If everyone lived like me then we would need 5.1 Planet Earths to provide enough resources. To support my lifestyle, it takes 22.6 global acres of Earth's productive area (21.6 tons of carbon dioxide). Changing my lifestyle for a day was hard due to the fact that I have accustomed to my lifestyle. Being a college student living in a dorm, I was unable to change a lot of things such as where I live and the groceries that I have already purchased. I did change a few things though: I recycled all of my paper and water bottles, I did not ride in the car anywhere, and I ate less food and more produce. In doing this, I decreased my footprint by .2 Planet Earths to 4.8 Planet Earths.
Prior to calculating my Ecological Footprint I was not aware of the large amount of resources that I was using. I plan to move off campus sophomore year so I will definitely have more control over the amount of resources that I use such as electricity. I will have more control over decreasing the amount of resources, energy and goods that I use as an individual.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
NO TECHNOLOGY PT. 2
END!!!!
The task of living without technology for twenty four hours was not as difficult as I thought it would be. In the beginning, I felt somewhat lost. I missed not being able to shop online. I literally sit in front of my computer and shop online for hours at a time. I also felt disconnected from my friends and family members because I was unable to talk on my cell phone and log onto Myspace. After a while I adjusted to not being able to talk on the phone and Myspace by doing other things such as getting ahead on homework assignments and reading. Living for a day without technology helped me to realize that I could get a lot more accomplished without technological distractions such as my computer and cell phone. I was also able to enjoy activities such as leisure reading, that I rarely do anymore due to logging onto Myspace, talking on the phone and shopping online.
I feel that the use of technology in my generation is only a problem because we have become overly dependent upon it therefore we abuse it. By this I mean that since technology has advanced so much we forget that there are other ways to enjoy life besides sitting in front of a computer all day or talking on the phone for hours at a time. If we learn to appreciate the "simple" components of life that we enjoyed before a lot of these advanced technologies existed then we would learn to appreciate the importance of technology and identify the effect that it has on our lives as well as our generation.
The task of living without technology for twenty four hours was not as difficult as I thought it would be. In the beginning, I felt somewhat lost. I missed not being able to shop online. I literally sit in front of my computer and shop online for hours at a time. I also felt disconnected from my friends and family members because I was unable to talk on my cell phone and log onto Myspace. After a while I adjusted to not being able to talk on the phone and Myspace by doing other things such as getting ahead on homework assignments and reading. Living for a day without technology helped me to realize that I could get a lot more accomplished without technological distractions such as my computer and cell phone. I was also able to enjoy activities such as leisure reading, that I rarely do anymore due to logging onto Myspace, talking on the phone and shopping online.
I feel that the use of technology in my generation is only a problem because we have become overly dependent upon it therefore we abuse it. By this I mean that since technology has advanced so much we forget that there are other ways to enjoy life besides sitting in front of a computer all day or talking on the phone for hours at a time. If we learn to appreciate the "simple" components of life that we enjoyed before a lot of these advanced technologies existed then we would learn to appreciate the importance of technology and identify the effect that it has on our lives as well as our generation.
Monday, November 17, 2008
"One Challenge"
The "One Challenge" that I, as well as my friends, is going to face within the next four years is the rising college tuition fees. This is an economical injustice because how could we possibly look towards a successful future as a country without educated individuals take control? The generation that we live in constantly puts emphasis on how important it is for high school graduates to attend college but yet college tuition is so expensive that it is almost impossible for students to enroll in college. Expensive college tuition discourages students to even attempt to enroll in college because they feel that they will not be able to afford to pay for their courses. In order to make college more affordable for students, I think that more grants and scholarships should be available to them. Also, instead of taking away from a student's financial aid award if they have a job, I think that students who have a job should be able to receive a financial aid award that can pay off their tuition and still be able to work at the same time. This would enable them to afford to pay for their college courses as well as support themselves financially.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
VIDEO GAME ARTICLES
ARTICLE 1: http://www.apa.org/releases/videogames.html
I absolutely agree that violent video games has a negative effect on the people playing them. Video games that consist of violent content gives some people negative ideas and promotes them to act violently. But I also feel that violent video games does not have a negative effect on all of the people who play them. People who are mature enough to differentiate these virtual simulations from reality will realize that the violent actions portrayed in these games are not appropriate in real life. Mature gamers will also recognize that if they do act in the manners portrayed on the games that they will suffer the consequences of their actions.
ARTICLE 2:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/07/30/spore.sporn/index.html
The video game Spore, seems to have a target audience of preteens but unfortunately some immature people had to make a joke out of it and create "Sporn". Sporn is a parody of the video game Spore. In Spore, the player has to complex characters that are derived from a single cell. These characters can be anything from a monkey with bicycle wheels as legs to a frog with wings attached to its feet. But in Sporn, which is the name for Spore and Sporn, the characters are emphasized with sexual body parts. I think this ruins the game for children and teens because it puts inappropriate images in their heads and the original game Spore has no intentions of corrupting these children's minds.
I absolutely agree that violent video games has a negative effect on the people playing them. Video games that consist of violent content gives some people negative ideas and promotes them to act violently. But I also feel that violent video games does not have a negative effect on all of the people who play them. People who are mature enough to differentiate these virtual simulations from reality will realize that the violent actions portrayed in these games are not appropriate in real life. Mature gamers will also recognize that if they do act in the manners portrayed on the games that they will suffer the consequences of their actions.
ARTICLE 2:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/07/30/spore.sporn/index.html
The video game Spore, seems to have a target audience of preteens but unfortunately some immature people had to make a joke out of it and create "Sporn". Sporn is a parody of the video game Spore. In Spore, the player has to complex characters that are derived from a single cell. These characters can be anything from a monkey with bicycle wheels as legs to a frog with wings attached to its feet. But in Sporn, which is the name for Spore and Sporn, the characters are emphasized with sexual body parts. I think this ruins the game for children and teens because it puts inappropriate images in their heads and the original game Spore has no intentions of corrupting these children's minds.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Thesis and Outline
Thesis Statement:
Persuasive video games use various tactics to persuade the player to take a view point on the serious issues being addressed.
Video Games: Darfur is Dying and the McDonalds video game
Outline:
Intro:
-Introduce Darfur is Dying and the McDonalds game (address their serious issues)
-Incorporate thesis statement
Body 1:
-Explain tactics for Darfur is Dying
-Explain possible point of views this game could be persuading the player to take.
Body 2:
-Explain tactics for McDonalds game
-Explain possible point of views this game could be persuading the player to take.
Body 3:
-Compare/Contrast the tactics for each game
-Which seems more effective?
Persuasive video games use various tactics to persuade the player to take a view point on the serious issues being addressed.
Video Games: Darfur is Dying and the McDonalds video game
Outline:
Intro:
-Introduce Darfur is Dying and the McDonalds game (address their serious issues)
-Incorporate thesis statement
Body 1:
-Explain tactics for Darfur is Dying
-Explain possible point of views this game could be persuading the player to take.
Body 2:
-Explain tactics for McDonalds game
-Explain possible point of views this game could be persuading the player to take.
Body 3:
-Compare/Contrast the tactics for each game
-Which seems more effective?
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Post 1:
PORK INVADERS:
The first game that I played was titled Pork Invaders. Pork Invaders is a game that was designed to help John McCain stress his idea that the United States is spending too much money especially on pork projects. I feel that Pork Invaders fits into the video game genre of social/political issue. It fits into the social/political/ issue and persuasive genre because the game is used as a tactic to help John McCain towards his goal of becoming president of the United States by addressing an issue that is currently effecting our country. Between each level of the game, "facts" are given to the player in favor of McCain. These facts consider both presidential candidate's (McCain and Obama) view on pork projects and wasteful spending. The game suggests that Obama supports wasteful spending and pork projects. Since the game is in McCain's favor, he obviously doesn't support wasteful spending and pork projects. Pork Invaders was not a fun game to play but the facts that were given were interesting.
DARFAR IS DYING:
This game fits into the genre of persuasive video games. I found this game to be fun and humorous. Although this game had a few funny graphics, I actually took this game more seriously than any of the others that I played. This game does a good job of executing the issue that it is addressing which is genocide. In order to succeed at the game, you have to send a donation to support the refugees. This game actually focuses on the issue in Darfar while others may focus on the video game itself more than the serious issue.
THE TORTURE GAME:
I feel that this game focuses on the issue of "torture" more than anything else. This game has awesome graphics but I could not understand the actual "point" of the game other than torturing someone. This game is really disturbing. While playing it, I could not focus on anything else (as if there was anything else to focus on) other than the damage that I was doing to the person, therefore I feel that this game offers nothing more than malicious fun.
The first game that I played was titled Pork Invaders. Pork Invaders is a game that was designed to help John McCain stress his idea that the United States is spending too much money especially on pork projects. I feel that Pork Invaders fits into the video game genre of social/political issue. It fits into the social/political/ issue and persuasive genre because the game is used as a tactic to help John McCain towards his goal of becoming president of the United States by addressing an issue that is currently effecting our country. Between each level of the game, "facts" are given to the player in favor of McCain. These facts consider both presidential candidate's (McCain and Obama) view on pork projects and wasteful spending. The game suggests that Obama supports wasteful spending and pork projects. Since the game is in McCain's favor, he obviously doesn't support wasteful spending and pork projects. Pork Invaders was not a fun game to play but the facts that were given were interesting.
DARFAR IS DYING:
This game fits into the genre of persuasive video games. I found this game to be fun and humorous. Although this game had a few funny graphics, I actually took this game more seriously than any of the others that I played. This game does a good job of executing the issue that it is addressing which is genocide. In order to succeed at the game, you have to send a donation to support the refugees. This game actually focuses on the issue in Darfar while others may focus on the video game itself more than the serious issue.
THE TORTURE GAME:
I feel that this game focuses on the issue of "torture" more than anything else. This game has awesome graphics but I could not understand the actual "point" of the game other than torturing someone. This game is really disturbing. While playing it, I could not focus on anything else (as if there was anything else to focus on) other than the damage that I was doing to the person, therefore I feel that this game offers nothing more than malicious fun.
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