Finals Week *Freak Out*

Finals week is coming up in the quarter system, and most of us students just want to scream and run away.... which will be probably pointless. Many people are trying different ways to relieve their stress. Even a trend has been widely set around schools to have "Puppy rooms" or "Therapy Fluffy", where students can take a break to play with adorable pets!

   

Any more strategies needed.... check out a UCSD article, written a few years back, on advice for dealing with Finals stress! http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/12-08Sleep.asp

Personally as UCSD student here, I have had to go through great measures in having my friend change my Facebook password which bans me from accessing till my finals are finished. (Actually very helpful!)

But the problem I'd like to ask is what if your social media tools are necessary for school, work, or any commitments that have during the Finals week? There has been many suggestions to avoid Facebook and such during this intense, significant week, but students may need them for school projects, work, keeping up with their career interests, or to continue the flow of networking. 

Of course, finals week is barely a week, even just a day for a few students. Obviously there are many strategies to balance the usage of social media while taking studying effectively. To keep up with social media though also seems like another commitment.... While us students are temporarily committed to take and study for these exams, is social media also another committment for us? And it lasts longer? 

Hope you can ponder on this idea, and read another thought about it as an "Unending Final Exam"(http://www.business2community.com/social-media/social-media-the-unending-final-exam-0347598).

Spotlight on the Chair of UCSD Comm Dept!

Have you visited out our Youtube channel yet? We have special, rare historical footages featuring Dan Hallin, Herbert Schiller, and COMM 146's very own Professor Mike (Michael Cole)! These three leaders and professors have contributed significant work to our UCSD Communications department. Without their research, guidance, and presence, our department would not have been possible!

Now a look at who does such an impact for our department today..... David Serlin! Not only is he the chair and an associate professor for our department, but he also is a faculty member in the Science Studies, Critical Gender Studies, and the Interdisciplinary Group in Cognitive science. Watch our new video on his regards to the UCSD Communication 30th:

Also, come to our 30th Anniversary celebration to hear Professor Serlin to share his insight and knowledge about specific topics such as 'disability and communication' to the department in general! This is a unique opportunity to meet him, and our class highly recommends it!

How to Win at Social Media

You can see now many students studying Communication or people of the recent generations know how to use social media. These days, its simple to ask, who doesn't have a Facebook? Which company doesn't have Twitter? Companies and organizations, especially small businesses, need to use social media in order to connect with their targeted communities and group or to get the word about their own business, products and services. But how do you stand out among all these other businesses when they are using the same social media tools? 
You may have the same tools, but there are different ways to use and perceive with these social media outlets! A potential customer/client must be motivated to "like" or "follow" your company, and you can learn a bit on here: 

What Businesses Are Doing Wrong on Social Media (And 5 Tips For Success)
The author, David Kerpen, is currently the CEO of Likeable Local, a social media software startup for small businesses, as well as the chairman and former CEO of Likeable Media, an award-winning social media and word-of-mouth marketing firm with triple digit revenue growth for 4 consecutive years.

Do you agree with his tips on using social media? Are there any other ways that can be more or also effective? Or let us know you "LIKE" this! 

Update on Progress!

Our communication class, COMM 146, has been very excited to reach our 100th "like" on our Facebook page! Check it out: http://communication.ucsd.edu/30th

Many of our fans are actually alumni of the Communication department. Now, to stress on this point, there has never been much noise for academic departments of a university, such as UC San Diego, to have their current students be able to connect and have opportunities to get to know the alumni.  This is a crucial goal that we have for ourselves, when planning for the 30th anniversary weekend.

Let us also commence, on our (still-in-progress) alumni mixer event on the 30th anniversary weekend. It will be on Friday, June 7th, proudly led by Comm professor, Lisa Cartwright. A speed dating type of panel will occur and provide a wonderful opportunity for current student in the Comm department to really engage with our alumni in discussion of their career goals, learnings from our major, and just really, have a great time! :)

What do you think?