Emmanuel's Academic Blog

2009-12-08T14:27:00.004-05:00

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Filmmaker David Nixon made an appearance at Valencia’s West Campus to talk about his up and coming movie “Letters to God.”

“We’re making something different here,” said Nixon. “This movie is going to change people’s hearts.”

The film is about a boy who ailed with cancer who finds strength and hope in writing letters to God, and in doing so changes the lives of those around him.

He said it provides inspiration and hope to those who can relate to this little boy with cancer. “People really want these kinds of movies.”

Nixon is an Orlando based filmmaker who also created “Facing the Giants,” and “Fireproof.”

Production budget for this movie is set at $3 million, and it's marketing campaign is based on a model that Mel Gibson incorporated into marketing his film “The Passion of the Christ.”

“Mel Gibson opened the door for Christian films and faith-based films,” said Nixon.

He also mentioned that faith-based movies budgeting over $10 million tend to be non-profitable because these are movies that does not reach out to a wide audience.

“Fireproof” had a budget of $3 million dollars as well, and generated $33 million in the box office.

“Letters to God” is scheduled to release April 9, 2010, but it will be a limited release until enough money is generated to release it nationwide.

2009-11-24T12:57:00.004-05:00

Students gathered for Game Night to share their common interest in video games with each other.

This Student Government Association hosted event promoted the importance of history in general, whether its music, politics, video games, etc.

“It’s all about having fun,” said Robert Stio, SGA President. “We also want to promote history, and we can do that with video games like The Beatles Rock Band to show them the history of where today’s music comes from.

Game Day, held Thursday Oct. 10 in West Campus’ HSB building, pits competitors against each other in various video games, mainly The Beatles Rock Band which they dubbed “Travel
Through History to Rock with The Beatles.”

Other popular games being played included the likes of “Madden ’10” and “Sonic the Hedgehog.”

This event also created leeway to spread awareness of the issues SGA is currently facing right now, and the impact of these issues on the Valencia students.

Stio mentions that, “There are many matters to discuss right now such as tax breaks for textbooks on school, and Bright Futures. It’s important that students are aware of these issues so they can get involved and join us to solve these issues.”

According to SGA, the gaming competitions help create synergy and teamwork among the student body.

This is noticed especially with The Beatles Rock Band competition in which groups of
students had a battle of the bands to determine the ultimate rockers.

The winner was the group “The Omauve Avengers” consisted by Brittany Van Epps (vocals), Jessica Sunga (guitar) and Max Rejouis (drummer).

“We had lots of fun,” Sunga mentioned. “We didn’t expect to win, but we did.”

Overall, there were many people enjoying themselves playing all generations of video games and even board games like “Hungry, Hungry Hippos,” and “Operation.”

2009-11-03T13:55:00.002-05:00

ORLANDO, Fla. -- “We’re going to make toothpaste for elephants,” said Professor K.A. Boom as he mixed household chemicals like vinegar, soap, and starch in a two-liter soda bottle with his pale, lanky arms.

The results: an eruption of foam and the sound of kids gasping in excitement.

Jason Blank, commonly known as Prof. K.A. Boom, performed his monthly educational event “Mad Science Lab” at the Florida Mall Barnes & Noble Oct. 10.

“Science can be fun,” said the Barnes & Noble employee. “For kids to learn, it has to be a mix of demonstrative and hands-on teaching.”

Blank created various experiments like bottle rockets, color explosions, and slime.

“The show’s been a success every time,” Blank said. “I just vary it up with different experiments.”

The audience members were having fun, but one particular member was astounded by it.

“I think it’s very cool,” said 12-year-old Cy Morrell from England. “I learned a lot about chemistry, and the slime was very fun.”

Geraldine de Guzman, one of the children’s parents, also found the show to be a very entertaining, learning experience.

“It’s very informative for the young ones,” she said. “It’s fun for kids and adults alike.”

2009-10-13T12:24:00.002-04:00

No Story.

Reading the WSJ

2009-06-15T11:01:00.003-04:00

I did in fact enjoy reading the Wall Street Journal. It's small, well-organized, and gives most of the news that I'm most likely to read online from the AP. I even canceled out my Orlando Sentinel subscription because the WSJ covered more stories and was less cluttered than the Sentinel. However, the stories that I enjoyed the most were the featured front page stories; I definitely agree that the WSJ should chronicle these in a book, they are just that amusing. Overall, reading this newspaper was a very gratifying experience.

Reading the newspaper has indeed helped me learn about the mass media. Now I know more about Google, Yahoo!, Facebook, and Twitter than probably more than half the school, and that's a lot to say for just six weeks of reading. I've also learned about the applications of advertising and public relations and how they interact with each other to boost the effects of each other. I never realized how huge mass media is, and because of reading the newspaper, I now have a better understanding of how the business works.

Reading the newspaper was hands down a better learning experience for me. A textbook is simply a constant, predictable wall of text that often students get hit by. The newspaper is definitely a difference maker; it's refreshing, current and always different. One minute we could be talking about Kindle, and suddenly we can shift to how Microsoft spent eighty to a hundred million dollars on advertising their new search engine. With this learning experience, it's really hard now to revert back to reading out of a textbook.

I'd say the reading assignment didn't have much of an impact in my habits. As I mentioned earlier, I used to read the Sentinel, so not many things changed.

The weekly quizzes are a good way to test our knowledge of the stories, but it could be a bit tricky if you don't get the paper like you're supposed to. However, I did find out that someone was stealing my paper and I caught the son of the gun red-handed, so I won't be having a problem with the newspaper anymore. I do suggest though, that instead of quizzing all the time, we should have discussions of the stories, and have everyone participate in the discussion. Simply call a name out from the attendance sheet and allow them to speak about the subject matter. If the person doesn't have anything to say about it, then he/she loses points from "discussion time."

I'll definitely renew my subscription, no question about that. I think it's a great paper, and it's really worth the time and investment.

"How do you use the internet (fun/social, school, work)? When, where is it used most often? How can it be better for you? What Should It Do?"

2009-06-15T10:57:00.008-04:00

I mostly use the internet for news, watching movies/TV, chatting with friends and gaming. I get the news from BBC News, the AP, and since I get the Wall Street Journal, I get to take a look at the news online as well. Even though I don't watch TV often, I usually go to the internet to watch a Premier soccer match.

However, I use the internet mostly for gaming, especially on my Xbox. I enjoy generally playing online games from my Xbox like Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead and Rock Band, but I also play from the computer such as World of Warcraft and The Sims. From my Xbox I can also download movies with Netflix service, which usually has better quality than my computer because mine is from the stone age.

I also use the internet to keep in touch with my friends and family. I mostly use my Facebook to keep in touch indirectly or directly with them. I chat with my friends through I.M. as well by using such services as Windows Live and AOL, allowing me to have direct contact with even more capabilities such as voice and video chat. Then again, I also use my Xbox to chat. Mostly it is voice chat when playing games, or I can do video chat with them if I'm not playing a game. Since Xbox belongs to Microsoft for the most part, I also have access to Windows Live, and since Microsoft is planning to add Facebook, Twitter and other social network sites to the console's software, I'll be less dependent on my computer to keep in touch with my "homies".

On a more humorous note, here's a comical video that relates to an entertainment aspect (one of the largest ones) of the internet: Fun Related Topic Video

Movie Watching: Theater or Home?

2009-06-10T13:37:00.002-04:00

I prefer going to the theater than watching a movie at home because of the social experience. I like going along with big groups of friends and sit down and watch a movie chomping on popcorn and other foods like candy and nachos (ooo nachos!). Although lately I've noticed that Hollywood has been slacking off lately with the films; they are not as good as they used to be. I've even noticed how two different feature movies have the same theme. It's ridiculous!

I don't buy DVDs because I have no use for them. I can rent them from my Xbox or watch them on demand with my digital cable service. From the collection aspect? It's not an issue, I already collect videogames so I have plenty of cases to fill the stock.

My Reading Habits and Taste.

2009-06-03T07:56:00.007-04:00

I am proud of my book reading habits because it's something I've been working on since I started reading at age 4. If I'm reading fiction, I always take my time to analyze any details that provide clues as to what will most likely happen next. If I read philosophy at my leisure, I usually read the selections by bits and pieces and not as a whole in order to better understand the message the author is trying to convey. Now if it's for school work, I tend to read a story or text at least 3 times with each time having it's own function.

The first read simply consists of actually reading the selection. The second read involves taking margin notes on important details. On the third read and up I highlight important sentences that tie up to the details that I wrote about and tie them together to better understand the story or text that I read. If I'm having a hard time understanding what I'm reading, I keep reading and making necessary notes on more things that I notice the more I read.

For a genre, it's pretty tough for me to choose, since I like to read anything that catches my eye; I'm more of an eclectic. However, one of my favorite authors of all time is Gore Vidal and his fictional chronicles of Narratives of Empire consisting of books like "Burr", "Lincoln", and "Empire". "Empire" is my top favorite since it portrays the conjunction of government and mass media in the creation of modern day America. I also enjoy reading philosophy books, mostly the works of Plato, Kant and Nietzsche.

To me books are more than just sources of information, they are a gateway to our imagination. I simply love reading a book and imagine myself in the story, and sometimes even be one of the characters in a story. Also every time I read philosophy, I feel like I'm transcending towards a higher power and it gives me a feeling of clarity and understanding on life.

Edward P. Morgan once said: "A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy." I happen to agree with this quote because I believe that reading is a very safe way to explore our imagination and satisfy our curiosity. However sometimes instead of satisfying it, it may encourage us more to go out in the world to discover things for ourselves.

Possible, New Philosophical Concept?

2009-05-20T14:50:00.003-04:00

My ethics professor asked my class yesterday a question that ran deeper than it should have. As my class discussed different ethical theories, it was inevitable that the following question would arise: "Are moral principles discovered, like a scientific fact, or are they created, like a work of art?"

As a rational thinker, people assumed that I would've chosen the first option. However, my answer came to the surprise of everyone (including the professor).

My answer to this question is both. I personally believe that there are certain core moral principles that we as, human beings, discover from within. Since I'm a follower of John Locke's Social Contract theory, I happen to believe that the natural rights that he lists (life, liberty and property) are the premise of my so called core moral principles. The basic morality is to respect these values unconditionally, and in order to do so, other moral values develop in order to protect these.

I've noticed how morals vary among cultures. For instance, middle eastern countries condone polygamy, while in America it's illegal and often frowned upon. Capital punishment is another example that I can provide; it is still practiced in the United States, but many European countries have abolished it. This leads me to think that while the core moral principles are universal, more moral values flourish from these fundamental ones. The ones created from the core moral principles however, may vary from an individual scale to a cultural level. In controversial issues like capital punishment, there are people who argue for it and against it, but the principle in dispute remains the same: respect for life.

As said by Edward Koch, who's for death penalty: "It is by exacting the highest penalty for the taking of human life that we affirm the highest value of human life."Advocates of the death penalty agree that retribution honors the core moral principal, therefore it is morally right to perform such act.

On the other hand, the people who are against it state that, "T he principal arguments against capital punishment is that it is not a deterrent; that it makes those who condemn the person to death, and in particular those who execute them, murderers themselves; that it can never be proportionate to take a life for a life; that it is inconsistent with the principles of [morality...]; and that it is impossible to rectify a mistake."

One can see how different these viewpoints are from afar, yet they are arguing about the same core moral principle. I believe this justifies my point that out of these core moral principles, people may create different moral values and not necessarily share the same views within these principles.

This is simply my opinion on how morals came to be. Hopefully, this makes sense with most of you, even if you don't agree with this concept. I don't believe there is a school of thought in regard to this idea (or at least I haven't been able to find one). However, if there is one out there that I haven't found, please let me know as I would like to share my views on this concept. Also, if the logic of this argument is flawed, but can be modified or fixed in any shape or form, I'd appreciate the contributions.