Big Foot

"Morality is often mistaken for science," states Michael Specter in "Big Foot." Humans wear the excessive carbon footprint that causes the horrible effects of climate change. The goals of carbon emissions are unclear and it seems that the biggest problem obesity now imposes is the carbon burden that they place on the environment. Greenhouse-gas emissions are at their highest level in the last six hundred and fifty years. Each of the six billion people on Earth account for one ton of carbon emissions. Carbon emissions must be reduced in order to prevent catastrophic effects. Michael Specter comments, "A person's carbon footprint is simply a measure of his contribution to global warming." Every human activity has a carbon cost attached to it. Food in our generation carries immense symbolic power. Michael Specter describes "food miles" as "the distance a product travels from the farm to your home." Climate change is directly linked to "food miles." Factories around the world are deeply impacting global warming. The food we eat is much more significant than Americans seem to notice. Iowa State University found that food miles connected to items one buys in a grocery store are twenty-seven times higher than those those goods bought from local sources. Ten percent of our red meat is imported from Australia or New Zealand and broccoli is shipped eighteen hundred miles in a refrigerated truck. This is absolutely ridiculous being that both cattle and broccoli are vast in the US. The carbon footprints of products are astronomical. "Food miles" put humans at great risk for climate change and global warming. Carbon emissions must be reduced before these "food miles" destroy the planet. My immediate reaction to Specter's inclusion of John Elkington's claim: "We are in an era of creative destruction," is that humans are in a death spiral created by our doing. Elkington deeply feels that people will not be able to address the problem of global warming. There is much denial and despair left to be seen. Things will begin to fall apart. Destruction is within our reach with the way humans treat the planet.

As a consumer I feel personally responsible for global warming. The devastating effects of global warming are quite visible. However, in a way I feel torn. If one were to ask me if I would give up my Hyandai Sante Fe for a more fuel efficient car I would say no. I am just like so many Americans who make their decisions against environmental protection. Knowledge of global warming has been instilled in my brain constantly by all different sources for years. The effects of climate change are real and growing. Then why do I not live a life focused on protecting the environment and the Earth? I am selfish. I love my big car. I do not plan on giving it up. Selfishness characterizes most humans. There is not doubt that my choices affect global warming. In a large scale, everyone's choices affect global warming. The steps humans decide to take will greatly impact the course of global warming.

Greed and Waste

There is a infectious virus sweeping the nation too small to be seen by a light microscope. Its symptoms are more powerful and and more mortifying than our generation has yet to witness out of the millions of different viruses known to man. The virus is spreading from person to person with such a ferocity that no one is safe. The virus can be found in every ecosystem on Earth being the most abundant parasite on Earth. The virus is a pandemic, worse than the Spanish flu that killed as many as 100 million people back in 1918. There is no vaccine available to cure the virus. No artificially acquired immunity will put a stop to the specific viral infection. This virus has evolved from narcissism, ego, materialism, pursuit of self, wealth and status. Humans are the host with the virus infection resulting in the death of the host cell. Deaths of the cells in the body are caused by cessation of their normal activities. Humans do not stand a chance. The virus will pass on genes throughout the species that survive and will ultimately play a central role in our evolution. This virus is known as greed. Greed is a deathly virus with its effects being waste. Everyone is greatly affected by greed. Greed can only kill leaving its harmful effects behind. After the damage is done, waste will fill the streets.

Animalcules and Other Little Objects

Mark Smith, a self-proclaimed "lifelong devotee of life," has had his fair share of pets, having a dog, a cat, white mice, tadpoles, toads, frogs, snakes, a painted turtle and a rabbit. Smith has an enchanting relationship with animalcules and other little subjects that he finds in pond water. Mark Smith is fascinated by life even if it be the smallest representative life. Humans too often neglect that there are other organisms living on Earth. Smith comments, "that there are worlds within worlds nearly everywhere we turn." He loves being able to explore deeper into these worlds. Looking through a microscope, the author embarks on a journey through different environments and ecosystems. Microscopes are Smith's prized possessions being considered everlasting. The activity of peering through a microscope brings Smith back to when he was a boy in his youth, caught up in his enjoyment while the afternoons seemed to just fade by. The animalcules captivate him. The organisms have everything required for life, hearing and swimming like humans. The activities of the animalcules are universal showing their direct connections with humans. By the time the author is done looking at these small objects, his eyes are dulled, with everything looking ragged and dilapidated compared to the worlds found under his microscope. Mark Smith states, "I have trouble explaining my satisfaction with the animalcules." He smiles just thinking of the endless knowledge that he is unable to fully grasp. There is so much life before him in the microscope that he has yet to experience. The excitement is almost more than he can handle. There is so much wonder when it comes to the animalcules and it virtually costs nothing to explore into their world. The questions of life are endless with nature being all around us. Children are able to appreciate nature unlike adults who grow ignorant of the marvels around them.

As a child, time seems to just fly by. Everything is a new world waiting to be explored. As one grows older this excitement lessens with newly acquired knowledge through the years. Everything is not unknown as it once was. Mark Smith recaptures his youth when looking at the animalcules. There is no end to the new life he may find. Questions are always waiting to be answered. Everyone could be as excited for life as the animalcules are for Smith. People need to be more open to their surroundings and take a minute to enjoy nature. There are worlds waiting to be traveled if one is smart enough to know it.

The Ethics of Climate Change

The question pertaining to climate change is an ethical one. Interests among differing people conflict leaving the question, "What Should We Do about climate change?" up in the air. There is no denying that the benefits of the present generation will be the hardships of future generations. Although the question of climate change is an ethical one, the question also relates to economics and the money market. The costs of climate change can be evaluated using the ethical basis of cost-benefit economics. The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, written by Nicholas Stern and his colleagues at the UK, concludes that the cost of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases would be far less than the benefits that would be gained. However, some economists do not see the issue of climate change in an ethical view. Nordhaus of Yale University uses a lower "discount rate" in which the value of future goods are less than present ones. Future goods are discounted based on the logic that the more goods you have, the less valuable are further goods. The discount rate must consider ethical issues. After all, we are talking about the lives of millions in the future.

There are some philosophers who believe we should care more about people who live close to us in time than those who live in the distant future. This position is called pure discounting. Pure discounting makes for a high discount rate. Moral philosophy has to be considered when talking about climate change. Stern concludes, "the world urgently needs to take strong measures to control climate change change." Some economists object to Stern's ethical stance. However, how can the well-being of future generations be determined by money markets? Markets determine values by people's tastes. The well-being of future generations is not determined by tastes. The money market cannot be the deciding factor in declaring the value of future well-being. Debate and deliberation among economists must be involved when answering the question of climate change. John Broome states, "Once we have made our decisions through the democratic process, society can act. That is the job of economists." Economists are not the final mediators of the democratic process. They can only recommend and argue their stance. Climate change raises ethical issues, therefore the question "What Should We Do Now?" must be based on ethical judgments or else the effects to future generations caused by climate change will be catastrophic.

"How We Evolve"

Until recently, the thought assumed by many scientists was that evolution had all but stopped. Evolution had not been observed in humans. On the contrary, scientists today have proven that human DNA evidence shows that culture acclerates evolution. Since population numbers have swelled, our world has changed with our DNA still trying to catch up. With an explosion in the global human population, technology has risen to an all time high. The advent of human culture has caused a dramatic increase in intelligence levels. Benjamin Phelan affirms, "Increasing intelligence increases the complexity of culture, which pressures intelligence levels to rise, which creates a more complex culture and so on." Intelligence levels in humans are directly connected to increasing levels in techonology. Technology has turned the horse-drawn carriage into a vehicle that carried us to the moon, and the howitzer into a fifty-megaton nuclear weapon. Paul Ehrlich, a professor of population studies at Stanford, discovers in the twentieth century "a minefield of near misses with extinction." In this situation, a solution has created a problem.

Evolution will be unable to help us in the case of a nuclear disaster. The environment is changing violently with forests clearing out and food chains coming undone. Benjamin Phelan states, "Science must evolve new tools to raise us to such a commanding vantage as well as to avert a self-inflicted extinction." Humans evolve "in the face of hunger, disease, and a changing ecosystem." However, culture may drive humans into becoming conscious codirectors of evolution. Humans may one day regret inventing howitzers. The possibility of a nuclear war is not unlikely. Although techonology enables us to control certain aspects of evolution, techonology could ultimately cause the extinction of humans. Culture may be evolution's most powerful nemesis. There is no doubt that humans will one day no longer be on this Earth. However, it makes sense to try to stay here as long as we can. I agree with Benjamin's Phelan's philosophy on human's "self-inflicted extinction." By the time people realize the consequences of their mistakes it will be too late. Knowledge must be acquired and used in a resourceful way. The evolution of humans is quite frightening in the direction we are going in now. Hopefully, everyone will remain calm in the next few decades and now blow everything up. Culture does not need to be the enemy. Culture should become evolution's most powerful tool.

Writing Center Experience

I found my writing center experience to be both rewarding and unfavorable. At first, I established the room itself to be too small and open. I felt exposed, as if everyone was listening in on my conversation with the tutor. I did not take with me any sort of rough draft. All I brought was the assignment and my thematic strand located in the Shakespeare concordance. I was having difficulty with how I would actually embark writing my paper. I had so many ideas running through my head. I could not keep to one specific argument. I explained my issue to the tutor. I started to become frustrated with the way he/she kept repeating my questions back to me. At one point, the tutor actually took a phone call during my appointment. Feeling rushed, I became angry at the situation. Overall I found the experience to be useful. The tutor helped me to pick one argument and stay focused. I accomplished what I had come for. The conversation gave me the courage to stick to one topic. My tutor expressed how he or she felt my argument was clear and concise. What mattered in the comments was if my tutor understood what I was aiming for and trying to articulate. I was able to get feedback on my central idea for the paper.

Since I had nothing to begin with I would not say I revised anything. I was able to get something more useful than that. By starting the paper off with a solid argument in my head I was able to fixate greatly on connecting data from The Twelfth Night with my theme. I filtered my ideas to create a thesis that made sense. I feel I would have not been as successful with my paper unless I had gone to the writing center. I approached my paper with ease and less anxiety. I definitely recommend the writing center. The writer is able to receive the feedback they require to properly execute their paper.

A Writer

A writer is anyone that combines his or her ideas and thoughts together and shares them with the world. The thought could be simple. Everyone can be a writer. A writer does not necessarily describe a person who sits at their desk all day long writing for their profession. Everyone in some way is a writer even if the only writing they accomplish is through Facebook or Twitter. Anything that is written is a text. Without knowing it, one's words may influence those of another's. To be called a writer is not a job title. The dimensions of being a writer are endless.

I am a writer because I use words everyday to express my thoughts. I do not know how I would manage life if I did not write. Language is the foundation of one's culture. Without it civilizations would have failed and disappeared. Writing is the art that comes from one's language. Everyone should embrace writing.

Blogging

For me, blogging is a writing experience that I feel takes time. I am not one that writes something off the top of their head and just posts it. I constantly go back and revise my writing. If I am not satisfied with my writing I refuse to post it on my blog. I guess you could say I am a perfectionist, but it is more than that. I take into account that everything I write is being published. Someone at one point in time is going to be reading my blog. In a sense the thought terrifies me. My blog shows not only my writing abilities and talents, but how I think. People will be judging me based on what I write never having met me. There can be a lot of pressure and anxiety. You are letting strangers in. At times blogging can be very frustrating and annoying. However, when I look back at all the blogs I have written I feel a sense of accomplishment. All my hard work is highlighted and augmented in one place. The time spent feels worthwhile. I feel the effort I put in clearly shows my dedication to what I write. Blogging might be better if it did not feel so open and exposing, but then no one would ever feel challenged. Writing is about stirring emotion whether it be good or bad. With just a little time and effort one's blog can be more than they ever dreamed. This is what has happened to me.

Language is a Slippery Vehicle

Language is a slippery vehicle being both descriptive and ambiguous. In the poem "The Problem of Describing Trees" by Robert Haas, language is not fully able to describe the magical way in which the trees sway in the wind. He is not able to create an image for the reader by just using words. Language is not able to bewitch us in the same way that the trees did at that exact moment in time. Robert Haas states the idea that there are limits and boundaries to writing. The nature of making meaning is an arduous process filled with complications. Rodney Jones sees writing in a different perspective.

Rodney Jones affirms in his poem "Hubris at Zunzal" that "No image like the image of language." Language gives the writer power to retell an experience and relive that moment using words as your guide. Jones is able to charm his reader with the event he depicts in his poem with "Language its tracer." Words help to compose the past. A moment can be given birth to once more for all to behold. Previous occurrences do not have to become lost and forgotten. They can be retold. Peoples have succeeded in this tradition for generations by passing down stories and extraordinary events through word of mouth and writing. Rodney Jones proves the power of language.

Language propels ideas and thoughts. It is a vehicle through which humans communicate. Without language humans would be stuck in park never moving forward in knowledge. The writing process is a slippery one. If not properly defined, one's thoughts can be meaningless and unclear to another. Robert Haas shows the difficulty of using words when trying to sketch the enchanted moment of the the trees swaying in the wind. Rodney Jones tells us of his story with ease using words. The nature of making meaning will never be easy, but language is the only way in which humans can move together. Language keeps us in the driver's seat with the car in drive.

"Collaborative Learning and the Conversation of Mankind"

Collaborative learning is the vehicle in which learning is changed. In "Collaborative Learning and the Conversation of Man," Kenneth Bruffee discusses the power and advantages of using collaborative learning. Peer tutoring and in-class work have shown to be successful in a college setting, thus starting the movement towards collaborative learning in the classroom. Bruffee states in his article, "Collaborative learning, it seemed, harnessed the powerful educative force of peer influence that had been-and largely still is-ignored and hence wasted by traditional forms of education." Collaborative learning is the next big advancement in student learning. Michael Oakeshott argues that humans are different from any another living thing in that we are able to talk in unending conversation. There are limitations in conversing with ourselves. Bruffee believes that ideas can only arise through conversation with peers and collaborative learning. Conversation brings forth endless possibilities in intellectual thought.

Writing and conversation are one in the same. Writing is conversation that is made public. Bruffee insists that writing teachers use collaborative learning in their everyday teaching. Students can talk in a relaxed environment in which knowledge flows from one student to the next. Learning is not just about listening to a teacher in front of the classroom. The student must become involved. Students learn to challenge and question themselves and the world. If the teacher fails at her job and there is no collaborative learning, the community of knowledge will die. Collaborative knowledge seeks to broaden this knowledge in students. Together, students will grow in learning. After all, humans were made to converse with one another.

Questions on Data

1. The data I retrieved from the Shakespeare concordance on music was found in Act I, Scenes I, II, Act II, Scenes III, IV, Act 3, Scene I and Act 5, Scene I. The theme Shakespeare employs with music is love and how love is blinding. Music is able to stir emotional feelings in persons. Music is powerful with its lyrics, tune and melody. Duke Orsino states in the beginning of Act I, Scene I that "If music be the food of love, play on;" This quote shows music's ability to create feelings in human beings.

2. The data I retrieved supports my first thoughts on Shakespeare's obsessive use of a particular image in that the theme of music stays constant throughout the play. Shakespeare carries similar themes and images in his plays. Shakespeare's figuration is repetitive in order to get certain points and images across to the reader. He writes all his figurations to have meanings.

3. The thematic strand I have located is music-sing-song-tune.

The Fool

Fool
"I did impeticos thy gratillity, for Malvolio’s nose is no whipstock. My lady has a white hand, and the Myrmidons are no bottle-ale houses."
Act II, sc. III, i. 27

The Fool is talking nonsense to Sir Andrew. Sir Andrew is completely amused by his use of silly words and phrases such as "impeticos thy gratillity" in which gratillity sounds like "gratuity." In this line, the Fool is thanking Sir Andrew for the money he sent him for his girlfriend. He gave the money as a present to his girlfriend. The Fool asserts that Sir Andrew would not be able to grip Malvolio's nose to whip his horse with it. The Fool continues saying his girlfriend has white hands and great warriors (the Myrmidions) are not bottle-ale houses. The word "white" was then synonymous with "beautiful." This is word nonsense in order to amuse Sir Andrew. The Fool is doing what he is best at. In his drunken state, Sir Andrew cannot get enought of the Fool's singing voice and implores the Fool to sing. Sir Andrew even claims in the line before that he would give forty shillings to have the Fool's legs and voice. He could say anything to Sir Andrew and he would think it is funny. The Fool is the smartest one in this play. He secretly holds all the wisdom while all the other characters are the real fools.

Questions for Twelfth Night

1. Why is Orsino's love and attraction so strong towards Olivia?

2. Why does Viola want to disguise herself as a eunuch?

3. Why will Olivia not show return affection towards Orsino?

4. Why does Viola not reveal her true affections towards Orsino?

5. Is it possible that Malvolio is in love with Olivia?

6. How did Olivia's brother die?

'High-Tech Trash"

All over e-waste is choking the landscape and the people who are living nearby. Chris Carroll asserts in "High-Tech Trash" that "People have always been proficient at making trash." Carroll has had first hand experience in this department having travled to Ghana and having seen the endless amounts of old electronics that litter the area. As electronics become outdated and broken, the heaps of trash escalate. Carroll writes, "According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, an estimated 30 millions to 40 million PCs will be ready for "end-of-life management" in each of the next few years." This does not include televisions or cell phones. Most of these old-fashioned electronics end up in landfills which contribute to dangerous toxins leaking into the ground. Most of the waste that is supposed to be recycled is not necessarily disposed of. E-waste is flowing in and out of different countries. China in previous years has become the hot spot for e-waste. Today, the serious effects of high levels of dioxin in the air and soil are taking its toll on the country. What goes around comes around. Contaminated products will find their back to the United States. Chris Carroll concludes his article by saying, "In a global economy, out of sight will not stay out of mind for long." The effects will soon pile up and changes will need to be made so that the e-waste may flow in a responsible and safe direction.

"To Take Wilderness In Hand"

Conservationists need to to come together. Climate changes are not waiting and neither should environmentalists. In "To Take Wilderness In Hand," Michelle Nijhuis describes Connie Barlow's journey in trying to help save the Torreya taxifolia, an ancient tree species, located in Torreya State Park in Florida. Today, there are less than a thousand of these trees left with the causes being unknown to scientists and ecologists. Barlow made a vow after her visit to Torreya State Park that she would make a stand to change this fact, even if it took moving all the trees someplace else. However, Connie Barlow was very serious in her intention to move the trees or more recently termed "assisted migration." Many conservasionists are horrified at the thought including David Printiss, a manager of the Nature Conservancy Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve, who says it would "make an already bad situtation worse." Michelle Nijhuis states, "But climate changes calls all this into question." The research showing rising seas, increasing global temperatures and plants and animals moving toward the poles is undeniable. Without new stategies toward preserving the Torreya taxifolia all of the trees in time will die and possibly become extinct later down the road. Everyone should realize sooner than later that climate changes are not going to stop. They will only worsen. A job must be done by conservationists if they want to win the fight against global warming.

"Virtual Iraq"

The best way to live through somthing is to face the fear dead on. Sue Halpern in "Virtual Iraq" describes the experimental treatment used to help PSTD. It is none other than a video game in which veterans take on a helmet and video goggles and are stimulated by smells, sounds and visuals made to renact live combat. Sue Halpern has had first hand experience when dealing with the video game having played around with the game twice. Albert Rizzo, the inventor of the game, adapts Virtual Iraq to his patients whether by changing seating positions in a Humvee or having explosions go off. The game makes veterans relive their darkest moments during war. However, pschologists do this in stages in order to not completely scare the patient. Halpern was able to interview Travis Boyd, a marine from Iraq. After just a few weeks of Virtual Iraq, Boyd for the first time since his days in Iraq was able to relax. Experiments using Virtual Iraq have proved that the stimulating video game truly works and gives veterans the ability to live again after war. You can never underestimate the power of men and their video games.

iPad

If I want something I want it fast and I want it now. Contemporary American society has shown this trait by the use of credit cards, drive thrus, airplanes, labtops and cell phones. The average American wants something that is easy, convenient and effective in order to get the desired job at hand done. Today, it takes too much effort just to take out all the different array of devices that one is carrying around to do their everyday functions. These "essential" devices include one's cell phone, labtop, iPod and very soon the new, revolutionary iPad introduced by Apple on January 27 in San Francisco. The iPad was unveiled by Steve Jobs, Apple's Chief Executive who described the new product as a "third category" between smartphones and labtops. Instantly after introducing the invention people all over the country have been talking about the iPad questioning the product's actual uses and asking what exactly it even does.

The first thing that comes up on Apple's home page is a huge picture of the iPad and the sentence, "Our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price." Who can beat that? The Apple corporation makes it sound like they have found the cure for cancer at a low cost for everyone. Apple also states on its website that the iPad is "The best way to experience the web, email, photos, and video. Hands down." With the iPad one is able to play with the web, youtube, video, itunes, ibooks, photos, maps, notes and the app store using up to 10 hours of battery life. Not to mention the iPad is only 1.5 pounds and 0.5 inches thin making it comfortable to hold and available to transport anywhere.

The iPad has everything and anything a person could want in one device besides the product being a cell phone. Technology buffs will be running to get their hands on the new iPad. There is nothing more a person could ask for. When the iPod came out in 2001 I never thought I would buy one. I did not see what the big fuss was about. My uncle decided to surprise me for Christmas and bought me a iPod. I have not been without my iPod since. I cannot imagine the days when I used a cd player. It is amazing how easy one becomes attached to a product. I am sure that the new iPad will become popular and eventually everyone will be carrying one in place of their four other gadgets.

The Apple corporation is not filled with dummys. The executives focus greatly on what their consumers want. American consumers always want to be ahead of the game, one step ahead of everyone else. They want a product that is fast and that does the job. The new iPad offers an array of activities that can all be done on one device. Steve Jobs says, "What this device does is extraordinary. It is the best browsing experience you have ever had." Americans will be sure to test out this new device and who knows maybe in a couple of years everyone will be carrying around an iPad.

"Is Google Making Us Stupid"

Google along with the Internet has changed the way humans think. Nicholas Carr sees Google as an "artificial intelligence." Google has created the ways for which humans can no longer read a book or contemplate one subject. Human minds know just seem to drift from one focus to another focus. Nicholas Carr states, "I feel as if I'm always dragging my wayward brain back to the text." Carr argues in "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" that he is no longer able to experience deep reading which he claims is an immediate cause of Google. Many of Carr's friends have backed up his reasoning telling him of their circumstances with the subject. Scott Karp, a blogger, questions what happened to the days when he used to be a voracious reader. Scholars from University College London conducted experiments in which they found people skimming over websites skipping from one website to the next. Nicholas Carr quotes Maryanne Wolf, a psychologist and the author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, who asserts "We are not only what we read. We are how we read." This reasoning backs Carr's opinion that our old cognition has been etched out by the existence of the Internet. Whether or not Google is truly affecting the way one thinks, everyone uses Google. If Carr's argument proves to be true then everyone is slowly adapting their minds to the fast and easy world of the Internet.

"Is Google Making Us Stupid?"

When was the last time that I sat down and engrossed myself in a lengthy novel? I remember as a child easily knocking off three books in a week. According to Nicholas Carr in "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" Carr feels a certain entity is "tinkering" and "reprogramming" his mind and the minds of millions. This thought is both frightening and terrifying revealing a glimpse into the future, a future where the human brain is no longer able to retain memory or concentrate on one subject. Typing in www.google.com and clicking the search button has become secondary nature to anyone with access to the Internet. Google eliminates the stress and work of having to search for hours upon hours in the library looking through countless periodicals. The advantages of finding an infinite amount of information using just one click are endless. However, Nicholas Carr sees Google as a destructive tool that shapes and morphs the neural circuitry in the brain. The ways one used to think have been changed. They have been altered and disfigured. They have been replaced by an "artificial intelligence." Are these new ways of thinking necessarily bad though? Humans may have never written books because they worried over whether our ways of thinking would dramatically change for the worse. The act of not writing books would have been a crime to humanity. Reading has sparked areas in the brain never imagined, broadening each person's intelligence. I feel Google has a lot to offer and only time will tell what the effects are on the human mind.