The first possible choice for my final paper is about drug legalization. I don't mean the usual legalizing weed, but the legalization of hard drugs. For example, there are countries in which heroine is legal. These countries have clinics where they provide clean needles and a safe environment, and even medical attention if something bad happens... The two stances are if they should be totally illegal or if there is a point at which we should stop punishing addicts and help them get their fix safely.

http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/heroin/heroin_law.shtml

The other idea are the different treatments for mental disorders for OCD in particular. There are different methods such as cognitive behavioral therapy, behavioral therapy, and medications. I would go into detail about all of these options and tell which one is the best, although it seems that a mix of 2 or all 3 of these options may be best there is a lot of research to be made.

http://www.medicinenet.com/obsessive_compulsive_disorder_ocd/page2.htm

Journal 11 Revision

Aside from killing good bacteria on our skin, using hand sanitizer promotes antibiotic resistance among bacteria. This works by killing only the 99.99% of bacteria that can be killed by ethyl alcohol. The other .01% can reproduce. This percentage is the strongest portion of bacteria. The alcohol increases the rate of natural selection on the hands. Frequent use will only allow these bacteria to exist killing everything else multiple times a day, leaving behind a good environment for the strong pathogens to replicate. There have been other studies with medicines such as penicillin that show reduced effectiveness of use after too much use. This has global effects. It increases the demand for new antibiotics if we can only use them until the bacteria are immune.

Naturally the benign bacteria tend to be much weaker than pathogenic bacteria. This said, the .01 to .1% of bacteria left on the hands after hand sanitizer use are the strongest and most aggressive. At any one time there are billions of bacteria inhabiting the human hands, leaving hundreds of thousands of the strongest bacteria to reproduce in a highly nutritious environment. Bacteria can reproduce through 100,000 generations in the same amount of time as one human generation (Bettelheim). Any gene that benefits bacteria will be naturally selected much quicker than the evolution of humans. The frequent use of alcohol based hand sanitizers in reality speeds up the evolution of pathogens because their new environment is extremely advantageous. Relating to the big picture, staphylococcus, you may have heard of staph infection, and streptococcus, respiratory infection, are just two of the many strains of bacteria resistant to most antibiotics given to treat them (Bettelheim). We shouldn't be concerned with being bacteria free because the more we use hand sanitizer throughout the day the more we develop pools of resistant bacteria on our hands.

Argument

http://www.NaturalNews.com/030091_Joycelyn_Elders_marijuana.html

This article is about marijuana and how it is less harmful than we think. The surgeon general has many points to make. We are wasting useful resources to incriminate young people. I believe in the same view as the author of this article. Marijuana is harmless.

http://www.drinkingbeer.net/BeerArticles/Liquor_Before_Beer_Never_Fear.php5

This article is about how to properly drink. It states that if you drink beer before liquor your chances to throw up are much more. I think this is absolutely true. Always drink liquor before beer.

http://www.salon.com/life/food/eat_drink/2007/12/21/absinthe

This article is about absinthe. Many people believe this drink makes you hallucinate. This article states that all of these myths are false. Absinthe is a different type of drink than average alcohol we drink in the US. This article has a lot of useful information including the legal status of absinthe. I have never tried but I agree with the article

The brand new 2011 Technine Team Bradshaw is one of the types of new age snowboards that recently have come out. These boards are the flashy type. This deck focuses less on specifications and more on graphics. The graphics on this board of a beer bottle, lighter, cigarette, pizza, and money show a lifestyle that a lot of snowboarders lead. A person might buy this board if they want others to know who they really are. Being seen with this Technine I promise you'll get attention. Notice how smooth the edges are on a radial cut. You can easily tell that the money you put into this board is more for looking cool than having the top of the line gear. One might buy this board if they feel they don't need the best new shit to do ill tricks.

The 2011 Lib Tech Skate Banana is one of the most popular snowboards out this year. With new groms (young snowboarders) wanting the best new gear it's no surprise this board gets all the hype. This board looks plain black on the bottom with some vibrant color on the brand name across the center. The graphics of this deck focus less on complicated artwork and more on simply stating the model and brand of the board. If you look closely you can see that the cuts in the side are not smooth as other boards. This serves to have more contact points with the snow. Even by just looking at this board you can tell it is top of the line.

Evaluation of The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight is one of the greatest movies of our time. Laremy Legel called Christopher Nolan’s, The Dark Knight, a masterwork. Most people would say this was a phenomenal film. This revolutionary film starred one of the best actors of all time, Heath Ledger. Christopher Nolan blew away most critics with his job directing. The Dark Knight is a film that was so popular and all around loved that it merits evaluation

I will be evaluating the Dark Knight on the directing, the characters, story line, actors, and theme.

Most aspects of this movie were great. Christopher Nolan did the directing in this film, and very well might I add. Nolan is said to be on a higher level than other filmmakers. Some critics say comparing this movie to other movies is like comparing, let’s say, The Tavern to McDonald’s. The overall quality of filmmaking in this movie is much better than other movies of our time such as Casino Royale, Transformers, and Spiderman. Nolan finds a way to show us what these people are thinking. This movie is less about the superhero versus super villain and more about the internal conflict and the choices we make.

The characters in this movie were flawless. The batman and joker obviously were great and an essential part but Harvey Dent, Alfred, Rachel, Gordon, Lucious, the detectives, and minor villains along the way were depicted beautifully.

The story line of The Dark Knight was perfect timing. Everything that happened in this movie happened at the perfect time. Being two and a half hours long some might say it would be nearly impossible to keep the watcher’s attention for that long. Comparing this movie to the Titanic, I’d say very similarly the amount of time was perfect and absolutely necessary. Every part of this movie kept me watching and wanting more without confusing me at any point like Nolan’s Inception did.

The Dark Knight starred some of the best actors of different generations. Christian Bale and Heath Ledger played the main characters the Batman and the joker. Christian Bale, the perfect actor for this part, has a lot of conflict within himself and he illustrates this quality well. This is shown by the part in the film when he must choose to save Rachel or the lives of a many families. Heath Ledger… what can be said about his role as the joker. He plays this role immaculately. He is a twisted genius in this film. The part couldn’t have been played any better.

The themes and motifs in this movie made those watching question if they, themselves, were good people. Some of the decisions Bale faces make one curious what they would do in a similar situation. The Dark Knight tells us how humans and society work. It shows us how close we are to chaos in our daily lives and asks if you need to become a monster to kill a monster (Legel).

Outine

1) My opening scene will be of a student who failed classes and eventually failed out of school. He didn't go to class about 80 percent of the time. I realize this is an extreme case but it is a good example of what could happen. His parents scream and yell at him for the money they have wasted, the time and effort they put in, and most of all are hurt over his decision. This scene includes dialogue from parents to son. It also includes a few of the questions I asked this person about why they did what they did.

2) "It just seemed easier not to care. I just did me"

3) I am writing about the problem of students skipping class here at Penn State. It is relevant and important because almost everyone I've talked to has skipped at least one class. It is a widespread problem that is a factor at just about every school in America. What I want to find out is really how many students skip. I want to know the major reasons why they do it, the excuses they may give to a professor, if one is needed, when classes are skipped, and what the most frequently skipped classes are here at Penn State.

4) Freshman skip classes everyday at every college for as far back as college goes. It has caused mass amounts of people getting kicked out of school and millions of dollars to wasted education funds. There are many reasons like partying, doing homework, and simply having an easy class that you can do well in even without attending.

5) "I skip econ everyday and got an A on the exam. If I just find 30 minutes on my own time to teach myself everything, I'm good on test day," said Jeff Stern, an 18 year old SRA major at Penn State. This is proof that skipping class is prevalent.

6) I have an interview planned with Dr. Albena Z. a calculus teacher who takes the stance of no attendance. She has said, "If you don't want to come to class then don't come to class. It's about you wanting to do well. If you don't want to do well then I don't care." This is the point of view of many teachers at Penn State saying that at this point if a student doesn't care it is not the professors problem. They get paid to be a professor not a babysitter.

7) "Sometimes it's just too much for me man. I can wake up at 8 to shower and get to class every monday wednesday and friday if I'm gonna be up til 3 in the morning doing work." This was said by freshman Shawn Warrender 18 year old DUS major. He is a person that tries extremely hard to get all his work done but when it comes to college sometimes the work load can be a little much.

8) Skipping is going to be a problem everywhere for a long time. It's just too hard to control this problem. It's truly up to the student how much time and effort they put in to their school work and class. In general, even the smartest and hardest working students won't be able to make class every once in a while. Once we understand the major causes of these problem we can begin to fix the problems at the roots. I will talk about all of my research once more including the major quotes from specific people. Why do students skip? When do they skip? How often do they skip? What are the professors opinions on students that do this? What are the main excuses used? Hopefully people realize how important classes are and take it more seriously.

Penn Staters Skipping Class Journal

My biology room is an enormous lecture hall. It seats over 750 people comfortably. I know this because my class alone has 741 people in it. There are two entrances for massive amount of people to file in at one time and two rows or stairs in between the sections of hundreds of red cushioned chairs. Usually to my left I have Mike Caplan. On my right is Danielle Falco. In the front of the room there is a podium where my professor stands with an attached microphone on her shirt so she can speak and everyone will hear. Above her lies a 30 foot by 15 foot projector with the computer screen on one side and the normal projector on the other side. My professor speaks with a loud voice that can be heard from 360 degrees around the room, and paces back and forth to try and make eye contact with all 741 people. Mike, on my left, has his clicker out to answer the various questions that give us participation points for each day. It is the only way to tell who is attending class and who isn't. New people around me everyday because there are so many people and so many possible choices of seats. The room is almost a theater.

"I haven't gone to biology this entire year so far except for the first day. It's just too hard to pay attention with that many people," says Will. He is one of my friends that I met in biology the first day we had class. He is a student here at Penn State and 18 years old.

"Dude clicker question are worth like no points, it doesn't even matter if I go or not." This again was Will who seems to have a bad attitude about going to class. He is saying that his grade may be negligibly affected by not answering the daily clicker questions.

"Honestly with 740 people even if I get up and leave everyday she won't know who I am, my name, or even remember what I look like," says Mike Caplan who actually does not skip class. He is 18 and went to my high school, Methacton, where we were in multiple of the same classes. I guess he has morals. Dr. Carla Hass is the she in this situation. She's the professor of biology 110. She can't keep track of this many people. It's just not possible.

Online I found that the most common excuse for students skipping class is that they are sick. This was a simple google search that lead me to a yahoo blog questionnaire. Teachers rarely believe this depending on your personality in class. This made me think that even if I actually am sick what are the chances that my professor will believe what I'm saying? Another thing I found really interesting was that at Penn State the most common actual reason for skipping class is being hungover from a night of being out late and drinking. This I heard from a Junior at Penn State who is seemingly popular and parties a lot. He wished to be remain anonymous. This person is also an older brother of a close friend I have here at State.

I would like to look at how many times a teacher actually believes their students excuses about missing class. I will look at the amount of teachers here that do not take attendance and how their grades compare to those classes that do take attendance. I have realized that some teachers here take a stance of letting their students decide how much effort they will put in. In other words if a kid doesn't want to go to class the professor doesn't care. Another thing I want to research that I found interesting is the amount of times students miss an early class because they were sleeping with a girl or vice versa.

Journal Four

"Number One Party School" illustrates everything that a solid investigative report would have. The two reporters definitely tells their point in a way that almost everyone can understand. The sound effects they use including people yelling and the songs they play really give you a feel of college. The noise they play in the beginning sounds exactly like an average night on the streets of state college. The reporters give multiple reasons for attacking the problem as soon as possible. For instance, Penn State was voted the number one party school. There is a lot of underage drinking here. Other examples they give are personal safety. They explain how people die because of drinking too much or doing something crazy while drunk. The report has countless facts and details. They use interviews with cops, residence, pricks who steal signs, students, non-students, and town employees. Interviewing a FIJI brother about his involvement in a students death was nice. They go to frats and see how many people are underage drinking. They show how disgusting a fraternity really is with puddles of beer everywhere. He explained how he feels about drinking now after the incident. He says how he didn't realize the consequences of his actions. The reporters quote the president of the university a lot. The president talks about the other side of being the number one party school. Graham Spanier tells us that the students are allowed to vote. What he basically says is that Penn State is the number one spirit school and that no matter what the students of Penn State are voting for they want to win. They also quote cops and many other people. An interview with a cop shared that cops are not looking to arrest students. The dumb students that don't realize these cops have been working and know every trick in the book fall right into the lap of the officers. They know every secret probably way better than any of the students. Acting like an idiot in public is the reason why people get caught. Just be safe. I feel that the conclusion the reporters want us to make is that underage drinking is dangerous. I think they want us, as students, not to drink, or at least not to get hammered. I think these two people did an excellent job of describing college life and giving us a feel. I enjoyed how they explain that drinking is a part of the atmosphere and lifestyle. I really enjoyed listening to this report. Sometimes drinking is absurd to the amount people take it. In my personal opinion underage drinking on college campus is not the major problem. I would have liked to here more about the positives state college has. I felt that the entire report was full of negatives about how awful we are here at state college. I think that the students here at State believe in a reputation that we have as being a wild school with the most spirit. We want to keep up the rep. We love college. We love Penn State.

First Drafts

First drafts are always awful. What Lamott is saying is that no matter how worthless your first "shitty" draft seems it is one of the most important parts of the writing process. Get all your ideas out and put it on paper. If you try too hard to make your first draft perfect you are bound to miss vital information that is hidden somewhere in your sub-conscience that would only come out by opening up your mind and letting the words flow out. The first rough draft isn't supposed to be good and she goes on to say that no one but you will see it so there is no need to worry about people laughing at your work. It is also important to realize that writing takes work. You need to try and try again before you really accept what you've done. Lamott says she "trusted the process more or less." After such a long time of writing she has to have countless exampled of when the writing process worked for her. Practice makes perfect. What I think she means by "more or less" is that there is always a little fear at the beginning before you've written anything. It's self doubt and you don't know what you are going to say. What I can relate to in this reading is the fact that it is hard for everyone to start writing. It made me feel better about myself to hear that people who love writing sometimes dread their topic. Finding a place to start is sometimes the hardest part for everyone. I always get stuck various times throughout writing a paper with writers block. So like these professional writers I need to get up and be occupied for a little to get my train of thought back. I was surprised that even these people that get paid to write doubt there work and are less confident than I thought. The rough draft is absolutely about the process instead of the product. The product may not even make sense at all. It's about getting started and tossing out ideas. During the rough draft process of my personal narrative I say and thought for a long time and the problem is I had too much information. I wrote it all down and took the pieces I thought would fit the best together to explain my message. In general my first drafts are very "rough". Sometimes I'll read my work aloud to myself and I'll laugh at what I wrote because it didn't make any sense. But no one but me will see these drafts so who cares? After the draft is set I feel a little better because I know where to start. Getting the information out is always the most difficult part of the writing process, for me at least. Once its done I'll read it over make as many corrections as needed until I'm satisfied with my work and ready to have people read it. Often, almost always, my final paper looks nothing like my first, rough, grammatically incorrect draft.

Journal Two, Shirt Memoir

David Giffels' "Shirt-Worthy" is a story of how a father finally felt like he earned his Ramone's T-shirt. He tells us that to be "worthy" of wearing a Ramone's shirt you were obligated to attend concerts and actually buy one there. The shirt needed to be worn out, maybe faded, and more or less dirty with your own blood, sweat, and tears. This was the only way to not be a poser, someone who does or wears something just to fit in and be cool, as we would call them today. Giffels didn't feel worthy of having a Ramone's shirt even though he attended some concert's. He said, "it felt to easy," or something along those lines. When he buys his son the t-shirt putting aside his past values to be a father figure and his son rips it on a fence he finally feels that he has earned his own Ramone's shirt. Back then it was harder for someone to pull of a t-shirt like that. If you had a band shirt people knew you attended concerts. Nowadays anyone can have whatever shirt they want. You can say, "hey man I love the Ramone's too," and the person may respond with a thank you and actually know not one song by that band. What I feel he is trying to get at is that it is too easy for kids today to get whatever they want. They might not form memories with something such as a t-shirt because they just went to the mall and bought it instead of living it. Earning gives an object meaning.
This story is relevant to our time because it shows us how hard people used to need to work to get what they wanted. Nobody could be a poser because they had to earn that t-shirt. Giffels is speaking to whoever remembers a time when something you wanted wasn't as available as they are today, or even possibly to a kid these days who has the same morals about earning their belongings. The point of Giffels' writing is to address those people who don't care about the meaning of objects and just have them because they look cool or want to fit in.
The author is particularly strong with dialogue. I hope to use dialogue to get my point across and reach the readers emotions like David Giffels. Ethically on the other hand he is reaching his audience saying that he knew he wasn't worthy of the shirt and didn't buy one anyway. He wanted to earn it himself. The logical part of this narrative is how he put his past values aside to get his son what he wanted. Using ethos, pathos, and logos David Giffels addressed the exigence with a message that fit his meaning.

Journal One

Let's just say my past experiences with writing and an English class in general have been uneventful. In all honesty writing is my weakest subject and this may be the major influencing reason why today I dread writing. Needless to say throughout my primary school life the only writing I did was required. From research papers to persuasive essays, I have found it difficult to put my thoughts into words like such an author as Frederick Douglass. My vocabulary is mildly broad, but on occasion I don't know the context certain words should be used making my writing, not always, but sometimes, hard to understand. Another problem I have had in the past with my writing is that my sentence structures (or just structure because it is singular) do not vary. Throughout high school I was criticized because my thoughts usually came out on paper as simple as subject and verb. Don't get me wrong these sentences had complete thoughts but I had never used such writing tricks as similes, metaphors, personification, alliteration, and others to make my writing much more interesting.

Now, I have realized how big of a part rhetoric plays in my everyday life. The first step is identifying the problem at hand. What is the point of your writing, speech, or presentation? It is also important to use the correct way of communication when presenting your information. And depending on the purpose of your communication the way in which you would explain may be completely different. For instance, when you watch any television show there are not just words scrolling down the screen to be read until the next commercial. That would be absurd. One needs to present their information by whichever means necessary to have the most effect on the reader. So when watching television the point is to use visuals to get the point across. You also need to examine what your audience likes. If your girlfriend is mad at you for some reason and she loves music you may write her an apologetic song to get the most effect out of what you have to say.

I had never been a fan of reading from as far back as I can remember. Actually I didn't even like bed time stories as a child. During my childhood if I needed to read a book for school I would end up on page ten from page one not remembering what I had just read because my mind went off on a tangent. Then came high school and my thirst for knowledge grew and grew. In my second year I was given a book to read called Forgotten Fire. Buy it right now! This was the first book in my entire life that I read from cover to cover. I couldn't put it down. The way the author, Adam Bagdasarian, expressed his feelings really got to me. This book was phenomenal and the start of my reading career. I am not an avid reader these days but none the less if I find a good book nothing, and I mean nothing, can pull me away.