Week from Hell

I do not even know where to begin. Prior to this week I had been happy and was having a great week. I knew I had certain things to accomplish by certain days but I knew I could get them done. What I did not account for was the problems that would pop up and screw everything around. First I had an anthropology paper due Monday…no problem, had it done. I was looking at possible classes before I had to sign up on Tuesday. Then Tuesday rolls around I had to sign up for classes. So there I was at 11:50 signing in to my Oasis account. I couldn’t. What? They had placed an MJ hold on me. I found out that at USF after you have 36 credit hours you have to declare a major before you can sign up for future classes. I am a freshman! I technically don’t have any credits because this semester is not over. Even then I would only have 15. So we called to have them take it off and my advisor had just left and wouldn’t be back for a few hours. My luck could not get any worse. I waited about an hour then called back and told them I needed to speak to an advisor, I didn’t care who it was, anyone! They finally withdrew my hold and I signed up for classes. Some of the classes I had been told to take were closed so I was pissed about that. I was done with classes, couldn’t think about it anymore so I forgot about it or the time being. Then I had a Math exam to worry about. I took it and didn’t think I did that bad, maybe missing a few. I go today to find out my grade and I didn’t do so hot. So now I have to deal with my math class. I also have a sociology paper due Friday. All this happened and it’s only Wednesday. What next??

Blog for 11/10-11/14 Semester's Almost Over

I was sitting in my dorm the other day and it hit me, we only have 3 weeks of actual classes left. Of course you have to account for the few days off for thanksgiving. So not including exams, this semester is almost over. It is weird to think that almost 4 months have gone by so quickly. I feel like I just got here and classes have just started. I am excited to think that my first semester of college is nearing the end. I never thought it would go as smooth as it did. With the exception of a few events this semester was rather easy and has flown by. Coming to USF I had mixed emotions that the first semester was going to be hard and that I would have tons of homework. Overall, this semester was not that bad and I enjoyed getting accustomed to the campus and general class work. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that classes are winding down and drawing a close. The reality is that exams are fast approaching and papers are becoming due in most of my classes. I can not wait for next semester and am excited to see what awaits.

Gainesville = Horrible Costumer Service

So this weekend I went to Gainesville with the USF Equestrian team. A rule in the team is that we have to attend an intercollegiate (college level) horse show to see what it is like. So up to Gainesville we went to watch a western show. We got their Friday night and decided to go to Hooters for dinner. The service was horrible. Three other ladies ordered an Oyster Roast and it took 45 minutes for them to bring it out. Everyone was already done with their meal, so we had to wait while they finished their oysters. Oh, to make it better they didn’t shuck them for you; you had to shuck them yourself. There was a bunch of girls, how the hell are we supposed to know how to shuck oysters. So after being there for 2 hours we left, went back to the hotel, and got ready for a night on the town. The next day we went to the horseshow and watched the ins and outs of a typical show. Many girls left after lunch that day leaving only six of us. Dinnertime rolled around and we ended up at this pizza place called the Mellow Mushroom. Again service was bad. It took them over an hour to bring out 2 pizzas. Really? That’s ridiculous. This morning as we checked out of the hotel we stopped by an IHOP on the same road for breakfast. Guess what? The service was bad there too. By the end of the weekend we came to the conclusion that Gainesville, while beautiful, has horrible costumer service.

Google Generation Draft #1

People have their own definition of what the “Google generation” is or has become. There however is no hard evidence to back most of these claims up. Yes there have been studies done, but they seem to come up without concrete evidence. Where is the proof? The claims many have tried to argue are not being backed up with competent evidence and therefore lead to the statement that people born after 1993 are not the so called “Google generation” that society has placed them under.

One of the first widely spoken claims is that the Google generation lacks analytical skills necessary to asses the information they find. This claim is false due to the fact that obviously they are able to analyze the information or there would be a drop in success rate of that generation. If the researchers and other people in society want to make such a claim they should back with up with hard evidence. One claim made by Antone Gonsalves of Information Week says that the Google generation can not develop a successful search strategy. Yet in another article by The Sunday Times the claim that the generation is expert searchers is said to be false. “This is a dangerous myth. Digital literacies and information literacies do not go hand in hand. A careful look at the literature over the past 25 years finds no improvement (or deterioration) in young people’s information skills” (Sunday Times, July 20, 2008). How can they not be able to have effective search strategies and yet there is not proof to say this is true. In fact, there is no deterioration in the skills they have developed to analyze the information found.

The Google generation is not that different from adults in other generations as some people think they are. One myth presented by the Christian Science Monitor reads that the Google generation finding their peers more credible as information sources than authority figures. How can you prove this? It is virtually impossible to ask every single person who they value most. “While in a social context youngsters may value the opinions of their peers more than of adults that apparently are not true regarding their academic lives."[W]e think this is a myth," the study says. "[T]eachers, relatives, and textbooks are consistently valued above the internet. (Times Online, July 9, 2008). If every student was asked their opinion there would then be conformation of the lack of validity of that myth. An allegation that has stepped up as a front runner is that people of the Google generation is impatient when it comes to dealing with search engines and navigation tools. Again, prove it. According to Jim Ashling ““We feel that this is a truism of our time and there is no hard evidence to suggest that young people are more impatient in this regard.” In keeping with this myth, researcher who wrote the report Information Behavior of the Researcher of the Future, assert that impatience is now becoming the norm for all age-groups, from younger pupils and undergraduates through to professors.

The declaration that libraries need to step it up in their databases so that they have a “digital mindset” I argue to be flawed and just crazy. It is not up to the library to outshine and outdo the new digital technology. If the Google generation can delve deep into the information they find they why would it matter if the library had better deeper articles. It is in the hands of society to use the information as they see fit. Now this does not mean that the libraries should not keep up with modern technology, I am arguing that even if they did become more digital, according to the myth, the Google generation would still be as impatient and non-analytical as before.

All things considered, when researchers or society makes a claim about a generation, hard, factual evidence is what will turn that myth into a reality. Once there is proof that people born after 1993 are lazy, impatient and non analytical, only then can they be labeled as the “Google generation.