SWA8

1. My current writing process includes just gathering all my sources, laying them out in front of me, and just starting and finishing the paper. I would take the outlining tip on this chapter so I can help organize my thoughts because not much organization goes into my writing. Also, I would include maybe asking myself some revision questions to help me check my paper. Sometimes I will finish and will leave many clumsy errors.

2. The main overall advantage of outlining a paper is one's organization of thoughts before the actual paper is written. With an organization of thoughts, he or she no longer has to write papers only to have to re-order some paragraphs. Also, the common time consumer of thinking about what to write next is eliminated.

3. Three specific revision strategies discussed in this chapter include revision questions, which is a self help method that makes a writer look at his or her own work by asking questions such as "Is it clear," or "What should I cut." Those questions will help a person check his or her own work. Another strategy is submitting for peer review. This is a very helpful technique because it gives another viewpoint of your paper where a person can give his or her own opinion. Also, checking the paper for final errors is another strategy which works like the revision questions, except its more related towards grammar and spelling errors, rather than content.

4. The exploratory paper helps one look at several view points of a certain issue, which will help him or her out when writing a paper with an actual viewpoint. With these viewpoints, one can find a side he or she likes, and other viewpoints that are available to refute.

5. Possible ways to conduct peer review include a round robin session, in which all members of the group read everybody else's papers and critique them. The other option is to read it aloud to them, and they can critique the paper after the paper has been read. The advantages of peer review include getting different opinions from everybody. No matter how many people read it, there are bound to be opinions which can be used to improve a paper.

In America, people base many factors on body image. People will judge one's lifestyle, make guesses on your self esteem, and even assume one's personality just looking at a person's image. With that being said, the biggest problem that America faces when referring to body-image is obesity. It's a problem that affects as much as two-thirds of all Americans. With the high levels of obesity that occur in America, it is no shock to find out that about five years from today's generation's life expectancy can be cut by up to five years. This can be attributed to the fact that diabetes will become an issue, and that heart related diseases are striking at earlier ages. However, cultures base their opinions on perfect body image, and America is no different.

Many people frown upon the amount of obese people in the nation. Businesses would rather not hire obese people because it is more likely that the individual will be struck with diseases earlier. Also, obese kids and teenagers are more prone to being teased and picked on because those are the ages where people are most shallow, and will base everything more on looks. Today, America bases everything on male and female model looks. It is easier for more attractive men and women to find a relationship, and based on my experience, people of average looks or higher are more welcomed with open arms. However, this is just modern America's stand on body image.

Body image fluctuates throughout many different cultures. In the earlier times, people actually loved obese people. It displayed wealth and dominance, which attracted others significantly. In countries like India and people who practice other religions and participate in certain tribes, people have erratic body piercings and tattoos which the normal American would find weird. However, in the places where these tribes gather, it is a normal for that to occur. Body image is something that varies culturally. It changes everywhere you go, depending on religion, other lifestyles, etc.

annotated bibliography

Longman, Jere. "Doping Experts Say Baseball Faces Tough Job." New York Times 9 Dec. 2004: D1+D6.

Longman discusses the recent upgrades that Baseball has to go through because of the supposed loophole in drug testing. According to anti-doping experts, people cannot use steroids, but can still boost the testosterone to up to five times the normal amount without being caught for drugs, a huge potential problem in major league baseball. There is more to drug abuse than just steroids. With the new testing, players will not be allowed to boost the testosterone levels.

Liquori, Donna. "At a Shrine to Baseball, Steroid Inquiry Inspires Shame." New York Times 5 Dec.2004: N46.

Liquori talks about the effect that baseball will have on players like Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi. Given are opinions by strong followers of the game. They mention how they should not be taking steroids. They talk about how the steroids label will always be used on these two people. However, people also say that Bonds should still be allowed in the hall of fame because people cheated all the time. To prevent people from cheating is impossible.

"World Series TV Ratings." Baseball Almanac. 2007. 24 Oct. 2007
wstv.shtml>.

Given here are TV ratings from all the World Series. These will be used to prove my argument on how the recent drug surge in baseball has increased fan participation.

Sandomir, Richard. " BASEBALL; Also King of Ratings and the T-Shirts." New York Times. 10 Sept. 1998. 24 Oct. 2007 Television>.

Sandomir talks about baseball ratings for the game where Mark McGwire broke the home run record. He includes how there was a 12.9 rating peaking at 15.5, despite being blacked out in Chicago, which is a big baseball city. He talks about how over 40 million people were watching the game.

"Barry Bonds Hits Another One - Adds To Record." Baseball Talk Pro. 9 Aug. 2007. 24 Oct. 2007
.

This is a blog which discusses the ratings of many record setting homeruns.It also discusses Barry Bonds’ 756th homerun, which set the record for the most homeruns in MLB history. It talks about Hank Aarons record setting homerun, which attracted 12 million viewers.

"Curb Your Enthusiasm." Baseball Talk Pro. 9 Aug. 2007. 24 Oct. 2007
.

This article talks about Barry Bonds and his record setting 756th homerun. It breaks through the ambivalence in the situation because there is a large controversy in whether Barry Bonds has taken performance enhancing drugs, which have helped increase his rate of homeruns hit as his age increases.

"Studying the Physics of Baseball." Medical News Today. 21 Sep. 2007. 24 Oct. 2007
.

This article talks about the effects steroids produce. It also discusses the homerun surge in the mid 1990s. Steroids increase the rate at which people produce muscle mass. To the batters, this increases bat speed and ball speed, which in turn allows for balls to travel farther thus creating more homeruns. For pitchers, a ten percent increase in muscle mass can increase a pitchers pitching speed by five percent.

Winkle, Benjamin G, and Kenneth J Winkle. "Baseball's Great Hitting Barrage of the 1990s." A Journal of Baseball History and Culture 10.2: 1-17.

This journal entry discusses the homerun surge of the 1990s. In 1999, the average runs per game increased to 10.7, which is a 2.7 run increase from the previous year. Corresponding to the surge of runs, pitchers earned run averages increased to new heights. Homeruns during Babe Ruth’s era occurred once every ninety-one at-bats. Now it is around one in every thirty at bats. In a span of six years, the homerun record held for 37 years of 61 homeruns in one year was broken six times.

topic proposal

Performance Enhancing Drug’s Effect On Baseball

In September of 1998, a record that has not been broken in over 30 years was about to be beaten with ease, and by two people. Nearing the end of another baseball season, baseball players Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were about to change the game of baseball as we know it. A record 61 home runs, held by former baseball player Roger Maris, was going to be easily surpassed by these two players. No one really thought of it at the time; players taking performance enhancing drugs in order to play better on the field. That is until a couple years after Mark McGwire belted 70 homeruns and Sammy Sosa hitting 66 of his own. Players started to hit more homeruns with ease. However, despite the fact that players were taking performance enhancing drugs, the game of baseball has been influenced in a positive way.
The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate how the performance enhancing drugs era of baseball will positively influence baseball in terms of entertainment and popularity. I will argue about how the players actions were morally questionable, but also how fans were more attracted to the game when many players were hitting excessive amounts of homeruns.
The target audience is the class, who I’m guessing will have opposing views to what I have to say. I’m sure many people will argue how wrong it is to take these performance enhancing drugs. My job is to show them how the game of baseball is affected due to this and how people are now having a surging interest in it.

1. Bathe, Bill. "Baseball and Steroids- The Controversy." EzineArticles 02 February 2005. 16 October 2007 .
2. Patrick, Dan. “Baseball, Steroids, and the Truth.” ESPN 03 January 2002. 16 October 2007 http://espn.go.com/talent/danpatrick/s/2002/0531/1389144.html
3. Phipps, Tim. “Steroids in Baseball.” BaseballLibrary.com 19 July 2002. 16 October 2007 http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/submit/Phipps_Tim2.stm
4. Madrigal, Alexis. “Study: Steroids Could Significantly Increase Home Runs for Professional Players.” WiredScience 25 September 2007. 16 October 2007 http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/09/a-little-more-m.html
5. Abdalla, Patrick. “Steroid-Use in Major Leagues Important To Most Fans.” Collegian Online 4 October 2002. 16 October 2007 http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2002/10/10-04-02tdc/10-04-02dsports-13.asp

Alan Finder, Richard Just, and David Leonhardt’s articles all discuss reasons for change amongst the modern college campus. David Leonhardt talks about the recent increase in college dropouts. Alan Finder talks about how much more religious that college campuses are becoming, while Richard Just talks about how there is a political dominance amongst ivy league campuses. These are three of the main changes that are occurring across campuses in America. Each author has their own unique stance in regards to their topic. However, other than the fact that they discuss changes occurring within college campuses, they have no relevance towards each other in regards to topic. On the other hand, all their stances centralize around the overall improvement of the education for our students.

David Leonhardt talks about how certain students today are more likely to drop out of college. He keys in on one specific group: the poor or working class students. He points out that “Only 41% of low-income students manage to graduate within five years,” and even though many more people are graduating in four years, the fact is that graduation statistics for students with low incomes are decreasing incredibly. The gap that separates the graduates of people with high incomes and low incomes is increasing in favor of the people with high incomes. He blames the low graduation rates for low income students on high schools, who “Do a poor job of preparing teenagers for college.” How do people succeed at the next level with a sub-par upbringing?

Alan Finder discusses how religious campuses are getting nowadays. According to a professor at Harvard University, “There is probably more active religious life now than there has been in 100 years.” There are many reasons to why this wave of religion has hit campuses. Some blame the war in Iraq. Others think that it was just an event that made one realize that they should become more spiritual. My opinion is that Finder is siding with the people who just let a self-realization allow for ones new found view towards religion and spirituality. \

Richard Just talks about the liberal conservative division at most college campuses. In all of the Ivy League schools, liberals run campuses, and sometimes discrimination will occur to the ones who think differently from the liberals. He also discusses how apathy is a current issue towards most students because many students really just do not care about where they stand in politics. I am included in this group of apathy. Humor is the best way to treat the apathetic according to Just. However, Just’s main concern is the lack of activism in most college campuses. There needs to be more groups because it “Mobilizes so many more people.”

All authors are trying to discuss how to improve life in college campuses. The recent influx of spiritual people, the division of liberals and conservatives, and the increase of college dropouts are all controversial and affect college life in one way or another. There needs to be a new strategy or plan to help out the college dropouts with low income. They need to be prepared better throughout high school so they can have better results in college. People need to be less discriminated when it comes to political stances, and people should be persuaded to have some sort of political belief. Campus life is always changing, and these changes are ones that will always continue to alter.

Smoking Bans

Smoking Bans
-Effect it will have on companies
-Have bans like this taken place and what was the end/still occuring result
-How much safer will people be if the ban takes place
-Smoking popularity statistics
-Will an uprise occur if the ban takes place
-Where the ban will be placed
-Could local smoking rates drop if the ban takes place
-Second hand smoking effects

Post Secret Cards

The post secret card that I created mentioned how I refused to give my neighbor car rides despite the fact that my neighbor and I might be heading to the same place. The background picture included two people talking over a fence, which implies that they are neighbors. It was a very direct post secret card. The approach I took was very direct, including a picture that was involved with the comment, and the comment showed I did not give my neighbors car rides. The class seemed to have gotten the message, as they were not questioning my card. Although I was very blunt with my post secret card, somebody implied that I was not very fond of my neighbor, which is not the case. It's not that I do not like my neighbor. It is just that he is 12, and I did not want to deal with him in the car. He was a cool kid for the most part. As far as unexpected reactions go, there were none because the card was very direct.

Post Secret Note

The post secret note that I chose was the one stating "I cried for Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars Episode III, but not for the tsunami victims." The explicit verbal claim is obviously that the person who came up with this cried for a movie character while not for people experiencing real life crisis during the tsunami. In my opinion, the implied message is intended for everybody to review their priorities. Do they place petty things like entertainment in front of more world-impacting events like the tsunami? People nowadays have a "Me first" attitude where one only cares about his or her priorities and does not think for others. The visual involved with the picture doesn't really do anything to help out the text, other than the fact that the night picture has a bright star, which could show more importance for the night(Star Wars half) over the tsunami portion.