’s Debate on Civil Disobedience

While reading his friends speech about Civil Disobedience, Matt Damon brings up how dangerous civil obedience can be. His examples of both Hitler and Stalin made rules for their civilization and their citizens more than followed blindly. So here in the excerpt he promotes the actions of civil disobedience for better change. He brings up the example of the United States’ Declaration of Independence being an important milestone. In the late 1700’s the colonists ha disobeyed their mother country and decided to form their own country. In the creation of that document it is important to remember that they included that for any reason they could or should abolish the current form of government and establish a better one. Many countries around the world are suffering from civil obedience and we should assist them in a new law system. Matt Damon says the author goes as far as saying that in result of all this things like the wrong people are in jail, the wrong people are free on the streets, and the wrong people are in power. Civil disobedience in many countries over time has caused the spread of wealth around the world to need a major reform and relocation. The strongest message he repeats throughout the entire talk is that things are tops turvy or upside down, and you can see the proof in world around you. Examples being genocides, famines, dictatorships, drug abuse, poverty, injustice, and so many other atrocities.  He insists sometimes if you busy doing what you’re told you forget about these things and can become under-educated.

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Freedom of Speech

The First Amendment has been protecting our right to criticize and use free speech when talking about the government for over 200 years. This amendment gives citizens of America the ability and opportunity to voice their opinions without government intervention, granted that the speech doesn’t incite violence. People have been taking advantage of this American right for years to successfully cause change within the system by uniting with people with similar thoughts and speak out together.  America is one of the luckiest countries in the world to have this freedom and actively change people’e lives through words and speech. Now it is true that speech is limited to things that won’t cause violence and can have consequences depending on your target audience. When the government is your targeted audience or you are making a political statement, you are mostly likely in the clear to say it. You are usually valid to have and express these opinions without being sent to jail or fined as long as it doesn’t cause any dangerous situations but there can be other consequences. Sometimes when you make a charged statement to someone like parent or employer, you will most likely face consequences which could include being kicked out of your house or being fired my your boss. Personally, I think that freedom of speech is one of the things that makes our country the U.S.A. better than other countries like Russia which was mentioned in the video. I am glad I can feel pretty free to express myself however I want to the government and their ideas. It’s weird to think an employer can fire you for speaking out but than I think if I was an employer I want wouldn’t an employee who questions me all the time but an employee who does what I say. In the end I would keep the amendment because I think it is important attribute of being an American. Image result for freedom of speech

Something that just occurred to me is if Free Speech is directed mostly towards the government then why can government employees such as teachers, police officers, and fire fighters not allowed to go on strike?

Stolen Bike

Last week, Thursday was the last day I saw the bike that Professor Hunt had so kindly lent me for the semester. Thursday during the day I had decided to lock my bike to the bike rack in front Halyes-Healy and CAPS while I went inside my dorm to get some work done and get changed for wrestling practice. After I had finished a short session of practice I came back to the rack to get my bike by around 9 p.m. The Santa Cruz mountain bike was gone. My first though was that maybe I had decided to lock my bike somewhere else because I didn’t find the carcass of my lock right way. Eventually I looked through the grave yard of U-Locks to try and identify mine. I finally found a lock the resembled my SunLite lock that I had purchased and put my key inside and sure it enough it was my broken lock. The perpetrator had managed to make a clean cut through my U-Lock and even knew which side of the lock in which to cut through. I had locked my bike at the corner of the rack next the bikes that weren’t as well locked as mine, but still the thief had decided to take the time to cut through my lock because it must have been worth it.  I hope that you as my classmates have better luck with your bikes safety than I fared last Thursday. I recommend a strong lock and keeping your bike in your room whenever your’re not gonna use it for more than a day as to the protect bike. image


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