Working on Week 2 response!!!!!!!

Luke Kuechly is one of my favorite athletes ever. He is also the star player for my favorite sports team, the Carolina Panthers. This article, written by Jourdan Rodrigue, explains a small piece of technology that Kuechly is wearing this season to help prevent concussions using text, photographs and videos.
This mysterious piece of equipment is not seen commonly yet in the NFL and is called Q collar. Kuechly has had issues in the past with concussions which is common in the NFL. The Q collar is in prototype phase and through research of woodpeckers it has been developed. The article explains that woodpeckers tongue puts pressure on its jugular vein when pecking to limit or eliminate head trauma.
You can see how this piece of technology would be hard to visualize with out images. Furthermore, when Kuechly is wearing the Q collar in a game you can hardly notice it. The images show that it is a small collar worn around the neck. The collar presses slightly on the jugular vein of the player, this slows fluid outflow from the brain allowing the brain more cushion from fluids. An example was given by Dr Gregory Myer on the thought process behind the Q collar, “By putting a small “kink in the hose so that extra blood volume is filling that free space…we’re just filling up that free expandable space, so the brain has less room to move in the skull.” The images show how the collar attaches to the neck using a bouncy ball as an example. Other images also show Kuechly in action wearing it along with several videos.
The Q collar is still in a preliminary stage and not yet proven to decrease head trauma. With NFL careers becoming shorter and shorter due to concussions, players are willing to try extreme ideas and technology to prolong their careers and save their brain long term.

In the article “Understanding Rhetoric, A Graphic Guide to Writing”, the authors use comic relief to get the audiences attention and their point across. In the comic it shows the rhetoric is often seen with a negative connotation that stunts discussion when its origin was meant to promote healthy debate and discussion. I believe rhetoric is essential in our every day lives. Rhetoric allows us to present ourselves in a professional and knowledgeable manner enabling us to communicate with others in our field and daily lives.

The article continues with rhetoric and shows us how Plato frowned upon rhetoric and believed it was a distraction and showed weakness. Aristotle on the other hand looked at rhetoric much differently. Ethos, pathos and logos are three areas of communication that Aristotle believed encompassed rhetoric. These three ideas ethos (ethics), pathos (empathy) and logos (logic) have always been very interesting to me. When I think about communicating effectively, I think of these three terms at their core. Pathos or emotion is critical in drawing the audience in and showing them why what your saying should matter. Ethos or credibility is essential in any conversation where you want to be heard. I mean who wants to listen to someone that has no experience about what they are talking about? Logos or logic is vital in completing well rounded thoughts. These three words together allow us to communicate with each other effectively and draw other attention to our causes.

The article also introduces us to Kairos. This term is interesting to me especially because I haven’t studied it before, and it makes you think a little deeper. Kairos connects rhetoric to space and time. Is what you’re saying applicable to the time and place. In the business world this is so important. You have a small window of time to capitalize on ideas. Thoughts and ideas that are important around the world right now may not be seen important tomorrow.