We are done

The end of the semester is just around the corner!!! A few more days of reading and writing and the story will be done, I don’t know about you but now that I look back, I realized how much I wrote over the last three months. Anyway, now it is time to say what I think about it.

First, creating a blog was an easy thing to do for me, however, as any other new thing, I have to spend some time figuring out the available functions in it, for example, how top add and delete a picture, how to add a video, and how to organize the context in it. But, once I learned how to use it, posting our weekly essays was so much fun, it feel as if I were an news paper editor, who has the responsibility of choosing the images and context to be publish. Moreover, I really liked commenting on my classmates’ bloggs because it was a way of sharing our ideas and points of view toward the topics we covered in class.

Secondly, I personally think that blogging was not bad at all. The only thing I had problems with was the dead line because I work during the weekend and some times posting or commenting on Saturday, or Sunday was not an easy thing to do. I think that my solution for this problem was very simple: I posted all my blogs on Friday and usually woke up at 7 am on Sunday and commented on peoples’ blogs before I went to work.

Lastly, this kind of writing was very interested because in a 250 words essay we cannot say too much, our writing had to be very objective, therefore, I think it helped us to organize our ideas objectively. I believe keeping blogging on my own would be something I would enjoy a lot, but it probably won’t be weekly for sure.

The Real Challenge

So we are reaching the end of the semester and while some of us are struggling with research papers and final exams, the time to make compromises has come. I cannot tell you how many times I have promised myself to change certain things in my life, to be honest with you most of the time I have kept my promises and other times… Well let’s not go there. The reality is that our current environmental crisis requires drastic changes in our lives, because we cannot continue with business as usual.

After reading the Green Book, I have realized how easily we can all make a different in reducing global warming, but most importantly, protecting our environment if we want to. In short, these are the things I am promising to change:

1. I will buy a laptop
2. I will buy a 32 inch LCD.
3. I will recycle
4. I will take short showers
5. I will turn off the tap while I brush my teeth.

The only reason for why I have arranged my list in this way is very simple, since I really have to buy a TV and Laptop very soon, this will be the perfect opportunity for me to start buying eco-friendly products, on the other hand, the last three items are things that I can start doing right away for sure, however, I believe they are the hardest because it requires me to change my daily routings.

I am publicly committing my self to take short shower from now on.

Their Papers: Fidel and Lisa

OK… I must say that I really enjoyed reading both of these papers. One addresses the deforestation in Haiti, the other one concentrates on air pollution and its effects on lower income neighborhoods, especially in New York. Undoubtedly, Fidel and Lisa are doing an extraordinary job with their paper.

Q1
But now this is my analysis of both papers, first, Fidel’s paper, I found this paper very rich in historical background but I wasn’t able find the thesis of the paper. Unless, the thesis of the paper is: “these restrictive and destructive policies (yet profitable for the perpetrators) have hindered Haiti’s economical ability to develop alternative and sustainable fueling methods that can halt the cutting of trees and use of wood for cooking and fueling.” On the other hand, on Lisa’s paper I am not sure what the thesis is? I think it might be this: “this is a serious issue for the residents of the area because of the effects the pollutants that these facilities produce have on the health of individuals”

Q2 and Q3
The part that captured my attention was at the end of the paper when I started reading about the social conditions of Haitians and I also liked the way Fidel compared Haiti and the Dominican Republic but I don’t understand why the need of doing that when the paper only talks about Haiti.

On Lisa’s paper the part that I found interested is the section where she defied environmental racism and she talks about Harlem especially because I live in that neighborhood. On the other hand, when I read her introduction I had to stop and read it again, I think it needs to be organized

Q4, Q5, and Q6
The acknowledgement of sources is done correctly, Fidel’s paper does not have “human interest story.” Lastly, as I read his paper I did not find any grammatical mistakes, however, since English is not my first language my opinion on this should not be taken as final word. On the other hand, Lisa’s still is underdevelopment so it is hard for me to answer these three questions

The First Draft

OK… I don’t know about all of you but I am having trouble writing this research paper, indeed, it is not because I don’t know how to write this kind of papers, and without any doubt, I must tell you that after taking ENG 103, The Research Paper Class, this should be an easy task, however, I guess after researching for two weeks, I had found good sources which have given me lots of information on the chosen topic

What’s more after reading all my sources, I have so much information in my head that I don’t know where to start, I know some of you would probability say, have you consider the possibility of writing an outline, well YES I have…But, I think that the problem I am facing here is the following: researching the deforestation of the Amazon was not difficult at all because certainly there is a lot of information about it, especially cause and effects.

Undoubtedly, I been thinking about how I can organize all the information I have gathered so far, and I think, this is what I am going to do: First, I will compare the rainforest with the polar regions, and if you are wondering why, well, this my reason: the polar regions and the rainforest are ecosystem that are so essential for our planet because of their particular functions in it. Since both them play a crucial role on the issue of global warming, I believe that by doing this, I will be able to focus on one of the aspects of this issue, the environmental impact of the deforestation of the rainforest in Amazon.

I think this is going to work for sure…

The Research Paper

My research paper will focus on the deforestation of the rainforest of the Amazon. It will also focus on what are the economic and social reasons of deforestation, and the impacts on global rain patterns, lastly, it will report how deforestation affects indigenous communities by studying the traditions and daily life of the Waimiri-Atroari tribe.

I am writing on this topic because I have always been interested in learning more about indigenous communities, I think this paper will give me the opportunity of studying some of the traditions, beliefs, and way of living of these communities.

Some of the sources that I intend to use for this paper are UN reports. I am also considering news articles from BBC news, and different case studies made by different organization, such as the Rain Forest Foundation. I have also found articles in JSTOR, but I am not sure if I am going to use them.

I am not sure about my thesis yet, but I think it will be based on the following aspect: environmental, social, and economic impacts of the deforestation of the Amazon

The Research.... The deforestation of the Amazon

I am writing on this topic because the deforestation in the Amazon is the perfect example of how human activities have an impact in our environment, furthermore, it also let us analyze how comminutes can be affected by these activities. I think that this paper can be turn into a power point presentation, and it can also be use as an article for a news paper.

Some of the sources that I intend to use are reports made by different UN agencies, such us, the Intergovernmental panel on climate change (http://www.ipcc.ch/), United Nations Environment Programme (http://www.unep.org/), and the World Meteorological Organization (http://www.wmo.int/pages/index_en.html). I believe these reports will help me because they are written by experts on the subject and provide analyzes on the causes and effects of global warming.

Furthermore, I will also be using different articles from JSTOR, most of these articles are cases studies on different indigenous tribes from the Amazon. These articles will help me write the section on how indigenous people interact with their natural environment.

Lastly, I intend to use Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) mainly those who work with indigenous people, and seek the protection of the rights. Most of these organizations have listed in their website the different actions or documents that seek to protect indigenous people. I believe this information will help me to elaborate a section in my paper which will focus on how these cultures struggle when they decided to preserve their identity.

What we have learned....

A few days ago I was talking to my to friend about how our world view shifts from time to time, how one day we can weak up feeling that we can change the world, and other days feel that what we do has not impact whatsoever. After a few hours we realized that what makes us feel in such a way is the result of our ability to being realistic and critical about things. Furthermore, we concluded that what we learned and experienced in our lives allows us to develop a particular way of thinking as well as a unique way for solving problems.

Indeed, I must say, that us we go through the different phases of life our understanding about things enhances, for instance, now that I am in college I understand that education can transform lives, but I only came to realize this until today, when I have to reflect on what I have done so far in this academic journey of mine.

This class has allowed me to understand two things: that through my English courses, I learned how to read between the lines, which now allows me to comprehend what I read in-depth, and that my social science courses have helped me to look at the big picture from a different perspective and understand how a global issue can affect us even when the issue is taking place in a place far a way from us. In fact, only when we realize the importance of these two things, we will be able to question a particular view or situation,

Today, here is where I stand, I believe media can determinate what we know about the world if we let it happen, culture and religion shape the way we see the world, more importantly, the way we look at problems. Therefore I believe that as individuals we can make a difference, that there are things that we can change right way but that will only happen when all of the above make sense in our minds, today, it makes sense to me.