Finals Week and Trivia Crack?

           What seemed like a flash, finals week is already upon college students across America. But what came with it is a new mobile app that grew in popularity like wildfire.

            Developed by Etermax, Trivia Crack is a game where players answer questions in six different categories. Players can compete against their friends to see who is the smartest of the bunch.

            “I like to play Trivia Crack because I like to destroy people with my impressive Trivia Knowledge. I only played for just a couple days though,” said Mitch Wagner.

            Etermax is a Latin American developer and it is the first time an App from that region has reached international success.

            Trivia Crack started to become popular on USD’s campus around the beginning of November. It’s ironic that students find a game answering questions against friends exciting when finals are here.

            Trivia Crack is currently number 1 on the iOS Top Free App Chart.  Even though the game has been out for more than a year, all it takes is a spark to become viral.

            “It’s probably a word of mouth kind of thing. One person thought it was fun and they told their friends and it just spiraled out of control,” said Brent Seehafer.

            “It puts you in direct competition with your friends and there’s not many Facebook Apps that do that sort of thing. Most other games just invite friends to help you,” said Wagner.

            Whether it’s going to be a marketing pheromone like Angry Birds or a flash in the pan like Flappy Bird remains to be seen. Right now, Trivia Crack is the new kid on the block, and it’s going to be staying for a while.

I Believe in Potatoes

            Everybody has their own struggles in life. People have trouble financially, trying to keep up with bills and feeding the family. Others have motivation problems, trying to figure what path in life they should take, and if it’s actually worth it. Another may be experiencing image issues, the same person that is stuck between two lives, and having to make a hard choice. These are all things that all types of people have to deal with in their lives at some point or another.

            I have to deal with a loss of community and loneliness. I have been rejected by society because I am too Asian to be with white people and too white to be with Asian people. I do not encapsulate what it is to be the ideal man. And thus, both sexes reject me somewhat. And it also doesn’t help that I have moved across the nation multiple times, which means I have a new group of people to reject me all over again. I have become a Lone Wolf, hardened by nature and furious at society. I am not a leader or a follower. I am a Wanderer. I follow my own path and my own path only because that is the only path I know.

            And because of all of this, I believe in potatoes.

            Let me explain. A couple years back I was invited to a Closed Beta for a video game I signed up for. There was a small legion of us, around 2000 people or so that go in right away. It was a small group of hardcore gamers that wanted to see the game succeed. We would get on voice communications and countdown to launch.

            “Three, two, one and launch!” Silenzium, our launch coordinator, would always say that before we clicked the big red button.

            One day, Silenzium’s child ran into the room while we were doing our drops. We’ve heard of him before, but he was super ecstatic one day.

            “Three, two…POTATOES and launch!”

            Silenzium’s kid screamed “potatoes” as loud as he could and all of us roared out laughing on TeamSpeak. We don’t know why it was funny; it just was. The entire drop turned into people laughing and yelling “POTATOES!” every time we fought.

            The joke manifested into the forums. We started posting potato recipes and memes to keep the potato train going. We even went as far to beg the developers to make a mission where if we killed cargo tracks that it would drop potatoes everywhere. Sadly, that never happened.

            Every time we dropped after that moment, our crew would always go “Three, two, potatoes and launch!” It was unusual thing to band a community around, but it made us feel a sense of closeness.

            I am a Lone Wolf, that fact is true until the end of time. But sometimes, having some potatoes every once and a while is a nice change of pace.

Media Research Projects for the Future

Every research lab has a secret. Some labs are producing the next big technological jump for mankind. Others are for testing chemical compounds to possibly discover a new strain or element.

But what does the University of South Dakota’s media lab produce?

 

“Alright, just come sit down in this big, comfy chair and here’s the informed consent. Once you’re done reading, we’ll get this started for you, okay?”

In the basement of Al Neuharth is a PsychoPhys lab, which stands for Psychology/Physiology Lab. The lab is run by Dr. Brandon Nutting.

“We look at primarily skin conductance and heart rate using mediated forms of entertainment,” says Dr. Nutting.

One of the projects that Dr. Nutting is most excited about is Project Cobra, which was developed by previous USD graduate students Colin Berke and Travis Loof. The idea behind the project is to look at media content in three minute intervals, and seeing if people can be transported into the narrative. What makes this research project unique is the use of a stress bar. When a subject is holding onto the bar, the force applied to the object will directly be put into the computer. The idea is over time, subjects will weaken their grip on the bar, which means they are paying less attention to the bar and more attention to the content being showed to them.

According to Dr. Nutting, Project Cobra is one of many experiments that are trying to legitimize the most recent theory to come out of the minds of media professors: The Transportation Theory.

“It’s a crazy idea, like all of our other projects. Whether it works or it doesn’t, it’s going to be one hell of a ride,” says Dr. Nutting

Another project that is being worked on is The Golden Stim. This project is designed to look at Public Relations people and their level on influence. The idea is have a group of average looking people read these persuasive messages and seeing if the audience buys into the messages being given. This experiment is being ran by current USD graduate students Allison McNamara, Tanner Sifferath and Andy Schultze.

“Advertising agencies would love to have this kind of information from this experiment. And there’s a lot of grant money riding on this one too,” says Dr. Nutting.

The last big project being worked on right now is conducted by undergraduate Charlie Dalldorf. He is looking at Micro-transactions in video games and why people pay money into them in terms of level progression. He believes that people invest money into games to get a sense of cognitive desire and closure. This idea is cutting edge video game research that game developers would want to know when designing future games for the populace.

Looking ahead, Dr. Nutting is planning on acquiring an fMRI scanner, which stands for Functional Magnetic Resource Imaging. This device would round out the lab in what it is capable of. Dr. Nutting, however, did not specify what his “ultimate project” would be that would use an fMRI. He says that the lab will be getting one in the next two years.

In a short time span, Dr. Nutting is in the talks of possibly getting Apple Watches and their conventional use. That experiment is still on the back burner for now, but he wants to see if people can be “transported” in such a small media device.

All of the projects talked about will hopefully be accepted into Media Conferences in the next coming years. The big conference that everyone is going to is the International Conference Association in Puerto Rico in May 2015. Other conferences will be the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications in San Francisco, California in August 2015, and the Society for Psychophysiological Research, Dr. Nutting’s favorite conference, in Seattle October 2015.

As the only big media lab in this region of the nation, Dr. Nutting and his students plan on making a big impact in the upcoming years with cutting edge research projects and more.

D-Days History and 2014’s Parade

            Tradition is a concept that flows deep within the veins of the University of South Dakota. One of these traditions is USD’s homecoming: Dakota Days. Starting on November 20, 1914, the senior community members of Vermillion saw a wave of excellence that has never been seen before from the University Students. The residents of Vermillion wanted to dedicate a week out of the academic year to bring students, alumni and residents of Vermillion together.

Each year, the tradition of D-Days keeps getting bigger and better. Organizations from the university and community do everything they can to make the week as memorable as possible. Various events keep the Vermillion community busy throughout the week. All of this leads up to the parade in the morning where everyone is encouraged to watch. Afterwards, people move to the Dakota Dome, where the biggest tailgating session of the year starts as a prelude to the Homecoming Football Game.

“South Dakota Day is a unique feature in the history of the University. It is not too much to say then that the day has come to stay as one of the annual features of the School, and that each year will see it bettered and enlarged, until it will become a traditional day to University students and Alumni.” – The Coyote, 1916

One of the most profound aspects of D-Days is the morning parade. It is the quintessential combination of all the efforts the Vermillion community puts together and a great introduction for the biggest day out of the whole year for USD. Student organizations such as Greek Life, SGA and Spectrum were involved in the festivities. High School bands joined in on the fun with their own flare and choreographed routines. And political figures used the parade as a positive way to persuade voters in their favor.

There were even a couple oddballs at the parade that really stood out. There was this one particular band that had its roots in Asian Traditions. They used Asian drums and woodwinds for a mellow, spiritual kind of melody. Also, there were several kart riders that rode around all the other participants in the parade. Lastly, there were these people dressed up as chickens that finalized the weirdos at the parade.

When the parade starts, it feels like the entire community comes together to watch something really special. Even in a small college town like Vermillion, the fire of tradition still burns just as bright as it did 100 years ago. And this fire can only keep burning if the students can keep up their excellence and honor as the Flagship University of South Dakota.

Obama ISIS Speech and Middle Eastern Conflict

            On September 10^th, 2014, President Obama gave a speech concerning the ISIS and the measures that the U.S. will take to absolve the Middle Eastern conflict. Obama’s plan is to “Degrade and Destroy” ISIS.

The main offensive plan is to use airstrikes and drone support to flush out ISIS Terrorists in Iraq and Syria. Obama also notes that American ground troops will not be engaging in combat. However, he will be sending 475 service members as supportive units, and to train Iraqi Military officers for their ground operations. If actual ground troops will be fighting ISIS, it will be Iraqi Military.

The other parts to Obama’s plan are to starve out military and economic supplies for the ISIS. Obama hopes that the gradual lack of resources on the ISIS side will be the key to victory. Lastly, there are continued operations to assist civilians in the conflict. He makes a key point that he does not want the common populace to be driven away from their ancient homeland.

In February of 1960, the Iraqi government was headed by dictator Abd al-Karim Qasim. The U.S. was worried about the influence of communism in Iraq due to his administration and ideals. The CIA attempted to assassinate the dictator with a poisoned handkerchief. However, he was killed on February 8, 1963 via firing squad by Iraqi nationalists.

Iraq broke relations with the U.S after the 1967 war with Israel. The reasons for this were the Cold War during this time period. Any enemies with Iraq were an ally to the United States. Also, this is the point where Saddam Hussein started to come into power.

During the Reagan and H. W. Bush administrations, the U.S. resumed relations with Iraq. They provided intel and armament support to Iraq to help out with the war with Iran. Support throughout the 80s strengthened between the two nations. However, some people believed that the U.S. should pull back on the relationship.

After the attack on 9/11, the U.S. initiated an invasion on Iraq soil in 2003. The original intent was to flush out the alleged possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction, overthrow the Ba’ath party and execute Saddam Hussein. Despite not finding any WMDs and the completion of the other two tasks, the U.S. continues to occupy Iraq and a renewed invasion in 2014.

            In the Syrian side of the conflict, in 1957, the CIA had a failed coup to overthrow Syrian President Adib Shishakli. Syria asked U.S. Ambassador James Moose to leave Damascus in return for Syrian Ambassador Faris Zain Al-Din to come back to Syria. The relations between U.S. became hotter when Golan Heights was occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War conflict.

            During the early 90s, relations between the U.S. and Syria softened. They ended the civil war in Lebanon on the Taif Accord. Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad allowed Bush Senior to attend peace talks with Israel.

            After 9/11, the Syrian government had covert limited cooperation with the U.S. during their invasion of the Middle East. However, emotions started to rise again when a barrage of Iraqi civilian refugees entered into the country. Also, the Iraq War and Syrian Civil War killed any relations left with Syria. The lack of support during these time periods angered Syrian government officials.

Some of the important members of both political parties had comments to say about Obama’s pledge to take action against ISIS. Republican House Speaker John Boehner says that he support the President’s decision to intervene against ISIS. However, Boehner takes a more extreme approach by saying, “...rather than as what it must be: an all-out effort to destroy an enemy that has declared a holy war against America…”

            Senator Bob Corker commented, “(Obama) is exercising poor judgment by not explicitly seeking an authorization from Congress where consensus can be reached.” On the other hand Representative Adam Kinzinger says, “I don’t care how it’s approved, I’ll vote for it either way…we should give the president the authority and money he needs.”

            On the Democrat side, both Carl Levin, Chairman of Senate Armed Services Committee and Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader said that Obama’s strategy is concrete and forceful. They agree that this is the best plan to snuff out an extremist group and relieve the threat against the region and the U.S.

            However, Snators Mark Udall and Mark Begich strongly disagree with Obama. “As we have seen in the past, Americaan boots on the ground cannot stamp out an extreme ideology and the Iraqi s must take responsibility for defending their own people.”

             

- CentsOfFate