arguments through art

Through the pages 903-908 the most appealing work of a ‘visual argument’ is found on page 906. The work is entitled “Identities are indefinite…What’s yours?” I found this piece particularly appealing because of the different words found in it. It is true that identities are endless and this work really shows that, if you take the time to read each word found on the piece. The bottom of it, has the title written out, this is the focal point of the piece, it allows the reader/viewer to see that all of the words found above actually describe people that we come across daily. The work, in this section, that I found the least appealing, is found on page 903. It is entitled “Peeling off labels.” This work didn’t make much sense to me, even after pondering the piece for a while and trying to take on different viewpoints. The work tries to make a play on the nutrition values we find on the back of our food, but the pun did not work for me.
Through the pages of 917-921 there are different cartoons shown to represent different artist’s opinion of the decision to make an effort, on college applications, to promote diversity. The cartoon on page 917 is entitled “It’s GOT to be the shoes.” This cartoon is trying to show the viewer that the racial preferences are “boosting” people to get into college, and leaving behind those people who have actually tried to get the spot in the University. The cartoon on page 918, “Supreme Irony” has a picture of the members of the Supreme Court, with one African American man serving on the court. This cartoon wants its viewers to think that the decision was made because there were no people of diversity trying to help make the decision. The cartoon on page 919, “Daniel lives on Detroit’s Eastside…” depicts an African American boy growing up, struggling with the problems around him. This cartoon appeals to the opposite side of the story, pushing the viewer to believe that minorities deserve to have an extra boost to get their spot in college because they might have come from difficult backgrounds. The cartoon on page 920, “Admissions” is definitely the most appealing to me. It shows a group of students that were recently accepted into a University and under each student; they have the reason why they got their spot. Under the African American student it says “minority” and the man next to him is pointing saying that it is the minority’s fault that he didn’t get in, not any of the other kids who got their spot through some other motif than good grades or extra curricula’s. The second cartoon on page 920 is the least appealing to me. It shows two people in a race and makes the point that, if you have money to pay for certain things, then it is easier for that person to get accepted into college.

Ad by Banana Republic

This ad by Banana Republic was distributed by the Harper’s Bazaar October 2010 issue. You can find the Banana Republic clothing line online or in their stores. This particular ad is free and happy, with a light attitude. The model in the photograph looks happy and carefree; the caption says “Exceed expectations.” This caption can be interpreted in several different ways: exceed the trend setter’s expectations and have your own style, exceed your peer’s expectations by having great style from Banana Republic. The caption under the Banana Republic brand name says “Life at work.” This can also be interpreted in different ways. Some people may think that their life at work is separate than the rest of their life, which should be true for most people. In this case, their “Life at work” can be happy and possess a lightweight attitude as they “exceed expectations.” The clothes and style that Banana Republic provides can help someone to exceed the expectations in their work life by bringing such a positive attitude to the work environment. The words in this ad are small enough that some readers may just pass by the ad not realizing what the caption means to them. The words are not intruding, but when noticed, they play into today’s laid back lifestyle, allowing the reader, hopefully turned consumer, to buy this state of mind and accomplish more than they thought possible. The readers’ eyes are drawn to the model in the picture first because she is jumping in the air and looks happy. Maybe she is the one who is setting the trend for the rest of us to “exceed expectations.”

When too much water is a bad thing: UNCW drainage systems.

I. Introduction
a. My group chose to do our project on the drainage systems affecting the UNCW campus.
i. UNCW acknowledges the drainage problems the campus faces but does not consider anything a threat unless it directly affects a class building.
ii. Most of the UNCW campus is in the “no flood risk zone,” there are four problem areas on campus: intersection of Racine and Randall- including lots G and H, southwest corner of campus, undeveloped area along the southern unnamed tributary of Bradley Creek, extended area from lot E to lot AA
b. UNCW does not have a plan to correct these troubled areas from the information I have seen, although they do acknowledge that a couple trouble areas could yield danger if significant flooding were to occur.
II. Problems that could be caused on campus due to flooding
a. Technology ruined, in crawl space or first level areas
b. Flooding on roads so that emergency vehicles cannot gain access to an area of campus
c. Inhibited access to the water tower
III. Town of Wrightsville Beach flooding systems
a. The storm water Services Annual Newsletter, April of 2008, stated that “Since 2007, the town of Wrightsville Beach has adopted a storm water ordinance, began a permitting and inspection program, initiated a water quality study with UNCW, completed a stormwater system inventory and established a stormwater system maintenance plan.”
b. According to the same newsletter, there are 650 stormwater inlets that collect storm water runoff and direct it to local waterways
c. According to the newsletter, this water travels through 10.6 miles of pipe, and is deposited at 100 different locations around town
IV. Dealing with flooding aftermath
a. New Orleans after Katrina
i. After the storm, the townspeople saw that the canals and drain systems that were in place were destined to fail because of poor building techniques (City of New Orleans Press Release)
ii. UNCW can use this information and gain knowledge on precautions to take if a heavy storm hits our area
Works Cited:
Wrightsville Beach Stormwater Services Annual Newsletter, 4/2008
City of New Orleans press release, 2/2010
UNCW Hazard Assessment, 5/2003
Thesis: UNCW has problems with flooding, how do we plan to fix them??
What can our campus, UNCW, learn from other peoples/towns mistakes, in response/preparation to flooding??

Where to go with the ISS??

According to this essay the ISS has been sitting around making virtually no contribution to the space program for far too long. After using $156 billion to create this International Space Station, we are not using it to the effect we could be. The author of this article thinks we should use it to go somewhere and send people that would be on it to Mars or somewhere we could use to make a difference. In my opinion, this Space Station should be used for anything and everything people want it for. After paying this $156 billion for the ISS, why wouldn't we be using it constantly? How are the creators and investors of this project planning on seeing a return on all of this money, or even see the project be worth the money they spent on it? If it hasn't even made it to the moon, then it was obviously a waste of money to create in the first place. But instead of dwelling on that now, we should use it to it's maximum capability and get ahead of every other country in the space race... (if that still exists). Our country is always trying to be ahead in everything and during the Reagan era we were so determined to be the first ones to the moon, where has that drive gone and why doesn't our country have a desire to use such an expensive project we created? MAKE USE OF YOUR TOOLS!!

source for the definition of LIFE

For my third essay I will be writing about the different definitions of life. For this essay I am going to compare life in the aspect of living. "Live life to the fullest" embraces the word life in a completely different way than merely stating that a new life was brought into this world. Life can also be looked at as the mere existence of a person, even if someone is on life support they are still 'living.' The book "Information, randomness & incompleteness: papers on algorithmic information theory" talks about a mathematical definition of life, merely growing and being. This book is relevant to the part of my argument that says life is merely something in this world, nothing to do with the quality of it. Although the book was published in 1987 it still works for my argument since most of the book is mere definition.

In the FACE

Facebook definition from Urban Dictionary: “WARNING: The new addictive drug that has devastatingly hit most colleges, universities, and highschools. The drug causes lasting effects: procrastination, swollen fingers, dropped grades, irritation of the eyes, increased need to add more friends to your friends list, and skipped classes. Be cautious, some think they are immune to the effects of facebook, until they try it and by then its too late. Protect Yourselves.” This describes Facebook to a T, however there is more to it. Facebook can cause concerns to parents, to other users, and to yourself. In the end, it is a public site, and it can be accessed by many different people, such as future employers. Facebook is an easy way for my generation to communicate, and constantly be updated on the daily happenings of our friends lives. Parents even use Facebook now, which is crazy because they used to be too concerned that it corrupted the people who used it or it led to identity theft or kidnappings. Facebook is great, but it is a waste of time.

essay on "Study Finds Teenagers' Internet Socializing Isn't Such a Bad Thing"

In going through the textbook, looking for an essay to write my own first essay on, this article about social networking jumped out at me. In our world today, where there are risks, and the desire to be social is on the rise, why not discuss such a current issue, spread through the generations. Five years ago Facebook was mostly just college students looking to network with each other and stay in touch after graduation. As the years have gone on, it reached out to high school students, then younger kids, and finally our parents are a part of this social networking community. Who knew? Those very people that used to be afraid of a serial killer finding our link on the web and hunting us down to abduct us from our own home, are now users of our risky network. This article discusses how those fears had no right to be instilled into our parents minds. “Those concerns about predators and stranger danger have been overblown.” (Ms. Ito). Its true, that kids are just using these social sites, Facebook and MySpace, to socialize with their friends, and stay in touch with their circle on a continual basis. I will write about this essay, because I believe this is an important and current issue facing, not only my generation, but most people in our world as well.