Lantquach's Blog for ENGL 1304

No one can deny that technology has become an essential part of humans’ life. Every day we use telephone, computer, we watch television without realizing that probably a century ago, these devices were something unfamiliar. Humans use technology to make their lives better. With that trend, we have become more easily to accept new technology. People are more likely to accept that there are technological devices around them. With the Internet, people around the world become connected with each other and finding information becomes more accessible. Today, a person in Asia can talk and see another person half the world away. Technology is an essential part of the world. Humans should try to accept and take advantage of technology, but it does not mean that we embrace ourselves in technology overwhelmingly and be a part of the virtual world but disconnecting from our own reality.

Technology is helpful in human’s life. Telephones, televisions, and computers are being used everyday naturally just as people eating food or drinking water. They are not only helpful in work but they also help people connect to each other. Imagining one day without these devices, people would be disconnected to the information network, which means being disconnected to the world. The Internet can connect humans around the world together, as described in Kevin Kelly’s article Embrace It, “Like the beehive, the Net is controlled by no one; no one is in charge. The Net is, as its users are proud to boast, the largest functioning anarchy in the world.” Human is now in the technology age, and the Internet makes people closer, which means it is easier to get information. Being adapted to the technologized world means being adapted to the modern world.

It is true that technology and the Internet connect people. However, people should avoid being overwhelmed by technology. The networked world probably makes people feel less private. Whatever you do can be recorded by a camera or the satellites, and then after several minutes, you can catch your video with thousands of people’s comments on the Internet. In addition, relying too much on technology causes people to be lazier; people probably feel life is boring when everything can be done in an easy way with technology. In the article Refuse It of Sven Birkerts, he raised a question “Why does man feel so sad in the twentieth century? Why does man feel so bad in the very age when, more than in any other age, he has succeeded in satisfying his needs and making over the world for his own use?” The answer for that question is because technology facilitates life which means it is destroying the struggling process that makes life meaningful.

To conclude, technology and network can provide human a better life, but we should not rely too much on it. Sometimes, a disconnect to the Internet or televisions, on one hand, can make us feel unsafe of not being a part of the world, on the other hand, it can make people realize that without technology, there are still many ways for us to enjoy our lives.

“In Houston, bicycling is known as a killer sport” (Lomax). This is the introduction of the article “Ghost Riders” on the Houston Press website. The article tells the story of Cisco Rios, a person who “lived to ride his bike” (Lomax) as the bicycle was his sole means of transport. However, on December 30^th, 2007, “near the Hempstead Road fork at around seven in the dark winter evening, Cisco was rear-ended by a beer delivery van. He suffered massive head trauma and died at the scene” (Lomax). There is another similar case that happened on March 2009 with Leigh Boone. “Two fire trucks collided mere feet from Boone. One of them – a 40-ton ladder truck – tipped on its side, trapping Boone and her bike beneath it” (Lomax). After the death of Boone, “both the arts and cycling communities were devastated. Boone rode her bicycle everywhere she went” (Lomax). These are the accidents of two bicycle riders who considered bicycling is their “way of life”.

According to NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) ’s Traffic Safety Facts report, in 2008, 716 pedalcyclists were killed and an additional 52,000 were injured in traffic crashes. Pedalcyclists made up two percent of all traffic fatalities and two percent of all the people injured in traffic crashes during the year. Even though it is a small number compared to the number of fatalities in other transportation accidents, people should consider minimizing the number of traffic accidents to encourage more people to use bicycles. There are many ways we can help create a safer environment for bicycle riders in Houston and Texas. We should build better bicycle education programs to educate raiders of their responsibility and the situations on road. In addition, we should build more bike roads and enact laws to make safety equipment become official requirements to ride a bike.

According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Traffic Safety Facts report, in 2008, 716 pedalcyclists were killed and an additional 52,000 were injured in traffic crashes. Pedalcyclists made up 2 percent of all traffic fatalities and 2 percent of all the people injured in traffic crashes during the year. Even though it is a small number comparing to the number of fatalities in other kinds of transportations, as bicycle have become more popular due to its environmentally friendly and other factors such as entertaining and exercise, people should consider minimizing the number of traffic accidents relating to bicycle riders to encourage more people to use bicycle. There are many way can help create a safer environment for bicycling in Houston and Texas. We should build better bicycle education programs to educate raiders their responsibility on road, build more bike roads and should enact the law to make the safety equipment become official requirements to ride a bike.

“In Houston, bicycling is known as a killer sport” (Lomax). This is quite true when there are many victims of bicycling in Houston. According to John Nova Lomax, on March 30, 2009 Leigh Boone was killed in a traffic accident with two fire trucks. Another case is Cisco Rios, who was rear-ended by a beer delivery van on December 30, 2007. The two victims are bike riders who consider bicycling is their lives.

Up to 2008, there are many courses that teach people traffic law and the requirement. However, many people still ignore the required safety equipment as they may think simply that bicycling is their hobby and they can chose to have these equipment or not. In fact, according to Sec. 551.101 in Texas Transportation Code, cyclists generally have the same rights and responsibilities as motorists. Bicyclists have the responsibility to ride carefully to protect themselves and other people on the street, and one way to show that responsibility is by following the rule. Nevertheless, there are still riders ignoring the rule.

If you visit The Daily Cougar, you can see that one of the hottest topics that gain attention from a lot of UH students is the lacking of parking lots. The reason why many students are worrying about parking is that the number of enrolling students this year increases comparing to previous years. That makes it more difficult to find a parking lot which is not too far away. I am thinking of buying a car, so I need to consider the problem of parking in UH carefully. Another issue that I am interesting is the security in UH. The location of the university makes security a worth paying attention issue. For people who are spending most of their time on campus, such as students who stay in dorm, the security of the university is very important. People are afraid of going out at night due to crimes. However, going out in the morning is not always less dangerous. Recently, there was a case of robbery that happened at around 9AM in a parking lot. Even though in the latest report of The Police Department, the number of crime in UH is less than other universities’, students are still worrying about the security in school. I stays in dorm and usually go to library at night, so the security of the UH is very important to me.

The research questions I can use relating to parking are “What we should do to improve parking in UH,” “What you think about parking here,” “Do you have any problem in parking in UH.” The information can be found on reality, or on The Daily Cougar. In addition, I can ask the students and faculties those questions to find out more information. The plans to solve the problem will be some changes in the UH buses, and in the parking lots. The university may increase the number of buses in school, or change the time of bus. For example, in the morning, the time between two busses should be shortened, while in the afternoon, the waiting time may be longer. Regarding to parking, the university should build more parking lots, or have some changes, so the students can park in the parking lot they register.

Some other issues which I am considering are about the quantity and quality of computers in UH. My major is Computer Science, so I use computer a lot. I realize that the computers in the lab which I am studying are really bad, and they should be changed. Moreover, in some prime time, it is impossible to find a free computer in the library. Therefore, I am thinking of some plans to solve the problems.

I always love to watch animations so my first essay will be about animation. One reason I love it because I love watching movie, and animation can be considered as a kind of movie where the characters are not human but are created by human. It is fun, interesting and more than that, animations usually have a deep meaning – a lesson. People may watch movie (or animation) like they enjoy an art, but I watch it as reading a book, consider not only the outfit but also the meaning. Movies mostly target teenager or young adult, who are more attracted by effects, action, and romantic stories, while animations aimed at children. That is the reason why animations usually have a meaning because people want to teach children lessons through cartoon.

Even though animation targets mostly children, it more and more gains attention from older audience groups, like teenagers. As you go to tab movie on Yahoo!, you can see that there is often at least one animation appears on the Top Box Office. People cannot say that animations are only for kids. My essay will explain various factors that make animation attract many people but not only children.

The reasons for that are from the humor, art, and meaning. The examples come for many different cartoons such as Finding Nemo, Spirited Away, Up, Wall E, and some others. The newest animation is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and 9. I will explain the humor, the art – the scene – and mostly about the meaning.

Glee is a new drama television series which centers a show choir called glee club in high school. The pilot episode introduces how the club was formed, its different members’ characteristic and situation. Glee has received many comments from its viewers after it was showed on TV. On one hand, the show has new and interesting aspect. On the other hand,  it is still simply rehashing an old theme.

The new style makes Glee becomes more interesting. It is a musical series, which means it escaped from the usual trend of TV shows which are mostly about action, adventure, science fiction, medical, or horror such as CSI, a crime investigation series. Audiences are likely familiar with the investigation type such like CSI, CSI Miami, CSI New York, but it will be something new to watch a musical series. The songs in the pilot episode were well prepared, especially the last song “Don’t stop believing”, the once high ranked song on the Billboard. The song was performed by the whole club and it was the first song in the first episode that was performed harmoniously between every member of the club. The song has brought a good feeling to not only the Glee club but also its TV viewers.

Humor is another advantage of the show. It makes the show more interesting and fun enough to keep your eyes for one hour long. The humor comes from the situation in the film and also from various characters. One of the examples can be seen at the beginning of the episode. A show choir championship cup was showed along with a quote of Lillian Adler, the director of the glee club which got that cup. The quote was “By its very definition, Glee is about opening yourself up to joy,” but above that quote showed the face of Lillian Adler which was not very joyful. One more illustration of the humor sense in Glee is Emma, a teacher who was so terrified of germs that she had to wear gloves and sterilize everything before touched it. In addition, there were Kurt, who was a gay soprano singer, and Artie, who was a nerd, a wheelchair user and an electric guitar player.

Besides the new and interesting factors of Glee, the new television show is based on a motif that can be seen in some other films. It is about a person in his way of making a group special at one side, in this case the club is about music. In the process of grouping, each member has his own problems which usually lead to quitting. However, in the end, all the members come back, unite again and gain success. This common thread can be seen in some other movies, such as the Mighty Ducks, a film about a hockey team “Ducks”. In that movie, the protagonist was the coach of a hockey team of losers. Throughout the movie, the coach found new talented members, trained his team to compete in the championship. The hockey members also met their own problems and someone had to leave the team, but later returned when the team was in need. Overcoming obstacles, the team finally won the championship.

In conclusion, Glee succeeds in bringing a new type of television shows through its humor. Before Glee, there are not many series about music. Nevertheless, its ground and characters are familiar which can disappoint fastidious audiences. Besides that, it is something new that worth to watch.

Believing

In his article “Labor Day and the American Dream,” William McGurn states that “College isn’t for everyone.” It is true that college is not the only choice for many people after graduating high school. Comparing between the earning of a college graduate with a high school graduate on average, a college graduate will usually make much more money. However, there are many jobs that do not require college and still pay well, which is a chance for high school graduates. In the example of Mr. Lerman, physical therapists and power plant operators are two jobs that can be done by high school graduates and pay above the average, which is $42,000 a year. A common path for people to succeed without college is through entrepreneurship. Bill Gates and Microsoft are good examples. In addition, there are still many other examples such as Keegan Abendschoen who is just 25 years old but has two people working full-time for him. College is a good choice but not the only choice to get knowledge. Employers need workers who have good skills and experience in previous jobs and the best way to learn skills is through reality. Therefore, for high school graduates who have good skills such as communication skill and skill working in groups, they still have chance to get paid well. Those people prove that college is not the number one choice for everyone and everyone can have more than one way to succeed.

Doubting

“Labor Day and the American Dream” says that “College isn’t for everyone,” but why are there many people who still want to go to college? The first reason is because the global economy depends more and more on brain than brawn. Going to college provides more knowledge, and the more knowledge you have, the better chance you can find a good job. The second reason is because a person who graduates college has more chance to find a job than a person who just graduates high school. Companies usually scout for employees in college, not in high school. Moreover, between a college graduate and a high school graduate with the same skill level, the college graduate is more likely employed. A college certificate always guarantees a better job than a high school certificate does, which makes college a safer choice for many people. It is true that there are many high school graduates also get paid above the average, but the income of college graduates are usually higher, even if both of them work in the same company and in the same position. The reasons above prove many advantages of going to college. To conclude, it is able to say that college is not for everyone, but graduating college is better than just graduating high school.

The story introduced an orientation in which the author was the guide showing the new worker his jobs and the people working there. Beginning with a clear introduction of the closest things to the newcomer such as his phone and IN and OUT boxes, the author guided humorously the new worker how to use many equipments in that office and showed him the responsible officers to ask in case he needed. As later, the writer introduced many more people working in that office with their specific circumstances. Throughout the story, the new worker step by step understood more his workplace and his colleagues. When the writer detailed fully the information regarding to work, he did not forget to mention many interesting people working there. Those people and their characteristics were usually described whenever a new place was showed, such as John LaFountaine was mentioned when the men and women’s rooms were mentioned, or Barry Hacker was described when the refrigerator was introduced.

Therefore, what is the most important thing a new employee should know about his new working environment?  Is it his job or his colleagues? The answer is both of them. For a person, the people whom he works with are concerned as much as the work. Those people can make the job more colorful and inspiring or, on the other hand, turn everything upside down. There were John LaFountaine, who used the women’s room occasionally, Amanda Pierce, whose six-year-old son was autistic, Kevin Howard, who was a serial killer, and many others with interesting distinguished characteristics. The author gave the newcomer a brief view of the people with whom he would work together. All their habits (good, bad and even unusual ones), biography and even the secret that everyone in that office had already known were described in turn by a humorous manner. More than that, the writer also advised a number of suitable ways to memorize to best communicate with these employees. For example, with Amanda Pierce, never forget to comment on her son’s crayon artworks, and “unless you want to know exactly when and how you’ll die, never talk to Anika Bloom.” Knowing about others’ behaviors and the way to interact with them is one of the most important skills, especially when those are the people we spent eight hours a day with.

These pieces of information combined with a sense of humor would help the new employee more easily adapt to the brand new environment. For a newcomer and even for the readers who know almost nothing about this office, they can feel more comfortable when attending this orientation. The writer introduced humorously every angle of this workplace so that it could impress and more likely have a better chance to persuade others.

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