SWA #23

Title: To Drill or Not to Drill:   The Debate on Oil and Gas Development in Alaska and how it can be Resolved


Thesis:  After conducting research of the debate on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), I believe that the solution to the debate is to begin construction on the pipeline and allow drilling in the area proposed.


I.   The area that will be affected by the drilling is not as large, nor as environmentally diverse as environmentalists make it out to be.
       A. Environmentalists claim that this specific area is beautiful
              1.    Greenpeace USA says that “America's Serengeti” would become “a wasteland 
     of roads, pipelines, drilling platforms and oil spills,” further 
     endangering wildlife that “is already gravely threatened by global 
     warming.”  
              2.   Traversed by a dozen rivers and framed by jagged peaks, this spectacular 
     wilderness is a vital birthing ground for polar bears, grizzlies, Arctic 
     wolves, caribou and the endangered shaggy musk ox, a mammoth-like survivor 
     of the last Ice Age.
              3.   The Natural Resources Defense Council exhorts legislators not to “trash an 
     American treasure” by signing legislation that would permit drilling in 
     ANWR. 
       B.   The area that will be affected is not the same area that they portray and advertise nor does it take up the area environmentalists claim it will.
              1.   ANWR's Area 1002 is a barren, frozen wasteland 
     for much of the year
              2.   The bill requires the Interior Department to put up at least 200,000 acres for lease and no 
     less than another 200,000 if there's interest by industry, totally roughly 
     3 percent of the refuge.
              3.    eight-month winter, temperatures drop as 
     low as 70 degrees below zero. The region is shrouded in near-total darkness 
     for five months, and for 56 days there is no sunlight at all.
              4.   No trees live 
     in this inhospitable region, and wildlife is present for only about six 
     weeks each year. 


II.   It is an economically smart move to drill within the United States
       A.   The amount of oil is substantial enough to help bring the cost of oil and gas down.
             1.   ANWR could produce more than 150 billion cubic feet of 
     natural gas per year, which is about the volume of gas consumed by the 
     state of South Carolina in 2000."
              2.   Potentially holds billions of barrels of recoverable oil and 
     trillions of cubic feet of recoverable gas 


III.   A compromise can be reached through an agreement for a certain percentage of the revenue generated by the drilling to go towards projects of environmentalists' and Democrats' choosing.
       A.    One argument is that a 
     percentage of the revenue that comes from drilling can go towards projects 
     that Dems decide, such as renewable energy development.
       B.   Will allow drilling to commence in Alaska but also help research and development on renewable sources of energy, such as wind, solar, and hydroelectricity, to progress.

SWA #22

a)   A problem the United States faces today is the decision of whether or not drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) would be more beneficial than detrimental to the overall well-being of our country in relation to the environment, economy, and foreign affairs.  The debate has gone on for years, with different congresses making different decisions as power has shifted from party to party.  Environmentalists make the claim that drilling in ANWR will destroy the landscape and habitat of many wild animals, while economists and the local residents of ANWR state that the pipeline will bring jobs and revenue to local governments as well as the national government.

b)   After conducting research of the debate on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and reading claims by economists, local residents, and environmentalists, it is clear that drilling in Alaska will greatly benefit the United States both economically and in foreign affairs.

SWA #21

Student Essay #3:

The issue is how to solve deforestation and the author speaks in depth of the importance of this topic throughout his/her paper.  They also make the four distinct perspectives very clear in their thesis: local and indigenous people, businesses, medical researchers, and environmentalists.  The thesis is very well written, concise, and easy for the reader to understand. Their introduction and conclusion did a great job of leading into and out of the essay.  The introduction grabs the reader's attention and introduces the topic at the same time, making it very interesting and informative at the same time.  The conclusion answered the "so what?" question and also makes a good lead in to the next essay.  I would say the essay was effective because it brought into light four different perspectives on one problem and made those perspectives easy to understand.  It is to the point so it keeps the reader's attention and has good information in it so the reader is still learning and gaining knowledge on the topic.  It is a well-written essay and it is hard to make improvements on the author's writing.

SWA #20

Thesis:  A major debate that has been argued, discussed, and reconsidered multiple times over many years is the development of oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.  The topic has been visited by most of the mainstream media and big name politicians, and is currently being deliberated by Congress.  There are supporting and objecting opinions across the board on this topic, with perspectives ranging from the residents who will be most directly affected, to oil and gas companies who will profit from the drilling.  There is opposition from environmentalists who do not want to see the landscape contaminated by pipelines and support from those who believe drilling will help decrease our dependence on foreign companies.

Issue:  This debate has been ongoing for years over whether the United States should participate in oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in the state of Alaska.  ANWR covers 19 million acres (approximately the size of the state of South Carolina), but only the coastal plain on the northern edge of ANWR, which is about 1.5 million acres, will be affected by drilling.  There are potentially billions of barrels of recoverable oil and trillions of cubic feet of recoverable gas.  In fact, ANWR “could produce more than 150 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year, which is about the volume of gas consumed by the state of South Carolina in 2000.”

Perspectives:

• Alaskan Residents:  Many of the residents that live near ANWR support oil and gas development in the coastal plain.  They believe that it will benefit their local communities through providing a local tax base, jobs and funding for schools, water, and sewage systems, and give local governments a bigger voice in permitting and environmental regulation.

• Oil Companies:  BP and Conoco, specifically, support drilling in ANWR for the profits but they also have proposals and ideas of how to drill without impacting the environment too much.

• Environmentalists:  The main cause of concern for environmentalists is the impact that drilling will have on the environment.  They do not want it to ruin the pristine location of ANWR or the beauty of the surrounding landscape.  Another major concern is the impact on the natural wildlife, such as caribou, that oil and gas drilling will have.

• Economists:  A major reason in support of drilling in ANWR is the decreased dependence on foreign oil companies.  This move, in their opinion, would not only help economically in terms of being able to have a bigger say in gas prices, but also in foreign affairs, like the “necessity” of becoming involved in overseas conflicts due to the United States’ need for large amounts of oil.

• My opinion:  I believe that the United States should begin oil and gas development in ANWR.  The coastal plain which will be affected by this project is frozen tundra, with little to no wildlife and very little vegetation.  The only animal life that would be affected by the pipelines and drilling would the caribou that travel through, and they go through that area for only weeks.  I also believe that drilling in our own country will help to lower gas prices and decrease our foreign dependency.

Conclusion:  It is very important for people to stay informed and aware of the issues that Congress is deliberating and, should any citizen feel the need, to contact their representatives to inform them of where they stand on those issues.  The decision that Congress makes about drilling in ANWR will have a lasting impact on Americans’ daily lives, no matter what the final decision is.  It will affect oil and gas prices and could possibly have a huge influence on our country’s foreign policies.  Therefore, it is necessary to inform the Congressmen and Congresswomen of this nation where its citizens’ stand on this issue.

SWA

N/A. "Arctic Wildlife Refuge: Why Trash an American Treasure for a Tiny 
     Percentage of Our Oil Needs?" NRDC: Natural Resources Defense Council. 
     NRDC, 19 Dec. 2011. Web. 14 Mar. 2012. <http://www.nrdc.org/land/ 
     wilderness/arctic.asp>. ~Oil from the refuge would hardly make a dent in 
     our dependence on foreign imports -- leaving our economy and way of life 
     just as exposed to wild swings in worldwide oil prices and supply as it is 
     today.  
      
     ~ Traversed by a dozen rivers and framed by jagged peaks, this spectacular 
     wilderness is a vital birthing ground for polar bears, grizzlies, Arctic 
     wolves, caribou and the endangered shaggy musk ox, a mammoth-like survivor 
     of the last Ice Age.  




- - -. "Opposition to Drilling for Oil & Gas (ANWR, Etc.)." 
     DiscoverTheNetworks.Org: A Guide to the Political Left. 
     DiscoverTheNetworks.Org, 2012. Web. 14 Mar. 2012. 
     <http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/viewSubCategory.asp?id=165>. 
     ~Greenpeace USA says that “America's Serengeti” would become “a wasteland 
     of roads, pipelines, drilling platforms and oil spills,” further 
     endangering wildlife that “is already gravely threatened by global 
     warming.”  
      
     ~The Natural Resources Defense Council exhorts legislators not to “trash an 
     American treasure” by signing legislation that would permit drilling in 
     ANWR. 
      
     ~Former President Jimmy Carter adds, “The simple fact is, drilling is 
     inherently incompatible with wilderness. The roar alone of road building, 
     trucks, drilling, and generators would pollute the wild music of the 
     Arctic, and be as out of place there as it would be in the heart of 
     Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon." 
      
     ~In reality, ANWR's Area 1002 is a barren, frozen wasteland 
     for much of the year. During its eight-month winter, temperatures drop as 
     low as 70 degrees below zero. The region is shrouded in near-total darkness 
     for five months, and for 56 days there is no sunlight at all. No trees live 
     in this inhospitable region, and wildlife is present for only about six 
     weeks each year. 
      
     ~Opponents of drilling warn that local caribou populations would 
     suffer mass death as a result of any industrial intrusion by man. 

3/12/12

1. As Kang put it, baseball puts a "false shine on a rotten apple," and his whole point of the article is claiming that baseball glosses over racism and division, claiming that everyone is equal and has equal opportunities and is accepted.  However, underneath that facade, racism and division is still rampant within baseball and other sports.
2. Kang speaks of baseball as the American Sport by alluding to the fact that people in the US feel like they are a part of a group and included in something patriotic when speaking about, watching, and understanding baseball.  His examples throughout the article show that he felt an inclusiveness with his community and friends when speaking about baseball.

SWA #17

"Conoco and BP Propose Alaska Gas Pipeline Project." ANWR.org. Arctic Power,
     2012. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. <http://www.anwr.org/Headlines/
     Conoco-and-BP-propose-Alaska-Gas-Pipeline-Project.php>. " The
     pipeline will have a capacity of 4 billion cubic feet of gas per day and
     equal a rough equivalent of 6-8% of US daily consumption."
     
     "The gas pipeline proposed will take 10 years to
     build and cost $30 billion dollars making it the largest construction
     project in North America ever."
     
     "he two oil majors stated that they were open to
     partnerships with 3rd parties in completion of the project, possibly
     TransCanada."


"Natural Gas Facts: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)." Netl.gov. National
     Energy Technology Laboratory, N/A. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.
     <http://www.netl.doe.gov/publications/factsheets/policy/Policy006.pdf>.
     ~19 million acres
     
     ~Coastal Plain Area is on northern edge of ANWR and consists of 1.5
     million acres
     
     ~Potentially holds billions of barrels of recoverable oil and
     trillions of cubic feet of recoverable gas
     
     ~ANWR is about the size of SC
     
     ~"In 1980, Public Law 96-487, Alaska National Interest Lands
     Conservation Act
     (ANILCA), was passed by Congress to provide for the designation and
     conservation of certain public lands in the State of Alaska. ANILCA set
     aside more than 100 million acres in Alaska as national parks, preserves,
     wildlife refuges, and wilderness areas. In section 1002 of this act,
     Congress specifically left open the question of future management of the
     1.5-million-acre Coastal Plain of ANWR (“1002 area”) because of its
     potentially enormous oil and gas resources, and its important environmental
     and ecological value. The Act gives Congress the authority to enact
     legislation to allow oil and gas development in the area."
     
     ~"ANWR could produce more than 150 billion cubic feet of
     natural gas per year, which is about the volume of gas consumed by the
     state of South Carolina in 2000."

SWA #16

N/A. "Residents of ANWR Support." ANWR.org. N.p., 2012. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. 
     <http://www.anwr.org/People/Residents-of-ANWR-Support.php>. Residents 
     of ANWR Support Drilling: 
      
     Provides tax base for local drilling 
     Provided jobs and funding for schools, water, and sewage 
     systems 
     Local governments have voice in permitting and environmental 
     regulation 
     
Demer, Lisa, and Richard Mauer. "U.S. House OKs Opening ANWR to Oil Drilling." 
     The Miami Herald. The Miami Herald, 17 Feb. 2012. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. 
     <http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/17/2646370/ 
     us-house-oks-opening-anwr-to-oil.html>. "Backers of drilling stress 
     that only a portion of the refuge would be developed -- the bill requires 
     the Interior Department to put up at least 200,000 acres for lease and no 
     less than another 200,000 if there's interest by industry, totally roughly 
     3 percent of the refuge. And some development could be done with extended 
     horizontal drilling from state lands, a proposal in a different bill 
     sponsored by Murkowski and co-sponsored by Begich." 
      
     "The latest effort emerged as a House energy strategy 
     filled with Republican talking points: cheaper energy, more revenue. 
     Democrats countered with: unbridled development, environmental 
     risks." 
      
     There are multiple debates going on, one of which is to 
     convince Dems that drilling in ANWR is a good idea. One argument is that a 
     percentage of the revenue that comes from drilling can go towards projects 
     that Dems decide, such as renewable energy development.

SWA #15

ANWR Oil and Gas Development:
I did research on Google Scholars and this is a very debated topic and I think would be a great topic to look into.  There are multiple articles and points of view on drilling in ANWR.  Some of the different perspectives are from environmentalists to the people living in Alaska and near the area in question to oil companies.  I am leaning more towards researching this topic over my other two topics.  There is a good number of articles to read and use in my research but they are not so numerous as to make it difficult to decide where to start.

Voter ID Laws:
There are not many articles to be found on voter identification laws that I could find and there really isn't much information on this topic.  It was difficult to find multiple perspectives on this and I know that this will not be my topic for my essay.

Gun Control Laws:
This is such a controversial topic that I found almost too many articles on it.  It would be difficult to narrow down my search to a specific aspect of this issue, simply because all of the aspects of gun control merge together somehow and you really can't write about one part without writing about other parts.  In terms of research, there are so many articles to sort through that it would be too time consuming to complete before the deadline.  However, I would choose this topic over the voter ID laws.

SWA #12

a.)   Waters, Alice. "A Healthy Constitution." The Nation, 21 Sept. 2009.

Waters believes that schools should not only have school lunch reform but also include food education throughout the curriculum.  She claims that having food edu. will teach students "values that are central to democracy" and that organizations such as the Chez Panisse Foundation will help to teach students those values.

b.)   Walters claims that food can be used to teach democratic values such as responsibility, sharing, and stewardship.  Responsibility through growing and preparing the food and helping to set the table and cleaning up afterwards.  Sharing through helping provide for everyone and learning how to work together to provide meals.  Through food education, they also learn that "cooperation with one another is necessary to nurture the community."  Walters also claims that healthy food leads to better performance in classrooms.  She uses Central Alternative High School in Appleton, WI as an example of how, when student are given locally grown and fresh food, they did better in class and had less disciplinary issues.  I think if Waters had included some statistics to back up her claim it would have made a stronger argument.

SWA #13

Issue #1:

a.)   Gun Control Laws

b.)   Some believe that there should be extremely strict regulations on gun ownership and the use of firearms while others believe that the current regulations are too strict as they are.  The constitutionality of these laws have been debated for years.

c.)   I believe that many states, such as Illinois, have laws that are too strict towards gun ownership.  Some regulations are necessary but many people have gone overboard with those restrictions.

d.)   Statistics on the effectiveness of gun control laws (in the US and in other countries), reasons for different viewpoints on this topic

Issue #2:

a.)   Many states have voter identification laws that require voters to provide a photo ID at the polls.
b.)   Supporters claim that it prevents fraud while opponents claim that the "poor, minorities, and seniors" are less likely to have government issued ID's ( http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=174743 ).
c.)   I think voters should be required to present a photo ID at voting booths.
d.)   Statistics on voter fraud, stats on government issued ID's (who has them, break down into race, social class, etc.)

Issue #3:
a.)   Should the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) be open to oil and gas development?
b.)   Supporters claim that only a very small portion of ANWR will be affected by the drilling and the section that will be affected is basically an arctic tundra.  Opposition claims that the drilling will greatly affect the wildlife and ecosystem in the area.
c.)  I support oil and gas development in ANWR.
d.)   Research how much of ANWR will be affected, what wildlife will be affected, how much oil is contained in the reserves.

SWA #11

The use of nostalgia is a major factor throughout the article in making the author seem trustworthy to the audience.  He speaks of the "geek culture" of the 1980's, bringing up games such as Dungeons & Dragons, books written by Stephen King, and even movies or TV shows like Monty Python.  He tells of the cliques created by these things, the cliques that received the title of "nerd" or "geek" but claims that those were "thin descriptors."  Oswalt incorporates many movies, games, and books in order to speak to those people who enjoyed the same things, bring about a feeling of happiness in remembrance of those times, and to pull the reader into a trust that can only be forged through the knowledge that both have gone through similar experiences.  It can also cause a feeling of trust because, although he states he had no shortage of friends, some readers could have only gotten through their adolescent years by immersing themselves in the "geek culture."  However, there can also be a downside to his reminiscing of the past: while he pulls some readers into a feeling of trust through happiness of past times, he can also push some away because those times might have caused unhappiness for them.  Some might look back on those times with contempt and cause them to stop reading.

SWA #10

Title: Rhetorical Analysis of Print Articles
Thesis: In Patton Oswalt's "Wake Up, Geek Culture. Time to Die," the use of humor and nostalgia bring readers to believe that in order to allow pop culture's continued existence, we much first let it almost "die."

I.   Nostalgia is a major factor in the author's argument.
   A.   Goes back to "geek culture" from the 1980's to appeal to his audience
      1.   brings up old movies and games (Dungeons & Dragons, Monty Python, Star Wars, etc.)
   B.   Nostalgia concerning childhood memories
      1.   speaks of the social life of the "nerd"
      2.   brings back memories of grade- and high-school times
II.  Humor also plays a big part
   A.   Self deprecating humor
      1.   "waist deep in the hot honey of adolescence"
      2.   "I was never going to play sports, and girls were an uncrackable code"
   B.   Humor about pop culture
      1.   "The LOTR used to be our and only ours simply because of the sheer goddamn thickness of the books"

Conclusion:  Through the use of nostalgia of childhood, humor, and the emotional ties to losing the specialness of loving something that others do not help Patton Oswalt make his case in "Wake Up, Geek Culture. Time to Die."

SWA #9

http://www.naturalnews.com/029854_factory_food_health.html

Central Claim: America needs to revert back to small-scale farms instead of factory farms in order to make our food healthier and preventing more damage to the environment.

Reasons: The quality of the food produced has been reduced greatly, there have been sky rocketing numbers of contamination outbreaks and food recalls due to these outbreaks, and new diseases appearing.  There is also contamination of water sources near factory farms and the food produced by small farms is much healthier for humans than food grown at factory farms.

Values:  Healthy food for humans in America and less impact on the environment.

Unstated Assumption: Factory farms are bad for the people of America.

SWA #8

1. Scully builds his case that animal cruelty in factory farming should be a conservative cause on the lack of morals and honor in the whole system.  He claims that there is "bad faith, moral sloth, and endless excuse making" rampant in factory farming and that these things go directly against what conservatives claim they believe in (360).  Scully also mentions how conservatives are supposed to rely heavily on tradition and he makes the statement that there are "no traditions, no codes of honor, no little decencies to spare for a fellow creature" in factory farming (360).  Scully plays on the emotions and morals of conservatives to make them realize that there is no morality to the cruelty that animals face in factory farms.

    3.  Scully believes that humans are superior to animals, as he states that "animals themselves are secondary and man must come first" (362).  However, it is because of this that he feels people should treat animals with respect.  He makes the claim that "reason and morality must always guide us in how we treat [animals]," and condemns companies that use factory farming as cruel (362).  Scully believes that since humans are superior, we must act like we are, meaning our morals should guide us away from cruelty and towards respect, even to lesser creatures.


Blackboard Question:  Scully does, in fact, bring animal activists' opinion into the article and agrees with them, to a certain point.  He mentions PETA and their belief in human compassion towards animals.  He quotes Jonah Goldberg saying that "'what the PETA crowd doesn't understand, or what it deliberately confuses, is that human compassion towards animals in an obligation of humans, not an entitlement for animals," (355).  Scully includes PETA's opinion in order to state that while he does believe that human compassion is necessary, he believes it for different reasons than PETA.  However, this inclusion helps him seem unbiased and willing to listen to the other opinions on the topic of animal cruelty and factory farming.

Peer Review #1

• Overuse of the word "advertisement"
• Not enough analysis on stereotypes shown through ads
• Weak conclusion
• Slightly redundant

SWA #4

1.  This is a clothing ad in the December 2011/January 2012 edition of Pointe: Ballet at its Best. 
2. The audience of this publication is mainly women ballet dancers.

• plain black background
• one dancer/model in an all white outfit
• the dancer is the only image in the frame and she is well let with white lights from all sides.
• plain white text
• very minimal amount of text
• after the dancer, the main eye catching object is the brand name and logo at the bottom of the page

• plain white and gray background
• two dancers/models in matching black outfits
• emphasis on "down" in phrase at top of page
• pictures of hair products along bottom corners of the page
• white circles next to the dancers coming from the top of the page

4.    I chose these because they are both geared towards ballet dancers.  The most striking difference is the use of black and white in the ads.  The first ad has a completely black background with the ballerina in all white and the second picture has a completely white background with the ballerinas in all black.  This creates a huge contrast between the two ads.  The stereotypes these ads are grounded in are ballerinas always having to worry about hair or shoes being perfect and these are geared towards women because it is mainly women who have to worry about keeping their hair back while they are dancing and only women use pointe shoes while dancing.  Also, they appeal to women with the dresses used in the pictures.

SWA #3

The U.S. Prison System

            One of the issues that future generations will condemn our current society for is the prison system in use in the United States.  The claims behind this are that about one percent of the adult population is incarcerated and that the U.S. has 25 percent of the world’s prisoners.  However, we only have about four percent of the world’s total population.  To add to the argument, many people equate the conditions within prisons to torture, saying the environment is abusive.  Many prisoners have even reported sexual abuse and rape while they were incarcerated.  The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reported that 4.5 percent of prisoners in state or federal prisons claimed they were sexually victimized within the past year, which means that this affected close to 70,000 inmates.  Many of these incidents are results of the guards not following procedures or taking action when notified of rape within the prison.

            This article says that future generations will look back on our prisons today with contempt because of the treatment of prisoners, especially first offenders or non-violent criminals.  It says that our prisons should and will be reformed because of the conditions that are reported in them. 

By making this claim, the article is bringing the terrible situations in prisons out into the public so that people know and understand what happens.  With this information, the article attempts to get more people’s attention and interest and hopefully spur action against the horrible treatment of prisoners.  This article also points out the huge population of prisoners in the United States of America.  It claims that the U.S. has a higher percentage of inmates than China does and that we have almost a quarter of the total world’s prison population.  By stating this, the article will also make citizens understand truly how many people are incarcerated and that many of them are being held for non-violent crimes or drug-related convictions.