Thanks to the COM352 students for contributing a bunch of new pages! I'll be moving these pages into the main area of the wiki soon.

From UMassWiki

[edit] Homework

[edit] First Reflection

English has never been my best subject. In high school I struggled with essays from start to finish. The way Steph has this class set up has been good for me to get settled into. The short blogs and Wiki posts are technically straining but at least I can write them. I have to admit that the technical difficulties of the UMass Wiki and the Wordpress blogs were daunting. After a few weeks, I think I’m getting the hang of it. Online writing is a new concept to me and it is interesting how Steph has been using it to enhance our writing. My writing itself has also been improving. This class has forced me to actually think about what I’m writing and who I’m writing it for. Purpose in my writing isn’t something I had before. In high school, I wrote because I had to and the papers were merely to give the teacher something to grade. The Introduction of a peer was a very interesting assignment. Having never really interviewed many people before, I was a little hesitant. After meeting with my classmate I excited to learn more about them to get to know them personally. It was difficult to write the introduction for two reasons. The first was that we had to use a specific format which I have never had to do before. The other reason that the introduction was difficult was because by writing a biography I had to keep my peer’s thoughts in mind. I wasn’t allowed to ramble on about some trivial part the person’s life that I that was interesting. I’m looking forward to becoming a more disciplined and creative writer as this semester progresses.

[edit] Second Reflection

This reflection is a little late. I haven’t been to class in a few weeks and I have fallen behind in a major way. In my first reflection I was very optimistic. I said that I was, “looking forward to becoming a more disciplined and creative writer as this semester progresses.” It is difficult however to progress when you don’t attend class or do the assignments. I originally skipped class because I genuinely felt bad. However, after the weekend passed and I hadn’t done the work assigned for the next day I was embarrassed. I said to myself that I would skip class that day and finish all the work for the next class. After weeks of this procrastinating I finally realized that the only way to get back on track was to go to class and beg Steph for forgiveness. Going to class relieved a lot of anxiety that I had been carrying for weeks. I’m now attempting to fill in the gaps that I missed and catch up with the rest of the class. It’s a long way to get back in the clear but with Steph’s support I think I’ll be able to pull it together. At the time of this letter I have not improved in any of the areas that I had outlined in my first reflection. I have a vast amount of room for further improvement and I think it has to start with responsibility and time management. Those are the weakest points in my academic life and can be fatal if not dealt with. My writing skill also has a lot of room for improvement. Hopefully the work I’m doing to catch up will hone my skills as well as keep me from failing English for the semester.

[edit] This I Believe

Live by example. As a Christian college student, it is often difficult to live a righteous life. Although I stumble and make mistakes, I believe that by leading a Christian life daily, I can witness to those around me. People that are considered role-models such as movie stars and musicians lead by example. Their high profile lives attract the attention of children, adolescence and adults. I see this imitation most often in young women. When a new songstress becomes popular, their clothing choice, personality and attitude seem to be channeled into these impressionable young ladies. One day, I see a singer like Avril Lavigne encourages girls to be independent and to ignore boys’ advances. A few months later Brittany Spears and Paris Hilton are persuading girls that sex appeal is important and that boys are play things. This kind of manipulation demonstrates how powerful a person’s example can be. Although celebrities are the most visual people that lead by example, I believe that any common person can affect change in people through their actions. Children at school often influence their peers through either mischievous shenanigans or humble politeness. As for me, daily actions that for me are routine often impact people without me knowing it. The other day, I was speaking with a student who happens to be a senior when he mentioned that he had noticed me praying before a meal and how much that meant to him. Although I had not intended to, I had affected this person’s life. Similarly, saying “bless you” after a classmate sneezes seems common but you would be surprised how many people refrain either from awkwardness or because they don’t notice. I say it as often as I can and I have noticed people following suite. An insignificant few words can inspire people to be polite. Insignificant acts when done daily with meaning and change people. Many of my actions are ruled by my religious beliefs. When confronted with religious beliefs, many people are dismissive and jaded. By expressing my beliefs through my actions, that iron curtain can be circumvented. Attributes like love, compassion, humbleness, trust, respect, mercy, honesty and hard work can be conveyed without a single word. When people search for active ways of affecting change, they often turn to loud violent rioting and angry verbal barrages but I believe that the same result could be achieved through living by example. One of the most noteworthy individuals to lead by example once said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” Mohandas Gandhi’s example moved an entire nation to nonviolence. If one small man’s humble life can persuade legions of suppressed, angry and riled people to put aside all aggression, what could we accomplish? Live by example and you can change the world.

[edit] The Fulfillment of Fermentation

Alcohol is one of man’s crowning achievements. It is also paradoxically our greatest weakness. Every country in world brews alcoholic beverages utilizing their natural resources to produce unique drinks. The Russians made Vodka from potatoes, the Caribbean produces rum from sugar cane, France make wine from their vineyards, Norwegians brew mead, Germans and Irish brew beer from every type of grain, even in the Mexican desert cactus is distilled into tequila. It seems to be an obsession, or is it a necessity? When looking at this obvious trend, I question whether alcohol fulfills a human need. Why else would alcohol be a multi-hundred billion dollar industry. The industry is driven by the consumers and the consumers don’t stop consuming. Focusing on college drinking is strange because half of the college population is under the age of twenty-one and therefore, shouldn’t be drinking at all. College is notorious for drinking; from frat parties to dorm rooms alcohol permeates the college experience. The drinking age is in place to prevent younger and traditionally less mature people from abusing it. People may be mature and responsible individually but when surrounded by peers, even the most responsible person can act foolishly. Where on earth are there more concentrations of peers than in college? My experience with alcohol began in high school. During my sophomore year I began going to parties to drink, I was sixteen. I would go to these parties for a couple reasons. Firstly, I was there to be around my friends, simple fellowship and sharing a laugh and garnering hilarious stories to remind people of in school the next week. Secondly, drinking made me feel good, feeling drunk was a great break from the monotony of high school. Lastly, I was there to fit in. Once you go to parties often enough, you become a regular, you fit into that central group and if you miss a party, people notice. I have to say that most of my high school parties were very low key, safe and enjoyable. When you know the people there and they know you, there’s no need to do something stupid to prove how crazy you are or that you are the meanest drinker. College party life is a little different. Now that I’m on my own, in my own dorm, I don’t have to go to a party to have a drink. If I’m in the mood for a tasty beer, I can just open my fridge. Alcohol isn’t a rarity in college which loses some excitement. I personally think college parties are overrated. Since I go to parties for the people, it’s terrible to go to a strange building filled with people I don’t know and try to have fun. When you’re surrounded by people you don’t know and don’t know how they feel about you, you’re more inclined to foolishly attempt to win them over. You know that s the case when you hear someone say “dude watch this”, someone is being stupid. Drinking can be like any other social activity, sports or birthdays, just a reason for people to get together. But unlike sports, drinking makes it easier to connect with people that you might not know. It seems like when you meet someone at a party, you have some common ground, you’re both drunk. The social aspect changes and it is easier to enjoy yourself. As a people, we long for social connection and alcohol is a great catalyst. Besides social drinking, there are people who drink for the physical feeling of being drunk. Although I don’t drink when I’m sad, I can understand when people do. When you feel horrible either because you flunked a test or your girlfriend broke up with you, drinking provides a way of replacing your current feeling with drunkenness. Similarly, after a long week at school it can be nice to relax in your chair and have a couple drinks while you watch a movie. Alcohol gives us a break from the monotonous sensations of our daily lives. These reasons show us the why and when. The how is a scientific explanation of how the ethyl alcohol is absorbed by our bloodstream and finally processed by our liver. We now need assess the consequences. The most severe result is liver failure and liver cancer while the least severe would be sleep an extra half an hour but there is a vast amount of area between those two extremes. Dependency and alcoholism are always concerns but the risk of injuring yourself while intoxicating is the most worrisome. Drunken driving accidents alone contribute almost 20% of the total lives lost to alcohol related deaths per year of 75,766. Deaths of underage kids contribute six percent or 4,554 young adults to the total lives lost per year. These statistics are unacceptable to the people of the United States and to the University of Massachusetts. The University of Massachusetts is known to teach some of the more alcohol-inclined students in the area. Student drinking has damaged the school’s reputation as well as physically damaging many building, cars etc. In response, the university has taken measures to curb the issues that arise from irresponsible drinking. The university has made an online alcohol awareness class, MyStudentBody.com mandatory for all incoming students. The “zero tolerance” policy for students under 21 has been enforced for vigorously. Students face harder punishments if discovered disobeying the rules of student conduct. While researching the universities response and while experiencing the atmosphere at the school I have concluded that the University of Massachusetts is not trying to stop underage drinking. All the rules and regulations deal with students being irresponsible after getting drunk. The university allows us to drink in our rooms by not allowing RAs to enter. A student cannot be penalized for simply being drunk. It is only when a student crosses the line and puts the universities property or reputation in jeopardy that the hammer comes down. Personally, I believe this is an efficient way of dealing with drinking at UMass. Allowing students liberties in their rooms prevents them from rebelling in some other area of their lives while strict enforcement outside reminds them of the rules. According to MyStudentBody.com, “two out of three UMass students have four or less drinks when they party”. Although they exclaim this statistic as proof of a sober student body, the fact that 33% of the entire campus consumes more than five drinks every time they party is a testament to the social life of our school. If college is where students learn to drink, I can’t think of a better place. Here at UMass, a student can learn just about everything about alcohol and because of the presence of “the man” outside every building and on every road, they can learn in a safely controlled environment.

Bibliography

Institute of Alcohol Studies. "Adolescents and Alcohol". 3-2007 <http://www.ias.org.uk/>

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. "Database Resources". November 2006 <http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/>

Alcohol Awareness Research Library. "Core Alcohol and Drug Survey 2005" "American Freshman Study - "Partying" Trend". 2005-2006 <http://www.alcoholstats.com/>

Center for Disease Control. "Alcohol-Attributable Deaths and Years of Potential Life Lost". Sept. 24, 2004 <http://www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5337a2.htm>

My Student Body. "College Health Connection". 2004 <https://www.mystudentbody.com/>

Odin 15:37, 13 November 2007 (EST)

[edit] Rudolph

On paper Timothy Jackson would seem like a reserved and quiet boy. He lives in Sylvan; which is stereotypically known as a studious and tranquil part of campus in comparison to noisy Southwest. Timothy grew up in a stable family, having almost a rarity in our society now, two parents who are still married. His family is religious and their Christian ways have stemmed off to Timothy, who plans to follow the traditions his family handed down to him. His traditional American background would make me think Timothy was shaped into a follow-the-rules, clean-shaven kid; on the contrary Timothy is an outspoken person with many opinions to share with the world. Growing up, Timothy was given the opportunity to travel. He has gone to Europe on three occasions. Not only does this make me insanely jealous of Timothy but also led me to believe that he has had many great experiences in his childhood. The first trip was to Germany during the beginning of his teenage years, where he stayed with an exchange family; he grew close to this family. The members of the German family decided to stay with Timothy’s family, here in America, to embrace our culture. The second trip was to Paris, for a field trip for French club. Timothy’s last and most recent trip was to Ireland, which was his graduation gift. When he was telling me of each of these trips there was an excitement in his voice that reminded me how much I hope to travel some day and also gave us a connection and a common ground to talk within. Not only was Timothy a good student in high school, he also participated in two sports: soccer in the fall and lacrosse in the spring. He was highly dedicated to neither, both were for recreation. He never planned on pursuing them at a higher level. He does plan on playing at the intramural level. He currently loves partaking in pick-up games of volleyball in the Northeast area. Timothy is active in another sense as well; he rides his bike around campus and to get into town. Timothy said it’s what gives him his athletic physique and it is a great way to do his part in reducing pollution. Getting to know someone like Timothy is why I love this UMass campus. He is friendly and different than anyone I have met so far. Timothy is not the typical partying, alcohol-crazed person I have met here in Southwest, which is refreshing. His personal style is also quirky, it reveals his carefree personality at a first glance. His long hair reflects that he is not a follower and does not conform to the typical short hair style for men in society. When Timothy speaks out in class his opinions are original and thoughtful. He does not state the obvious and try to blend in with everyone else. Although he would like to be an engineer, I think a teacher would be a great profession for Timothy. When I asked Timothy why he chose to have long hair I did not get the answer I had expected. I assumed he was trying to be different; declaring his non-conformity. Which in essence completely kills the idea of being original if you are trying to be different. His answer was a respectable and carefree response; he stated because when he got older in the professional world he could not experiment with fun hairstyles like the one he has chosen. His answer to my question encompasses his personality. He is sensible and inspiring in the way he glides through life; I envy his ability to be himself and be comfortable in his own skin. I was interested to find that he was home schooled for a brief time in his upbringing. Personally, this explained many things for me. In the environment of home school you are not exposed as much as you are in a public school. You are able to create your own ideas and receive one-one experiences with a teacher. I believe this experience was the key to Timothy’s lighthearted attitude. I believe if I never attended public school, I would not choose to buy the clothes that I do and I would not be so used to the conformity that being in school with 500 students your age forced upon me. Along with riding a bike, Timothy also does other natural, laid-back activities including; hiking, swimming, and tree-climbing. Timothy revealed to me some of his atypical hobbies. He collects weapons and loves the movie, The Lord of the Rings. {link?} He held a few jobs; none of them were serious, or pertained to the career he is hoping to pursue. One was at a bowling alley, where his position ranged from custodian to cashier. He also worked a short time at a rental place situated on a lake. Timothy has nothing negative to say about either which is surprising, and made me realize how pessimistic a person I was, because if anyone asked about my job, my first words would be criticism. Another interesting thing about Timothy is that he has a fraternal twin. He claims that they are nothing alike. His brother is more of a left-brained person with short hair while Timothy is the creative outgoing one. This is yet another thing Timothy has that I am jealous of; someone who is my age who I can share my experiences with. A twin is like a friend but someone who you know will be with you for the rest of your life. In conclusion, I am covetous of the life Timothy has lived so far. I would love to have the confidence and comfort he has within himself. He was not afraid to answer any question I asked and he seemed very open and susceptible to any ideas that I put forth. He is unlike anyone I have ever taken the time to talk with. My high school was filled with mainstream culture. I saw duplicity, my days were repetitious with the same brand of jeans on everyone. I titled this paper Rudolph because like the famous reindeer, he was an different from all the others. There was also a correlation between how each person was treated, Timothy and the reindeer. Both at first glance might not be like everybody else but in the Christmas story the reindeers give Rudolph the chance and he turns out to be just like them. I like how Timothy was able to show me something different and was not afraid that some things about him were unconventional. Even though Timothy has had great experiences, he was appreciative of each. He showed a genuine love when he talked about his family and he seemed thankful for each opportunity he was given.

Christine 17:29, 27 November 2007 (EST)

[edit] Format

I recommend that Christine use the “The Self in Contradiction” frame while revising her introduction since the way i am perceived is contradictory to how i am in person.

[edit] Steph's Feedback

The Life of the Party

[edit] Peers Pages

Steph^(talk) - Aciana - Blendi - Christine N - Stephanie - Evita - Laura - TJ - Marco - Evita - Amanda - Talia - Steven - Ashley - Qing - Wing - Christine L