THE END

With the world coming to an end, at least I can die happily after completing this course. Writing Rhetorically is a course where students learn how to communicate to a variety of audiences, and think complexly. This semester is coming to an end and if there were to be one thing that I can say I learned,  it is that writing does not only "matter in college", it matters in life. Writing Job applications, blogs, cover letters, reports, e- mail's,  or even lab reports are all writings we possibly do on a regular basis. In high school, writing assignments were conducted with little to no freedom. Natural writing voices were lost, writing projects had to be five paragraphs no matter what, and on top of that the prompts were not even broad. After the completion of this semesters english class, I have gained my own personality when writing and it has been presented within my blogs by gaining knowledge of different writing styles.
Short stories, argumentive essays, editorials, and just to name a few are all writing styles our class attacked this semester. Learning research paths,  how to write a thesis, and writing structure, all varied amongst different styles. Gaining this information put me two steps ahead in the presence of my colleagues, or those who did not take this course. Whether I was sending an applications with a cover letter, or a lab report for chemistry class, I knew how to attack each assignment. These are information I wish I knew all along. Getting insight from each assignment given to me this semester has allowed me to digest small things from each chapter that'll allow me to create this individual writing style that I speak of. For example, I remember in one chapter it spoke of incorporating sarcasm and humor in a  writing. I am a humurous guy so why not put my own voice onto the paper?
Surely, I am very pleased with the results shown in my writing from this class. High School does not even compare. Writing is how we communicate with others, wether it is through the cyber world or through a piece of paper, our writing needs to be able to stand out. To do that, we must establish our own personality in our writings. Professor Mcpherson once told our class, "You all have individual qualities about yourselves, and If you can just be yourself in your writings, it will be that much more beautiful." I will cherish those words forever.

A Blow To The Head

                New National Football League's (NFL) rules aim to limit the number of head injuries amongst professional players. Applying more fines and penalties to head collisions on game day will increase a level of player safety. Issues arise as former NFL players file lawsuits on the league based due long term brain effects. It is said to be the biggest lawsuit in sport history, and targeting the National Football League can take away the way the game is played and viewed from pop warner to the professional league. According to ABCNews, “More than 2,000 former NFL players filed a lawsuit. These men are accusing the league of concealing head trauma information, linking football- related injuries to long-term brain damage." Some fans may disagree that these changes will take away the very nature of the game, the excitement, and the violence. The destructive potential effects can cause major issues to the brain, therefore, I believe that the safety of professional football players should be top priority.

                Multiple bows to the head, documented, and or un-documented concussions are leading to horrific long term effects to football athletes in America. Long term affects from concussions can include loss of memory, behavioral issues, depression, headaches, and etc.  Many former professional players have even died, one in particular, former Patriots’ linebacker Junior Seau. He was found dead in his own home to what was apparent to be a suicide. ABC News reporters say that Seau’s death may be related to head trauma during his active days in the league.

                Jim McMahon said in an interview about his fellow teammates and friends, “breaks your heart, a guy that you have known for years and years and he cannot recognize you, does not have any idea who you are or anyone else, that is just tough to deal with." The head trauma from these hits can and will cause a defect to the brain if the league does not take action. From personal experience, a collision to another player head on is equivalent to a car accident. It truly hurts and impairs one’s health. Most importantly, deriving from Jim McMahons’ statement, brain injuries affect the ones we love the most.

                Former NFL players are dying and memories are vanished. These brain injuries are irreversible so, why not make the safety amongst the players be top priority? The numbers of concussions across the nation are brought to our awareness more and more. New helmets are being built, new penalties, and fines are enforced. Football is a sport but, none the least it is also an entertainment business and without fans there will be no revenue for the league. Controversy arises as the thought comes to mind to please both sides. How do you make the game safer, while keeping the reason why people watch the game, still alive? But, players are dying more and more, just two reported in the last two weeks so, when do we say it is enough?

CITATION

AVILA, JIM. "Former NFL Players File Lawsuit Against League on Concussions." abc News. abc News, 7 2012. Web. 9 Dec 2012. <http://abcnews.go.com/US/nfl-players-file-lawsuit-league-concussions/story?id=16514359

abc news, , prod. Former NFL Players File Lawsuit Against League on Concussions. 2012. Film. 9 Dec 2012.

Going Green

           Do you feel as if things in the United States are just not the same as they once were? Well with the inflation of prices, it makes the American dream that much more difficult to achieve. Some prices that are set in the economy, just do not fit the average american hourly rate. The once adored lifestyles can no longer be fulfilled, and consolations are forced upon American families. The high average price increase of fuels and electricity in the United sates from 1990 to 2010 has caused Americans to become more stubborn about their spending habits for transportation.
            According to the United States census from 1990 to 2010, unleaded regular gas has increased from $1.16  to $2.79 per gallon. That is an average increase of a $ 1.63 per gallon. That is almost a two dollar increase per gallon. Also, unleaded premium has increased from $ 1.35 to $3.05 on average per gallon. Which is a $1.70 per gallon average difference over the course of twenty years. Now it comes to mind, how will the Americans react to this increase in price?
The increase in fuel has caused Americans to turn to more economically feasible ideas. Ideas like riding a bike. According to the bike league, survey results show that the estimated number of bicycle's sold from the U.S. bicycle market from 1997 to 2007 has increased from a total of 15.2 million bikes sold to 18.5 million. A 3.3 million total difference over the course of ten years. American people are using less machines that utilize fuel, and instead Americans are being more reliable to their own manual labor. A bike costs less, and on top of that, it uses no gas.
             Hybrid- electric cars do indeed run on regular gas, but not as much as conventional cars. These machines are much more fuel-efficient than regular cars. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, " the average mileage for a hybrid is at 38.7 miles per gallon(Roos, U.S Energy Administration)." Hybrid vehicles require far less  gas to cover the same distance as any conventional vehicle. The effect of the minimal gas used, causes for the less greenhouse gases emitted off into our atmosphere. In the U.S census the sales of hybrid- electric vehicles has increased noticeably. A sample from Americas two leading models, Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic shows a drastic difference from the year 1999 to 2011. From those two models, sales rose from absolutely nothing to almost 2.15 million.
              Each day Americans are finding new ways to save the planet, at the same time it save us all a few change in our pockets. Each cent counts nowadays, and each day new ideas are being created in order to make Americans less stubborn about their spending's for transportation. Riding a bike to nearby destination or even buying a hybrid- electric vehicle are all routes we can pursue to not spend our money on valuable costs that shift with the economy. Thomas Huxley once said," Economy does not lie in sparing money, but in spending it wisely. "

CITATION:
United States. US Department of Commerce. Prices: Fuel Prices. 2012. Web. <http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/prices/fuel_prices.html>.

. "Facts & Figures." League of American Bicyclists. League of American Wheelmen, Inc., n.d. Web. 3 Dec 2012. <http://www.bikeleague.org/media/facts/

Roos, Dave. "Does hybrid car production waste offset hybrid benefits?." science.howstuffworks. A Discovery Company. Web. 3 Dec 2012. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/does-hybrid-car-production-waste-offset-hybrid-benefits2.htm>.

Dream With In A Dream

            One of 2010’s most brilliant movies, released on July 16, Inception made a huge bang in the box office. The movie won 75 awards out of 102 nominations, 4 Oscars, and earned a gross total income of 292.6 million. The writer, Christopher Nolan has written other movies as well such as The Dark Night, The Dark Knight Rises, and Batman Begins. Yet, still Inception stands out on its own as a more suspenseful and mind boggling movie. Unlike the other superhero movies, Inception attacks the human subliminal mind. Main character Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), a skilled extractor that steals valuable information he needs by getting into a person’s mind. Dom Cobb’s goal was to eradicate information from a human mind during the dream state, where the human conscious is lowered, and as a result secrets could be extracted. A twist comes into the story when Saito (Ken Watanabe), offers Dom Cobb a Job. A job offer that asks for inception, instead of stealing a secret he asks Cobb to plant one. Out of jealousy Saito strives to destroy his competitor’s corporation of an energy conglomerate. The owner of the opposing company is Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy). In return, he offers to give Cobb his life back. Inception is almost entirely impossible task to accomplish but, Cobb still tackles it. This movie was by far one of the best movies in my opinion, and it is a must see because it redefines the word "epic".

           Special effects in this movie were surreal, edgy, and artistic. Objects were flying at me, almost as if the effects where in a third dimension, and yet I acquired no special lenses to sense that feeling. Like when fruits, tables, and windows exploded down a street sending everything everywhere, even through the screen. The effects revealed the unknowns in the human mind, the weird things that we may dream about have far more significance then we may think. That is interesting. A simple object like a train is to Dom Cobb. The editing of the movie I believe was fascinating, the movie cut down to the main points and editors tried to make it as understanding as possible. Both sound and picture bring this sort of suspense to the movie and an edgy drive that although you may know what is coming next, it still can make you feel anxious. Although it may bring you on this wonderful roller coaster ride, it can also be confusing. The sophistication of the movie can introduce a lot of information to digest. It is not one of those movies you watch once; you may need to watch it more than once to fully grasp the idea of the movie.

            For those who seek action, adventure, and mystery all in one, this is the movie for you. For those who do not, you may be converted into seeking such thrills after watching Inception. Although the length of this movie is almost two hours and half it is certainly worth the money and the time. Epic movies like Lord Of The Rings or Pirate of the Caribbean cannot even stand on the same pedestal as Inception. The creation of the this movie is far to articulate to be a competitor. This movie deserves a 9 out of 10.

Citation:

. "Inception." www.imdb.com. imdb. Web. 19 Nov 2012. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/>.

No One likes Quiet Hours

         Today, on November 8th, on the West Side of campus of Bridgewater State University, students suffer under cold and rainy conditions and hard gusts of wind that torture them when they travel from class to class. The brutal weather causes for a mass of students to stay inside their dorms. Similar brutal conditions have been recorded on October 28 and the 29th. According to the Bridgewater State University home page, school has been cancelled due to harsh conditions. Hurricane Sandy was a hurricane that rose from the Caribbean up to the northeast portion of United States of America; a category 1 storm but, yet still it was recorded as one of the largest storms that the first thirteen colonies of America has ever seen. 
           Whether or not it is a nationwide emergency, a holiday, or a vacation, the Woodward Hall bulletin board states that quiet time hours end at 8pm on weekdays and 11 pm on the weekends, but some students seem to disagree. For example, Josh Bryant in room 11 says, "it is not fair that weekday quiet time hours still account even when school is cancelled, like on cancelled days quiet hours should extend to 11pm." To further alliterate, he tries to explain to us that, when classes are cancelled quiet hours should be slightly extended, possibly to the weekend hours.
       The Woodward Residential Assistant says, having quiet hours is a form of discipline and it is fairly simple. Weekdays are at 8pm, and weekends are at 11pm. The Bridgewater State University catalog says, " quiet hours have been established to ensure that students can sleep and study during evening hours." Bridgewater makes an effort to explain that noise can quickly become an issue and fairness amongst close nieghbors or roommates should be equally distributed.
       "Are people even doing there work on cancelled days," concluded Frander Baez. He pushes to explain that since classes are cancelled spontaneously, students should have already been prepared to go to class with all their work done in the first place. Should Bridgewater change there quiet hour regulations?

Did You Know This?

                Remember those family dinners around six in the afternoon, where as a child all you could seem to hear was your parents ranting about how much you need to eat more vegetables, especially carrots. I have heard things in my past such as carrots would make me grow bigger and stronger, carrots would help my vision, or I would have to eat carrots if I wanted to grow up to be bugs bunny. As the gullible children that we once were, we believed every story they told us. Although some sayings may seem a little far-fetched, some do in fact hold many truths. Have you ever heard the saying; "if you eat too many carrots, you will turn orange. Well, it is in fact true. Eating excessive amounts of carrots can indeed make us orange.

According to Wisegeek,"Carotenosis is a medical condition caused by an excessive consumption of carotenoids. When someone develops carotenosis, his or her skin turns yellowish to orange (Smith)." Carotenoid can be found in vegetables such as papaw, pumpkin, and of course carrots. Carotenoid is what gives the vegetable color and as you can see between papaw, pumpkin, and carrots that they are all orange. Scientists have done a lot of research and placebo affected psychological experiments to prove this point. It turned out that the only thing that affected common results were a subject's speed of metabalism, age, and visibility amongst fair- skinned people. Still, un-controlled affects always seem to always show.

                When eating excessive amounts of carrots, a reaction by the term of Hypercarotenemia happens. Hypercarotenemia is the same as carotenes is. It is an absolute harmless and spontaneous effect. The over bearing amounts of vitamin A can cause someone to nearly identical in shade as your vegetable. What gives a papaw, pumpkin, or carrot color will do the same for you. Although it can be a frightening thing to see but, it will happen.

Carrots do make your skin orange, if you indeed decide to eat too much of it. It is not just our parents bluffing but, realizes that this is in fact true. So make sure after you read this to send an apology letter to mom or dad for not believing them all these years. For those who are looking spontaneously orange, you do not need to rush to the hospital; you may just need to slow down on your consumption of carrots.

Bibliography

Smith, S.E.. "wisegeek." What is Carotenosis?. Conjecture Corporation, n.d. Web. 4 Nov 2012. <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-carotenosis.htm>

Scicurious, . "Friday Weird Science: Too Many Carrots." Scientific American. N.p., 26 2011. Web. 4 Nov 2012. <http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/scicurious-brain/2011/08/26/friday-weird-science-too-many-carrots-and-why-you-should-believe-your-dad/>.

What We Think Hurts Will Only Benefit Us

Assignment: Write a Profile of a person or a group. Focus on some specific aspect that is noteworthy.

         Numerous pieces of paper lay in between a homework agenda on the floor in front of the bedroom of one of the most studious men I know. After all the work I had to get done from an elementary charter school, I had even more work, this time it was from my father. " Leave your homework in front of my door so that when I come home from work at eleven-thirty, we can go over it," said Mr.Simplice. A stubborn man that came from nothing, he grew up on the farm, and the only way out of all the misery he was going through was education. He was tough, sometimes a little too tough.
"What strives you to be so studious?" I asked. " I wanted something better for my self, something different than my peers, and my family," replied Mr. Simplice. He did anything and everything to achieve his goal. Having his eyes droop down to his cheeks, waking up before the sun, and being drenched before entering each class all were second nature to this man. " You Americans have it easy, I use to stand in class to write my notes," Mr. Simplice added. Speaking to him, you can see the passion in his eyes, the pain of his past, and the sanctification of his present life.
Jefferson was an engineer from Port-au-Prince, Haiti who wasn't on a mission for the American Dream for himself, but rather to open more opportunities for an american dream for his children. Mr. Simplice was on a mission to make his children either equal or even better men than he was. Surely the idea of becoming like him almost sounded like a far reach for us. Mr. Simplice was feared, a serious guy that was always respected among his people. After the numerous amount of loss in sleep it was apparent that school came before anything else. He would come home late at night with no sign of tiredness, and ready to disrupt us all from our sleep.We as Kids use to moan and groan with restless faces when he asked to go over our homework with us.
I was done with my homework early one night, exhausted to the point that I slurring my words. I went to sleep early in peace, comfortably in my bed, and unexpectedly my father woke me up. Still in his engineer uniform, fingers covered in oil, and hair disoriented. We sat on the table across from each other. He skimmed through everything and specifically the math. Sadly that day I made numerous mistakes on my math homework. We went over each question, and once I understood it he created extra examples so I could further master it." The child has school in the morning let him go to sleep," said my Mother. He pushed me more, and more, and more to the point that I spent more time listening to his lectures than my own teacher's.
Ever since then, what seemed to be miserable moments were only benefiting us all. School was always primary. The number's on my test's were high."Why are you so hard on us?" I asked. "I am not being hard on you, the things I do will only benefit you for the future, and some day you will thank me," said Mr. Simplice. My father's struggles have made him who he is, and he strives to instill the same hunger he has in all of his children. As far as education goes, my father is a machine, and we his children were being manufactured. At the end of every term I handed him every report card I ever received and he is always pleased to sign it.