This Just In...

Kevin Meza, coordinator of the Transfer Center, will speak to Mass Comm 101 classes on Oct. 10 and 11. This is an excellent opportunity to get valuable information on how to transfer to the university of your choice.

Lie Detector

Ever wonder how the same restaurant can get a gushingly positive review from one person ("I will name my first-born son Panini because the paninis were so good") and an absurdly angry rant from the next person ("I've had prison food better than this!")? Part of the answer is that not all reviews are legitimate. In some cases, both the very positive and very negative reviews are fakes.

This National Public Radio story discusses how to tell the fake reviews from the real ones.

Questions...

•Which type of reviews do you generally look at more often: expert reviews or reviews by regular folks? Is there any disintermediation going on with online reviews?

•Have you been able to spot reviews that are probably fake? How were you able to tell?

•In a review, do you look more at the number of stars or the text? Which is more important to you?

•What are examples of decisions that you would not make based on an online review?

Mob Hit

The first MC101 field trip of the semester took place on Thursday, Sept. 20. More than 70 students brought pillows (but no jammies) to participate in a pillow fight organized by students through social media (mostly Facebook). The result was the first-ever MC101 flash mob.

Moodle Help

Your Humble Blogger has gotten several emails from students confused by Moodle, the online course management tool. Below are instructions on how to get Moodle help...

Greetings!

I'm pleased to announce that the 24/7 Moodle Helpdesk is now available for you and your students Moodle questions!

Call 818-240-1000 ext 3457 option 3 for any time Moodle support!

There is also great help at the Technology resource page in the ONLINE CLASSES section of the main campus page.

:)

Connie Lantz
Instructional Technology Specialist
Instructional Services

Friday Flix

Friday Flix is a series of movie screenings on campus on Friday afternoons. MC101 students can receive one field trip credit for going to any of the Friday Flix presentations this semester. NOTE: MC101 students can go to more than one Friday Flix presentation, but they will not earn multiple field trip credits for doing so.

SCREENING THIS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 AT FRIDAY FLIX!

12:30 p.m. San Gabriel 334

"BEN-HUR" (1959)
Directed by William Wyler
Starring Charleton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet, Hugh Griffith
Running time: 222 min.

Ben-Hur is a 1959 American epic historical drama film set in ancient Rome. It won a record 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, an accomplishment that was not equalled until Titanic in 1997 and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003.

A remake of the 1925 silent film of the same name, Ben-Hur was adapted from Lew Wallace's 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ. The screenplay is credited to Karl Tunberg but includes contributions from Maxwell Anderson, S. N. Behrman, Gore Vidal, and Christopher Fry. The motion picture was the most expensive ever made at the time, and its sets were the largest yet built for a film. The picture contains a nine-minute chariot race which has become one of the most famous sequences in cinema. The score composed by Miklos Rozsa was highly influential on cinema for more than 15 years, and is the longest ever composed for a motion picture.

By the late 1950s, court decisions forcing movie studios to divest themselves of theater chains and the competitive pressure of television had caused significant financial distress at MGM. In a gamble to save the studio, and inspired by the success of Paramount Pictures' 1956 Biblical epic The Ten Commandments, studio head Joseph Vogel announced in 1957 that MGM would move forward on a remake of Ben-Hur. Filming started in May 1958 and wrapped in January 1959, and post-production took six months. Although the budget for Ben-Hur was initially $7 million, it was reported to be $10 million by February 1958. It reached $15 million by the time shooting began—making it the costliest film ever produced up to that time. When adjusted for inflation, the budget of Ben-Hur was approximately $120 million in today's dollars.

Ben-Hur received overwhelmingly positive reviews upon its release. The film received a 89% approval rating from critics on aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, with its summary stating: "Uneven, but in terms of epic scope and grand spectacle, Ben-Hur still ranks among Hollywood's finest examples of pure entertainment." Bosley Crowther, writing for the New York Times, called Ben-Hur "a remarkably intelligent and engrossing human drama". Ronald Holloway, writing for Variety, called Ben-Hur "a majestic achievement, representing a superb blending of the motion picture arts by master craftsmen," and concluded that "Gone With the Wind, Metro's own champion all-time top grosser, will eventually have to take a back seat." The chariot race "will probably be preserved in film archives as the finest example of the use of the motion picture camera to record an action sequence. The race, directed by Andrew Marton and Yakima Canutt, represents some 40 minutes of the most hair-raising excitement that film audiences have ever witnessed.

DISCUSSION TO FOLLOW

ALL STUDENTS, FACULTY, STAFF, FRIENDS AND FAMILY ARE WELCOME Two hours Flex credit will be granted for GCC staff if both film and discussion are attended.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 12:30 A.M. San Gabriel 334

Register to Vote

New voters can now register online. You must register by Oct. 22 to vote in the November 6 election.

Credit/No Credit?

Tax credits are a way to attract and keep a favored industry. In recent years, California has offered tax credits for movie productions shot in the state. This is an attempt to combat "runaway production" to other states, where the cost of making movies is cheaper.

But do the tax credits really work? Expert analyses differ. And is it wise or fair for California to give tax breaks to one industry, but not to others? A recent Los Angeles Times article discusses movie industry tax credits.

Questions...

•Why should California maintain tax breaks for movie productions? What are all the reasons?

•Why should California end tax breaks for movie productions? What are all the reasons?

•Why are movie jobs good jobs?

•Why are movie jobs bad jobs?

Food for Thought

Food for Thought is a campus program funded entirely by donations that helps our most economically disadvantaged students. The email posted below tells how to apply for assistance from Food for Thought.

Dear Colleagues,

Applications for "Food For Thought" are now available in the Center for Students with Disabilities (SR 2nd floor). The deadline for applications is Noon on Friday, October 26, 2012. Please encourage any students who might qualify to consider applying. A brief description of the program and eligibility requirements follows:

Food for Thought is designed to provide students with extreme financial need some additional help with basic food costs. Students are awarded food vouchers for a local market for each month of the Fall and Spring semesters that they meet the eligibility requirements. The maximum total award is $1,000. This is a one-time award, and applications from recipients will not be considered in subsequent years.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
In order to be eligible for this program, a student must:

„« Be enrolled in a minimum of 6 units of academic or vocational course work as listed on your current Student Educational Plan (SEP). A copy of your current SEP (signed by a counselor within the last 6 months) must be submitted with your Food for Thought Application form,

„« Have successfully completed at least 12 units of academic or vocational coursework at Glendale Community College,

„« Maintain a cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.0 or higher,

„« Meet state residency requirements of the State of California

„« Have been determined eligible for federal and state financial aid by completing the federal FAFSA form and submitting all other documents required by the Financial Aid Office (located at 110 San Fernando Complex).

„« Have been awarded the (BOG) Board of Governors Enrollment Fee Waiver.

Due to limited resources, not all students who meet the eligibility criteria can be funded. Priority will be given to students with the greatest financial need. Students will be notified of their eligibility status.

====================
Tina Andersen-Wahlberg
Interim Program Manager, Disabled Students Programs and Services
Glendale Community College
Telephone: 818.240.1000 ext. 5488

Students Talk About Race

This is an excellent GCC program that trains students to do good in the community. Below is a notice about it from Hoover Zariani.

Hi Everyone:

Just wanted to make everyone aware of a special opportunity for your students!

The STAR program (Students Talk About Race) is a very unique opportunity for our students to get diversity training as well as valuable facilitator training.

The STAR program trains GCC students as facilitators and places them (in teams of 2-3 students) at local middle and high school to facilitate a discussion on the issues of:

Racism (Individual and Institutional)
Sexism
Homophobia
Prejudice
Stereotypes
and much more!

These topics relate to a variety of classes such as sociology, psychology, history, social science, ethnic studies, child development, etc.

Students who wish to participate MUST ATTEND a training on Saturday, September 22nd from 10-4 p.m. They must SIGN UP FOR THE PROGRAM BY SEPTEMBER 20th. They can come into our office and complete an application or request an application by email. Apps are also available on our website at www.glendale.edu/csi

Thank you for sharing this amazing program with your students. It is a life-changing experience for many who have participated.

Hoover Zariani
Center for Student Involvement (CSI)
President, CSEA Chapter 76
Ext. 5789

Is the Gate Half Open or Half Closed?

John Perry Barlow of the Electronic Frontier Foundation once famously noted that on the Internet the First Amendment is merely a local ordinance. That is to say, not every society places as high a priority on freedom of expression as do the western democracies. And furthermore, even among those nations there is not agreement on what expression is so objectionable that it is not given free speech protection.

"The Innocence of Muslims" probably would not have reached a mass audience in the pre-YouTube era. But today, pretty much any video has an opportunity to be seen by an international audience. The violence resulting from the video in Libya and elsewhere has caused YouTube to examine how much it should bow to local standards. NPR reports.

Questions...

As discussed here, what is "The Heckler's Veto"?

Does the relative lack of gatekeepers on the Internet have something to do with this controversy? If so, how?

Different cultures have different ideas about free speech. Whose values should win out? Why?

What types of videos should be taken down from YouTube? What are the consequences of taking down controversial videos? What are the consequences of not taking them down?

Transfer Center News

Kevin Meza of the Transfer Center sent Your Humble Blogger the following email. It contains some important information for all MC101 students who hope to transfer.

Greetings,

Welcome to the fall semester at GCC. We are sending this email to inform you of some important transfer related news:

We will be hosting a Transfer Fair on Tuesday, September 18 from 10:30am-1:30pm and an evening fair on the same day from 5pm-7pm in the San Rafael Plaza. Representatives from four-year colleges will be on campus to answer your transfer questions.

Attention sociology majors! The UCLA sociology major no longer requires finite math, business calculus, or calculus. The only requirements for the sociology major are sociology 101 and math 136 (statistics).

The Transfer Admission Guarantees (TAG) to the UC campuses are available online (due September 30):

We will host TAG workshops on the following dates:

Wednesday, September 12, 2012 4:00 - 5:00 pm SF 108

Tuesday, September 18, 2012 10:00 - 11:00 am SF 108

Wednesday, September 26, 2012 5:30 - 6:30 pm SF 108

Thursday, September 27, 2012 12:30 - 1:30 pm SF 108

Click here for more information about the TAG Workshops.

As always, we encourage you to add us on Facebook and check our website for important transfer related news.

Sincerely,

Kevin A. Meza, PhD

Transfer Center Coordinator

(818) 240-1000 ext. 5820

Eye of the Beholder

The old saying is that "Art is in the Eye of the Beholder," but maybe pornography is as well. This medianote is about a local art photographer and a series of photos she made of her 8-year-old daughter and posted on Facebook.

They are art, says the Mom, Aimee Boschet. They are beautiful but troubling, says another Facebook user, who flagged the content as objectionable. Facebook agreed, and Boschet's "Ethereal" series of photos can now only be seen on the photographer's personal website.

Los Angeles Times Columnist David Lazarus wrote about this controversy and the balance between freedom of expression and protecting children.

Questions...

What do you think of the "Angel" photo on the photographer's personal website? Is it art?

Is Facebook more like a newspaper (responsible for all its content) or a telephone company (a common carrier with no control over its content)?

What do you think of crowdsourcing morality?

Do you believe Facebook acted appropriately?

MC101 Flash Mob Contact Information

I got an email on Monday saying that efforts to create a MC101 student flash mob have begun. Below is the contact information...

Hi Mike -

I started a facebook group / e-mail list for those students interested in doing a flash mob. The tentative date is xxx.

This is, of course, open to your other sections, so if you would announce it in class, that would be great.

Here's the facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/440938375949335/ and they can e-mail me at elvaquero.editor@gmail.com

--
Thanks!

― Jane Pojawa