Essay #3 Draft

Shameful Waste

Have you ever noticed how much garbage there is floating around in the wind? All that paper and plastic looks very unsightly in our beautiful state. Some communities are promoting more recycling but it’s difficult to get the average person to support the program. Although the University of Alaska Anchorage encourages paper recycling, it should offer to recycle cardboard and metal because it would help the environment, save money, and decrease waste going to the land fill.
I attended a meeting on the twentieth of March about sustainability. The class was primarily for building managers for the University of Alaska Anchorage campus. Some managers from the University Center and the Matanuska and Susitna College attended as well. The meeting was very interesting in regards to recycling. The university has paper recycling cans at various locations around the campus. They have a team of mostly student workers who will pick it up. They will take cardboard if it is broken down to lay flat on an on call basis.
As far as I know the only departments that do anything with scrap metal is the Welding department and the Auto Diesel department, of which I am part of. I am the building manager and a Tool Room Technician there. Some of my duties include dismantling and scraping vehicles when the department is finished with them. The auto and diesel department already has a scrap metal dumpster. The welding department has one as well.
The university has tried in the past to recycle plastics but it was not successful due to the plastic bottles had to be clean or rinsed out prior to being deposited. Also there were a lot of people who either didn’t know or didn’t care and put regular trash in the plastic receptacle. This became such a problem that they dropped the plastic recycling.
I think the University of Alaska Anchorage is on the right track in holding these meetings and educating people on the recycling process. I know I learned a lot. The most important thing would be to get people excited about recycling. I really don’t know how to get people more interested in recycling. It’s not a very interesting subject. Most people are just too lazy to take the time.
What I would propose is that the University of Alaska Anchorage will continue its education program on recycling and that a few departments around the campus would volunteer their time to collect both cardboard and metal. The auto diesel department already has a scrap metal dumpster and a forklift to load it with. We also have a flatbed truck that we use to haul it to Alaska Metals Recycling. I would be willing to have a collection site for any metal object in our area. I could then incorporate that scrap metal into our dumpster and haul it off. Metal prices vary greatly so I will not quote any here. It also depends on what kind of metal it is. It is even different between types of steel. Aluminum is currently the most valuable. Copper is worth considerably more that steel. I have recently hauled off what is referred to as shredder material, which is the least valuable and it was worth about twenty six dollars a ton. It doesn’t sound like much but it is better than putting it in the land fill. I’m sure the welding department would be able to assist in the scrap metal end of things as well. A flier with some contact information would be needed to get the word out. At least with the metal recycling, both the welding and auto diesel areas would be secure so trash shouldn’t be a problem.
The cardboard side of things could be a little trickier. We would probably need to get a couple of large cardboard recycling dumpsters to be placed in strategic places around the campus. The shop areas of auto diesel and facilities maintenance would be good places to start because of a high volume of supplies being shipped into them. One thing to think about when shopping, ask for paper bags instead of plastic. Paper bags are often already recycled and they can be recycled again. Plastic bags are usually not recycled and plastic requires petroleum products to make.

Reading Response #8

This week’s reading response is on an article written by David Carr and published in the business section of the New York Times in two thousand and three. The argument that Carr is making is the lack of racial diversity on magazine covers. It does not surprise me in the least that someone wrote an article complaining about this. There is never a lack of something to complain about. Does it matter that the article appeared in the business section instead of the front page or lifestyle section? No it doesn’t matter to me at all. I think they did that because the decision to put whatever race on the cover of a magazine is purely a business move. Whatever is going to sell the magazine is what they will put on it or in it. This is definitely not front page news. I don’t think the lifestyle section is a good fit either, but that is my opinion. I really don’t care about the why or why not. I don’t read and never will read any of the magazines mentioned in this article. The only magazines I read are automotive types and not the trashy ones with mostly naked women on the front. I do not understand why people read most of that garbage anyway. I’ve never heard of most of the people they mentioned as putting on the front cover. I guess I live in my own little world. I don’t want to read about whatever celebrity is doing this week. For the question about the article being framed differently for a different section of the newspaper, I don’t know exactly what they mean by that so I cannot answer the question.

Step 3 Reasearch Draft #1

The Polluted Kenai River

How can the Kenai River be famous for its fishing and be listed as impaired by the Environmental Protection Agency? The main issue is pollution on the Kenai River, especially in the month of July. July is the peak time for both red salmon and king salmon. It is also when thousands of dip netters descend on the river. Although the new boat and motor restrictions have shown to reduce hydrocarbon pollution, they create other problems because it does not improve bank erosion, trash pollution, or the cost and effort by the city of Kenai or the Kenai Borough for trash clean up following the dip-netting season.

But the down side is more people, me included, now have to fish from the bank instead of my boat which is causing a tremendous amount of bank erosion and damage. Also people fishing from the bank tend to leave more trash behind than boaters.
This is an important issue for me because I now have to fish from the bank. I’m not very happy about the new regulations because one of the reasons I got my boat was to be able to dip-net my fish from a boat instead of fighting for a spot for my family on the bank. Also I can get more fish faster and move on to something else since I know I have fish to eat for the next year. Fishing from a boat results in a much cleaner fish. It is much faster and easier when it comes time for processing them. If any of you has dip-netted there you know you either have sand, if you are on the beach or silty mud if you are anyplace upriver from the mouth. Now I have to spend more time on the Kenai, resulting in more damage to the banks and this year I didn’t get my limit of fish. I would rather be fishing in the Matanuska and Susitna Valley streams where I live but the sockeye runs there aren’t even close to the amount of fish the Kenai River gets.
I have been thinking a lot about this issue since the rules changed in two thousand and eight. I will continue to think about it because unless I can borrow a Kenai River legal boat motor I’ll be back on the muddy bank again this year. I know the Department of Natural Resources and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game would not agree with me on this.
I stand on the idea that they should return to unlimited horsepower and allow the older, non Direct Injected two strokes to be used below the Warren Ames Bridge. The Warren Ames Bridge is the upper boundary for dip netters. The rest of the river can keep the new regulations. I find it interesting that the entire Kenai commercial fishing fleet is anchored in the mouth of the Kenai River yet, I haven’t heard any restrictions pertaining to them and they certainly don’t have any horsepower restrictions. Is it fair? I think not. The older higher powered motors could be limited to dip-netters only. The dip net season is only two weeks long. I don’t believe that this would cause as much of an issue because the dip-netting all occurs in a stretch of the river that is entirely influenced by the tides of Cook Inlet. I think that this would allow a greater number of Alaskans who really need those fish to feed their families to be more efficient at it and cause less damage. I will also predict that there will be further restrictions put into place because of bank erosion to eventually cause the demise of dip-netting on the Kenai River. I’m all for protecting our environment but I don’t like it when the rules favor the elite few who can afford a new boat motor every time the regulations change. The ones who can are the fishing guides who aren’t dip-netting anyway, and a few others who can afford it, and some of those don’t even use the fish they catch.
Once the river was labeled “impaired” and the new regulations were put into place, there was a very noticeable improvement in the amount of hydrocarbons in the river as measured at the same time and same place in both two thousand and seven and in two thousand and eight. The new regulations are not the only reason for the improvement. It was shown that the Kenai River’s flow was at least thirty percent greater in two thousand and eight than it was in two thousand and seven due to greater rainfall and runoff from snow. With that much more flow it causes more dilution of hydrocarbon pollution. Also it was recorded that there were fifteen percent fewer boats on the river on that same day as the year before. This would be a good indication of how many people could not afford the new boat motors. With fewer boats on the river there would be less sources of pollution. Another important factor in the reduction of pollution would be that there was a much greater tidal fluctuation in the lower river which would cause even further dilution of hydrocarbon pollution. In addition to the elimination of the non Direct Fuel Injected two stroke motors, all of these factors contributed to the measured reduction in gasoline pollution.
Studies have shown that bank erosion and hydrocarbon pollution can harm salmon fry because they spend the first year in shallow shoreline water that is greatly disturbed by boat wakes. It is also known that in the designated dip-netting area is not a salmon fry rearing area because of the tidal waters. The fry are much further upstream in clear water, not silty, brackish water. In two thousand and seven while dip netting from my boat my family and I caught numerous flounder as far as three miles upstream of the Kenai City dock. This should indicate how much the ocean salt water mixes with the river. The tide fluctuations affect the river as far as eight to ten miles upstream from the mouth.
The University of North Carolina conducted a study of marinas and other coastal areas where there was a lot of boat traffic to determine the effects of hydrocarbon pollution to a type of plankton. The study showed no adverse long term effects to this organism.
We can all agree that pollution is a bad thing, but how much our environment can absorb without causing any health issues has yet to be determined. Only theries have been offered.




Holland, Larry, Adam Moles, Marie Larsen, Mark G. Carls, and Stanley D. Rice” Concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and organochlorinated pesticides (OCPs) in the Kenai River, Alaska: 2001-2005: a data report /” Juneau, Alaska: Auke Bay Laboratory, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2006): AFSC processed report; 2006-08. ALNcat. University of Alaska Fairbanks Lib., Fairbanks, AK. 17 Feb 2009 http://firstsearch.oclc.org/.

http://www.kenaiwatershed.org/hydrocarbon.html

http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/region2/personaluse/kenaipu.cfm

http://www.epa.gov/twg/2004/2004proposals/04kenai.pdf


Piehler, Michael F., Julie S. Maloney, and Hans W. Paerl. "Bacterioplanktonic abundance, productivity and petroleum hydrocarbon biodegradation in marinas and other coastal waters in North Carolina, USA." Marine Environmental Research 54.2 (Aug. 2002): 157. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. University of Alaska Anchorage Lib., Anchorage, AK. 29 Mar. 2009
http://proxy.consortiumlibrary.org

Week 9 Grammar Girl #2

This week’s Grammar Girl response is on run-on sentences. I always thought that run-on sentences were really long sentences that just kept going and didn’t make any sense. I learned that that is not always true. They can be short sentences as well. I also found out that there are a few ways to fix them and not just with a period and make two sentences out of it. You can use commas, semi-colons, and periods. This could be useful when writing a paper and finding it difficult to meet the required word count. I could change the sentence and gain a word or two. I do remember that I have been guilty of them before. I wrote one on a previous paper, but the spell check actually found it and I was able to fix it and probably gained a word in the process. I have never really used a spell check before I signed up for this class. I am learning to like it and try to remember to use it before publishing anything on my blog. I also learned that the blog has a spell check and I have used it on my last post. Normally I write my papers on Word so I can get a word count then copy and paste it to my blog. I like the spell check in Word better. It has caught run on sentences where the one on blog didn’t. I caught that one during my proof read.

Week 7 & 8 Grammer Girl Response

This week’s grammar girl response is on the comma splice. I am guilty of them and probably will be in the future as well. I have noticed that spell check will often times catch them. That is lucky for me and anyone else who uses spell check. I do believe that I catch most of them on my own because the sentence just doesn’t sound right. Until I took this class I hadn’t even heard of a comma splice, at least not that I can remember. I have been out of school for a long time. My thirty year reunion is next year. Wow, how time flies when you are having fun. Well back to the task at hand. I think between spell checking and proof reading most of us should be able to catch and correct them before submitting our work. I know we are supposed to write a two hundred and fifty word minimum on this and I am having a very difficult time coming up with something to write about. We probably had a quiz on them as well, but I don’t remember which week it was in. I didn’t look at this grammar girl episode until Tuesday the seventeenth of March because we were having speaker problems with our new computer and I didn’t realize I could have just read it. Oh well, that’s what I get for thinking. I am wondering how many other people in this class are having, or had a hard time writing this response.

Week 7 & 8 Reading Response #3

The United States federal government would create such a poster for security reasons. It seems to have been created in a time when proper identification of Muslims was important. It was probably created for airport security after the September eleventh attack on our country. There purpose is to have a training aid for the security officers. They list the names of the different types of coverings and show examples. They also describe the necessary procedures for conducting a search. It would be a very valuable training aid for airport security, particularly in areas where Muslims are not a common sight. They describe how to conduct a search on a Muslim, and to do it in a way which would not offend or humiliate them in their culture. As far as the specific roles that the visual elements play are concerned, they are showing us that not all Muslims are turban wearing terrorists. I don’t think verbal descriptions would be as effective as visual because I don’t see any way to describe these head coverings, nor the people not being terrorists without some sort of visual aid. Concerning the descriptions of Muslim head coverings being provided by the American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee contributing to this posters credibility, until now I have never heard of such an organization and I surely hope my tax dollars are not funding it. As far as its ethos, or character contributing to its credibility, again I have never heard of the committee before so I know nothing of its character.

Week 7 & 8 Reading Response #2

In order to answer the question about the last three paragraphs there has to be a proper description of Latin American immigrants. We have to assume that she is talking about legal American citizens. If we are to go back to the last three paragraphs, I’m thinking that would be the one where she seems to have to justify being “American”. Without knowing her background or circumstances it is difficult to understand the discrimination that she seems to be pointing at. The discrimination of some peoples thoughts that if you don’t speak English you are not American. Myriam also seems to be disappointed that children and grandchildren resist speaking Spanish. I wonder if our European ancestors felt the same way when future generations did not carry on in their native tongue?
The whole purpose of this article seems to be in defense of her and her family speaking Spanish in public. I think it is a good point that she thinks that not speaking in English when in the company of someone who does not speak Spanish is rude and that she does not tolerate it. I think that is an individual character issue and not one of a particular people group. I have been fishing all over Alaska and have heard many languages while fishing. Most of the tourists that I encounter are from a European country. Some of them will lead you to believe that they do not speak or understand English until they lose a fish, then they start swearing in English. I am sure that Hispanics are the same. It goes back to a character issue, not a people group. She makes it a point to tell us what she does; but again, it is not necessarily what the whole Spanish population does. The issue is an individual’s character.

Week 7 & 8 Reading Response #1

The advertisement for the National Institute of Mental Health is primarily in Spanish because that is the target audience. It is partly in English so it covers a wider audience as well. It also mentions that Rodolfo is a university student so it covers that audience as well. I think the bottom line for the target audience is men, all men. For me, to answer the question of why the designers put the phrase, “Real Men. Real Depression.” In English doesn’t matter. The advertisement is in both English and Spanish so it targets a wide range of readers. The phrase itself is meant to persuade men in general that to acknowledge depression is more manly than not. Society has us convinced that men should not be depressed, that it is not in us to be depressed. Depression is for women. I personally know of several women who are being treated for depression but I don’t recall any men that I know of admitting that they are depressed or that they are being treated for depression. I think men have been taught that to admit that they are depressed would be shameful. From the advertisement one can assume that that is even more so in the Latino culture. Pride is a difficult thing to overcome. Most men are very prideful and again it’s that manly pride that gets us into more trouble that it gets us out of. Also the fact that Rodolfo is a university student assumes that he is more educated than most Latinos, especially immigrants or migrant workers.

Research Project Thesis and Sources

Although the new boat and motor restrictions have shown to reduce hydrocarbon pollution, it does not improve bank erosion, trash pollution, or the cost and effort by the city of Kenai or the Kenai Borough for trash clean up following the dip-netting season.

http://www.borough.kenai.ak.us/kenairivercenter/CurrentEvents/factsheet_hydrocarbon.pdf
This site gives information on site locations and the amounts of hydrocarbons. Also gives the dates of sampling.

http://dnr.alaska.gov/mlw/factsht/kenai_river_boat_motor_regulations.pdf
The DNR site defines the new boat and motor regulations. Also defines the Kenai River Special Management Area.

http://juneauempire.com/stories/091508/sta_332515335.shtml
The Juneau Empire reports a decrease in hydrocarbon pollution after the new motor regulations.

Holland, Larry, Adam Moles, Marie Larsen, Mark G. Carls, and Stanley D. Rice” Concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and organochlorinated pesticides (OCPs) in the Kenai River, Alaska: 2001-2005: a data report /” Juneau, Alaska: Auke Bay Laboratory, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2006): AFSC processed report; 2006-08. ALNcat. University of Alaska Fairbanks Lib., Fairbanks, Ak. 17 Feb 2009 http://firstsearch.oclc.org.
This source gives specific hydrocarbon data in parts per million for each sampling site.

http://www.kenaiwatershed.org/turbidity.html
The Kenai Watershed Forum reports on river bank damage due to boats and its effects on juvenile salmon.

http://web.acsalaska.net/~kenaiwatershed.forum/factsheet_hydrocarbon.pdf
This site also shows hydrocarbon monitoring sites and amounts with dates of sampling.

http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/region2/personaluse/kenaipu.cfm
The fish and game site explains the new boat and motor restrictions and also defines the Kenai River dip-netting area.

http://www.epa.gov/twg/2004/2004proposals/04kenai.pdf
This site explains why the Kenai River was labeled “impaired” and the date. This process is required for a body of water to have restrictions put into effect.

https://www.dec.state.ak.us/press_releases/2003/kenai%20hydrocarbons%20112003%20embargoed.pdf
The Department of Environmental Conservation site names boats as the primary cause of hydrocarbon pollution on the Kenai River.

http://ak.water.usgs.gov/Publications/Factsheets/fs-160-96kenaiv3.pdf
Here I find information describing the Kenai River watershed and the explanation for the need for regulations and restoration of stream banks.

Essay #2 Final Draft

State of Emergency!

On Friday the twenty seventh of February, Governor Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency for the state of California due to the continuing drought conditions there. He stated that the next step would to be water rationing. The rationing could be put into effect as early as the end of March. This is the third year in a row that California has had below normal rainfall and less than normal snow pack in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The state has said that they have almost three billion dollars in economic loss so far because of the drought. Ninety five thousand jobs have been lost in the agricultural businesses alone. Although the current drought in California is nice weather-wise, it causes further economic difficulties because it increases food prices, reduces the number of agricultural jobs, and causes more wild land fires.
The state of California claims they produce over half of this countries fruits, nuts, and vegetables. It is rated the number one farm state in terms of the value of its crops. California’s agriculture business is valued at over thirty six billion dollars per year.
The unemployment rate in California is currently just over ten percent. This figure is the first time in the state’s history to have an unemployment rate that high. Governor Schwarzenegger hopes to divert some of the agricultural jobs to new public works jobs building controversial new dams and enlarging some existing dams to hold more water. The question is: when will they receive more water? Also adding to the problem is that California’s population is growing at the fastest rate in the country. Currently the state’s growth rate is twice what the national average is. The supply of water is far below the current demand from population growth. Building these new dams and upgrading others will not help the current situation. It would however, help during the next drought cycle.
Drought is defined as a lack of precipitation over an extended period of time. The time frame is at least one full season, usually longer. Droughts are a normal function of climate. It comes and goes in cycles. The last severe drought in the state of California started in 1987 and lasted until 1992. At the Saddle Camp Ranger Station in northern California in 1991 they recorded just over 17 inches of precipitation where the average is 30 inches. The current drought cycle started in the winter of 2006. The same ranger station received less than 17 inches of precipitation in 2007 and just over 18 inches in 2008 at the same 30 inch average. The lowest recorded year was 1975-1976 where 16.6 inches was received.
The cost to fight wild-land fires is increasing at an alarming rate. In California last year the forestry department spent over one billion dollars for wildfire suppression. The current drought cycle will further compound the cost. Some communities report that they survive because of federal dollars spent for fire suppression in their areas. This money is spent on local businesses for food and supplies for the fire crews. The cost is substantial because of the remote or rugged areas the fires usually occur in.
People are not the only ones who suffer during drought cycles. California’s pacific salmon and steelhead populations have dwindled to near nothing in recent years. Last year the state was forced to suspend all salmon fishing off the coast of California and parts of Oregon. They just cannot return to spawning streams when the water levels are so low, and lower water levels also raise the water temperature. Higher temperatures due to climate change further compound the problem. The state has pledged millions of dollars to improve fisheries habitat.
An alternative to the fresh water runoff held in lakes and reservoirs is a process called seawater desalination. There are currently plants on the coast of California but they do not produce fresh water in sufficient quantities for the current population. There are other plants in the planning stages as well. The only problem with them is the cost. They can cost up to three times more than catching and holding fresh water runoff. A type of desalination process is a solar powered humidification-dehumidification that uses solar powered plates. There are small experimental plants in both Jordan and Malaysia that show promising results. Again the drawback is cost verses efficiency. “The solar plants are between thirty and fifty percent efficient. Further research and development could increase this efficiency.”(94) A positive byproduct of this process is hot water, which could also be used for domestic purposes other than drinking water. In the face of climate change and recurrent drought in California, it seems to make sense to spend the extra money for seawater desalination since the largest populations are along the coast. This would leave freshwater for crop irrigation, inland communities, and reduce damage to fisheries habitat.

Works Cited:

Zamen,M. “Cost optimization of a solar humidification–dehumidification desalination unit using mathematical programming.”
Desalination Vol. 239 Issue 1-3 (Apr2009): p92-99. Academic Search Premier.
EBSCOhost. University of Alaska Anchorage Lib., Anchorage, AK.
9 Mar. 2009 http://search.ebscohost.com

A. S. B. “Study Assesses the Future of Desalination.”
Mechanical Engineering Vol. 130 Issue 8 (Aug2008): p23-23. Academic Search Premier.
EBSCOhost. University of Alaska Anchorage Lib., Anchorage, AK.
9 Mar. 2009 http://search.ebscohost.com


http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE51Q5XC20090228
http://www.drought.unl.edu/whatis/concept.htm

Essay 2 Draft

State of Emergency!
On Friday the twenty seventh of February, Governor Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency for the state of California due to the continuing drought conditions there. He stated that the next step would to be water rationing. The rationing could be put into effect as early as the end of March. This is the third year in a row that California has had below normal rainfall and less than normal snow pack in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The state has said that they have almost three billion dollars in economic loss so far because of the drought. Ninety five thousand jobs have been lost in the agricultural businesses alone. Although the current drought in California is nice weather-wise, it causes further economic difficulties because it increases food prices, reduces the number of agricultural jobs, and causes more wild land fires.
The state of California claims they produce over half of this countries fruits, nuts, and vegetables. It is rated the number one farm state in terms of the value of its crops. California’s agriculture business is valued at over thirty six billion dollars per year.
The unemployment rate in California is currently just over ten percent. This figure is the first time in the state’s history to have an unemployment rate that high. Governor Schwarzenegger hopes to divert some of the agricultural jobs to new public works jobs building controversial new dams and enlarging some existing dams to hold more water. The question is: when will they receive more water? Also adding to the problem is that California’s population is growing at the fastest rate in the country. Currently the state’s growth rate is twice what the national average is. The supply of water is far below the current demand from population growth. Building these new dams and upgrading others will not help the current situation. It would however, help during the next drought cycle.
Drought is defined as a lack of precipitation over an extended period of time. The time frame is at least one full season, usually longer. Droughts are a normal function of climate. It comes and goes in cycles. The last severe drought in the state of California started in 1987 and lasted until 1992. At the Saddle Camp Ranger Station in northern California in 1991 they recorded just over 17 inches of precipitation where the average is 30 inches. The current drought cycle started in the winter of 2006. The same ranger station received less than 17 inches of precipitation in 2007 and just over 18 inches in 2008 at the same 30 inch average. The lowest recorded year was 1975-1976 where 16.6 inches was received.
The cost to fight wild-land fires is increasing at an alarming rate. In California last year the forestry department spent over one billion dollars for wildfire suppression. The current drought cycle will further compound the cost. Some communities report that they survive because of federal dollars spent for fire suppression in their areas. This money is spent on local businesses for food and supplies for the fire crews. The cost is substantial because of the remote or rugged areas the fires usually occur in.
An alternative to the fresh water runoff held in lakes and reservoirs is a process called seawater desalination. There are currently plants on the coast of California but they do not produce fresh water in sufficient quantities for the current population. There are other plants in the planning stages as well. The only problem with them is the cost. They can cost up to three times more than catching and holding fresh water runoff.
People are not the only ones who suffer during drought cycles. California’s pacific salmon and steelhead populations have dwindled to near nothing in recent years. Last year the state was forced to suspend all salmon fishing off the coast of California and parts of Oregon. They just cannot return to spawning streams when the water levels are so low, and lower water levels also raise the water temperature. Higher temperatures due to climate change further compound the problem. The state has pledged millions of dollars to improve fisheries habitat.



http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE51Q5XC20090228
http://www.drought.unl.edu/whatis/concept.htm

Plagiarism Exercise

I have read all the information on plagiarism and paraphrasing. I didn't really know exactly what it was and still don't completely understand it. I didn't know that you had to list sources after each paraphrase. I thought that was why we listed sources at the end of our papers. Anyway I will do my very best to not get nailed on plagiarism.

Week 6 Reading Response: Ralli

Tania Ralli’s article about the definition of “looter” is completely new to me. I’ve never heard of it before. The last paragraph in the article where Mr. Graythen posted an email message about the time to argue is not now is right on. The time then was survival mode. The journalists in this article were there and called things as they saw them. It seems that the people that were criticizing this situation weren’t there. I think it’s easy for people to judge. These journalists were there and under a great deal of stress that we can’t imagine unless you live through it as they did. The people that complain about such things, in my opinion, need to find something to do that’s constructive. They must have way too much time on their hands. As long as there are people that like to “stir the pot” this nation will never be truly united. I think it’s sad that Graythen received so much negative email on this caption issue. This article is more about division than it is about definition. It’s pretty pathetic that people will even criticize him for spelling and grammar, given his environment. I looked up the word ethos in the dictionary in order to be able to address the question of the typing and spelling contributing or detracting from his argument and ethos. Ethos means character. How on earth are we supposed to judge his character by typing and spelling errors? In my opinion the only way to judge someone’s character is to get to know them. Having never heard of him before or read anything about this issue I cannot and will not judge his character.