Reflective Post

When I look back at the pieces that I have written this past semester, I am pretty impressed with the improvements I have made.  Before this class, I used to sit down and write a major paper within an one hour period, and not even proof read it.  I quickly learned in this class that I will have to go back, reread my paper, and sometimes even ask for assistance on what my grammar errors were.  I am now proof reading all of my papers and putting more thought into the writing process.  There are very few things that you can do in life quickly without thinking about it, and writing is not one of them.

                There have been many paper that I have written this semester, that were a challenge for myself.  If I had to choose the biggest challenge, it would definitely be the content analysis.  The reason for this paper being difficult was that I wasn’t too clear on what Professor Micer was asking for.  I should have gone to him for help, but I learned my lesson the hard way by not receiving a good grade on it first time around.  By reading the notes that he wrote about my paper, the way that this paper should have been written was made clear to me.  I sat down for about three days and worked on completely rewriting this paper.  Hopefully the new content analysis is a well written piece of work and explains Evansville and USI clearly.

                This class has broadened my horizons to many new writing techniques that I had never been taught.  I have been forced to come out of my shell and talk to people about the green movement under the UC Bridge, discussed my flyers in front of the class, and asked for advice on my writing from a peer review group.  This whole class has been a challenge that makes a person better at writing, and I feel that no matter how bad or well I do in this class, taking this class has been an advantage.

Letter to the Editor

                                                                                                                                                               826 A Bayh

Moutoux Lane 

Evansville, IN 47712

 

Editor, The Evansville Courier & Press                                                                                                                    

300 E. Walnut Street                                                                                                                                                      

PO Box 28                                                                                                                                                           

Evansville, IN 47702-0268 

Dear Editor,

Polar ice caps are melting as we speak. There has been a new movement arising over the past couple years.  It is called the Green Movement.  The movement is about people trying to preserve energy, decrease landfill build-up, and keep our environment clean.  I am currently trying to persuade USI students to use simple techniques such as riding bikes to class or walking, instead of driving and using cloth bags for their groceries.  I am talking to USI about this on April 20^th and 22^nd, on USI’s campus, in the quad.  A few simple changes by a group of people could make a huge difference.  If you are curious about more simple ways to help, tips can be found in many health magazines, such as Health and Shape, for going green.  Go green!

Thank you,

Kelsey Harpenau

Annotated Bibliography

Blanchard, David.  “Green is the New Black.”  EBSCOhost. Mar. 2009 Supply and Logistics.  24 Mar. 2009                  <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=3&hid=120&sid=3e804cf>.

                In Blanchard’s article, Green is the New Black, he is talking about how many major corporations have changed their assembly lines and the way they do things, to reduce global warming and adapt to the new green way.  He began making his points by first stating that many companies need to start paying attention to climate change and the effect of global warming; secondly by stating that those companies who are saving energy and trying to prevent global warming are helping themselves in the long run; lastly by stating that companies need to raise supply chain and green house gases emission awareness.  The author’s purpose was to make the point that some corporations are making greener choices, but awareness of these subjects needs to be raised.  Blanchard’s writing seems to draw in almost any person to the subject, whether they were interested or not because of the wariness that you can hear through his writings.

                The part that talks about how some companies are changing for the better because they realize that it will help them in the end is a fact that I will use to show that not all companies are moving to green for bad reasons.

 

 

“Cash for Trash: Reuse Stores Make Use of Reuse.”   MSNBC.  13 Mar. 2009 24 Mar. 2009                                               <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29664783/>.

                In the article, Cash for Trash: Reuse Stores Make Use of Reuse, they are talking about reuse stores that have been popping up all around America, that will take any scraps or extra items and resell them to other people who need them and give money to charity. This article first stated what these reuse stores were; secondly stated that any profit they get back from selling these donated items goes to charity; thirdly by stating that schools, artist, and anybody that needs scrap materials comes and buy it; lastly by stating these stores come in any size and you can locate them on the internet if you need to purchase something.  The purpose of this article was to show one of the many ways that our country is recycling materials that would normally be thrown in the trash.  The audience intended for this article was anybody who is interested in buying some of these materials or getting rid of some old materials.

                I am going to use this article to show people that the most simple recycling can save landfill room and give another person a piece of art or valuable procession.

 

 

Gibbs, Mark.  “Becoming green or just greenish?”  EBSCOhost.  23 Mar. 2009  24 Mar. 2009                                           <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=....>.

                In Mark Gibbs’ article, Becoming green or just greenish?, he is busting open the conspiracy of corporations saying they are going green to get more business, when in reality their way of going green really isn’t that much better for the environment.  Gibbs points this out firstly by stating that many businesses see going green as more of a pain than actually really wanting to help the environment; secondly by stating that businesses are becoming green because of the chance of saving money; lastly by stating that when the companies get new computers to save power, the computers end of being non-recyclable, so it defeats the whole purpose.  The author’s purpose to this article was to target the big companies and make it known that a lot of this going green and trying to get better for the environment, isn’t even helping.  The author comes off saying that these big companies are only out to get money and that’s it, but there have to be a few companies out there that are going green for the right reasons and people just need to be careful to what they believe in.

                This article proves the point that just because a company goes green doesn’t really mean that they are doing the right thing, and petitions need to be made to try to force the companies to make better choices for the environment.

 

 

Hill, Brett, Shape.  “The No-Stress Guide to Going Green.”  EBSCOhost. Apr. 2009 Health Source.  24 Mar.                              2009 <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=120&sid=3e804cf9-df...>.

                In Hill, Brett, and Shape’s article, The No-Stress Guide to Going Green, they are trying to help people choose between all of ways to go green and pick out some of the smallest but most important choices of going green.  They start off by stating that a person doesn’t have to go drastic with green changes, but make the changes in a couple of the rooms in your house; second by stating bringing your own bag when grocery shopping can help a lot instead of going with paper or plastic; lastly by stating that jumping on the green movement bandwagon is a great choice to make.  The authors’ purpose is to help people learn some of the settle changes that they can make in their lives without becoming bombarded.  The audience intended for this piece was any person that wanted to become a part of the green movement, but didn’t know how and where to start. 

                I will use this article by taking all of their simple ideas and passing them on to the college students and I will especially emphasize the bringing your own bag grocery shopping part.

 

 

Koehler, Brandon. “Going Green.”  EBSCOhost.  Mar. 2009 Office Pro.  24 Mar. 2009                                                         <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=7&hid=107&sid>.

                In Koehler’s article, Going Green, his main purpose was to give some energy efficient ideas when it comes to buying a smart strip instead of letting appliances suck power twenty-four-seven and buying computers with a great energy star rating.  Koehler’s first piece of advice was to buy a power strip that cuts off all power after a certain amount of time instead of draining unneeded power; secondly by talking about buying computer’s with a high energy star rating, which can reduce power usage greatly; lastly by suggesting that computers be put on sleep mode or idle after a couple minutes of sitting there unused.  The author’s purpose was to help people learn some simple ways of conserving energy, and although it may cost a little money to buy now, it will save you quite a bit of money in the future.  His audience was a person looking to save some money in the long run, even though some of his choice, like the USB heated gloves, seemed like a waste of money. 

 

 

Sara.  “A Brief History of the Modern Green Movement in America.”  WebEcoist.  17 Aug. 2007 24 Mar.                  2009  <http://webecoist.com/2008/08/17/a-brief-history-of-the-modern-green-movement/>.

                In Sara’s article, A Brief History of the Modern Green Movement in America, she gave a short but interesting background of where she believed the green movement had evolved from over all of these years.  Sara first approached this history by giving an explanation of what the green movement was and where it came from; secondly by stating the different eras and time periods that it had evolved different ways through; thirdly by stating some of the acts that came into effect in the later years, such as the Clean Air Act; lastly by stating how environmentalism is in our world today.  The author’s purpose in this piece was to give the audience a brief idea of how environmentalism has evolved and what people were believed to play a big role in the way that it is today.  She was trying to reach out to anybody that wants to know how and where these ideas came to be, although I do question some of her facts at times and where she got all of her information from.

                I am going to use this piece of information for my Frequently Asked Questions sheet to answer the question of where did the green movement come from.

 

 

Williams, Alex.  “Buying Into the Green Movement.”  New York Times  1 July 2007. 22 Mar. 2009                                                 <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/fashion/01green.html>.

                In Alex Williams’ article, Buying Into the Green Movement, he suggests that all of this so called “eco-friendly” buying isn’t really that much better for the environment in the long run.  Mr. Williams proves his point by first talking about all of the purchasing changes people have been making in their lives, trying to protect the environment; secondly by stating how some hybrid cars actually get worse gas mileage than some normal cars and are putting out more carbon dioxide in the process; thirdly by stating that all of the organic food coming into the nation during winter is being shipped in by a 747 airplane; lastly by stating that a single person buying eco-friendly things cannot make the world better, we need to talk to big companies, such as Wal-Mart.  The author’s purpose is to prove that all of these small efforts to improve environment, are actually hurting the environment more than some of the original things that we used to have.  Although some of his facts seem like they might be off at times, he is just trying to get across to all of the eco-friendly crazed people that not all of what they are doing is the best choice. 

                Although parts of this article goes against my whole public sphere day project, I am using it to tell people that they need to watch what they are buying into and make sure that there isn’t a better alternate out there that isn’t necessarily “green”.

Content Analysis

Content Analysis

 

Evansville is like that sweet piece of apple pie that people say is only made here in America.  Evansville and many of its citizens are like a slice of pie.  The outside of the pie is structurally beautiful, like all of the historical and new buildings.  The filling is the restoration that has been done on the inside of old buildings to restore that warm homely feeling that many people should feel. The warmness of the overall pie is the warmness of the community and the caring people that keep this city running and beautiful.  Evansville is a classic slice of all American pie, where the community is moderate conservative and enjoy bring people together to make this city a better place to live.   

            Evansville’s population may not be as high as a large city such as Indianapolis, but it still has its fair share of diversity.  At almost every turn of the head, there will be a different culture, skin tone, or even just a completely different personality that the previous person.  Although the city is diverse, everyone seems to have the similar political view of moderate conservative.  The communities of Evansville want to keep this town’s views moderate and no too liberal.  A majority of the elected political positions are moderate republicans.  This pattern seems to continue with the re-election of Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel, who happens to be a moderate conservative republican.

            The political views of Evansville fit the average views of almost any other small town in Indiana.  Just like many small towns, the community wishes to preserve the gems of Evansville.  The downtown area is made up mostly buildings that have been around for almost a hundred years.  People believe that these buildings are a vital part of our cities history, so they have put restaurants or little shops into these old buildings.  The old courthouse that was used many years ago still stands in the middle of downtown.  Not all buildings are being saved to retain the beauty of old Evansville.  There are plans to tear down the old post office and put a new stadium there for concerts and basketball games.  Many people spoke out about this is the opinion section of the Courier & Press.  They believe that downtown is become raped of its historical beauty that it once had.  People just want to keep the beauty of this historical city of the Ohio River.

            While people are trying to keep the downtown historical, it seems like the expansion of the rest of Evansville can’t be stopped.  Grandparents and other older people that I am close to, always tell me that the Westside of Evansville is nothing like it used to be.  Almost forty years ago, the Westside ended at Rosenberger Ave.  Since then, dozens of restaurants, home improvement stores, grocery stores, and even some clothing stores have popped up.  The amazing thing about this expansion is that at the same time that the Westside has been growing, the Eastside has been expanding as well.  With two shopping malls and so many restaurants that it’s impossible to choose where you want to go, it would seem like the expanding would slow down.  That is the last thing it would do at this point.

            Hidden beneath all of the historical parts of Evansville and the newly expanded sides of town, there has been a number of amounts of industrial plants that give jobs to a large amount of Evansville’s population.  A couple of these factories that are located on the outskirts of the city limits are Bristol Myers, Toyota, PBG, and ALCOA.  These factories have been thriving ever since the opened there doors, that is until our recent economy’s state.  The Courier & Press has been talking about how these factories have laid off people and been cutting down the amount of days they are allotted to work in a month because of the decrease of buying.  The moderate conservative population of Evansville has been deeply worried by this economic state, but luckily one factory has been putting in extra efforts to help their workers out.  I recently saw on News25 that Toyota has been paying their workers to paint or do simple clean up jobs around the metropolitan area to make it a more beautiful place to live and to keep their payroll rolling.  It is made very clear that the city of Evansville is a very concerned city and will reach a hand out to help those who are in trouble or need.

            Since Evansville leaves such a sweet taste in many people’s mouth’s who have grown up here in this town or even just visited, they often want to get there education and live here for the rest of their lives.  Luckily for those people, there are two great universities located within the city limits.  There is the University of Evansville that is located less than five miles away from downtown, that has the amazing architecture of the old days.  It is a small university with only about 2,647 students.  A couple of the strong programs there are music, art, theater, and physical therapy.  When leaving this campus, hop on the Lloyd and head west for about 15 miles, there will be University of Southern Indiana.  This university seems to have been the sleeping giant that was awoken about ten years ago.  The expansion of this campus has seemed to be never ending since it was started a number of years ago with the Rice Library.  There are currently about 10,126 students enrolled and the number seems to be increasing every year.  They have had to add a couple of on-campus living facilities, because of lack of room.  A couple of the outstanding programs here are IU pre-med and med school, nursing, occupation therapy, and education. Either of these universities will give you the education you need to live a successful life in Evansville.

            A topic that always seems to be hot is the Lloyd Expressway.  There is not a time in my whole life that I can tell you there was not construction at all being done on the Lloyd.  The current construction that is going on is a nonstop overpass, roadway that is supposed to ensure a fast drive from Westside to Eastside.  The aggravation began when they first built the expressway with around a dozen stoplights.  The people of Evansville thought that this was not a fast way to get across town.  The city is trying to correct this mistake by beginning a project last year that will create clover leaf exits and take about five to ten years to complete.  The traffic seems to always be backed up and most people just try to avoid the Lloyd at all costs these days.  This sore subject doesn’t seem to get better with the constant reminders made by articles in the Courier & Press reminding us that this horrible construction is here to stay for a number of years.

            With all of this talk of a fast track from Westside to Eastside, the question comes to mind, is there even a North or South side?  There was never a big Southside community that drew people down to that community, but there was once a North side.  The north side used to be the main part of town almost sixty to eighty years ago.  The main high school of Evansville was located there, Central High School.  That side of town used to be used by many Westside people for grocery shopping and restaurant eating until the Westside began to grow.  There is still a Target located over there that many people still shop at weekly.  There is also the Ivy Tech located on First Ave, which seems to be increasing gradually, especially since the recent addition and remodeling a couple of years ago.  The north side is hanging in there with the expansion of Evansville.

            The city growing means that there will be a whole lot more of opinions and political views than had previously been here.  The Courier & Press seems to never let Evansville down by always having news on the new bills being signed or recent things that Obama has been working on.  The main subject of concern currently though has been the state of our economy.  People are concerned that more people will lose their jobs, run out of money, and become homeless.  Recently the Courier & Press has been writing articles stating that politicians are almost positive that the country should be getting out of the recession soon.  These articles are comforting the city of Evansville and giving them hope that the economy will get back into the great shape it was previously. 

            It was said that with the economy recession, people wouldn’t eat out as much or buy as many items.  That means that the people who were the most scared about losing their jobs were the percentage of high school who received only a high school diploma and not a college degree.  About eighty-two percent of Evansville has their high school diploma.  But, only seventeen percent have a bachelor’s degree or higher.  Hopefully, there will be a decrease of the scare of losing jobs because people are going to college more now and receiving a diploma to secure a job that requires that skills they have learned. 

            An all American city to the average person is a middle class community that has gatherings many times throughout the calendar year that brings a city together.  Evansville screams that exact definition to a number of its citizens.  The communities of Evansville and celebrate a number of dates by having gatherings downtown such as The Freedom Festival, the car show on Main Street, and the annual United Way painted statues on the river front.  These are all nice events that bring the city together, but there is one street festival that is the second largest in the world and draws in people from hours away, The Westside Nut Club Fall Festival.  There are about three blocks of nonstop food booths that are sponsored by community churches, schools, and clubs that make a huge profit off of this week.  Then there are so many rides that you have to wonder, how did they fit all of these rides into this small street?  It’s Evansville’s street festival that known all through the state and country.

            Evansville is definitely a city that holds more that what the eye beholds.  There is history that is being preserved and history being made here every day.  The people are down to earth and always concerned about what is best for their city.  The third largest city in Indiana is a place where there will always be something to see or do.  Evansville citizens are proud and work hard to keep this city as is was, is, and should always be.

Green Movement (FAQ sheet)

Q: What is the green movement?

A: A movement started to improve our environment and preserve our world, ecologically. 

 

Q: How and where did it get started?

A: It started out by being called green politics by Germans in the 1970s.  Their ideas were later spread worldwide.

 

Q: Who all is involved?

A: People who are involved ranges from a single person to huge industries.

 

Q: Why should I care about it?

A: Polar ice caps are melting at a record time than ever before.  Our ozone layer is being eaten away by pollution, which is allowing more ultra-violet rays through that are harmful to our skin.  It’s only going to get worse unless we do something to stop it.

 

Q: How can I help?   

•  Ride bike places instead of driving
•   Buy Florissant, energy saving,  light bulbs

•   Use cloth bags for groceries
  
•   Get more ideas from all types of health magazines
  

 

Q: Where can I get involved at USI?

A: Join the GREEN LIFE club here on campus

 

Sponsored by: Green Life                                     Contact: kmharpenau@usieagles.org

Proposal

It is not uncommon to hear about the green movement at least one time in your daily routine. I feel strong about this movement because I want to make this world a better and healthier place to live. So it is pretty obvious by now that my public sphere day project is going to be focusing on the green movement. I am joining the club Green Life here on campus, where I plan on sharing my ideas of how to make the university more environmental friendly. The forms of public literacy that i plan on using are brochures, frequently asked question sheet, advertising with chalk, and playing a global warming movie. All of the paper products that I plan on handing out are going to be copied on recycled paper. The other big thing that I will be handing out are donated cloth shopping bags, to encourage people to stop using so many plastic and paper bags. I will give students simple ideas to conserve energy by encouraging them to ride bikes to class, purchase hybrid cars, program their computers not to put a screen saver up by have it in sleep mode, and use energy conservative florescent light bulbs. Hopefully, these ideas will get through to the students.

Content Analysis Part 2

Evansville's newspaper, The Courier & Press, is very concerned about many of the problems that our economy is having at this time.  The front page is mainly covered with how the economy is doing, the newly elected Barack Obama, and if anything major has happened in the area.  As I speak, a major topic right now is how a Mt. Vernon plant just laid off about one hundred people and some of those people were salary paid.  Another recent hot topic that has been on the front page of our paper is the ice storm that we had blow through and all the power outages it caused.  The Courier & Press also has a local section that talks about what is going on in the schools and any crimes or new projects that are going on in the area.  Another topic that makes big headlines is when our athletic programs here in town make it to state or win a big game.  Evansville is very into their sports.

The USI newspaper, The Shield, is really focused on upcoming events.  They love to talk about the sport season that we are in.  Basketball is really a big topic right now since we have such goods teams and seem to be doing well.  The Shield is just another way of letting the students know what is going on.