Inspiration can lead to the extraordinary

“Inspiration is conceptualized as an appetitive motivational state.”

Facebook applications: the fun fizzles out

JESSIE HOLEVA STAFF WRITER JH734@CABRINI EDU

Facebook has recently beem revamping itself by adding a multitude of new applications to suit its numerous followers. This may not be breaking news since the majority of the campus is already addicted to the site; but is Cabrini equally as fixated on the wide range of new applications Facebook recently added over the summer?

Know your professor

keep users on edge and using the site more frequently. It is now possible to send your friend a virtual gift, draw a graffiti picture and share the newest song clips. And that’s just to name a few of the extremely common tricks Facebook’s managed to conjure up. Has this trend taken off or already fizzled?

Susan Schmidt, a freshamn elementary and special education major, feels the fun will only last so long. “If someone’s going to send me a present, then do it in real life and not on Facebook.” applications,” Shawne Gehman, a sophomore indeclared major, said.

The fancy ones will probably die off soon, but there are a few even the skeptics have on display.

DIANA TRASATTI STAFF WRITER DLT722@CABRINI EDU

People are inspired by many different things. Some of these things include being inspired by their major, friends, family and other various aspects of life.

Webster’s dictionary defines inspiration as a “stimulation of the mind or emotions to a high level of feeling or an activity also as something, such as a sudden creative act or idea that is inspired.”

Todd Thrash, author of “Inspiration: Core Characteristics, Component Processes, Antecedents and Function” and a psychology professor from The College of William & Mary, said that there are three core characteristics to inspiration.

The three things include transcendence, evocation and motivation.

“Transcendence refers to the fact that inspiration orients toward something that is better or more important that one’s usual concerns, one can see better possibilities,” Thrasher said.

Kelly Hornbach, a junior elementary and special education major, feels most inspired by her parents.

“My parents are my inspiration because they have always been pushing me to succeed so I could accomplish my goals,” Hornbach said.

The support of her parents helps Hornbach to achieve her goals and see the bigger picture.

Likewise, Brendan Murtagh, a senior history secondary education major, feels that his parents are his biggest inspiration.

“My parents are hard workers and love my family. They are commmited in everything they do for my sister and I,” Murtaugh said.

This type of inspiration can be summed up by a quote from Mark Twain, who once wrote that: “Really great people make you feel that you, too, can become great.”

“Something that inspires me would be either music or theater, because they usually get my creativity flowing, which helps when I sit down to write or when I have to rehearse my lines for a show,” Shannon Winters, a sophomore English secondary education major, said. “I usually have admiration for whoever I am listening to or have seen perform on stage and I aspire to be like them.”

The primary cause of Winter’s inspiration is her motivation. People are motivated in many ways by different situations in their lives. According to Thrasher, motivation is seen as the key element that helps most people to be inspired.

Motivation is the force that propels most people once they have experienced something that has inspired them. A person experiences a particular thing and then feels that they can do something extraordinary just as the person before them has.

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Many Cabrini students check Facebook more than three times a day. Others, like Steve Klapy, a sophomore marketing major, simply minimizes the site so never to be behind the times with a new comment or friend request.

Now, there’s more to

Jolaine Gero, a senior marketing major, used to love having virtual food fights with her Facebook companions. However, she admits the novelty did wear off.

Gero’s opinion well represents the voice of others asked on campus.

Cabrini freshmen, relative newbies to Facebook, are even feeling lethargic over the applications the website has to offer.

Klapy expressed the same opinion towards similar features like the happy hour application. He too, doesn’t see the point in virtual giving.

Here’s the truth. The Cabrini students interviewed for this story practically check Facebook non stop but only put the features to use maybe once weekly but more often than not, even less. The overall opinion is that these creative applications are overrated.

“When they first came out I had a lot more of the

“Happy Hour,” an application used to send others drinks, is one of the most popular and widely used.

“Top Friends,” which is similar to a feature Myspace started, has also caught on in the Facebook community.

Whether or not the majority is over the application obsession, Facebook will try to be inventive.

“The previous ones will ware off, but they’ll come up with more to make the applications more popular,” Schmidt said.

Dr. John Cordes is currently teaching the courses Introduction to Mass Communication, Presentation of Communications, Career Preparations and Job Search Techniques. He received his undergraduate degree at the prestigious University of Notre Dame, his Master’s degree at Syracuse University and his Doctorate at the University of Maryland.

Q: What are your interests?

A: Working with the elderly and I’m a member of the Knights of Columbus.

Q: What is you favorite book?

A: The Voices of Time.

Q: What is your favorite musical?

A: Les Miserables.

Q: What is your favorite sports team?

A: The University of Notre Dame’s basketball team.

Q: What is your favorite college memory?

A: Spending my time by the Grotto during my years as an undergraduate at the University of Notre Dame.

Q: How do you feel about Cabrini so far?

A: am very happy to be apart of the Cabrini community and want to fulfill the mission statement. I feel that the students are wonder ful and I hope to guide them in their plans and dreams.

Q: What are your favorite quotes?

A: “An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” - Mahatma Gandhi

“Do small things with great love.”

- Mother Teresa