Throughout this quarter, we were required to write several blogs. This was a good experience for me as I have never written a blog in my life. Looking back at all of my blogs, I can honestly say that there is a big change from the first one to the last one. Being introduced to this blog writing has allowed me to become a better writer as well as increasing my ability to take criticism and really make my project better. I have always seen different blogs here and there on different web sites, but I never knew that I would have my own blog page and write about issues that are effecting our environment. Having a blog has allowed me to express myself in a way I would have never thought of. During my blog experience, I have received as well as gave comments to others blogs and I have wrote on many different readings and films in the class that allowed me to understand them better.
Comparing my blog post from earlier until now, I notice a big difference within my writing. I took a look at the blog I wrote entitled, "Clean Cut Coal". This blog was very informal and the language I used made it a very easy read. Someone reading it may not be able to distinguish if I was even getting a college education. I don't know my reasoning for writing like this, I guess I was just writing as if it was a section in a journal of mine that I never had. This blog can easily be considered my weakest. I guess it didn't hit me until my later blog posts that people would actually be reading them and commenting. One blog of mine that I can honestly see my writing skills progressing was the blog I wrote on a environment issue which was the invasive animals for me. In this blog I was very informative with my information as well as using writing styles that helped to engage the reader within the blog. Having these qualities within my blog makes me consider this to be my strongest. I was giving a lot of information as well as writing in a way that I was actually engaging in a conversation with the reader. Asking questions and expressing the issue that invasive animals are a big problem to the environment and something needed to be done. Being under the impression that the whole class may view your blog will definitely change the approach you take on writing the blog as opposed to little to no one reading it.
When I realized that my blogs were actually on the web which allowed anyone to read it, I started to change my writing. The audience I wrote for was none other than my classmates. Reason being is that it was the only audience that was commenting on my blogs and I knew that they were also going to write blogs that I would read and comment on. I have never written a blog till now which can only put me under the impression that I was writing to inform my classmates on an issue or to just compare things between us. No one outside of my classmates were reading or commenting on my blogs. Knowing this, I wrote my blogs to try and capture the attention of a college student as opposed to a working class citizen that has an every day job and not in the college atmosphere. Having my target audience be my classmates allowed me to write on a more comfortable and laid back way instead of on a very professional level on some blogs.
Being able to comment on others blogs or to receive them allows for the writer to take a step back and maybe notice something they missed and did not touch on in their blogs. As I took a look back at a couple of comments I made on certain blogs, there was on in particular that stood out to me. I commented on a blog written by Wendy Goldfarb entitled "Lost Mountain". The comments I made on this blog let the writer realize a certain issue and how the law is unjust when it comes to mountain top removal.
Looking at comments that I have received on blogs gives me the opportunity to make my blog that much better. If there was something I missed or did not touch on as well as I should have, I can go back and fix it. I would have known nothing about it however if it was not for the comments that were made by me fellow classmates.
Not only was we instructed to comment on each other blogs, we were also asked to write blogs on presentations, readings, and films we watched in class. Writing these blogs did indeed enhance my understanding of these texts because it allowed me to actually take a second and analyze the reading or film. Break it down into portions that seemed important to me and elaborate on it. Since I am writing a blog on these topics, I am always able to look back at them when I am done and maybe feel the same or a little different. If we did not write a blog on them then it would be hard to remember what Fast Food Nation was about and how others perceived the film compared to my thoughts. Writing blogs is something I will continue to do as I strive to increase my writing skills.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Outline to Invasvie Species Argument Essay
I. Introduction
The controlling methods for invasive species all over the world is debated among society in many cases. With every invasive animal, there is only one of three ways in which people may go about solving the issue. Chemical, mechanical, and biological control are options for the destruction of invasive animals, however the question remains, which way is best and what is the overall effect of the method? Without argument, the chemical method is indeed the best way to control the invasive animals and the dramatic impact they have on the certain area.
II. Body
a.Talk about the different control methods in depth. Talk about the advantages and disadvantages of chemical control, mechanical control, and biological control then express the reason for the chemical method is the best way for solution.
b. Give examples of different invasive species and the debate that is currently going on within the solution method we are trying to reach.
1.Invasive cane toads in Australia. Give background. The club and freezing method against the use of carbon dioxide. Argue for the chemical side of carbon dioxide.
2.Invasive fox in Australia. Give background info. The mechanical method of physically removing them versus the chemical method of the use of poison bait. Argue for the side of poison bait also known as feralmone.
3. Invasive rabbit in Australia. Give background info. Trapping and shooting as apposed to RHD method. Argue for the chemical method of RHD.
4. Invasive Python in Florida. Give background info. Using the political strategy over using chemical strategy.
III. Conclusion
Go over arguments and Restate thesis statement.
Bibliography
1- Associated Press. How To Kill Cane Toads? Aussies Not Sure. msnbc. 2010.
2- Butler, Tina. Cane toads increasingly a problem in Australia
Overstaying Their Welcome: Cane Toads in Australia. Mongabay.com. 2005.
3- Gutierrez,Marcella. The Most Traveled Cane Toads. 2009. Web-based
(http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009/gutierre_marc/index.htm)
4- Invasive Animals CRC. "Rabbits."
http://www.invasiveanimals.com/invasive-animals/rabbits/index.html
5- Lapidge, Bourne, Braysher, and Sarre (2004-present) feral.org.au [Online]. Web-based
(http://www.feral.org.au/content/general/about.cfm)
6- Morgan’s Miscellaneous Stock. RHD Sometimes Called VHD.
7- Natrual Heritage Trust. European Wild Rabbit.
Australian Government: Department of the Environment and Heritage.
8- Writers,Staff. Rabbits Fighting Back Against RHD. Terra Daily. May 11th, 2009
9- Blogs/80beats. How to Kill Florida's Invasive, Occasionally Killer Pythons?
2009.
10- Ecological Societyod America. Fact Sheet Invasive Species. Washington, D.C.
2006.
The controlling methods for invasive species all over the world is debated among society in many cases. With every invasive animal, there is only one of three ways in which people may go about solving the issue. Chemical, mechanical, and biological control are options for the destruction of invasive animals, however the question remains, which way is best and what is the overall effect of the method? Without argument, the chemical method is indeed the best way to control the invasive animals and the dramatic impact they have on the certain area.
II. Body
a.Talk about the different control methods in depth. Talk about the advantages and disadvantages of chemical control, mechanical control, and biological control then express the reason for the chemical method is the best way for solution.
b. Give examples of different invasive species and the debate that is currently going on within the solution method we are trying to reach.
1.Invasive cane toads in Australia. Give background. The club and freezing method against the use of carbon dioxide. Argue for the chemical side of carbon dioxide.
2.Invasive fox in Australia. Give background info. The mechanical method of physically removing them versus the chemical method of the use of poison bait. Argue for the side of poison bait also known as feralmone.
3. Invasive rabbit in Australia. Give background info. Trapping and shooting as apposed to RHD method. Argue for the chemical method of RHD.
4. Invasive Python in Florida. Give background info. Using the political strategy over using chemical strategy.
III. Conclusion
Go over arguments and Restate thesis statement.
Bibliography
1- Associated Press. How To Kill Cane Toads? Aussies Not Sure. msnbc. 2010.
2- Butler, Tina. Cane toads increasingly a problem in Australia
Overstaying Their Welcome: Cane Toads in Australia. Mongabay.com. 2005.
3- Gutierrez,Marcella. The Most Traveled Cane Toads. 2009. Web-based
(http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009/gutierre_marc/index.htm)
4- Invasive Animals CRC. "Rabbits."
http://www.invasiveanimals.com/invasive-animals/rabbits/index.html
5- Lapidge, Bourne, Braysher, and Sarre (2004-present) feral.org.au [Online]. Web-based
(http://www.feral.org.au/content/general/about.cfm)
6- Morgan’s Miscellaneous Stock. RHD Sometimes Called VHD.
7- Natrual Heritage Trust. European Wild Rabbit.
Australian Government: Department of the Environment and Heritage.
8- Writers,Staff. Rabbits Fighting Back Against RHD. Terra Daily. May 11th, 2009
9- Blogs/80beats. How to Kill Florida's Invasive, Occasionally Killer Pythons?
2009.
10- Ecological Societyod America. Fact Sheet Invasive Species. Washington, D.C.
2006.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Food, Inc. Part 3 183-218
There were many different strategies that I picked up on while reading this weeks assignment. In the section of, "What happened to food" on page 184. the author engages in this section by relaying his argument in a form of a question first. It makes the reader actually think about what the paragraph is later going to argue about. For example, we can look on page 185 in the beginning of the third paragraph. It states, "How can we be sure that food produced on local farms without centralized inspection and processing is really safe to eat?" After reading this I immediately started to think about why I believe that the food I buy from our grocery stores is safe to eat. I guess its just that unspoken trust we have with people that handle our food. We tend to think that if it is not safe to eat then it would not be for sale at the grocery store. This could be wrong in a bunch of aspects. As I engaged in this topic for a while I noticed how effective this strategy was.
The next effective strategy that I picked up on was on the section entitled, "Questions for a farmer", on page 197. This whole section consisted of the author suggesting questions we should be asking in order to know if the food we eat is actually safe for us to consume. The author took a different approach for this one. Instead of the usual essay form, the author engages in a different tactic to gather the readers attention to his main points. He actually highlights and lists the questions out and numbering them so the reader can automatically see and think about the question. After highlighting the question he then elaborates on it and go further into the details. He also enhances the structure of his section by seperating the list of questions into different categories which allows the reader to go specifically to the section they would have the most interest in.
The next effective strategy that I picked up on was on the section entitled, "Questions for a farmer", on page 197. This whole section consisted of the author suggesting questions we should be asking in order to know if the food we eat is actually safe for us to consume. The author took a different approach for this one. Instead of the usual essay form, the author engages in a different tactic to gather the readers attention to his main points. He actually highlights and lists the questions out and numbering them so the reader can automatically see and think about the question. After highlighting the question he then elaborates on it and go further into the details. He also enhances the structure of his section by seperating the list of questions into different categories which allows the reader to go specifically to the section they would have the most interest in.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Reasurched Argument: Invasive Species
My paper was on Invasive Species that was taking over Australia. Its kind of hard for me to decide how to go about the argument part for this essay but i think i found the right approach. The big debate that is going on with the different types of invasive species is the fact that there are many ways to deal with the problem but which way should they go about it. In the case of the cane toads, there are two ways in which they can be controlled. One way consists of the method of clubbing and freezing the toads and the other is using carbon dioxide to kill the toads. I believe that clubbing and freezing the toads to death is more painful and gruesome than to just exposing them to a chemical that will automatically kill them without the toads feeling a thing. The only problem with the method of using carbon dioxide is that there are findings in which some cane toads have actually woke up from it. I also think that using carbon dioxide will allow us to kill a wide range of cane toads as opposed to clubbing and freezing that consist of actually finding the toads and committing these grusome acts. The Cane Toad Killing Committee argues that clubbing and freezing practices physical harm to the toads and thus makes it more painful than using carbon dioxide.
The issue that is argued with the foxes is within the debate to use feralmone in bait or to just rely on the method of trapping and shooting. On this debate I will have to argue on the side of using feralmone in the fox bate although it attracts wild dogs as well. That would have to be a small sacrifice in order for us to control the foxes more effectively. The art of trapping and shooting the foxes does not do a whole lot of damage to the fox population as you would have to physically look fro the foxes and spot them out. What about the foxes who don't come out in the open? With the method of poison bate, the IA CRC expects the damages of Australia done by foxes decrease by 10%.
When it comes to the Rabbits, the debate is fairly simple when describing the issue on controlling them. Our current method for controlling them is RHD which is a disease that is currently spreading throughout the rabbit population. The problem with this controlling method is that it is currently spreading to areas of the world where it is not needed. In order to save their domestic stock, Europe and China give their rabbits a vaccine to protect them against RHD. It is also recorded that RHD may not act as a spreading disease as they hope. I argue and urge for another method to be found to be created as trapping and shooting still holds little to no effect on the rabbit population. A method that will only focus on Australia and not other parts of the world.
The issue that is argued with the foxes is within the debate to use feralmone in bait or to just rely on the method of trapping and shooting. On this debate I will have to argue on the side of using feralmone in the fox bate although it attracts wild dogs as well. That would have to be a small sacrifice in order for us to control the foxes more effectively. The art of trapping and shooting the foxes does not do a whole lot of damage to the fox population as you would have to physically look fro the foxes and spot them out. What about the foxes who don't come out in the open? With the method of poison bate, the IA CRC expects the damages of Australia done by foxes decrease by 10%.
When it comes to the Rabbits, the debate is fairly simple when describing the issue on controlling them. Our current method for controlling them is RHD which is a disease that is currently spreading throughout the rabbit population. The problem with this controlling method is that it is currently spreading to areas of the world where it is not needed. In order to save their domestic stock, Europe and China give their rabbits a vaccine to protect them against RHD. It is also recorded that RHD may not act as a spreading disease as they hope. I argue and urge for another method to be found to be created as trapping and shooting still holds little to no effect on the rabbit population. A method that will only focus on Australia and not other parts of the world.
Food, Inc. Part 2.
In this weeks reading assignments, i found many different point in the book that caught my attention. As I started to read I began to intake a lot of information that I had no clue about. One point was the fact that congress mandated the creation of a multi billion dollar network of distilleries that burns food to make motor fuel. At first i thought it was okay and didn't see the harm in it until I read further where he continued to say that there is a global shortage of food an no shortage in motor fuel. This made me wonder a little on why Congress choose to make motor oil out of food, corn to be specific, when we use corn for almost everything. It is our number one crop and Congress uses it to make motor fuel.
The next section that really caught my attention was the one entitled, "Why Bother?" During this whole book I have been asking myself this question. Why would I bother changing my life when I knew that i would not make much of a difference? The author makes a good point when he states that if he was to do everything right to help the environment, economy, and food, there is always that other person that is his evil twin. That kid on the other side of the country that just received his first car is not thinking of ways he could make his economy better. So I guess it continues to balance itself out.
Michael Pollan makes a statement on page 172 that I am having trouble agreeing with. He noted that in order for us to solve the problem we have to change ourselves and not wait for technology and law. I can argue that waiting for technology and law is the best way to make a drastic change being that technology and law changed us in the first place. Its been around for so long that we need technology in our everyday life and most of us don't worry about how our food and environment is effected. America is fast pace and I do not see America slowing down and take the time to take our environment and food into consideration.
The next section that really caught my attention was the one entitled, "Why Bother?" During this whole book I have been asking myself this question. Why would I bother changing my life when I knew that i would not make much of a difference? The author makes a good point when he states that if he was to do everything right to help the environment, economy, and food, there is always that other person that is his evil twin. That kid on the other side of the country that just received his first car is not thinking of ways he could make his economy better. So I guess it continues to balance itself out.
Michael Pollan makes a statement on page 172 that I am having trouble agreeing with. He noted that in order for us to solve the problem we have to change ourselves and not wait for technology and law. I can argue that waiting for technology and law is the best way to make a drastic change being that technology and law changed us in the first place. Its been around for so long that we need technology in our everyday life and most of us don't worry about how our food and environment is effected. America is fast pace and I do not see America slowing down and take the time to take our environment and food into consideration.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Fast Food Nation: Food Inc.
The film "Fast Food Nation" is a very informative film that educates the viewer on exactly what we eat and where our food actually comes from. There are many different parts in the movie that stand out but the part that caught my attention the most was the part on the chicken. This part of the film touched me emotionally because of the way the film makers presented the issue.
The way the chickens are treated in the film I found very disturbing. In the factory where chickens were being kept was very crowded in a way that it was hard for people to walk in there without stepping on one. One image that really stood out to me was when they were talking about how they would inject different substances to increase the size in the chicken so they could create more meat in one chicken. They noted that most of the time chickens can’t handle the extra weight as their bodies was not made for it so they take steps and just fall over. They should an overly weighted chicken walking then falling over as soon as the chicken took a few steps. Seeing that image made me feel sad and depressed on what they were doing to the chicken just so corporation can increase their income.
One very important aspect that I got from the film and the book was the fact that when the film makers and the author tried to actually collect information and footage from companies and their factories, they were denied many times over and over again. On page 8 of Food Inc, the author states, "None of the major meatpacking companies allowed me to visit their facilities." I feel like all these companies that reject film makers and authors into their facilities do indeed have something to hide from the public. If they were doing things right as far as the treatment of animals and the quality the factory is in then they would not have a problem with showing the public how they obtain the food they make. It’s always the head of the corporation that does not want these secrets shown to the public because it could be bad for their business. It’s a shame to think that corporations think about money more that the well being of their consumers. This is probably one of the biggest issues our society has to deal with.
The way the chickens are treated in the film I found very disturbing. In the factory where chickens were being kept was very crowded in a way that it was hard for people to walk in there without stepping on one. One image that really stood out to me was when they were talking about how they would inject different substances to increase the size in the chicken so they could create more meat in one chicken. They noted that most of the time chickens can’t handle the extra weight as their bodies was not made for it so they take steps and just fall over. They should an overly weighted chicken walking then falling over as soon as the chicken took a few steps. Seeing that image made me feel sad and depressed on what they were doing to the chicken just so corporation can increase their income.
One very important aspect that I got from the film and the book was the fact that when the film makers and the author tried to actually collect information and footage from companies and their factories, they were denied many times over and over again. On page 8 of Food Inc, the author states, "None of the major meatpacking companies allowed me to visit their facilities." I feel like all these companies that reject film makers and authors into their facilities do indeed have something to hide from the public. If they were doing things right as far as the treatment of animals and the quality the factory is in then they would not have a problem with showing the public how they obtain the food they make. It’s always the head of the corporation that does not want these secrets shown to the public because it could be bad for their business. It’s a shame to think that corporations think about money more that the well being of their consumers. This is probably one of the biggest issues our society has to deal with.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Research Prospectus and Bibliography
Invasive animals is a issue that occurs in many areas of the world today. Instead of looking at all invasive animals, we should try and look at a specific example to try and grasp the true understanding of these types of animals and the impact they have in a environment. While searching, I found that the rabbit is a very effective, invasive, species that is taking over in Australia. According to feral. org, there are many reasons why the rabbits have become successful in its invasion of Australia. One being that in the way they reproduce. They can start breeding from 3 to 4 months, while a mature female rabbit can potentially stay pregnant for 3 to 6 months continuously for a year. One male and one female rabbit can produce 30 to 40 rabbits a year.
The rabbits ability to be invasive not only lies on there ability to reproduce quickly and efficiently but the reason is also the warren in which Australia allows certain protection for them. It protects the rabbits from the weather and also predators that hunt them. Australia is almost the perfect environment for the rabbits to live and increase there population. as it lacks most diseases and parasites that kill off the rabbits. It seems all is well with the rabbits living in this habitat but the fact remains that they are doing more damage than benefiting the economy and environment.
According to Invasive Animals CRC, the rabbits are considered to be the biggest feral problem in Australia. The average cost in damages to the economy per year is around 200 million dollars. This estimation includes the fact they prevent the regeneration of native plants by eating seedlings. Their damage also includes the damaging to vegetation through ringbarking, grazing and browsing. Since the invasion of these rabbits became harmful to the economy and to the environment, we, as people, tried to handle the problem in a manner that involved killing these rabbits. In 1950, we released a virus known as myxomatosis which killed almost all rabbits. However, as time went on, the rabbits adapt to the virus and it no longer affected them. In a article written by Staff Writers entitled, "Rabbits Fighting Back Against RHD", for the Terra Daily May 11th, 2009, a new disease was created to control and kill the rabbits known as the Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease (RHD). They note that the disease does not act as a disease but as a vaccine that protects the rabbits.
Before I did research on this topic, I knew nothing about the invasion of rabbits and the effect it had on Australia. So now the question remains, do we try and wipe out the entire rabbit population from Australia, or try and control them and seek other means to resolve the problem? This is a matter that needs to be taken seriously as the economy and the environment continues to loose its value and sense of life.
The rabbits in Australia is just a small percentage of the number of invasive species exist today. While furthering my research on the rabbits, I notice that there is nothing positive about their existence in this environment. They have been in Australia since a little before 1900s. This means that they have been there for over 100 years. It seems to me that Australia may not know what to do or how to handle the lost of the rabbits. There has to be some good the rabbits have to offer and not all negative.
Bibliography
Writers,Staff. "Rabbits Fighting Back Against RHD." Terra Daily. May 11th, 2009.
Invasive Animals CRC. "Rabbits."
http://www.invasiveanimals.com/invasive-animals/rabbits/index.html
Lapidge, Bourne, Braysher, and Sarre (2004-present) feral.org.au [Online]. Web-based
(http://www.feral.org.au/content/general/about.cfm)
Natrual Heritage Trust. "European Wild Rabbit."
Australian Government: Department of the Environment and Heritage.
The rabbits ability to be invasive not only lies on there ability to reproduce quickly and efficiently but the reason is also the warren in which Australia allows certain protection for them. It protects the rabbits from the weather and also predators that hunt them. Australia is almost the perfect environment for the rabbits to live and increase there population. as it lacks most diseases and parasites that kill off the rabbits. It seems all is well with the rabbits living in this habitat but the fact remains that they are doing more damage than benefiting the economy and environment.
According to Invasive Animals CRC, the rabbits are considered to be the biggest feral problem in Australia. The average cost in damages to the economy per year is around 200 million dollars. This estimation includes the fact they prevent the regeneration of native plants by eating seedlings. Their damage also includes the damaging to vegetation through ringbarking, grazing and browsing. Since the invasion of these rabbits became harmful to the economy and to the environment, we, as people, tried to handle the problem in a manner that involved killing these rabbits. In 1950, we released a virus known as myxomatosis which killed almost all rabbits. However, as time went on, the rabbits adapt to the virus and it no longer affected them. In a article written by Staff Writers entitled, "Rabbits Fighting Back Against RHD", for the Terra Daily May 11th, 2009, a new disease was created to control and kill the rabbits known as the Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease (RHD). They note that the disease does not act as a disease but as a vaccine that protects the rabbits.
Before I did research on this topic, I knew nothing about the invasion of rabbits and the effect it had on Australia. So now the question remains, do we try and wipe out the entire rabbit population from Australia, or try and control them and seek other means to resolve the problem? This is a matter that needs to be taken seriously as the economy and the environment continues to loose its value and sense of life.
The rabbits in Australia is just a small percentage of the number of invasive species exist today. While furthering my research on the rabbits, I notice that there is nothing positive about their existence in this environment. They have been in Australia since a little before 1900s. This means that they have been there for over 100 years. It seems to me that Australia may not know what to do or how to handle the lost of the rabbits. There has to be some good the rabbits have to offer and not all negative.
Bibliography
Writers,Staff. "Rabbits Fighting Back Against RHD." Terra Daily. May 11th, 2009.
Invasive Animals CRC. "Rabbits."
http://www.invasiveanimals.com/invasive-animals/rabbits/index.html
Lapidge, Bourne, Braysher, and Sarre (2004-present) feral.org.au [Online]. Web-based
(http://www.feral.org.au/content/general/about.cfm)
Natrual Heritage Trust. "European Wild Rabbit."
Australian Government: Department of the Environment and Heritage.
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