William Lynch
2009/10/26
Wasted Food
Food has always been a part of my life, a part of my culture. Food is the main reason my families have been coming together all these years. Whether it has been from our weekly Saturday lunches, or him passing on his “grill-meister” knowledge, my father and I have become very close because of food. I love how food can bring families and friends together, and most importantly I love the way it tastes. What I never really thought about however, is just how lucky I am that I’ve never had to worry about needing food. I just never really realized how great it is to “live to eat” instead of just “eating to live”. Having worked as a busboy for a summer, I got to see how the kitchen of a busy restaurant operates. I saw that to improve cooking and serving efficiency, large amounts of food is cooked ahead of time in hopes that it gets ordered by enough customers. It’s much better for a restaurant to have precooked food leftover than to not have enough. This often puts the restaurant into the habit of always making sure they prepare too much because it’s better than not having enough and making customers wait while they prepare things from scratch. Yes, as the customer we get our food much quicker and therefore we deem the restaurant’s service very good. However, the food that doesn’t get ordered on a given night can’t always be kept. At the end of a night, especially on the weekends, huge amounts of both cooked and uncooked food get thrown away. How can there be hungry people around when we are able to throw away so much perfectly good food? Restaurants aren’t the only ones; do grocery stores always sell all their products by their sell by dates? Or how bout on the small scale, how much food gets wasted within households? Watching so much perfectly edible food get thrown out every night at closing made me think about how much good this unwanted food could do.
I worked at a German restaurant as a bellboy/waiter this past summer. Working at this place gave me a glimpse of how the kitchen worked. Food was rarely prepared as it was ordered. Based on previous sales, this restaurant prepared sauces and dishes in large quantities with the assumption that enough people will order them. This increases the efficiency of a restaurant since many things don’t have to be cooked as it gets ordered; otherwise a restaurant is considered “slow” or the “food took too long to come”. This means that on a given night there will always be food that is wasted. Yes, plenty of things can be stored, but certain things just can’t be kept. For example: Sausages can be kept for use another night if they made too much, but if a roasted pork knuckle or sautéed fish isn’t eaten that night, then it’s going in the trash. Also once something is defrosted, it has a very small window of time before it must be eaten as you cannot refreeze foods. My conflict here is how much perfectly good food goes to waste. Not half eaten food scraps, but both uncooked and cooked food that is simply thrown away. Buying food in bulk at wholesale prices must not cost all that much in relation to rent and labor considering that they throw so much of it away. If other restaurants have as large of a surplus as the German restaurant I worked at this summer, I can’t help but be bothered how much good all this extra food can do at say, at a homeless shelter.
I’m sure a restaurant doesn’t want to openly admit how much of their inventory goes to waste, but maybe all it takes is a few restaurants to step up and be willing to admit that there is extra food that could benefit someone. Of course when you only see one side of the puzzle it seems pretty simple. Restaurants have extra food. There are homeless and hungry people. Restaurants are the bad guy.
Luckily, I had a perfectly good reason to stop working as a waiter before college- I got to get my wisdom teeth removed. After I recovered from this ordeal and before I left for college however, my family thought it would be a hoot to go eat at the same restaurant I worked at 6 days a week from 3pm until midnight over the summer. We ordered a pork knuckle. Normally the waiter brings the knuckle to the table. The customer doesn’t even know where to start with it. The waiter chimes in and offers to cut it up for you. When ours came however, we said “no thanks!” and I got to show off my newly learned pork knuckle cutting skills, which is no small feat I might add. The manager saw that we were having a slight celebration and came to speak with us (the reason why I got the job in the first place was because my uncle went to high school with the man that runs the place). Mr. Chow sat down and brought a round of drinks. He asked about my experience as a waiter/busboy and I told him how much hard work it was. Then we began to talk about why so much food gets thrown away during closing every night.
The chefs and managers are constantly discussing how much of what needs to be prepared based on the day of the week and reservations that have been made. Chefs are constantly taking inventory and most of the preparation for the day is done during the restaurants “dead” time which is between 3pm -5pm. Based on what day it is and how many reservations have been made, chefs begin preparing most of what will be eaten that night. Certain things will be breaded, defrosted, or precooked. For example, pork knuckles need to be boiled before being thrown on the grill. It would take way too long for all that to be done once a customer orders it so a large amount of knuckles are just boiled in the afternoon and ready to be grilled once they are ordered. What inevitably seems to happen is that there are many fully cooked knuckles that never make it out of the kitchen. On Fridays and Saturdays, the restaurant fills up so much that they even throw knuckles and sausages on the grill and are able to keep serving them to people within minutes of being ordered since it is such a popular item on the menu. Mondays however, are typically very quiet. I have been present on a day when the restaurant was unusually crowded for the day of the week- more customers than precooked food. This throws the kitchen into slight chaos since chefs now have to do a slight bit of precooking when they normally would just be heating or putting the finishing touches on something that had mostly been cooked hours before.
Even with computer programs and the detailed upkeep of spreadsheets, daily precooking of foods is still guesswork and food is ultimately wasted. This seemed to make sense both from the manager’s standpoint and as a customer. If having extra food leftover at the end of a night meant all customers get what they ordered promptly, as a manager it would most definitely be a risk I’d be willing to take. Of course, as a customer getting what I ordered quickly doesn’t hurt either. But what about the economics behind wasted food? Don’t you lose money when you throw your products away? Well, yes and no. Yes, any food thrown away does not get ordered and therefore not paid for. The prices at which restaurants acquire their food however, ensure a minimal loss if some food gets thrown away. The main costs of running a restaurant are rent (especially in a city) and labor. The losses incurred from a “little extra” food each day are quite small compared to how much labor and rent costs a restaurant.
The benefit a restaurant’s leftover food can do for a food bank or homeless shelter should not be ignored. Why throw so much perfectly good food away when it could feed so many hungry people in our society? Well, because that would be another cost that a restaurant might not want to take on. Okay…well what if there was a way, an easy way to for the restaurant to get rid of this food?
I’m a lazy person, and I think that we all have the tendency and inclination to try and do things the easiest or quickest way possible. Imagine that it’s midnight and you’re closing my restaurant down. You’ve got plenty of leftover food too. Sure, its perfectly good food but what are you going to do with it? Take it across town to a homeless shelter? No way, after a long day at work all you probably want to do is close up, go home and wash the days work off yourself. No one would really blame you for getting rid of the food the easiest way you can- the dumpster around back. But wait. What if there was a service that would come to you and just take this unneeded food off your hands? It’d be as easy as throwing it out!
This sounds farfetched but it’s really not, especially in a large city. Think of a big city and you can definitely think of a certain area where there are a large number of restaurants within a relatively small area. Now, what if someone could pick up all these restaurants’ food that was going to be thrown away anyways at little to no cost to the restaurant? The service picking up all these leftovers wouldn’t have go very far to rack up quite the large amount of food and can take this food to a shelter. Sounds idealistic and over simplified? Maybe. But in a large city, this hypothetical service picking up food in certain districts is entirely possible.
There are lots of ways we can waste less food. According to “Discovery News” $75 billion dollars of food a year is wasted in the United States alone. It is also estimated that between 25% and 40% of food produced in the United States does not get eaten. The internet offers a multitude of resources on how households, stores, and restaurants alike can save money through wasting less food. Also freezing leftovers in split into smaller packages also allows for them to be reheated many more times. Instead of shopping in bulk, shopping only a few days ahead cuts down on purchasing items that you might not end up eating and throwing away. Also this allows you to pick the ripest produce since you are planning on eating it within the next couple days.
There are plenty of ways we can all waste less food; maybe more people need to see first hand how much perfectly good food goes unused at restaurants. It’s also very easy for me to return to my comfortable bubble of affluence and ignore how much good this wasted food could do. Hopefully I don’t, hopefully I do something with this insight.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Objectification=Superficiality by Andrew Agcaoili
Objectification. As a society, we tend to objectify everything. College is not a time of growth in our lives, it’s a place to go party; our houses aren’t homes, just places to go after work; Church is not a place of worship, but a place taking us away from the game. Not only do we objectify places, but even people.
Most of the time, we do not even realize we objectify people. How many times have you said, “Check out that hot chick” or “Oooo, cute boy?” It has become a societal norm to treat others as things and not people. This fact, combined with our objectification of love, our society has invented a bizarre ritual for dating; we like to call it the game. The game has lead to a separation of the sexes and an overall confusion on what the other one wants. The whole “game of love” ends up becoming a superficial, irrelevant quest to get laid. The combination of the media, parental values, and simply not knowing about the other sex has led to a cycle of insecurity and superficiality in men and women, making the idea of love irrelevant.
Firstly, the media has a lot of influence over adults live their life. We all want to be like our favorite celebrities: rolling in money and surrounded in hot, crazy, sexy parties. When we’re this impressionable, how impressionable do you think kids are today?
Kids are exposed to the superficial sexual world very early. Sex is everywhere today. Music videos are filled with scantily clad women, video games are filled with scantily clad women, magazines are filled with pictures of half naked people, and even cartoon shows have scantily clad women. Sure we can cut our kids off from the media, but kids these days cannot even be considered normal without knowing about all of this sex. Both men and women grow up thinking they must act a certain way to fit in.
For example, manly men are the men who follow the media’s image almost exactly. These guys are the guys who play football, watch football, and make bets on football. They’re into working out with the bros and getting drunk all the time. These guys wear three popped collars, and when you see them at a party, you know what they are after: the vagina. The superficiality taught by the media cause these guys to only care about one thing, themselves. They are simple minded, naïve jerks. They don’t care. If they seem like they do, it’s probably related to the aforementioned goal. You will never be closer to this guy than he is with his “homies.”
In actuality, this guy is insecure about his sexuality, and adheres too closely to the media’s image of him. There is no room for error. He is expected to be the stoic character that has no emotions. He acts as manly as possible because any other way would show him to be weak. He doesn’t want to show his girlfriend emotions because he thinks she wants a manly man. So instead of bringing her closer, he alienates her away.
On the other side of the spectrum, girls are taught to be living versions of Barbie. You’ve seen these girls before. These girls have so many things in their purses it’s terrifying. These girls try everything they must and only to look like they’re on The Hills. These girls hang out in cliques and give other girls “uncomplements” like, “That shirt looks great…on a clown” or “Wow, that’s so different.” These girls can go on talking about themselves for hours.
Just like the Manly man, this girl is really insecure. Behind the plastic, there is a scared lonely girl. Her “bitchyness” to other girls is a way to make her feel better about herself. She uses boys to fulfill her needs, because she wants to feel better about herself. In reality, she wants to be close to another person, but cannot let anyone know she cares because she feels like her looks are all people want and care about.
If you do not fit in, you either become dorky kids. The type guys are the sensitive types. They act like JD from Scrubs or Michael Cera in all of his movies. His hobbies include finding creative outlets such as photography, drawing, and playing the acoustic guitar. He is usually very creative and wears his emotions on his sleeve. These guys have friends who are girls or gay, and are a little awkward. He will do anything a girl wants because he wants to see her happy. It all starts out well, but there’s something missing with this guy. He actually listens, but doesn’t stand up for himself. It’s not enough that he will shave because a girl wants him to, or that he will stand by someone no matter what. He will be dumped because he has no aggressiveness. Girls who do not fit in a will play Halo with you, kick your butt at it, and then have a nerdgasm of a conversation. They wear plaid and Converse sneakers to compliment their thick-framed glasses. They obviously do not fit the mold society gives them. In fact, sometimes they make it a point to not fit into the mold. Relationships will start out well. She loves all the hobbies, video games, and music her boyfriend does; well at least she pretends to be. She actually cares enough to do the things he want to do. Unfortunately, we men tend to ruin everything good. She will eventually express an opinion he will not agree with, and will seem an annoying parasite, who is too different for your standards. When she finally feels comfortable to be herself around him, he shuts her down because her personality is too different. She becomes heartbroken and becomes even more insecure.
Not only does the media cause insecurity, but the so do the standards of parents. As children, parents are the people we go to when we need something. We don’t realize then that in order to get what we want, we have to act the way they want us to.
Again on the male side, you are expected to be tough. You play in the mud, get into fights, and play with anything that looks like a weapon. Boys are encouraged to be competitive. Fathers push their sons into football and baseball leagues and instill the idea that “winning is everything.” Losing is not an option. A man has to be strong. Every generation, boys are taught to be the provider, directly and indirectly. Father figures, both real and fictional are always the main pillar of the house. In every TV show, the father is the main bread winner, even if he’s a bumbling idiot. Boys have to be strong and manly, or else they are failures.
On the other hand, girls are encouraged to be the little miss perfect. It takes more than sugar, spice, and everything nice to be a girl. Little girls do not play in the mud, do not fight other girls, and definitely do not release gas in anyway. Girls have to be polite balls of sunshine who are so adorable it’s ridiculous, and it’s a lot of pressure. With the idea of little miss perfect, girls grow up under the pressure of not being good enough. As a result, insecurities arise and girls try to prove themselves to be better than the other girls. They grow up to put down other girls to pull themselves up the social ladder.
Finally, the separation of the sexes makes it hard to truly connect. Boys are constantly trying to figure out what girls want, while girls are trying to fit into a mold set by the media. The fast paced world we live in has caused the new generation to be more superficial than the last. Information bombards our children, forcing them to only take the quick looks at what is presented to them. This combined with all the sex, the concept of love has been replaced with having a copious amount of sex.
The Problem for both sides is “The Game.” The Game is the rituals we go through to interact with the other sex. Both sides have their own rules for participation and jobs.
For guys, it’s a little more lenient. Men can either be a “Spartan” , where girls automatically like him for him looks, Or can be the charismatic guy, who isn’t the best looking guy, but his personality makes up for it. Having a personality does not mean that the guy has to be nice; in fact, the idea of a genuinely has been put down: “Nice guys finish last.” The man rules are that you have to start the conversation and that it is your job to get into her pants.
Girls can basically do what they want, but with two conditions. To participate in The Game, ladies, you have to be at least what guys call “decent looking” and you have to have a vagina. The rules for participation are strict. If you do not meet men’s standards, you cannot participate. Once you are in The Game, you job is to flirt, play hard to get, lead us on, and make sure our eyes aren’t on your chest for most of the conversation.
The Game, as fun as it is to play, is designed around the superficial expectations that women are given by our society. The Game is exclusive to only those who know how to play, and unless you learn, you’re going to end up alone
This endless cycle of men courting women has continued to grow and change over the years, but has retained the same principles, at least for guys: A man has to be a man and sweep a woman off her feet. This is what man thinks women want. As a result, especially with the media today, boys everywhere grow up thinking that they have to look and act like the men in 300. This means there is no chance for the average Joe.
Boys are not the only one suffering from women’s expectations, but women in some ways are taking more hits. Not every woman wants the guy of her dreams to sweep her off her feet and be treated like an object. However, the fact that men think that is what they want means that it has to be what they want. A woman today is torn between the media image of what she should be and what she actually wants to be. Women have it harder than you. How many times have you seen a fat girl have a “Spartan” boyfriend? Exactly. No guy wants to sweep an unattractive woman off her feet.
The solution? As a society, we have to stop playing The Game and come together. We have to get to know the other sex and how they feel. Both guys and girls do not want to play a game. Once the game is put out of commission, actual personality can be taken into the equation and true love can become easier to find.
Most of the time, we do not even realize we objectify people. How many times have you said, “Check out that hot chick” or “Oooo, cute boy?” It has become a societal norm to treat others as things and not people. This fact, combined with our objectification of love, our society has invented a bizarre ritual for dating; we like to call it the game. The game has lead to a separation of the sexes and an overall confusion on what the other one wants. The whole “game of love” ends up becoming a superficial, irrelevant quest to get laid. The combination of the media, parental values, and simply not knowing about the other sex has led to a cycle of insecurity and superficiality in men and women, making the idea of love irrelevant.
Firstly, the media has a lot of influence over adults live their life. We all want to be like our favorite celebrities: rolling in money and surrounded in hot, crazy, sexy parties. When we’re this impressionable, how impressionable do you think kids are today?
Kids are exposed to the superficial sexual world very early. Sex is everywhere today. Music videos are filled with scantily clad women, video games are filled with scantily clad women, magazines are filled with pictures of half naked people, and even cartoon shows have scantily clad women. Sure we can cut our kids off from the media, but kids these days cannot even be considered normal without knowing about all of this sex. Both men and women grow up thinking they must act a certain way to fit in.
For example, manly men are the men who follow the media’s image almost exactly. These guys are the guys who play football, watch football, and make bets on football. They’re into working out with the bros and getting drunk all the time. These guys wear three popped collars, and when you see them at a party, you know what they are after: the vagina. The superficiality taught by the media cause these guys to only care about one thing, themselves. They are simple minded, naïve jerks. They don’t care. If they seem like they do, it’s probably related to the aforementioned goal. You will never be closer to this guy than he is with his “homies.”
In actuality, this guy is insecure about his sexuality, and adheres too closely to the media’s image of him. There is no room for error. He is expected to be the stoic character that has no emotions. He acts as manly as possible because any other way would show him to be weak. He doesn’t want to show his girlfriend emotions because he thinks she wants a manly man. So instead of bringing her closer, he alienates her away.
On the other side of the spectrum, girls are taught to be living versions of Barbie. You’ve seen these girls before. These girls have so many things in their purses it’s terrifying. These girls try everything they must and only to look like they’re on The Hills. These girls hang out in cliques and give other girls “uncomplements” like, “That shirt looks great…on a clown” or “Wow, that’s so different.” These girls can go on talking about themselves for hours.
Just like the Manly man, this girl is really insecure. Behind the plastic, there is a scared lonely girl. Her “bitchyness” to other girls is a way to make her feel better about herself. She uses boys to fulfill her needs, because she wants to feel better about herself. In reality, she wants to be close to another person, but cannot let anyone know she cares because she feels like her looks are all people want and care about.
If you do not fit in, you either become dorky kids. The type guys are the sensitive types. They act like JD from Scrubs or Michael Cera in all of his movies. His hobbies include finding creative outlets such as photography, drawing, and playing the acoustic guitar. He is usually very creative and wears his emotions on his sleeve. These guys have friends who are girls or gay, and are a little awkward. He will do anything a girl wants because he wants to see her happy. It all starts out well, but there’s something missing with this guy. He actually listens, but doesn’t stand up for himself. It’s not enough that he will shave because a girl wants him to, or that he will stand by someone no matter what. He will be dumped because he has no aggressiveness. Girls who do not fit in a will play Halo with you, kick your butt at it, and then have a nerdgasm of a conversation. They wear plaid and Converse sneakers to compliment their thick-framed glasses. They obviously do not fit the mold society gives them. In fact, sometimes they make it a point to not fit into the mold. Relationships will start out well. She loves all the hobbies, video games, and music her boyfriend does; well at least she pretends to be. She actually cares enough to do the things he want to do. Unfortunately, we men tend to ruin everything good. She will eventually express an opinion he will not agree with, and will seem an annoying parasite, who is too different for your standards. When she finally feels comfortable to be herself around him, he shuts her down because her personality is too different. She becomes heartbroken and becomes even more insecure.
Not only does the media cause insecurity, but the so do the standards of parents. As children, parents are the people we go to when we need something. We don’t realize then that in order to get what we want, we have to act the way they want us to.
Again on the male side, you are expected to be tough. You play in the mud, get into fights, and play with anything that looks like a weapon. Boys are encouraged to be competitive. Fathers push their sons into football and baseball leagues and instill the idea that “winning is everything.” Losing is not an option. A man has to be strong. Every generation, boys are taught to be the provider, directly and indirectly. Father figures, both real and fictional are always the main pillar of the house. In every TV show, the father is the main bread winner, even if he’s a bumbling idiot. Boys have to be strong and manly, or else they are failures.
On the other hand, girls are encouraged to be the little miss perfect. It takes more than sugar, spice, and everything nice to be a girl. Little girls do not play in the mud, do not fight other girls, and definitely do not release gas in anyway. Girls have to be polite balls of sunshine who are so adorable it’s ridiculous, and it’s a lot of pressure. With the idea of little miss perfect, girls grow up under the pressure of not being good enough. As a result, insecurities arise and girls try to prove themselves to be better than the other girls. They grow up to put down other girls to pull themselves up the social ladder.
Finally, the separation of the sexes makes it hard to truly connect. Boys are constantly trying to figure out what girls want, while girls are trying to fit into a mold set by the media. The fast paced world we live in has caused the new generation to be more superficial than the last. Information bombards our children, forcing them to only take the quick looks at what is presented to them. This combined with all the sex, the concept of love has been replaced with having a copious amount of sex.
The Problem for both sides is “The Game.” The Game is the rituals we go through to interact with the other sex. Both sides have their own rules for participation and jobs.
For guys, it’s a little more lenient. Men can either be a “Spartan” , where girls automatically like him for him looks, Or can be the charismatic guy, who isn’t the best looking guy, but his personality makes up for it. Having a personality does not mean that the guy has to be nice; in fact, the idea of a genuinely has been put down: “Nice guys finish last.” The man rules are that you have to start the conversation and that it is your job to get into her pants.
Girls can basically do what they want, but with two conditions. To participate in The Game, ladies, you have to be at least what guys call “decent looking” and you have to have a vagina. The rules for participation are strict. If you do not meet men’s standards, you cannot participate. Once you are in The Game, you job is to flirt, play hard to get, lead us on, and make sure our eyes aren’t on your chest for most of the conversation.
The Game, as fun as it is to play, is designed around the superficial expectations that women are given by our society. The Game is exclusive to only those who know how to play, and unless you learn, you’re going to end up alone
This endless cycle of men courting women has continued to grow and change over the years, but has retained the same principles, at least for guys: A man has to be a man and sweep a woman off her feet. This is what man thinks women want. As a result, especially with the media today, boys everywhere grow up thinking that they have to look and act like the men in 300. This means there is no chance for the average Joe.
Boys are not the only one suffering from women’s expectations, but women in some ways are taking more hits. Not every woman wants the guy of her dreams to sweep her off her feet and be treated like an object. However, the fact that men think that is what they want means that it has to be what they want. A woman today is torn between the media image of what she should be and what she actually wants to be. Women have it harder than you. How many times have you seen a fat girl have a “Spartan” boyfriend? Exactly. No guy wants to sweep an unattractive woman off her feet.
The solution? As a society, we have to stop playing The Game and come together. We have to get to know the other sex and how they feel. Both guys and girls do not want to play a game. Once the game is put out of commission, actual personality can be taken into the equation and true love can become easier to find.
printable version
Student athletes are mistreated by certain teachers and students because of the numerous stereotypes about this group. The student athletes that want to do well in school have to go through extra adversity by these stereotypes and assumptions about what the student is all about. These ideas come from all kind of influences but mostly from the media and student athletes that fit this mold and leave a bad impression to their teachers. Shown through this paper are the different view points of the people involved and an idea of how this people feel about student athletes and the problems they are facing.
First people I want to touch on are the teachers, when I talk about teachers in this paper I do not want people to think I am talking about every teacher, I have had plenty of great teachers and this group far outweighs the number of bad teachers I have had. I am simple speaking on the few teachers I have had and experienced. I think most of these teachers have had student athletes that did not take their class seriously and felt they were only in school to pursuit their particular sport and class was only to stay eligible. This is more prominent in sports such as basketball and football in my opinion. But teachers are only human so when they are influenced by terrible students its natural for them to remember those experiences though a teacher should not treat a specific group differently from another. Teachers on the first day of class look at their class and make assumptions about theses people, they may not act on these stereotypes but the ones that do these are the teachers I’m talking about. When we take a look at our students for the first time we cannot help but come up with ideas about these people its only human. Most of the time my assumptions are correct and I don’t want to sound like this is what I am all about but athletes just generally don’t do well in my class. I usually find them to be lazy and uninterested. There are a lot of statistics that reinforce what I am saying. “From 1998-2001 men's basketball players graduated at 62 percent, while baseball produced a rate of 68 percent. Football Bowl Subdivision teams had a grad rate of 67 percent, and the Football Championship Subdivision came in at 65 percent. Women's bowling, at 68 percent, was the only other sport to finish below 70 percent.”
The next group is the student athletes; the group of student athletes is not a united one because there are so many different view points on their particular experiences with teachers. I was reading an article on student athlete life in and out the class from the Princeton news paper in which the students talk about not experiencing any unjust treatment from any teachers. You would have to take this statement in context because Princeton being one of the top academic organizations in the country so the teachers are the most qualified as well as they are not the best athletic program therefore student athletes are more interested in getting a great education than playing professional sports. On the flip side a football player going through the University of Southern California is most likely subject to plenty of stereotyping. “In the classroom, though, Shultz said he hasn't noticed any prejudice against student-athletes, either from professors or peers.” I certainly haven't been treated any differently by my professors or preceptors than any other student," he said. "They may inquire about how the game went this weekend, but I don't detect any sort of ill will toward an athlete." And then there is the group that live up to the stereotyping because they do not worry about their classes because they do not think they are going to stay in school as they anticipate themselves going to play professional sports. “Defending national football champion LSU had a grad rate of 54 percent; defending men's basketball champ Kansas came in at 64 percent”, these two teams have a group of students that dropped out to go on to play professionally.
Yet still there are plenty of athletes that break this mold and succeed in academics as well as athletics, “When Penn State field hockey star Susann Bisignaro takes the field, fans can't help but notice her athletic ability. Her long hours of practice are evidenced by how well she plays the game. But she and other Penn State athletes have another side few people notice. Because most people never get to see the academic side of Bisignaro and her fellow athletes, they tend to forget that Penn State athletes must devote just as much time to class work as they do to athletics.” A lot of people still have the misperception that we're just athletes, that we don't excel in the classroom," Bisignaro said. "There is a growing emphasis on academics. On our team, academics really come first."
Bisignaro is proof that many athletes excel in the classroom. She recently changed her major from biology to general arts and sciences with an emphasis on pre-law and claims that her 3.3 grade point average is "a little low.” So why do many people still consider athletes to be "dumb jocks?" I tried to bottle up this emotion into a first person speech; Student Athletes take academics more seriously than athletics! What, it can’t be! I don’t understand why people can’t pick this up from other students to teachers. Don’t get me wrong I love the sport I play, if I didn’t I wouldn’t be able to sacrifice countless hours out of my life to compete. But I do understand that one day the ball is going to stop bouncing, even if I do go pro. Then what are you going to do? Ill tell you, you fall back on your academics and support your family or what ever obligations you have. My parents raised me well and I got a good head on my shoulders and don’t let my skill in athletics fool you.
Another aspect of a student athlete that most people don’t know about is how many things you have to do on a daily basis, its not just showing up for the games and playing. “He is awake by 6 a.m. to attend his conditioning program from 6:30 to 8 a.m. After conditioning, he has an hour before class starts at 9 a.m., then his classes last until 12 a.m. From 1 to 2 p.m. he reports to study hall before he does weight lifting and that goes from 2 to 3 p.m. The team then scrimmages from 3 to 5 p.m. There is one last trip to study hall from 5 to 6 p.m. and he finally has the chance to catch his breath. That's his schedule before the season starts.” Pressures on a student athlete are crazy, from pressures to do well in the class room, do well on the court and keep up with my social life. It is really hard for me to balance but I’m beginning to learn how to manage it, in high school we would always have practice after school and varsity games were at 7 so way past the closing of school. Now I have practice before or after class depending on the day and there will be a couple of classes I will miss because basketball which will set me behind. I have to catch up on all four of my classes while still having class, practice and meetings. For basketball we are required to make a time management sheet every week and it is packed and usually don’t have a break off from anything until around 8 every night, then you have to do homework and studying, it could get pretty stressful. On top of this I’m a really social person so I make sure to attempt to have a social life and it is near impossible to keep up on having one, but I guess this is what I signed up for when I accepted a scholarship.
In addition to all these pressures on and off the court, student athletes have social lives and must interact with other student not playing sports, most of it is fine but every now and then athletes have conflict with other students. Athletes probably feel like this, Stereotyping of student athletes is not subject to just in the classroom. Athletes are always busy with something from class to practice to extra things you do with your team, as an athlete you have very little free time and I see eye to eye with this. But being a student you find a way to have a social life with the little time that you do have. But at school people know who you are and already have an assumption about you. "I think some students don't believe that we really should be here," said Ricky Shultz '04, a lacrosse player. "There were kids at my high school who applied to Princeton who may have had better grades, better SAT scores but who didn't get in, and some people may think that they have more of a right to be here than I do." On the other hand students may feel like this about student athletes, sure he’s awesome on the field but off he’s a jerk. Basically a bully, he thinks he could do anything and get away with anything and it makes my blood boil when people act like this is ok it just boosts his ego even more. People give athletes special treatment in school, they get off so easy. I can’t be the only one who is angered by this plus off campus they feel like their better than everyone and segregate themselves from regular students like they’re better than everyone else. Saying all this people still love them and strive to be like them and get on their good side, well not me.
Lastly a big stakeholder in the image of a student athlete is the media, The media to me has the biggest role on making the appearance of student athletes smudged because whenever someone turns on the TV they see a student getting in trouble or a star athlete getting caught cheating on their SAT’s and what not. Understanding that the news needs to report on what’s going on but the thing that does not ever get noticed or acknowledged is when a student athlete is doing well in the classroom as well as their sport. Another thing is the role athletes are portrayed in movies and TV shows is one that is dumb, slow or a jock that bullies around their peers. So in reality people subconsciously render these thoughts and prejudge people. In a first person account of a person working for the media might be something like, our job is to collect information and deliver it to the public, good or bad. I don’t care whose feelings get hurt or who gets upset about this, it’s my job. I can’t help it whenever I cover a sports story an athlete is getting into some kind of trouble, if they want to get out of the news, tell them to conduct themselves with some class. I understand we could make or break a person’s image but we are never going to censor ourselves because your hometown hero got himself in trouble, I don’t care how old he is.
Throughout this paper I tried to show the reasons why stereotyping of student athletes go on because of people like teachers and student that have something against athletes. The similarities between all these stakeholders excluding the media are that they do not want to be taken advantage of. Teachers want to see their students to work hard in their class and learn something; they do not want to see students to think they are better than the class and not take it seriously because teachers take this as disrespect. Also ordinary students do not want other student athletes to take advantage of the fact a lot of people probably know who they are and let it feed their egos therefore athletes thing regular students are below them. They only group that has nothing in common with any of these experiences is the media, this is because the media doesn’t go to school they don’t know how the life is they just report when something happens, this is why they cannot report on what exactly is going on thus giving student athletes a bad look.
Work Cited
Gulland, Molly, Joe Falencki, and Ross Mazo. "A league of their own: Athletic teams shape some social lives." Web.
MUTZABAUGH, Ben. "Advisory board tries to fight athletes' negative stereotypes." Web..
CBS sports wire. "NCAA: Graduation rates of student-athletes at all-time high." Web..
First people I want to touch on are the teachers, when I talk about teachers in this paper I do not want people to think I am talking about every teacher, I have had plenty of great teachers and this group far outweighs the number of bad teachers I have had. I am simple speaking on the few teachers I have had and experienced. I think most of these teachers have had student athletes that did not take their class seriously and felt they were only in school to pursuit their particular sport and class was only to stay eligible. This is more prominent in sports such as basketball and football in my opinion. But teachers are only human so when they are influenced by terrible students its natural for them to remember those experiences though a teacher should not treat a specific group differently from another. Teachers on the first day of class look at their class and make assumptions about theses people, they may not act on these stereotypes but the ones that do these are the teachers I’m talking about. When we take a look at our students for the first time we cannot help but come up with ideas about these people its only human. Most of the time my assumptions are correct and I don’t want to sound like this is what I am all about but athletes just generally don’t do well in my class. I usually find them to be lazy and uninterested. There are a lot of statistics that reinforce what I am saying. “From 1998-2001 men's basketball players graduated at 62 percent, while baseball produced a rate of 68 percent. Football Bowl Subdivision teams had a grad rate of 67 percent, and the Football Championship Subdivision came in at 65 percent. Women's bowling, at 68 percent, was the only other sport to finish below 70 percent.”
The next group is the student athletes; the group of student athletes is not a united one because there are so many different view points on their particular experiences with teachers. I was reading an article on student athlete life in and out the class from the Princeton news paper in which the students talk about not experiencing any unjust treatment from any teachers. You would have to take this statement in context because Princeton being one of the top academic organizations in the country so the teachers are the most qualified as well as they are not the best athletic program therefore student athletes are more interested in getting a great education than playing professional sports. On the flip side a football player going through the University of Southern California is most likely subject to plenty of stereotyping. “In the classroom, though, Shultz said he hasn't noticed any prejudice against student-athletes, either from professors or peers.” I certainly haven't been treated any differently by my professors or preceptors than any other student," he said. "They may inquire about how the game went this weekend, but I don't detect any sort of ill will toward an athlete." And then there is the group that live up to the stereotyping because they do not worry about their classes because they do not think they are going to stay in school as they anticipate themselves going to play professional sports. “Defending national football champion LSU had a grad rate of 54 percent; defending men's basketball champ Kansas came in at 64 percent”, these two teams have a group of students that dropped out to go on to play professionally.
Yet still there are plenty of athletes that break this mold and succeed in academics as well as athletics, “When Penn State field hockey star Susann Bisignaro takes the field, fans can't help but notice her athletic ability. Her long hours of practice are evidenced by how well she plays the game. But she and other Penn State athletes have another side few people notice. Because most people never get to see the academic side of Bisignaro and her fellow athletes, they tend to forget that Penn State athletes must devote just as much time to class work as they do to athletics.” A lot of people still have the misperception that we're just athletes, that we don't excel in the classroom," Bisignaro said. "There is a growing emphasis on academics. On our team, academics really come first."
Bisignaro is proof that many athletes excel in the classroom. She recently changed her major from biology to general arts and sciences with an emphasis on pre-law and claims that her 3.3 grade point average is "a little low.” So why do many people still consider athletes to be "dumb jocks?" I tried to bottle up this emotion into a first person speech; Student Athletes take academics more seriously than athletics! What, it can’t be! I don’t understand why people can’t pick this up from other students to teachers. Don’t get me wrong I love the sport I play, if I didn’t I wouldn’t be able to sacrifice countless hours out of my life to compete. But I do understand that one day the ball is going to stop bouncing, even if I do go pro. Then what are you going to do? Ill tell you, you fall back on your academics and support your family or what ever obligations you have. My parents raised me well and I got a good head on my shoulders and don’t let my skill in athletics fool you.
Another aspect of a student athlete that most people don’t know about is how many things you have to do on a daily basis, its not just showing up for the games and playing. “He is awake by 6 a.m. to attend his conditioning program from 6:30 to 8 a.m. After conditioning, he has an hour before class starts at 9 a.m., then his classes last until 12 a.m. From 1 to 2 p.m. he reports to study hall before he does weight lifting and that goes from 2 to 3 p.m. The team then scrimmages from 3 to 5 p.m. There is one last trip to study hall from 5 to 6 p.m. and he finally has the chance to catch his breath. That's his schedule before the season starts.” Pressures on a student athlete are crazy, from pressures to do well in the class room, do well on the court and keep up with my social life. It is really hard for me to balance but I’m beginning to learn how to manage it, in high school we would always have practice after school and varsity games were at 7 so way past the closing of school. Now I have practice before or after class depending on the day and there will be a couple of classes I will miss because basketball which will set me behind. I have to catch up on all four of my classes while still having class, practice and meetings. For basketball we are required to make a time management sheet every week and it is packed and usually don’t have a break off from anything until around 8 every night, then you have to do homework and studying, it could get pretty stressful. On top of this I’m a really social person so I make sure to attempt to have a social life and it is near impossible to keep up on having one, but I guess this is what I signed up for when I accepted a scholarship.
In addition to all these pressures on and off the court, student athletes have social lives and must interact with other student not playing sports, most of it is fine but every now and then athletes have conflict with other students. Athletes probably feel like this, Stereotyping of student athletes is not subject to just in the classroom. Athletes are always busy with something from class to practice to extra things you do with your team, as an athlete you have very little free time and I see eye to eye with this. But being a student you find a way to have a social life with the little time that you do have. But at school people know who you are and already have an assumption about you. "I think some students don't believe that we really should be here," said Ricky Shultz '04, a lacrosse player. "There were kids at my high school who applied to Princeton who may have had better grades, better SAT scores but who didn't get in, and some people may think that they have more of a right to be here than I do." On the other hand students may feel like this about student athletes, sure he’s awesome on the field but off he’s a jerk. Basically a bully, he thinks he could do anything and get away with anything and it makes my blood boil when people act like this is ok it just boosts his ego even more. People give athletes special treatment in school, they get off so easy. I can’t be the only one who is angered by this plus off campus they feel like their better than everyone and segregate themselves from regular students like they’re better than everyone else. Saying all this people still love them and strive to be like them and get on their good side, well not me.
Lastly a big stakeholder in the image of a student athlete is the media, The media to me has the biggest role on making the appearance of student athletes smudged because whenever someone turns on the TV they see a student getting in trouble or a star athlete getting caught cheating on their SAT’s and what not. Understanding that the news needs to report on what’s going on but the thing that does not ever get noticed or acknowledged is when a student athlete is doing well in the classroom as well as their sport. Another thing is the role athletes are portrayed in movies and TV shows is one that is dumb, slow or a jock that bullies around their peers. So in reality people subconsciously render these thoughts and prejudge people. In a first person account of a person working for the media might be something like, our job is to collect information and deliver it to the public, good or bad. I don’t care whose feelings get hurt or who gets upset about this, it’s my job. I can’t help it whenever I cover a sports story an athlete is getting into some kind of trouble, if they want to get out of the news, tell them to conduct themselves with some class. I understand we could make or break a person’s image but we are never going to censor ourselves because your hometown hero got himself in trouble, I don’t care how old he is.
Throughout this paper I tried to show the reasons why stereotyping of student athletes go on because of people like teachers and student that have something against athletes. The similarities between all these stakeholders excluding the media are that they do not want to be taken advantage of. Teachers want to see their students to work hard in their class and learn something; they do not want to see students to think they are better than the class and not take it seriously because teachers take this as disrespect. Also ordinary students do not want other student athletes to take advantage of the fact a lot of people probably know who they are and let it feed their egos therefore athletes thing regular students are below them. They only group that has nothing in common with any of these experiences is the media, this is because the media doesn’t go to school they don’t know how the life is they just report when something happens, this is why they cannot report on what exactly is going on thus giving student athletes a bad look.
Work Cited
Gulland, Molly, Joe Falencki, and Ross Mazo. "A league of their own: Athletic teams shape some social lives." Web.
MUTZABAUGH, Ben. "Advisory board tries to fight athletes' negative stereotypes." Web.
CBS sports wire. "NCAA: Graduation rates of student-athletes at all-time high." Web.
Pride and Prejudice: My Reality "Flat" Edition
Pride & Prejudice
My Reality Edition
“I do the very best I can to look upon life with optimism and hope and looking forward to a better day, but I don't think there is anything such as complete happiness. It pains me that there is still a lot of Klan activity and racism. I think when you say you're happy, you have everything that you need and everything that you want, and nothing more to wish for. I haven't reached that stage yet” (Rosa Parks). The world still hasn’t reached the stage of being completely “happy.” Racism, prejudice and discrimination still linger in many facets of life today despite many great leaps forward to end them all for good. I am presenting my argument on these very topics. One may recognize the title of my analytical hypertext as a hit television show, but I am using its meaning literally to the fullest extent. I will take the time to highlight racism in its smallest and largest forms. The example that I will emphasize is in (parochial) high schools, with a little bit on contributors to the parochial school system. I want to give the best example I possibly can about this pressing issue and I figured that taking an experience out of my own book would communicate my message the best. I have personally heard racism and prejudice, not directed toward me, but toward my religion. Believe it or not, there are still people that have a reason to be hateful toward people that don't look like, act like, or come from the same background, religion, or ethnicity as them. The fact that a certain individual is different does not give anyone the right to be racist or make some funny joke about them. Racism is the worst type of insult out there that one can possible face. There is nothing that is lower than racism on the totem pole. For my specific example at my high school, I will reveal the fact that I am Jewish and I went to a Roman Catholic high school. I loved the high school I went to very much, don't get me wrong, but a sparse amount of the students there who would sink to new lows and exhibit derogatory behavior in this (racist) respect, angered me to the point where are I really felt I would be letting myself down if I didn't do anything about it. If I didn't do anything about it, no one would. I take pride in being Jewish. I will not compromise my pride and dignity for some individuals that think making fun of it has become some sort of sport. I will use the points of view of Martin Luther King Jr. and Elie Wiesel, and the Munich Olympics and Holocaust, to add to my point on a broader perspective. We may not be able to eliminate racism, discrimination, and prejudice completely and we will have to start small, but the faster that we spread awareness and silence this chauvinism, the more civilized this world will become.
As a high school student going to a private, Roman Catholic, I went about my business. I was a studious individual: I went to class, participated in extracurricular activities, and hung out with my friends every so often (your average high school student, right?). Well I bet your "average" high school student didn't have to listen to the type of stuff that I had to all around campus when he or she least expected it. The people who I thought were my friends were using derogatory words, racist comments, toward my background of Judaism. The things that my "peers" were saying ranged from: "Hey man, you just got Super-Jewed!" to "Dude, why are you being such a Jew?" (These quotes implied something along the lines of, "Hey man, you just got gypped!---yet another derogatory comment implying being "ripped off"---and "Dude, why are you so cheap?") I mean, seriously, do you have any decency whatsoever? Do you know that Jewish people go to this school? This is exactly what I would say to myself and then communicated to the individual(s) in a calm and collected manner. Although none of this chauvinism was directed toward me personally, I could not let myself just hang in the balance and watch it happen. I would be letting myself, and my pride & dignity of loving my background of Judaism, go straight down the drain. Consequently, I went up to the people who I heard saying these things, and told them that that what they were saying was unacceptable and discriminatory. Using slang and racism is just so dehumanizing and it doesn’t help using it in speech. This is the way I take it. If I feel insulted, then I can insult the person who insulted me right? An eye for an eye? I'll quickly find something about them that I think is funny and use that against them. Nope. I just hope my message reverberates in their head so the next time they think about saying it again they will think twice. Racism does not only affect the students going to a (high) school, it affects the school. For my parochial high school in particular, I wondered what the Roman Catholic Church would think.
Racism at any parochial school out there would call its Mission Statement, reputation, and religious affiliation into question. Most Catholic, coeducational, college preparatory schools in Diocese of San Jose have nearly the same Mission Statements. “They embrace the Catholic educational mission of developing community, teaching the message of the Gospels, and promoting service, peace, and justice. Recognizing that each individual is created in the image and likeness of God, they celebrate and affirm their diverse cultural community and encourage students to respond to their world with competence, insight, understanding, courage, and compassion based on a tradition of faith and moral values.” I took some of these points from my own high school’s Mission Statement. Now how exactly would racism on campus compare with a Mission Statement like this? A high school, or at least the administration and faculty of the high school, lives up to the words of their Mission Statement each and every day no matter what. They want and need to set a good example for the faculty they hire. But, the students are another story. The students these days feel like they can make their lives easier by using slang and abbreviations here and there when they talk to their friends. When racism is involved, it is out of the question. Use as much slang and abbreviations as you want, but do not get racism involved. It is not a good idea. Karma will eventually catch with those people who choose to turn a deaf ear to this, I don’t need to worry about it any further than when I confront them about the issue the first or second time. In regards to reputation, schools constantly monitor it because they need to keep receiving tuition from their paying families. If reputation drops, the families will pull their kids out of the school and its all downhill from there. Reputation of a high school like mine is a really BIG deal. No joke. The administration would go very far to make sure that their school's reputation was not tarnished whether it be from actions of current students, at sporting events, etc...Comparing reputation to my issue of fighting racism on (high) school campuses, the first thing that parochial high school administrations worry about is what their religious affiliate is going to think. The Roman Catholic Church already doesn't have that great of a reputation according to some sources. Racism at a parochial school affiliate will not make it any better.
What happens when public schools and private (parochial) schools are compared with one another? The one thing I can use to clearly differentiate between them is how they would respond to racism on their campuses. Public high school campuses, having less of a strictly bound Mission Statement, have more of a leeway when it comes to dealing with racism, discrimination, and prejudice. No disrespect to the students that went to public high schools, because I had a lot of friends that went to them, but overall, the generalization that is made that the students that go there are free to establish themselves on a campus that is their playing ground, which is not always a good thing. Compared with private high schools, public high schools have only their reputation to worry about since they are not religiously affiliated. Private high schools take the time to make sure that their campuses are free and clear of racism, prejudice, and discrimination because it does not coincide with the values that agree with their religious affiliation.
In order to drive my point home after presenting some topics close to my own experience at my high school, I broadened my perspective on how bad racism could get using Elie Wiesel, MLK Jr., the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, and the Holocaust (1933-1945). I used these examples for the sole reason that they would somewhat “enlighten,” (scare, for the lack of a better word), my audience. Elie Wiesel is one of my greatest role models of all time. this man is a unique individual who faced certain death in the midst of severe racism, prejudice, and discrimination, and lived to tell the tale. Eliezer took a while to come out with his story, but he decided that it was best to tell the world what he knew. His words in the video (to the right) sent shivers down my spine. Listen to each and every word he says. I can only imagine what he went through. He was able to write a series of novels (Night, Dawn, and Day) in which he was able to tell his story about what he experienced during one of the most horrific periods in history. His message was small, but his voice was powerful. In the period now known as the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler enacted “The Final Solution,” which destroyed what used to be some semblance of a normal life for Jews (and other [religious] groups) living in Europe. Wiesel lived to tell the world what he really couldn't bear to remember. He just couldn't stay silent, to him it would be a sin to not tell the world what he saw. Martin Luther King Jr., the inspirational speaker of the 1960s, "had a dream." He had a dream that the one day the USA will live up to its creed in the Constitution that "all men are created equal." He had a dream that discrimination, racism, and prejudice between white individuals and colored individuals would come to a finite end. He started a movement in the Civil Rights Era that was unlike no other. He saw the flaws in the system and he knew that no one would do anything about it in fear of being killed. But, he put his own life at stake for the best interest of African Americans all around the country and those that travel to the USA from around the world. The atrocities that occurred in the 1960s to African Americans were equal if not worse than those in the Holocaust. Hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) were the Adolf Hitler's of the new decade, extinguishing the lives of any individual that was different from their common ideal of the perfect person. People like MLK Jr. fought for the common good of the people. The fact that Barack Obama was elected to the office of President of the United States on November 4, 2008 shows Americans how far we have come since the 1960s. The first African American President of the United States was a monumental milestone in the history of this country. This citizens of the USA have indeed learned something. Unfortunately, some citizens still turn a deaf ear to these types of things. That is why racism still exists out there in small quantities (high schools like mine) and is waiting for a spark to expand into something bigger. The 1972 Munich Summer Olympics startled the world yet again. Arab terrorists awoke the world to the painful reality that hate groups still existed and they had to to take the lives of the innocent Israeli Olympic Team to prove it. Germany was trying to improve its reputation lost during the Holocaust and the show that it would welcome Israel with arms. However, they structured their Olympic Games so loosely that terrorists fell through the cracks without any problems whatsoever. The Israeli Olympic team members were attacked and even killed in their hotel rooms. The terrorists announced that they were Palestinians and demanded that Israel release 200 Arab prisoners and that the terrorists be given safe passage out of Germany. This was obviously not going to happen. Germany had screwed up yet again. What outraged the world was that the games went on even after the remainder of the Israeli Olympic Team was killed at an airstrip where German police tried to free them from the hands of the hostages.
All in all, racism, discrimination, and prejudice, come in all different shapes and sizes, indicative in my experiences at my high school and (historical) examples relating to them that I presented as well. The only thing that individuals can really do take a stand against this “hate” is to speak out and take action. It will take a while, but I believe, much like Martin Luther King Jr. did, that it will all vanish. This world has the potential to do great things and racist and discriminatory behavior should not impede it in that process. There have been several events that have happened over the course of history that have opened our eyes to something that we never really though was possible (genocide of Jews in Europe to atrocities done to African Americans in the 1960s), yet it still shows up in our history books. There is no avoiding our past, but we can prevent atrocities like this in the future. We have seen and learned enough to know what is right and wrong. There is no reason to hate another person because of what religion they follow or what ethnicity they come from. “Hate” is pointless. It might still occur here and there, but if enough concern arises to stop it then it will be struck down. “Racism, pollution and the rest of it are themselves very close to extinction” (R. Buckminster Fuller).
(2,448 words)
-this essay was put in proper MLA format when typed but when I copied and pasted it here the indents and double-spacing and such went away.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Michael Adair Flat Version
Michael Adair
Prof. Bousquet
English 1A
25 October 2009
Embryonic Stem Cell Research: The Debate
In the past decade or so, embryonic stem cell research has become an extremely emotional and thought-provoking topic in the United States of America. Embryonic stem cells can come from actual human embryos, typically five to seven days old, or from miscarriages/aborted fetuses. So why all the hype around stem cell research? Some people, typically those with deeply held religious beliefs feel as though the production of embryos, only to remove the stem cells from them a few days later, is a form of murder. They believe that artificially creating an embryo and then removing the stem cells is murder because we are “destroying a human life.” On the other hand, other people feel as though this is not murder because it is not technically “life.” individuals do not feel as though a five-day fetus that was artificially inseminated can be defined as a human life. Typically, people fall on one side or another on this issue depending on his/her definition of human life. However, there are some who recognize this as the taking of a human life, yet feel as though the potential of embryonic stem cell research is worth the lives of fetuses that were created and not used. The governmental stand on the topic influences the entire embryonic stem cell research situation as well. It is amazing how widespread the viewpoints on this topic are, whether the parties involved are scientists, patients, politicians, people with religious objections, or progressive hippies. Each has their own unique take on the situation; hence the strong debates on all sides.
The entire stem cell debate brings up an enormous issue. How do we define life, and at what point does a life begin? Is it ethical to artificially inseminate hundreds of eggs in the hope that one of them will progress into a human life while the others are frozen and useless? Is a life only considered a life once a baby is born, in the 1st trimester, 2nd trimester, 3rd trimester, or at the point of conception? All of these questions are crucial when determining one’s view on embryonic stem cell research. There are many different viewpoints, whether you believe that a five-day-old egg is a “human being,” or whether or not you think it’s just scientific terms until you can actually see the baby with the naked eye. Some people feel that if an egg is artificially inseminated for research purposes, it is not meant to be born. Also, some people feel as though the risk of destroying human life at its early stages is definitely worth it because of the potential health benefits that embryonic stem cell research offers. Two of the primary viewpoints of this issue are of those that are opposed to embryonic stem cell research and those that are supportive of stem cell research.
Many of the people that feel as though embryonic stem cell research is destroying human lives are those of the deeply religious faith. They feel as though there is no potential in embryonic stem cell research that is worth the immoral or ethical act of using newly created embryos for scientific research. In their minds, when a sperm cell and an ovum meet each other conception, this is the beginning of human life. Furthermore, many of those who oppose embryonic stem cell research feel as though embryos receive a soul at the time of conception. This means that they are humans and deserve the right to life. This leads to their conclusion that it is homicide to kill these newly formed embryos for scientific research due to the fact they are “human lives.” Spokesperson Douglas Johnson stated that any embryo destruction of use of stem cells involves the murder of "non-consensual human subjects," (Pew Forum). However, the fact is that none of these cells have turned into anything more than stem cells. They haven’t turned into liver cells, heart cells, bone cells, or anything else. It is at this point that the advocates of stem cell research maintain that it is not a human life, but a cluster of cells, a zygote without embryonic qualities, and therefore is not murder. Non-supporters of embryonic stem cell research are discouraged from admitting that they are wrong about when a human life changes, because it could lead to increases in abortions due to the fact that people will start to consider the fetus inside them not human and abortion levels would rise.
There are many people who disagree with the religious definition of “life,” and when life is conceived. These people are perhaps more scientific in their reasoning that using newly formed embryos, which are just a cluster of cells that aren’t even specific yet, is not any form of murder. Pro-choice advocates do not feel as though a zygote is a human person. They see it as a potential person but nothing more. They believe life begins at a later stage of pregnancy.
The incredible potential of stem cell research drives these proponents because the medical possibilities that unfold with the development of stem cell research can be phenomenal. In response to a question regarding the moral implications of using components of human life for future embryonic stem cell research, James Thomson, the first scientist to isolate and culture embryonic stem cells, stated, “The bottom line is that there are 400,000 frozen embryos in the United States, and a large percentage of those are going to be thrown out. Regardless of what you think the moral status of those embryos is, it makes sense to me that it's a better moral decision to use them to help people than just to throw them out. It's a very complex issue, but to me it boils down to that one thing” (Pew Forum).
The non-supporters who are adamant about their beliefs that stem cell research is “homicide,” even though there are an incredible amount of embryos that have already been created, are halting Scientific/medical progress. These embryos are being frozen and there are hundreds of thousands of them that are not being used for any purpose. Usually they are just discarded, when they could be used for scientific research to help other people who are sick. Laurie Zoloth, Ph.D., professor of medical humanities & bioethics and religion, director of Center for Bioethics at Northwestern University stated in a congressional testimony, "While I respect that this is a difference in theology [regarding the moral status of a human child], and while I understand the passion and the conviction of those for whom the blastocyst is a person from the moment of fertilization, I do not believe this, and it is [a] matter of faith for me as well. My passion and my conviction are toward the suffering of the one I see in need, ill or wounded" (Pew Forum). Is this not morally corrupt to deny those people who are sick an opportunity, even a slight glimmer of hope, that they may someday be better? In a sense, every time someone uses birth control, it’s a form of murder. There are thousands of opportunities for potential life, yet they are stifled by the use of condoms, pills, etc. We must not let foolishness stand in the way of progress.
As with most contemporary issues, the government plays a huge role in the controversy. Due to the fact that people endorse most government decisions (whether or not they agree with the decision) through taxation, the role that the government takes on a subject is crucial. Therefore, each political party has taken a different standpoint on the issue of embryonic stem cell research. The Republican Party, led by George W. Bush, was against embryonic stem cell research. As a result, during the eight years of his presidency, embryonic stem cell research was not fully funded with American tax dollars. However, Barack Obama and the Democratic Party (generally proponents of embryonic stem cell research) have taken office, and the endorsement of stem cell research is changing.
Federal funding of stem cell research remains a hot topic. Whether or not the President decides to fund embryonic stem cell research determines whether or not the American public is paying tax money for a practice that many find immoral. George W. Bush did not entirely discourage federal funds being spent on embryonic stem cell research. He did, however, have extremely specific requirements. In order for federal funds to be used, the derivation process had to have begun before 9 PM on August 9, 2001. This limited a lot of the research that could have taken place. Also, the embryo to be used had to have been created for reproduction purposes with no intention of being used again. One last condition for the research was that there must be consent from the donators to use the embryo, and that no monetary compensation was given (National Institute of Health). These regulations really specified what types of embryonic stem cell research could take place and what types couldn’t, and made the research difficult to perform.
Recently, Obama has overturned the ban that President Bush put on embryonic stem cell research. Obama is in the house (literally) and is making changes right and left. Funding for embryonic stem cell research is no exception. In his first year of presidency, Obama has overturned Bush’s ban on embryonic stem cell funding. This is creating hope for scientists, patients, and doctors alike who felt that Bush’s policies were primarily political and were a detriment to potential scientific/medical possibilities. "I feel vindicated after eight years of struggle, and I know it's going to energize my research team," said Dr George Daley of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Children’s Hospital of Boston. "Science works best and patients are served best by having all the tools at our disposal" (Guardian). This opens the door to all sorts of new medical possibilities, even though the debate over the ethical consequences of embryonic stem cell research rage on.
In spite of all the hope behind embryonic stem cell research, I must admit that many of the experiments that have involved stem cell research result in the growth of tumors. However, that is often the progression of scientific research; a few steps forward and one-step backward.
There is hope. Even without the use of embryonic stem cells, there is hope. Advances in other types of non-embryonic stem cell research have led to medical improvements. Adult stem cells are obtained from either umbilical cords or bone marrow and have proved to be effective so far. However, the problem with adult stem cells is they are very difficult to obtain. Obtaining stem cells from bone marrow is a difficult way to proceed with stem cell research, and brain/spinal cells are complicated as well. There has been significant success with the use of adult stem cells in treating spinal cord injuries. My grandmother, Joan Adair, was involved in an automobile accident. She received severe spinal cord injuries from the accident and became a paraplegic. This occurred in the late 1980’s. Eventually the injuries led to complications and she passed away. If stem cell research had been as well known as it is today, then her quality of life may have significantly improved. It is for reasons like this, injured family members that need help, that I am fully supportive of any kind of stem cell research. Why should good people suffer and die because we refuse to use resources and knowledge to expand our medical possibilities? I am a strongly religious man, yet I realize that stem cell research has many more positives than negatives, especially since the negative is an entirely subjective topic with no way to objectively resolve the ethical dilemmas because no one really knows when life begins. It appears as though there is one common theme when considering patients treated by adult stem cell research; they wish people were more informed. Everyone is so caught up in the hype surrounding embryonic stem cells that they aren’t even aware that there are alternatives to embryonic stem cell research. These alternatives, mostly in the form of adult stem cells that have been taken from bone marrow and other areas, have been used in recent years and have been enormously successful in treating diseases. Accounts of patients have been nothing but supportive of stem cell research. Those patients that are extremely religious also agree that adult stem cell research is a great thing, they just disagree with the moral implications of embryonic stem cell research. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a person that is educated in stem cell research that feels as though adult stem cells are a bad idea.
As with every argument, there is always some middle ground. This can be seen in the embryonic stem cell debate as well. Although a great number of people view this practice as “unethical, immoral, and murder,” there are also prominent figures that are pro-life who entirely agree that the scientific potential is much more important than an un-resolvable, subjective debate over the definition of life. U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah July 23, 2006, commented on President Bush's veto of federal funding for stem cell research using human embryos "I understand that many have ethical and moral reservations about stem cell research, but for the same reason I describe myself as pro-life, I embrace embryonic stem cell research because I believe being pro-life is not only caring for the unborn but also caring for the living” (Pew Forum). Medical advances can help future generations, and if the cost is an embryo that will never be used for anything more than being frozen, we should just accept it. Bill Frist, former U.S. senator and Republican majority leader from Tennessee said in a speech on the Senate floor, "I am pro-life. I believe human life begins at conception. I also believe that embryonic stem cell research should be encouraged and supported. ... An embryo is nascent human life. This position is consistent with my faith. But, to me, it isn't just a matter of faith. It's a fact of science" (Pew Forum). For some people, faith can be incorporated into their beliefs. Logic wins out; we must progress as a society. Faith need not be compromised, just adapted. The benefits outweigh the costs. Just as Niccolo Machiavelli said in The Prince, “The Ends Justify the Means.” We can meet at a middle ground. Yes, many may consider it human life, but at what cost are we preserving a potential human life?
"Human Embryonic Stem Cell Policy Under Former President Bush." Stem Cell Information. National Institute of Health, 10 Mar. 2009. Web. 19 Oct. 2009.
Nasaw, Daniel. "Obama ends Bush ban on embryo stem cell research." Guardian.co.uk. Guardian, 6 Mar. 2009. Web. 19 Oct. 2009.
"Quotes on Stem Cell Research from Political, Religious and Other Prominent Figures." Pewforum.org. The Pew Forum, 17 July 2009. Web. 18 Oct. 2009.
"Success Stories with Adult Stem Cells Coming in Almost Too Fast to Track." LifeSiteNews.com. Life Site News, 20 Jan. 2005. Web. 19 Oct. 2009.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Six Additional Things&5 Questions for a Check List
Do not refer to your home page as "home." This is uninteresting and should have something a little more original. You may have a navigation bar as well as a home site navigation bar. You may want to create sub groups within your site and navigation bar in order to generate more organization within your hyptertext.
Key word spotting is a technique often used in online reading to locate important and relavant information to your hypertext. 78% of readers claim to be "selective readers" so it is imparative that information is accurate and informative.
A common "F-shape" has been recognized in research therefore the tops and sides of the hypertext should include key words that engage readers. Informative sub headers and beginning of paragraphs should intice readers. Always use active voice in your writing.
1. Is your hypertext easy to navigate?
2. Is your topic easily identifiable?
3. Do you have multiple links that coordinate with your topic?
4. Are there enough key words that will engage your audience?
5. Do your colors have enough contrast and are appealing to your audiences' eyes?
Key word spotting is a technique often used in online reading to locate important and relavant information to your hypertext. 78% of readers claim to be "selective readers" so it is imparative that information is accurate and informative.
A common "F-shape" has been recognized in research therefore the tops and sides of the hypertext should include key words that engage readers. Informative sub headers and beginning of paragraphs should intice readers. Always use active voice in your writing.
1. Is your hypertext easy to navigate?
2. Is your topic easily identifiable?
3. Do you have multiple links that coordinate with your topic?
4. Are there enough key words that will engage your audience?
5. Do your colors have enough contrast and are appealing to your audiences' eyes?
Your website sucks
my website doesnt. i just need to figure out exactly what my thesis is, and how to best proove it. However design-wise its pretty. It has a concise theme based around retro computers, and is featured on every single page.
my website already uses most of the suggestions listed on the page, however i do like the idea of the breadcrumbs
i already employ most of the techniques discussed by liu.
as for jers, he/she has a few very good, well researched points
looking at the f shaped patter document, i am going to make most of my posts have text on the left hand side, and put in images and placeholders on the right.
seeing as i am creating a document that is targeted at fighting computer illiteracy, i think that it is probably a good idea to look at the ideas presented in the document concerning low literacy users, and how they differently look at documents.
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/amolloy/ComputerLiteracy/index.html
my website already uses most of the suggestions listed on the page, however i do like the idea of the breadcrumbs
i already employ most of the techniques discussed by liu.
as for jers, he/she has a few very good, well researched points
looking at the f shaped patter document, i am going to make most of my posts have text on the left hand side, and put in images and placeholders on the right.
seeing as i am creating a document that is targeted at fighting computer illiteracy, i think that it is probably a good idea to look at the ideas presented in the document concerning low literacy users, and how they differently look at documents.
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/amolloy/ComputerLiteracy/index.html
Why my site both does and does not suck...
so here's the site http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/RMurillo/
I fear that it sucks because of the fact that there are many pictures, but not many links connected to them , and also they are just basic pictures, not "high quality web graphics." Also, the site's text is oddly arranged and usually appears in a huge block that is not appealing to a reader. Obviously, my site does not make me look like a professional because i know that i am no where near being a professional.
However, i do believe that my site is able to get to the point, and that the pictures that i do use are supplemental to what i'm writing about. ITs also quick to load (unfortunately because of its simplicity.) I also believe that a quick scan of my pages will be able to communicate it's purpose.
Talbot Clarke's Website
Here is the link to my analytical hypertext. It is a work in progress.
My Website Sucks Because:
- It doesn't make me look like a credible professional
- I have too many blank spaces
My Website Doesn't Suck Because:
- it takes less than 4 seconds for a man on mars to see what my website is about
Notes from reading Jerz, Lue, and Neilsen
- people immediately look at content area not the rest
- i want to create an overall site navigation bar that is consistent on all pages
- computer reading is short, keyword spotting, not in depth reading
- people will not actually read it, but skim and read the things that catch their eye
- headlines need to include key words
- bold/change color or words that you want readers to read
From reading these the main thing i need to focus on doing in revising my website is the way that I write. I write in a very essay-like manner with sophisticated words and overall flow. However, for this website I need to try to write in a more short way that simply gets to the point rather than eloquently describing the point.
Why my webpage sucks
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/WLynch/analyticalhypertextmain.html
My website does not suck because I like my opening title page. Suprisingly, it actually doesn't look as bad as I thought. My youtube link on my splash page however doesn't work so my website actually does suck so far.
The flash buttons are super cool so that is another reason why my site does not suck.
Overall however, my website so far pretty much sucks.
After having read the last three articles there are definately some changes I should make to my site.
digital reading involves much more browsing and scanning, and much less in depth concentrated reading. This means that when I have large chunks of writing that aren't broken up by a picture or other type of distraction, then the reader gets bored and I can lose my audience. If most people skim through my website then it could help to bold or underline certain key points (kind of like a science text book works)
My website does not suck because I like my opening title page. Suprisingly, it actually doesn't look as bad as I thought. My youtube link on my splash page however doesn't work so my website actually does suck so far.
The flash buttons are super cool so that is another reason why my site does not suck.
Overall however, my website so far pretty much sucks.
After having read the last three articles there are definately some changes I should make to my site.
digital reading involves much more browsing and scanning, and much less in depth concentrated reading. This means that when I have large chunks of writing that aren't broken up by a picture or other type of distraction, then the reader gets bored and I can lose my audience. If most people skim through my website then it could help to bold or underline certain key points (kind of like a science text book works)
my website sucks
a breadcrumb navigation system at the bottom of the page keeps the reader/user up to date as to where they are on the site.
describe links carefuly so that there is more direction in the readers movement through the site.
keyword spotting-most readers look through for keywords rather than read, so i should place emphasis on important words, even in the body text.
reading selectively-I should break up seperate points, even on the same page, so that readers can get to the information they're looking for faster.
users read 18% of a page, so make what counts obvious
F shaped reading habits- place information in an F shape, keep in mind the information that lies along the bottom and right side will not likely be read.
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/wburke/dangerinfoindex.htm
doesn't suck
-has video
-emphasizes important things
is not over clutter (contentwise at least, colors is very cluttered)
sucks
-looks different on different browsers
-colors look like they were chosen by a blind person
-layout is shifted off in multiple places
-some entries are light and lacking multimedia
describe links carefuly so that there is more direction in the readers movement through the site.
keyword spotting-most readers look through for keywords rather than read, so i should place emphasis on important words, even in the body text.
reading selectively-I should break up seperate points, even on the same page, so that readers can get to the information they're looking for faster.
users read 18% of a page, so make what counts obvious
F shaped reading habits- place information in an F shape, keep in mind the information that lies along the bottom and right side will not likely be read.
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/wburke/dangerinfoindex.htm
doesn't suck
-has video
-emphasizes important things
is not over clutter (contentwise at least, colors is very cluttered)
sucks
-looks different on different browsers
-colors look like they were chosen by a blind person
-layout is shifted off in multiple places
-some entries are light and lacking multimedia
Don't evaluate mine yet! Link to I resign site didn't put!
Don't evaluate my site yet because I just realized that the link I added on my website's homepage to direct to the I Resign website did not put so there is no way to see my new site yet :(
My Website
Why my website sucks:
1. Our site's TITLE tag is something like "New Document", "Index" and not the name of your company or other search-engine friendly terms
2. My website is unengaging and needs more imagery
3. My site needs more pages with more splash pages
Why my website is not sucking too much so far:
1. The design is simplistic and (once the images start working) modern
2. Easy to navigate and straightforward
Ideas I learned from reading the design tip articles:
- Possibly incorporate a keywords section to each topic on the website with a main list of keywords
- The implication of a search bar that can detect places on the website where the search terms are found and highlight them
- Ultra concise text
- Communicate more information through the use of images
- Breadcrumb trails
- Provide a homepage link in the upper-left hand corner of each page
My Website
Why my website sucks:
1. Our site's TITLE tag is something like "New Document", "Index" and not the name of your company or other search-engine friendly terms
2. My website is unengaging and needs more imagery
3. My site needs more pages with more splash pages
Why my website is not sucking too much so far:
1. The design is simplistic and (once the images start working) modern
2. Easy to navigate and straightforward
Ideas I learned from reading the design tip articles:
- Possibly incorporate a keywords section to each topic on the website with a main list of keywords
- The implication of a search bar that can detect places on the website where the search terms are found and highlight them
- Ultra concise text
- Communicate more information through the use of images
- Breadcrumb trails
- Provide a homepage link in the upper-left hand corner of each page
My Website Defiantly Sucks (right now)
Here is a link to my website. It is a work in progress and I can guarantee it will eventually not suck.
Reasons for sucking: (we were limited to three)
1. There are pages with too little and too much information
2. Some images/videos do not show up
3. Information is not all there.
Reasons for not sucking:
1. There are informative links within the website
2. Navigation is easy
3. Content is broken down into logical categories
Here are some ideas I found that I will use to make my website more effective...these ideas were taken from Jerz, Liu, and Nielson
1. group pages with similar/same information together using internal links/page breakers
2. individual pages should be able to stand alone
3. employ keyword spotting as a strategy to locate/stress important/needed information
4. break up paragraphs into shorter more succinct sentences
5. recognize people only spend about 4.4 seconds on each page
6. recognize that visitors only read half the info
Does my website suck?
Suck:
1) Our pages have too much/too little white space.
2) We have too much/too little text on a page.
3) We have not eliminated unnecessary design items.
Doesn't Suck:
1) Easy and to the point.
2) No gratuitous images, like my last site.
3) Navigation is simple.
Jerz:
1. Write meaningful links that describe page relationships.
2. Place navigation bars at the top and bottom of each page.
Liu:
1. People have been reading less and less intensively since the advent of the web.
2. Browsing and scanning are what most people do, not intensive reading.
Nielsen:
1. People spend approximately 4.4 seconds per 100 words reading.
2. Users tend to skip the first block of text they see on a homepage, and instead immediately dig deeper into the website.
1) Our pages have too much/too little white space.
2) We have too much/too little text on a page.
3) We have not eliminated unnecessary design items.
Doesn't Suck:
1) Easy and to the point.
2) No gratuitous images, like my last site.
3) Navigation is simple.
Jerz:
1. Write meaningful links that describe page relationships.
2. Place navigation bars at the top and bottom of each page.
Liu:
1. People have been reading less and less intensively since the advent of the web.
2. Browsing and scanning are what most people do, not intensive reading.
Nielsen:
1. People spend approximately 4.4 seconds per 100 words reading.
2. Users tend to skip the first block of text they see on a homepage, and instead immediately dig deeper into the website.
Does My Website Suck?
How it sucks...
In order to access my new site you have to go through my original hypertext
My site does not fill the who page horizontally
Text might be too blocky and have too many words in sections
What I'm proud of...
I have consistent navigation and I feel like my website is relatively easy to navigate
Links take you away from certain pages but you're able to get back when necessary
Consistent layout and coloring
Here are six ideas I came across in my readings that made me think about how I may revise my website...
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/Levans/analyticalhypertext.iresign.htm
In order to access my new site you have to go through my original hypertext
My site does not fill the who page horizontally
Text might be too blocky and have too many words in sections
What I'm proud of...
I have consistent navigation and I feel like my website is relatively easy to navigate
Links take you away from certain pages but you're able to get back when necessary
Consistent layout and coloring
Here are six ideas I came across in my readings that made me think about how I may revise my website...
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/Levans/analyticalhypertext.iresign.htm
Website Critique Julia Mink
BAD: stupid text on links, side scrolling homepage, some of the sites content may be considered offensive
GOOD: intriguing homepage, funny pictures/videos
6 Ideas of Revision
Organize your site into 2 or 3 groups.
Keep the menu items in the same place.
Make certain words in the text link to other pages.
Split up paragraphs. People like to read shorter passages.
Show numbers as numerals.
Text should be ultra concise.
GOOD: intriguing homepage, funny pictures/videos
6 Ideas of Revision
Organize your site into 2 or 3 groups.
Keep the menu items in the same place.
Make certain words in the text link to other pages.
Split up paragraphs. People like to read shorter passages.
Show numbers as numerals.
Text should be ultra concise.
Briana's Webpages
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/BMacDonald
Why My Website Doesn't Suck
Why My Website Doesn't Suck
- People can tell the purpose of my website within a few seconds of looking at it
- My headings and texts are all the same size
- My site is clearly organized and easy to navigate
Why My Site Sucks
- My site doesn't have a lot of graphics, and is a little boring
- The logo of my site isn't on every page
- My video link doesn't work all the time on the browsers
- My site is very plain and not too exciting looking.
Ideas how to re-design/fix my website
- If more than 8 header pages, organize them into 3-4 main pages with links going off of them
- Have a stable and consistent header and footer
- Don't have big chunks of paragraphs because people tend to read them less fully
- Highlight/underline important text
- incorporate "evetracking"--where people read at the top first horizontally, and the vertical content on the left
- the 1st and 2nd paragraph should contain the most important information so people will be sure to read them
Allison's Website
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/amcpartland/home.htm
Why my website does suck:
- my background graphic doesnt contrast well against the text, making it hard to read
- my site has too much text on certain pages
Why my website doesn't suck:
- my site's navigation is predictable
- my site's important content fits in the screen
- has media clips that you can watch
Ideas how to make website better:
- no page should have a link to itself
- breadcrumb trails: show the direct path back to the homepage
-people like to browse: connect a lot of links
-people read things once: put the most imporant information first
-tagline: shows what the site is about
- show numbers as numerals
Why my website does suck:
- my background graphic doesnt contrast well against the text, making it hard to read
- my site has too much text on certain pages
Why my website doesn't suck:
- my site's navigation is predictable
- my site's important content fits in the screen
- has media clips that you can watch
Ideas how to make website better:
- no page should have a link to itself
- breadcrumb trails: show the direct path back to the homepage
-people like to browse: connect a lot of links
-people read things once: put the most imporant information first
-tagline: shows what the site is about
- show numbers as numerals
Does my website suck
Here is link to my homepage. www.webpages.scu.edu/ftp/AMejia/iquit.htm
Why sucks
-A lot of white space on various pages
- small amount of text on pages.
Why good
- not mixing colors on different pages of website
- font of text is able to be read by viewers.
Navigation Techniques
1. Always have a link back to the home page
2.Grouping similar pages together, having one page as the main one and other linking off of it.
Reading behavior
1.Screen based reading is emerging meaning that people look for keywords, browsing or scanning or one time reading.
2.There is an increase in non linear reading meaning that people are becoming accustomed to jumping around and reading causing fragmented reading.
Writing for the web
1. Users do not read most of the text, about 4.4 seconds for every 100 words on a page.
2. Either to keep, cut, or kill off what im saying in the introduction. Short intros can increase people interest in what I am trying to say making them more focused, as if I would have a long introduction, people would skip over it
Anthony Mejia
Why sucks
-A lot of white space on various pages
- small amount of text on pages.
Why good
- not mixing colors on different pages of website
- font of text is able to be read by viewers.
Navigation Techniques
1. Always have a link back to the home page
2.Grouping similar pages together, having one page as the main one and other linking off of it.
Reading behavior
1.Screen based reading is emerging meaning that people look for keywords, browsing or scanning or one time reading.
2.There is an increase in non linear reading meaning that people are becoming accustomed to jumping around and reading causing fragmented reading.
Writing for the web
1. Users do not read most of the text, about 4.4 seconds for every 100 words on a page.
2. Either to keep, cut, or kill off what im saying in the introduction. Short intros can increase people interest in what I am trying to say making them more focused, as if I would have a long introduction, people would skip over it
Anthony Mejia
my website sucks
My analytical hypertext work in progress is here:
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/SJChen/ahypertexthome.html
Sucks:
I have too little text on the page.
The buttons don't work (yet).
Color scheme is ugly (but I don't intend on changing it).
Does not suck:
It's clean.
Easy to read (because there's nothing there haha).
Colors go well together (even if it is fugly).
-----
Jerz
Consider navigation at the top and bottom of each page.
Put a "Home" link at the top left hand corner of each page.
Liu
One person said, "I skim much more html pages than I do with printed materials".
Maybe I should not make huge blocks of text, but keep it as short as I can and still get my purpose across.
People browse and search for key words. Bolding important worlds would help, maybe?
Nielsen
Webpages have half the world count (or less) of conventional writing.
Credibility is important. I should put on my contact info, and write more on my homepage.
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/SJChen/ahypertexthome.html
Sucks:
I have too little text on the page.
The buttons don't work (yet).
Color scheme is ugly (but I don't intend on changing it).
Does not suck:
It's clean.
Easy to read (because there's nothing there haha).
Colors go well together (even if it is fugly).
-----
Jerz
Consider navigation at the top and bottom of each page.
Put a "Home" link at the top left hand corner of each page.
Liu
One person said, "I skim much more html pages than I do with printed materials".
Maybe I should not make huge blocks of text, but keep it as short as I can and still get my purpose across.
People browse and search for key words. Bolding important worlds would help, maybe?
Nielsen
Webpages have half the world count (or less) of conventional writing.
Credibility is important. I should put on my contact info, and write more on my homepage.
Josh's "I Resign" Website in the Making
Improvements that could me made
2. Possibly add some sort of color (if it fits with the theme of my website)
3. Have large amounts of text (split into tables to make it look less overwhelming)
Things I like about my website:
1. aesthetically pleasing (everything is aligned very well)
2. the theme and the background color work very well with one another
3. The foundation of each page is consistent with the one before it.
4. Sufficient amounts of pictures and videos are used to further emphasize my point.
JERZ (two points on navigation that I find helpful but have not included in my site yet)
1. Group similar pages together2. Using PlaceHolder text in my menus
LIU (two points about reading behavior that I think would cause me to revise my website)
1. Different age groups might spend more time looking at specific portions of my page that interest them or stand out to them.
2. "I want to skip ahead to the end of long articles."
NIELSEN (find at least two concepts that I haven't previously thought about or that I will inspire me to redesign some aspects of my website)
1. 80% of people that use the internet just "scan" the page for important sentences.
2. On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely.
My Checklist
Checklist for Hypertexts
- Did the author use tables to separate huge blocks of writing if he or she had a lot of writing?
- Did the author use images or videos to emphasize their point?
- Did the graphics the author used coincide with the foundation of each page of their website?
- Did the author make his or her website consistent? (Is the “Home Page” link in the same spot on each page?)
- Did the author group pages that were similar (in their site) together to make the site as a whole easier to understand to the reader?
Improvement tips
Jerz:
1. Do not link a page to itself
2. When you click on a menu option, it should stand out on the destination page
Lui:
1. Set up non-linear reading
2. Highlight key words
Nielson:
1. Keep splash page text short
2. Use "F" shaped pattern for layout
1. Do not link a page to itself
2. When you click on a menu option, it should stand out on the destination page
Lui:
1. Set up non-linear reading
2. Highlight key words
Nielson:
1. Keep splash page text short
2. Use "F" shaped pattern for layout
Jerz,Liu, Neilsen
Jerz
"Just because there is no single "right" way to read a web page does not, however, mean that the author has completely and total free reign"
"Instead of expecting the reader to "click here to continue" along a path that only you can see, consider offering the titles and/or descriptions of several documents that you think might be helpful."
Liu
"As indicated in Table II, over 80 percent of the participants in this survey report a greater percentage of time spent on browsing and scanning"
"Over 72 percent of respondents report more keyword spotting in their reading"
Neilsen
" users spend 4.4 seconds for every extra 100 words on a page "
"•F-shaped pattern for reading web content, as seen in eyetracking studies"
"Just because there is no single "right" way to read a web page does not, however, mean that the author has completely and total free reign"
"Instead of expecting the reader to "click here to continue" along a path that only you can see, consider offering the titles and/or descriptions of several documents that you think might be helpful."
Liu
"As indicated in Table II, over 80 percent of the participants in this survey report a greater percentage of time spent on browsing and scanning"
"Over 72 percent of respondents report more keyword spotting in their reading"
Neilsen
" users spend 4.4 seconds for every extra 100 words on a page "
"•F-shaped pattern for reading web content, as seen in eyetracking studies"
Tom Allen - New Ideas
Jerz Ideas:
1. Make each link for navigation logical and free standing.
2. Place a navigation bar at the top and bottom of each page.
Liu Ideas:
1. Make the site very interactive with the text.
2. Deliver the information faster than a regular book can.
Nielsen Ideas:
1. Keep text concise + to the point.
2. Try to make the text as interactive as possible.
1. Make each link for navigation logical and free standing.
2. Place a navigation bar at the top and bottom of each page.
Liu Ideas:
1. Make the site very interactive with the text.
2. Deliver the information faster than a regular book can.
Nielsen Ideas:
1. Keep text concise + to the point.
2. Try to make the text as interactive as possible.
My Website evaluation
My website doesn't suck because: my links are informative
my content is broken up into logical categories
My website sucks because: It has a bit too much text
The content does not fit on a normal screen has to be scrolled horizontally
my content is broken up into logical categories
My website sucks because: It has a bit too much text
The content does not fit on a normal screen has to be scrolled horizontally
suck/not suck
My site doesn't suck because it uses interesting colors/fonts/pictures, it doesn't take long to load, and only has one splashpage.
My site does suck because it has "Home" on the navigation bar and uses big pictures. It also has a lot of text on some pages.
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/kbobbin
I learned from the Jerz article to not use back or next buttons and that no page should have a link to itself.
From the Liu article I learned a document on the web has an average of 9 links. This means my website is above average. Also, I learned that the fact that people skim affects work- they have a shrinking attention span and top-of-head responces.
The Nielsen article taught me that 17% of page views last 4 seconds and that F-shaped pattern of reading is fast reading.
My site does suck because it has "Home" on the navigation bar and uses big pictures. It also has a lot of text on some pages.
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/kbobbin
I learned from the Jerz article to not use back or next buttons and that no page should have a link to itself.
From the Liu article I learned a document on the web has an average of 9 links. This means my website is above average. Also, I learned that the fact that people skim affects work- they have a shrinking attention span and top-of-head responces.
The Nielsen article taught me that 17% of page views last 4 seconds and that F-shaped pattern of reading is fast reading.
Does my site suck? Caitlin Cutting
Why my website does not suck…
It takes not time to figure out what my site is about because it is in the title
It is clear and simple to navigate
You don’t have to register or download anything to make it work
Why my websites sucks…
I mix text colors on the page, not all text is the same
Some pages have too little on them
Some links lead to no where (thought I fixed)
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/ccutting/phypertext2.htm
Jerz
Put navigation bars in multiple places
Unlink current page (place holder)
Liu
Less sentences, more bullet point ideas
Pictures that show topic get readers more interested in reading
Nielsen
Use more links from text
5 word headline, keep it short and to the point
It takes not time to figure out what my site is about because it is in the title
It is clear and simple to navigate
You don’t have to register or download anything to make it work
Why my websites sucks…
I mix text colors on the page, not all text is the same
Some pages have too little on them
Some links lead to no where (thought I fixed)
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/ccutting/phypertext2.htm
Jerz
Put navigation bars in multiple places
Unlink current page (place holder)
Liu
Less sentences, more bullet point ideas
Pictures that show topic get readers more interested in reading
Nielsen
Use more links from text
5 word headline, keep it short and to the point
Does my website suck? Hopefully not...
One way my website doesn't suck is that it uses justifies text that fits nicely with my pictures and general formatting Another way it doesn't suck is that it uses an accessible navigation bar. Also, it uses images sparingly and generously and there is an equal balance of text and pictures. However, my site has many different colored texts and links that can be too confusing. Plus, the navigation bars are uneven which may detract from the professional look of the site. Also, the headings of the pages may be a little overwhelming because of the bright color. To see what I am talking about, check out my site:
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/BGiven
My research of Jerz, Liu, and Nielsen: In Jerz, I learned that the navigation bars on every should be constant and similar (pretty much exactly) on every page of the website. If there are changes, they should "reflect certain options" and therefore, flow well with how the site is being altered. In Liu, I realized that people are going to scan websites rather than read them word for word. Therefore, websites should be written in a way that allows a reader to scan and still pick up on the general information. "Picture reading" is very common so the pictures should work with the text to help convey the important ideas. In Nielsen, I learned that hypertext links and clicking buttons are the two most commonly used features on websites. Also, I learned that a user will only spen 4.4 seconds reading any additional 100 words on a website.
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/BGiven
My research of Jerz, Liu, and Nielsen: In Jerz, I learned that the navigation bars on every should be constant and similar (pretty much exactly) on every page of the website. If there are changes, they should "reflect certain options" and therefore, flow well with how the site is being altered. In Liu, I realized that people are going to scan websites rather than read them word for word. Therefore, websites should be written in a way that allows a reader to scan and still pick up on the general information. "Picture reading" is very common so the pictures should work with the text to help convey the important ideas. In Nielsen, I learned that hypertext links and clicking buttons are the two most commonly used features on websites. Also, I learned that a user will only spen 4.4 seconds reading any additional 100 words on a website.
websites that suck
After looking at the article, i believe my website has both positive and negative aspects about it. I do not think my website sucks because all of my links work and there is not any unnecessary additions to my site, it is clear and shows what I am talking about, my site does not seem unsafe or has any pop up windows, and finally my site can quickely load. My site is not perfect either. I have to scroll down to see the whole page, some of the font is in different places, and my video that I put in does not work in all computers.
this is the link to my site:
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/lgrove/resign%20splashpages.htm
from looking at the articles of Jerz, Liu, and Nielsen, I have come up with the following ideas to improve my website:
1) use consistant navigation bars on each page
2) put navigation bars on the top and bottom of each pages
3) make the site easy to skim read so show the ideas of the page
4) make the sites interesting looking so you keep readers attention
5) make the site appealing to read
6) dont make the pages text heavy, and if you do make the text like an F
this is the link to my site:
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/lgrove/resign%20splashpages.htm
from looking at the articles of Jerz, Liu, and Nielsen, I have come up with the following ideas to improve my website:
1) use consistant navigation bars on each page
2) put navigation bars on the top and bottom of each pages
3) make the site easy to skim read so show the ideas of the page
4) make the sites interesting looking so you keep readers attention
5) make the site appealing to read
6) dont make the pages text heavy, and if you do make the text like an F
Does my website suck ?
After looking at the article, I think that my website doesn't suck because: my links are clearly labeled, it is easy to navigate, and the content is broken down into categories. I fear that my website might suck because: on some of my pages viewers have to scroll down, some of my pages are inconsistent in color, text, and graphics, and, some of my content may be too long.
heres my site: http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/LIncerpi/analyticalhypertext.htm
From class today I discovered the following:
1. It is important to have a Home link on every page of the website (typically in the upper left corner)
2. You should place navigation on the top and bottom of every page
3. People spend less time reading and more time browsing
4. When people browse they look for keywords
5. You should use highlighted keywords so that they are easy to spot when readers are scanning
6. Informative, rather than clever sub-headings are best so that the viewers know exactly what they are reading about. It is also helpful to make bulleted lists to keep the text clear and concise
heres my site: http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/LIncerpi/analyticalhypertext.htm
From class today I discovered the following:
1. It is important to have a Home link on every page of the website (typically in the upper left corner)
2. You should place navigation on the top and bottom of every page
3. People spend less time reading and more time browsing
4. When people browse they look for keywords
5. You should use highlighted keywords so that they are easy to spot when readers are scanning
6. Informative, rather than clever sub-headings are best so that the viewers know exactly what they are reading about. It is also helpful to make bulleted lists to keep the text clear and concise
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