1. Opening Scene:
-Janitor is taking out the trash bags
-tall and skinny Caucasian
-Bags are only a quarter full for recycling
-blue waste containers with labels on each of them
-University has taken the initiative, but is it actually worth it?
-“ I guess it’s been better than when we first started to recycle, but it still isn’t that great.” (John, Mckean Janitor)
2. Nut Graph:
-discuss how recycling has increased, but can it increase more
-Word fears global warming, so recycling has become a large issue
-People everywhere try to increase their efforts to conserve energy
-special dump trucks come just for recycling (facts for when this started)
-from traditional trash cans, to various waste containers
3. Background:
-Penn State recycling program created in 1990 because of Pennsylvania's Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling, and Waste Reduction Act which places a minimal amount of recycling at educational institutes
-increased recycling from 20 tons to 6000 tons
-waste containers when I walked into the dorms: compost, plastic bottles, newspapers, cans, trash
-many bright signs telling kids to recycle with an effort
-surprised to see how easy it is for students to recycle here
-Cafeteria, silverware and reusable utensils are used
-special waste containers for napkins (stall stories)
-requires janitors to do more work though, but is it worth it?
4. Effectiveness of Efforts
-does it actually work for this university?
-I see the janitor taking out the trash bags and those are always full
-the recyclables are less than half full, no need to take it out as much
-Check out the new recycling policies at Penn State, exactly what do they state
-does the janitor agree with them? Why does the board think differently?
-Has he seen any changes from these policies so far?
-(Interview with John)
5. Maturity
-Does people begin to recycle more as they grow older?
-2 sided argument: Apartments, yes they do recycle their cans, quotes from brother and his roommates
-Frats, use plenty of cans for parties, but never recycle
-I pledge and have to clean, no special containers for cans
-Many cans in the trash waste plenty of energy (300 cans = energy statistic)
6. Survey Kids
-either incorporate this earlier or now in its own paragraph
-determine how many kids around me actually recycle
-quotes from kids on the floor, and what they think of recycling
-do they think the efforts of the school to recycle works?
7. Conclusion-talk about the issue at hand
-support beliefs through all quotes and facts: recycling can be much better at Penn state
-Which tactics can the school use to make recycling better
-Why don't their methods currently not work too well
-students can learn that it is simple to recycle, and that it is definitely worth it in the long run
-the future issue is that our world will suffer, and seasons and the nature we live in is affected
Penn State
Monday, September 27, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Recycling at Penn State
Recycling at Penn State
As our earth is constantly trying to conserve energy to prevent global warming, Penn State works hard to play a part of this large goal. From the traditional trashcans around the campus, the college has put various ones that organize the different articles of trash. Penn State went from recycling only twenty tons of waste to about six thousand a year. (Penn State stall stories) That must have a great impact on the environment.
When I first came to Penn State a few weeks ago, I noticed all of the different trash containers that were located in the buildings. As I walked down the dusty and congested halls of Mckean, there was a row of waste containers. They had blue special containers that were for cans, trash, newspapers, office paper, water bottles, and even napkins. They even had large signs posted on the front of each container to ensure that students know what waste goes where.
This immediately caught my attention on their efforts to recycle for a healthier environment. They were placed in the middle of the floor so that each student was a short distance when they needed to take out their trash. With all these different waste containers around, students are urged to recycle at every possible time they can, but the question is do they?
I observe our janitor taking out the trash once in a while because of my curiosity towards how much people actually do recycle. From how I see it, most students do not. These four-foot trash bags for recycling are about a quarter of the way full by the end of the week. This is odd because students definitely produce more trash than that. On the other hand, the trash containers seem like they need to be emptied almost every single day. In these containers for trash only, I noticed that it was full of napkins, cans, water bottles, and more.
This showed me that not all students were making their best efforts to recycle. The fact of the matter is that most college students are just too lazy. If the recycling container is not right next to them, they will throw it in the closest thing possible. As much as I hate to admit it, I am one of those students as well. For the first week or two, I would always recycle, but then slowly it just took too much effort. I thought to myself, maybe it just took time for students to get used to this recycling, and that they would begin to do it more as they became older.
I was proved wrong when I went to a few fraternity houses. They accumulate probably two hundred to three hundred cans per night of a party or social, and these never get recycled. They are just thrown into the dumpster to be taken in the trash.
Interviews:
1. “ I guess it’s been better than when we first started to recycle, but it still isn’t that great.” (John, Mckean Janitor) talking about what he sees as recycling from when it first started.
2. “Fuck that. One trash can won’t make a difference anyway.” (John Widmaier, Mckean resident, freshman)
3. “I think it is a really good idea. I actually take the time out of my day to go pick out my trash and put everything in the right container. Me and my roommate take turns each time.” (Mike Moore, Mckean resident, freshman)
Facts:
- This would add up to around 900 cans because fraternities usually have parties about four days a week. According to this online recycling calculator I found, recycling those 900 cans would provide enough energy to view TV for 2400 hours straight!
(http://www.nrc-recycle.org/theconversionator/shell.html )
- Penn state went from recycling 20 tons in 1989 to 6, 070 currently. (Stall Stories, 9-20-2010 edition)
- The average Residence Hall student generates about 375 pounds of trash and 69 pounds of recyclables each year. (Stall Stories, 9-20-2010 editions)
- Penn State recycles about 48% of its total waste. (Stall Stories, 9-20-2010 editions)
As our earth is constantly trying to conserve energy to prevent global warming, Penn State works hard to play a part of this large goal. From the traditional trashcans around the campus, the college has put various ones that organize the different articles of trash. Penn State went from recycling only twenty tons of waste to about six thousand a year. (Penn State stall stories) That must have a great impact on the environment.
When I first came to Penn State a few weeks ago, I noticed all of the different trash containers that were located in the buildings. As I walked down the dusty and congested halls of Mckean, there was a row of waste containers. They had blue special containers that were for cans, trash, newspapers, office paper, water bottles, and even napkins. They even had large signs posted on the front of each container to ensure that students know what waste goes where.
This immediately caught my attention on their efforts to recycle for a healthier environment. They were placed in the middle of the floor so that each student was a short distance when they needed to take out their trash. With all these different waste containers around, students are urged to recycle at every possible time they can, but the question is do they?
I observe our janitor taking out the trash once in a while because of my curiosity towards how much people actually do recycle. From how I see it, most students do not. These four-foot trash bags for recycling are about a quarter of the way full by the end of the week. This is odd because students definitely produce more trash than that. On the other hand, the trash containers seem like they need to be emptied almost every single day. In these containers for trash only, I noticed that it was full of napkins, cans, water bottles, and more.
This showed me that not all students were making their best efforts to recycle. The fact of the matter is that most college students are just too lazy. If the recycling container is not right next to them, they will throw it in the closest thing possible. As much as I hate to admit it, I am one of those students as well. For the first week or two, I would always recycle, but then slowly it just took too much effort. I thought to myself, maybe it just took time for students to get used to this recycling, and that they would begin to do it more as they became older.
I was proved wrong when I went to a few fraternity houses. They accumulate probably two hundred to three hundred cans per night of a party or social, and these never get recycled. They are just thrown into the dumpster to be taken in the trash.
Interviews:
1. “ I guess it’s been better than when we first started to recycle, but it still isn’t that great.” (John, Mckean Janitor) talking about what he sees as recycling from when it first started.
2. “Fuck that. One trash can won’t make a difference anyway.” (John Widmaier, Mckean resident, freshman)
3. “I think it is a really good idea. I actually take the time out of my day to go pick out my trash and put everything in the right container. Me and my roommate take turns each time.” (Mike Moore, Mckean resident, freshman)
Facts:
- This would add up to around 900 cans because fraternities usually have parties about four days a week. According to this online recycling calculator I found, recycling those 900 cans would provide enough energy to view TV for 2400 hours straight!
(http://www.nrc-recycle.org/theconversionator/shell.html )
- Penn state went from recycling 20 tons in 1989 to 6, 070 currently. (Stall Stories, 9-20-2010 edition)
- The average Residence Hall student generates about 375 pounds of trash and 69 pounds of recyclables each year. (Stall Stories, 9-20-2010 editions)
- Penn State recycles about 48% of its total waste. (Stall Stories, 9-20-2010 editions)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
The Number One Party School
Penn State was determined to be the number one party school in country in 2009 by the Princeton Review. Journalists took a second look at this statement, and decided to investigate this situation. They wanted to figure out why it is the "the number one party school", and what this really means for the university itself. The issue discussed in this report is of course, the drinking problem. This is something that happens every single night here at Penn State, but it is so difficult to stop. Administration constantly tries to stop this problem because it is an illegal activity for most students and is dangerous when drinking in excess. Every single week, hundreds of students are given underage drinking citations, D.U.I.'s, and many are even taken to the hospital due to their binge drinking. This issue is increasing as newer generations take over, and they discuss the wrongs about this so called "culture" that the students live by. They are drinking and partying at all times that they possibly can. This affects the many people that do not drink on campus because they have to put up with the rowdy drunk kids that stroll the streets. For example, Alex, the driver for Canyon's, was punched in the face and had his car beaten up by belligerent drunk students. He never drank in his life, and just came to college for a good education, but still had to put up with these kids. It not only affects the people that do not drink, but the residents of the town as well. The residents have their property violated and damaged as kids walk by constantly. Some kids may urinate on their flowers and some may just cause disturbances for people attempting to sleep. The writer does a great job in using quotes for this particular investigative report because they get both sides of the story. They interview with the students that partake in the binge drinking, and then the residents and students that do not. When looking at the interviews of the drunk students, we get to understand that the things they say about the stupid things they do is true. The interview with the officer allowed us to gain so much more information about things that go on because he has to put up with the same catastrophes every week. After the writer discussed the deaths that occur through so much drinking just because we are labeled the number one party school, the writer tries to get the point across about how wrong it is to do this. There are many things that can go wrong when participating in an illegal activity, and many have already been experienced by universities. Students need to understand that drinking may be fun at times, but they always need to think about the long term by thinking before they do something stupid.
I personally really enjoyed this report because it allowed me to learn so much more about my university. I could also relate to many of the things because I have experienced or witnessed them throughout all the times I have visited here and me living here currently. The part that really worked for me was that they are reasonable with the facts of life. When Graham Spanier said kids that want to come here for drinking, he got boo'ed and was hated. This is exactly what happens with college students if you mess with something they like, they revolt. The fact is when an occurrence happens in which other kids can learn from, that is how they will change. The death of the student that fell of the wall changed views of many students, and they began to start walking home in groups. This is where I think this report is best because by listening to the truth behind everything, they can submit to change in the way that the please.
I personally really enjoyed this report because it allowed me to learn so much more about my university. I could also relate to many of the things because I have experienced or witnessed them throughout all the times I have visited here and me living here currently. The part that really worked for me was that they are reasonable with the facts of life. When Graham Spanier said kids that want to come here for drinking, he got boo'ed and was hated. This is exactly what happens with college students if you mess with something they like, they revolt. The fact is when an occurrence happens in which other kids can learn from, that is how they will change. The death of the student that fell of the wall changed views of many students, and they began to start walking home in groups. This is where I think this report is best because by listening to the truth behind everything, they can submit to change in the way that the please.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
A First Draft
A first draft may seem like a simplistic piece of paper, worthless, but in reality, it is the key to writing an incredible essay. Hundreds of new ideas are roaming around a human’s mind constantly, and it is difficult to remember everything. For this reason, it is best to jot down all your ideas in any order or without proper grammar. I believe that the first draft is more about the process. When writing the first draft for anyone, they are not writing to submit something immediately. Instead, the first draft is a chance to release everything that is on your mind and organize it later on. There is a process to writing a well-rounded paper, and the beginning step to this is the first draft. Capturing all your thoughts and writing them down to remember them later is extremely vital. A great thought may zoom through your mind, and then later on you regret not writing it down. A little thought can slip your mind easily, but can impact a paper greatly that is missing it. That single thought can be a part of your paper that you could have branched off of to create a lengthy, detailed paragraph. Keeping all your thoughts for reference does not only work by writing them down, but also through other methods such as recording or video. Many sports reporters use that method to get ideas from the events, and from these resources, they can begin their rough draft. Ideas do not always have to be fresh out of your mind, but can be recycled from previous times to begin a “shitty first draft.” Through all of these useful ways to gather ideas, a person can begin their first drafts. After completion of their first draft, they move on to editing and beginning another draft. By looking at how a writer builds upon ideas from one draft to another resembles the process instead of the product.
I agree upon this fact because when I started my own draft, I looked at my first draft as the beginning of a tedious and long process. I sat down and jotted down my ideas, but onto a web. I like to write down my ideas using a web because it allows me to branch off detailed ideas off the central ones. Using all the ideas that I threw out there, I chose the ones that worked best for the narrative, and just crossed out the other ones. In the reading, I agree with the fact that no writer sits down enthusiastic and confident about what they are about to write. I never feel ready to write anything, and am actually a little nervous at times. After I begin to get into the rhythm of writing and build my confidence, I have a great flow with my work. One of her ideas that contributed to the strength in my rough draft is how many ideas are jotted down, but some of them are “good enough” when I take a second look. This allowed me to eliminate unnecessary information that just came out of my head, and gives me a better chance to rely on the ideas that will make my paper successful.
I agree upon this fact because when I started my own draft, I looked at my first draft as the beginning of a tedious and long process. I sat down and jotted down my ideas, but onto a web. I like to write down my ideas using a web because it allows me to branch off detailed ideas off the central ones. Using all the ideas that I threw out there, I chose the ones that worked best for the narrative, and just crossed out the other ones. In the reading, I agree with the fact that no writer sits down enthusiastic and confident about what they are about to write. I never feel ready to write anything, and am actually a little nervous at times. After I begin to get into the rhythm of writing and build my confidence, I have a great flow with my work. One of her ideas that contributed to the strength in my rough draft is how many ideas are jotted down, but some of them are “good enough” when I take a second look. This allowed me to eliminate unnecessary information that just came out of my head, and gives me a better chance to rely on the ideas that will make my paper successful.
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