Week 14

Again, presentations were great everyone. I think a huge improvement from the first ones. I was quite impressed with many group’s posters… they looked so professional compared to my group’s. It really does make me want to go out and get involved. It makes me want to get the flu shot (I never have before), volunteer with Shakti, apply for food stamps, and use the trolley more than I already do. It also frustrates me that my apartment complex doesn’t have recycling. I mean seriously, these days who doesn’t have recycling? and there are over 1,000 apartments. We could save a lot. I just might have to write a letter to management. Anyway, thank you everyone for inspiring me!

Week 13

I really like this topic of Entertainment and Popular Culture. Sometimes I think it is easier to learn or remember something when you are being entertained by something you choose, whether it be a movie, TV show or song. It can be easier to learn when you have something to relate the message to, like a story or character. In class we don’t usually pick the lecture topic and even if it is of interest, it can be easy to forget when a professor is standing in front of the class preaching to you. But the idea of people learning by putting health topics out there in popular shows or movies I think is brilliant. The popular shows reach thousands of people and they are choosing to watch the show, it is not as if we are “forcing” this topic on them. I would venture to guess that many don’t even realize that they are learning about health while watching an episode of Friends, 90210 or as Laura mentioned Saved By the Bell, yet they will remember how Rachel, Donna, or Slater handled a situation. The only problem, which is a huge problem, is when the writers give false information. Even so I think it is a good way to get people talking and to get messages out there.

I also thought the idea of the communication contract was interesting. We learned that the persuasion contract is when the message is to persuade someone about something and the consumers job is to evaluate the message. Dr. E used the example of going into a used car lot and a salesperson approaches you. They are going to try to talk you into buying something and immediately the customer is a little defensive and has their guard up. The other type of contract is the entertainment contract. Their job is to give you a good time, where the customer’s job is to suspend disbelief. The example in class was going to the movie theater. You are there to be entertained, perhaps you are there for comedy. So their job is to entertain you with humor. Immediately you go into it with open arms and your guard down. This is important to think about when we’re promoting health and trying to get out health messages. We don’t want to approach it so that people have their guards up from the beginning. We want them to have an open mind about it, so we have to give them what they want (i.e. comedy).

Week 11

The internet is brilliant, we have just about everything we need at our fingertips: information, news, how to lose weight, Christmas shopping, communication tools, work, grocery shopping, etc. it is endless and virtually there is no reason to have to leave our homes. How lazy is that!? All we need is a spoon and someone else to put it in our mouth. What ever happened to being resourceful… I mean in the sense of going to the library to find a book or a journal. My entire lit. review could be done without leaving my computer. So instead of searching the library I am searching for a new coffee shop that offers free WiFi. Sad. The unfortunate part of the internet is not only that people are being lazy and the obesity epidemic is on the rise, but that people aren’t seeking out alternative forms of communication for information. We get so used to clicking the mouse, often I think we forget other things exist.

Just to vent for a minute, Sunday night I was trying to reserve a plane ticket to Oregon for Christmas time with a $100 voucher that I had. (FYI I got the voucher because last time I flew United they canceled my plane and said I couldn’t fly out until 24 hours later!) Apparently you cannot use the gift certificate online. So I had to call customer service. Well, now that everything is automated these days it took me 30 min. to talk to a real person. The connection was terrible so the man could not hear me very well, so that was another disaster trying to give him all of my information. So an hour later I finally get the ticket, or so I thought, and THEN he tells me that in order for me to actually get the ticket I have to go to the airport within 24 hours to retrieve the ticket!!! Are you kidding? So Monday morning I go to the airport, pay to park and stand in line forever. I finally get helped and something is wrong, my confirmation # isn’t right, nothing is coming up. Another hour later I finally get a PAPER ticket (who uses paper tickets anymore anyway?) of which I will probably lose in the next 2 months. IF ONLY I COULD HAVE GOTTEN THE TICKET ONLINE!

As far as Public Health is concerned I think that since the Web 2.0 (or higher) is where the world is going, we might as well and use it to our advantage as health promoters and get out there and make the most of it, like it or not. I agree that the internet can cause confusion, especially because there are all different levels of education, literacy, etc. With that much info. how do you know what is true and what isn't. Some know what to believe and what may need to be looked into a little deeper instantly. Others are more gullible, like me, if it seem like it makes sense and it sounds like a credible source I buy into it. I think the other thing we run into with the web is that we might be heard, but are we heard by the people we want to hear us?

Week 10

Well, last week was quite the week for me. Being from Oregon, I’ve never really been apart of a natural disaster like the fires in S.D. last week, I mean the worst we have is a downpour of rain 9 months out of the year. It is possible to have thick fog, hail or perhaps a little flooding, but where I grew up and did my undergrad they NEVER closed school. I’m pretty sure we all fell walking around campus due to the layers of ice in the winter, but they would never close campus for just a little black ice. Side note: I’m pretty sure if San Diego got ice, campus would probably be closed because people would think it is another natural disaster. Have you seen people drive here in the rain? Okay, at least those out-of-staters know what I am talking about. A little off topic and I’m not trying to make light of the seriousness of these fires nor devastation that occurred here last week. I was a lucky one who lives in Mission Valley and was not directly affected by the fires, however, the first couple days I think was a little scary for everyone. It is so strange to me to try to think of the most important things I have that I would want to take with me if I would have had to evacuate. The most random things came to mind first. I mean seriously, do I really need band aids? I’m not buying those darn text books again! Anyway, my heart goes out to the families who lost their homes, pets and animals and to the firefighters (I had friends out there), police, military and volunteers for their continued hard work in battling the flames and getting people out of harms way. It is also interesting what Dr. E said in class on Monday, referring back to the river analogy from the first week. The first few days the news was all that was on TV, then regular programming started coming back slowly and now it is fairly normal, but still very popular in the news. It is just interesting how the media works, it was very full last week with fire information, and soon it will be fairly non-existent.

In addition to last week’s fires, I lost my 12 year old German Sheppard, Rainee, (90 pound puppy to me) due mostly to old age. Thinking back about her, she was the best listener I knew. Never judging, never had anywhere else she’d rather be, always comforting and always willing to give you a hug and a kiss AND you always felt better after talking to her because usually she made you smile and laugh. This reminds me of how Dr. E is always telling us we should be better listeners and that it will get us a long way in life. I agree. Everyone should be more like a family pet. : )

As far as the guest lecture on Monday about PR…

For someone who really isn’t all that interested in PR as a career, this presentation was valuable in the sense that many of the points made about marketing clients can be applied to other aspects of life including public health campaigning or job hunting. The points included: figuring out who you are (SWOT: strength, weaknesses, opportunities & threat), how are you different/better, goals (specific, trackable, time bound & measurable), networking, using media publicity and following up.

When the guest speaker said that her mother never understood what she did, it reminded me of when I tell people I am studying Public Health. In my experience they always seem to responds with “that’s cool” or “that’s interesting” as if they know, but have a confused look on their face. If they ask a following question it is usually, “so what do you want to do with that” or “so what exactly is that” or else they immediately think of medical things. While Public Health is becoming better known, a lot of people don’t really know what it is.

Interestingly enough this guy started talking to me on the trolley today on my way to school. He asked what I was studying. I responded with “I am getting my Master’s in Public Health”. His response was, “so what are you going to work at FEMA or something?” I laughed thinking he was kidding because of the fake press conference that happened last week. I then realized he hadn’t heard about that and was serious.