End of school

So now that we're finish with English, can we delete this blog? Or should we keep it?

The purpose of my statement

I wasn't sure where to post my statement of purpose. i didn't see anything on blackboard so I'll post it here just in case.

Statement of Purpose
The audience for my paper would be to someone who is less informed about energy. I want them to know how we get our energy and the different types of energy out there. I want them to know about reusable energy. Hopefully it will inform them that green energy isn’t all that great as people make it to be. I am not trying to tell them not to use green energy but just to tell them the other side of it. Today a lot of talk is about green energy and how it will help us in the future. I want to inform people that may be true, but what about the present? Green energy involves a lot of chemistry. I will inform my reader about the chemical aspects of each type of energy. I hope that my paper will open my readers mind about energy, not to persuade them to hate green energy.

Weee Oooo Weee Oooo Weee Oooo Weee Oooo Weee

I was curious like how would I site a Chemistry book? Or do I even need to? For example, like talking about the molecular structure of an element and all that stuff. Do I just put it in my paper? I am not quoting from the book its just the information from the book. Also when we had our annotated bibliography workshop. I got comments saying how I didn't talk about hydro power, geothermal and another one(i forgot). I actually do have information about it in my paper but I don't have any sources for it at the moment because in Silicon Valley its mostly solar and wind. We don't really have hydro or geothermal here, or non that I know of. Also another comment talked about proposition 7 which is about energy. That will help me add more to my research paper.

"It ain't my birthday but I got my name on the cake."

Bryan Wong
Chapter 6 Homework


The most surprising thing I found in this chapter was that we cannot assume that the reader knows anything or cares about the research topic. "You cannot count on your audience for a class research paper- the other people in your class- knowing anything, or even caring, about the question you are asking." I didn't think about this when I wrote my first paper in class. I mentioned the Chernobyl incident, which I thought everyone knew about. However, my peer reviewers were most confused about it because they have never heard of it. Another thing I found surprising was the ways we can question the topic. On page 152 it shows "what to research" and on page 159 it shows "evaluating research" tables. I never thought of those kind of questions and ideas. Those questions and ideas would add more length and info to my paper, which is a good thing. The categories are: fact, definition, interpretation, consequence, value and policy. Out of the six categories, I like the consequence one. It not tells them what happens but also how it affects them. "Statistics, historical accounts, photographs of the aftermath of events, and the items in the "interpretation" column." Normally when i write papers I write about the present issues and things. The historical part not as much, I talk about certain historical events like the Chernobyl incident. There are more incidents which happened at a nuclear power plant and each one happened because of a different cause. Like in Japan, an earthquake caused a nuclear power plant to shut down. The policy category is something I never thought of. It shows how not only the people feel about the subject but how the government feels and what they have done. Reading this chapter has gave me a few ideas to write more on.

Give me a signnnnnnnn

I read about illegal signs in San Jose. From the title I thought it meant illegal street signs, like for traffic. Reading more into the article it was about personal signs that people post on street lamps. The ones talking about job listings or lost pets and all that. The problem with them is that people use tape, tacks, wires, and other materials that destroy the the telephone poles. Not only do they destroy the poles, but noone takes them down. They say there is not enough resources to take them down. A group of volunteers formed to clean the signs.

This could also be a research topic too, littering. It might not seem like throwing trash on the floor, but its almost the same. What happens when it rains? Or if the wind blows the sign off? That ends up in the streets. The article even said it costs money to repair and it is unnecessary. The research topic could just be about littering in general. Then branch off into types of littering. I remember somewhere saying that a certain percentage of California's trash is cigarette buds. Not sure about the percentage now. The costs of cleaning up the litter is another topic.

I'm back like I forgot something. I'm something.

The article I read was in the San Jose mercury news about Tobacco. One of my fellow classmates also blogged about this topic. The article followed up on the topic. It basically said that with all the budget cuts they will get money from the tobacco company. The debate is how it will be split among various organizations, and if crossing guards are more important then the other organizations. I commented on Nicole's blog I wondered, what did they do with all the money they make. The article told me that they do give back to the community. They give millions, but it isn't because they want too, they have too. There was a settlement between the Tobacco company and 46 states. The Tobacco company is suppose to pay $246 billion in 25 years. San Jose gets $9 million but it goes to homework centers and children's medical insurance. Also $900,000 going to the staff to give out the money.
I really liked this quote "In San Jose, while just $310,000 of the $4 million spent on community programs is specifically for anti-tobacco efforts, all 75 current recipients must provide some smoking prevention element. So the Tooth Mobile, which receives $97,000, includes oral cancer awareness workshops. San Jose Jazz, which receives $138,600, includes in-class anti-tobacco education."
It gave us numbers to give us an idea where that money is going.

I agree that the money must be split wisely among San Jose. I think that crossing guards aren't as important then homework centers childrens insurance. Having money for Tobacco education wouldn't be as important. I think this because mostly everyone knows that smoking is bad, but people still do it. Maybe there isn't enough awareness of how bad it really is but we're all adults and we can make our own decisions.

AVODAH looks like Avocado. No disrespect to AVODAH.

AVODAH is a Jewish Service Corps. It gives opportunities for young jews to live out their commitments to Jewish life in low income communities. In class we talked about communities and how they are defined. This is a perfect example of what we went through in class. A group of Jewish people get together to practice their beliefs and help others. It has to do with advocacy because these people are helping other people out in their communities. In the book, a women by Abby Maier worked as a Youth Advocate. She was assigned a place for homeless women and low income families in Washington, DC. She had to coordinate children activities for families in that center.

The relations toward other religious affiliations, practices and beliefs often encourage other do the same. It sets a positive example for others do follow their footsteps. The alumni give have a little section on the AVODAH website telling about their experiences and how much they enjoyed it. Then other who read those experiences also join AVODAH. These relations shape advocacy because it shows that people are doing their part to help others out in need. I don't think people have to be Jewish or affiliate themselves with anything. If they feel like helping people out there is nothing to stop them and they should just do it.

GREEN ENERGY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think green energy would be a good research topic because it can cover a wide range of topics. From cars, to houses, to our everyday life. We can get our energy from the wind, the ocean, and the earth. Those are the major "green" energies. The main hybrid car that we see everywhere is the Toyota Prius. There was even an article talking about how a man used his Prius to power his house. Even PG & E is in talks of a making a car. Also being an engineering major, I've learned about different types of energy. How they work, whats more efficient, even how to make the turbines. I think it would be a good topic because I could not only inform myself with the knowledge but other people as well. It is also a topic we cannot ignore. There is also talk about how green energy can create jobs. In the near future, what energies will we rely on? We cannot rely on fossil fuels forever. Another topic could just be energy itself. It is even a broader subject with a much wider range of categories. If I were to talk about energy, I can talk about Nuclear energy, Green Energy and fossil fuels. Each one has its pros and cons which would give me a lot to research and write about.

Chapter 13

In comm40 (argument and debate), I learned a bit about ethos and pathos. I vaguely remember that ethos involved credibility. I don't remember what pathos meant. Each editorial reminded me of something different. The first editorial reminded me of National Treasure. In the movie, the main character has to read editorials from Benjamin Franklin. The second editorial about the no child left behind act made me think of an idea and not a particular subject. In one of my classes we discussed something similar. The no child left behind act isn't really good for everyone. It delays some students and the money used for the remedial classes could be used for other students. The last editorial about September 11, reminded me of that morning. My mom woke me up telling me to turn on the t.v. and it showed an airplane in the world trade center. I remember school was canceled that day. The one editorial that stood out in my mind was, "The Case For Affirmative Action" It reminded me of The Little Rock Nine incident.

Warriors or Baron Davis?

I read an article by Ann Killion in the San Jose Mercury News website. The article is about, Los Angeles Clippers Guard, Baron Davis. I picked this article because I believe that Baron Davis had an important role on the Warriors, and him leaving made me lose faith in the Warriors. The audience is to the Warriors fans. The purpose of this article is to give us information on wshether or not Baron Davis lost out on a deal or the Warriors. “In the lose-lose Baron Davis situation, don't believe for a moment that the Warriors came out ashead.” The sentence stands out to me because she doesn’t think either the Warriors or Baron Davis got lucky on a deal. She thinks that the both of them didn’t gain anything. She starts off with the background information and then brings up recent news. For example, she says how well Baron Davis was doing last year, then tells us how she is doing this year. The author is probably a warriors fan being in the Bay Area. Baron Davis played well with the warriors last season. She even says that under the coaching of Don Nelson, Baron was one of the top five point guards in the league. With Baron leaving the warriors because of money, could’ve made him upset. She was probably mad and wanted to show everyone that being on the warriors was not only good for us, but good for Baron too. “Davis had a chance to capitalize on the best years of his career.” She talks about Baron Davis playing well with the warriors coach, Don Nelson. She also says that Nelson’s system gave him freedom to do things on the court. She says that we can’t assume that Baron might not be as good on the Clippers as she was on the warriors. The author tells us that Baron Davis left the Warriors because the Clippers offered him a for sure contract, while the warriors couldn’t. She says Baron could’ve capitalized on the best years of his careers. She proves her point by comparisons. Baron Davis is not the same as he was. The Warriors are not the same either. She uses plenty of examples to prove her point in this article.

Vietnamese New Years

I read an article in the Spartan Daily. The title was, Vietnamese culture on display at annual San Jose Tet festival and parade, by Dan Lu. There was a big picture on the newspaper of people walking down the streets holding Vietnamese flags. Some people were even dressed in Vietnamese clothing. He talked about how people are celebrating the Vietnamese New year. He talked about a gambling game called “Bau cua ca cop”. Each word translates too, gourd, crab, fish and tiger. I thought it was interesting because in San Francisco we have the Chinese New Years Parade. There are more Vietnamese people in San Jose compared to San Francisco. I wasn’t able to see them celebrate in San Jose but from the article the parades are about the same. I was in San Francisco over the New Years weekend to celebrate with my family. He talked about Lion dancers in the parade. It sounded like all the things the new years parade in San Francisco has. There was, arts and crafts, music and performances. I liked this article because I never knew they had a parade in San Jose to celebrate the new years. It got me thinking that I can still celebrate the New Years without going back to San Francisco. It doesn’t matter if its Chinese or Vietnamese, they both celebrate the new years. “Repetition draws special attention to what is repeated” What is repeated throughout the essay is that, the Vietnamese get together to celebrate and share their pride in their culture.

Merry Christmas!!!

My favorite essay was, The Bane of the President's Existence, by Dennis G. Jerz. I like how he organized his essay. He listed the different types of blogs topics he asks his students. He says found that half the people in a panel used blogs in their teaching, and less then that used blogs themselves. He doesn’t view blogs as a higher way of teaching like how most of the other essays view them as. He feels that blogs are good for discussion. If a student unprepared they can bring up topics later on. If they don’t feel comfortable they can blog it later on. It forces students to express themselves online. I liked how he said it forces students to make statements that might have been private. That is true in class. Some students are afraid to express their ideas in front of a huge class. However, if they put their idea on a blog, that idea is express to the whole wide world. I don’t feel comfortable telling the whole world what my business is, or what I did today. That is why I have never had a blog. Using it for academic reason is a different thought. We’re not telling the world anything private. We’re telling the world our opinion on a topic having to do with school. Using a blog would also help organize our ideas. If we forget to add a sentence or another idea, we can simply edit it.