Jindrj's Blog

Fargo

jindrj — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:04:15 +0000

This movie shows Minnesotans in manner that in both negative and positive. On the negative end it makes us look like very simple people who repeat the same sayings over and over again. I personally never say “o ya” or “ya betcha” but people up north might. The movie made the characters from Minnesota look kind of stupid. Especially in the case of the male Brainderd police officer. He couldn’t solve a crime if his life depended on it. On the positive side the movie showed how we are caring people and how family means alot to us. The character of Margie showed how even though we may talk funny to outsiders we know what is most important to us and we are genuinly good people, for the most part.

The movie fits into both the comedy and action/thriller genre. The whole plot is comical, but the way the events turn out would fit more with an action, shoot em up type thriller movie.

The most interesting scene was when the two criminals killed the state trooper on the highway. I thought it was interesting because the officer was caught totally off guard. I am studying law enforcement and I plan to be a cop someday, and I even know that the cop was not approaching that traffic stop correctly. This scene fits in with the overall light that Minnesotans are cast into, that of being simple and quite thick at times.

Creative Writing

jindrj — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:16:15 +0000

I have written a few short stories in the past. This is about the extent of my creative writing experience. In middle school and high school I wrote some poems also.

I think that personal essay is writing a paper about something that is meaningful to you. I think that the topic has to be something that you care about. I have no idea if I am on the right track here because I have not written one before.

Brett Favre

jindrj — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:23:23 +0000

Brett Favre is my hero today. Last night he lead my favorite team to a big win over their division rivals the Packers. He played for them for 16 years, so their was alot of emotions riding on the game. It was a close game, but I knew that the Viking would win in the end. Brett threw 3 touchdown passes and the Vikings defense really stepped up and shut down the Packer offense. Vikings defensive end Jared Allen, my favorite player in the league, finished the game with 4.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and a safety. The safety was what the sealed the game for Minnesota, because we got the ball back and got 2 points.

Informative Paper Reflection

jindrj — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:19:45 +0000

The easiest part of the informative paper was gathering research. I have always been able to find many sources on topics that I research and usually I can get some credible sources and some less credible ones. For this paper, I spent some time in the library finding print sources and the librarians helped me to find the right books for my topic. The hardest part of the paper was keeping all this information I found organized. I found that throughout the course of writing, my subtopics became scattered and my paper didn’t have the organization that I knew it could. I had to cut and paste some parargraphs and move them around, but in the end I feel that the paper is organized.

I thought that it was fun to just sit down and type when working on the rough draft. When I could put down anything and just keep typing I found that the pages added up quickly. I was grateful for this because I was somewhat concerned about reaching the ten page length requirement. I thought that revising was alot less fun. When I was cutting words and paragraphs out of my paper I was worried that I would lose a valid point, but I knew that some of it had to go.

Through this paper, I learned how to properly cite my sources in a bibliography and how to do in text citations. I had used these before but I must have been doing it wrong.

Career Writing

jindrj — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:05:52 +0000

I am going into law enforcement so writing will be a big part of my job when I’m not on the streets. I will need to write detailed reports of what happened during arrests. These reports will be important because they will be used in court.

I feel that I am prepared. I can write with the basic skills required for my field.

Revision

jindrj — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:06:33 +0000

Revision is going through something that you have written and checking it for gramatical and punctual errors. It is also a time for changing things around and making the general flow of the piece better. Once you have checked for spelling errors and punctuation errors you can go back through the whole paper and make sure nothing was left out and that you have tied up all the loose ends.

I have been taught many strategies for revision. The first is going through the work by paragraph, checking for common mistakes and then reading through the whole piece to determine if it flows well. Another strategy is peer revision. Having a classmate or instructor revise your work can be helpful because they might notice something that you missed.

Whats worked best for me is to go through the paper on my own and revise it as well as I can and then giving it to a peer to get a second input on it.

Credibility Activity

jindrj — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 23:33:04 +0000

Anabolic Steroids in Sport and Exercise

Charles E. Yesalis

This source is a internet print book preview. It is a 470 page book so it appears to be credible at first glance. The author has a bachelor and a master of public health degree from the University of Michigan. He recieved his doctoral degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. In the back of the book he cited many sources and his information seems to agree with my other research. The book has many purposes, but it’s main goal is to inform about the effects of anabolic steroids in sports.

3 Topic Ideas

jindrj — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:38:32 +0000

The use of steriods is rampant in our sports culture today and I feel that it is damaging not only the integrity of the game but also the youth. Steriods come in different categories. The most common is the anabolic steriod. This is the steriods used in professional and collegiate sports. Anabolics are a synthesized version of testosterone, a hormone produced by the male body. Using these drugs is dangerous to ones health and the risks highly outweigh the benefits.

Illegal immigration is a long standing problem in the United States. Many people don’t see the threat in this, but it damages our economy and takes jobs out of the hands of hard working Americans. Outlawing illegal immigration and cracking down harder would not only save jobs but also save lives. Another benefit is that the amount of drugs that cross the border into our country would be greatly reduced.

Stem cell research is a very controversial topic in the United States, among other countries. Stem cells are cells that can grow into many different kinds of bodily materials and it is for this reason that they are used in many experiments. Scientists believe that the potential for stem cell research is huge and that many diseases could be cured through the research.

test link for 101

jindrj — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:25:52 +0000

This is a test link for my comp 101 class

Marijuana Response

jindrj — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:07:13 +0000

The NPR story contains some surprising information about medical marijuana sales in California. I personally don’t believe that marijuana should be used for medical purposes because it will find a way into the hands of people without true illness. The article focused on the ready availability of marijuana and the pros and cons of its sale. The interviews with people in the story really brought the article together for me especially the woman who really had all the serious illnesses. I can see pot being used in rare cases such as this woman’s. What was surprising to me was that people can easily find a doctor to write them a sham recommendation for the herb.

The NORML rebuttal took apart the NPR story paragraph by paragraph and refuted their arguments. They focused on the interview with the DEA agent and analyzed most of his sentences. When they broke down the arguments one by one the relevance of their points really began to show. The article was convincing because they posted parts of the NPR story verbatim and it helped to see the differences in the arguments.

I would like to ask the author of the NPR story if they were reporting honestly or if there was some kind of bias behind the issue. The article seemed as if it was going to be strictly facts, but there were a lot of assumptions and they guided the reader toward their belief. I would also ask them if all of their facts were correct, because the NORML story poked some holes in them.

The author of the NORML story was obviously very pro- marijuana. I would ask him if he thought that there were any other healthier pain remedies for people with serious illnesses. I would also ask him if he had read about the negatives of marijuana. I heard about a statistic that marijuana is found in the system of many people who are involved in traffic accidents. This would be something that I would question the author about.