Validation: A short film review

Parking and paying for parking can be a headache. The sooner you find a spot the faster you can pay and leave. But who expects this experience to make you smile? Director and writer Kurt Kuenne gives us just that in the comedic short film Validation.

It begins with a depressed parking patron walking to get his parking ticket validated but receives actual “validation” in the form of compliments and smiles from a parking lot validator Hugh Newman, TJ Thyne. Newman continues to make more and more parking patrons smile with his compliments. But things change when Hugh Newman meets a beautiful unexpected character Victoria played by Vicki Davis. He visits her every day to try and get her to smile, but is unsuccessful. His inability to make her smile with flattering words and honest love sends him into a funk making him unable to do what he does best, make people smile.  Hugh stops validating, and loses his job as parking validator. But things turn around when he picks up a new hobby of taking pictures of couples in the park which leads coincidentally leads him back to the women of his demise.

This short film almost made me cry. You can’t help but to smile throughout the whole film. And there is a contagious song that’s played that is bound to get stuck in your head, just as contagious as the smile you will have when watching this film.

Alternatives to Borrowing for College

The cost of education in the United States is second highest to credit card debt, forcing college students to be even more creative with the science of money stretching. College students are commonly known for stretching their dollars because college is so expensive.  Financial aid has the conventional ways to pay for college. This includes borrowing, scholarships, grants, but what about the less conventional ways? What if instead of working all night doing things like bartending, clerical work or other odd jobs to pay for school students to turn to egg donation? It is a big decision to make but to a broke student this maybe their payday and way out of mountains of college debt. There is a lot involved with becoming an egg donor such as doctor’s appointments, hormone treatments, menstruation cycle synchronization and money of course. If you don’t think about it too long, it seems like a good idea. But, what are the risks of being an egg donor and in college?

The Social Experiment Experiment

In order to do a social experiment one must first have a question that needs an answer. Will people always rely on what they are taught? I ask this question because a friend told me that he doesn’t believe in making goals because they are just boundaries that do not expose us to opportunities beyond our goals, and that people only make goals because they are taught that it is the right thing to do. I’d like to experiment if that is true.  My ideas for experiments to test this question include:

·         Buy Me Something to Eat: Ask a stranger to buy me a meal because I forgot my wallet

·         Can You Scratch My Back: Ask someone on Septa to help me out and scratch my back

·         Let’s Go Out Tonight: Ask a friend who I know has religious commitments to come out with me on a holy/particularly special night.

I think people have a choice to do what they feel is necessary and if that is by doing what they are taught then there is nothing rudimentary about it.

Possible Trend Topic: Occupy the World

This is no longer a "Possible Trend Topic", it is my topic for the trend article. After doing research and reading web pages about the "Occupy" movement I feel like this is a worthy topic. Actually while reading through the pages I feel empowered. I am starting to feel the sense of injustice that these people all over the world are feeling. In the United States the protesters are kind of blaming the wealthy 1% of America for the socioeconomical disparities among the other 99%. But that 1-99 dynamic is unique to the United States yet the economic exist all over the world. On October 15, 2011 hundreds of city across the globe called for a #GlobalChange, very similar to the #Occupy protests in the US. All are very interesting.

Possible Trend Topic: There's an App for that!

Utility companies want to serve customers better with mobile applications.

Car accidents happen to all of us at some point but each time it never gets easier. Emotions are high, frustration sets in and “Who is going to pay for this?” is the question we ask first. At that moment it pays to be insured, but insurance claims can be a hassle. For most drivers, accidents are the worst experience mainly because insurance companies require so much information at the time of the accident. Recently there has been a rise in companies like car insurance companies providing there customers with cell phone applications to better serve their customers and make handling situations such as car accidents easier.

Myers-Briggs and DISC Assessments: My Personality and Leadership Style

My Myers-Briggs results showed that I fit four type indicators, ESTP, ESTJ, ESFP and ESFJ. The preference E stands for Extraversion, S stands for Sensing, T is Thinking, F is Feeling, J is Judging and P is Perceiving. When evaluating my results at first I thought the test was wrong, but after talking through it I found that these results prove that I am very adaptable. Out of the four I most identify with ESFJ and ESFP, the difference between the two are when to use practicality and rationality. In compliment to the Myers-Briggs types I am a D for dominance and an I for Influence in the DISC type indicator.  In my leadership class we discussed the compliments to the high types as well as the low types and what responsibilities each have in different settings. As an Influencer I compliment well with the S’s, Steadiness which bring a controlled environment to my ever changing world of thoughts. I think these results will really help me to except my imperfections and make them better also to recognize and bring the leader out of others.

A Profile of a Fascinating Women

For the next article assignment I have to write a profile article and I find it tricky because I have to make people interested in a person I find interesting. I think the trick maybe to choose someone that is already very interesting.  I had an idea to do a profile on one of my professors, Dr. Stephanie Zarus. The first reason she is fascinating to me because she started an innovative pharmaceutical business. Prof. Flanagan said she doesn’t know Dr. Zarus well but from what she has heard Dr. Zarus has wealth of knowledge, and that Mayes College is fortunate to have her.