SURVEY RESULTS

It was difficult for me to get people to commit to taking the time to take my survey so I tried to keep it short and to the point. I wanted to be able to save people time and at the same token retrieve all the information I was aiming to recieve. I feel that I accomplished that with this survey by keeping it short and sweet. I was not surprised by my answers on my survey. I know that so many people these days have cell phones, that people use them while driving, that they know it could be dangerous, but that they still do and still would. I do feel that "What if it was an emergency?" is very true but what if that emergency was caused by a distracted cell phone driver?

RESEARCH PAPER

Cell Phone Usage In The Car
A very long time ago, people used to communicate mostly in person or through writing letters to each other. Certain topics of conversation such as what a person may have eaten that day or which errands he or she had to run were consider completely minor and were most likely never mentioned through a letter being sent to a friend that lived a few hours away. Since then, technology allowed people to communicate with the use of telephones, which made life more comfortable. Now a day, we are just a little too comfortable, especially living in the United States with all of the modern technology that has been invented over the last fifty years or so. Today, almost every one over the age of fourteen carries around their own private telephone where they can be reached at any given time. Cellular phones have been on the rise during the last decade and a half and are getting more and more popular every day. Most people do not even shut their phones off ever, rather they just silence them while they are asleep, in class, or doing something important where their phone cannot start ringing. That is the new modern world in which we live in today; modern and instant. If I needed to get a hold of a friend ten years ago, I would have to call his or her house and if my friend was not available, I would have to leave a message and either wait for a call in return or try again later. Not today. Today I can just call their cell phone and if they don’t pick up, I could call again if I want and again and again. I could leave voicemails, texts, e-mails, anything. In an instant I can reach my friend no matter what they are doing, no matter where they are. In an instant I can call them while they are busy driving. In an instant they can start rummaging through their cup holders to find their phone to see who is calling. In an instant, something dangerous could happen to them. That is what is so scary about the use of cell phones while driving.
I believe that when a person talks on the phone while driving, whether using a hands-free device or not, they can still easily be distracted and become less focused on the road. Ones reaction can become delayed when trying to switch lanes or when pulling up to a light. Research shows that people who are talking on their phone while driving will have to stop fast for a light since they are more focused on the conversation and do not notice that the light at the intersection has turned yellow or red until later. This delayed reaction causes them to have to stop fast. When the light at the intersection turns green, their reaction is delayed once again and they are usually last to accelerate after the light turns green and it is their turn to proceed. People are going to be more focused on the conversation than on the fact that a person could be in their blind spot while trying to switch over lanes. Other driving distractions that can add to the distraction of cell phone use is time of day. As it gets darker, it is sometimes harder to see the roads clearly and focus well. Using a phone can only add to the distraction. Furthermore, the weather, especially in Michigan where we live can get very bad. Whether it be fog, rain, snow, or even hail. When a person puts him or herself in that danger to be driving, which we sometimes have no other choice, why add the distraction of a cell phone?
In economics, the “Law of Demand” states that as something gets more expensive, people will do less of it and as something gets less expensive, people will do more of it. I think that this rule also applies to the use of cell phones while driving. If in Michigan, they decided to make a law banning the use of cell phones in the car and issued a ticket or a fine for being caught doing so, people would start to do less of it because it will start to cost them. That is the same with the seat belt law. I think that once “click it or ticket” became the law, people made sure to do it more so than if it wasn’t the law because if they just put their seatbelt on, they would not have to risk being caught unbuckled and could therefore not have to worry about getting pulled over, going to court, having to pay, and all the other issues that come up with that. The same should go for cell phone usage. If talking on the phone was illegal while driving, I would make sure not to do it since besides for the fact that it is dangerous, which is the most important fact, I know that if I were to get pulled over I would have to arrange a court date, take off from work, pay the fine, get points on my record, and more which could easily be avoided.
People relate using cell phones while driving to drunk driving. I find that very scary. Going out to the bars and getting tipsy on a Saturday night should not be comparable to talking on the phone to your spouse about dinner plans on the way to a business meeting on a Monday morning. Research shows that accident rates are four times more likely to occur with drivers who use their phones while on the road and that there is a thirty seven percent loss in brain activity being focused on the drive while talking on the phone (Hartman).
Driving could be a danger in itself due to weather problems which sometimes can not be avoided due to ice, rain, and other things. Drunk driving is also another problem that could definitely be avoided but why should the added driving distraction of cell phones be added? It is estimated that over three hundred, thirty two thousand, six hundred accidents resulting in injuries and deaths are caused as a result of cell phone usage while operating cars. Over three hundred and thirty thousand of these accidents consisted of injuries and over twenty five hundred were deaths
In conclusion, I believe that talking on the phone while driving is extremely dangerous and should be avoided as much as possible. Almost every driver is guilty of using their cell phones while operating a car at one point or another but I believe that if a law was passed prohibiting it, people would hopefully not do, or at least not as much as they have been, and we could therefore have safer roads. Just because someone decides to distract him or herself and put their life at risk, does not mean that they should be putting other people’s lives at risk as well. It’s just not safe and it’s just not worth it if it could be avoided that easily. There is no reason for a person to possibly risks theirs and other people’s lives over a phone call that’s topic of conversation is “Whats for dinner?”
















Bibliography
1. http://www.ehow.com/about_5188398_accidents-caused-cell-phone-use.html
“Accidents Caused By Cell Phone Use” by David Hartman
2. http://www.drivinglaws.org/stats.php
3. The Impact of In- Vehicle Cell- Phone Use on Accidents or Near- Accidents Among College Students by Dong- Chul Seo; Mohammad R. Torabi, Journal of American College Health J of ACH, no. 3, (2004) Washington D.C.
4. http://www.slate.com/id/2223277/

Yes Officer, I know I was using my phone while driving but..."

"Oh man, that was definately not worth it come to think of it".

"Hey, Whats up?
Yeah I can talk...No, I'm not busy...Just on my way to school, What's up?"

updated survey link 10/29/09

Click Here to take survey

The name "Second Life" is the perfect title for the game. People can conduct their regular lives working, going to school, playing sports, and doing whatever they regularly do throughout the day but then when they get to their computers, they can enter this virtual world where they can socialize with people, look the way they want, dress, and act however they please. It is literally a "second life" compared to the first life of the physical world.

academic articles summaries

Lauren Flatt
COMP 106
October 12, 2009
Academic Article Summaries

I always found psychology to be very interesting. I think that to study how and why people do the things they do is one of the most fascinating things a person can learn. Within psychology, there is a lot to learn about such as behavior, development, cognition, relationships with ourselves, others and more. That is why I plan to change my studies major to psychology, I feel I truly connect with that field.
My first article is titled “What did Triplett really find? A Contemporary Analysis of the First Experiment in Social Psychology” by Michael J. Strube of Washington University. It was published in the American Journal of Psychology in the Summer of 2005.
This article talks about the dynamics in pace making and competition based on Norman Triplett’s first experiment in social and sports psychology. What he did was observe the Racing Board of the League of American Wheelmen and noticed that paced and competitive races had an effect on performance speed and in this he described a number of explanations for why this performance occurs. He explained that the first competitor gets the energy and stimulation from the second competitor’s presence which will make the competitor move faster. Triplett conducted studies and experimented on different groups of people and his data now represents the research on audience and co- actor effects. What was concluded is that an audience’s presence actually increases the arousal in the actor to perform well and therefore he will make a better performance. Triplett was very smart and creative and laid the groundwork for the latter research that followed his first experiment.
The second article that struck my attention is titled “The Howard Crosby Warren Medal: Psychology’s First Award” by David B. Baker from the University of Akron and Kevin T. Mahoney from Slippery Rock University. It was published in the Fall of 2005 in the American Journal of Psychology.
This article talks about the first major award given in Psychology called the “Howard Crosby Warren Medal.” Howard Crosby Warren was a man born in the 1860’s that attended Princeton University with an interest in psychology and later spent his career there as a chair member of the psychology department.
This award was given in 1936 to two young Princeton psychologists named Earnest G. Wever and Charles W. Bray. These two men conducted research on auditory nerve responses in insects, reptiles, and mammals. This award given was exceptionally interesting because there was psychology behind the award given for psychology. The reason for this award being issued was to increase the respect of men of science and to bring attention towards the importance of it. The Howard Crosby Warren Medal truly honors the excellence in psychological science.
My last article is titled “Comparison of the Efficacy of Two Name- Learning Techniques: Expanding Rehearsal and Name-Face Imagery” by Jeffrey S. Neuschatz and Elizabeth L. Preston of University of Alabama, Michael P. Toglia of State Univeristy of New York at Cortland and Joseph S. Neuschatz of Roger Williams University. It was published in the 2005 edition of the American Journal of Psychology.
I found this interesting because it talks about two different name learning techniques. One technique is known as the expanding rehearsal technique and the other is known as name- face imagery. Sometimes I have a very difficult time remembering names but I could always remember a face. I thought it was just me but since reading this article, I see that this is common with most people. An experiment was conducted on regular middle-aged people to go to a social function and attempt to remember people’s names. The goal of this article was to compare the effectiveness of strategies used on testing different people’s ability to retain names and faces over a long period of time. I also learned from this article an interesting fact, that one of the areas of memory that gives adults the most difficulty is name learning. From the experiment done, we conclude that out of the two name learning techniques, there is a better long term memory in the expanding rehearsal condition.
I felt that these three articles that I chose: “What Did Triplett Really Find? A Contemporary Analysis of the First Experiment in Social Psychology”, “The Howard Crosby Warren Medal: Psychology’s First Award”, and “Comparison of the Efficacy of Two Name- Learning Techniques: Expanding Rehearsal and Name- Face Imagery” were three diverse articles all having to do with Psychology because they covered different topics within the study of psychology. These articles were slightly difficult for me to understand but were definitely interesting and I learned a lot from reading them.

SURVEY LINK (WORKS)

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=kT5E5DIQm87hnZnEazrzHg_3d_3d

research topic proposal 10/6

For my research topic I decided to try to find out whether or not the government should take action in the use of cell phones while operating vehicles.
Cell phones are a very important thing to own in order to be able to be reached at all times. I also feel that cell phones are a huge distraction to people while driving even on a hands free because my opinion is that a person can be more concentrated on the conversation than on the road whether or not they are holding a phone.
I think that there should be some rules made where we live. I have been in places where only hands free devices were allowed. I use a cell phone while driving for regular conversational purposes and think that it is a bad habit that I need to break. But, if the law made it become illegal to use a phone, I would have an easier time stopping unless if it was an emergency and feel that most people would be the same way.
Banning the use of cell phones would be hard to do though and I wonder whether people think it would be better to keep things the way they are, make some rules about how to use the phone while driving, issue fines, make it illegal, block the network service completely, or anything else.
This survey can apply to anyone who has an understanding of this topic whether they are a driver, passenger, or pedestrian. I feel that the more people that take my survey, the better my understanding of what can be done to prevent the risk of accidents will be and what precautions we should be taking towards that.

updated survey link

NEW SURVEY
http://www.surveymonkey.com/MySurvey_EditorPage.aspx?sm=EwO15c6pqIwuQH742Xzo%2fTIjBp9q4mIrd5rfmtY4rTk%3d

my survey link

http://www.surveymonkey.com/MySurvey_EditorPage.aspx?sm=5th2jhzN%2bKr9Prn88xdvD3sZH%2fmCV4wH%2bUPTI1ClBdg%3d

Godin/Shirky Compare and Contrast

Lauren Flatt
COMP 106
9/22/09
Assignment 1

Compare and Contrast

Clay Shirky and Seth Godin are two people that believe in people coming together. They both take on different aspects of unity and have similar yet also different ideas that they bring forth in their speeches.
The first speech that I would like to talk about from Ted.com is Clay Shirky’s speech titled: “How Social Media Can Make History.” In this speech, Clay Shirky introduces his topic by mentioning the transformed media landscape and explaining that this is how to get a message out to the public and he gives a few examples. His first example that he discusses is about the last election and the concern for there to be voter suppression. We learn how social media was able to influence this by “Video the Vote” and that that idea was actually taken from the Nigerian election campaign a few years ago called “SMS the Vote.” Shirky’s next example is the tech transfer. He discusses how we went from one to one to one to many and then finally native support for the many to many pattern which could not be done until the Internet hit and how there could finally be a medium for all other medium. He brings upon the example of everyone staying connected during the earthquake in China being reported as it happened via Twitter to show how this news was so instant to us and then Obama campaign website to show the mature use of mass media .
Seth Godin’s speech titled, “The Tribes We Lead” focuses on creating ideas and getting those ideas to spread out. Average ideas and plenty of ads is what he defines as mass marketing. He talks about tribes- leading and connecting people and ideas and thanks the internet and mass media by helping everyone connect with eachother.
Seth Godin does not talk about the technological aspect of the Internet like Shirky does. Shirky brought about three specific examples in great detail while Godin focused in general on the power to create movements and the phenomena of the tribe rather and only gave short and brief examples. These two people have similar themes but different takes on the messages that they try to get across.

My screen shot image is of a pretty typical day for me on my computer. It shows Internet Explorer with tabs of facebook, you tube, and C-tools. It also shows my America Online toolbar. I do not usually have anything else up because I do not usually spend a lot of time on the computer and only know the basics of using the computer and internet. On a day that I would use my computer, I would turn on my computer, do whatever needs to be done as far as homework such as C-tools or other research that may need to be done. When I find that I need a break or have completed my work, I log onto America Online just by habit even though I get my email sent to my phone. Sometimes I get instant messages from people but I do not really pay attention. I then usually log onto my Facebook account to see any updates. While doing that, I usually decide that I want to listen to music. Instead of going into my Itunes library, I like to log on to youtube.com and put on a song I feel like listening to or browse. In my opinion, my screen shot image looks like it could belong to any girl living in America between the ages of fifteen and maybe early twenties. It is pretty colorful and looks like something interesting to do while relaxing at home or at a coffee shop.

Composing change shape can help the designer present what they are trying to show other people in the media using their exact ideas.

We can better understand digital composing processes by guidance from computer experts and courses.