Project 3 Reflection: stressful

For this oh, so, stressful project, I suppose I did well conducting my interviews and coming up with a decent argument. I did well being professional while interviewing the professor. My argument was supported with an accredited professor and a student applying to graduate school. These two people were very relevant to the argument and my interviews with them definitely made my paper much more strong. I struggled with just about everything else. Creating the audio section of the project was tedious beyond belief. I wish I had counted the amount of times I recorded and rerecorded my sections of the paper; although I would have no doubt lost count. I learned that my hate for technology is because I am incompetent with it. I also learned a lot about my major that I did not know. I learned about the competitiveness involved in graduate school. I learned that I wasn’t the only student worried, even students applying to graduate school are worried that the things they have accomplished in their four years as a Speech and Hearing Sciences major might not just make the tight window of acceptance. My writing process needs to be more planned. I need to start creating an outline so that while I’m writing the paper it is easy for me to create a better argument and stay on track, especially during the interviews. I got a lot of information that was not useful in my paper. I should have done a better job of keeping our conversation in range for my project, maybe by developing more specific questions. For my recording process, what don’t I need to change? I need to learn how to speak more professionally and understand technology better. I feel like I just sounded very awkward. I feel like I sounded like I was reading too much, like too scripted. I should either read slower or with more enthusiasm, but I just feel like if I was listening to my broadcast, I would not enjoy it.  As for my argument, I feel as though it was average. It could have been a bit stronger. I think that both my interviews were good, but my personal input should have been more put together. I needed maybe more actual facts or to include a personal opinion. Outside of the university, I will use my interview skills that I learned when applying for jobs or when talking to someone of authority at work. Conducting a supportive argument will also be useful in the workplace. Finding credible people to interview and being able to do so professionally is a key skill for later in life. Also, learning how to record and edit and sound professional electronically will be a good skill possibly one day in the work force.

Script Draft: Speech and Hearing Sciences major

There are over 250 undergraduate majors to choose from at Arizona State University. Speech and hearing sciences is one of these choices. Speech and hearing sciences is a Bachelor of Science degree. In this major, students study the normal aspects of the communication process. There is specific focus in anatomy and physiology of the hearing mechanism, speech, language, and hearing science, and the human communication system, including normal development of speech and language. Students can take classes for the speech and hearing science major on the Tempe Campus of ASU. There are about thirty professors who lecture for the classes required for this major. This program is a stepping-stone for students to become graduates in audiology or speech language pathology.

Unfortunately, not everyone can afford the time and money it will take to obtain a graduate degree in audiology or speech language pathology, moving further than the initial BS in speech and hearing sciences. Upon declaring as a speech and hearing science major my advisor informed me that there are not many job opportunities other than becoming an assistant to an audiologist or an assistant to a speech language pathologist unless students go on to obtain an AuD or Master’s degree. I have found, after interviewing a number of professors who lecture within this major that this is true. Therefore, I think it is very important for all of the advisors to inform students of this commitment before they declare their major in speech and hearing sciences.

            My advisor, Tiffanie Flores, did just that. I had a meeting with her to declare my major and she informed me, “with the speech and hearing sciences bachelors of science degree, a student can move on from college to become an assistant to a speech language pathologist or that of an audiologist. After the bachelor’s degree students can obtain a Master’s degree to become a Speech Language pathologist or they can obtain a doctorate degree in Audiology.”

            After my meeting with Mrs. Flores and coming out with that supporting information, I decided to get more, and maybe more credible advice, from some professors who teach in the speech and hearing department at ASU. Dawn Greer, a clinical associate professor, who specializes in speech language pathology, had this to say, “To be a certified speech language pathologist and not an assistant you would need to pursue a masters degree, not a PhD. If you are interested in becoming an audiologist, then you need an AuD, which is a doctorate degree.”

I interviewed other speech and hearing sciences professors, for a further opinion, who all had the same advice. Professor William Yost says, “You do need a graduate degree to be a clinician but not a doctorate in all cases.”

Professor Zarin Mehta repeats the same advice and does so in further detail. She says, “The audiology program does have an entry-level clinical doctorate which is a four year doctorate but not a PhD. There is no Master’s degree offered for audiology anymore, so the default degree in an AuD, the clinical doctorate. The SLP is a two-year Master’s degree and you can certainly become a practicing SLP with the Master’s degree.

With each professor giving advice all alike, it is quite obvious that students cannot be more than assistants to audiologists or speech language pathologists with just the bachelors of science in speech and hearing sciences. They would need to obtain further degrees in audiology or speech language pathology, such as a Master’s degree or an AuD, which is a clinical doctorate. Informing students of this information before they declare their major is essential because the clarity of the commitment might sway a student’s decision to declare.

ASU Reacts: Broadway as Inspiration

“ ‘Broadway to Sandy: The Show is Back On’ is an NPR story about how Broadway is affected when a disaster such as Hurricane Sandy occurs. The traffic intensifies all around the city and the crew has such a difficult time finding transportation. Broadway is “a symbol of New York” as the mayor said in the interview with the writer; the show must always go on. So, when a tragedy such as Sandy occurs, dedicated Broadway members find a way into the city, whether it is renting a car, catching a taxi, riding the bus, a bike, or even walking. Cancelled shows bring about a huge loss, so even in the midst of a tragedy, Broadway tries to keep cancellations at an absolute minimum.”

Jessica Zimmer, 20-year-old Broadway fan says, “In my opinion, it is positive that the employees of Broadway tried to keep the shows going because watching a show can give the people of New York something entertaining to do during a time of crisis. There so many people without power in their homes that having a destination like Broadway can take them away from the reality of the tragedy for a few hours. However, I think it is sad for the cast because the commute to Broadway seems horribly difficult. Many actors and crew put in so much effort to make it there on time and I am sure that it was greatly stressful for them. I find it inspiring that the productions on Broadway are so dedicated and that everyone involved still finds a way to make the magic happen.”

“Overall, from the NPR interviews, and my interview with Jessica, it is apparent that Broadway finding a way to make shows happen, no matter what, is really inspiring for the people of New York and those who experienced the tragedy of hurricane Sandy.”

Genre analysis: "Broadway to Sandy: The Show is Back On" http://www.npr.org/2012/11/01/164108465/broadway-to-sandy-the-show-is-back-on

This audio essay is entitled “Broadway to Sandy: The Show is Back On.” It is about the fact that even in the midst of a tragedy, Broadway is a symbol of New York and must be kept on for the sake of hope. Sandy, the most recent hurricane on the east coast, has created many obstacles for the cast and crew of Broadway to get to work, but these people are dedicated, and they do get there, no matter what it takes. Some workers bike, some walk, some rent cars. Audio essays have specific features and needs in the same way an essay does. There is a thesis, outside sourced information in the form of interview, outside sources from factual information, some dialogue, and an overall point to the audio essay.  This essay is written informally since it is an interview. There is more detail in the audio essay rather than the written article itself. In this particular article, the writer views himself as a reporter, using factual information to portray the coming together of Broadway in the midst of a tragedy and conducting interviews with people of Broadway and people heading to view Broadway to support the ideal that in Broadway, the show must always go on. Numbers are used to show how long it usually takes someone to get from Manhattan to Broadway and how long that takes after Sandy as well as many other time related changes to travel because of Sandy. Numbers are used to show the loss of money from the hurricane before Sandy, Irene. All of the quotations are quotes from people that the writer interviewed. The images are of the aftermath of Sandy: a flooded road, someone skateboarding instead of sitting in traffic, and a couple not so crowded street pictures of Broadway. I think the writer chose this kind of informal evidence because it helps the listener connect on a more personal level instead of just stating statistics and formal information. The organization of this document is very casual. Its core is mostly dialogue of examples of how people are helping Broadway keep the show going on after Sandy. This type of organization is often in newspaper articles, online blogs, and other simple writings similar to those. There are citations under the photos and all the quotations have either an introduction or a follow up with who said each thought. Even though there is some factual information, there are no formal citations at the end of the article indicating where the factual information about money loss or damage done comes from; all of the citations are from the people who were interviewed.

My topic for project three is going to be my major, speech and hearing sciences.

Project 2 Reflection: mind-opening

For this project I did well evaluating the benefits of Sigma Kappa. I did especially well in discovering how Sigma Kappa would benefits the women involved. This project made me realize that I undoubtedly chose the right sorority. The positive outlook on grades and networking and just making girls realize that they belong at ASU definitely showed brightly through my evaluation. I struggled with making the annotations very formal, especially since I had already talked about them in detail in my introduction. I felt like I repeated myself a lot moving from the introduction into the annotations and that I could have done a much better job at making the project as a whole flow better. From my evaluation I learned lots of things about Sigma Kappa that I did not really know. I had to learn some history for the introduction that was incredibly intriguing. I was not aware of the hazing policies and the no hazing history of Sigma Kappa. I figured that there was hazing in the past and they just recently got rid of the tradition. I also learned how much the sisters do together as a group to make sure that each sister grows as an individual mentally and socially. My writing process for this project was very bland. I feel like I could have found out more and gone into much more detail. To alter my process for the next project, I will do much more research before I actually begin m evaluation so that I have more knowledge already available to me. I will also use my sources in more detail, more often. The strength of my evaluation could honestly be better. I feel as though I should have used my sources more to make my evaluation more powerful. Also, I could have made the map much more formal. In order to do that I will use technology sources like the blog. If I still choose not to go the technological route, I will make my hand drawn map with more detail and more time dedicated to the process. Outside of the university, evaluation will be essential. I will have to continue to evaluate a multitude of things during college, and then even more once I graduate. I will have to evaluate different types of loans as college progresses, as well as different types of housing. To do these things to my best ability, I will have to do an enormous amount of research. After college, I will have to evaluate grad school options, then future career options, and so far beyond that as well. Thinking about how evaluation will affect my future has made me realize that having good evaluation skills is critical.

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Intro:              Sigma Kappa is a Panhellenic sorority that was established at Arizona State in just this last spring of 2012. As a new sorority, we are establishing our reputation this semester and therefore are involved in tons of activities and have lots of rules to follow. My argument is that this sorority entering Arizona State is beneficial for the women who have joined and the parts of the community they have become involved in. To prove my argument, I will show that the active members have benefitted from joining last spring when we were established at ASU and also that us new members are benefitting by observing the things the sisters do together on campus like study hours, lunch on the fratio, sisterhood time at Adelphi and the member meetings.  I will show that Sigma Kappa impacts the community surrounding positively with our involvement at Clare Bridge and the Alzheimer’s walk. My criteria for this project will be the grades of the girls in the sorority, the impact we have on the community, such as the amount of money we fundraise for the Alzheimer’s walk and our monthly involvement with Clare Bridge. I will also use information from my sources to help evaluate. For example, the scholarly article states that the more girls there are in a sorority, the more the school feels a need to get involved, which can be greatly beneficial for the sororities. Basically, my goal is to prove that each different thing our sorority is a part of does something positive for either our sisters or the community.

Five women founded Sigma Kappa November 9, 1874 at Colby College: Mary Caffrey Low Carver, Elizabeth Gorham Hoag, Ida Mabel Fuller Pierce, Louise Helen Coburn, and Frances Elliot Mann Hall. Sigma Kappa is involved in five philanthropies: Sigma Kappa Foundation, Inherit the Earth, Gerontology studies, Main Sea Coast Mission, and Alzheimer’s disease research. At ASU, we are mainly involved with Alzheimer’s research. We participate in the walk in November and we visit a nursing home that has residents with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Along with our philanthropies, Sigma Kappa participates in the philanthropies of the other sororities as well as those of the fraternities. Sigma Kappa has formal meetings for the active members and promise meetings for the new members to teach them about Sigma Kappa. New member promise meetings are held in the Schwada building. Promise meetings are held until initiation when new members become active. At formal meetings the sisters vote on being involved in fraternities or other sorority’s events as well as organizing everything inside our own sorority. At both meetings business attire is mandatory. Sigma Kappa participates in Panhellenic study hours so that the sisters can maintain good grades. Sisters must maintain a GPA of 2.5 to stay active in the sorority, if a sister does not, she is put on probation and cannot participate in events. In addition to this punishment, there are awards for good grades. If a sister gets an A on anything (a paper, test, project, etc.) it goes in the Book of A’s and she gets put in a drawing for an award. Also, if a sister has a 3.0 GPA or above she does not have to attend study hours. These study hours are held in Hayden or Sigma Kappa’s chapter room at Adelphi. All of the Panhellenic sororities have a “house” inside Adelphi Commons 1 since there is no sorority row at ASU. Having Adelphi brings all the sororities close together and each sorority having a chapter room gives them a place to have private sisterhood time. During sisterhood time at Adelphi, the sisters watch movies and craft together, just enjoying eachothers time. Sigma Kappa has sisterhood lunches at ASU twice a week on the MU patio, which has been deemed the “Fratio” because lots of the sororities and fraternities conjugate there.

My mapped objects are the fratio, our Adelphi complex, Clare Bridge nursing home, and the two locations of our study hours. Each of these objects fulfills the criteria of being beneficial to either the ladies of Sigma Kappa or to the surrounding community we are involved with. The fratio benefits the ladies of Sigma Kappa because it is a place for us to conjugate so we can study together and not have to eat alone. Also, since we are new on campus, it is important for us to establish a good reputation among other sororities, and them seeing all of us come together for lunch on the fratio at least weekly really shows how much we care about our sisters. Adelphi is also beneficial for the ladies in the sorority. Some of the girls in Sigma Kappa live there. They all get to spend that extra time together that not all of the girls get. Also, the chapter room is majorly beneficial. That room is where anything important that is not a formal meeting takes place. We had big and little reveal in the chapter room. Big land little reveal is important because a little gets a big to mentor them through the initiation process.  We also have office hours in chapter so we can make up any meetings we weren’t able to attend. Along with office hours we hold study hours in the chapter room so Sigma Kappas can raise or maintain their grades. Study hours are also held at Hayden library. Study hours are very effective in motivating girls to do well and get good enough grades to not have to attend them. Clare Bridge is the nursing home we visit monthly to interact with elderly that have Alzheimer’s or dementia. Going here is a benefit for the community we are a part of because they are located near us. Going there monthly is beneficial to them because many of the residents do not have visitors and the staff enjoy having us around to entertain the elderly for a couple hours a month.  Our meetings are beneficial to our sisters because they educate the new members on the history and everything having to do with Sigma Kappa and they also give us a say in the different events we participate in as we do a lot of voting and putting together activities in meetings.

(numbers go with pictures on chart, pictures subject to change)

1.     These photos are of the fratio. The fratio is where the sisters go for sister luncheons. At sister luncheons we come together to eat lunch so that we are able to spend more time together. We study on the fratio during our luncheons as well. It’s really important to get as many sisters together as we can during the luncheon to show ASU our dedication as a new sorority. We chant a ton of our songs on the fratio, especially during events like recruitment week and greek week. During these events, the fratio is flooding with sisters from all sororities trying to show our pride and get girls interested in becoming new members. The days of the week we eat lunch on the fratio we are always told to wear a Sigma Kappa shirt. The more girls that support us the better since our name is so new to ASU. Being a part of the sisterhood lunches on the fratio is good because people walking by associate these girls with dedication to their sisterhood and help Sigma Kappa in establishing a name as a respectable sorority. Our events on the fratio are beneficial for the surrounding ASU sorority and fraternity community. All of the sororities conjugate there often and as Panhellenic sororities call it, spending time together at events, like having lunches on the fratio all the time, is “Pan-Love” where showing that all the sororities are involved with each other gives a good name to each individual sorority and the Panhellenic sororities as a whole.

2.     These are photos of the nursing home and its residents. Once a month a limited amount of sorority sisters visit Clare Bridge home to interact with the residents. The residents either have Alzheimer’s or dementia. Sigma Kappa girls play bingo, craft, and talk with the residents. While we play bingo and craft with the residents, we interact by telling them certain things we do as sisters and in college and just try to find something to talk about with the patients that might trigger them to want to talk. Interacting with the elderly patients really brightens their days since they do not receive many visitors. Also, the care-givers really appreciate the company of the sister too. Although the residents have memory diseases, seeing them feel the joy while the Sigma Kappa sisters visit really makes a difference to the residents and the staff. We try to take away some of the mundaneness that occur in doing the same day-to-day routine. With the female residents, sisters paint nails and get their hair done. The sisters try to make each resident feel special while we are there. The sisters go through a discussion of things to talk about or things not to talk about before we enter the home as to not make the residents upset or uncomfortable. Interacting with the patients also has an impact when the residents have family visiting. The families that do visit while we are there express their gratitude that the sisters are able to interact with their family members when those families cannot come visit. Along with volunteering at the home we are also involved in our Alzheimer’s research philanthropy by participating in the Alzheimer’s walk. We all come together and have a Sigma Kappa team and get as many family and friends as we can to donate and even participate with us.

3.     These are photos of Adelphi. Adelphi commons is where all the sororities have “houses” since there are no real houses at ASU.  At Adelphi the sisters of Sigma Kappa bake together in the kitchen above the chapter room for all sorts of events. We have study hours, sisterhood nights, meeting make up, and even big and little reveal in the chapter room. Other than the chapter room, there is a patio where girls hangout. Along with the patio and chapter room that are for socializing, there are dorm room for the Sigma Kappas who actually live at Adelphi. Adelphi is beneficial for the sister because we meet there before every event to carpool and take pictures to remember all the events we attend. At Adelphi sisters can get ready for events together and make sure everyone will be on time by meeting there before events that we attend. Adelphi is beneficial to the Greek community because ASU does not have a sorority row. So, Adelphi brings the sorority community together.

4.     These are photos of Sigma Kappa study hours. Study hours are incredibly beneficial to the girls of Sigma Kappa. If the girls have below a 3.0 they have to attend study hours. If a sister does not want to attend study hours, she is even more motivated to achieve that 3.0 on her own time. Study hours are held at Hayden library and in the Adelphi chapter room. Participating in the study groups is especially helpful to the sisters because if a sister is taking a class that another sister has before she gains a tutor. Also if two sisters are taking the same class, they can study together. This is very motivating and beneficial because helping each other is a great way for the sisters to be a part of the sorority. Studying with a group of sisters keeps the girls motivated to keep studying, which is especially beneficial for the girls who need to improve their grades. When our average GPA as a sorority improves, we gain more respect from not only the greek community but the ASU community as a whole. So, therefore, our sisters are very strongly encouraged to attend study hours, even if they have above a 3.0. If they do, they can help sisters that need help and just be able to spend a few extra hours with sisters.

WORKS CITED

Sororities, A Psychiatric Appraisal. Smith, Jackson A. 603 pages. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.

The Sorority Handbook. Martin Ida Shaw. 182 pages.

www.sigmakappa.org

Research Sources: Sigma Kappa Sorority

My topic is Sigma Kappa Sorority. I chose this topic because I am a new member and I think doing my map of them will help me learn more about them and where they go around campus and what they do. I will evaluate Sigma Kappa by going to all the places that the sorority gets together and seeing whether the things they do are beneficial to the girls in the sorority and to ASU. I will go to the classroom where we have our new member meetings, to the MU patio where our sisters frequently eat lunch together, to the apartment complex, Adelphi where a good amount of the sorority sisters live, to the chapter room where we have sisterhood nights, to a corner in Hayden and the Adelphi commons where our active sisters host study hours, and to the Claire Bridge Nursing Home where we volunteer. The Claire Bridge Nursing Home is an Alzheimer’s elderly home. Sigma Kappa volunteers there because one of our philanthropies is Alzheimer’s research. I will also by looking into how women that were in sororities in college compare to women that weren’t in older life.

            I’ll look at how older women that were in sororities are still effected positively by sororities by going to the Sigma Kappa website and looking into the alumni information. That will be one of my sources. Sigmakappa.org will be a very helpful source to inform me. I learned all about the history of my sorority. I also learned all about the philanthropies and also how the alumni can still remain involved after they leave college because the sorority really does not end once you leave college, it is lifelong sisterhood.

            The scholarly article, “Sororities, A Psychiatric Appraisal” written by Jackson A. Smith, MD., is 603 pages and in a journal called The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. This source will be helpful with my topic because it explains the effects of a sorority on girls that are the topic I want to evaluate. I learned that the more women there are in a sorority the more women not in a sorority feel the need to conform and join a sorority.

            The third source I’m using is a book called The Sorority Handbook written by Ida Shaw Martin, it is 182 pages and has sections for different types of sororities. Within those sections, it holds different details about all the different sororities. This topic interests me so much because being new to a sorority, this book was very informative and helpful in understanding reasons why different sororities have the different traditions and things that they do with their sisterhoods. I learned from this book traditions about other sororities, because being  new member in my sorority, the active members do not really tell us about the other Panhellenic sororities.