Lauren's Writing References

These were written a number of weeks ago, and it only occured to me now that it ought to be published here, this blog is an opportunity for me to improve my writing, and to do that I, and my audience ought to be aware of my current limitations and awarenesses:

I have a real problem with run on sentences. Specifically I like to use clauses in my sentences, and I end up trying to sound smarter than I am, or worse yet, than my audience is. I have been improving, but I often have to put most of my energy in to making the point I'm trying to mae in a simple way. Then focus on the simple stuff gets lost, and I end up having a ton of drafts, which may or may not be bad. *This problem has since been greatly improved, but I still need to be constantly on the look out.

In pre-writing, make sure that you feel confident in your knowledge of the topic before sitting down to right. Make sure you understand your topic and what you are going to write, and if you don't, do a bit more research or prethinking before starting the essay. Confidence and full knowledge in a topic will make essay writing much easier and smoother. Being unsure about the topic tends to lead to writer's block, or various other problems when you attempt to write.

Update - 2

Sadly, this update is not as great as my last one. I have had a problem with eating right this week. My excuse is finals, there is a lot to be done, and a serious lack of time to do it in (no to sound too innocent, but I don't think it is all due to procrastination). Regarding the bad habit, there has been a lot of caffine, a lot of eating out, and a lack of home cooked meals. All of these things are preparing for improvement next week though.
On the bright side however, I have still stuck to healthy take out, plenty of veggies, fruits, and I have entirly avoided fried foods. It could be better though.
As long as this is out there, I'd like to open up discussion for eating right without a lot of time or energy. We all know the best thing is to make sure you have the time to do this, because it is so important, but in the real world, we are not so perfect. So if anyone has suggestions for comprimising time and a healthy lifestyle, I'd love to hear your suggestions.

Update 1

Well, perhaps the next bad habit I will have to work on is procrastination...since it has beeb nearly two weeks since the "Bad Habit " assignment, and I am just now updating it to my blog...I will have to keep this in mind.
Fortunately though my bad eating habits have improved greatly. About a week and a half ago, I made a very productive trip to he supermarket, and have only ate out about three time since then, this is mainly because three of my friends have had birthdays in the past few weeks.
This has not only improved my eating habits in that I know what I'm putting in my body most of the time when I cook at home, but further now my bank account looks much nicer.
So far the breaking of this habit has been going well but if anyone has any more advice I'm all ears!

A Bad Bad Habit....

I have a lot of bad habits, many similar to those that everyone has
been writing about. However, lately I've been getting worse and worse
about eating right.
I don't make it to the grocery store as often as I should, and thus
end up eating out more often that I can really afford. This is a
problem not just for the wallet, but for the body.
To improve this problem that has been snowballing, I plan to limit my
"eating out" to twice a week. I want to get more healthy foods from the
grocery store, specifically granola and fruit for breakfast, and more
protein and veggies for dinner.
Wish me luck! I will keep you posted!

Being Productive

There are a number of things that can help a person to be productive. Organization, efficiency, and dealing with your time well are the things we taught as we grow up. There are many different ways of accomplishing these strategies and making them work for you.

Outside of these techniques I recommend a number of other things that can help to keep you focused, these have more to do with keeping yourself sane then keeping yourself productive. After all if you can’t be happy, productivity is sort of out of the question.

1. So first, the basics. Organization is key. Some stay organized through date books and calendars, some via internet and technology, Prof. Brandon opened a whole world of organization by 3 x 5 cards. There are plenty of ideas out there, the important thing is to not just do whatever someone tells you, or whatever is the most popular way of doing it, but instead, do what works best for you. Try out anything you find interesting, or sounds like it will match with your personality, then do what’s best, even combine methods to make your own organization style work. This concept is true for efficiency and dealing with your time as well. For example, we have all learned that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, hard to argue with, however as college students we often put sleep higher on our priority lists. To help this we can work around the method. Find a breakfast to go, bottled juice, prepare a bagel the night before, or breakfast burritos for the week, and freeze them, then you can just grab it on your way out. You get your sleep and your energy. There are plenty of things like this to incorporate into being more productive.
2. Keep an open mind. There are so many things that can increase productivity, many not even directly related to productivity. Sometimes we need to relax, and take advantage of all those fun things that are available out there for us. There are venues, restaurants, music, and loads of events on campus. We should take advantage of these things, we should enjoy them, we should learn from them. If we spend all our time focusing on how to stay productive, how to get ahead, how to get that GPA, to get into that school, then we will miss so much along the way. We will also be liable to go crazy, insane from pure mundane boredom. I don’t suggest you loose sight of what’s important, or your goals for this educational experience, but sometimes it’s necessary to skip a night of studying for a night with friends, music, pizza, and beer.

Hope this helped a bit! Good luck to all!

Finding Good Music

This, I believe, is a great research question, because music is timeless. Mickey Hart, a drummer for the Grateful Dead wrote a book, “Songcatchers: In Search of the Worlds Music”, in which he explores the music of nations far and wide, with hopes to preserve the worlds music. The broad points of view and incredibly wide ranges of music open doors to the reader, expressing music as; something more than a taste, something more than the capitalistic empire it is here in the United States, something that does not just have a history, but is a history. This book intrigued me. It became clear that there is something very human about music. I know this cheesy phrase sounds like I’m just putting together words that sound good, but allow me to explain. Every person enjoys music, not merely because there is a need to fill what would be silent space, but that no space is silent, and since conception, since the rhythmic beat of our mothers’ hearts in the womb, we have a desire to compile the sounds that surround us into something with a beat, a rhythm, a harmony, even if just in the most pure form: music is human.

Now, I mentioned before that music in the United States is in a form of capitalism, it is an industry. This point can not be argued, and I am not about to advocate that it is a bad thing. Capitalism makes America work, people desire to have music, other people produce that music as a good, and sell it, then turn a profit, and hopefully proceed to use that profit to create more music…so on and so forth. It works-everyone gets what they want. Until of course the buyers find a way to collect that music for free. This is a problem for music, as an industry; a problem for the artist, for the record labels, and even for the local record shop owner. However, it may have more than just the obvious benefits for the listener. Decades ago the Grateful Dead performed concerts and allowed people to bring tape recorders on long poles, known as tapers, to collect the music of the show. It was never outlawed, and in fact supported by many in the industry; every concert gave every song a new sound to share with others (damn hippie’s right). Now however the price of “sharing” music comes with a criminal charge.

So how can we today benefit from this spontaneous form of music sharing, that opens our ears to new sounds, that helps us find our favorite beats, rhythms, and harmonies, without emptying our pockets, but still supporting music as an industry? I found one great place, via, none other than, our profound World Wide Web. It’s called Pandora. The site allows you to type in the artist, the song, or the album that you are in the mood to listen to, and then the compilers create you a radio station based on the most basic forms of music applied in your selection. It is called the Music Genome Project. It explores, studies, and even pairs you up with other people’s radio stations to find the most music out there. You grade the music; you tell them if a song or an artist belongs, on the station you hear it on, or somewhere else. I am, and forever will be an advocate for purchasing albums, because I think something precious, that someone worked very hard for, is lost, when we pick and choose the songs we listen to, rather than hearing the entire album. But, Pandora opens listeners up to new music, new artists, and new albums to purchase.

History Repeating; RIAA Goes After College Students

I'm sure we all recall a number of years back when the Recording Industry Association of America targeted teens in random regions of the United States for music file sharing, fining them hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars based on the number of songs they illegally downloaded.

There was an uproar. Kids were not merely charged these great fines but threatened with criminal charges as well. The websites that offered, assisted, and promoted this 'file sharing' however were not so targeted. Instead a number of them turned around and changed the websites to, a "pay for the song system", and thus profited.

I recently read an article in Rolling Stone, issue 1023, by Steve Knopper reporting that now, thousands of college kids are being targeted for the same offenses. Dorms have a particularly high volume for file sharing. For this reason the RIAA is going through the universities to get to the kids.

"...[The RIAA] sends letters to colleges listing IP addresses of computers the organization claims have been used to share music illegally. From there colleges are instructed to identify the students and pass along the letters. The letter encourages the recipient to make a quick settle via the new Web site p2plawsuites.com to avoid a future suit."

This effort encourages the targeted students to pay a few thousand dollars rather than some $750.00 per song, not to mention any number of costly court and lawyer fees.

So for us, college students, this sucks. If you've read my other blogs, you know I support buying the music. I believe that it encourages the artists to keep the art in the albums and the songs. Further, it supports local business, record shops, concerts, etc.. On the other hand, music sharing is a great way to learn about the new artists that are out there.

The problem, in my opinion is that the industry is being, well, a big fat jerk for lack of a better phrase. They are bullying people into paying an unjust amount of money. Punitive damages in this matter, to the music industry is not unreasonable, after all, those "jerks" have mortgages to pay, and families to support, just like the rest of us. Punitive damages, or however they prefer to define charging $750.00 for a song, that if purchased online would be $0.99, are effective in that they are step in solving the problem. The price you pay in the end makes a point to the rest of the file sharers out there, that this is a bad thing. However, did this work the first time? Well, they are doing it again, so it was clearly not entirely affective. Now they target a new group of people though, so perhaps there are just working there way through society, and earning a good amount of money while doing so.

This does not sound like a justified resolution to me. What I don't understand is why the RIAA does not target the websites. I understand that file sharing is quite simple, and may happen even if we did control every major music sharing website, but wouldn't it be more affective than sporadically going after random violators? I don't have the most knowledge on the subject, but am ever so curious...if you have it, give me some insight!

Planning the Southwest

How can we prevent urban sprawl in the Southwest without jeopardizing the "wide open spaces" ambiance?

I believe that the southwest has a problem with urban sprawl. In most major cities in the southwest, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Los Angelas, the BIG ones, development goes out instead of up. This can be a problem for communities that not only desire, but require a sustainable lifestyle. It is clear that water and food are among the most important resources for a society to maintain or grow. The Southwest Region of the United States has a lack of water, there is no argument there, and for food to grow, water is an asset. As communities grow outwardly, and residents try to spread farther from other residents, the ability to maintain a sustainable community goes down.

In Albuquerque, due to the county boundaries, and the nearby pueblos, there is not much more room for urban sprawl, but Rio Rancho does not have such restrictions. Rio Rancho, like other cities in the Southwest, continues to sprawl, in order to facilitate for the open dessert marketing tactics that many developers have promoted to Unites States residents east of the Mississippi. Building up would reduce the amount of sprawl, but would deplete what we love so much about the southwest. Santa Fe, among other cities has height regulations for buildings, which seems appropriate, until we run out of space for all who want to enjoy the dessert.

I introduce this blog as an open question. Who has an idea, I think its time we start to think outside of the box. Sustainability is a world wide problem, and applying any thoughts or ideas on the matter at home, could create a resolution for any number of problems. So if anyone has any thoughts or information regarding this matter, please comment back-I'm more than interested to hear what anyone has to say!

Soldiers & Students

My brother is a Marine. He graduated high school last year and joined the Corps right after, as many of his friends were putting up posters in there new college dorms he was shipping off to boot camp. I am more proud of my little brother than I can write here today, he is a strong kid, and does well for himself, and cares about people more than anyone I know. I for one don't think he belongs in the military, but there he is. Now, he has had his gripes, and in no way enjoyed boot camp, I guess they're not supposed to, but there does seem to be some advantages for him. The other day he called me and had just bought a new truck, all by himself, he pays for his car insurance, his cell phone, and any other expenses that may come his way. And mind, he doesn't have to pay for food, and for his entire term in the military, will never pay for housing. This means that the better part of his pay check goes to things he wants, not needs, like road trips to near by colleges to visit high school buddies, or an X BOX for his dorm to fill in his spare time.

For most of us college students, this is not the lifestyle. The better part of our college career, we remain broke. This is different from being poor, it is necessary that we are clear on this distinction. We are not poor, we have clothes on our backs, a roof over our heads, and are generally well fed, and more than anything-we are being educated, there is nothing poor about the situation we are in. However, we are broke, we don't have expendable incomes like that of my eighteen year old brother in the military. For most of the students at UNM(based on the fact book I was shown earlier this semester) to be here means work, we work to pay our bills, we work to buy groceries, and we work real hard to get scholarships, to avoid those nasty student loans, and after all that is done we may be lucky to have some left over to save up for a trip, or a shopping spree. I am aware that this is a generalization, and it does not by any standards apply to everyone, but we have all experienced this enough to understand.

Before I make anyone angry, let me express something important. I am aware that when one signs up for the military, he or she is literally risking his or her life, this is especially true in recent years. For that, these individuals ought to be honored, such a decision is hard, and courageous, and they work very hard to receive their bi-weekly paychecks, and frankly, I believe that in a perfect world they ought to be paid more than what they get. In my opinion, the military should treat its recruits much better than they do, but this is not a perfect world, and that argument is another article entirely.

To get back on track, let me dip into our history banks a bit. In historical Rome, there were the Spartans and the Athenians, the warriors and the educators, and it is unquestionable that Rome needed both, and thrived because it had them. Looking in our world today, of us pseudo-adults, I see a similarity that my father recently pointed out to me.

Our nation needs soldiers and students, but where did the labels go wrong? Why do we have to have such an incentive to prepare young men and women to be soldiers? Its not a job that everyone wants to do, but perhaps if it was not as scary as it has been, or perhaps if the honor and benefits were more long term it would be more desirable, not just for the fast cash incentive there is now. And further, why doesn't our nation put more of its tax dollars into higher education, should college be something for the elite, something you get to do, or should college be something the government wants everyone to do, and is willing to create incentive out there for kids to go. Even if we can't afford to throw thousands of dollars at kids to get them to come to college, why not put more money into programs that will make it easier for students to not only get into college, but get out-with a higher education.

It seems to me like its a social problem, if we see it the way we look at it now, it won't get better. However, some governmental changes have the opportunity to help it along. We can do our part, but, in the end we may just have to sit back and see what happens.

Thats the Way I Write....Research Papers

I find that research papers are some of the most important papers one writes in college. More likely than not you'll be researching something that has to do with your degree, which means you'll be learning something that you truly need, or truly want to know, which sadly enough I have found tends to be rare as an undergraduate. As one might think, since the outcome of this particular sort of writing is so important and rewarding, the process tends to be a bit more difficult, and the work a bit more complicated. What I have gather so far is that there are a number of steps to follow that make this process more organized, and more efficient.

First, find you topic. This may be relatively simple, especially in college, as they are often handed out to us. However you may find yourself with a broad concept or idea, from which you will have create your own topic. In either case it is important to be specific. There is no shortage of information in our multi-technical world today. If we choose a topic that is too broad, we need to boil it down to what is important, or of the most intrest to us. For example, you may be interested in tourism in the south west region of the United States. This sounds specific, but if you concentrate the bulk of your research on a specific event in a specific town you might get more information. If you choose an Indian arts festival in Santa Fe, then pick out a few trends that occur within that event, then you can compare that to some more statistics in other cities. Which will give a personal look at your topic, and open up some generalizations that may be useful.

Second, you have to start the research. Classes have taught us the importance of finding legitimate research. Dot-com sites do not prove to be as useful of a tool as a peer-edited journal. This does not however rule out the use of less legitimate sources such as dot-com sites, it is important though to uses these resources in a proper manner, and to always double check any "facts" from these sites. The primary point to remember is to site sources correctly, this is the part that I tend to have more trouble with, many research papers often entail the use of a number of different sources, which are all sited with different etiquette. What also can be tricky in this part of writing is knowing what to site, when, and how. I have found that the more that you site, the safer it is. Anything that is a fact that is not relatively well known, ought to be sited, and any concept, thought or idea, that is not your own should not be portrayed in a manner that makes the audience believe it is, and should always be credited to the original creator.

The third step is to start writing. At this point I gather the information I have and put the main points together in an order that will better help the audience to understand the research that I have done. This is a pre-writing step much like an outline. At this point the paper is planned, I have my research done, and my sources cited. So I can sit at the computer and start to write.

So the fourth step is to create the paper. At this point I write paragraph by paragraph, based on my outline. I often leave the intro and the conclusion meek, then come back to it. I focus most of my energy on the body of the paper. I make multiple drats, and review and re-read it a number of times before making it final. This part is all about being meticulus, being a perfectionist, and trying to stay focused on the subject matter. Again, I sometimes get caugtht up in language, trying to make it sound smart, rather than focusing on the point I am trying to get the audience to understand.

Research papers take time, and require the writer to not only be well informed, but thoughtful. The reader is writing what you wrote because he or she is expecting your opinion, your thoughts, and your attitude to come out in the piece. These things are just as important as gathering the unorganized information that is out there and constructing it to a form that help others to understand it. This entails what a research paper is, keeping this end in mind will help keep your means in check.

Mmm...Mmm....Elephant Bar

Here at UNM students really get used to the college lifestyle. We enjoy late nights, serious procrastination, cheap food, and more than anything cheap pints. As we progress though maybe it is time to explore ways outside of cheapness. I understand that money is always an issue among people our age, however sometimes it is necessary to spend that money, or perhaps have it spent on you.

There is a plethora of good places to eat for a cheap buck, but what else is out there? How about when your parents come to town and want to take you out…will really want to recommend the same pizza joint across the street that you ate at four times this week already? Or how would like to impress that new significant other that you met in your English class last week? Do you really think he/she wants another burrito from the two dollar burrito stand? Sometimes class is necessary. So where is the best place to go?

While Albuquerque has a number of fine dining and ethnic restaurants to choose from I find that the Elephant Bar gives the perfect impression.

The Elephant Bar is on Louisiana just past Indian School. It is mere hop onto the freeway from UNM, and in a few minutes you will find yourself in the beautiful new Albuquerque Uptown. If you find yourself waiting for a table at the Elephant Bar you have a number of different ways to spend your time. Enjoy an exotic drink at the bar while you wait, sit out in the patio and watch the shoppers go by in the crisp Albuquerque spring time weather, or perhaps you might even explore the new shops in the complex yourself.

Once you find your way to a table just sit back and enjoy the safari like décor, and some of the best trained waiters in Albuquerque, may I recommend you be seated with Andy, he has been the bet waiter I’ve had there yet. You might find yourself full after the incredibly tasty appetizers, a number of which you’ll have to choose from, but don’t stop yet, the meals and the desserts are even better.

So when you are looking for more than just the local pizzeria, or have a certain someone you want to impress, come check out the new Elephant Bar, it’s great food, class, and an intriguing atmosphere. It beats the serve yourself joints we college students tend to flock to, without that High Finance price.

Good luck fellow diners!
Lauren

First Blog Ever

Well, here it goes...
Not much of a blogger, don't keep a journal, or a diary, or the like so I don't know much of what to write about. Not sure if we should post materials from class? I'm not too comfortable just posting things on the Internet that I think about. I'd usually prefer to read what other people write. However, there is a first time for everything...anyway, its Spring Break now...so its seems as though posting our work on our blog is a trend among the students, clearly I should get to posting! Wish me luck!