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BlogComm
COMM 3030 - Communication and Social Responsibility
We all have a Responsibilty!
Posted posted by Anonymous @ 5:39 PM
When talking about the Wheatley readings, I thought that it was fasinating that tragic events and life altering changes made people in class and myself really stop and think what is important in our lives. Sometimes we get so caught up in everyday routines and stress of daily life that we forget to remember the people in our lifes that are there everyday. School and work are extremely stressful but they are not the most important things in the world. The people who are with us through the good and the bad times are the most important, our families, in my opinion.Wheatley's questions are questions that we should ask ourselfs to remind us that we are human and that there are more important things than an exam or a paper due the next day. These questions make you stop and think, but not just think. With these questions you have to really ask yourself what it means to you.
After taking this class I have realized that I do have a responsibility to the community and society. There are so many things now that I want to do to become more active in my community. If more companies that have a huge economic effect on the world and more individual realized that everyone has a responsibility to their communities and societies this world might just be a better place.
Jaime
Taking Personal Responsibility
Posted posted by HeidiH @ 4:34 PM
Personal responsibility means that I own the actions I take in my life. I own my actions and am accountable for the effect those actions have on others. Through this class I've learned that it is ordinary people standing for justice and good can have large impacts. But though individuals create good in this world there are also those who create misery and oppression for others.My feature article for this class looked at the progression of women's rights in Afghanistan. It took only a small group of people, following a strong set of beliefs, with guns to back them to strip 11,000,000 women of basic rights to movement, medical care, and education. There are countless examples around the world.
Being personally responsible means recognizing the truth when it is easier to lie. It means listening to the news and being aware of what is happening to fellow human beings. It means doing what can be done, not complaining about what can't. It means taking action, however small, not hiding laziness with exuses such as ignorance or weakness. This class has shown again and again how few or one impacts many. Personal responsibility means recognizing our place, our connectedness. No one can look to another without first looking to themselves.
Be the change
Posted posted by tvoss @ 4:32 PM
I think that the most important thing that we have discussed in this class is social responsibility, because through practicing social responsibility we are able to take immediate action towards helping our culture and our ecosystem. I heard a quote not to long ago that said, "be the change you wish to see in the world", and I have been trying to live my life with that in mind. This is what I believe social responsibility is; this is how I think we should be living our lives. When I heard this quote I decided to step up and take action, so i joined an organization called Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance a.k.a. SUWA. The change that I want to see in the world has to do with respecting nature more than we have been, and that is what SUWA is all about. There are several other aspects of my life that I would like to change so that I can really be the change I want to see in the world, but I guess you have to take it one step at a time. I have started my steps, so now I challenge you to do the same. Remember, it doesn't have to be a big step, any contribution will help towards making a difference. Do the right thing and be the change you wish to see in the world, you have the power.Values
Posted posted by Antok the Destroyer @ 3:14 PM
I agree with what Kyle is saying, and it's interesting how care and connection at times of crisis seems to be a pretty common theme throughout life. What Kyle wrote also made me think about the generational differences between my grandfather and I.When I was young, maybe about five or six, my grandfather took some of the family and me on a camping trip. He was always a very joking guy, would always play tricks, and tease me. We had a great relationship before this trip. I forget how we got started talking, or what we were specifically talking about, but he told me not to laugh. As any five or six-year-old would do to their silly grandfather, I started to giggle the second he was done talking. When I started to walk away he grabbed me by the arm, spun me around and knocked me to the ground with an open palm to the face, nearly knocking me out. I don't remember much about what happened after that other than what I was told by my sister, but I've thought about that moment, and ran through it in my head many times since it happened. For the longest time I hated him...
Growing up with that memory of my grandfather made it very hard for me to like him, and I rarely ever spoke to him outside of the holiday season when my parents would make me call him to wish a merry Christmas. But, going back to what Kyle said, I feel as though I missed a great opportunity, and It was only after I got a bit older that I realized it.
When he was rushed to the hospital for a heart attack, it hit home that I had made a mistake and so did he. In times of dire circumstance fault, blame, and consequence seem to disappear. I guess it all goes back to the saying of "you don't know what you have until its gone" and I realize now how important it is step back from your own BS from time to time and reevaluate the things that truly matter to you. He might have over reacted and I was probably being disrespectful, but it's an experience that has helped me understand and appreciate those things that are truly valuable.
Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy Autumn-fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more.
Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail,
That brings our friends up from the underworld,
Sad as the last which reddens over one
That sinks with all we love below the verge;
So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more.
Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns
The earliest pipe of half-awakened birds
To dying ears, when unto dying eyes
The casement slowly grows a glimmering square;
So sad, so strange, the days that are no more.
Dear as remembered kisses after death,
And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feigned
On lips that are for others; deep as love,
Deep as first love, and wild with all regret;
O Death in Life, the days that are no more.
Poem by: Alfred Tennyson
Responsibility of the Individual
Posted posted by Kyle @ 3:06 PM
It is amazing to me the way in which tragic and horrific events have the paradoxical effect of bringing out the best in people; yet in times of peace and prosperity people can have a relatively cold and callused indifference toward one another. In a recent class discussion of this issue the example of September the 11th was brought up and I thought to myself how truly amazing it was that an event that promised to be one of the nations darkest hours conversely resulted in a country wide out-pouring of unabashed love and concern for fellow countrymen.I then thought of another more personal example. Recently, my grandmother suffered a life threatening health issue which put her in the hospital. She eventually made a full recovery but during the time she was in the hospital I visited her everyday. We had wonderful conversations and I found myself looking forward to my daily visits with her. Before my grandmother’s hospitalization I rarely looked for opportunities to have this sort of contact with her. It saddens me that it took a tragic event, like almost loosing her, for me to appreciate how nice it is to spend time with her.
As individuals we must overcome the mentality of turning to one another only in times of tragedy. It would be a powerful force for change if we could all make the paradigm shift of caring no matter what the circumstance, of reaching out to both loved ones and strangers and of putting the needs of those around us before ourselves.
I am including with this blog a poem that I read a long time ago which I think compliments the theme of personal responsibility perfectly. I haven’t been able to find the author.
A Builder or a Wrecker?
I passed one day through a lonely town,and saw some man tearing a building down.With a "heave" and "ho" and a husky yell,they swung a beam and a side wall fell.I asked the foreman "Are these men skilled?The type you'd hire if you had to build?""Oh no" he chuckled, "oh no indeed,the common laborer's all I need.Why I can destroy in a day or two,what builders have taken weeks to do."I thought to myself as I walked away,which of these roles have I tried to play.Am I a builder, who works with care,making his tools a ruler and square.Shaping my peers to a well made plan,helping them be the best they can.Or am I a wrecker who walks around,content with the labor of tearing down.
...all by myself
Posted posted by L_Cacioppo @ 2:42 PM
Throughout the class, I was completely comfortable learning about the social responsibility that everyone else was expected to have. I knew very well that the world wasn’t perfect, but I always just considered it to be someone else’s job to fix things. Of course, if I was asked to help, I wouldn’t object; but I didn’t feel it necessary to reach out and discover what I could do on my own. Then we had the “personal responsibility” lecture. It didn’t necessarily make me feel bad about the way that I live my life, but it definitely made me think. I have been learning what to do for the earth and the community for the entire semester, but what happens when there isn’t someone there telling me exactly what I can do to help? It was really encouraging to know that I’m strong enough to begin something big and to know that I don’t need someone else to show me how. I can help in whatever way I feel is important, and I can do it however I feel is effective. Thank you Erin (and class), for teaching me and growing me into a better person.
Our Obligation to Personal Responsibility
Posted posted by Cory Jones @ 1:49 PM
I would argue that we all should bear a large degree of personal responsibility. I think that most students are like me in the sense that we are aware of many issues but do very little to help out. For example, we all know about the many environmental issues that are creating hazards in the world, but what are we doing about it? Every night on the news I see a story exploiting problems in the world; problems that I agree need to be solved. However, I never find myself taking any action to help counter the problem. Complacency has become a major issue within our society. Although we see these issues, I think that we’re so comfortable in our own state that it discourages us from taking action. We’re stuck in the mentality that when something is wrong, someone will probably fix it.