Blogger reflectioner?

I can't believe the school year is almost over. It seems like just yesterday, Molly was informing all of us about our new writing assignment and how it was all going to be done over the internet. I was a bit skeptical. I remember thinking, "I don't want everyone in the class reading what I have written." However, as the year went on, I soon liked the blog quite a bit. It didn't seem like an actual assignment when you were doing it. It was somewhat just a free write with your own opinion on topics for the whole rest of the class to read.

I do think my writing has improved through the blog. Its a different type of writing and preparation when you plan on writing for an audience versus just your teacher. It seems if your writing for an audience you almost try to impress them a little bit more. I became a lot more comfortable writing for the blog as the year progressed. The whole blogging thing was actually kinda fun. Its funny because if you were to tell me last year I'd say that writing for school is "fun" I probably would have laughed and thought you were an idiot. The other nice thing about blogging is that you can read other peoples posts on the same topic and get an idea for what you want to write about and what their opinion on things is.

I'd have to say the blog was a success. I seemed to like most of the blog topics we were assigned. My favorite post to write, by far was the topic about the day in the life of a ten year old. It definitely took me back to the 'glory days' and made me realize just how much I missed the days where you didn't have a serious care in the world. Blogging was fun. I would way rather write a blog than have an ordinary paper assignment like most other classes. Truth be told, I actually have blogged in the past and didn't even know it. I have been the league manager of a fantasy football league for the past three years and I usually include a humorous monthly blog that I share with all my buddies in the league on the main page of our fantasy site. So technically I will continue blogging in my future life. So you win Molly, you win! :)

Summer of '10

Once school gets out, I plan on going on a camping trip with some buddies somewhere in the mountains and having a good time before returning to back home. I plan on being home for about two weeks and working construction for the same guy I worked for last year. Once June starts I will return to Missoula for a month of summer school. I hope to go fly fishing, floating the river, and mountain biking quite a bit as well as doing the whole school thing while I'm here. My brother and a couple of my friends are also going to be in Missoula this summer so it should make for a pretty fun time. When July comes around I'll be done with my classes and return back home to Glendive. I will return to working construction to put some cash in my pocket. Glendive will be a fun time in the summer as well . Most of my friends from high school will be back in town and we usually have a pretty fun time whether we're going camping along the Yellowstone River, partying, co-ed softball, or just hanging out. Then I'll return back to Missoula for fall semester. All in all, it should be a pretty fun and exciting summer of 2010.

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (deceased)

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien was by far my favorite late night show before it was taken off the air by NBC about two months ago. There was a lot of controversy involving Conan's take over right from the start last June. Conan took over for the long time tonight show host Jay Leno. Leno had a lot of followers, as did Conan. However, most of Leno's followers were older or middle aged groups, where as Conan appealed to more of a younger audience. The controversy carried over into Conan's first season and within eitht months the show ended in a somewhat ugly break up between Conan and NBC.

The main reason I enjoyed Conan over other late night hosts like Leno or Letterman, is because I grew up watching Conan ever since I was in elementary school. A lot of people don't know this, but Conan is a graduate from Harvard, so he is a very bright guy. Fresh out from college, Conan took a job as a writer for Saturday Night Live and later was hired for a new show on FOX called the Simpsons in the early 90's. The show, as we know was a hit, and later NBC hired him to become the Late Night host for NBC. His immature and stupid humor is what first attracted me to him. When the writers went on strike two years ago, Conan's show was one of the few shows that kept airing. Conan wrote most of his shows during this time, with little help, and in my opinion, these episodes were some the funniest things I've ever seen on television. Conan's canny and witty sense of humor is what makes him great.

Three Op eds

Fixing education is more important than revamping health care
This op ed took on a different view on the health care reform. The writer didn't necessarily oppose the reform he simple thought there should be more money in the schooling systems of our country. He including some interesting facts on how some parts of our country are struggling in the math and science departments He also went on to mention how schools in these areas were being forced to shut down due to a struggling economy and insufficient funds. I found this column to be quite interesting.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2010/03/column-fixing-education-is-more-important-than-revamping-health-care.html?csp=34&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+News-Opinion+%28News+-+Opinion%2

Caught in the Act: Guy candy, not storylines
I found this op ed to be quite humorous and and enjoyable to read. I actually laughed out loud a couple times while reading this. The writer's input on male magazines like maxim was, what I think, most peoples views on it besides males that have been single their entire lives or those who are insecure about themselves. I've read these magazines before and she practically nailed their basic themes on the head. Her take on porn was also hilarious. Guys that are obsessed with porn are pretty pathetic to tell you the truth. These are the magazines that give guys the idea that they have to be dicks to be cool. All in all I really like this op ed piece.
http://www.montanakaimin.com/index.php/articles/article/caught_in_the_act_guy_candy_not_storylines/957


Finding your own space at 30,000 feet
This op ed wasn't quite as interested as the other two, but it was easy to read and relate to the writer. She wrote about the "cocoon" you have as a seat when flying in an airplane. I myself don't usually find their seats too cozy if the flights exceed more than and hour in a half. However, the writer went on to mention that it was quite nice to get away from the world of cell phones and e-mail. She then went on to explain what airplane etiquette was all about, that one can only veiw a person's computer screen/diary for a few seconds before you enter their personal space.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-schmich-0324-20100324,0,784952.column?page=1

Sources for Antibiotics and supercells

1) Mayo Clinic Staff. Antibiotics: Misuse puts you and others at risk. Mayoclinic.com. Steckelberg JM. Feb. 6, 2010. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. 3/09/10
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/antibiotics/FL00075



2)Lindsay, Jodi A. "Functional & integrative genomics" Volume 6. issue 3 (2006): page 186.
http://web.ebscohost.com.weblib.lib.umt.edu:8080/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=5&sid=2d52e52e-7a5f-4c11-94aa-3429ec255b1b%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=21139613#db=aph&AN=21139613



3)Julia Rodgers. Superbugs- Protecting the Power of Antibiotics. http://www.cdcfoundation.org/. CDC staff. Feb. 2008. 3/9/10
http://www.cdcfoundation.org/healththreats/AntibioticResistance.aspx

4)Nicholas D. Kristof. "The Spread of Superbugs." New York Times. March 6, 2010. 3/9/10.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/opinion/07kristof.html

5)

Marcia Clemmitt. "Fighting Superbugs." CQ Researcher. Aug. 24 , 2007: Pages 673-696. Volume 17, number 29. 3/9/10. http://www.tufts.edu/med/apua/cqr20070824c.pdf

6) http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=10208

7)http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/10278.php

8)http://ezinearticles.com/?Antibiotics-and-Their-Types,-Uses-and-Side-Effects&id=227335

Descriptions

1) A useful site with basic information on antibiotics and their effects on superbugs. Also, gives steps to take to avoid abuse of antibiotics.

2) An interesting peer reviewed article with very detailed descriptions on how superbugs develop. Sample pictures help you better understand the process that it takes. Could be useful if I decide to go into detail about how these bugs develop.

3)A foundation based web-site with basic details on superbugs, also describes how to avoid building resistance to these bug. May be useful, this site was essentially the same as the mayo clinic site.

4)An opinion column from the New York Times. Starts off with a real-life event, where a man has a severe type of E. coli bacteria take over his body. The columnist then gives his own view on the topic of antibiotics and thier future.

5)A very useful published story that covers basically all the information needed for my topic. This will probably be my most frequently used source. It covers a very large range of my topic. From superbugs background to our world's current problem with it.

Sustainability in Sports

I was thinking about research topics that would be interesting to not only my readers but also something that would be interesting to me, as the writer. I was having a tough time finding a topic. Then it hit me. I was watching Sportscenter the other night, and they were once again airing a story on Tiger Woods and how his career is in jeopardy after all of his sexual allegations with other women. Then, the next story was about how three minor baseball players had been caught with steroids, adding them to the list of thousands of other players that had already tested positive. The very next story after this was how the Canadian womans hockey team, who had just won their gold medal, were in trouble for partying on the ice after the crowd had left the arena. At this point I was a little bit aggravated because all I wanted to see was highlights of my favorite college basketball team. This lead to think about the ethics in sports, and what the world really wants see: sports or drama. In my head, sports is a positive thing that helps one develope and sustain self-control, self-respect, and they should also help youngsters grow morals for the rest of their lives. Sports is a good thing for our youth and the rest of our society and we shouldn't let the media destroy this. I would like the write this paper to describe how we can actually and should keep a positive image of sports in our brains.

Corn

Corn is one of the leading agriculture products in the world. Maize, as our ancestors once called it, is probably a lot more complex then one may think. Initially I thought of corn as just a simple yellow vegetable that grew on farm lands each year from spring to fall. As it turns out, corn isn't just a vegetable but also considered a grain and a fruit as well. When first planted, corn is a seed, and technically it is considered to be a fruit, because the seed comes off of a plant. If harvested earlier enough (while the corn is still moist and yellow inside the schuck), it is considered to be a vegetable if we eat it. If it is harvested late (the corn inside has dried out), it is considered a grain. This is just a small fact on corn, it turns out it is an interesting and very usable crop.

Corn has many uses. Corn can be used to heat your house(corn pellet stoves), its more than likely a part of you daily breakfast (grains in cereal), and in recent years its demand has rapidly grown due to a country striving for a better fuel efficient economy. A fuel was developed from distilling corn into an ethanol fuel. This ethanol fuel has many advantages as opposed to traditional gasoline. It burns cleaner than gas and releases fewer toxins into the atmosphere. Ethanol is also a renewable resource, meaning because it is grown, it can be used over and over again. Not only does ethanol from corn help the environment but it also helps out our economy as well. Ethanol based fuel is cheaper to produce than gasoline and it also reduces our dependence on other countries for their oil because we can now produce our own fuel on our own soil. Corn production has also grown rapidly due to the high demand for the crop. Farmers across the country have switched from planting other crops, to planting corn. Corn's many uses makes what seem like just an ordinary food, into a very valuable crop for our country.

http://www.biodieselinvesting.com/ethanol-fuel-benefits/

http://www.examiner.com/x-6753-Philadelphia-Nutrition-Examiner~y2009m8d21-Nutrition-101--Is-corn-a-vegetable-or-a-grain