Project 3 Reflection: Long

This project was different than most because of that fact that it had the audio aspect to it which made it a little more difficult to complete the project. When doing a project like this it is not all about your schedule which is normally what it is so then the project is just whenever you have time that is when you do it. But in this project there needed to be audio of me interviewing someone else which brought me to a crossroad because I had to change my schedule to accommodate for the person(s) I had to interview. There were constant phone calls going on seeing if they could come and be recorded or just getting their interview over the phone for the written portion it was just a long process that was not fun for me. The interview is one thing I felt that was one of my stronger parts of the paper because I was able to keep the interview going throughout the time that was needed and it was a clear interview with the points that needed to get across got across.

                But I felt like I did the time management part of the project well for the most part it was something that was a challenge, but also something I rose up too. Something else that was hard was reaching out to other members of Greek life, the week this project was due was probably the worst time to try and contact anyone inside of Greek life which brought many challenges that I was not ready or did not plan for. In order to improve the skill of making it a stronger argument in the future I think I need to be able to get more facts, in my project I had facts but they were things that for the most part people already knew if it was not a misconception. But I do feel as if the misconceptions helped make my paper more strong and coherent.

                I do not feel like I had the best argument but I believe I had valid points that created a different outlook. With my paper I was not going for strong but I was going for something that would make someone think about Greek life and change their opinion about something that especially right now is so controversial throughout Tempe in general.

                Throughout this project it taught me a lot about hot to record, normally at first thought I would have used garage band but that is expensive so the fact that I am able to use something else is of great use to me in the future. This project also taught me how to interview a person which is a great thing to have as a tool going into a professional career in any field. 

Script Draft: Greek Life

                Greek Life at ASU is an important aspect of its own community because Greek life provides social interactions for part of the students who attend ASU. Administration is kind of against Greek life but the students who participate in it (including myself) are fighting to keep it alive. Greek life is fun for anyone who joins, it does charitable work, and it helps with social experiences in life.

                Me: “why is greek life fun?”

                Alicia: “because you meet a lot of new people, and create a lot of good friendships. Creating these friendships is easier when you are involved in Greek life because normally you are around these people all the time. For example my brother is in Greek life and all he does is talk about the friends he has in his fraternity and how he views almost all of them as his brothers. It is a common misconception that Greek life is only about partying and things of that nature. But the bonds that are built inside of Greek life is what should really be talked about. My brother only talks about the experiences he has with the “brothers” of the house and how he views all of them as either his “brother” or his best friend.”

Me: “How do you feel about sororities?”

Alicia:  “As for sororities it is completely different and it just offers different pathways that it would allow me to take in life, giving me options with my future with the connections it provides and with making new friends. I believe it is easier to make friends in Greek life because you’re almost forced to make new friends, which in turn forces someone to talk to other people giving people necessary social skills they will need in life.”

                As you can see from this short interview Greek life is an important part of this girl’s life and she views it as something that people can benefit from. What Greek life is looks at from administrations point of view at ASU is that all we do is party and nothing else. Yes I will admit that we do probably party more than the average student but that is not all we do as a fraternity. Also partying is not the most important thing to us as well. As being part of a fraternity I would say the most important thing to me is the brotherhood.

                Me: “Steven how do you feel about the brotherhood in fraternity life?”

                Steven: “I feel as brotherhood is the most important aspect. Why would someone join a fraternity if they didn’t view everyone in this house as a potential best friend? It wouldn’t make sense because I am around these people almost all day every day. So for someone to say they joined just for the partying they are lying or they just don’t want someone to know the truth. We all share experiences together that bring us all closer together as a house and individually.”

                Brotherhood is probably the most important aspect of fraternity life and for sororities it is basically the same thing but what both sides do that is also great is that we throw charitable events. About a month ago the fraternity I am a part of, Kappa Sigma, we threw a philanthropic event for the military. The funds were not direct funding for the military but instead for the troops. What we did was raise money to send troops letters and gift baskets so that they knew what they are doing for us overseas is greatly appreciated and admired by everyone. Sororities also participated in this event so they got to contribute to this good cause as well.

                Social skills are a very important aspect in life. It is something now a day that is more necessary in a job search or in keeping a job than more people realize. It could be the thing that decides whether or not I can beat out that last person for a job or not.

                Me: “How do you feel Greek life has helped you be able to socialize with people?”

                Mark: “Greek life has helped my social skills enormously. Before college I was a kid with low self-esteem and didn’t have many friends. I came into my first semester not knowing what to expect and I had a hard time meeting people in the dorms and making new friends. When I rushed and got initiated into a fraternity it changed my life. It gave me a new found confidence that I never experienced before. It is completely different it is like dorming all over again but with 100 of your best friends by your side encouraging you to go talk to people and make new friends. For me it was great because now with internships and even just talking to people from back home I have the ability to make conversation and the ability to make new friends wherever I am. It is something I will look back at as one of the best decisions of my life.”

                Greek life has the ability to change someone’s life as you can see from Mark’s interview. It also helps benefit the people around them on the outside and inside by bringing them in or just by being friendly to them. Helping the community is also an important part of what we do. As being part of a fraternity or at least in Kappa Sigma we are required to do a certain amount of community service hours. This can help the community and show administration that we are not all about partying and that we actually care. Another important part that people tend to look over is that in some houses or chapters there is a required GPA to be a part of that fraternity so academics is important and partying is not the only thing that crosses our minds. After all we are in college and school does come first no matter what anyone says who is in a fraternity or sorority they care about school and the image they present about the house or chapter they are involved in. 

ASU Reacts: Whey Protein

Whey protein is something in today’s world that is very commonly known and the article I talked about last week didn’t really bring up an argument but it brought up a very good point, which is that whey protein is not just for athletes it can be for anyone who wants to use it as a meal replacement. Contrary to popular belief protein shakes are a great meal replacement because they provide the obvious which is protein but it also comes packed with vitamins with a low concentration of sodium and sugars so it is a healthy replacement.

                I asked my friend Nicole about what she thought about this information and this is what she told me…

                “Protein shakes are something I never thought I could drink. At my high school I always saw the football players drinking them so I thought they were used to get bigger. With the information I just read and from what you told me about protein shakes I might start to drink them because it’s healthier than fast food, plus it’s more convenient. Also as a girl sometimes I don’t eat enough food to have a well-balanced diet and a protein shake may help me out with that.”

                From her reaction it is easy to tell that she was shocked about the information she just read but at the end of the day it is still a great meal replacement for anyone. There are also still specific types of protein for athletes which can get them the results they want, but as for simple whey protein, that can be taken by anyone. 

Genre Analysis: You Can Thank A Whey Refinery for that Protein Smoothie

The genre of this story is an informative essay. This basically means that the whole essay provides information about a certain topic. In this essay specifically it is talking about whey protein, and what the specifics of how it is made and produced. The information that is provided in this article is that the world today is drinking less milk and more protein shakes. People may think protein shakes are just simple broken down whey which can be turned into a protein shake but in reality the specifics of breaking down whey have gotten so good that they can pull out specific proteins and concentrate it down so much that the shakes they are creating can become, whey isolate and an extraction form of protein called lactoferrin. Something that is interesting is that when the protein is extracted it is more like a drink and then it is dried out and turned into a powder for the ability to be able to mix a drink with either milk or water later on. “Today, though, it's pumped to another side of this factory, which actually seems a lot bigger and more high-tech than the cheese-making side. This is the whey processing plant.” This sentence from the article shows something interesting that I never knew and it backs up my point on how it is being informative, by teaching the reader.

                The biggest part of whey that is selling across the country or even the world is with bodybuilders and/or athletes of today. Why would they choose whey protein? They would choose whey protein because it is one of the purest forms of protein. Other people have realized this and have turned whey protein into meal replacement shakes and even dieting shakes which is pretty impressive. “Whey protein was the best protein they could find...”this shows that really besides chicken and eggs whey protein is one of the best things health wise for any human being. It is a great easy quick source of protein, and it is not just for bodybuilders it can be taken by everyone.

                An audio essay is very different than just a regular essay because that is when people can really speak their mind and say everything they are trying to convey instead of just writing it down. When information is spoken and heard it is given more of a personal touch than most forms of an essay would provide. This gives the listener of the audio essay more of an understanding of where the author may be coming from in his essay.

                The form of this essay is an article. That is probably the best way it can be defined for the reason being that it is on the internet first of all and part of a website full of articles. But also it is a short concise story that provides information on a certain topic that some not all know about information that most would never know. 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/11/08/164687100/you-can-thank-a-whey-refinery-for-that-protein-smoothie

Project 2 Reflection: Procrastination

                I feel like I did a good job of showing what I know that is going around on south campus at Arizona State University. It is a big campus after all and there is a lot going on all the time, there will probably never be a dull moment on this campus and to provide information on almost every main spot on south campus may seem easy. But giving details about that spot is a little bit harder than it may seem. Something that I struggled with was definitely elaborating about everything that went on at those places. For example I explained how Jimmy Johns the sandwich restaurant was a popular hangout spot which may not seem like something that would normally happen but it is kind of in the middle of south campus. Plus it is cheap food, what college student does not like cheap food.

                After writing this project I feel like I need to change my writing process by doing more research because normally that is the part I do the least of and it is something that I should probably be spending a lot more time doing instead of just rambling on about those topics. Facts are key in any paper or project and normally I find a fact and elaborate instead of giving as many facts as I can about that topic.

                I feel as if in this project I created a semi strong evaluation of everything that is going on inside my project. I don’t really feel like I did the best possible job but I think I did an ok job, after looking over my project again I probably should have spent a couple more hours on it but I didn’t but I still feel like I did pretty well on my project. To improve this I basically just need to spend more time on my work and just make it better quality instead of procrastinating and waiting until last minute to do all of my homework, not only in this class but in any class. This could also apply to any job I have in the future to just do the work and not procrastinate because that could eventually get me fired from a job if the work is not up to the quality the boss would like.

                I will apply this work to the university and outside of school by creating a schedule for myself in order to dedicate more of my time on the things that are more important. For example school. A schedule will help me prioritize everything that I need to get it done and will help me get everything done in a timely more efficient manner. Also setting a schedule for myself will help me create more quality work because I can work for the amount of time I have set apart for myself instead of working on everything in bits and pieces and getting distracted losing my train of thought and not giving the best possible work I am able of providing. 

Research Sources: Sonora Residence Hall

The proposed topic given is to draw a map of a part of the ASU campus. The part of campus that I am deciding to draw a map of is the Sonora Residency Halls. The reason I chose Sonora was because number one it is where I am currently living, it is also different than the rest of the residency halls, and lastly it is a unique place on the ASU campus. The second part of the assignment is to annotate the map with descriptions of each place that we are describing or the different aspects of this residence hall. Annotating a map is one of the best things that someone can possibly do because maps sometimes can be a little confusing and especially a map that can be of the size of the ASU campus alone with no annotations could mess some people up if they were trying to find out where to go.

                A reason I would want to explore this topic is because maps to me are actually fun to look at. A map is something that can always have a personal touch on it and is something that gives people direction and also keeps things organized…sometimes. As an in class assignment drawing a map is great because one can always get input from other people in the class.

                How I plan on tackling this topic is basically by walking around all of Sonora and annotating every little thing I feel is important. Then I am going to sit on top of the Housing Residence and just draw it. That is a pretty simple description but it seems like the easiest way to approach this situation.

                The article that I used was an article on the New York Times that is about the deep roots of maps. It is about a specific map but it is only one page long and is by Theo Emery and it is called “Maps Hidden Marks Illuminate and Deepen Mystery of Lost Colony.” This article is basically about a map that brings about the hidden details of a map which could help me with this assignment a lot because the small things that some people don’t notice and seeing it on another map and imputing it into mine project.

                The book that I am using is The Game by Neil Strauss. It isn’t about maps but it maps on how to talk to people girls and guys. It is just a map on how to talk to people and this is good source for me to have because mapping how to do something can help me annotate my map. Giving clear, short, precise details about small things could be ultimately a difference maker on a map. The other book I chose to use as my third choice it is called Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as a Cartographer this book is about mapping of the imagination which is almost actually quite impossible but it is still a helpful tool for me because the book is creative in how it attempt to map the mind. 

Evaluation: FIFA 2013

The last video game I played recently was Fifa 2013. Fifa is a soccer game and it really is one of the most addicting games on the planet. I never played until my junior year of high school and then after that BOOM! I played almost every day and have not stopped since. It is one of those games that takes a couple months to get good at but even when someone is not very good it is still so much fun to play. Fifa the game where when you live somewhere if someone is playing above you; you can hear everything that they are saying, why? Well because everything is being yelled. This game is also an amazing game because of the gameplay.

                The personalization of every player is almost unbelievable. The first touch ability is a player’s ability to control the ball after a pass and every player is different at how they handle the ball or how well it is controlled. Well in Fifa 2013 they changed that feature and put almost every player at their right skill level with that ability and it makes the game so much more realistic than it already is. It is honestly one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in a video game.

                The graphics in the game are also super realistic as well almost every player looks as close as technology can get them to get to look like what they look like in real life. When a video game has the ability to do that then it is something special. The game even has the most realistic fans I have almost ever seen as well which something is new and exciting a video game can always add to its plethora of new additions.

                Probably the best part of the whole game is the after goal celebrations. First of all the crowd and the announcers go crazy so whoever plays for the most part goes crazy as well since scoring a goal is not easy. But anyways some players have different cheers depending on how good they are but the better the players the better the cheers. Cristiano Ronaldo considered by some the best player in the world can do a double backflip handspring! Now for a soccer player that is pretty impressive. That is not a realistic cheer though but it is still pretty cool. They do have realistic cheers in the game though like the player getting tackled and sliding across the grass and things along those lines which gives the game just a form or reality because it is a video game of course.

                Overall this is probably one of the best games I have ever played and is something I would recommend to anyone even if they aren’t into sports video games it is something that is worth giving a shot too. 

Project 1:Reflection

            Project one was about analyzing a place. It was an interesting project and one thing that I felt like I did fairly well on was the actual analyzing of the Student Recreational Center.  I go to a gym everyday so picking out differences was not very difficult for me. Just small details like there are cardio machines on two different floors is something that I was able to pick up on. I also learned a lot about the different aspects on the SRC I interviewed one of the personal trainers and it gave me a new view on just working out in general and a broader knowledge on weightlifting about form and just small little things. I struggled with comparing my views with the various writers that we were told to compare too, I just did not really fully understand the concept and would have needed an example to completely understand because that’s how I learn and it just slipped my mind but I should have asked. Besides that there isn’t much I really struggled on maybe grammar with some commas and the basics that editing takes care of but overall I felt like this was a good writing process, it was something I have never done before so I enjoyed it. After this process I feel like I will change my writing process by going into further depth about just everything I write about. In high school not a lot depth was needed for papers and it was easy to get away with. After going into depth with this paper I have a greater knowledge of the topic that I wrote about and it feels good on my part to know that I actually have some knowledge about what I wrote about if that makes sense. In this project I felt like I almost reached the depth on analysis needed no one’s writing is ever perfect so I will never feel like I did something that is completely asked for I always feel like I can do better and that is with anything in life. I feel like this project can help me out in the future with almost anything that I do in my life and will help me with work and other classes. With work there is never a problem with going more into depth it can only have your boss appreciate you more. With my job my boss always appreciates going over the top and I work for a catering company so that implies going into depth with conversations with customers etc. so overall I enjoyed this project a lot and all of the things that it required me to do. 

Rough Draft Notes

Notes on the SRC

·         Weights

o   Organization of the weights

§  Free weight is together

§  Machines are on the side

§  There is a bodyweight pit in the center

·         Kettlebells are also in this area

o   What is great about all of this is that it is even more organized than that because the chest stuff seems to be all right next to each other, as well as legs, arms, and so on and so forth which makes it easier to complete a workout without running all over the gym trying to find what the next thing you’re going to do it

o   2 weight centers

§  There is a circuit training room and a regular room

·         The difference?

o   Circuit training is more cardio based and everything is all set up in a way that when you’re doing your workout the ability to get a sweat is easier

o   Free weight and regular weight training is more for strength based workout

·         Cardio

o   There is an upstairs and downstairs option for cardio

§  Elliptical

·         For more long based cardio sessions

§  Treadmill

·         Can be used for long cardio sessions or short sessions

§  Rowing machine

·         From observation seems more like a warm-up that most people do that requires a lot of effort but is a double effective warm-up because it requires strength and is cardio based

·         Basketball

o   There are three gyms

§  Red from observation is for people who want to play with friends and just for fun

§  Blue seems to be for the players who are quite good and want to compete and play hard and be serious about playing

§  The green gym is kind of just for shoot around because it is not always open for basketball sometimes for volleyball as well

o   All gyms are fun to play in though as everyone seems to enjoy themselves

§  All different types of people show up and enjoy themselves

·         Racquet ball

o   Equipment needed

§  Racquet

§  Racquet ball

§  Goggles

§  At least one other person to play with

o   Racquet ball seems to be a very fun sport that people enjoy playing, it is used more so for cardio since a lot of running is required but it is a fun sport that even someone who has not played before can enjoy playing

o   A racquet is required with a small ball as well as goggles to protect the eyes because the ball is small and moves very fast  

·         Swimming

o   Swimming is something that some people enjoy but the pool area is unique in and of itself

§  There is places for tanning

§  There is places to swim laps

§  There are places to swim for fun as well

·         There is even a pool basketball hoop!

·         Construction

o   The construction is going on to expand the gym

o   It is big at it is already

§  the expansion will give people much more room since the gym is already kind of cramped as it is

·         Ability to rent equipment

o   The ability to rent equipment is great but still kind of sucks at the same time

§  It is $1 every single time something is rented

·         Do I think that is fair? No we pay a lot of money to come to ASU and we even as students pay a fee to be able to use the SRC and yet there is still a fee to just be able to use a basketball or something along those lines

o   a recommendation instead of paying is maybe collecting our sun cards or our real id’s to make sure that people return the item that they borrowed 

An Analysis of an Image

The surface details of this image include Liam Hemsworth in just a plain black t-shirt. This is a magazine cover for mens health and Liam Hemsworth is a good fit for this cover. The cover itself is pretty blank and just filled with wording on the side about losing weight, belly fat loss, and lean muscle. Looking deeper though it is easy to tell why Liam would be on the cover with the words that are surroudning his picture. Liam is in good shape, he is an actor in action movies most of the time they are forced to keep themselves in good shape. So it is fitting, also he is a good looking guy and for some reason whenever people look at a cover of a magazine or something like that they always think that they can look like whoever is on that cover, which is not true at all but brilliant marketing. He is also someone who can relate to adults and to teens since he was just in the movie “Hunger Games” which is something that both parents and teenagers alike can relate too. In the picture though he is facing sideways and is flexing his arm which is because they want to show that he is lean and has muscle which is what almost everyone wants who is into fitness. The magazine itself is trying to represent lean muscle mass and he represents that image almost perfectly. He fits the ‘dream’ look and since that’s what people want to look like they will buy the magazine to see if there is any special trick to look like Liam Hemsowrth, but really there isnt and I personally have subscribed to Mens Health myself because I like fitness. But in every magazine its basically the same articels in differents words with a small variation of workouts that a person with small knowledge or no knowledge about fitness could really get out of it without researching everything they said. What is the point of all of this stuff thogh? Well the point of it is that now adays girls like the six pack abs and the big arms so it is an influx of culture change. Girls also like hearthrobs so of course they are going to put a good looking guy on the cover. This will ultimately persuade buyers to buy their magazine because lets face it what guy doesn’t want to have those six pack abs, the big arms, and be good looking? In the end, this is a brilliant magazine cover yet simple but still very effective portraying a lot of different aspects in a simple picture. 

Wildfires

The article I am writing about is the article which is called “How The Smokey Bear Effect Led to Raging Wildfires.” This article peaked my interest because I thought it had something to do with those annoying Smokey Bear commercials that always came on when I was young. Titles may be deceiving and this title definitely fooled me, this article had nothing to do with Smokey Bear at all instead it was about how accidently settlers caused more deadly fires. Inside of this article it explains how before settlers came, fires would burn but not burn down the trees, why? Well this is because the fires had plenty of other sources of fuel around them (ex. Grass). So then what happened? Well what happened was that settlers came with their livestock, livestock eats grass which takes away a large fuel source for fires. Fires are not just going to go away so they just found another fuel source which was the trees. Scientists saw the effects inside of the tree rings as well; it is common knowledge by now that forests are being burn down and it is a huge problem. But what scientists noticed in the tree rings is that back in the 1600’s trees just had scars and then they would heal and the tree would go back to normal growth. Something I can relate this too is breaking a bone, for a little while there is no growth going on since the bone is broken, but then it heals and goes back to normal growth. Around the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s this seemed to have changed which the article called the “Smokey Bear effect.” What changed is that when settlers came like I stated earlier livestock ate the grass. The U.S set places aside as national parks or national forests which created forests that are dominated by shrubbery and trees. Before it was just a few trees every acre and not it is trees galore. This is essentially fuel to the fire and this is part of the reason why fires are being seen taken to a whole new level. My thoughts on this article are a little mixed because I do not completely understand the whole science aspect behind this but what I do believe is a problem is that fires that are at this level are not ok and not healthy for places inside of the United States. If national parks are being burnt down because of something we got wrong we need to find the problem and fix it. I understand it is not that easy but it is an increasing problem and it does not seem like much is really being done about it. Especially since one of my family members was almost severely affected by these fires I think a bigger initiative needs to be taken.