4/28
LaurasBlogFinal
Final Project Proposal 4/7
For my final paper I plan to expand on a topic used in a previous paper. For my causal paper, I examined the causes of weight gain during college, commonly known as the “Freshman 15.” I believe this is a very important topic for my audience of college freshmen because I often hear many of my friends concerned about gaining weight. I also often hear a lot of misconceptions over what is healthy and what is not. I want to clear up the rumors and present college students with an easy plan to maintain a healthy lifestyle in college. I chose this topic because it will appeal to all college students, especially freshman, and teenagers in general. Part of the problem is that we are coming to a time in our development where the metabolism is starting to slow down and it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain a healthy body. I plan on examining the causes of this problem and proposing what all students can do to solve the problem.
Any discussion of weight gain has to start with the food. In a college atmosphere, it is often difficult to eat as healthily as most people probably did at home. It is important that they not try to diet as diets are usually short-lived and the college atmosphere provides too much temptation that will cause them to veer off their diet dramatically. The secret is to control portion sizes and still allow yourself to eat and drink things that you enjoy. I will present a plan in my paper for healthy choices that can be found on campus or made in a dorm room.
Exercise is also very important, and I will propose ways to exercise within a busy lifestyle. There are many ways to exercise that require very little or no money that can be done around campus. Small lifestyle changes, such as walking to class or using the stairs, can contribute to exercise as well. Exercise does not have to be a chore, as there are many fun ways to exercise, such as fitness classes or intramural sports. Even dancing at a party is a great way to burn calories while having fun.
I plan to propose an example health plan for one week that will show what foods to eat and what exercise to do that will maintain a healthy body. I am not necessarily proposing a weight loss plan although if it is more exercise or less food than the person is used to, they may lose weight. I am simply providing guidelines for people that want to make healthy choices while at college. My other goal in this paper is to clear up common misconceptions about what is healthy and what is not. Many people have not had to make all of their food choices on their own before, so they may be surprised by what they do not know. I believe this paper will be beneficial to everyone because being healthy is something that most people strive for.
Sources:
Response to "A Modest Proposal" 4/2
I'm hoping that Swift meant this as a joke. Although he certainly makes some excellent arguments, the idea of the Irish selling and eating their children is sick and ridiculous. I guess this article just proves that even if the thing you are arguing is completely absurd, an effective argument can still be made.
3/31
Its that time again when we all have to start thinking about what classes to take next semester. Everyone is starting to figure out when they can register and meeting with their advisors. This is particularly frustrating for me since I don't exactly have an advisor right now. I switched majors from what I originally thought I wanted to do, but since I haven't actually entered into my major, I haven't been assigned to an advisor. And of course I have no idea what classes to take next semester. I am also trying to not look at the schedule of courses until a few days before I can register because last semester I got so obsessed with looking at it and trying to plan my schedule only to wonder if the classes I wanted would fill up. But we'll see how it goes...
3/29
LaurasBlogProposal
3/28
I just have to comment on how excited I am about this weather! Actually right now it looks like it might be getting cloudy but it was really nice earlier. I was able to go running outside in shorts and a T-shirt and it felt great. For some reason I have hardly any homework this week so I have had a lot of free time. Most of my friends, though, have like 3 tests this week so there hasn't been much to do. I hope this weather lasts and it only gets warmer from here.
Definition of "stigmergy" 3/26
Stigmergy is a term used to describe the communication that goes on between insects and other animals. This communication does not consist of words or sounds, but rather it is something that allows the insects to coordinate their work without communicating verbally. For example, if the insects are building a nest, they do not verbally communicate but their efforts are coordinated because they are all working on the same nest.
3/22
One of the things that really annoys me about being here is not having a car. I wish I could just pick up and go places when I need to and not have to figure out the stupid CATA bus schedule or find a ride. One of my friends brought her car back after spring break but I feel bad if I always ask for rides from her. Last week I dropped my cell phone on the floor and it stopped working so I had to go to the Verizon store. Of course the store is about 3 miles down Atherton and I had no way of getting there, but luckily my boyfriend's mom works for the school so we were able to take her car there. But now I have to go back because they had to send me a new phone and I have to take it to the store to get activated. And I was supposed to be able to do that today but the phone didn't come so I'm pretty annoyed about that right now. I just hate asking for rides and wish I had a car here sometimes.
I'm not sure but I think you were the one who commented on my St. Patrick's Day blog. If you were, I want to apologize for what I wrote if it offended you in some way. I was not in a good mood at the time when I wrote the blog so it ended up coming across as pretty immature and judgemental. I do not believe that all partiers or drinkers are the way that I described them, or even that most partiers are that way. I just saw quite a few people that pissed me off that night and I assumed they were drunk so I decided to write about it. I did not intend to be judgemental. It really sets me off when people are judgemental and when I am judgemental, I usually end up hating myself for it. So, sorry about the post. It was unwarranted. -- MemoirofaFirecracker
Proposal Paper Proposal (whoa that sounds weird) 3/21
Most professional or collegiate sports leagues have some sort of end of the season playoff. In fact, all of them do except division 1A college football. I will propose in my paper that college football should have a playoff consisting of 8 teams to determine the national championship. This will not eliminate the current bowl games because the BCS games could be part of the tournament and the other bowls could still take place for the teams who do not make the tournament. This change should occur because football fans want to see an actual winner declared, it will generate more money for TV networks and bowl game committees, and it gives more teams a chance at the national championship. Opponents of the playoff argue that it will interfere with class and final exams for student-athletes, but an 8-team tournament will only take three or four weekends, a majority of which should fall on most colleges' winter breaks. This change is important because it gives the fans what they want, which will generate more money. The sources I will use for this paper are:
Today's Collegian 3/20
As most of you know, there was a lot of interesting and tragic news in the paper today. The story about the student who fell from a sixth floor window was definitely unfortunate. I don't want to offend him or any of his friends so I will just say his judgement must have been extremely impaired. I told my parents that if I ever get written up for drinking, just be thankful that I didn't try to climb out the window by my bedsheets. Who knows, maybe this incident will make the police think twice before busting another party. Speaking of busting parties, the most entertaining parts of today's Collegian were the examples of things police made arrests for this weekend. I started laughing out loud in class when I read that Alpha Sigma Phi's party got busted because people were having sex outside. This was funny because my boyfriend and a few of my friends are in that frat. And no, I don't know who any of the people outside or on the hoods of cars were.
Response to the "Communist Manifesto" 3/19
I think the point of this document is to convince people that communism is a good idea. It is a good proposal argument because it details a course of action that governments should take. It is interesting to read about communism in such a good light because as most people know, communism in theory is much better than communism in practice.
March MADNESS 3/16
I never really follow college basketball but ever since I was little I always have to fill out my bracket for the NCAA tournament. My brother used to make me do it and I always just picked the top seeds to win each game, and I usually did pretty good. Since then I have become a little more risky with my picks...you know occasionally I'll have a 9 beating an 8 or a 10 beating a 7. I am really clueless because I don't pay any attention to the regular season but I have always thought I am a good guesser. I picked Duke to win this year but I am a huge Syracuse fan and I am hoping that after their great performance in the Big East tournament they might come close to winning again.
3/13
LaurasBlogCausal
Spring Break 3/13
For spring break I went to St. Petersburg, Florida with my family. The weather was great and I went to the beach almost every day and got pretty tan. Other than that it wasn't too exciting. Its always more fun to go on vacation with your friends, but I still had fun with my family. It was pretty much our last chance for a family vacation because my brother is graduating from college in May and he and I had the same spring breaks. Although the weather in Florida was great, I am happy to be back here because I missed all my friends and everything but I am not thrilled to be going back to class obviously. At least the weather is nice today. But of course, typical northeast weather, the rest of the week is going to be cold.
Causal Paper Proposal 3/2
Many people's biggest worry when they are going off to college is that they will gain the dreaded "Freshman 15." Some other people may believe that since they have always been active or have a fast metabolism that they do not have to worry about it. I plan to argue in my paper that the Freshman 15 is caused by many factors in the college environment. These causes include unlimited access to food, difficult access to fitness opportunities, and the overall stress involved with moving away from home. Other contributors include a busy schedule or a lot of free time (depending on the person) and the fact that you live in one room that is basically a bedroom, living room, office, and kitchen all in one. I plan on mostly talking about Penn State in my paper but I will also apply these causes to all colleges. This is an important issue for anyone to consider that is in college or planning to attend in the near future because once you know the causes of something, it is easier to prevent it. The sources I plan to use for this paper are:
Here's a strange comment/something to think about: the "freshman 15" might have something to do with getting older! Perhaps, people come in with largely adolescent bodies, and they're in the process of developing adult bodies, which are naturally heavier than an adolescent's. Think, for example, of the difference between an 18 and 30 year old. When and how does that transformation occur, and is it something to be avoided? I'm not sure. TheKemBlog
Response to "Political leanings" 2/28
I was not surprised to learn that there is definitely a political bias in the media. Last semester in my STS 200 class, we had a guest speaker who was a general in the US military. He spoke about some things that are really going on in Iraq and how the media skews these facts to make Bush and the war look bad. This lecture really opened my eyes to all the bias or "political leanings" that are present in the media. After reading this, I figure that I identify more with the liberal or left wing side although in some aspects I am on the right. There are definitely political leanings evident on the opinion pages of the Collegian along with any other newspaper. This actually reminded me of an article I read in the Collegian today about a book written by a conservative author that pointed the finger at college professors (including 2 at Penn State) for being too biased on the left wing side. I guess bias is prevalent in other areas, such as this book and in classrooms.
Can you bring that article to class? I didn't make it to campus today. TheKemBlog
Responses 2/26
After reading these two articles, I have to say I was shocked to know that these things were going on. It makes no sense to me why ethnic groups that seem to have so much in common are so cruel and violent to each other, but I guess it is all rooted in past grudges that they continue to hold. Especially in the case of the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda, it seems ridiculous because the only reason these groups have any distinction is because the Belgians decided to separate them. Overall, it is very unfortunate that so many people have lost their lives over what are really petty arguments. I hope the UN can do something to help solve this problem.
2/24
LaurasBlogEvaluation
2/22
If any of you have been reading the Collegian, I'm sure you have heard about the man who was stabbed downtown the other day. I was completely shocked to hear about such a horrible crime happening in State College. I am from about 20 minutes away from a big city that has a lot of crime, but I always considered this town to be much safer than that. It really scares me that this pretty much unprovoked act of violence occurred. I am glad to hear that the man who allegedly committed this crime is being charged with first degree murder, but I was actually surprised. In New York, in order to qualify as first degree, the murder must be premeditated, but I guess in Pennsylvania all you need is malice and intent.
Response to "My America" 2/21
I enjoyed this article. When I first started reading it I thought it was going to have a negative view of American values, saying something like it shouldn't be so surprising to see someone being randomly polite and friendly to a stranger. I always thought of just saying hi to someone on the street was friendly, something that many people would argue most Americans aren't. I didn't realize that in Europe it is less likely to see this occur. I was also surprised when Sullivan said that people in Britain were constantly asking him about his background. I guess there is still proof that America is the land of opportunity and equality.
2/20
So Thon was this weekend...I was not involved with it this year but I went to watch some of it and I watched it on TV whenever I was in my room. It doesn't seem like it would be that interesting to watch on TV, and at first I made fun of my boyfriend when I found out he had watched it for 2 hours straight on Friday. But they did do some cool stuff, like when the athletes did their dance routines. I think Thon is a great event that obviously does a lot for a good cause, and I definitely want to be involved in it next year.
Evaluation Paper Proposal 2/16
For my evaluation paper, I plan to evaluate the movie Walk the Line. I saw this movie the other day and I thought it fit all the necessary criteria for an excellent movie. These criteria include a compelling story, excellent acting, and great cinematic techniques to tie it all together. I plan on including evidence from both the movie and outside sources to support this claim. Although this is an excellent and worthwhile movie, I will not try to argue that it was the best movie ever because it was a little too long and that I didn't get the sense that I would remember it forever. Still, I am writing this paper because I found this movie to be an enjoyable movie experience and would definitely recommend it to others. The movie is a drama based on the real life of country singer Johnny Cash, his singing career, battles with addiction, and his relationship with his wife June Carter Cash. Although this genre may not seem to appeal to all audiences, I plan to show in my paper that it does. I will include personal interviews to back up my opinion of the movie, as well as outside research on the accuracy of the story and how the movie was made. I understand that there is no way I can convince everyone to see this movie, but if you are looking for a good movie, I don't think this one will disappoint you. The sources I plan to use for this paper are:
Okay. I talked a bit about this in class, and I think it looks to be going in a very promising direction. One thing to consider is why the movie wasn't nominated for an Oscar! I don't know the answer to that. Was it nominated for (and did it receive) other awards? Actually, you might think about arguing that the Oscar people made a mistake. TheKemBlog
Response to "Declaration of Independence" 2/13
This document is one of the most, if not the most, famous document in our nation's history. It's interesting that the writing of this document is considered when we became independent, but technically this document did not accomplish that goal directly. What this did accomplish was to show the world that these British colonies were prepared to fight for their independence and to inspire the colonists to support the fight. I have read this document many times but I still find it inspiring.
2/13
LaurasBlogDefinition
2/9
I just wanted to comment on probably the one thing about Penn State that really annoys me: it is so big and it is such a huge process to go anywhere. Today my friends and I just wanted to go to Panera for dinner and after waiting for 25 minutes in the freezing cold the white loop pulled up and said "discharge only" (ok, so the bus driver was nice enough to let us on anyway but thats not the point). I just feel like I'm always getting screwed over by CATA. But at least it allowed me extra time to procrastinate on my paper.
2/7
I commented on ForestBlog.
Definition Paper proposal 2/5
The term I plan to define in my paper is “religion.” I chose this because I think many people’s definition of this term or the way they use it is not how the word should be used. I will argue that religion is not necessarily sitting in a church or place of worship but rather it is a state of mind. I want to define “religion” as an individual’s set of beliefs and not in the way any of our organized religions today are defined. These institutions still qualify as religions but they are only examples of the way religion can be expressed. The reasons behind my claim are that most dictionaries and encyclopedias define the actual word religion as a belief system, that just because you don’t worship publicly doesn’t mean you don’t believe in something, and that to actually participate in religion involves a person’s state of mind and not necessarily their day-to-day activities. This issue is important because although most people would agree with this definition of religion, the way many people use the word does not agree with this definition. People consider a “religious” person to be someone that goes to church a lot or otherwise actively worships some sort of organized religion. But there are many other ways to have a religion. Any person has a religion if they have a system of beliefs that influence how they live their lives. I plan to back up my argument with information from the following sources:
- "Religion." Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd edition. Oxford University Press, 1989. <http://dictionary.oed.com>.
- Paine, Thomas. "Of the Word 'Religion,' and Other Words of Uncertain Signification." <http://www.deism.com/paine_essay11.htm>.
- Penalver, Eduardo. "The Concept of Religion." The Yale Law Journal, 1997.
- Kishimoto, Hideo. "An Operational Definition of Religion." Brill Academic Publishers, 1961.
- "Religion." Wikipedia, 2006. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion>.
- Cline, Austin. "What is Religion? Defining Religion: The Problem of Definition." About Inc., 2006. <http://atheism.about.com/od/religiondefinition/a/definition.htm>.
Hey I think this is a really good topic. This starts to make me wonder how I think of my religion as since I possess both strong belief and I play every day. DesiGundo
Reponse to Proposal by RicoSuave
Claim: Religion is an individual's state of mind and set of beliefs and not necessarily sitting in a church or place of worship.
Reason: Just because people don't worship publicly, doesn't mean they don't believe in their religion.
Warrant: If you live your life according to your religion's standards, you are as religious as a person who goes to a place of worship every week.
Counter-arguments:
1.) Religious books preach that worshippers should go to places of worship on a regular basis.
2.) How can someone be considered religious, if he or she doesn't follow the religious traditions of going to places of worship.
*I dont think that the paper is heading towards a proposal nor an evaluation.
Random thoughts 2/3
So apparently we are supposed to write on here 4 times a week! So heres some random thoughts... I am pretty excited that it is almost the weekend but I still have two more classes today. I really wish I didn't schedule four classes on Friday. I am excited that the super bowl is this weekend but I don't really care which team wins. I guess I want the Steelers to win just so everyone here will be going crazy instead of being depressed. Anyways, I am not looking forward to writing this definition paper, but I think coming up with a topic will be the hardest part. I am terrible at coming up with ideas for things like that. So we'll see what I come up with.
Response to article in USA today 1/31
I am responding to the article entitled "Angels' name prompts devil of a lawsuit" in today's USA Today. This article caught my attention because I had heard about how the Anaheim Angels changed their name to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and I always thought it was really stupid. I also thought this article was stupid because it was about how the city of Anaheim is suing the team for over $100 million for changing their name. The only reason the "of Anaheim" is on the end of the name is because in order to use their stadium, the Angels have a 33-year lease part of which says the team's name must include Anaheim. I think as long as the team is under this lease they should just keep their name as Anaheim because the other name sounds stupid and takes too long to say. But I do understand why they want their name to be Los Angeles because the name is more well known and has a better marketability. The article also says that Anaheim should remain the name because it is in Orange County and shows like The OC and Laguna Beach are popular. Unless they call themselves the Laguna Beach Angels I don't think this makes a difference.
Response to "Defining Terrorism" 1/29
It is evident by the number of definitions of terrorism that this concept is not easy to define. However, I don't think it is phenomenal that there are so many definitions because most of them are not all that different from each other. Almost all of the definitions say something along the lines of "using violence or force to invoke terror and produce a change." Basically what separates terrorism from other crimes is that it has a larger objective than just ending people's lives, usually a political objective. I think that despite the variety of definitions presented here, each individual still has their own definition of terrorism so it is not worthwhile to try and pinpoint one definition.
Response to George W. Bush speech 1/26
I usually think that President Bush is not a very good public speaker, and that may just be because of the way he talks, but this speech seemed very good and very effective. I probably heard this speech on TV when it was given, but I don't remember the way it made me feel at the time. Reading it now, I realize how many appeals to emotion he makes, which is perfect for a speech following a tragedy. He makes himself seem more personable by inviting those whose loved ones were killed to the speech and showing the police badge he was given. Parts of the speech are sad and some are hopeful, but the most predominant emotion used here is anger. Bush wants his audience to be angry at the terrorists for what they have taken away and thus be motivated to take action. He does this in a way that he doesn't seem arrogant or self-righteous because he takes care to mention that the whole world is in this together. He points the finger very specifically at the terrorist groups and not at any ethnic or religious groups. I think this speech was very effective at its objective: a call to action for revenge on what these terrorists did to America, and I think any American would have found it difficult to disagree with Bush after this speech.
Response to "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" 1/24
While I would never disagree with any of the rights and freedoms outlined in this document, my main question is what exactly is the point of the United Nations writing all these down? Do they have any way of enforcing it? Obviously there are many nations in the world who are violating one or several of the rights given in the declaration. Even the US could be guilty of violating some, such as "equal pay for equal work" and fair trials for all criminals because I don't think all the prisoners of war we are keeping in Cuba are necessarily getting the same treatment as criminals in our country. We are giving Saddam Hussein a fair trial, but did he do the same for his people or our American POWs? I think there are some benefits to having a written agreement about these universal rights, but I don't think this document will have any influence on those countries who are already in violation of it.
Response to FDR's "Four Freedoms" 1/22
I think Roosevelt's main purpose in this speech was to spark patriotism in Americans and make them realize that it may become necessary to become more involved in the war. He justifies this claim by appealing mostly to the values of society and saying that America must take part in the war in order to defend democracy. He also appeals to his audience's emotions by saying that anyone who puts themself before their country doesn't deserve to enjoy the liberties it provides. In this way he is almost making Americans feel guilty about the way they live their lives. Although this is a little harsh, it is effective because too many people take the freedoms provided in this country for granted and need to be reminded sometimes that it may take a fight to keep them. I was impressed by the fact that Roosevelt seemed so sure at this time that America would be attacked. Maybe if more military personnel had taken this speech more seriously, the disaster at Pearl Harbor could have been prevented. I think FDR's tactic of not becoming completely involved in the war until a direct attack was made is justifiable. He involved the US in the war before this point, but I admire the fact that he made sure there was a direct threat before involving US troops.
USA Today Snapshot 1/19
My claims are from the sports snapshot that reads: "According to a recent poll, Duke is the No. 1 college mens basketball team among college sports fans ages 12 and older." The statistics shown are Favorite in College Hoops: 8% Duke Blue Devils, 6% North Carolina Tar Heels, 4% Kentucky Wildcats.
Claim 1: The Duke Blue Devils are the nation's favorite mens college basketball team. Duke fans had the highest percentage of votes with 8%.
Claim 2: Despite Duke's seemingly huge fan base, the percentage of people who are Duke fans is actually very small. Only 8% of people polled chose Duke as their favorite mens college basketball team.
Claim 3: The North Carolina Tar Heels and the Kentucky Wildcats are very popular mens college basketball teams. 6% of college basketball fans like the Tar Heels and 4% like the Wildcats.
Rewrite of TheChipBlog's personal narrative 1/17
My name is Laura Phelps. I live in Rochester, NY about an hour and a half away from Buffalo (go Bills)! My favorite thing to do in high school was swim. I loved going to meets and camps to compete and practice. Winning the division championship with my team the past two years was definitely one of the highlights of my career. I come from a very Italian family on my grandpa's side but unfortunately my grandma is the one who cooks at family functions. I have one older brother. Needless to say everyone in my family received Penn State gear for Christmas, which they loved.
Response to "Letter from Birmingham Jail" 1/16
Although this letter was very long (but what else would he have to do while in jail), I think Dr. King did an excellent job of explaining exactly why he is seeking more equal treatment for blacks and why he is using nonviolent direct action to do so. This letter is written to members of the clergy, and he does a good job of appealing to them by comparing the plight of blacks in America to that of Christians and Jesus. He also explains the difference between just and injust laws, which are determined by moral codes. Personally, I think moral codes can vary from person to person, but considering the audience that this letter was directed towards, the moral codes are pretty well defined. I think the most affecting part of this letter was the paragraph where Dr. King gives examples of all the terrible things blacks have endured, such as seeing their family members lynched and beaten. This letter was very effective in allowing people to see King's objective and probably convinced more people to join his cause.
Personal Narrative 1/13
Hey guys, my name is Laura Phelps and I'm from just outside Rochester, NY. I am a freshman and I am thinking about majoring in Forensic Science. Believe it or not, I didn't pick this major based on watching CSI or anything like that but I am just interested in problem solving and using science to do something other than become a doctor. I was a competitive swimmer for 9 years, including all of high school. I am not exactly good enough to swim at Penn State but I am working here as a lifeguard. I guess my new sport to be into is Penn State football because I never paid much attention to college football until I came here and now I am almost obsessed. I went to the Orange Bowl last week and although it was a lot of fun, I have to say that game was one of the most stressful things I have ever been to. And I guess thats it because I am already way over 100 words!
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