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Even though at the CSW I had to present for a long time doesn’t mean that I didn’t get to go look around at the CSW. There were very interesting tables that caught my eye. One of them was a comic book table that every student made in order to show you there research topic and a different style of writing. I read one on football players and how they made the game safer by getting helmets and make rules against helmet to helmet hits. Another stand I visited was a digital presentation to show how the different styles of dance had change over time. Some of the dancers I saw was Michael Jackson, Back Street Boys, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and much more. I think the overall impression to take away from that presentation was that evolution is always happening and will never stop rather or not its dance, technology or the betterment of human lives. The last one I visited was social media/YouTube which you can read more about in my CSW Memo.

The CSW is a huge part of the English 121 course because it’s when every student can go and present their research projects to everyone. Not only did I present but I was a part of the learning experience. As I walked around the place I visited 3 main tables that really caught my attention. The first table I took something away from was this matching game. The matching game consisted of you picking up a card and seeing what the picture was or the paragraph description that it had. Now each picture card had a card that matched but was a card that read a paragraph. So when I played I picked up a card that had a picture of an autism kid. The card was just a regular kid it seemed like but in writing on the bottom of the card it said autism so that’s how I knew it was an autism paragraph that I was looking for. It literally took me every card I flipped to find the paragraph card that matched with the autism card I flipped earlier. The point wasn’t to just match the cards but it was to learn about the various topics they were presenting in their paragraphs. So it’s safe to say that I took away the most from that stand.

My group was Corey, Dylan, Matt, De’ maruis and I. We had to decide between two different presenting styles. The first one was our first idea which was with a Trifold, Pieces of Paper, Whiteboards and markers. The second idea was to present our idea with a computer through a big screen television. Now if you have to decide between these two choices which one would you pick? Let’s be honest and just say it was an easy pick for us to go with the big screen television. Not only did we go with the big screen Television but we incorporated parts of the first presenting style. My group also used the whiteboards and water color markers so we could have more than one person at our station competing in our game. The way that we found best to do present this at the CSW was that one person would work the laptop for the questions and answers, another passing out and collecting the whiteboards, and one person bringing in people to answer some questions and play our game. Mainly I did bringing in the people and asking which question they would like to answer. I think the way my group presented our isea was the best because people seemed to flock to our jeopardy game so it was a good day to getting people all day to present our ideas.

My CSW group was Corey, Dylan, Matt, De’ maruis and I. When we first started thinking about certain possibilities for what a group of 5 people could do the first thing our group thought of was, games. The reason we thought this was first and for most that we are guys so we want something fun but also simple at the same time. Corey brought up the idea of Jeopardy because he went last year to the event and said that it looked went well for their group. So we went with Jeopardy hoping to make the best of the situation. We got all of the supplies and things necessary to pull of jeopardy. At first we started with just a big trifold white board, and some paper and markers. We wrote the questions on the pieces of paper and then pined them on the trifold. While doing this during one of group meeting Matt happened to look up to see if there were any other good ideas that might help us to make our project even better. Well Matt defiantly found it with a Jeopardy layout on the internet. The layout was simple where you type question and answer and then you let your audience do the rest.

My overall impression of the CSW was good. It was very hot and too many people at the beginning then at the end. Although these were open and obvious facts, I want to help the CSW make a better impact on next year’s first year writing students. I thought the layout of the CSW this year was very good and it kept people moving through to see a many tables and research projects as possible. One area that I believe that CSW could improve is that they could organize the teachers overall focus into groups. For example our class was all about food research and then there was a table at the end of our row but in the center that were also doing food. So maybe they could have grouped us closer together and put up a sign above our designated section that said “food topics.” If the CSW were to do this then people can find things that they are more interested in so they can spend more time there actually learning and engaging in peoples research projects. That’s one area I think the CSW could improve in and there’s many more possibilities such as more Big TV’s because those were main attraction, maybe a walk through path so everyone sees everything. The CSW was fun and I will most likely attend next year.

Overall impression of CSW

My overall impression of the Celebration of Student Writing was that it was very hot and a lot of people. These two things were obviously the most noticeable because it’s seeing and feeling. There are other impression that you get when you are a presenter and also a part of the audience. Some impressions as a presenter that it was really easy for my group to bring people to the table because we had a huge jeopardy game going on but for the other people who were at my table it seemed as if we were stealing a lot of attention. Also as a presenter I noticed that as time passed there seemed to be less and less people walking around, so being a later shift made especially harder to bring people to our table. As a part of the audience I noticed that many people didn’t really care about presenting some of their ideas but then some other tables were encouraging you to come the table. While being a part of the audience it was really hard sometimes to find something that you were interested in and maybe that’s something that the CSW can improve on next year.

CSW memo

This year at the Celebration for Student Writing otherwise known as the CSW was a very interesting to many of those who attended. My group did a phenomenal job with our group presentation but not only did I present my ideas to the crowed public but also it was a chance to see what other students were writing about. I walked around the CSW to different spots looking at the various attractions and one caught my eye specifically. This attraction that caught my eye was a social media table. The whole class had to something on social media and I interviewed one of the students to get a real taste of his presentation. His name was Jeffery Slewski and his professor was Cheryl Cassidy.

Q: “What was the main focus topic for your English 121 class?”

A: “Um… Probably exploring social media and the web today. More specifically YouTube.”

When Jeffery says this I’m very intrigued to find out more about his project and what are the more specifics of his research.

Q: “Okay and through Social Media/YouTube what was your CSW research project focusing on?”

A: “Utilizing YouTube and learning how social media affects and is used by us today.” Jeff then asks, “Does that answer it? I don’t know if that’s what you’re looking for.”

I tell Jeffery that is what I’m looking for and start to realize that everyone uses social media/ YouTube. I wonder how our generation can successfully utilize these new types of web sites which can just be as educational as to express your thoughts and ideas to the world and everyone’s friends.

Q: “Are there any major effects from social media and YouTube? And how are people today utilizing these sources?”

A: “Well, YouTube opens a whole new platform for talent discovery. If you look at people like Justin Beiber, there are tons of people who are discovered using social media like YouTube and Vine. It’s also a great way for ideas to spread. Messages get around a lot faster. Videos can be poltical, entertaining, whatever, but it gets the message across. Millions and millions of people use it so why not use it for an educational purpose as well?”

At this point I feel as if I got most of the information I need to complete my interview with Jeffery, but I want to make sure that there is nothing in his project else that I should know before I conclude my interview.

Q: “So Jeffery is there anything else that I should take away from your CSW research project today?”

A: “No man that pretty much covers it all.”

I thank Jeffery for his time and my new knowledge on how other people can utilize these everyday sources. When I spoke to Jeff I felt like the conversation was really easy going and that he knew what he was talking about the whole time while doing the interview. I couldn’t have been more grateful for Jeff’s time and knowledge on this subject. The CSW is great experience because it gives new first year students on different types of writing styles.

memo 5

Every semester at Eastern Michigan University there is a celebration for student writing. Its being held in the student center, for thousands of people to come look at our work.For the CSW project Matt, Dylan, Corey, Da’marais, and I are doing a jeopardy theme project. Since all of our projects have to do with different subjects we decided to jeopardy as it would incorporate all of our subject. The way we have it set up is that each question will be worth either 100, 200, 300. For each 100 points they would get 1 piece of candy. Now the 100 point questions would be the easiest questions that would be as simple as saying yes or no. The 200 point questions will be set to a medium question that people should know but probably won’t or a comparison in pictures. The 300 point questions will be pretty much impossible, but that’s the real information we want our audience to take away from our CSW project. The way we are setting up the board for the CSW is we are really going to make the board look really good so we draw attention from the crowd. On the board as said will be 3 question all with different point values. Each category and point value will have a different color to indicate what category or point value it is worth. I’m assuming with the point values being on the front of the question paper that the category would be different colors. On the front of the card there will be the point values and on the back would be the questions along with the answer. We as group plan on presenting it orally to the audience and they can answer it. Currently we have two ways of answering it; the first way we have the audience answering the questions is just orally back to the presenter and the 2nd way is there would be 3 particpants and they each have a white board. On the white board they could write their answer and show us to see if it is correct. I think the 2nd way is the best way because then people aren’t blurting out answers so other people won’t know also it gives more than one person to answer at the same time. If the participant has an answer that is relatively close for the harder questions then the answer will be consider right. If the person does get a question right then they will get to choose 1 piece of candy. I think our group’s project will be very successfully because students are playing an interactive game that is also making them learn about our research topics. I am sure as my group presents our CSW project that our presentation style will change to make it easier for everyone at the CSW. I am really looking forward to the CSW and our group project!

Celebration of Student Writting

Every semester at Eastern Michigan University they have a celebration of student writing for all the English 121 students. This semester me and 4 other people are planning on doing a jeopardy theme style stand. The idea has to relate back to what our research papers are talking about so that people get some information on what we wrote about. This is good idea because if an audience reads the paper a student has written most likely the audience will get bored and stop reading. Jeopardy is a American television show that most people know about. Jeopardy will give our group the best way to present multiple ideas while testing some knowledge of other students and letting them learn a little bit too. My topic is genetically modified foods. So I can ask a question saying is the use of GMO’s banned in the U.S? This is an easy answer but some people may not know actually if they are banned or not. Good news is that they aren’t and probably won’t until there is hard evidence why we shouldn’t have them. This Jeopardy idea is a great idea that our group will have fun with and also at the convention for celebration of student writing.

#eng #Student writting #Jepoardy

Are Research Papers a Waste of Time?

Research papers seem to be a big thing in college. Many people going into college already know that they will have to type a couple research papers to graduate. The question is though is research papers a waste of time? A source from the New York Times has Critics saying, “That the research paper is outdated because the internet has made sources so readily accessible.” I would agree with the critics not just because I hate doing research papers as much as the next person but rather they are right. Everything today is on the internet. That is the cold hard truth. Research papers have become as simple as type in Google, “Scholarly article on genetically modified foods.” The research paper has become outdated and it’s not fair to grade a college student on it any longer. The New York Times says, “Many of the professors who assign research papers would disagree that they are encouraging students to think conventionally, and point out that the essay has its own limitations.” I understand what professors are trying to do in college, but times have changed and many professors should consider revising what they are teaching now.

#eng #Research papers

Hawaii and GMO bans

The article A Lonely Quest for Facts on Genetically Modified Crops published by Amy Harmon of the New York Times explains Hawaii’s GMO situation. In May 2013 Hawaii passed the ban law on genetically modified foods. Many public hearing took place and were dominated by the people who have gotten sick and want this ban put back into to place. I view Hawaii’s situation very tricky because many countries are using genetically modified organisms. Genetically modified organisms have shown that they can help us in a big way and meet the ever growing demand for food and other things too. The univerty of Hawaii has done many researches on the genetically modified foods and they realize that there is no bigger risk than any other genetically modified food or real plant. I think Hawaii should could the ban law passed because with it gives Hawaii to become a state to make more money and have more jobs in the long run.

Three main crops

There are three crops that are of major value to our society today. According to the New York Times, “ The three major crops are corn, soybeans and wheat.” I’ve been doing a lot of research on genetically modified plants and organisms the past couple of weeks. In the article We Need G.M.O Wheat by the New York Times they say, “90% of corn and soybeans are now planted with seed genetically engineered to resist insects, herbicides or both, but there is not a single acre of genetically engineered wheat being grown commercially in the United States.” I feel that this is in order to change to meet up with the high demand that the United States is having. The reason why wheat hasn’t been touched yet with being genetically engineered is because farmers are worried about the prices being affected. If wheat were to be genetically engineered then prices would sky rocket by a ton and no one wants this.

World Leaders Warn Kremlin as Ukraine Standoff Continues

Last night I posted an article about the Crimea region was being invaded and intentions are rising. This morning I got up and was just making my morning bowl of breakfast when I turned on the news. The first thing that was on was the Crimea region and reporters reporting on the Russian troops invading the region of Crimea. The New York Times is saying that the British foreign secretary William Hague on Monday called Ukraine “the biggest crisis in Europe in the 21st century.” This is a huge crisis because if Crimea was in NATO then the allies would be force to take military action against Russia. This is playing with a lot of countries Morales to get involved or not. “Crimea has a 45 million population and about 20% of them are loyal to Russia,” says fox 2 new. John Terry is to speak on the situation on Tuesday and President Obama said there will major consequences for Russia once this is finished. Kiev’s pro-Western government said it would fight for sovereignty and called the invasion of Crimea a “declaration of war,” said the New York Times. The whole nation will soon find out what we’ll happen very fast.

Rain in California Brings Relief, and New Problems

California has been in a drought now for the last 8 months. The national weather service says they’ve gotten 1.53 inches over those 8 months. They got that much in less than 12 hours over the weekend. This was great new for some farmers who thought they have an economic catastrophe. Although this was good it’s still not enough for the farmers. If they don’t keep getting rainfall they will still be in a drought. Since the weather has had California in a drought all the soil was hard and dry so less water was able to be absorbed by all the rainfall. Many roadways were closed as the water level rose and flooded many roads. Also power was reported out from the storm and even worse about 1,000 homes were evacuated because of this storm. The storm also canceled 57 flights to San Francisco International Airport according to the New York Times. Officials thought the storm was going to intensify and cause even mudslides and more flooding.

With Military Moves Seen in Ukraine, Obama Warns Russia

Ukraine has accused Russia trying to start a military conflict by invading one of Ukraine regions. President Obama has warned them not start a full scale military action. Reports say that there has been military movements in this region and there would be cost if there was. Military analyst have been studying weird patterns in this region and the Ukraine government has said that Russia has taken over this region and seized much of the land and government officials. At a United Nations meeting the ambassador for Russia said, “We have an agreement with Ukraine on the presence of the Russia Black Sea fleet and we operate under this agreement.” There has been recent war with Russia against Georgia in 2008. So people are still sketchy on rather or not if this intended by the Russians. In the Ukraine region of Crimea there was a lot of people who died in a big escalation for free trade. Both the Ukraine and Russia intentions have soared but nothing can be done from the Americans but sit and wait to see what happens.

Google Fiber, Ultrahigh-Speed Internet, May Expand to 34 New Cities

Another new internet service are you kidding me! Whenever I watch television most of the commercials I see is about Xfintity, Wow, At&t and other internet and cable providers. But this new internet company has actually sparked my interest. This company is Google Fiber. Google Fiber is latest internet provider, while only in 34 cities currently they are becoming a very hot topic! Google Fiber is supposed to run up to 100x faster than a broad band connection and improve every ones internet. The New York Times says, “The projects in the initial three cities have offered lessons for Google, a company used to writing software to solve problems instead of grappling with real-world challenges like tearing up and rebuilding roads and trying to please citizens and local officials.” Google has already been one of my favorite tools to use on the internet, heck I’m even using google chrome as my browser because it runs so much faster then everything else. Not only do I see google chrome as being a major competitor in the internet market but also in digit tv in a couple of years as well. I see a huge investment opportunity as well in google since they are branching out and should be more successful. Google is probably the best company in the world in my opinion and I trust them. I look forward to the future to see what happens with Google and its new small company Google Fiber.

#google #internet

Winter's Not Just Cold and Snowy. Its Expensive.

This year’s dark and frightening cold weather has been such a drag on the economy for a lot of business but even worse on the small local business. Most business can usually survive one or two snow storms but an everyday steadily flow of snow and ice has shaved a couple tenths off of the growth of our gross domestic product. The New York Times reports, “The Thompson Reuters University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment for February, released on Friday, showed that a slight drop in satisfaction with current economic conditions was offset by an uptick in optimism for the future.” The New York Times also reports on many small business that have been feeling the pressure lately and how they have loss profits because of the weather just being bad every day. The New York Times says, “Thankfully that valentines was a nice blissfully sunny day that put many worries away for some business.”

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