Mission Statement Essay

I believe that an educational experience at Mount Union will prepare students for “fulfilling lives, meaningful work, and responsible citizenship.” One way is through the integrative core. By requiring us to take classes in Fine Arts, Humanities, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences, we are gaining experience and knowledge that we otherwise would not expose ourselves to. Courses about different parts of American culture, Psychology, Communications, and Environmental sciences, are not courses that every student would take on their own. This curriculum helps us to become well rounded individuals and benefit our future. If we were to spend all of college focusing just on our declared major and minor, we would not have a ‘Plan B’ to fall back on if we could not obtain a career in the field of our major. By requiring us to take these different types of classes, we will pick the one that seems the most interesting to us, and possibly realize that we are very interested in the subject. This interest could cause us to pursue that field further, maybe earning a minor or even a major in it. This broader sense of knowledge could open our career opportunities by qualifying us for more than one specific meaningful career, leading to fulfilling lives-as Mount Union’s mission statement suggests. I also believe that Mount Union’s clubs and extra-curricular activities can help prompt fulfilling lives. There are a lot of different volunteer groups that you can find on campus. I feel that volunteer work can contribute to responsible citizenship which is another one of Mount Union’s goals. The close community feeling of this campus promotes a sense of friendship between everyone. Everyone always says hi to each other, smiling as they walk past complete strangers. This puts students in the habit of being pleasant and welcome as they see strangers, which contributes to an overall happiness.

An A.D.D. Epidemic

                           

                             "For some people, the very idea of reading a book has come
                                  to seem old fashioned, maybe even a little silly-- like
                                 sewing your own shirts or butchering your own meat."


I believe that this statement is incredibly accurate. Everyone believes that reading books is old fashioned. Even reading in general has started to seem like a tedious, unnecessary task. Most people frown upon people who sit reading books instead of socializing...yet somehow, reading them on a kindle or iPad makes reading more socially accepted. I think that most people just don't understand. They don't understand how someone can sit down and read books for hours when most people lose interest after several paragraphs. Our society seems to have been infected with an epidemic of A.D.D.

Use of Social Networking by Law Enforcement Personnel

On Friday I was sitting in Criminal Justice class, listening to my professor lecture, when I realized that part of what he was saying coincided with this class. Facebook and Twitter are now being used in the world of law enforcement. Law enforcement agencies have pages and accounts used for the public to submit crime tips. Police also are able to get a warrant to search social networking accounts of accused felons. Many departments search Facebook and Twitter during background checks and some departments REQUIRE THE PASSWORDS from their new recruits as a condition of employment. Some people are concerned about whether this is a violation of privacy, but it is hard to consider it a violation of privacy when you are willingly posting it on the world wide web. Once you tell others anything, it is no longer private... so when you submit posts and photos to the world, it is hard to justify looking at them as an invasion of privacy.

When I went home to visit, I saw this shirt that my dad recently got. It goes along with Turkle's "Alone Together". It uses a 'funny tshirt' to show the evolution of man into cyborg. It does seem like, at the rate technology is becoming more integrated into our lives, we will eventually completely be replaced by robots. Turkle writes about the companions that will not disapoint people- the robotic companions that give unconditional affection, catering to people's narcissism. We want relationships that will not fail, pets that will not make a mess, toys that can be reset if we mess up when we are teaching them.I personally would rather have a two sided relationship the 'old fashioned way'.