4th Blog Entry: Effective commercials

In this final blog I would like to talk about the effectiveness of commercials. I choose to talk about male enhancement. The reason for this is not to pick a ridiculous topic just because this is the last blog, but rather the concept of this subject. Male enhancement caught the eyes of millions of men when Viagra was patented in 1996 and introduced in 1998. The potential for this new drug at the time was unknown (to consumers) but becomes the most popular male enhancement product today. 

A brief history lesson behind this drug:

Sildenafil was created by chemists working for Pfizer, at their facility in England. It was initially created to be used as a treatment for high blood pressure. During clinical trials, however, it was noted that the drug was very effective in inducing marked penile erections. Therefore, Pfizer quickly decided to market it as a drug to treat erectile dysfunction. Pfizer obtained a patent in 1996, and was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on March 27, 1998. It was the first oral treatment approved by the FDA for the purposes of treating erectile dysfunction. It was offered for sale in the United States later in that same year under the brand name Viagra. Although available only by prescription, it was advertised directly to consumers by use of television commercials and print ads. The advertising blitz was very successful, and Viagra, or "the little blue pill," became a household name. (http://www.ehow.com/about_4615949_was-viagra-invented.html)

Now to the main point…

The reason for picking said subject is the effectiveness of the commercials are so strong that most men would buy the product regardless of any possible side effects. Viagra could bluff and tell men it would make them as giant as a rocket and still have millions of consumers buy their product. Easy enough right?

Think Male enhancement is only for men? Believe it or not it also draws in the female crowd. Watch this.

Products like Viagra, Enzyte, etc...have very effective advertising. Like many advertisers, they are selling a product that men want to believe in and for this reason...the products will fly of the shelves.



Second Blog Entry: Source Checking

For my second blog entry I would like to talk about sources and their credibility. First off when you should be looking up an bit of information and want to know whether or not that source is legit, you should take a look at the overall setup of that very page. Is it well designed? Sloppy? Look at the website name. Is it a well know or famous name? Such as New York Times, MSN, NBC, CNN, and so on. It should take a little common sense to scan the page first for these few ringers to determine whether or not that source is phony.  

Here is a short list to remember as your looking through websites to help you:

Who?

Who is the author?  What are his/her credentials?

 What?

What information is available from this resource?

 Where?

Where did the author(s) get the information?  Are citations provided?

 When?

When was the resource produced?  (For books, check the copyright date.  For articles, check the publication date.  For websites, look for a "created on" or "last updated on" date.)

 Why?

Why does this resource exist?  Is the purpose to entertain, persuade, inform, etc.?  Is the resource biased?

 How?

How comprehensive is the resource?   Does it go into the depth you need?

http://plagiarism.umf.maine.edu/valid.html

3rd Blog Entry: Schools and Technology

     For my third blog post I would like to touch popular culture in modern schools today, and how it might improve education. Technology for example is widely being integrated into school systems as a main source of education for teachers.  According to (http://www.blogger.com/www.edtechactionnetwork.org) computers in classrooms improve learning and achievement among urban, suburban and rural students of all ages and abilities and aids all students to meet high standards. This website also tells us various reasons why most schools push for technology in their classrooms. “As schools strive to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, technology makes a difference in improving test scores and helping students reach performance goals. Technology also engages students in learning; improves attendance, decreases dropout rates, increases graduation     rates and facilitates parent involvement.} (http://www.blogger.com/www.edtechactionnetwork.org)

    
 I’ve included a video here to enhance my point:

With technology included in schools education can be much more effective for kids at an earlier age. Kids will learn much more information sooner versus kids who went to school with no technology. Studies show more effectiveness in kids education, test scores, achievement, and satisfaction with technology.

1st Blog Entry: Antibiotic Resistance.

Antibiotic resistance is simply what it is, a disease or infection immune to antibiotics. There is an awareness rose by hospitals globally that antibiotics are being administered unnecessarily for common colds, flu, and so on. Because of this patient’s immune systems are gradually building resistance to administered drugs. It is stated “more than 133 million courses of antibiotics are prescribed by doctors each year. It is estimated that 50 percent of these latter prescriptions are unnecessary since they are being prescribed for colds, coughs and other viral infections” (acponline.com)”

The main issue in this common debate is we as patients need to be more specific when we go visit our doctors when be diagnosed with a certain sickness and such. If we give the wrong symptoms the doctors will administer the wrong antibiotic and essentially hurt us in the long run. To be absolutely sure from now on we can start testing our symptoms to be sure we are being treated with the right medicine and not building our immune systems to resist antibiotics. A “Throat culture” or as we all know it a swab sample, is the perfect way to prevent these mishaps.  Many patients are too stubborn and demand their doctors to give them antibiotics. We need to be aware of this important issue so we can prevent it from happening more.  

First Blog

Im new to this whole blog deal so tread lightly please :)