Googleopoly

Monopolies are not always a scary thing. If Shoelace Tips Inc. monopolizes production of the little hard tips on shoelaces, we can always switch to different types of laces or buy shoes without laces if we so choose.

But what about Google? Is it nearing Monopoly status? Does it matter if we see the world through Google eyes? Some European regulators think so. NPR reports.

Questions...

•Does Google shape how we think about the world? How?

•Is it a good thing or a bad thing if Google is a near monopoly?

•What do you think about the European "right to be forgotten"?

•Does the Internet tend to create monopolies, or is it more anti-monopoly?

Undeclared Majors Workshops

Your Humble Blogger received the following email recently. MC101 students can earn two points of extra credit for attending one of the workshops listed below. Please provide some verification that you attended.

Hello GCC Faculty,

Please let your students know that we will be offering our Undecided/Undeclared Major Career Workshops throughout Summer 2014!

*If you have students who are Undecided about their Major/Career, please refer them to this workshop! Selecting a major can be a difficult process for many students. This workshop will provide them with the necessary career exploration/decision making tools and resources to select a major(s) they enjoy.

*For those who will be teaching during the summer this would be a great extra credit assignment! As you know the Student Success Initiative (3SP) requires that students declare their major within a certain time frame or risk losing their BOG fee waiver and priority registration.

*Reservations Are Required And Can be Made through the Career Center (818) 240-1000, Ext. 5407 or through Academic Counseling (818) 240-1000, ext. 5918.

*Printed flyers are available in the Career Center and Academic Counseling.

Workshop Schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, July 1 5-7pm SR 115
Tuesday, July 8th 5-7pm SR 115
Tuesday, July 15th 5-7pm SR 115
Tuesday, July 22nd 5-7pm SR 115

MC101 SI begins on July 1

Mass Comm 101 features weekly tutoring sessions, called Supplemental Instruction or SI for short. All SI sessions are optional and extra-credit.

Mike Arvizu will be your SI leader. The first Supplemental Instruction session of the summer will be held on Tuesday, July 1 from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. in Camino Real 137 (CR137, the same classroom your class is in). If you choose to come to SI, bring your textbook and notes, and be ready to answer study questions.

The SI study group is also on Facebook.

Welcome Summer 2014 Students!

Hello, MC101 students. Club MediaNote is back in operation for the summer session.

The first MediaNote of the semester is about the power that television wields in defining what is normal or desirable. Where we should want to live, what possessions are desirable, what behaviors are cool and who it is OK to love are all presented to us through the television screen. NPR reports.

•How does television define what is normal or desirable? Does it ever do the opposite by calling out certain things as undesirable?

•What are some of the ways that TV characters, behaviors and situations have changed since the 1950s?

•Does TV tend to lead public opinion on how we think about various lifestyles, or doees it tend to follow public opinion? When has it led and when has it followed?

•Will TV have as much power in defining what is normal or desirable in the Internet Age? Why?