It has almost been a week since the Virginia Tech shooting took place, but there is no doubt that its effects are still hitting very hard. However, as I opened my internet page this morning, I noticed that there were no more clips or articles about the shooting. Today's main story features what secrets Alyssa Milano, Sela Ward and Julia Louis-Dreyfus have with "the fellas." Oh how the media never ceases to be pointless in its neverending gossip on celebrities. Maybe this is a good thing, since many people can look at this and get Virginia Tech off of their minds, but I still find it slightly disturbing.
What I also found disturbing was how I even heard about what happened. I've been so caught up in thinking about graduation this past week that I wouldn't have even known about the shooting if a friend of mine hadn't of called me later that evening. I find this somewhat shameful, especially after looking at the faces of those who died on CNN tonight. There were students there who were only 18. I sat down and thought, what was I even doing when I was 18? That was only about four years ago.
As a student this fact hits very hard. College was just beginning at 18, and others didn't even get to finish their first year. I can't help wondering what this person was thinking? Are all people capable of this? Is it the person sitting next to me? How could this have been prevented?
As I left school Friday I saw a flyer for Depression Awareness Week for one of the organizations in downtown Athens, Georgia. During this week, the organization, Nuci's Space, http://www.nuci.org/ hosts various activities, such as live bands playing and marches downtown for those dealing with depression, or anyone who would like to help out. I can't help but think how I helped them with their PR activities during a class project last year, as I learned more about depression and the other mental struggles many college students and individuals everywhere can encounter.
With this, I can't help but wonder if the person who committed this terrible act could have been helped before things got out of hand, before so many innocent lives were lost. This is another reason why I am looking more into the option of Public Health for graduate school, and why health awareness is so important. Nevertheless, I believe this person was not sane, and I still can't help but feel like tragedies like these shouldn't have to happen for us to become aware of the harmful effects of mental illness.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Festival Fun!
So here is the recap on last week's Fair Trade festival:
Turnout was mediocre after speaking to fellow members. I was only able to stop by for a few minutes, but there were many new names on our listserve, so I see this as progress. Progress is definitely something we hope to achieve, even if it is slow and involves me making 2:00 a.m. trips to Kinko's to print out ten -dollar handouts on a college student's budgent. Oh the joys of pr!
Although I say this I must admit that these late night trips are somewhat relaxing and my paper cutting skills have improved remarkably. On top of all this I have basically been eating, deaming and living pr while working with my teammates on our last public relations project here at the university. I will definitely look forward to commenting on this experience!
Turnout was mediocre after speaking to fellow members. I was only able to stop by for a few minutes, but there were many new names on our listserve, so I see this as progress. Progress is definitely something we hope to achieve, even if it is slow and involves me making 2:00 a.m. trips to Kinko's to print out ten -dollar handouts on a college student's budgent. Oh the joys of pr!
Although I say this I must admit that these late night trips are somewhat relaxing and my paper cutting skills have improved remarkably. On top of all this I have basically been eating, deaming and living pr while working with my teammates on our last public relations project here at the university. I will definitely look forward to commenting on this experience!
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Black Gold
Another upcoming event I'd like to share as the newly named "PR person" for my UGA fair trade group is the showing of "Black Gold." At our last meeting I was ecstatic to find out that we will be showing this eye-opening documentary at the student learning center of our campus very soon.
All interested students and faculty are encouraged to attend. For those who are unfamiliar with this documentary, it elaborates on the growth of the coffee industry, as well as its affect on coffee growers in Ethiopia. The local community has already had a viewing of this film, but we think it would be especially beneficial for students to have access to such a relevant documentary to fair trade. I will be sure to update on the times and the exact date of the showing.
All interested students and faculty are encouraged to attend. For those who are unfamiliar with this documentary, it elaborates on the growth of the coffee industry, as well as its affect on coffee growers in Ethiopia. The local community has already had a viewing of this film, but we think it would be especially beneficial for students to have access to such a relevant documentary to fair trade. I will be sure to update on the times and the exact date of the showing.
Starbucks and fair trade
Our fair trade group is currently aware of the Starbucks/Ethiopian coffee issue at hand. For those interested who are unaware of the tension with fair trade coffee and Starbucks, an insightful blogger known as Poor Farmer provides relevant updates with this pressing issue.
On this blog there is a news article taken from Etho Online under the heading "Coffee Blessing, Curse in Ethiopia," that provides a startling amount of history of the coffee industry itself, as well as the pressing situation revolving around the conditions of the coffee workers (some children) in Ethiopia. I recommend this article for anyone who wants to learn more about fair trade and coffee, and I also recommend this blog. This site is http://poorfarmer.blogspot.com/index.html , and the blogger is extremely informative on this issue, providing many links to Oxfam and fair trade coffee.
On this blog there is a news article taken from Etho Online under the heading "Coffee Blessing, Curse in Ethiopia," that provides a startling amount of history of the coffee industry itself, as well as the pressing situation revolving around the conditions of the coffee workers (some children) in Ethiopia. I recommend this article for anyone who wants to learn more about fair trade and coffee, and I also recommend this blog. This site is http://poorfarmer.blogspot.com/index.html , and the blogger is extremely informative on this issue, providing many links to Oxfam and fair trade coffee.
Fair Trade Festival!
For those of you who are interested in some fair trade fun this week, our newly formed fair trade organization at the University of Georgia is holding the group's main event for the semester: a fair trade festival.
All students and faculty are welcome to come to the Myers Quad this Thursday on April 12th, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Our goup is working hard on some informative posters, videos, handouts and above all FREE FOOD! We are gathering together to create some tasty concoctions using fair trade ingredients.
We hope to use this festival as a way to spread more awareness about fair trade and the benefits of promoting fair trade products. Please feel free to stop by if you will be in the area or if you'd like to enjoy an afternoon snack. We hope this event turns out to be a success!
All students and faculty are welcome to come to the Myers Quad this Thursday on April 12th, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Our goup is working hard on some informative posters, videos, handouts and above all FREE FOOD! We are gathering together to create some tasty concoctions using fair trade ingredients.
We hope to use this festival as a way to spread more awareness about fair trade and the benefits of promoting fair trade products. Please feel free to stop by if you will be in the area or if you'd like to enjoy an afternoon snack. We hope this event turns out to be a success!
Saturday, February 17, 2007
PR for Fair Trade!
Today has been an exciting day for me as a student. Our fair trade organization on campus has just become an official organization at the University! We even have a new listserv now!
A good friend of mine introduced me to the concept of fair trade after she attended a leadership conference last summer. She became a member of an important fair trade group known as Oxfam. http://www.oxfamamerica.org/.
Oxfam is an agency dedicated to ending world poverty. One of its biggest promotions is the idea of fair trade world-wide. Moreover, many may look at world poverty and think about starving children in some country 10,000 miles away, but farmers all over the world (and this includes the U.S.) can't feed their families because of the abuse of subsidies today.
You can probably relate to this by thinking about where you plan on making your next grocery shopping trip. Are you going to go to the farmer's market for vegetables, or are you looking for the cheapest prices at your local grocery store? These small decisions are forcing many farmers to live in poverty.
By encouraging the production and sale of fair trade products, I think that the program is steadily growing, and I am glad to be a part of it. I've also been designated the official PR person for our group, so there's experience to be had! Has anyone heard of this program or know of an organization within your vicinity using effective PR in the area of fair trade? I'd like to look at what others have done so far.
A good friend of mine introduced me to the concept of fair trade after she attended a leadership conference last summer. She became a member of an important fair trade group known as Oxfam. http://www.oxfamamerica.org/.
Oxfam is an agency dedicated to ending world poverty. One of its biggest promotions is the idea of fair trade world-wide. Moreover, many may look at world poverty and think about starving children in some country 10,000 miles away, but farmers all over the world (and this includes the U.S.) can't feed their families because of the abuse of subsidies today.
You can probably relate to this by thinking about where you plan on making your next grocery shopping trip. Are you going to go to the farmer's market for vegetables, or are you looking for the cheapest prices at your local grocery store? These small decisions are forcing many farmers to live in poverty.
By encouraging the production and sale of fair trade products, I think that the program is steadily growing, and I am glad to be a part of it. I've also been designated the official PR person for our group, so there's experience to be had! Has anyone heard of this program or know of an organization within your vicinity using effective PR in the area of fair trade? I'd like to look at what others have done so far.
The Scary Side of PR?
Although this is my second blog post, I can't help but delving into this. One of my professors sent me a link to a video clip that portrays public relations in a way that I feel would frighten anyone before bedtime. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rPQCPwdwHQ. I don't know how many people have seen this clip, but being a public relations major, it made me feel like I'm being associated with the mafia.
I think everyone in the field is aware of the bad reputation public relations has been given for quite a while now. Many of my professors feel we're slowly coming out of this, but this video is yet another constant reminder of how "dirty" the business is portrayed.
One of the most memorable images for me was a small girl in a field of flowers, definitely reminiscent of a cold war ad that many remember. I think the main message here is, public relations is corrupting the children. I know that I heard the word manipulative used at least three times, and the term propaganda would not go away.
Another note I'd like to make is the strong correlation the clip made with advertising and public relations. The video basically used these terms as if they were the same thing, and this bothered me.
Why is it that the "public relations people" are the ones seen as sending out ads anyway? I know that the two fields are obviously related, but clips like this make us out to be silent killers.
I recommend that everyone view this, especially if you're familiar with public relations, and tell me what you think about it. I know that I'm an amateur with this stuff, but am I blowing this out of proportion, or is it what it is? An ironic, anti-advertising\public relations "stunt."
I think everyone in the field is aware of the bad reputation public relations has been given for quite a while now. Many of my professors feel we're slowly coming out of this, but this video is yet another constant reminder of how "dirty" the business is portrayed.
One of the most memorable images for me was a small girl in a field of flowers, definitely reminiscent of a cold war ad that many remember. I think the main message here is, public relations is corrupting the children. I know that I heard the word manipulative used at least three times, and the term propaganda would not go away.
Another note I'd like to make is the strong correlation the clip made with advertising and public relations. The video basically used these terms as if they were the same thing, and this bothered me.
Why is it that the "public relations people" are the ones seen as sending out ads anyway? I know that the two fields are obviously related, but clips like this make us out to be silent killers.
I recommend that everyone view this, especially if you're familiar with public relations, and tell me what you think about it. I know that I'm an amateur with this stuff, but am I blowing this out of proportion, or is it what it is? An ironic, anti-advertising\public relations "stunt."
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