5

Sunday, December 6, 2009
7 hours

Today we bought supplies and started working on our game board. We found all of the pictures and facts that we were going to use and did our works consulted. Then we created the money, printed it and cut it. We then laminated it and cut it again. Then we made our career cards and cut, laminated and cut those. We began to create the spaces for our board by putting scenarios on cards and cutting them into rectangles. We also worked a little on our brochure. Our project really began to come together

Progress journal 4

Sunday, December 6, 2009
7 hours

Today we bought supplies and started working on our game board. We found all of the pictures and facts that we were going to use and did our works consulted. Then we created the money, printed it and cut it. We then laminated it and cut it again. Then we made our career cards and cut, laminated and cut those. We began to create the spaces for our board by putting scenarios on cards and cutting them into rectangles. We also worked a little on our brochure. Our project really began to come together

tuesday

12/1
1.5 hours
Brittany, Ashley, and I met to work on our project. We decided what materials we needed, what else we needed to do to progress with our project and which of us was to do what. We looked up research and got a basic idea of what we were going to make our board look like. We made a shopping list and got some materials from the store, and will be getting more this weekend. It was a very productive session and I feel like our project is really coming together.

progress journal

11/20/09 1 hrs.

I began to research more on the topic trying to find international points for the project. It was a little difficult to find solid facts other than in the United States, but I was able to find some.
I have begun to create situations to go on the cards you will receive in the game. We are basing the game off the LIFE game so you can choose either the smoking lifestyle or the non-smoking lifestyle. The cards will have situations on them like the life tiles do, depending on which life you choose.

group project

Student’s Progress Journal
NAME: Ashley Brinker
Project (purpose, audience, media, modalities): we are aiming at the younger population to educate them about not smoking.
We have researched smoking bans around the world and are going to use this information to create a game similar to LIFE.
The game will have two options; smoking and non smoking, with both sides showing the effects so that we can imprint no smoking into the minds of young children

PROGRESS JOURNAL (focus on progress and rhetorical rationale for changes. Include date, hours spent on project):

11/16/04 .45 hrs.
Sat and talked about what we could do to make a memorable, creative, and still informative project. We have researched different places in the United States as well as other countries and reviewed which ones have smoking bans and how it has impacted the community.
We are going to soon start work on our game and put much more time into it

what to do?

For our project in this class, we are still trying to decide on what topic/audience we should use. Our options include labor laws in China, smoking in France, and stem cell research. Each of them has many opportunities we are just trying to decide on which one has a better audience so that we can do informative things and decide on what kind of project we will end up doing. It is a huge part of our grade so we are all being very indecisive in making the decision. At the same time, we need to start on it soon…

houses for rent

We began with only one appointment to see a house, and by the end of the day we had seen at least five. I don’t even know how many houses we saw, but after the first one I was terrified of what the others would look like. We drove around calling the numbers on the “FOR RENT” signs in hopes that the insides would look at least a little clean and up to date. The second one we went into was a lot nicer than the first one, but the rooms were only big enough for a bed. That is about it. So we were still struggling to find anything that was close to what we were looking for. Then, a man I had called from the paper earlier that day called back and we set up an appointment with absolutely no idea what it would be like because we had not seen any pictures or driven by it. We also did not get much detail from the man, so we were just waiting to see exactly what we had been seeing all evening.
When we got to the house, the man greeted us and it looked very nice on the outside, kind of plain though. When we went inside though, I was amazed. Everything was clean and orderly, the building looked like it was in great shape and it was very spacious. There were four bedrooms and every bedroom has its own bathroom. There is a ton of storage and is exactly what we wanted to see. We walked through the house, and I know at least I had nothing bad to say about the house. We had another house to see after, and I didn’t want to go because I was so set on this house.

Fall <3

As the weather is getting colder and the leaves begin to change, I have started to notice more of my surroundings. The campus here at ball state has a lot of trees and shrubberies to decorate the landscape and make it very beautiful. I love the fall with the changing of colors in the trees and the gradual decrease in heat. Don’t get me wrong, I am not excited for winter coats and gloves, but just the fall wind on your face with your jeans and sweatshirts on is a wonderful feeling I have missed. Thanksgiving is also coming around and I am more than excited to see my whole family and spend time with them. I just went home for fall break, but I still miss them so much!

Working for Fifty-five Cents an Hour Doesn't Quite Cut it

With a population of over one billion people and still growing, China takes up almost twenty percent of the world’s population. With today’s economy and market, China is one of the largest manufacturers in the world, which requires the jobs there to be very intense. There are very strict requirements for how a job is done, along with what is allowed versus what is not while in the factory and on the job. Some of the factory workers are required to work for very low pay and strict conditions in order to take care of their families. There is a new law that was created to improve working conditions in China. This law was enforced starting on January 1, 2008, but the changes that should have been made to allow work places to follow the law still don’t seem to have been enforced because many businesses claim that to change everything at once would be disastrous. China’s labor laws were established to give employees and employers a set of proper rules to follow while in the workplace in order to have fair treatment between workers whether they want to implement their own rules or not.

h-a-l-l-o-w-e-e-n

Halloween is right around the corner and I am excited. I love going out and seeing all of the wild and creative costumes. I went to a Halloween costume party on Saturday of last weekend and there were some pretty crazy costumes. My date had a caveman costume on with a stupid club he persisted on hitting everyone with, there was a pirate couple, and my favorite was the cloudy with a chance of rain couple. The pirate couple had sword fights all night in the middle of the barn that would break out and they would sword fight with the other pirates. The cloudy with a chance of rain was very creative. The guy had a white shirt on with fluff from like the inside of a pillow and his date had on all black. When someone would ask what one of them was he would say cloudy and his girl would reply with a chance of rain and spray them with water. I am excited for everyone to dress up and go out this weekend. The festivities started tonight and its only going to get better.

Worse treatment or higher prices?

In 2006 Business Week released a cover story revealing the labor law problems still present in China. The article was titled “Secrets, Lies, and Sweat Shops” and told about the procedures used to keep the children in factories with excessive labor combined with low pay. Even though there were laws put in place to prevent all of these factors from appearing, there were people whose job was to inform factories of how to bypass the audits which were put in place to ensure the laws were followed. Some of the techniques that allowed the audits to be passed were to let the people against the policies have the day off, make all of the underage workers leave the premises, and to have back of labor and wage documents in order to have “proper” documents. If there was a surprise audit, the employees were to evacuate all under-age workers through back doors and have them clear the building, while the workers left inside were rehearsed to answer questions with specific answers, and the document books were swapped. It is very sad to me that we are here in America with strict labor laws and minimum wage, while little kids in China are slaving over hot machines to make things for little money with extreme hours just so that we can pay less for things.

Labor Laws

China is a large, over populated country that has very large factories that supply many things throughout the world. Recently, the child labor and over time, also including page wage, has been neglected to be taken care of and turned into a large problem. Children younger than allowed are working in factories, and not only that but they are force to work bad hours and sometimes even over time. The page wage is so low that the people need the hours to get enough money. Not only are children put into these conditions, all people are being forced to word horrible awkward or long hours and working 40+ weeks every week.
There were new laws set up last year enforcing rules on the child labor, the wage rate, and the overtime, but did it really help? Factories like Wal-Mart and Nike have factories in China where they have audits every so often that seem to be showing large improvements. Recent studies show that the factories have many times two sets of records, including hours, personal information of employees, and the pay rate they are receiving. Also, when an audit comes into the factory, there a rules set up to have under aged employees evacuate the back and a set of answers to questions possibly asked that the workers are taught to recite. So what now? How are companies supposed to crack down on the issues?

19

This week my nineteenth birthday was on Wednesday. With a nine A.M. quiz I was not exactly in the spirit that I usually was. It was weird not waking up to breakfast or faces in my room waking me up, but I was never really a big birthday person anyways. I woke up and get ready like every other morning, the only thing different was the weather, which turned beautiful. Somehow the weather had cleared up and not rained and also jumped at least thirty degrees and it was wonderful. I was able to walk to my first class in a tee-shirt and jeans, which is an entire three-sixty from my jackets and coats that I have been bundling up in.
My mom and dad both sent me messages on my birthday, and it was just weird not to see them or really even talk to them. Also, not to be in school or hanging out with my good friends was a big change for me. It honestly was like any other day, but I kind of liked it. I was able to just chill out and relax instead of a busy, fast paced day. I am going to go home tonight, so I’m sure my family and friends will make up for the difference in days then!

Laundry

I have done my own laundry since I was seven years old. I didn’t do it all, don’t get me wrong, but I knew how and would do laundry every once in a while. In my past almost twelve years of doing laundry, I’ve never realized how much I took advantage of it. Having my own washer and dryer was amazing! Also, not having to put in money every time was most definitely a perk. I typically would come out with more than I started by throwing in others pants with mine and coming out with their change. Coming to college has defiantly made me miss the little things in life that just made everything a little easier.

Brittany and I have looked into loopholes for this problem. We have friends that are older and have houses, so when we need our laundry done, we simply ask if they need any laundry done, throw theirs in with ours and use their washer and dryer. We don’t want to seem like we are using them, but they lived in the dorms their freshman year and they completely understand. This way, we can put in our laundry with no quarters and take our time. Because one hour isn’t even enough to do one load with the washer taking 31 minutes and the dryer taking an entire hour itself. Its working out for now, we will see how the rest of the year goes :)

Mauna Loa

In USA Today, an article was posted sometime in 2007 about the volcano Mauna Loa. The volcano was described as the world’s largest volcano that caused over $200 million in damages recently. The weight that the lava from the eruption, is causing several underwater earthquakes, with 6 in the past 130 years that rate around 6 or higher on the Richter scale, which is very high. The several little earthquakes that have been occurring, have in turn created surrounding volcanoes to erupt, causing even more damage.

Mike, Leidemann "Settling volcano results in unsettling jolts." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 14 Oct. 2009.

My mom came by on Wednesday, yesterday, to visit and take my roommate and I out to dinner. My roommate had practice so it ended up just being my mom, sister, brother and I, but it was still fun. I carried my baby brother, who is almost nine months old, around while they were in the building and I wish you would have seen the looks I was receiving. I needed a sign to put on him saying little brother I think. : ) then, when we went out I go the exact same looks. We went to pizza hut, where we got stuffed crust pizza my favorite, but the baby was dead asleep in the booth next to me. The man who waited on us asked if he was mine and all I could do was laugh. I am over eighteen years older than my younger brother, a little different I know. I can’t wait until he is older and I can spoil him to death, just like I do my little sisters who are eleven and seven. I love my family and no matter how funny we may look I love our age differences.

o my

I think that the most important question on the peer review would have been the one about the theses. I was struggling a lot on how to write those, because they set up the rest of my paper so I wanted them to be perfect. My peer reviews were not too helpful in anyway so I am having other people look over it, hopefully giving me more feedback to make my paper that much better. I want to do better on this paper than I did on my last, but I feel like this one is a lot more difficult.
On our memoir, it was a story about me and I had all of the details right in my head. There was no context, no book to relate it to, and no research to be done. This one is more of a stretch for me because it takes a lot more preparation in order to perfect it for the grade I want. I devoted multiple hours to write my rough draft, and I feel like I have another good amount of hours still to perfect it.

visitors

This weekend we, my roommate and I, have three guys coming to Muncie to visit us from our high school. I am really excited that they are driving all the way here from IU to spend time with us, because I have not seen anyone I went to school with, other than those who I run into here at Ball State. These boys are funny, funny kids and I’m currently awaiting their arrival! We have been talking throughout text messages and facebook all week about how excited we are for them to come and I feel like this week has taken forever. I have really been feeling a little homesick because of my house, so hopefully this will do the trick.
My dad has been fixing up our house in order to sell, so I currently feel homeless with all of my things in storage that are not in my tiny box, or dorm room some call it. I have never seen my house look so empty and clean, my dad told me he was going to move back in because it if finally the way he wants it thirteen years later. I was the only one living in my house for the last two years, so now that it is gone I am home sick, but have no real home to go to. I’m not too concerned about it though, my parents both have different houses, so ill just split myself between the two houses and have two homes : )

where to start

Am I the only one who is really worried about this paper we have to write? Even the title of the assignment worries me? An analysis and synthesis paper. I think my biggest struggle right now is trying to find a song that I will be able to relate to the book and write a 4-6 page paper on it. I have picked out about three different songs and each time I feel like I’m closer, but when I think and try to actually connect it and analyze it, I feel like I am doing it all wrong. The thesis, both of them, but I’m not sure how to write that plural, is also a thing I’m stumbling over, because I don’t know whether I should include the second part of the paper in my first thesis or vice versa, and I am also very confused on how I combine the two topics. Transitions are not my strong point, so I’m just a mess about this paper. I hope I am not the only one who is staring at a completely blank page as I wonder about where to start. Any suggestions?

Missed it Until Now

I have a 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse, but I left it at home when I came to school. I cannot remember more than a few days that I didn’t have at least one place to drive to in it over the last year, so I am lost with no means of transportation. My dad has been driving it and enjoying the sleek look of my all black sports car, in contrast to his beaten up, burgundy blazer, but to my advantage, I have to go to the dentist on Friday of this week and I asked my dad if he would be able to take me, and I found out that he is going to be in Maryland for almost a week. So today, Wednesday, he dropped off my car to me. I was really excited to drive it, because I have not been in my car for quite a while.
As I look into this weekend, I am becoming less and less excited because I have to drive two hours to my dentist appointment in Angola, then four hours to my mom’s house in Dayton, Ohio. I also have to drive home, which should be about an hour and a half. So, I feel like my excitement for driving is slowly dying.

"Standing Outside The Fire"


"We call them cool
Those hearts that have no scars to show
The ones that never do let go
And risk the tables being turned
We call them fools
Who have to dance within the flame
Who chance the sorrow and the shame
That always comes with getting burned
But you've got to be tough when consumed by desire
'Cause it's not enough just to stand outside the fire
We call them strong
Those who can face this world alone
Who seem to get by on their own
Those who will never take the fall
We call them weak
Who are unable to resist
The slightest chance love might exist
And for that forsake it all
They're so hell-bent on giving ,walking a wire
Convinced it's not living if you stand outside the fire
Standing outside the fire Standing outside the fire
Life is not tried, it is merely survived
If you're standing outside the fire
There's this love that is burning
Deep in my soul
Constantly yearning to get out of control
Wanting to fly higher and higher
I can't abide Standing outside the fire
Standing outside the fire
Standing outside the fire
Life is not tried, it is merely survived
If you're standing outside the fire
Standing outside the fire
Standing outside the fire
Life is not tried, it is merely survived
If you're standing outside the fire

floor meeting

I am on the seventh floor of woody and we just had a floor meeting with our brother floor, the third floor. My roommate and I were not going to go to the meeting because we both have a lot of homework, but we decided last minute that we should be social. We met the girls on our floor, then went up two flights of stairs to our ninth floor lounge, which we had never been to before since it is normally locked. The boys joined us up there and we prepared for our meeting. It was unlike the rest of the meetings, this one was about sex and was either going to be really awkward or really funny.
We started off by playing STD musical chairs which was entertaining. When someone got out, they got an STD, but they did get to pick which one they wanted. We finished up that game, and proceeded to the questions. This part was so funny because a bunch of college students were just sitting in a dark room answering sex questions. There was joking and laughing and I felt bad for our RAs because they seemed to be getting quite annoyed with us. I actually had a lot of fun and got to know the girls and guys in the room a little better.

Ishmael Beah

I have never had an opportunity to meet a famous author to a book I have read, so Tuesday evening was a real treat for me. It was very exciting for me to be able to see the man who wrote the book I previously read. It was a true story about his life, so it made an image in my head over everything I read happened to the man before me. Then, to top it all off, he had an amazing story he told and wanted to share even more of his life stories with us.
Ishmael was a wonderful speaker who began with his life before the book. He told us about how he got into rap and such and described a few events more in detail. He was very funny and I laughed a lot during his presentation. I didn’t personally go up and ask a question, but some of the questions asked were really interesting. One of them was: “What was the hardest part of writing the book?” His response was something about reliving all of the memories, but the worst was probably remembering his life before the war, and knowing that it was all gone. I’m really glad that I went to the speaking and I would love to go to another one if the chance arises.

Space

I have always wanted to space travel. I think that it would be amazing to fly in a space shuttle, view the world from a completely different point of view, and experience something that not many people actually get to experience. This is a very unrealistic goal of mine. I don’t plan on being an astronaut and I honestly don’t plan on going into space, I was just thinking about things that would be fun to be able to put on a resume or as a life accomplishment.
The moon and the planets are a mystery to me. I have heard and learned about them and I have seen pictures, but it is unreal to me that there is more out there. To be able to walk without gravity and to not have electricity or anything, really, is unbelievable. To not be able to breath is by far the scariest part, though. With that fish bowl on my head I think I would get claustrophobic. All in all, I would love to go to the moon or Mars and encounter something new and unique.

Home, Sweet, Home

When someone one refers home, I no longer know whether they are talking about their home they came from, or their dorm. I have not yet begun calling my dorm home, but by the end of the year I hope that will have changed. I actually was able to go home this weekend, and it was really nice to see everyone. My dad was home with his girlfriend and my grandma and grandpa were also there. The food was just what I needed to feel right at home again, and the company was a nice change from the almost-awkward new friendships I had been chatting with. I was so excited to go home and see what friends were left and just be in my home town with my car again, but by the end of the weekend, I missed my roommate and I missed being here at Ball State.

The car ride back was amazing. It was Brittany, Jimmy, and I, and we listened to music, people watched in other cars, and just laughed and laughed. We had all missed being around each other, and it was just an all around fun trip. I don’t believe that I will be going home again anytime soon, but I do know that my mom needs me to go visit her, so maybe it will be another good experience.

college

As of today, I have been living on campus at Ball State for two weeks. I have climbed more stairs than ever before in my life, I have walked more than the rest of my life, and I have gone through many other new experiences as well. If I had to sum up my thoughts on college in one word I would have to say exhausting. Between the seven flights of stairs I climb to my room at least ten times every day, and the far walk I have from Lafollette everywhere I go, to add all of the school work in on top of that is draining me of any energy I could potentially have. Then, move in two weeks ago was probably the worst experience of my life. My roommate, Brittany, and I brought everything we could possibly need. Which is great for when we need it, but moving it all into our small little dorm was probably very entertaining to our neighbors. I know it sounds horrible so far, but it really has been fun experiencing new things and also meeting so many new people.
Walking around campus has given me many opportunities to meet new people. Going to lunch with people you met or knew before is always a fun part of my day. I love having an open schedule so that I can go to lunch when I want and with who I want. Not being in school from eight am until three pm is a wonderful thing in my eyes. I have time to study between my classes and after, and I also have time for a part-time job whenever I decide I’m going to get one. I love meeting new people and a new school is always a good place to do that. My dad has always told me “college will be the best years of your life,” so I am tremendously excited about the years that lie ahead of me.

Dokken Bradley Burns

Summer going into my senior year, my mom, who lives in Dayton, Ohio, came into town to tell me that she was pregnant with a baby boy. This was going to be my fourth sibling and I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it. I had a sister, a step-sister, and a step brother, and now was expecting a half-brother. As time went on and she would send me texts about her doctor appointments, I grew more and more excited about this little bundle of joy. Even being almost five hours away, I felt like I got just as much say in this baby as my sisters and brother who lived with her got, if not more. It came down to name decisions, which cause a frenzy of names to be thrown around. My step-dad insisted on Dokken, a nineteen-eighty hair band him and my mom used to listen to. My step-brother, Nick, and I absolutely hated it so we were doing everything in our power to persuade then otherwise. Whether we were going to admit it or not, both of us knew things were going to be set the way they wanted it.
Dokken had a planned caesarean for February 12, 2009 scheduled. I called my mom on January 22, 2009 before I went to bed and we were talking about how she was doing and when I was going to come down to visit next. “I want to come down for the baby, but that weekend just doesn’t fit into my schedule,” I told her just to get a giggle. I was the manager at work, so it was difficult for me to get time off after the schedule was already up. “I am free this weekend so you should just have it now and get it over with.” She replied by stating “I am nowhere near ready for a baby yet,” and we shortly ended the phone conversation. I went to bed around eleven and I got a call around midnight that night. My mom was calling. She started laughing when I answered and told me her water broke and was on her way to the hospital, and of course it was entirely my fault! She was almost a month early.

"Back When" Tim McGraw

“Back when a hoe was a hoe

Coke was a coke

And crack's what you were doing

When you were cracking jokes

Back when a screw was a screw

The wind was all that blew

And when you said I'm down with that

Well it meant you had the flu

I miss back when”

Tim McGraw’s song “Back When” is a good example of how the 21st century is affecting the way things are done. He reflects on a few things that have been changed since he was younger. For example, when McGraw says “And crack's what you were doing when you were cracking jokes,” he is talking about how drugs and alcohol are strongly influencing the world and that the society looks at things differently than they used to. He also says “Sittin' round the table don't happen much anymore” which really is true, at least for my family. I can remember only a few times other than birthdays and holidays where my family has actually sat down and ate a meal together in the past few years. All the advances we are making may be changing some things for the worse, instead of the better.
Some changes in society are not bad. Advances in technology and modernization are making our generation better in many ways, such as we are more efficient and able to be connected in new ways. Also security advances are making our world safer in many ways. Some of the technology could also be why a family doesn’t sit down for a meal or a game as much anymore as well. Instead of continuing trends from the past, many people are moving along with technology and drifting from old habits.

About Me

In my almost nineteen years, I cannot say that I have too many interesting stories. So, this assignment may stretch the truth a little, but I will do my best. I was born in Ohio on October 21, 1990. My dad, Michael, and my mom, Aimee, are both a very big part of my life, even today. I have a sister named Megan, 11-years-old, who lives with my mom and step-dad, Jerry. I also recently got a step-sister, Alyssa who is 7, a step-brother, Nicholas who is 18, and my newest half-brother, Dokken who is 7 months. I lived with my parents in Ohio for only a year before we moved to my lake house near LaGrange, Indiana. After two years we moved to South Bend where I have lived until recently. I lived with my grandma, who I nicknamed Money, for the last two years because both of my parents left town and I wanted to graduate from Penn High School. It was quite a change at first but as time went on, I got used to it.
When I’m not working my life away or sitting in a bunch of classes, I like to go out with friends, work out at the gym, and I love being in the sun. I worked at Orange Julius for three years as a manager, and I also worked at sonic for a little over a year as a crew leader/ car hop. The exciting part was that I did get to wear roller skates while I was at sonic. I do not have a job here yet but I am looking. I’m not currently doing any sports but who knows what will happen this year. Before I start any sports, I want to get keyed into a major, because I don’t want to say I’m undecided all year. I’m really excited to start off this year, let’s just hope it ends that way also!