Blog # 6

The idea of styrofoam completely annoys me. As a resident of FGCU'S Biscayne Hall, I regularly eat at SoVi, the cafeteria that is made available to students who live in the dorms. One night when I decided I would take my food to go, I noticed that this facility uses styrofoam containers for to go boxes. I was taken aback because this university is known as a "green" school and is not wasteful with its resources. Next, I decided I would do some research on styrofoam and its effect on the environment. I found out that styrofoam cups do not dissolve in the Earth eventually like other materials do. It just sits there, taking up space and therefore is negligent to the environment. You can recycle styrofoam, like you can paper, but it is difficult, takes a long time, and it is also hard to find someone who will actually do it. Styrofoam also lasts virtually forever, or at least much, much longer than we'll live to be. Paper, on the other hand, is a lot easier to recycle and it will dissolve faster. This useless material also contains chlorofluorocarbons, which are very bad for the environment. All in all, I think that our university should reconsider using styrofoam as a means of containers and find a material that is better for the environment. It’s inevitable that we will use packaged items and that will create some waste. But, we can do our part to change the amount of packaging and waste we put out.

Blog #4

This tutorial was very helpful for me, not only did I learn the fundamentals of researching, but I also learned a lot about the university's library. One of the most important tools I learned from this tutorial was how to search and locate books, journals, and media using the library catalog. This is helpful to me because I no longer have to look for the books in the library, I can just search if they have it and go. Prior to this tutorial, I knew little about the FGCU library and the great services it provides. The library services also provides recommended databases and resources by subject that make it easier to find accurate information. I feel this tutorial helped me immensely and I know now the basics of performing research. I did not know how to site my information correctly in MLA format but this tutorial helped me how to cite information correctly. I also did not know how locate course reserves. Some things that I already knew from this tutorial was how to not plagiarize, what search engines to use, and how to use databases.

Blog#5

A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases produced to directly and indirectly support human activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide. When you drive a car, the engine burns fuel which creates a certain amount of CO2, depending on its fuel consumption and the driving distance. When you buy food and goods, the production of the food and goods emits some quantities of CO2. Considering all of these common factors in our daily lives, we need to be more aware of how our choices will affect the earth. The carbon footprint is a very powerful tool to understand the impact of personal behavior on global warming. I was shocked to see that I emit 14 tons of CO2 just from these activities. I think that if you personally want to contribute to stop global warming, the calculation and constant monitoring of your personal carbon footprint is essential. One area where I will reduce my carbon footprint is in transportation. I will walk or bike to class instead of driving my car. I will also try and carpool more often with my friends. I hope these changes in my daily routine will make an impact on this earth for the better.

Blog #3

The start of the Fall season cast an orange haze above the horizon, lighting up the sky as if lit by fire, yet the haze was so crisp and clear. The sun, like a brilliant orange fireball in the distance was partially covered by the hanging clouds, which were all splashed with the random colors of hot pinks, reds and even hints of purples and blues. The sun is so large today, I felt like I could almost touch it. It seemed to look at me with a dull glare, knowing that it's beauty and the planet's dependence on it for survival made up for it. The sun which had it's time to shine for the time it was given, seemed to whipser "Farewell" to the world as it sunk lower and lower in a lazy manner; almost as if it never wanted to leave. A cool breeze passed, and I let the wind tussle my hair as it was almost like a human touch. I close my eyes and I begin to think about my day. Then, by the time I opened my eyes again, the sun was gone, leaving behind a sea of dark, lonely clouds in a twilight sky. 

Blog #2

The letter to my best friend, Katy, was easier to compose. This letter was intended to be read by my friend, therefore I used words and phrases that I definitely would not use if I was writing to the schools editor. When your addressing someone such as your friend, you feel more comfortable around them so usually the letter is informal. However, the letter to the schools editor was more formal because I was addressing a person with authority. The letter to my friend was not planned at all, whatever just came to my head I would write down. When speaking to my friends, I do not really need to plan what I'm going to say, instead I just say it. I included in this letter that I was not a fan of the rainy weather and missed going to the beach in the hot Miami sun, that I have made many friends from around the world, and finally that the food here is great. :) For the letter to the editor, I carefully planned out what I was going to write because I did want to impress the editor. I brainstormed before class the problems I would like to see changed at Florida Gulf Coast University and I also included some positive aspects too. In this letter, I made sure to include suggestions such as to extend the hours of operation at the bookstore during the first week of school because the line was too long, and to have a larger variety of fast food restaurants on campus. On a positive note, I included that I love the student involvement at this school and the Greek life on campus is exceptional. Some errors I corrected while writing the second letter was the use of contraction words and I tried to improve my writing style by using bigger words.

Introduction

My name is Julia Nolan and I am from Miami, Florida. Most of you probably thought you were seeing double on the first day of class, but that was my identical twin sister, Liz. I was born 2 days before Christmas, and unfortunately you do not get double the presents! Ive attended public school my entire life until there came high school. My parents decided to send Liz and I to a private catholic school. I was a bit apprehensive about having a nun as my teacher, but eventually I came to like it. In high school I was involved in many sports including track & field, cheer leading, and swimming. Because I was raised in Miami, I love going to the beach. I live only 10 minutes away from South Beach so its basically like my second home. One of my favorite things to do is bake desserts.  I'll make anything from a devils food cake to peanut butter cookies. In my spare time I model for the agency Wilhemina models. It took up a lot of my time because my sister and I were called to attend castings daily. In college I plan on studying communications. Ever since I was a little girl I've dreamed about being a news anchor on CNN. I love the fast pace of the broadcasting industry and the fact that you're learning something new everyday. In the future I hope to be living in New York City. I have visited this city many times and I have fallen in love. I like the diversity of people that live there and also the food is amazing! I cant wait to get to know all of you better throughout the semester :)