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Show Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010 Page 8 AggieLif• as OS Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com Becoming part of the social network By KASEY VAN DYKE staff writer the phone. But, if a third task is thrown in, things can get muddled." In a classroom, that means less concentration and less retention of information. Parker said he has also seen a definite increase in technological multitasking in the classroom. Because Parker allows his students to use their various technological mediums in class, he said he has to live with students typing and texting during his lectures. "Quite frankly," he said, "if my class is that boring that they'd rather be posting on Facebook or texting, that's my problem." Though he doesn't mind technology in the classroom, Parker said he doesn't appreciate it in a conversation, such as someone texting while talking. "If it's not an emergency, it's going to be there later," he said. "Have a real relationship with people." There are two kinds of social network users, Berry said: cosmopolites and localites. Cosmopolites, she said, are the first adopters and those "more focused at the world, global, international politics and goings on." Localities tend to be more focused on what's happening locally. Rich Cromwell, a junior in biology, might be considered a localite. Cromwell belongs to a minority on campus: those who don't have a Facebook account. "There are so many other ways to talk to people," he said. "All my friends are close enough that I don't need to post about my day to talk to them." Cromwell, now married, said that not using Facebook or other social networking sites didn't hurt him while still dating. "All my dates were people I'd met somewhere and asked out," he said. "I just called them if I wanted to talk to them. Facebook wasn't a factor." His wife, on the other hand, does use Facebook. "I make fun of her every single day," Cromwell said. "She's always on that thing." Twitter, one of the more recently popular social {{ According to the Facebook and MySpace websites, users log more than 708.2 billion minutes per month on their social network of choice. This translates to over one million years each month, spread across more than 622 million active users. Besides Facebook and MySpace, networks like Blogger, WordPress, Twitter, instant messaging and text messaging make communication instantaneous. Preston Parker, lecturer in the journalism and communications department and president of the Social Media Club of Cache Valley, said in the last seven years, starting with Napster and blogging, social networking has created a way for someone to have a complete online profile. All of their "sub-networks" are linked together at one hub, which can be controlled from any internet connection. "You can literally at any time have access to your network," he said. "Before, how would you have done that?" The influx of social networking and the development of smart phones and text messaging services are making multitasking an almost necessary skill. Eddy Berry, assistant department head for sociology, social work and anthropology, said she sees an ever-growing amount of multitasking in the classroom. "Students are texting, Facebooking and, allegedly, listening to lecture, but I can tell a difference," Berry said. According to an MSNBC article, "Why you can't do three things at once," the part of the brain that controls multitasking is the medial prefrontal cortex, which can separate two tasks at a time. In the article, researcher Etienne Koechlin of the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, France, said this allows us to cook while talking on SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are becoming more prevalent in college life. The way many people are communicating is also changing from verbal- to technology-based conversations. ALISON OSTLER photo illustration networks, allows its users to send updates to their followers, either online or through text. The Pew Research Center in 2009 found that nearly one in five American adults, ages 18 to 24 (about 19 percent) have used Twitter. Among these users are Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Sarah Palin and Barack Obama. Though he is without Facebook, Cromwell said Twitter seems like a fun idea, to a point. "It's a lot like Facebook," he said, "but not as personal. It's cool as long as you get the right people:' Parker said the interesting aspect of social networking is how it has taken power away from large conglomerates, such as Disney, CBS, Time Warner, etc. By giving consumers the ability to decide what is important to them, Parker said the role of the information gatekeeper has shifted. "Now, who is the gatekeeper? I am," he said. "I get to decide what's important. I do that by controlling who's in my network." - k.vandyke@aggiemaiLusu.edu Bagpipe club sets out to rock Utah State By GENEVIEVE DRAPER staff writer "Show me the Scotsman who doesn't love the thistle," is sung every game here at Utah State. But for many, a Scotsman is an unknown presence on campus. A new club, The Scotsman, has plans to show Aggies a real Scotsman — kilt, bagpipe and all. The idea for the club came from Craig Jessop, dean of the Caine College of the Arts. Jessop has always liked bagpipes and spent four years in Germany as part of the Air Force Band. Working with many European bands, he encountered several English pipe bands, and even worked with Black Watch, an internationally recognized pipe band. Jessop also has Scottish ancestry, which he said gives him an affinity for the bagpipes. "Last spring I was judging for State Sterling Scholar ... and in walked a bagpipe," Jessop said. The piper was Matthew Earl, now a USU freshman in law and constitutional studies. Jessop called Earl about a month after the Sterling Scholars auditions, and offered him a scholarship to come play the bagpipes for the Caine College of the Arts, and to start a pipe band. "You put that all together and combine it with the tradition of agriculture and the Scotsman ... it is time, it's our time, to have our own aggie pipe band in the highlands of Utah," Jessop said. Matt Earl, who is the pipe major and president of The Scotsman, has been playing for nine years. He too has Scottish blood, and is involved with the bagpipes as a family tradition. He is related to the Barclay family, who started the Utah Pipe Band, and his family is involved with highland music. His mother teaches highland dance and all of this brothers also play the pipes. "It's a different kind of instrument ... a war-time instrument. Fierce. Will definitely add to the spirit of the Aggies," Earl said. The pipes also were traditionally played at a birth or a wedding, all of the major events and celebrations of life. "The associating culture of the highland bagpipes is the farming community, regular people who play for recreation and in war ... we sing the Scotsman as our call to war ... having a pipe band will really add something to the community," said Christian Orr, a sophomore in landscape architecture. Orr is serving as the vice president of the club this year. He has been playing the pipes for eight years. "When I first heard the bagpipes, there is just this chill in the blood; I attribute it that to resonating with my ancestry," he said. Orr played in the Wasatch and District Pipe Band before coming to USU. Though the club is starting small, they have big plans for the future. "Eventually we hope to have about 12 pipers and four drummers," Earl said. They also plan to design and register an official university tartan for the band. The club is working on getting a teacher to further aid the club's development as a pipe band. The eventual aim is to be able to compete as a band. The club is also working on their repertoire. In the first official meeting on Monday, they discussed their musical goals. In addition to a performance selection, they also will have a variety of I See SCOTSMAN, page 10 THE SCOTSMAN IS A NEW bagpipe club on campus that aspire to be the real Scotsmen behind the aggies. They also plan to design their own USU tartan. STERLING BOIN photo + Get 50% offwith purchase one ofcombo pass one regular combo pass. Combo pass includes corn maze, hay jump, hay forts, blackout maze, gourd launcher, & Haunted Hollow. Limit one coupon per duo. Corn maze open M-Th 10AM-10PM F/Sat 10AM-11PM Haunted Hollow open F/Sat 7-10:30PM 04i American West Heritage Center 4025 S Hwy 89-91 Wellsville, UT 84339 435-245-6050 www.awhc.org Located a few minutes south of Logan, west side of the highway. 4-0 |