Animal Rights Informative Speech

My speech focused on the animal rights issue of animals used in experimentation. I thought it was a good topic because many people have conflicting views on whether or not testing on animals is ethic, usually dependent on what reason the experimentation is taking place. Medical research seems to be seen as more ethical because it's done in the hopes of benefiting mankind. Testing cosmetics on animals, however, is widely viewed as cruel and unnecessary and much support for cruelty-free shopping exists.  Finally, understanding that money is the underlying source that drives animal experimentation is crucial in examining this as an animal rights issue. The money saved from not using human subjects in experimentation, as well as the profits from testing and then marketing new products, make animals the perfect participants for researchers to exploit.

Dalton Sherman

Dalton Sherman's speech to bring in the new school year was unbelievably motivational to both his audience and even to us viewers seeing it at a later time. His repetition of the word "believe" seemed to be more emotional and invigorating every time he said it. Also remarkable was the way he included each and every audience member into the importance of his message, right down to janitors and lunch ladies. While his age surely garnered the attention of the audience from the beginning, the way he worked the stage and animated his gestures made sure that nobody in the audience became bored or missed a word he had to say. I don't think anyone could have done a better job at inspiring the Dallas area staff and faculty before going into a new school year, and I cant imagine how Dalton will use his skills as he continues to grow up.

The Maslow Collection at the Sordoni Art Gallery

Overall, the pieces from the Maslow Collection that were selected to be shown in the Sordoni Art Gallery combined to form a beautiful exhibit. Some pieces that I found particularly impressive were the works of Ellsworth Kelly, Jerry Buchanan, and Will Mentor. Kelly's "Untitled Orange State" was simple, yet bright and abstract in its possible meanings. Buchanan's very visually appealing "Haywire" looked like perfected graffiti done in various earthy colors and was completed with the interesting medium of charcoal, oil, acrylic, and plywood. Also impressive was Will Mentor's "don ottavios desire", which although was painted, was so finely detailed it looked like a computer-edited printout.

Beacon: "Challenge of exams shouldn't be discovering them"

Amanda Leonard's short opinion article explains an unknown option Wilkes students have pertaining to each departments often required 101 courses, that being the option to test out of them at a fee of only $90 per credit.She also voices her opinion on that fact that the school and advisers seldom, if ever, inform student's of this option when they could be taking higher-level classes that pertain to their major rather than spend time on subjects they were already exposed to.

In reaction to her article, I believe there are many reasons the school fails to inform students of this "testing-out" option to entry level courses. For instance, she doesn't clearly explain whether or not the student then receives those credits on their transcript or if it simply allows them to take higher level courses. If it's the case that they don't receive the credits, advisers may not inform students due to the fact that they would have less opportunity to earn enough credits to graduate. Unfortunately, the more likely answer as to why advisers neglect to inform students of this option is the thousands of dollars the school would lose if a student tested-out of most of their 101 classes!

Bill Cosby

I chose celebrity Bill Cosby as a famous public speaker to discuss for a variety of reasons. As an actor and comedian, Cosby later in life become a well respected speaker for college commencements and general  speeches on social issues involving African Americans. I find him to be a notable public speaker for the informal way he addresses audiences, unsprisingly using humor as a vehicle for even serious subjects. Also, I find Cosby's graduation speeches to be uplifting in the sense that he pushes self-respect and pride in what they have accomplished.

Additionally, Bill Cosby has come under criticism for how his tough-love stance when addressing African Americans in our society. In his speeches, he commonly puts pressure on parents to push education and self-respect on their children rather than money and material objects, as well as urges African American people to focus on improving their lives rather than focusing on the hardships they faces in the past.

In conclusion, Bill Cosby's witty use of humor as a vehicle in addressing education and pride is what makes him an excellent motivational speaker.

"The World is Flat"

Thomas Friedman's viewpoint that the world is flat was delivered very well in his speech and definitely made me think further into how much technology has influenced the workforce we as students will soon be entering. On one hand, you can see how great the internet and technology has made the world, creating opportunities for people to work towards success with people they otherwise would not have been able to. On the other hand, the idea that the world has in fact become flat is threatening to those Americans seeking employment now and in the future, such as in the case of college students. I felt this was quite negative and threatening in the sense that the flattening of the world through technology has made the outsourcing of many jobs the norm in our country. Regardless, Friedman made his viewpoint very clear to the viewer, citing both personal experiences and obvious aspects of everyday life that people seem to have missed.

However, I found that Friedman left out many important, and somewhat obvious, ideas in his speech in order to draw more support for his argument. For instance, while discussing the McDonald's order-taker possibly being in another location far away from the restaurant, the fact of that matter is that this is simply one job in the restaurant, while most other jobs, such as managers, cooks, and maintenance, cannot be outsourced form the restaurant. Other jobs, such as the practical entire health care field and civil service jobs, will never be outsourced for obvious reasons, which leads me to once conclusion. After listening to Thomas Friedman's speak about the ideas he based his book on, I find many of his views do open our eyes to how technology has vastly changed the world, but it is important to remember that this is as threatening in all aspects as it seems.