Monday, July 26, 2010
Global Warming Sample Essay
The House of Commons’ Science and Technology Committee recently came to the conclusion that a leading climate research center did not tamper with data to exaggerate evidence that global warming is a threat. The Associated Press (AP) released a report that was featured by FOX and MSNBC on their web sites. Both FOX and MSNBC managed to put their own subtle spins on what was essentially the same report. The FOX News headline reads “Scientists Cleared - - After One-Day Probe,” while MSNBC went with the AP headline reading “’Climategate’ inquiry largely clears scientists.” MSNBC followed its headline with the summation, “British lawmakers say science sound, but want transparency.” FOX’s lead-in line refers to the fact that the investigation was based on “just a single day of testimony.” Each network conveyed a soft message right at the start of its report. MSNBC included a paragraph explaining what was meant by an e-mail “reference to a ‘trick’ that could be used to ‘hide the decline’ of temperatures.” The explanation stated that “hide the decline” was merely scientific shorthand to refer to the discarding of erroneous data, while “trick” was intended to mean simply a “neat way of handing evidence” and not a suggestion of underhanded activity. In MSNBC’s report a statement was included that the controversy would ultimately support global warming science because researchers would be forced to share their information freely, including the comment that “The winner in the end will be climate science itself.” FOX, on the other hand, incorporated several paragraphs highlighting the fact that scientists who are skeptical about global warming theories were upset by the outcome. FOX quoted one such scientist and included a link to his rebuttal of the decision. This scientist specifically argued against the innocence of the terms “hiding the decline” and “trick.” He called the conclusions of the panel “absurd” and stated that the “trick” reference was an intention to trick readers into “receiving a false rhetorical impression” about the climate data. It is clear to see that each of these networks was able to convey the story with its own particular slant. Neither did so in an overt manner, nonetheless they were able to guide the reader's thinking in a certain direction. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36104206 http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/03/31/climate-gate-inquiry-largely-clears-scientists/
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Tom Friedman / World is Flat Answers
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “MIT Milestone Celebration / Keynote Address.” Youtube. January 11, 2008. Web. April 15, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcE2ufqtzyk.
Friedman, Thomas L. The World is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2007. Print.
Response
There are many things that the American tax dollars could finance and there are many different opinions on the subject. 47/56 people think that the money should be put towards new school, schools are what the future generations need to learn and the only way the can learn is if they can go to school. If there are no schools the future generations will not be able to keep the economy running. On the other hand 8/55 people think that the money should be put towards sports stadiums, this number is so small because these stadiums are nice, but they are not necessary for the future growth of the country. 53/57 people think that tax money should be put to National Parks, which is a great idea because there are so many things we can learn from national parks and state owned facilities. National Parks can teach about nature, how we are affecting nature and what we can do to help change our past mistakes. Many people also think that money should be put towards libraries. 50/57 people think that some tax dollars should be put towards libraries because they are allowing people to learn and read, which helps to make people more knowledgeable. Then there are the 48/56 people who don’t think that the tax dollars should go to bailing out failed corporations because these companies did this to themselves why should our tax dollars help them. Companies should be able to manage their money just like any other small business. There are many business owners who are struggling and these corporations need to learn how to spend wisely.
3)Increased use of Predator Drones- 43.9/14.0- Many Americans feel that if we can replace humans with technology, then it would decrease the amount of casualties caused by war. In addition, by increasing the use of Predator Drones, America will have to further its technology which would result in more educated jobs and will greatly advance our use and invention of future technology. 4)Punishing people for texting while driving- 89.1/10.9- People have noticed the danger in using cell phones while driving, and are trying to change their habits. Although Americans always seem to be in a rush, they realize the dangers and new laws in cities have already proved to lower the rate of automobile accidents. 5)Death penalty in cases of murder- 69.6/26.8- This statistic reveals that many Americans feel that if a person takes a life, then they should have their life taken also. If America would install this this as a law, then the jails would be less crowded and our tax dollars would be lower. Also, the Americans would feel safer knowing that the worse people in their societies are no longer able to escape and potenionally seek more harm on them and their enviroment.
Response
A women's right to birth control consisted of results of 96.5/3.5 its obvious that most people were in favor of a women having the right to birth control to protect herself from pregency. Therefore many people agree that in order to prevent pregency and even abortion in a sense is a logical reason for a women to have access to such a contraseptive. Increased individual checks before boarding airplanes had results of 77.2/15.8. This means many indivduals are still very worried about terrorist attacks on planes due to the incidents of 9/11. Punishing people for texting while driving had results of 89.1/10.9. Due to these results it is evident that many people believe text while operating a motorized vehicle is very dangerous to not only the driver but also bystandards aswell. Therefore people find it extremly dangerous to text while driving because of the increased risk of an accident to occur. The U.S. should legalize anyone who is here illegally had results of 3.6/91.1. This means almost all people would be apposed to allowing illegal citizens citizenship because there could be numerous reasons as to why they should or should not have U.S. citizenship. If the country would just allow citizenship to anyone no one is to say who would be living in our country and taking davantage of all we have to offer. Abortion during the third trimester results were 5.4/89.3. Meaning many people would be opposed to the abortion of a fetus that has matured this far, it would almost be like killing an actual baby because of the length the pregency was let go. Also the mother should have been more responsible to have gotten an abortion earlier in her pregnecy it she would have choosen to.
Response
With the world entering a new type of globalization, many people will be caught off guard. The work force industry will change and the world will see less factory jobs and more creative jobs. Instead of competing for a job in the local town, Americans will be forced to compete for jobs against the rest of the world, such as China, Japan and Great Britain. Although these Americans will have to cope with these changes over time, many of them will not be able to obtain these newly creative jobs due to the lack of education, technology, and ambition. Studies have shown that there is a developing gap between the education of U.S. students and those of China and India. The biggest cause of this gap is the lack of leadership and tough love in America. Many parents today do not want to force a career path on their kids, although at the same time they do not want to push them to become better than the average student, which results in the children not being able to handle the rapid change of job titles throughout the world. They simply lack the knowledge and ambition that China and India are teaching their students to become the new creative thinker of tomorrow. If the United States wants to fix this growing problem, they must install influential leaders that will push students to a new academic standard which will result in an overall higher education. This will allow future children to be better than the rest of the world and allow them to become the leaders of tomorrow. The second biggest problem that the U.S. residents face in the changing world is the lack of technology that the rest of the world has. In today’s world, Japan and China lead in the technology race, and are continuously developing new and affective measures to aid the average person. Because of the lack of technology in the United States, many citizens do not understand how to use the “simple stuff” such as computers and cell phones. This failure of understanding technology causes many people to not realize how important technology is to their everyday lives and results in the slower development of new ideas within the country. If the American population wants to solve this problem, they must first strive to improve the internet system within the country and then continuously educate and train its residents on the ever changing technology. This will allow them to eventually catch up in the technology race and soon lead the world in its new globalized state. Lastly, many Americans simply lack the ambition to become better and are satisfied with having an average, mediocre lifestyle. Although their competitive edge is strong, they are competing for the lower end jobs instead of inventing new ones and setting higher standards. Americans often view these jobs as being impossible to reach and are simply dreams that they could only wish to fulfill. If the United States ever decides to overcome this obstacle, they must teach the new generation to strive for their dreams and to never give up. An average life is no longer acceptable in today’s world and that the only way to survive is to be the best, not only within their country, but in the entire world. Overall it is clear to see that the United States faces many problems in the way its citizens view life, and if they ever want to achieve victory, they must start to teach the new generation of students how to successfully accomplish their dreams. If they fail to do this, the U.S. will slowly continue to slide down the totem pole and become the weakest link in the chain. In the end, it is possible to solve these problems; however they must start today and continue striving for success.
Friedman, Thomas L. The World is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2007. Print.
Response
There are many things that the American tax dollars could finance and there are many different opinions on the subject. 47/56 people think that the money should be put towards new school, schools are what the future generations need to learn and the only way the can learn is if they can go to school. If there are no schools the future generations will not be able to keep the economy running. On the other hand 8/55 people think that the money should be put towards sports stadiums, this number is so small because these stadiums are nice, but they are not necessary for the future growth of the country. 53/57 people think that tax money should be put to National Parks, which is a great idea because there are so many things we can learn from national parks and state owned facilities. National Parks can teach about nature, how we are affecting nature and what we can do to help change our past mistakes. Many people also think that money should be put towards libraries. 50/57 people think that some tax dollars should be put towards libraries because they are allowing people to learn and read, which helps to make people more knowledgeable. Then there are the 48/56 people who don’t think that the tax dollars should go to bailing out failed corporations because these companies did this to themselves why should our tax dollars help them. Companies should be able to manage their money just like any other small business. There are many business owners who are struggling and these corporations need to learn how to spend wisely.
3)Increased use of Predator Drones- 43.9/14.0- Many Americans feel that if we can replace humans with technology, then it would decrease the amount of casualties caused by war. In addition, by increasing the use of Predator Drones, America will have to further its technology which would result in more educated jobs and will greatly advance our use and invention of future technology. 4)Punishing people for texting while driving- 89.1/10.9- People have noticed the danger in using cell phones while driving, and are trying to change their habits. Although Americans always seem to be in a rush, they realize the dangers and new laws in cities have already proved to lower the rate of automobile accidents. 5)Death penalty in cases of murder- 69.6/26.8- This statistic reveals that many Americans feel that if a person takes a life, then they should have their life taken also. If America would install this this as a law, then the jails would be less crowded and our tax dollars would be lower. Also, the Americans would feel safer knowing that the worse people in their societies are no longer able to escape and potenionally seek more harm on them and their enviroment.
Response
A women's right to birth control consisted of results of 96.5/3.5 its obvious that most people were in favor of a women having the right to birth control to protect herself from pregency. Therefore many people agree that in order to prevent pregency and even abortion in a sense is a logical reason for a women to have access to such a contraseptive. Increased individual checks before boarding airplanes had results of 77.2/15.8. This means many indivduals are still very worried about terrorist attacks on planes due to the incidents of 9/11. Punishing people for texting while driving had results of 89.1/10.9. Due to these results it is evident that many people believe text while operating a motorized vehicle is very dangerous to not only the driver but also bystandards aswell. Therefore people find it extremly dangerous to text while driving because of the increased risk of an accident to occur. The U.S. should legalize anyone who is here illegally had results of 3.6/91.1. This means almost all people would be apposed to allowing illegal citizens citizenship because there could be numerous reasons as to why they should or should not have U.S. citizenship. If the country would just allow citizenship to anyone no one is to say who would be living in our country and taking davantage of all we have to offer. Abortion during the third trimester results were 5.4/89.3. Meaning many people would be opposed to the abortion of a fetus that has matured this far, it would almost be like killing an actual baby because of the length the pregency was let go. Also the mother should have been more responsible to have gotten an abortion earlier in her pregnecy it she would have choosen to.
Response
With the world entering a new type of globalization, many people will be caught off guard. The work force industry will change and the world will see less factory jobs and more creative jobs. Instead of competing for a job in the local town, Americans will be forced to compete for jobs against the rest of the world, such as China, Japan and Great Britain. Although these Americans will have to cope with these changes over time, many of them will not be able to obtain these newly creative jobs due to the lack of education, technology, and ambition. Studies have shown that there is a developing gap between the education of U.S. students and those of China and India. The biggest cause of this gap is the lack of leadership and tough love in America. Many parents today do not want to force a career path on their kids, although at the same time they do not want to push them to become better than the average student, which results in the children not being able to handle the rapid change of job titles throughout the world. They simply lack the knowledge and ambition that China and India are teaching their students to become the new creative thinker of tomorrow. If the United States wants to fix this growing problem, they must install influential leaders that will push students to a new academic standard which will result in an overall higher education. This will allow future children to be better than the rest of the world and allow them to become the leaders of tomorrow. The second biggest problem that the U.S. residents face in the changing world is the lack of technology that the rest of the world has. In today’s world, Japan and China lead in the technology race, and are continuously developing new and affective measures to aid the average person. Because of the lack of technology in the United States, many citizens do not understand how to use the “simple stuff” such as computers and cell phones. This failure of understanding technology causes many people to not realize how important technology is to their everyday lives and results in the slower development of new ideas within the country. If the American population wants to solve this problem, they must first strive to improve the internet system within the country and then continuously educate and train its residents on the ever changing technology. This will allow them to eventually catch up in the technology race and soon lead the world in its new globalized state. Lastly, many Americans simply lack the ambition to become better and are satisfied with having an average, mediocre lifestyle. Although their competitive edge is strong, they are competing for the lower end jobs instead of inventing new ones and setting higher standards. Americans often view these jobs as being impossible to reach and are simply dreams that they could only wish to fulfill. If the United States ever decides to overcome this obstacle, they must teach the new generation to strive for their dreams and to never give up. An average life is no longer acceptable in today’s world and that the only way to survive is to be the best, not only within their country, but in the entire world. Overall it is clear to see that the United States faces many problems in the way its citizens view life, and if they ever want to achieve victory, they must start to teach the new generation of students how to successfully accomplish their dreams. If they fail to do this, the U.S. will slowly continue to slide down the totem pole and become the weakest link in the chain. In the end, it is possible to solve these problems; however they must start today and continue striving for success.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Week 6-8 Schedule
July 19-20 – Tom Friedman Assignment on the World is Flat and introduction to making statistics mean something. This is due on Wednesday. We will make every attempt to do as much of this in class as possible, but you are responsible for the overflow time.
July 21 – More Making statistics mean something and inferences. Begin the Global Warming Assignment, which is due on July 26.
July 22 – Global Warming Assignment on conservative and liberal bias in the media. This is due on Thursday. Final questions on APA. We will make every attempt to do as much of this in class as possible, but you are responsible for the overflow time.
July 26 - Collect your essays as soon as class begins. If it’s not in today, you have until Monday the 2nd to turn it in at the beginning of class or you will not pass this class. When we are done, we will go straight into the Aron Ralston peer review assignment. You will have to complete this at home for Tuesday, which is when we will go over this. You will also need heroes to compare for tomorrow as well.
July 27 – Begin MLA discussion. Approve topics
July 28 – Continue MLA discussion and making statistics mean something. For tomorrow, you will turn in a first paragraph, outline, and 2 website printouts. I will look over these while you are doing group Internet research and give them back to you.
July 29 – Group Internet research day on 9/11 after we redo the pushups grammar test to prepare you for the Grammar Test on Tuesday.
August 2 – Little Big War in class assignment. We will work in groups. If you come ready to play, you get the attendance points. If not…
August 3 – The Grammar Test is today. This won’t take the whole class. After this, it’s the final day to discuss MLA and help you one on one with your essays, which must be in tomorrow to get to the final exam.
August 4 – Your MLA essay must be in by today. If it isn’t, you will not pass this class. You will not need to take the final if that is the situation that you are in since the final is only pass or fail. For those people that are prepared, you will take the final exam that leaves you finished with COM121. Since you have worked hard, you get to enjoy the rest of your summer without any more papers or anything like that to worry about.
July 21 – More Making statistics mean something and inferences. Begin the Global Warming Assignment, which is due on July 26.
July 22 – Global Warming Assignment on conservative and liberal bias in the media. This is due on Thursday. Final questions on APA. We will make every attempt to do as much of this in class as possible, but you are responsible for the overflow time.
July 26 - Collect your essays as soon as class begins. If it’s not in today, you have until Monday the 2nd to turn it in at the beginning of class or you will not pass this class. When we are done, we will go straight into the Aron Ralston peer review assignment. You will have to complete this at home for Tuesday, which is when we will go over this. You will also need heroes to compare for tomorrow as well.
July 27 – Begin MLA discussion. Approve topics
July 28 – Continue MLA discussion and making statistics mean something. For tomorrow, you will turn in a first paragraph, outline, and 2 website printouts. I will look over these while you are doing group Internet research and give them back to you.
July 29 – Group Internet research day on 9/11 after we redo the pushups grammar test to prepare you for the Grammar Test on Tuesday.
August 2 – Little Big War in class assignment. We will work in groups. If you come ready to play, you get the attendance points. If not…
August 3 – The Grammar Test is today. This won’t take the whole class. After this, it’s the final day to discuss MLA and help you one on one with your essays, which must be in tomorrow to get to the final exam.
August 4 – Your MLA essay must be in by today. If it isn’t, you will not pass this class. You will not need to take the final if that is the situation that you are in since the final is only pass or fail. For those people that are prepared, you will take the final exam that leaves you finished with COM121. Since you have worked hard, you get to enjoy the rest of your summer without any more papers or anything like that to worry about.
Monday, July 12, 2010
You have an article. You need to read chapters 5+6.If you don't have it or you can't read it, then you have several options.
1) Go on Angel in the 7 articles section of materials and get the word file.
2) Go to Borders or Barnes and Nobles and read chapters 5+6. You don't have to buy it; you can just sit there and read it.
2) Go to Borders or Barnes and Nobles and read chapters 5+6. You don't have to buy it; you can just sit there and read it.
When you're done, you will take ONE 3x5 NOTECARD MAX on the information that you will need to do an article critique on the author's reason for writing this article. You are not writing a biography, but you will need details. As I said in class, one sentence sums up the whole article.
Directions are located on the how to do article critiques ppt. (last 3 slides),which is also in the 7 articles section.
You will have 1 class to do this. It must be done in class on Monday.
Question? Contact me ASAP.
Homework for Monday:
1) midterm
3) journals
4) Stephen Hawking essay is due
5) any redo papers that you need to do and that you have gotten permission to do (no permission, no redo - REALLY).
and for Tuesday...
6) the Anne Frank quiz on Angel. This was originally due Monday, but it is now pushed back until Tuesday.
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