SWOT Analysis

1) State a question that you will work toward solving:

How can administration at MSU make parking more available, less confusing and not as expensive for students while helping them understand the set up they currently have.

2) Solution                                                                                                         

I think the best approach would be to set up a campaign to solve these problems. The campaign would consist of three steps:

1. Education: Hold a parking lot discussion at the union where key administration and the student government sit at a panel to answer student questions to increase understanding on the issue. Meanwhile offer an online webinar explaining to students when and where it is acceptable to park and for how much at what times, again there is a huge communication issue when it comes to this part of the parking battle. These will educate students on why parking is the way it is and what MSU’s goal is. Additionally it would be helpful to explain to students more about when, where and what time you are allowed to park.
2. Planning: Since a big concern of MSU’ is maintaining green space, creating more parking garages where there are parking lots would double, triple, even quadruple parking space without sacrificing green space. Use ideas such as on the next campus wide vote include options on how to solve the parking problem for students to vote on. Start a contest through the state news or the Black Sheep if you want a more humorous approach, to have students describe their worst parking nightmare on states campus and a good way that problem could’ve been or would’ve been solved. Not only would this open up the issue and give it media attention it will add some humor as well as creative solutions. Start a hash tag for social media about the parking problem (for example #MSUParkingProbs where students can chime in with minimal effort. The more attention the issue gets the more administration will mind it and more likely to cause change. This way students and administration decide how to solve the parking problem. This would also entail deciding what the most pressing matter of this issue is and what is the most important part to solve.
3. Fundraising: Students could be a part of making this dream reality with a series of fundraising events. Such as, start a lottery for free parking on campus for a year for students and sell tickets for $10-$20 maybe even more, if a fair portion of the student body participated (which I think they would, it’s a great prize) it may raise enough money to build some more parking on campus. A Parking Lot party. To raise money for more parking hold different themed “parties” or events in some of the better know parking lots on campus. To get in students must pay a fee that will go to the new parking structure. Pay to tailgate. Before sporting events enforce a fee for anyone tailgating with the idea that the proceeds will go to more parking (therefore more tailgating room). Start an online campaign for the cause. If this is shared through Facebook and other social media the amount of money it could rake up is crazy, not only from students but sympathizers. It’s also a good way to get people outside of Ingham County involved.

3) Evaluating Using SWOT Analysis

• Strengths
• Educates the student body so students are fully informed making student participation and a well-executed plan more likely.
• Encourages student participation and funded by students, not the school
• Encourages a well thought out plan
• Respects the schools goal for maintaining green space
• Brings more power to students
• Weaknesses/Limitations
• Will need a large portion of students to get involved to have enough influence to be successful.
• Will need many students to attend events and take part in the raffle to raise near enough money to build even one parking garage, and still may not be enough.
• Students will need to actually attend the education sessions for them to be nearly enough, although word of mouth may be essential.
• No one with power on our side. Get a coach or key administrative person/alumni if possible. This is unlikely so we must get key student government officials involved, they could be our bridge of communication with administration.
• Sheer size of the problem we’re taking on. We would have to be incredibly organized and launch all modes of communication at once for it to be effective.
• Opportunities
• Could extend reach to other schools to gain support perhaps.
• Could use this as not just a campaign for the parking problem, but how administration no longer cares for student’s needs and concerns, bringing power back to the students.
• Get faculty involved. I know many of them agree with the parking issue. They have more money and influence.
• Think bigger money wise. Don’t be afraid to reach out to people other than students to fund this.
• Improve faculty/student relations by the end of this.
• Threats
• Could strain relations between the school and administration
• May not receive permission to build these parking garages. Just because it has support and money from students doesn’t mean administration will give permission to build.
• Could raise quite a bit of money, and then either not get permission or not raise enough to build the parking garage, and then we would be stuck with a ton of peoples money for a cause that isn’t going to happen.
• Depending how far students take this (protests, pave parties to raise money) they could risk punishment from the school. We wouldn’t want to risk anyone’s future.
• Could escalate among students and turn into a famous East Lansing riot. Which would not only completely cancel any hope of accomplishing our goal but look very bad for the students, undermining anything they attempt like this in the future.

4) Revise my idea

I would keep the same 3 steps in my plan but just add one more, as the first step. This would focus on building relations with administration since we would need their permission to accomplish the goal as well as keep them happy so no one gets in trouble. If we secure a decent relationship with them it may have a chance to work but without a relationship it definitely won’t.

5) Unique Solution

My solution is creative and unique because, not only is it organized in a way that will make success much more likely, but it puts the power with the students. In my plan the students solve their own problems instead of begging other people to do it for them.

Creative Assignment #3

Creativity Quotes

 

“Creativity is knowing how to hide your sources” ― Albert Einstein

 

I believe this quote means that when you come up with a creative idea part of what makes it great and creative is the fact that no one can see how you came up with it. I think a good example of how this applies to my life is our “forced association” assignment. In this assignment I got great feedback on my forced association ad. I think this was because although I used forced association to come up with my “get personal” ad (associating it with a scorpion) this was not obvious in the final product. I “hid my sources”.

 

“There is creative reading as well as creative writing.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

What this quote means to me is that, although creative writing is obvious, creative reading is someone’s own interpretation of another’s writing. This is a large part of what makes a great piece of writing great. This applies to my life because I love reading, and some of my favorite books are those that make you think and stimulate readers to come up with their own interpretation of “what it means.” This applies to many classics, and although many of them have a general reputation for what they might mean I believe people can still find new meanings to apply.

 

“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.” ― Erich Fromm

 

This really applies to the idea that creativity has no boundaries. If you apply boundaries or “certainties” you’re not truly being creative. However this takes a lot of courage. This applied to me during this class. I wouldn’t say I’m not a creative person, but years of schoolwork and work have taught me to apply boundaries in many situations, which can stunt creativity. I found a good way to get around this is to realize the worst that can happen is my idea could suck, which isn’t that big of a deal because it can lead me to something greater.

 

 

 

 

“Clear thinking at the wrong moment can stifle creativity.” ― Karl Lagerfeld

 

Sometimes, logic can stifle creativity. You may get a fantastic idea and then remember, oh wait but my budget doesn’t allow this, or this won’t work because of the situation. Therefore even if you’re idea was a truly great one that may have needed refining, you will never have time to hone it because your “logic” killed it. This is a good thing for me to apply to my life and remember. I can be too logical sometimes, which isn’t good in creatively. The best approach is to use the logic constructively to not dream smaller, but edit the dream.

 

“You don’t make art out of good intentions.” ― Gustave Flaubert

 

This quote is pretty funny to me. I think it means that art is often accidental or for your own personal reasons. To apply this to my life I believe this means that sometimes I should just get creative for the hell of it. Because I want to make a mess. Or have some alone time. For really whatever reason I fancy, not for anyone or anything. This is a good way to let go and just let creativity take over and see what happens. It could be the ugliest, most useless thing in the world but hey that’s fine.

Brainstorming

State a question that you will work toward solving: How can administration at MSU make parking more available, less confusing and not as expensive for students while helping them understand the set up they currently have.

 

Divergent Thinking Ideas

1. During MSU sporting events either up the payment for parking for game attendees or use all of the funds from it towards creating more parking space on MSU’s campus.
2. Since a big concern of MSU’ is maintaining green space, creating more parking garages where there are parking lots would double, triple, even quadruple parking space without sacrificing green space.
3. Start a lottery for free parking on campus for a year for students and sell tickets for $10-$20 maybe even more, if a fair portion of the student body participated (which I think they would, it’s a great prize) it may raise enough money to build some more parking on campus.
4. A big issue with the MSU parking problem is the disparity between administration and students on why parking is not offered adequately. I think starting an education campaign with the local and on campus news outlets as well as some public Q&A would be really helpful.
5. A Parking Lot party. To raise money for more parking hold different themed “parties” or events in some of the better know parking lots on campus. To get in students must pay a fee that will go to the new parking structure.
6. Pay to tailgate. Before sporting events enforce a fee for anyone tailgating with the idea that the proceeds will go to more parking (therefore more tailgating room).
7. At Sparticipation hold a raffle that different organizations will donate items for. Students pay for their ticket (that will go towards parking) and there will be a drawing for the prizes.
8. Get local businesses involved. Have them dedicate certain product or merchandise to the cause and advertise that they support it. This will hopefully spur students to spend money at those businesses as well as generate money for the cause.
9. Hold a parking lot discussion at the union where key administration and the student government sit at a panel to answer student questions to increase understanding on the issue.
10. Start an online campaign for the cause. If this is shared through Facebook and other social media the amount of money it could rake up is crazy, not only from students but sympathizers. It’s also a good way to get people outside of Ingham County involved.
11. Contact our State government about it, I doubt they could do much but it may get some media attention.
12. On the next campus wide vote include options on how to solve the parking problem for students to vote on.
13. Included in the end of the semester surveys for students, have a parking survey where students can give their opinion on the parking issue and suggest solutions.
14. Start a contest through the state news or the Black Sheep if you want a more humorous approach, to have students describe their worst parking nightmare on states campus and a good way that problem could’ve been or would’ve been solved. Not only would this open up the issue and give it media attention it will add some humor as well as creative solutions.
15. Start a hash tag for social media about the parking problem (for example #MSUParkingProbs where students can chime in with minimal effort. The more attention the issue gets the more administration will mind it and more likely to cause change.
16. Organize a student march protesting the need for better parking.
17. Negotiate an honor system with students where they first get a warning instead of a parking ticket, therefore installing some more leniency for parking where we shouldn’t, especially since a lot of the parking signage is unclear this would encourage students to learn where it is acceptable to park.
18. Offer an online webinar explaining to students when and where it is acceptable to park and for how much at what times, again there is a huge communication issue when it comes to this part of the parking battle.
19. Spell out “FUCK OFF” in parking tickets on the football field
20. Kidnap and hold Luanna hostage until they change their policies

 

Convergent Thinking Ideas

 

I personally think a few of these ideas are pretty good. I think the best approach would be to have a campaign to solve these problems. The campaign would consist of three steps:

• Education: Use many of the ideas above to educate students on why parking is the way it is and what MSU’s goal is. Additionally it would be helpful to explain to students more about when, where and what time you are allowed to park.
• Planning: Use many of the ideas above where students and administration decides how to solve the parking problem, my favorite is the addition of parking garages where parking lots are. This would also entail deciding what the most pressing matter of this issue is and what is the most important part to solve.
• Fundraising: Students could be a part of making this dream reality with a series of fundraising events. My favorite is the free parking for a year raffle, the social media tag and fundraising and the parking lot events.

Creative Assignment #2

Sarah King’s Creative Assignment #2

 

For my second creative assignment I interviewed Kristen Khurana, an established Michigan Photographer who specializes in lighthouses. You can see her work at http://www.kristenkay.com/keyword/kristen%20kay%20aka%20kristen%20khurana#!i=2813901323&k=6dpNpRB From Kristen I learned don’t hold back from taking a chance, you don’t know what kind of results you may get if you take chances and be creative.

 

I decided to email Kristen through her website and she responded very kindly and in great detail. I used the suggested 5 W’s as a guide for my questions: Who, What, Where, When, and Why, plus How.

 

I began by asking Kristen what motivated her creativity, where does she get her inspiration? What process does she have while going on photo shoots? What inspires her to photograph what she does?

 

“I get my inspiration from anything I find beautiful, this may be beautiful scenery but it can also be a friend laughing, a kid playing or a bug crawling in the grass,” said Kristen. “There’s beauty all over this world and a lot of it isn’t in the most obvious places”

 

Kristen chose this path after a painful, drawn out divorce from her husband. She picked up photography as a way to free herself. She started with just family and friends and hometown scenery but now has does beautiful photography in China, Egypt, Greece and a multitude of other places. However her favorite and specialty to photograph are lighthouses.

 

“I adore lighthouses,” said Kristen. “Not only are there so many in Michigan so they are readily available but they are a large part of our culture with so many stories behind them. Everyone is different.”

 

Now, Kristen’s work means everything to her. “Photography has become a passion,” Kristen explained. “I see a whole different world through my camera lens. Through my work I can explore the world in ways I would’ve never known before.”

Week 4

Full name: Sarah King

Topic: Parking

 

Explanation of the Problem: MSU has a clear parking problem. Not only is there not enough on campus, but the cost and confusion surrounding the parking is ridiculous. The parking system now limits students and is a money pit for them.

 

Research: (All research falls into three areas: Fact, Opinion and Guess.

• Facts: The administrator I contacted from MSU parking services has not emailed me back yet, however some facts I found from news articles and such online suggested that the biggest reason MSU doesn’t offer much parking is to try and provide more green space on campus with it’s green initiative.
• Opinions: We think that MSU uses parking as a way to get more money out of students. Although we don’t expect that we should be able to drive everywhere on campus for free, we do think there should be exceptions.
• Guesses: The parking problem at MSU may be attributed to administration thinking that parking is not the best use of the campus’s space, especially since parking takes up so much space. They may also want to force students to walk more or use the Cata bus more since cars could make campus very crowded and more dangerous and noisy. Also, with so many students it is not feasible to expect that there will be enough parking for all of them.

 

State a question that you will work toward solving: How can administration at MSU make parking more available, less confusing and not as expensive for students while helping them understand the set up they currently have.

 

Forced Association

http://hss.webexone.com/help/us/WebOfcHelp/html/contact_others_through_your_database.htm (text inserted by Sarah King)

 https://www.etsy.com/listing/115132541/christmas-card-christmas-tree-dashingly

 

Get Personal.

The United States Postal Service

For this print ad I associated the word “scorpion” with “sting”. I started to brainstorm and came up with the idea for an ad that had to do with “the sting of just being another name in the attachment” with an email attachment to hundreds of people and someone knowing it’s not personal and no real thought went into the message. But after playing around I landed on “Get personal” with the idea the images would do more of the talking.

 

Assignment 2: Make something out of garbage

My parents are redoing the backsplash in the kitchen and bathroom and I used the left over and/or broken tiles they were throwing out to make this wall decoration.

Creative Assignment #1

 

For my creative assignment I chose to analyze an advertisement.

This advertisement is obviously calling for gun control in America. The first clue is the fact that the group logo in the right corner of the picture is “Moms Demand Action! For Gun Sense in America” and the messaging, but also the fact it has a child holding a gun is a fairly good guess the ad is not promoting them. I think the whole idea behind this advertisement is great, as well as the image. Comparing assault weapons which are not banned, to a type of candy, which is banned for child safety, points out that a different angle for the gun control argument that people may not have heard before. Obviously guns can kill and have killed people so instead of using the same old argument they take the approach of what we have banned in this country for children’s safety but we won’t take measures to ban something so much more dangerous.

             The image really fits the idea behind it. The children look equally serious, but the difference between the two is astounding. The child on the left holding the banned chocolate egg has no reason to cause alarm, it looks very normal and even right for a child to be holding candy. While the child on the right looks drastically out of place and wrong holding the assault weapon. The image really has shock factor to it, particularly set next to the kid with the candy. The two are standing in a very generic classroom that could be anywhere in America, complete with the message “No music class Tuesday” and the little handprint nametags. I think this was a smart move. As a parent, you could easily relate this classroom and the children in it with your child’s classroom. Meanwhile the serious face of the kids along with the dark, muted colors of the image provide a very serious, ominous feel. I think the creators of this ad were effective in getting their point and tone across.

Challenging Assumptions

This week we challenged an assumption that we highlighted in our first assignment. My assumption is that global warming is happening.