Mar 9 hw (chapter 6 response)

The dreaded topic we all know as research. It comes with many known limits and rules. In the past I haven’t had that huge of a problem conducting research and finding viable sources to get information from, but know that I am in college I realize that the bar is even higher for me to be able to formulate research questions and be able to support all my ideas with it. And with a research paper it always seems to me that I write them at my best when I am clear on what I am arguing, because when I go through the whole process of research and writing, the rest of it seems to sort of fall right into place. In chapter 6 of CDA, on pg. 150 the book states: “In doing research, it is important to be as obvious as possible”. It later goes on to say that when we all get straight to the point, that our papers become more focused and well organized. I feel like that couldn’t be more true, because at least for me when I write and sometimes stray off what point or idea I want to get across, then I do not do as well on the paper because I get lost with a lot of the process, because of a lack of focus in the paper. Teachers for the most part, seem to stress this idea a lot, so it must be important right? This idea from chapter 6 is what I believe to be the most important because it basically sets you up for success when writing your paper.

Mar 4 hw (Mercury News response)(solar power)

I read an article about a new proposal for being able to use solar power being utilized at city maintenance yards, which would be the largest of such in San Jose. They are trying to make it easier for business and vendors to utilize solar energy through a plan that doesn’t make them pay a big cost in the beginning stages of conversion and tech costs. If these proposals pass by March 2, then it would apparently be enough power to power about 750 homes. This would be the first large scale solar array on this cities property, which could mean the start of something better if this really helps us save on energy costs.
I believe that this seems like a good idea, since it seems solar energy is becoming more popular and the community would save a lot of money if many homes, businesses’, and other properties were converting their electricity use to solar energy. It seems to at least try alternatives to this energy crisis were in, because nowadays were trying to stretch every dollar to save money, and especially if it can be healthier for the environment, that’s a plus. It’s not really clear how much the city would save if some major areas started using solar power, because the plan is still in its beginning phase, but in the past, for some it has been good to start utilizing solar power because we save on electricity. Hopefully if this plan passes we can see some good come out of it.

Feb 23 hw (Mercury News response)(tobacco funds)

I found an article in the Mercury News relating to the use of tobacco funds in San Jose. Since the city has suffered through budget cuts, and the already dwindling funds due to national budget cuts, the debate is basically what is most important way to use the money? In the beginning, the money was supposed to be used to help keep middle school crossing guards in certain areas in work, because their funding was being cut, and thus they were losing jobs. The debate made by some people now is, other things like tobacco prevention, and other causes should get some of the money from tobacco taxes because they are just as important. Many have expressed their opinions with this issue, and this can be looked at in a variety of ways, which is what interests me, and is the reason why I am writing about it and considering it as a research topic. When reading this article, one thing really popped into my mind, and that was advocacy. All the people involved in this have their opinions and beliefs, and are stating claims because of what they value, and think is most important. And in this situation one thing that seems to come along with advocacy came up, argument. They are locked in an argument for what they believe in, and it is the system that will ultimately decide the fate of this issue and where the majority of the grants will go to. But nonetheless, people will fight for what they believe in, and that is a common situation we first think of when we think of advocacy.

Feb 23 hw (ADOVAH response)

I think everyone at one point or another have experienced multiple forms of advocacy, I knew how to define advocacy in a sense of what actions we take towards things we have strong emotions for, but I realize now advocacy is a multi-sided issue. From what I got from chapter 5, advocacy is defined basically as what we personally value in terms of how we think we should live and shape our lives. And because of this, many aspects of our life cause us to act as advocates of things we think are important. In the case of “AVODAH” I believe that when religious affiliations, practices, and beliefs came together, it helped both the volunteers, and the programs targets in ways they didn’t know. Their advocacy was shaped their ideas in a big way. All the volunteers, had a common ground, and that was that they were all Jewish. And I think that this was great also, because it brought them all together in a way that they could all understand, and helped them all learn more about their heritage. And at the same time, the relationships they formed with each other, and helped them learn new things about others from other parts of the world. Not to mention those that they helped as well, the low income families and homeless. The want to make a difference in suffering communities was brought up by the ambitions of the other volunteer’s, and organizations overall purpose. I believe that this mixture of those around them, and their personal strive to want to help our other communities shaped their advocacy in a positive way, and getting back the experience and pleasure of knowing that they are helping out those in need.

Feb 16 hw (mercury news entry)

I found this article in the mercury news about the companies nokia and adobe teaming up, and giving out about $10 million dollars in grants to software developers to create applications to use on multiple devices using their products. this interests me because i myself am fond of the new technology that constantly comes out, and it really interests me in knowing how it can keep changing as time progresses. I would actually want to do an essay possibly on changing technology in today's world maybe. For this assignments purposes, i thought of something that constantly changes as time progresses, and what i first thought of were cars. Cars tend to get a little better and more convenient as time passes, just as certain technologies do. This was the first thing that popped into my head when reading this article in mercury news.

Feb 16 hw (Chapter 13 entry)

Honestly it took me a couple looks about some of the main ideas of the chapter to really grasp some of the ideas about opinion pieces. I realize that to view editorials and opinion pieces, we have to view them in certain contexts to get a better understanding of what the writer wants to get across to us. To me, the first thing that comes to mind when I think of this other than pieces of writing, are video games. It seems to me that the same thing that applies to analyzing opinion pieces and analyzing the meaning and reason behind video some different video games. Now I realize that they are not the only thing I can relate the ideas in the chapter to, but it was the first thing that came to my mind. Just as we look at publications opinion pieces through different contexts, I do the same in playing video games. And just as we make connections through ourselves in opinion pieces, we form the same thing when playing video games, because just the chapter says, we have emotions towards pieces of writing, and the same for video games. But to me, what really made these ideas relate to video games to me was the overall analysis of opinion pieces. The creator of a video game uses different visuals, tone of voice with the story, how we connect to it because of the times, and our knowledge of what’s being portrayed in the game on how we interpret it, and the same goes for opinion pieces. I know people view video games in certain contexts because of how we view its context. This is what I related chapter 13 to off my first thoughts, and now that I’ve typed it, it makes even more sense to me than before I really had time to think about it.

essay response #2

Smoking is something everyone has to deal with at some point or time in life. Now me personally I disgust smoking because one I have asthma and two I hate the smell. However I do not look down upon the people that do. In the Spartan daily there is an article talking about how since San Jose City College near us has completely banned smoking on campus, along with other campuses across the country, and therefore the question arises; will SJSU follow suit? Well this is something that can be looked at in different situations and instances, because smoking is such a big issue in today’s age because more and more people smoke today, and just people and how they look at the issue of smoking.

Now to me, I believe this article is correct in saying smokers should stay away from others, but it takes to much of a bias. I personally do not want to be around second hand smoke, because health wise it wouldn’t be good for me. But at the same time I don’t want to just say that smokers shouldn’t be allowed on campus because as long as it isn’t inside a building or anything, it isn’t really a big issue. But I can understand why this issue is getting so big. Reading this essay/article makes me realize what types of connections and opinions I can have on things. In chapter 14 of compose, design, and advocate the book states: “essays can be bodily things”, which basically translates to if we have had an experience with something, then we are definitely able to understand things better, including essays. Now with this issue of a possible all campus ban of smoking, I can see things from both sides of the fence so to speak. The article however has a bias towards banning it, and relates smoking to the alcohol related incidents that have happened in the school this year. I chose this article because of the fact that this is an important issue that affects many people, including SJSU students and Alumni. I guess we’ll just have to see what happens.

essay response #1

"Back To The Future" is an article from San Jose's Mercury news online database. This particular article is about a car in the works in San Jose based Magnetic Air Cars Inc. This futuristic type car, rather than running on gasoline, runs on compressed air. Though this car is still online a prototype, it is a very fascinating and almost too good to be true thing to come to fruition. The article's title back to the future is what drew me to the essay, because I figured that it must’ve been referring to something in the future. The essay/article about this car is straight forward in a sense that it just gives some information on the car. But I can see where some of the aspects of chapter 14 of compose, design, and advocate (CDA) come in.

The title is a sort of a play on words which sets you up to read view the rest with an open mind. The article initially gives you the sense that you are reading something that is just an idea and is far from anything we are capable of technology wise in today’s age, but it was not the case because it states that this car is already reaching testing phases. And as chapter 14 in CDA states: “essays are highly cultural objects”, and we can understand essays because of the day and age we live in. I think this article is very interesting, because not only is it relevant to San Jose, but this project is definitely relevant to our planet’s future. Because the car runs on a silicon salt battery, which is better than the acid ones we use now, and compressed air. If something as cool and world changing as this could become a reality before 2010 I would be amazed, as the article boasted. Hopefully one day something as revolutionary as this will be possible.

Response to “Trying It On For Size” by: Nels P. Highberg

I liked this essay because it really gave me the sense that this person truly cared for what students view academic elders. And since this person focused on autobiography of students, they can somewhat understand what goes through a student’s mind during class. This professor believed it was important to express real life ideas, experiences, and feelings in the classroom because not only did they feel it was important to know about these things, that this is what real life is like. From this essay I get the feeling that this professor really has a deeper understanding for students because he looks at all aspects of their life. The blog is obviously a big thing that helped him. The blog not only let his students post what they thought academically, but gives a look into what they go through in everyday life. Blogs are a basically an autobiography, which is what this teacher specified in analyzing. What I liked most about this essay besides the professors understanding of his students, was the fact that he realizes it's alright to stray away from typical teaching methods, analyzing blogs being one of them, and wasn't afraid to express his delight in doing this.

Response to “I Blog, Therefore I Am” by: Angelina Karpovich

I enjoyed reading this essay because the really brought to light what blogging was all about. In a sense anyone can view or write a blog about anything, but it takes a certain viewpoint to really be able to connect to an idea. And sometimes reading others ideas we are able to come up with some of our own. The author makes a point that her blog became a social gateway to share ideas with others, and also meet some real life friends. She also makes a point that a personal blog in its most basic form is just a form of creative space that is limitless because of the countless ideas that can be formulated by interacting with other bloggers. I really liked the fact that she realizes that a blog space is limitless because you can use it for so many things, and she used hers for everything from relationships with other people to academics. And that to me is a good thing, because when I think of blog I think of personal freedom.