KSU Sentinel

The KSU Sentinel is a student run newspaper for the school.  Because this newspaper is run by the students of Kennesaw State University, it is definitely sensitive to what the students here at the school care about.  There are many articles about a variety of things in this newspaper.  This goes to show the variety of people we have here at the school.  Many of the articles are just about things going on here on campus and there are many categories of these things such as sports, concerts, and other social events.  Not only are there many articles about the happenings on campus, but there are also articles about things going on off campus.  There are articles about pop culture, such as movie reviews and other things of the like.  There are also articles about politics, such as surveys about who has the most support in the upcoming presidential election.  I also read an article about the bar scene here in Kennesaw.  It is really hard to pinpoint any specific issue that means a lot to the students here at KSU due to the large diversity of students.  I would say that a few main topics that are shown in all issues that I read of the Sentinel are sports, any social gatherings or events, and problems here on campus.  Most of these topics are things that affect students' every day lives here on campus, so therefore they care about them more.

My Major

The biggest decision that a college student has to make is his/her major.  It is often very common for this decision to change a few times throughout someones college career.  My major when I first started college last year was accounting.  This is important because this is actually why I chose Kennesaw State University to go to.  I have always heard that KSU has a very good business school.  Even though I was pretty confident that accounting was what I wanted to do, that actually ended up changing over the summer.

This past summer I went on a school trip to Wyoming for my geology courses.  Little did I know that this trip would change my whole outlook on what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing.  On this trip, I absolutely fell in love with geology field work.  I loved getting outside and getting dirty.  My geology professor's daughter actually met up with us on the trip.  She is an anthropologist, and I talked to her many times about her profession and the things she has gotten to do due to it.  After this trip, my mind was officially changed.  I decided I wanted to go into this field of study so I could be outside and travel just like her.

After I made my decision, I looked to ensure that KSU had an anthropology program and looked at exactly what careers I could pursue with this degree.  There are many things an anthropologist can actually do.  There are many government jobs that this degree can get you.  You could also get a job with a museum or university.  Basically, any job involving human relations or human history can be obtained with a degree in anthropology.

My Everyday Research

When many people hear the word research, they think of something scientific, or maybe even writing a paper.  What some people do not realize is that we conduct research in our everyday lives.  On an average day I research many things throughout the day.  One example of this is when I check the weather forecast.  When I do this I go on my phone to a reliable source such as my AccuWeather App.  Then I start to go through the information they give to find what I need.  Also, just today, I received an e-mail that said something about the study abroad fair here at school.  It did not give much information, but there was a link to click on to find more information.  I clicked on this link and began to search for the date and time of the fair, and whether I needed to register for it or not.  Although it was very quick, this was conducting research.

Most of the time one of the first things I do during the day, as mentioned earlier, is check the forecast on my phone using my AccuWeather App.  I know this is a reliable source because Fox 5 Weather, which is a reputable local news and weather source, supplies this app with its information.  Then, if I have to work that day, I check to see what time I go to work using the e-schedule website that Kroger has.  Then later I check to see what school work I may have to do that day by going on D2L and searching in my different classes.  The last two I know are reliable because they are a direct line between me and the institutions the information is for.

These are all ways of researching or getting information that many people do not realize they use throughout the day.  It's just as simple as looking up the weather.

Analysis of the "Got Milk?" Ad Campaign

One of the most noticeable and influential ad campaigns I have seen throughout my life is the "Got Milk?" campaign.  These ads were created to, obviously, increase sales for milk in the United States.  It all started in 1993 and ended just recently in 2014.  As you can tell by the campaign's long life of over 20 years, it succeeded.  It became one of the most well known campaigns throughout its life.  It began as just a commercial and did not have all the celebrity endorsements like it does now.  In 1995, these ads started putting celebrities, whether it be from cartoons, sports stars, or singers and actors.  The target audience was most likely almost everyone, but would definitely specialize towards children through young adults.  The California Milk Processor Board reported a huge increase in milk sales ever since the ads started.  All throughout its lifetime this campaign did a great job of bringing all three rhetorical elements to its ads in order to create a very effective message.

They used ethos by putting in these celebrities that do great things and people look up to.  It makes the audience think, "Wow if they do this because they think it is right, then maybe it is right."  This is shown especially in the ad I saw with superman in it.  He is a good guy and saves people.  So, if he drinks milk, then that must make it a good thing to do.  Whether the public realizes it or not these celebrities and heroes are idolized and the things they might do effect what people think is ethical.  Also the people that created it are milk companies which definitely leads the audience to believe that they know what the are talking about so the message is credible.

They also use pathos by having these celebrities in the ads.  These ads are made to make people think that ,just by drinking milk, they can do extraordinary things just like the people in the ads.  This message is especially effective to the younger population, because they want to be like many of these celebrities.

The final rhetorical element being used is logos.  This is used by the campaign putting facts about how healthy milk can be if drank right.  They always tell how much is recommended and that it is good combined with exercise and so on.

Not only did this turn the milk market around, but it also changed the face of advertisement forever.