week 5: "Survey of teens and adults about the use of personal electronic devices and head phones"

In the article, "Survey of teens and adults about the use of personal electronic devices and head phones" the author Joseph Zogby describes two surveys he conducted. The first was a national telephone survey in which adults where asked approximately 39 questions. The second was a national telephone surveying high school students that had approximately 30 questions. The questions where on sample characteristics such as location, age, ethnicity, income, gender, and education levels. The point of the survey was to see how much adults and young people know about hearing loss and how concerned they are about it. High school students had more symptoms for hearing loss; also African Americans and his Hispanics are more likely to be affected. This is said to be contributed to the high percentage of students who owned walk mans and cell phones compared to adults. Teens are more likely to also use these products for longer time and at a louder volume. Although equal number of adults and teens say they are not concerned about hearing loss, while teens are more likely to say they are concerned.

It is interesting to me to hear that hearing loss is such a concern for teens. Products such as the iPod have made this more of a concern today.   Teens listen to their music at blasting volumes while adults are more likely to play them quieter. I know I listen to my iPod at full blast at times and it concerns me to think that hearing loss has never crossed through my mind. I agree with the article that magazines are a good way to catch girl’s attention on the issue.

Week 4: "Accounting for Taste"

In Eric Gardner’s, "Accounting for Taste" there are several topics comparing taste to art, music, and even political affiliation. The article as a whole is very interesting because it offers a variety of appealing topics as well as pictures.  One of my favorite topics was that of Thrill Seekers. In the article it states

“Sensation seekers are also particularly drawn to pornographic and horror films”.

This is interesting to me because I would consider myself to me be a type of sensation seeker. I have always been the one to enjoy roller coasters in my family. The higher and faster, the better the ride is.  I also enjoy watching horror films but I am terrified all throughout. I compare the butterflies I get from dropping 200 feet at about 60 miles per hour to that of screaming my head off when a killer attacks a girl in the woods.   The negative consequences from going on a ride are far more possible than chucky being real and killing me and yet I am willing to go on the roller coaster.

                The other topic that really intrigued me was Deciphering the Taste Code, in where they judged people based on their musical choices. The article does state that this is difficult because geographic location and other factors contribute to a person’s character. I’m glad they included this statement because I don’t agree with some of their analysis on how people can be judged. People with vast interests in music are not able to fall into a category and their results are too narrow. 

week 3: "Exposure to degrading versus non degrading music lyrics and sexual behavior among youth".

In the article, "Exposure to degrading versus no degrading music lyrics and sexual behavior" from the journal from The American Academy of Pediatrics, we learn about the idea of popular music contributing to earlier sexual experiences. In the article one study argued that that by listening to degrading music, youth were more likely to initiate intercourse and more advanced levels of noncoital sexual activity. In a more recent study they tested longitude results for listening to degrading lyrics over time and the percentage of people engaging in sexual intercourse. They also discovered that race and gender played no role in this increase.  The article goes on to say 

“our results suggest that the relationship between exposure and behavior may be casual in nature, because we controlled for teens’ previous sexual experience, as well as factors like parental monitoring”. 

This is interesting because I would have believed outside factors where a big influence in the results. Little Kim in specific is targeted for having degrading lyrics. She describes in one line what she is capable and willing to do. I would be more likely to blame Lil Kim’s wardrobe as being a bad influence than her music.

 Some people don’t even listen to lyrics when playing a song on their iPod; the beat is what catches the attention more.I personally don’t think lyrics would have an effect on a person’s sexual activity because some people mark a personal choice not to engage in any type of sexual activity and listen to “degrading “lyrics on a daily basis. 

week 2 "The last days of brother ray"

In David Ritz "The last days of brother ray", Ritz discusses how he met Ray Charles and and their conversations over the years. He starts off with a quote that Ray Charles told him when he first learned about his cancer,

" Death.. is the one motherfucker that aint ever going away".

This quote shows the kind of man Ray Charles was. He was crude and realistic. Ritz first began by writing an autobiography for Ray Charles  and over the years kept in contact with him to know more about his life and possibly write another book about him but in one of the calls he discovers Ray has cancer. Ray would act strong and even book tours but he was very ill, he told Ritz a few humorous stories about why he felt blessed to have lived that long, how he was becoming closer to God, and in the end about how he loved the people he worked with. Charles told Ray about his addiction and his feelings about God. I admired that as a new writer Ritz allowed this piece on Ray Charles to be so real and raw. He didn't edit out Charles foul language or unappealing life style. The fact that he made it raw allowed the reader to feel more connected to the piece and truly meet Ray. Ray Charles was different from all other celebrities in that he allowed someone to publish a work in which he was portrayed exactly they way he is from the good to the bad, including his drug addiction.