Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Love in Bloom... Again

This Thursday in Carver Hall at  9:30pm is the premiere of Love in Bloom Again, the sequel to Love in Bloom which premiered last spring semester. The creator of the script for the short film Love in Bloom is Bloomsburg University employee Michael Digiorgio, Mike works closely with many student working of the Mass Communication department and decided to recruit them for these short stories. Love in Bloom is stories everybody has in college so no matter what you can relate to the story, not to mention its hilarious. The best part of all of this is that student directed, shot, and acted in each scene. This project really give the students of the Mass Communications department a chance to work on a fun and interesting project with creative freedom. I actually had a small role in one of the scenes where I got the chance to act with me boyfriend. I don't want to dish any details but the scene is a wacky comedy kinda love story? well you will just have to check it out if you are in the Bloomsburg area. 

Tehran's Air Pollution



            The article I looked at was about Tehran's air pollution due to its very large population and geographic features. In the article it explains that like Los Angels, Tehran is surrounded by mountains keeping the toxic air in but that Tehran pollution is 4 times worse than that of Los Angles.  What makes this situation worse is the sanctions on refined gasoline imposed by the United States has made the people in Iran resort  to making their own gasoline which has much worse admissions known as "bathtub gas".
            The politics of the region around oil and gasoline have a direct connection with the environmental problems facing Iran's capital. Due to Iran's economic situation Iranian people are forced to make cheaper environmentally threatening decisions i.e. "bathtub gas". What this means for the people of Tehran are major health implications from the toxic air. Many people in this area are sick or even dying from the pollution, People don't even want to go outside. As well as people in cities near Tehran and other parts of that region people may be affected by this pollution since there is just mass amounts.
            The situation in Tehran will effect many aspects of the region such as economic development, public health, and population growth. In the article it talks about how Iran;s currency lost 40 percent of its value, leaving a lot of iranian people wondering if the entire economy is going to collapse. The economy in Tehran is defiantly being effect by the pollution problems. Tourism to the capital is going to be very low if people don't even want to be outside. Many people in this region may be even trying to leave the area and migrate somewhere with better air quality which will hurt the economy even more. With the economy int he state it is in Iran the chances of much globalization will be pretty low. The opportunities for growth are just not there.

 Not only are politics effecting the environment in Tehran but also the population. The article mentions that Tehran is on of the most polluted cities in the world. To cut down on some of the air pollution they have enforced a strict traffic control measure that only allows cars with even number license plate to only drive on even days and odd licenses plates to drive on odd days. There are just to many people pack into one small area and the polluted air can't be filtered out. Many people in this area are sick or even dying from the pollution, People don't even want to go outside.

Monday, May 6, 2013

More on Ronda Rousey

While looking over Yahoo! today I saw an article with my girl Ronda Rousey so you know Im going to talk about it. In an article form MMAweekly.com it talks about how Ronda was named one of the top 50 women who are changing the world by Business Insider. Joining Rousey on the list is First Lady Michelle Obama and Melinda Gates ( wife of Bill Gates) to name a few. Rousey has made it on the list for being the first Women's bantamweight champion in the UFC after years of refusing to put women on a fight card Ronda and opponent Liz Carmouche where the fist women to fight in the octagon. Now we have seen three different female fights in the UFC and there are plenty more to come.  Not only is Ronda and amazing martial artist, but she is also a great sales person, on selling herself and the UFC brand. Women's MMA has grown dramatically thanks to Rousey trail blazing the path for other badass women. Ronda also appeared on the cover of the ESPN body issue last year but most recently was chose to take the cover of the ESPN  15 year anniversary issue. Not only that but Ronda and her up coming opponent Cat Zingano are the coaches for the new season of Tuf 18. Needless to say we are going to see a lot more from this arm baring beauty.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Social Media

I recently read an article by the Wall Street Journal that talks about how Facebook has seen a drop in users since their peak in August 2012. The article talks about how the number of users is measured by how many people log into Facebook through their PC and the Facebook's user-ship isn't getting smaller its actually growing because of mobile devices. Although the numbers of Facebook users on computers is falling, Facebook is seeing a boom in their mobile apps. I think tis is something really important to look at, the media today is changing completely with social media and the way people are consuming. With the availability of smart phones more and more people do not go on the internet through computers anymore, they just use their cell phones. As far as Facebook is concerned, I believe that their days are numbered. As a young mass communications student I get to see what today's generation is into as far as media consumption and I have seen a spike in Twitter user's compared to Facebook and I think this trend will keep happening. Just like Myspace, Facebook will be a social media site of the past with only older generations logging on thinking its cool. Just in the past year I would have to say that my use of Facebook has been cut in half, especially now that I have a smartphone. What doesn't work about the site for me is that 1. its known to be an eye sore for employers. 2. you can never get off of Facebook which I don't like at all. 3. It's just not cool anymore. The world of social media is expanding and although Facebook was one of the trail blazers in the movement they are slowly getting push out for newer "cooler" sites.

http://stream.wsj.com/story/corporate-intelligence/SS-2-60962/SS-2-225003/