Journal Ten (Make Up Due to Absence)

The article that I chose is a piece by Mike Celizic on the NBC sports website. This article supports my paper that argues why the BCS college football system is not effective. This article explains that the BCS system does not need to be changed, but that it has to be eliminated completely. The author explains exactly why the BCS is ineffective and why it just simply does not work. Then, a solution is proposed, a playoff system in which teams are named national championships by playing rather than being picked. Celizic explains why this is a more effective and much more fair way of choosing a national champion.
The author organizes his arguments very well, constructing an article that clearly presents a problem and proposes a solution. The author uses well constructed arguments to back up his thesis along with relevant statistics.
This is a very convincing argument, because not only does he present a thesis, he explains why he is right and why the status quo needs to be changed. He also proposes a solution, instead of just saying what is wrong with the current system.
A lot of the arguments that the author makes will be useful in writing my own paper and creating my own arguments. I think I will be able to use at least a couple quotes from this article because of the clear way the author presents his points. I think I will also be able to paraphrase the author because I want to incorporate some of the arguments he makes without plagiarizing his work.

Journal Twelve

The first topic that I am considering writing about is the attack on 911 and how it affected the decisions made by President Bush and his foreign policy. I feel like there are a lot of ways that I can go with this topic and I am pretty interested in it too. I already found a few articles that would be helpful if I chose to do this topic. Alas, "9/11 led to Bush's cowboy foreign policy" is a good article that will be helpful in looking at Bush's presidency after 911.
Another possible topic is the legalization of marijuana and what benefits would come from it. I found a bunch of articles talking about the social and economic benefits of legalizing marijuana, and it is a topic that will be pretty easy to write about. Why Legalize Marijuana is a good article that talks about all of the benefits that would result from such a law.

Position Paper

College Football BCS vs Playoffs
This article focuses on the debate between the current BCS system in place and a proposed playoff system. Many people argue that the BCS system is unfair, with undefeated teams not getting the chance to play for a national championship. A playoff system, however, would be a very difficult thing to implement, and thats where the controversy begins.

Marijuana legalization will be on California ballot

The legalization of marijuana is both a current and controversial issue in our society. In California, the legalization of marijuana will be on the ballot. This means California could become the first US state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. In a poll, 56% of Californians supported legalizing marijuana, giving some hope to the movement.

Pentagon Orders Military Recruiters to Accept Gay Applicants

This is yet another prominent and controversial topic. Recently, the "dont ask dont tell" policy that the military previously had has been declared unconstitutional. Now, gays can join the military and openly admit their sexual orientation. The article does note that the law can and probably will be appealed, and might be overturned. Therefore, if someone in the military admits they are gay, they could be eligible for dismissal in the future if the decision is overruled.

Comparing Designs of Original iPod and iPod Touch

In 2001, Apple came out with their first iPod, the first generation iPod Classic. The original iPod is pictured above on the left. The original design was very traditional. It came in all white, with not much going on except a couple buttons and a well organized screen. The back of the iPod is metallic, while the front is a solid white. The iPod is very boxy, with near right angles at every corner. The old iPod is also notably thicker and bulkier. The circular buttons stick out, giving it a more rigid look. As for the display, there is no color whatsoever, and the background is a grayish color. The all black blocky print gives it a really boring look.

The iPod touch is a much more technologically advanced iPod, but its design improved a lot too. There is a much cleaner, flowing design to the Touch, a very smooth look to it. It is not boxy, but its corners flow giving it a much sleeker design. It is notably leaner and quiet, with only one or two buttons that are difficult to point out. They hide a lot of the buttons on the side, giving the iPod a lot of space to fill up with screen. They were able to do this because it is a touch screen device, allowing it to not need a lot of buttons. The display is much more advanced, and much more aesthetically pleasing. With 960-by-640 resolution at 326 pixels per inch, the display gives vivid color and impressing resolution and picture. The back is still metallic, but is shinier, more reflective metallic, making it look newer. With six years apart in their release, it is clear that the designs of the iPods have changed.

Critical Review

The product I will be evaluating is the iPhone 3gs, a smart phone made by Apple. This product deserves merit because it is extremely popular and revolutionary for cell phones. The first criteria I will be looking at is the speed of the iPhone 3GS. The "S" in it's name symbolizes the upgrade of speed from the previous iPhone, so that is an area that is important to cover. The 3GS processor numbers have been upgraded from 412MHz to a rumored 600MHz. The RAM has also been increased, almost doubling the old iPhone (128MB to 256MB). You can either get 16GB or 32GB of storage space, compared to the 8GB of space for the 3G. Apple claims an average of 2x faster loads, but there is little provided to back up that claim. The iPhone 3GS looks and feels exactly like the old iPhone, so evaluating its appearance will be pointless in comparing it to its older version. It will be useful to compare its appearance to other smart phones that are similar to the iPhone 3GS. The 3GS does, however, have a new fingerprint resistant oleophobic coating, which does slightly set it apart from the 3G in the appearance context. It resists new smudges, and wipes almost entirely clean with a single swipe on a pant leg. The next criteria is the phone's camera, which is also updated from the iPhone 3G. It has a 3-megapixel camera, adding auto focus and video recording. Also, it includes an autofocus function, replacing a gross physical button to snap your shots. The iPhone continues to rely on its onscreen trigger, but cranks up the use of that big display by allowing you to focus in on subjects based on where you tap. Software is yet another criteria when looking at the iPhone 3GS. The biggest changes with this device really come in the form of software tweaks. You can copy, paste, and cut text and multimedia, software more advanced than not only the new iPhone but other similar smartphones as well. Push Notifications have also been introduced, allowing you to see instantaneous alerts for emails, messages, and other app-related notices. Battery life is also a criteria that can be mentioned, because the 3GS has much more life than the old iPhone, something a lot of people got fed up with. From the outside, its hard to tell the difference between an Iphone 3G and 3GS, but many of the upgrades are internal. The speed, software, and hardware have all been advanced, allowing many users to see the changes not when they see it, but rather when they use it. The question is are these software and processing tweaks really worth the $100 price increase? There are two main groups of people in the market for an iPhone 3GS: those who own an older iPhone or those who do not have an iPhone at all. For those who have an older iPhone, you need to ask yourself is it worth buying a new phone which is, in reality, the same phone? After all, you've spent a lot of money on your old iPhone, and dropping an extra $400-500 for a speed bump, a compass, and video recording is questionable. For those who don't own an iPhone, the money may be worth an exceptional new smartphone which is the iPhone 3GS.

Detailed Outline

1) My opening scene will not be a first hand experience, because I simply don't have access to any pledging or hazing experiences at fraternities. However, I will use a scene from someone who is currently pledging a fraternity instead. I have heard many stories from different pledges, but at this point I'm not sure which one I am going to use. I know that I will have to be very specific when asking questions about a scene so I can make it as complete and vivid as possible. In other words, I will have to do my best to put myself in their shoes to see what they saw, felt what they felt, etc.
2)The quote that I use to conclude the scene will most likely be the pledge's perspective on the experience, how he felt, how he feels now and what he got out of it. I first need to decide which scene I am going to use before I choose a fitting quote.
3)To answer why I am writing about this issue, I will display why hazing is an important issue that needs to be addressed. I can do this in many ways, such as citing people's deaths from hazing, explaining negative effects, and showing that it is very common at Penn State.
4)For background, I will delve into the issue of hazing and what its all about. I will first go into the history of hazing, and how it became so prominent on college campuses including Penn State. Then I will go into what hazing is, give a definition from the school, the state, the dictionary, etc. I think it may be important to explain that hazing is not only an issue in fraternities, but in other areas such as sports, clubs, and the military. At this point I will go into the background of fraternity hazing, and begin to narrow my focus to fraternity hazing at Penn State.
5)Cases of hazing at Penn State
-quotes from pledges and brothers
-stories and rumors that circulate
-are all fraternities hazing, which ones are the worst
6)How hazing affects those involved(is it harmful? Does anything good come out of it?)
-how it affects the brothers
-how it affects the pledges
-short term and long term effects
7)Why do fraternities haze?
-quotes from brothers
-opinions from pledges
-studies conducted to find out why fraternities haze/why pledges subject themselves to it(psychology behind it)
8)Why so secretive?
-investigate why many hazing rituals are kept secret
-look at how many hazing goes unreported, why and how?
-quotes from pledges and brothers
9)What is the school, students, police doing about hazing?
-include organizations such as the IFC who help prevent hazing
-is the school doing enough to prevent hazing?
-quotes from IFC members
10)Hazing is occurring all over the nation
-examples of hazing issues at colleges around the country
-what these colleges are doing compared to Penn State
-how bad hazing problems are elsewhere compared to Penn State
-Penn State is top 10 in Greek Scene by Princeton Review
11)Conclusion- In the conclusion I will start off by summing up everything I covered with my research and interviews. I think the main questions I will try and plant in peoples minds are "Does anything good come out of hazing?", "Why do people continue to do it?", "What can you, the school, or anybody do to fix this issue?". I am not taking a position on this topic, so I think the most important part of this paper is going to be getting a reader to start asking some of these questions and just get people thinking about it.

Investigative Report

For my report, I will be looking at issues of hazing at fraternities at Penn State. So far, I have not been able to experience any first hand pledging or hazing scenes, but I have been to many frats and the atmosphere there can tell a lot about frats and what they're all about. Most of the frats I have been to are pretty similar. You walk up and there is usually a couple brothers and maybe a bouncer that lets people in or turns them away. At many of these frats, you have to be on the list, know some of the brothers, or be in another frat to gain entry. Once inside, the atmosphere changes completely. It is usually packed with kids standing shoulder to shoulder, which makes walking through the frat difficult. With so many kids packed into such a small area, the frats are usually very warm and muggy. The smell of spilled beer and cigarette smoke overwhelms your nose. As you approach the dance floor, the music blasts your eardrums. In most cases, tables are set up for beer pong in which kids often crowd around to watch or wait for the next game. Recently, many kids I know and many I don't have begun their pledging process, which hazing is most commonly included in. Many of the pledges can be seen doing the work that brothers don't want to do; watching the doors, serving at the bar, and cleaning up the house.
I haven't been able to interview a lot of the people I want to interview yet, but I have been able to get some input from my friends and people I know who are currently pledging fraternities. Joe, a freshman who lives in East Halls, is one of these pledges. When I asked him what went on during the pledging process thus far and if he has experienced any hazing, he quickly replied "I can't tell you." Apparently, the fraternity brothers often tell the pledges to keep some of the things they do secret, possibly to keep the fraternities and the brothers out of trouble with the school and law enforcement. After some further inquiry, however, he did tell me that "The brothers smack you with a wooden paddle as hard as they can." I have heard this from a couple other pledges, and from what I have heard it is a common pledging tradition. Another freshman residing in East Halls who wished to have his name withheld told me him and his fellow pledges were going to be forced to eat some disgusting things including pizza topped with things such as chewing tobacco and animal feces.
During my research into this issue, I have found a couple relevant and interesting facts that I hope will help me in my writing of this paper. First, in an article I found on centredaily.com, the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity was recently charged with hazing and furnishing alcohol to minors. Also, on Penn State's Panhellenic Council website, I found out "any person who commits or participates in hazing is guilty of a misdemeanor in the third degree." On this website, there is actually a link where you can anonymously report hazing at Penn State.
One thing I found out through my preliminary research is that not only does Penn State have rules against hazing, the state of Pennsylvania has laws against it, which is something I definitely want to look into more. I also want to look more into how these fraternities try and keep their hazing and initiation secret. Many pledges are very wary about talking about their fraternities, and I would like to see how the brothers try and keep the pledges quiet about what happens behind closed doors.

Journal 4: #1 Party School

The creators of this podcast definitely define the issue so that it makes sense to their intended audience. They clearly state what they are investigating, in this case Penn State University and its previous title as the #1 party school in the nation. They come at this issue from all angles; you hear from residents, students, employees, employers, police, administration, etc. They focus a lot on the partying aspect, and make it obvious what it is they are investigating. The hosts of this recording give a lot of reasons for why this is an issue that needs to be investigated. First, Penn State was the number one party school, a title that in itself promotes curiosity and interest. Another reason they gave for why the issue needed to be investigated was the huge drinking problem at Penn State, mainly underage drinking and the problems that entail a huge campus of kids getting wasted. Specifically, they brought up the case of Joseph Dado, the freshmen who passed away last year after drinking too much and falling off of a wall. This story in itself could warrant an investigative report, but it was only a part of the bigger picture of drinking and partying at Penn State. All the trouble that the residents here encounter and the police deal with are also reasons for investigation. To sum it up, there are many reasons and many issues up for examination in this story, and they pretty much covered them all.

A great deal of facts and details were given showing how partying at Penn State affects a wide array of different groups and people. For example, they interviewed and followed a pizza delivery boy who works at one of the most popular pizza shops in State College. They included a lot of details about how the partying at Penn State affected this kid and his ability to do his job. Also, they interviewed a lot of the residents of State College who are affected by the constant partying that goes on as well.
Throughout the dialogue, the hosts interview many people, using their direct quotations for their story. They also take quotations from people like the president of Penn State, who often talks about the problems associated with drinking at Penn State. Sometimes they didn't use a direct quote but cited who they got it from, but a lot of it was direct quotations from interviews.
I really liked this report because it showed a lot about how partying affects a large group of people, but at the same time the story is not biased completely to abstinence. Rather, they really focus on the positives of drinking at Penn State (family, togetherness, the college experience) but also mention a lot of the negatives (deaths, injuries, school performance). I also thought they interviewed many of the right people, and it was cool to get different perspectives on the partying at Penn State and across the country. I got a little confused when the father who lived on frat row and the other woman who lived near campus complained about the partying that goes on at Penn State. My question would be why live here, on a college campus of the number party school in the nation, if you don't want to hear, see, or witness college kids partying. To me, that makes no sense, so I didn't really enjoy that part of the show. Other than that, it was a very interesting, engaging report that really delved into an issue and picked it apart piece by piece.

Journal 3: Shitty First Drafts

After reading this piece about first drafts, I took away some relief from what Lamott explained. Every time I write a paper, I find myself deleting sentences, paragraphs, even pages at a time, and the frustration quickly sets in. Sometimes, I will write a rough draft, and it will be all over the place, no organization or focus whatsoever, and I will simply give up, thinking that it's the best I can do. However, after reading this piece from an accomplished writer, and how she often hates her rough drafts, it made me feel a lot better about my writing and my often shitty rough drafts. It showed me that a lot more people than I previously thought go through this process with great difficulty as well, and that good writing doesn't just dance off people's fingertips.
Just a few days ago, I began writing my rough draft for the personal memoir we were assigned in class. It took me almost two hours to write a single page. I must have written and deleted 50 sentences in the first page alone. After I was done, I felt almost ashamed by the rough draft I had turned out. But when I read it again the next day, I saw some hope in my writing. Like Lamott said, most of your first draft will often be terrible, but there will be some things that come out of it that are really good, which is exactly what I saw in my own writing. I had always thought the same thing she proposed everyone thinks; that good writers can sit down and right a beautiful and perfect first draft. But as I think about it, it is nearly impossible to do, so why would I be any exception?
When Lamott said she "eventually let herself trust the process--sort of, more or less," I realized how little I trust my own writing and my own writing process. The reason I think she expresses a little doubt at the end is not many writers love their own writing. Personally, I always dislike my writing, I always think it sounds terrible, but in some ways, this is part of my writing process. To never be satisfied with your work means there is always room for improvement, improvement that can make my writing sound better in my own head, and hopefully in the heads of my readers. When she said this, I think she was talking about herself, but I also think she was speaking for all writers. I think all writers have doubt about trusting their own process, and I think the more you trust it, the better your writing will be.
Like I mentioned before, this reading gave me a lot of confidence going into my second draft and trying to improve my writing. Now, as I read over my draft, I will know its supposed to be terrible. I will know it shouldn't be anywhere near a final draft form, and having that in mind, I think it will help me work through my own writing process. Hopefully, this process will allow me to create a final draft where I find some consolation and satisfaction.

Journal 2: My Addicted Son

The piece that I chose to read was the memoir by David Sheff called "My Addicted Son." I chose this specific article because I know many people, both friends and family, that have battled with drug addiction, so I thought it would be an interesting read. The subject of this memoir was the author's son, Nick Sheff, who battled with drug addiction almost his entire life. Throughout the entire story, you really see how Nick struggled with addiction, and how his father struggled with feelings of guilt and helplessness. It was disheartening to hear how drugs affected this family, but somewhat rejuvenating to see how hard both father and son struggled to climb out. Some of the descriptions in this memoir really caught my eye, and you could really see what the father saw and feel how he felt. That is one of the things I would like to incorporate in my memoir, although I probably will not be able to do it as effectively as this author. I thought his use of dialogue was very appropriate and stimulating as well. He didn't use a lot of dialogue, but when he did, it was purposeful and really drove a point. I was surprised at the scope of this memoir; it felt like it was based on the entire life of his son, and I thought a memoir was supposed to focus on a specific event or happening. Maybe most of it was background, I am not really sure. That aside, I thought this memoir accomplished it's goal very effectively.
The audience in my opinion was anyone who has ever dealt with or seen someone deal with drug addiction. I know there are many people who either have battled drug addiction or know someone who has, so this memoir reaches a really large audience. I thought the point of the story was in some ways to inform, or to teach people the effects of drug abuse on the abuser and the abuser's friends and family. I also think this memoir serves another purpose, it allows people to connect to the Sheff family, people who have been in similar situations, and gives insight for how to deal with such a situation. Regardless of what purpose the author meant for this memoir to serve, it hit me pretty hard; it showed me how much people with drug addictions have to go through, how much their families and friends have to go through, and gave me much respect for those who have gone through it and come out on top.