Adrian's Communication Resources Page

This page supports Brent Adrian's English and Speech courses at Central Community College-Grand Island

Office Hours and Contact Information
Email: badrian5894@cccneb.mailcruiser.com

Software Links

Instructional Terminal Services

Free OpenOffice Suite

Free OpenOffice.org Portable[Extraction is very slow. Be patient!]

Fighting a War Against Distraction
Tuesday, July 8, 2008 12:04 a.m.
"DISTRACTED? And how. Beeped and pinged, interrupted and inundated, overloaded and hurried — that’s how we live today. We prize knowledge work — work that relies on our intellectual abilities — and yet increasingly feel that we have no time to think. For all our connectivity, we often catch little more than snippets and glimpses of one another. The greatest casualty of our mobile, high-tech age is attention. By fragmenting and diffusing our powers of attention, we are undermining our capacity to thrive in a complex, ever-shifting world."

Should Colleges Focus More on Personal and Social Responsibility? (pdf)
Tuesday, June 24, 2008 11:18 p.m.
This study from the American Association of Colleges and Universities clearly indicates that students and faculty believe that higher education institutions are not doing enough to educate or engage in personal and social responsibility behaviors.

Class Matters: How Socioeconomic status impacts your whole life
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 05:54 p.m.
"A team of reporters spent more than a year exploring ways that class - defined as a combination of income, education, wealth and occupation - influences destiny in a society that likes to think of itself as a land of unbounded opportunity."

A History Department Bans Citing Wikipedia as a Research Source
Monday, June 9, 2008 (Repost from February 23, 2008) 11:29 p.m.
Andy Carvin's article, Wikipedia Receives a Citation does a wonderful job of discussing the decision at Middlebury College to restrict the use of Wikipedia as a source. The key reasoning is embedded in two quotes in Carvin's article. David Blakesly is mentioned as writing: "Kudos to Roy Rosenzweig for rightly pointing out that the core of the problem is not Wikipedia and the quality or integrity of its information. It’s that we haven’t successfully communicated to students that citing any general knowledge encyclopedia-including Britannica-in college-level research is a mistake. Blaming Wikipedia is a red herring. I wish as much attention were devoted to the challenge of teaching effective research practices, including the dubious practice of prescriptions like this one." Dominic Moore stresses a similar point by saying: "Wikipedia is not at issue here. The issues are the ignorant students who think they can cite tertiary sources in an academic paper and the professors who let them get away with it. Why is this even an article about Wikipedia? Citing “World Book” would be twice as bad." Keep in mind, however, that nobody is saying you shouldn't read or use tertiary source material for getting up to speed on a subject or to gather background information. Interestingly, one can frequently find very solid sources of high credibility that can be located, read, used, and cited in a college-level paper or speech.

Monster beetle found in bananas
Friday, June 6, 2008 11:34 a.m.
Finding this in my breakfast would drive me bananas!

Tips on citing within your speech or oral presentation
Monday, June 2, 2008 10:29 p.m.
James Madison University Carrier Library provides a Web page on Information ethics: Citing and fair use. This page, which will open in your word processor, provides many examples of oral source citation in speeches.

150 Funniest Resume Mistakes, Bloopers and Blunders Ever
Monday, June 2, 2008 03:59 p.m.
"People write the strangest things on their resumes, sometimes downright hysterical. Why should only recruiting managers get to laugh at these?"

Why bananas are a parable for our times
Monday, June 2, 2008 03:55 p.m.
Just another one of my banana posts. What may be your favorite fruit, the Cavendish banana, is dying.

View 12 Angry Men Online!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 11:28 p.m.
SPCH 140 - Oral Communication students can view the movie "12 Angry Men" by logging into the Online Learning (Blackboard) system. The log on is the same as WebCentral. This is currently the only element of Blackboard used in any of my courses. Please disregard the postcard that many students received suggested that on-campus training is required.

Google Web Search Features
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 12:14 a.m.
"In addition to providing easy access to billions of web pages, Google has many special features to help you to find exactly what you're looking for. Click the title of a specific feature to learn more about it." There are also a number of additional Google Products for searching, exploration, innovation, and communication.

Reality TV's Working Class Heroes
Monday, May 26, 2008 09:36 p.m.
Developing a reasonable understanding of Socioeconomic Status (SES) and the impact it has on people is becoming increasingly important in education and government.This article discusses how TV networks (NBC, ABC, & CBS) have drifted toward programming aimed at and depicting higher SES audiences. Cable, however, has programming that depicts the working-class in action.

Quitting Smoking is Contagious
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 11:55 p.m.
The primary purpose of communication is to change the behavior of others. The power of interpersonal influence to change behavior is significant as noted in numerous studies that look at small group behavior and conformity. The Framingham Heart Study has found that interpersonal influence in social groups can lead to the behavioral decision to quit smoking, as reported in Time magazine, "Such ripple effects among social groups may seem pretty obvious — people naturally look to their friends to figure out what behaviors are socially acceptable — but Christakis notes that the scope and size of the networks in which these effects operate is much larger than previously thought. His research, for example, shows that geographical distance between individuals in the network doesn't seem to weaken behavioral influences."

APA Citation Quiz Answers
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 04:59 p.m.
No peeking until you take the SELF-STUDY: APA CITATION QUIZ! #35 is a bad item.

Follett Bookstore
Saturday, May 17, 2008 01:58 p.m.
Follett Bookstore on Central Community College Campus - Grand Island can take your book orders: (308) 398-7418

Textbooks can be also be priced and purchased through Efollett.com, the company that operates CCC-GI campus bookstore.

Textbooks for SPCH 140.0 Oral Communication
Saturday, May 17, 2008 01:56 p.m.

The "Hybrid Pack" (shrink wrapped with Pocket Guide to Public Speaking 2e & Essential Guide to Interpersonal Communication & Essential Guide to Group Communication) can be ordered by clicking here. The citation handbook, Cite right, is not included in the package.

Individually, the textbooks for SPCH 140.0 Oral Communication are:

O’Hair, D., Rubenstein, H., & Stewart, R. (2007). A pocket guide to public speaking (2nd ed.). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

O’Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. O. (2004). The essential guide to group communication. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

O’Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. O. (2004). The essential guide to interpersonal communication. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Lipson, C. (2006). Cite right. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Textbooks for SPCH 111.0 Public Speaking
Saturday, May 17, 2008 01:55 p.m.

The "Hybrid Pack" is a shrink wrapped package containing The pocket guide to public speaking & The essential guide to group communication. The citation handbook, Cite right, is not included in the package.

Individually, the textbooks needed for SPCH 111.0 Public speaking are:

O’Hair, D., Rubenstein, H., & Stewart, R. (2007). A pocket guide to public speaking (2nd ed.). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

O’Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. O. (2004). The essential guide to group communication. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Lipson, C. (2006). Cite right. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Textbooks for ENGL 123.0 Business Communication
Saturday, May 17, 2008 01:52 p.m.

The "Hybrid Pack" is a shrink wrapped containing The business writer's companion5e & The essential guide to group communicaton. The citation handbook, Cite right, is not included in the package.

Individually, the textbooks needed for ENGL 123.0 Business Communication are: Alred, G. J., Brusaw, C. T., & Oliu, W. E. (2008). The business writer’s companion (5th ed.). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

O’Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. O. (2004). The essential guide to group communication. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.