Blog #17

When i think back to the first day when I walked into class late, I was put on the spot immediately by Marlen. I thought to myself this guy is going to assign a ridiculous amount of work and make my life a living hell. He kind of did in a way, but I would not trade this learning experience for anything. It was amazing to me how far you could get behind in just slacking on a week’s worth of homework. This has definitely given me some better organizational skills along with the lesson of not procrastinating, which I am notorious for. With the way the class was set up, I felt that it was impossible to fail if you just did your work and tryed your best. I really feel like with this paper I put alot of my time and energy into it. I mean there would be times in the semester that it would stress me out because deadlines would have to be met, and I had no idea what I wanted to write about. My first paper was kind of a piece of shit, but that is to be expected. With all of the revisions done, along with the peer edits, I think my paper has shaped up good enough to at least send to a publishing company. I am just suprised that this class has had such an impact with the way I do things now. I think that I have really learned many valuable tools that will make me successful in the future.

Blog #16

With all of the blog homework taken into account I believe that blog #4 was the most useful for me. I think this because it really started to help me focus in on all of my ideas for my topic of research. We had to make some assumptions and compile some questions and I believe this blog was most helpful. During the writing process we were all required to make a trip to the writing center. I took the draft of what I thought was a decent paper in there, and they told me that my results and introduction did not match up. After reading the two sections I then realized how bad my paper was. I went to the library immediately that night to make some revisions and actually ended up re-writing my entire paper. If I hadnt gone to the writing center I dont believe that these mistakes would have caught my eye. The most difficult part of this whole thing was when I was sitting at home completely unmotivated on spring break, trying to write the introduction to my paper. I sat there and thought and thought and I couldnt put words down on paper it was the worst experience I have ever had with starting a paper. The easiest part of the writing process was writing my lit review i believe. It was just information that I needed to put into my paper, it wasnt very hard and it did not take me very long at all. I think think the best part of my paper is my introduction. It was the hardest part of the process for me that I spent the most time on. I am really proud of the end product though.

Blog #15

I didnt really learn too much about writing with these projects, it was more with editing than anything. When you read someone’s paper and are looking for mistakes, it kind of helps you in a way. For example correcting something on one person’s paper may cause me to go back and take a look in the areas that I was just in and change some things around. So it was good in that sense just to basically compare what you have with your partner and kind of see where you are at with the whole process.

In what ways did editng help my project specifically? I dont really know if it did. I mean the only thing was the use of irrelevant info maybe. Peer editing in my opinion is nothing more than a measuring stick to see where you are compared to other writers. So it can leave you feeling good with the amount of work you have accomplished, or on the other hand stressed because of how far behind you are.

Blog #14

Results a.
-Should be formatted in a way that is easily accessible to the reader.
-If using text, the results section points out and simplyfies the most important results.
-Be sure not to repeat any information in results, if you have written it down once there is no need to write it twice.
“Writing up Research: Results”. Language Center. 2003. Asian Institute of Technology. 29 March 2010.
http://www.languages.ait.ac.th/EL21RES.HTM

Results b.
-Before begginning organize and seperate material, so it is easier to write when you have collected all of your data.
-Use text to guide your reader through your key results.
-If using a table or graph, it must be referenced in the text portion of your results.
“A strategy for writing up research results”. Copyright 2008 Department of Biology, Bates College, Lewiston, ME 04240. http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWstrategy.html

Discussions a.
-Interperet results in light of what was already known about subject/topic.
-Explain your new understanding of topic after gathering results.
-Organize the Discussion to address each of the experiments or studies for which you presented results.

“The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper”. 29 March 2010.<a href="“The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper”. 29 March 2010.<http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWsections

Discussion b.
-Suggest biases that may have affected the experimental design. Discuss how they can be eliminated in the future. Discuss the possibility of using a different methodology or design.
-Write about how the experiment can be improved in future replications.
-Discuss the significance of the experiment, if it resulted in the creation of new knowledge, added support to a recently developed theory or aided in the formulation of new questions to be researched. Consider also that the experiment may have been a complete waste of time.

“How to write a conclusion or discussion section.” http://www.ehow.com/how_2062895_write-conclusion-discussion-section-lab.html

Conclusions a.
-Return to the theme or themes in the introduction, brings reader full circle again.
-Synthesize do not summarize. The reader doesnt want to hear the same old boring b.s. that you wrote before, support your ideas dont repeat them.
-Try to inclde some type of quotation.

Online Guide to Writing and Research” 2010. University of Maryland. Effective Writing Center.

Conclusions b.
-Dont end paper on an open ended note.
-End by summarizing what reader should potentially take away from reading your paper.
-Remind the reader of the topics afore mentioned in paper, dont repeat and show more specifically how you achieved what you set out to do.

“How to write a strong conclusion.” http://www.ehow.com/how_2141341_write-strong-conclusion.html

Peer Review project #1

I peer reviewed Sam’s autoethnography about sexual child abuse. Here is how i graded her based on normal rubric layout. 202 rubric

Blog 13:the combination

This is actually alot harder than what I thought it was going to be. Transitions being the the hardest, because adding something new means changing something else. So I really had to go back and read through again, and decide what makes the most sense as far as adding and subtracting material from my paper goes. I also added some information that I had temporarily discarded before but now find useful.

Blog 12: How am I gonna do this?

I have given thought about my methods section, and have decided to use a simple random sample of students throughout campus to gather information. I think this is the best way to go about doing this for lack of possible bias on questions answered, along with the sheer interest people will show in talking about marijuana(one of the most controversial issues to ever be discussed in our society).

I plan to go around with questionairs of no more than 5-10 questions, in the oak grove whenever classes let out. I will leave names out of my research to protect the subjects identity’s and ideas. I plan to ask these random people some questions about marijuana positively affecting our society. Basically the percentage of knowledgeable pot smokers to ones that may be under educated in this particular field of research. Now I realize not every person I ask will be a marijuana user, which can ensure me some results that come from the counter culture.

I plan to blast the subjects with statistics and information supporting the positive effects marijuana can have on our economy. To determine how many people out there are just getting high and not understanding what they are doing can be so helpful for this country, to the number of people that do have some knowledge. For someone that is directly against the legalization, asking questions with all the positive statistics incorporated may somehow be swayed to think differently about hemp. Which is my ultimate goal.

Blog #11:Methodology

After reading method and research design, I have a further understanding for how to go about completing the methods section of my paper. The article starts out asking two basic questions, how was the data collected or generated? The other question is how was the data analyzed, so in other words it explains to the reader how the results were obtained. This article also explains that using different methods will generate different results. For example a multiple choice survey versus conducting an interview on the subjects at hand. Readers are also intersested in the way the research was conducted to find out if it is consistent with an acceptable field of study. For a questionare for example, writers must provide a reasonable range of answers for the reader to best answer the questions at hand. Another thing pointed out is that the methods that are used must be correspondent to the objectives of the study. There are also some common problems in the way writers go about completing their methods section. Irrelavent detail and unnecessary explanation of basic procedures are two common ones . These are just some basic ins and outs of composing a successful methods sections.

The second article i found was a little more simplified than the first one, but not as helfpful. This article’s basic theme is stated as the methods being the key in answering the research question of the paper. Explaining the experimental design was also mentioned, along with explaining how the results were analyzed. “Therefore, the methods section structure should: describe the materials used in the study, explain how the materials were prepared for the study, describe the research protocol, explain how measurements were made and what calculations were performed, and state which statistical tests were done to analyze the data(Kallet).” Pointed out is the number of subsequent drafts that should be completed, to ensure a thourough and logical explanation of how the writer went about the methods they chose.

Works cited:

“Writing up Research: Method and Research Design.” Language Center. Web. 10 Mar. 2010. http://www.languages.ait.ac.th/el21meth.htm#top.

Kallet, RH. “How to write the methods section of a research paper.” ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. October. 2004.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15447808

What a shit article

CRITERIA 5 4 3 2 1 0 Comments
1. Formatting – MLA/APA headers, titles, indentation, etc. x Absolutely zero formatting on the blog.
2. Introduction – sufficiently forecasted the remainder of the essay x I thought it stank. Interesting topic but he could have started it off with a little more excitement.
3. Conclusion – sufficiently wrapped up the author’s thoughts; connected to intro. x Doesn’t really have a clear conclusion.
4. In-text Citations – at least 2 and properly formatted x None.
5. Works Cited/References – only work actually cited in the paper is included; properly formatted. x None.
6. Grammar/Mechanics – language choice; punctuation; spelling, etc. x Not very good. He jumped around a little bit too much.
7. Pre- & Post-writing paragraphs – did the author sufficiently describe goals and how to meet them? Did author sufficiently explain how goals were met? x No he never clearly explained anything. He had some sort of half-assed hypothesis that a two year old could have brainstormed.
8. Flow – transitions between paragraphs; all sentences in a paragraph related; no run-on or fragmented sentences. x He put together some decent sentences, but the whole article just was not very well written at all.
9. Hooked and maintained reader interest. x Interesting topic, not very interestingly written.
10. Genre – Met the needs of the intended genre. x This article sucks, I don’t even know if it has a genre.
TOTAL = 9 Add’l comments:

Im didnt know how to make it a link.

Blog #9

Two articles tediously dissected

Legalizing and taxing would be very beneficial

P1: Article points out that California’s budget turmoil is the worst in the nation. Sacremento closed a 42 billion dollar defecit this summer alone, only for more debt to come. Predicts and knows borrowing more along with raising taxes will dig yet an even deeper hole.

P2: California’s number 1 cash crop (marijuana) is being ignored in the search for a politically viable reason. The state’s marijuana yield is currently estimated at 14 billion annually, that might help cut the defecit a little bit right? That number at 14 billion is nearly double the vegtable and grape crops in California. The state Board of Equalization estimates that taxing adult marijuana consumption like alcohol would generate $1.4 billion in new revenue for the state. Having pot illegal is actually costing us more to enforce than it would be to legalize it.

P3: “California, which decriminalized low-level marijuana possession in 1975, arrested more than 78,000 people for marijuana offenses last year alone, a nearly 30 percent increase since 2005 (Gutwillig 1). Four out of five arrested are for simple pocession charges, and 1 in every 5 is under the age of 18 (Gutwillig 1). Paragraph goes on to say the police arrest young people of color for pot, limiting their educational and job oppurtunites.

P4: California spending hundreds of millions of dollars to enforce marijuana prohibition state-wide. Over 185,000 violent crimes committed last year alone in California (Gutwillig). About 60,000 less violent crime arests, which means our focus is on busting pot heads and not violent members of society.

P5: “Regulation, which has dramatically decreased cigarette use among all age groups, is precisely the way to address concerns about youth access, potency and consumer safety – as well as take the financial incentive away from the violent black market” (Gutwillig). Basically in lemen terms make pot like cigarettes.

P6: Deaths related to cigarrette smoking, and accidents and crimes related to alcohol consumption goes way deeper than pot. Going unnoticed is the societal costs of putting regular tax paying and law abiding citizens for a little reefer.

P7: Prohibition of alcohol was lifted 75 years ago because of the realzation of wasted rescources and potential revenue gain.

P8: “Marijuana already plays a huge role in the California economy. It’s time to end the unjust charade of marijuana prohibition, tax this flourishing multibillion dollar market and redirect criminal justice resources to matters of real public safety” (Gutwillig). I dont think I found a quotes yet that hits my thoughts anymore on the nose than this one does.

New Medical Marijuana Policy: Obama Administration will not seek to arrest people for following state laws.

P1: The Obama administration is no longer seeking to arrest medical marijuana users and suppliers, as long as they abide by laws.

P2: Prosecutors will be told it is not a good use of their time, to arrest people for harmless medical marijuana offenses. And to focus on crimes and criminals that are a legit threat to society.

P3: This is a stark contrast from the Bush administration, who strictly enforced anti-pot laws everywhere throughout the U.S. (Doesnt G.W. light up some Alabama Kush in Harold and Kumar 2?) He was definitely blazin all day at Yale.

P4: “Fourteen states allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington” (Barrett).

P5: California is very unique with their dispensary policy, in which they advertise their services statewide. New Mexico and Rhode Island are currently in the process of liscensing.

P6: Attorney General Eric Holder stated, he wanted prosecutors focusing on criminals that violate both federal and state laws. This means not the harmless pot heads, just let them be please.

P7: A three page memo was to be released late in October that is to be sent to federal prosecutors in the 14 states that currently legalize medical marijuana. The memo will also be sent to, top officials at the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

P8: Bruce Mirken, communications director for Marijuana policy project says, “This is a huge step forward.” This new change in policy will progressively lead to respecting scientific and practical reality.

P9: Officials also went on to say that they informed prosecutors, of potential criminals using the medical marijuana buisness as a cover up for other illegal up-scale drug activity. They may hide regualer drug dealing begind this now legal buisness.

P10: Most importantly officials said for prosecutors to keep an eye out for violence linked with marijuana activity. Illegal use of firearms, selling pot to minors?(What the hell makes a differnece if the kid is 18 or 16?

P11: “The memo, officials said, is designed to give a sense of prosecutorial priorities to U.S. Attorneys in the states that allow medical marijuana. It notes that pot sales in the United States are the largest source of money for violent Mexican drug cartels, but adds that federal law enforcement agencies have limited resources”(Barrett). This quote hits the nail on the head once again.

P12: Medical Marijuana advocates are beginning to have their voices heard. Something puzzling to conclude with though, after Obama’s repeated promises of devising some sort of policy, the DEA raided 4 marijuana dispensaries in L.A. shorty after he took office.

Both articles started out with some type of statistic to draw the reader in which it in fact did. There wasnt really too big of a difference in the intro and review for both of the articels, it was just an informative article for both of them. The first article was a bit more opinionated I felt, because it was not objective towards both sides of the marijuana argument. The second article was pretty much strictly informative, based on the new policy of President Barack Obama. All of the information in the second article came right from the top, so it basically outlines an ask tell method of research and interviewing by the authors. I tried picking two articles, that seemed to be closely related and see which one I liked better. I found that descision very tough to make because there was a decent amount that can be cited and learned from both of the articles.