Final Feature Broadcast video for extra credit

Copy Edit the World

Professor McCune, I've included a couple more pictures for extra credit on the Copy Edit the World post. Thank you!

Focus story exercise

Lillian Garland does not appear to have any physical disability whatsoever. She is playing with her five-year-old daughter in their living room and looks like any other young mother. And yet in 1981, Garland lost her job on the basis of a very popular medical condition which is still legally described as a "disability". A condition that 55 million working American women might face at some point in their lives. Garland was pregnant. She became pregnant while she worked as a receptionist at the California Federal Savings and Loan Association in LA and when she was ready to go back to work, six weeks later, her employer told her the position had been filled and refused to offer her another job.
The bank's action violated the 1978 California Fair Employment and Housing Act, which states that employers must provide up to four months unpaid leave for any "female employee affected by pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions.' Garland sued California Federal under theCalifornia law and the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-2 Tuesday to uphold it. But the ruling came five years after the birth of Garland's baby.

Fish out of water

Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose, the Bay Area’s South Indian classical dance company, presented their 2009 Fall concerts “Nritya Sangati: Dance Progressions.” on Saturday at San Jose's Mexican Heritage Theater. The concert was held at 7 p.m. and featured the work of special guest composer Kartik Seshadri and choreography by Abhinaya Artistic Director and Founder Mythili Kumar, Rasika Kumar and Malavika Kumar.

The event was presented in the Bharatanatyam-style, which is one of the oldest of the classical dance forms in India, also known as the fifth Veda. The name depicts the combination of: BHA- Bhava (Expression), RA- Raga (Music) and TA- Tala (Rhythm), and is known for its grace, purity,and sculpturesque poses. "Nritya Sangati" is a dance which features vignettes of Indian immigrant women.

As a viewer of this amazing spectacle and an outsider to this rich culture, I was convinced that Indians use their body as a medium of communication; their dances conveying thoughts and emotions. Some of the dances depicted food-gathering and harvesting as well as other rituals and traditions. I could tell that it was the experience of their unique dances than united all the people who had gathered in the theater to share something which distinguished their culture from all other cultures. Indians believe that dance has been created by God and given to people as a gift, and therefore it is considered divine. And even though many Indian families are dispersed in different parts of the world, they proudly preserve their dance traditions as part of their national heritage.

The style of dancing also seemed closely connected with religion. The main theme was the victory of good over evil. The Fifth Veda is used in reference to the foundation of the Hindu religion and philosophy, and some of the dances were performed by beautiful women whose dance moves expressed rituals such as the waking of the Gods or chasing away bad spirits from the temple. Throughout the whole performance, male and female dancers seemed to follow intricate patterns and geometric poses with incredible speed.

The second part of the spectacle featured modern stories of immigrant Indian women who struggle with homesickness and the need to assimilate in new communities. The dancers literally told stories using their fingers to create meaningful gestures. Another impressive thing to observe were the costumes of colorful silks, and the jewels on the dancers. Overall, the concert was an amazing experience and I highly recommend their next event which will be on November 15th at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco.

 

IMHO # 2

Yesterday, my media law professor mentioned something which shocked me to the core. She said that following the 9/11 attacks, different compensations were paid to the victims, depending on their annual income. Thus, the high-paid Wall Street executives' families received millions while other families received much less. All 43 workers at the Windows on the World restaurant in the Trade Center were killed and their relatives did not receive any financial help because the victims were in the country illegally or their relatives were afraid to ask for help because they were illegal.

Ken Feinberg was the administrator of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. In that job, he had to put a price tag on the dead. He had to decide what people's pain and their relative's role in society were worth. According to a testimony of Feinberg, families of 2,880 victims received $5,996,261,002.08 in compensation; in addition, 2,680 physical injury victims were paid $1,053,154,534.56 by the 9/11 Fund. The average award for a death claim was $1,267,880.49; the average award for a physical injury claim was $392,968.11. Information on the exact compensation of families of Wall Street executives is very hard to find but most documents state that the number is substantially higher.

The businesses which were affected received an average of 23.3 billion for property damage, according to the 173-page analysis by the Rand Institute for Civil Justice which examined the compensation system. This is 61 % of the overall benefits !?!? Property damage thus has a higher price tag than the loss of human lives.

I understand that the way compensations were distributed depended on the economic hole created by the loss of a person’s life. But it turns out that even in death, Wall Street still stands higher than Main street and rich people's lives apparently seem to have more value than poor people's lives. And in my humble opinion, this is not ok. What happened to the American Creed that "All people are created equal"?

Word of the week # 10

1.    Coulis
2.    Read it in a Food Network's recipe.
3.  "Food Network invites you to try this Lemon Mousse with Blackberries and Raspberry Coulis recipe"
4.    A thick sauce made with pureed vegetable or fruit and often used as garnish.
5.    Topping off a delicate dish with a simple coulis can bring it to perfection. 

Targeting Audiences

The target audience for the Nivea product is women, age 18 to 35, who can have different jobs and education levels because this product is not expensive at all and thus, many women can afford to have it. Since the motto is "beautiful moments are born in the shower", they're most likely targeting single or unmarried women. The ad is using the false connection between the product and the feelings of physical attractiveness of women, and happiness. Using their douche gel won't make them prettier or happier but that's how they sell their product. The common theme, of course, is sex appeal. They're trying to target women who want to be independent, sexy, and fun. Even being promiscuous can be seen as a good thing because otherwise, what would a man have to do with the fact that beautiful moments are born in the shower?

The second advertisement targets men because its product is a new cologne. They're also targeting young males, and since the woman is sniffing a business shirt, then most likely the men they're targeting have median or above the median income. Again, there is sex appeal, men want to be attractive and this ad makes them feel that their concern for their looks is a sign of masculinity. His fragrance will "stay on her mind" even after he's gone, or at least that's the message. Looks like the authors of the ad played with the light in order to make it appear as if it's nighttime and the girl is also wearing a sexy and provocative lingerie.

Both ads are far from being information rich and they are not directed at an involved audience. Both feature peripheral qualities- the pictures. They don't feature celebrities as role models but they feature attractive women. In the first ad, most women want to be like the woman on the picture, and in the second ad, all men want to have an affair with a "hot chick". So the message is "Use our product and we'll help you get there" but all they're doing is playing on people's needs and insecurities in order to make profits...