Framing My Speech (SPE-270)

When trying to decide how I was going to argue my side, I found it difficult. The issue that I'm discussing is whether or not there should be a ban placed on cell phone use and texting while driving. At first I thought I should argue for a ban, but then decided otherwise. I decided it would be more interesting and thought-provoking to advocate against the ban. I thought it would be easy to hide behind statistical evidence, and figured that I will examine the evidence and critically analysis whether or not it was relevant and conclusive.

A lot of supporters of a ban use tragedy stories of families that have been affected by a driving accident that involved a cell phone, however if you look at the causes of driving accidents, most deal with other distractions on the road. Distractions like lack of sleep and adjusting the radio are among just a few of the factors that are higher on the scale of danger.

Bans are also very ineffective at stopping behavior -- consider the speed limit. Very rarely is it followed to the 'T.' And when looking at enforcing a ban against using a cell phone in the car, police will have a hard time trying to find those breaking the law. Instead of the police looking for those breaking more severe laws like drinking and driving, they'll be distracted by looking for people talking on their phones. The ban would also be even harder to enforce when looking at hands-free cell phone systems in cars. How can police tell if the drivers have both hands on the wheel and look as those they are fully focused on the road.

Instead of a ban, I will argue for better education. Teaching teenagers in high school and college students who are the future drivers on the road, the effects of cell phone use while driving, and how it may limit their attention. It's easy to argue against cell phone use, because seriously, who would support more distractions on the road, but it's more important to look at educating and enforcing distractions as a whole -- not just cell phone use.

Magazine Advertisements (SPE-370)

You know, I had some fun looking for an interesting magazine advertisement to pick apart. Mostly because there were so many cool choices to pick from, however in the end I decided on this beauty.

Wow. The 70's never looked so drab.

There are a few reasons for why I chose this, one of which being how ironic it is. Video calling is the hype right now with cellphones, but in the end, nothing is original. What you're looking at is Western Electric's "Picturephone," which debuted on the market in 1970. Obviously it failed, but it's fun to look back on our past and see how things repeat themselves.

Anyway, I digress -- let's get to picking this apart graphically. What makes the ad "interesting" (to some maybe) is the fact that it plays with point-of-view. We're supposed to be tricked into the illusion that we are the one's holding the telephone receiver and looking into the camera. However, the illusion fails on so many levels. First off, are we all supposed to be middle-aged women, because that's what the ad is banking on for the illusion to be successful. Secondly, the camera isn't even pointed at us in the angle that is depicted on the screen (but I'll let that slide since it was a different and perhaps less critical time period).

The font pops out, since it's white on black, though doesn't leave much of an aesthetic impression. It's centered and placed at the top just like every other headline. There's also another tag line of text next to the screen, which reads:

"Someday you'll be a star!"

I find that line pretty humorous, as if it were to tell us that just because we're on a screen, we're movie stars, but again -- I think I'm just being cynical. The lighting also places the focus of the reader to look right at the product. There isn't any other supercilious objects lying around, it's just the Picturephone sitting on a desk.

Nonetheless, it's an ad that makes me smile every time I see it.