News Item Response

The article i decided to write was Internet Skills and The Digital Divide, i found this article to pertain to me significantly after seeing my Technology Diary. The article had to do with "internet skills often focus on specific aspects of internet use, we have applied a definition of internet skills that is derived from multiple research directions and subsequently arranged in a particular order."(Deursen). When i saw how much technology is involved with my every day life, i found this article interesting in that contrast. I believe our society has become completely evolved with the digital era, especially seen with the amount of use in Face book and twitter. I would have never of thought about the people that aren't able to gain access to the Internet due to the overwhelming amount of people on Face book. I myself don't have a Face book account, however i view this as a good thing for me. I would not consider myself in the digital divide of the population. "The term ‘digital divide’ initially referred to gaps in access to a computer. When the Internet diffused rapidly into society and became a primary type of computing, the term shifted to encompass gaps in not only computer but also Internet access. Early research on the digital divide focused mainly on a binary classification of physical access."(Deursen). It's hard to even think there is a digital divide since everyone i personally know has access to cell phone, which can be used to access the Internet and its amenities to social media sites. It is interesting to see how some people don't have the internet skills as kids in college do, for example my parents are very behind with internet use. I feel as if i have to teach them everything there is to do about the internet and how it works, i would consider them part of the digital divide. I found the digital divide most prevalent when dealing with our parents and older generations, since they did not grow up on these technologies. I believe that we will see in the coming a huge increase in the amount of digital devices for everyday use. With technology advancing as much as it is, who is to even guess what the next latest and greatest device will be. The Iphones from Apple have shown the dramatic increase in technology since 2000, the first Iphone had one camera and a very basic voice command software compared to the new Iphone 4s that has two cameras front and back as well as the most advanced voice command software to date.

van Deursen, A., , & van Dijk, J. (2011). Internet skills and the digital divide. New Media & Society, 13(6), 893-911. doi:10.1177/1461444810386774

Medical Marijuana Concern in the U.S.

News item

Medical Marijuana has become a very debatable topic in the United States lately, many people believe it should be used as a medicine and others believe it should remain illegal. I personally believe that marijuana should legalized for medical purposes and decriminalized for anyone else that has it under a certain amount. There are numerous surveys that show Medical Marijuana is very prevalent in athletics and entertainment industries but many of these people don’t admit it openly due to the stereotypes on nation has put on people that smoke Medical Marijuana. “In the poll, conducted for CBS 5 by SurveyUSA, it found that 56 percent of Californians support legalization and just 42 percent oppose it. Only three percent were unsure”(CBS). California and the nation have an opportunity that could lead to a dramatic increase in tax revenues but they would have to put their stereotypes on hold and understand that Medical Marijuana is everywhere being used behind closed doors.

“The last global statistical analysis of the damage caused by this drug, undertaken in 2000, found that 3.2% of deaths worldwide were the result of use”(time). When looking at the previous information one might assume that it is referring to a serious drug however it is referring to alcohol. With that being said, there has never been a recorded incidence where Medical Marijuana has lead to death. Rather Medical Marijuana has been used to help people who are terminally sick from a disease. The statistics listen above strictly correlate with California; if Medical Marijuana were legalized in the country and all fifty states began to open Medical Marijuana shops. The overwhelming debt we have in the United States will slowly start to diminish with the amounts of tax revenue coming through to the government. The potential job market in California would raise from the creation of 60,000 to 100,000 new jobs for the society. If the all States joined in on the movement and we began to legalize Medical Marijuana it is estimated that there would be 2,940,000 to 5,390,000 newly created job opportunities nation wide. This would dramatically alter the substantially high unemployment rate in the United States. With Medical Marijuana being something that we can grow here, the nation would not need to import the drug therefore paying no outside taxes for a domestic product.

CBS, prod. "CBS 5 Poll: Most Californians Want Pot Legal." CBS News. CBS Broadcasting. CBS 5, San Francisco, California, 21 Apr. 2010. CBS5.com. CBS Broadcasting, 21 Apr. 2010. <http://cbs5.com/watercooler/california.marijuana.legalization.2.1648704.html>.

Harrell, Eben. "Stemming the Rise in Global Alcohol-Related Deaths." Time.com. TIme Magazine, 29 June 2009.

<http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1907408,00.html>.