This is a weird one. This essay by Sharon Mazer called "The Power Team" is a really nice example of a research paper. She uses a bunch of different types of sources, like Times interviews, videos, live witnessing of the acts themselves and interviews from pastors. The topic itself was strange.
I was raised Catholic and always thought of the Evangelists on TV as crazy people, and I could only imagine actually seeing these guys ripping apart phone books "in the name of God." What I did notice was the repeat reference to the formulaic design of their program. I just watched a documentary in sociology class about the marketing of "cool" to adolescence. It focused on MTV and Sprite and how they market to youth. It also mentioned WWF and how it attracts guys. The Power Team openly admits to this same marketing ploys.
Another point was the "feminisation" of Christianity. Basically, Christianity is "uncool" to young males. The goal of the Power team is to make Christianity cool again. But some of the strongest examples of faith in the Bible are of females, like Mary.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
tic tic tic....
We were asked to read "A Plague of Tics" by David Sedaris and respond. I really don't have anything to say, which is shocking I know. The story is an account of a child's struggle with OCD. It is interesting and easy to read, but I don't know if I would consider it humor. It's sort of tragic, in that he is dealing with a serious problem and his teachers assume he is just a problem child and his mother uses his problem as a way of getting attention.
What I wasn't expecting was the author's voice, which we listened to in class. I read the article first and my interpretation of the voice was sort of sarcastic and comedic, but in class he had this mousy miserable monotone (holy M's Batman!) voice that made the story just sad!
The end of the story shows his resolution, smoking cigarettes. It's not so much a cure as a refocusing of his tics elsewhere.
I did notice at one point in the story his mother mentions that his father saves everything. Hoarding is a more complex form of OCD and this may show some heredity to the disorder that no one in the family is noticing.
What I wasn't expecting was the author's voice, which we listened to in class. I read the article first and my interpretation of the voice was sort of sarcastic and comedic, but in class he had this mousy miserable monotone (holy M's Batman!) voice that made the story just sad!
The end of the story shows his resolution, smoking cigarettes. It's not so much a cure as a refocusing of his tics elsewhere.
I did notice at one point in the story his mother mentions that his father saves everything. Hoarding is a more complex form of OCD and this may show some heredity to the disorder that no one in the family is noticing.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Helium Balloons and Star Children
Apparently I missed a blog post!
So what am I writing my paper about? It took me a while to decide. After asking my research professor to teach me how to use his super computer I found a topic.
[Caution, I am about to geek-out, hard]
There is hydrogen in outer space. Atomic Hydrogen (H) and Molecular Hydrogen (H2). The question is where did the molecular hydrogen come from? Space is basically a vacuum, and far from stars, it is really really cold. Atomic hydrogen is present in space based on a lot of theory and data, it gives of spectral colors (think slivers of a rainbow) that can be seen from telescopes. Not to mention stars burn hydrogen, and fuse H molecules to make every other element (we are all star children!) so we know H is out there. What we don't know is how it made H2. One theory, my research area, is that space dust acts as a catalyst. Space dust is generally composed of rock dust and other debris, a large portion (or so we are hypothesizing) is made up of silica, which is similar to carbon, like sand and dirt. In order for the Hydrogen molecules to bond they must acquire enough energy to get over an activation energy barrier, think of it as having enough energy to jump over a fence. I am proposing that the silica acts as a catalyst, or a way to lower the fence.
The questions I will seek to answer are: What is the activation energy of the formation of an H--H bond? Does H adsorb to silica and with what energy? Does silica act as a catalyst? What is the ambient temperature of outer space? What other theories are out there (there is one about children's balloons that seems plausible)?
Sorry if this bores any one to tears!
Also feel free to ask questions, I'll try to explain in English!
-M
So what am I writing my paper about? It took me a while to decide. After asking my research professor to teach me how to use his super computer I found a topic.
[Caution, I am about to geek-out, hard]
There is hydrogen in outer space. Atomic Hydrogen (H) and Molecular Hydrogen (H2). The question is where did the molecular hydrogen come from? Space is basically a vacuum, and far from stars, it is really really cold. Atomic hydrogen is present in space based on a lot of theory and data, it gives of spectral colors (think slivers of a rainbow) that can be seen from telescopes. Not to mention stars burn hydrogen, and fuse H molecules to make every other element (we are all star children!) so we know H is out there. What we don't know is how it made H2. One theory, my research area, is that space dust acts as a catalyst. Space dust is generally composed of rock dust and other debris, a large portion (or so we are hypothesizing) is made up of silica, which is similar to carbon, like sand and dirt. In order for the Hydrogen molecules to bond they must acquire enough energy to get over an activation energy barrier, think of it as having enough energy to jump over a fence. I am proposing that the silica acts as a catalyst, or a way to lower the fence.
The questions I will seek to answer are: What is the activation energy of the formation of an H--H bond? Does H adsorb to silica and with what energy? Does silica act as a catalyst? What is the ambient temperature of outer space? What other theories are out there (there is one about children's balloons that seems plausible)?
Sorry if this bores any one to tears!
Also feel free to ask questions, I'll try to explain in English!
-M
2 penguins in a bathtub.
There were 2 penguins in a bathtub. The first penguin said to the second penguin, "Can you pass the soap?" The second penguin replied with, "What do I look like? A typewriter?!" HAHAHAHAHA
Reading Chuck Klosterman's "Haha," he said. "Haha" made me realize that my parents have terrible senses of humor. My dad re-watches Everybody Loves Raymond, often on two channels at once, and nearly cries with laughter. His other favorite shows also listed in poor category on Klosterman's list, Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men. Now admittedly I have enjoyed these shows with him, but I definitely feel like most of the "hahaha"s come after a not so funny joke.
Even more evidence my dad has a poor sense of humor; my brother, a video editing guy and New Yorker, tries to introduce high comedies like The Office and Always Sunny. After an episode of Always Sunny my dad decided the show was not funny and didn't get any of it. Sort of like he needs the laughter to know what's funny.
On the opposite end of the spectrum my 5 year old niece has discovered canned laughter. In the article, Klosterman says he, as a child, thought his laugh track was a result of the actual audiences around the world laughing and that he was included. Not my Mia, she turned to her mom and said, "Mommy, the invisible people on Suite Life laugh so you know it's funny." It should be embarrassing to people to know that a 5 year old can call a multi-billion dollar industry's bluff.
To call on sociology, it appears that the media is socially constructing humor. That rather than choosing what we want to laugh at, we are conditioned to laugh after every joke not just the ones we find funny.
Wanna test it? My friends used to do this in high school. Tell the opening joke of this post to a small group of friends, explain to them that there is nothing funny about it, but to laugh hard whenever it's told. Then invite another friend to join the group and retell the bad joke. All of the group should laugh. Observe the new guy, does he laugh because everyone else is? Probably.
HAM
Reading Chuck Klosterman's "Haha," he said. "Haha" made me realize that my parents have terrible senses of humor. My dad re-watches Everybody Loves Raymond, often on two channels at once, and nearly cries with laughter. His other favorite shows also listed in poor category on Klosterman's list, Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men. Now admittedly I have enjoyed these shows with him, but I definitely feel like most of the "hahaha"s come after a not so funny joke.
Even more evidence my dad has a poor sense of humor; my brother, a video editing guy and New Yorker, tries to introduce high comedies like The Office and Always Sunny. After an episode of Always Sunny my dad decided the show was not funny and didn't get any of it. Sort of like he needs the laughter to know what's funny.
On the opposite end of the spectrum my 5 year old niece has discovered canned laughter. In the article, Klosterman says he, as a child, thought his laugh track was a result of the actual audiences around the world laughing and that he was included. Not my Mia, she turned to her mom and said, "Mommy, the invisible people on Suite Life laugh so you know it's funny." It should be embarrassing to people to know that a 5 year old can call a multi-billion dollar industry's bluff.
To call on sociology, it appears that the media is socially constructing humor. That rather than choosing what we want to laugh at, we are conditioned to laugh after every joke not just the ones we find funny.
Wanna test it? My friends used to do this in high school. Tell the opening joke of this post to a small group of friends, explain to them that there is nothing funny about it, but to laugh hard whenever it's told. Then invite another friend to join the group and retell the bad joke. All of the group should laugh. Observe the new guy, does he laugh because everyone else is? Probably.
HAM
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Annotated Bibliography
Sun, Yongkui; LeBlond, Carl. "Understanding Rate Processes in Catalytic Hydrogenation Reactions" Chemical Engineering in the Pharmaceutical Industry:R &D to Manufacturing. (2011): 101-111. Print.
This paper mainly deals with "the simple but crucial hydrogen gas/liquid mass transfer issue and its impact on the development of hydrogenation processes"(102). The idea is that the rate of a catalyzed reaction is limited by how well the reactants can move on and off the catalyst surface. The paper argues that there needs to be proper characterization of the rate process in order for successful scale-ups from lab scale to industrial scale.
The authors had to do various rate studies on hydrogenation reactions. This would involve not only varying the hydrogen/catalyst ratio, but also varying pressure and stir speed. The process of solid catalysis is that the hydrogen atoms adsorb to the solid catalyst surface and stay still long enough for the reactant, what needs hydrogenated, to line up to the hydrogen atoms and form bonds.
This article is fairly specific to this particular reaction type. As far as my research goes, it can help me as a reference for organization of my own papers. This is a valuable article for those scientists who work in Research and Development.
This paper mainly deals with "the simple but crucial hydrogen gas/liquid mass transfer issue and its impact on the development of hydrogenation processes"(102). The idea is that the rate of a catalyzed reaction is limited by how well the reactants can move on and off the catalyst surface. The paper argues that there needs to be proper characterization of the rate process in order for successful scale-ups from lab scale to industrial scale.
The authors had to do various rate studies on hydrogenation reactions. This would involve not only varying the hydrogen/catalyst ratio, but also varying pressure and stir speed. The process of solid catalysis is that the hydrogen atoms adsorb to the solid catalyst surface and stay still long enough for the reactant, what needs hydrogenated, to line up to the hydrogen atoms and form bonds.
This article is fairly specific to this particular reaction type. As far as my research goes, it can help me as a reference for organization of my own papers. This is a valuable article for those scientists who work in Research and Development.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Gadget ADD
I am Marissa, and I am a techniholic.
I have the worst crackbook addiction. Well, maybe not the worst but I could use a twelve step program. My boyfriend often threatens to delete my facebook. "Often" as in daily.
So, this post is in reference to a New York Times article by Matt Richtel. I would link you to it, but I can't, because regardless of how addicted I am to technology, I can't use it to save my life. One of the requirements of this assignment was to read the article online. However, after reading the first page, and acing the focus test mind you, I was then harassed into logging into the NYTimes site as a member to go to the next page. So I read the text format. As far as info overload goes, this blogger site has at least one I have noticed: the stupid auto save clock at the bottom of the draft page! I love the auto-save feature, I just really don't need to see it change every time I pause in typing!
This article discusses the addiction that is the Internet. There are people that have drug and alcohol problems, but the Internet just seems so harmless! It cost Mr. Campbell a huge chunk of money! We as a society have given very little resistance to the techno-invasion with out pausing to consider the consequences. And I have made the same old arguments; it saves time, and energy and keeps me connected. But I don't even want to know the amount of time I spend on Facebook, especially when I am supposed to be studying or doing work.
Another striking part of the article was the discussion of the kids in the family. Now I understand that the family is not hard pressed for cash and the dad works in the technology industry. But there has to be a line drawn for children! The second grader has more technological devices than I do. Second graders are still learning how to spell things, why would they need a text messaging device? And who the heck are they texting? I know my parents would not have trusted me with expensive electronics, toys break too easily. Kids don't need iPods and laptops. They need puzzles and baseballs, things that build hand-eye coordination and intelligence. Most of today's technology seems to just suck creativity out of life. I watched my sister's nephew play hang man on a DS, what happened to good old pen and paper?
It is comforting to know that at least science is looking into our Internet overload. But I think the most important thing to remember is the rule of moderation. Just because a "study" shows that something is good or bad doesn't mean we should ban it all together. We should just use the studies to gage ourselves. The first step to beating addiction is admitting you have a problem. I think society may have a problem. But like the occasional beer or glass of wine, it's not all bad. We just need to keep ourselves in check.
I have the worst crackbook addiction. Well, maybe not the worst but I could use a twelve step program. My boyfriend often threatens to delete my facebook. "Often" as in daily.
So, this post is in reference to a New York Times article by Matt Richtel. I would link you to it, but I can't, because regardless of how addicted I am to technology, I can't use it to save my life. One of the requirements of this assignment was to read the article online. However, after reading the first page, and acing the focus test mind you, I was then harassed into logging into the NYTimes site as a member to go to the next page. So I read the text format. As far as info overload goes, this blogger site has at least one I have noticed: the stupid auto save clock at the bottom of the draft page! I love the auto-save feature, I just really don't need to see it change every time I pause in typing!
This article discusses the addiction that is the Internet. There are people that have drug and alcohol problems, but the Internet just seems so harmless! It cost Mr. Campbell a huge chunk of money! We as a society have given very little resistance to the techno-invasion with out pausing to consider the consequences. And I have made the same old arguments; it saves time, and energy and keeps me connected. But I don't even want to know the amount of time I spend on Facebook, especially when I am supposed to be studying or doing work.
Another striking part of the article was the discussion of the kids in the family. Now I understand that the family is not hard pressed for cash and the dad works in the technology industry. But there has to be a line drawn for children! The second grader has more technological devices than I do. Second graders are still learning how to spell things, why would they need a text messaging device? And who the heck are they texting? I know my parents would not have trusted me with expensive electronics, toys break too easily. Kids don't need iPods and laptops. They need puzzles and baseballs, things that build hand-eye coordination and intelligence. Most of today's technology seems to just suck creativity out of life. I watched my sister's nephew play hang man on a DS, what happened to good old pen and paper?
It is comforting to know that at least science is looking into our Internet overload. But I think the most important thing to remember is the rule of moderation. Just because a "study" shows that something is good or bad doesn't mean we should ban it all together. We should just use the studies to gage ourselves. The first step to beating addiction is admitting you have a problem. I think society may have a problem. But like the occasional beer or glass of wine, it's not all bad. We just need to keep ourselves in check.
Who am I?
Hi! This is my very first blog post. I will now take some time to introduce myself.
I am a Junior at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. I'm a Chemistry major, but this semester I am also taking Research Writing. It is for this reason that I am now a member of blogger.com. But I digress. About me, dancing has been a part of life since I was two and a half years old. More than likely, I will reference dancing on here, probably more than I should and definitely more than you will care to read about. But we draw off what we know, right?
On a total side note, I am watching Repo Man right now, and they reference Schrödinger's Cat, and also take it way out of context. Schrödinger was explaining quantum mechanics, not that people either wait to die or claw their way out of a box. Things like that bother me. Some things don't have a deeper meaning. I wish people would take things at face value when they ought to be, I think it would save a lot of confusion and miscommunication.
I am a chemist, a dancer, a sister and an aunt. And apparently now, I am also a blogger. I can see how this gets addicting for people. It's like a diary that everyone can read. Or a way to make people laugh, or to bitch to an audience other than your friends when they get sick of your bitching.
So there it is, my first blog post. And my official introduction. I hope I didn't bore you too much!
-M
I am a Junior at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. I'm a Chemistry major, but this semester I am also taking Research Writing. It is for this reason that I am now a member of blogger.com. But I digress. About me, dancing has been a part of life since I was two and a half years old. More than likely, I will reference dancing on here, probably more than I should and definitely more than you will care to read about. But we draw off what we know, right?
On a total side note, I am watching Repo Man right now, and they reference Schrödinger's Cat, and also take it way out of context. Schrödinger was explaining quantum mechanics, not that people either wait to die or claw their way out of a box. Things like that bother me. Some things don't have a deeper meaning. I wish people would take things at face value when they ought to be, I think it would save a lot of confusion and miscommunication.
I am a chemist, a dancer, a sister and an aunt. And apparently now, I am also a blogger. I can see how this gets addicting for people. It's like a diary that everyone can read. Or a way to make people laugh, or to bitch to an audience other than your friends when they get sick of your bitching.
So there it is, my first blog post. And my official introduction. I hope I didn't bore you too much!
-M
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