Author Archives: Matt Bierowski

Problems Anyone

The biggest problem I see our group running into is deciding on what side to take on the argument of fracking. This is such a controversial topic that we need to be very careful of our approach and must back up our research well. I think a good idea is to start with a argument against fracking and why so many people are critical of it and then conclude with how so much has changed over the years and how now it is a great idea for energy for this country. This allows our audience to understand why it has come under the radar as being a very dangerous process, but then also allows them to see how it has grown over the years and how the regulations have become more tight and less damage is being done by the fracking process. This then allows us to close our controversy with a strong push for fracking and why it is so beneficial for this country.

Overall, with a good outline for this project I feel we should have a great opportunity to not only present our argument, but to persuade some people for it as well. That is the goal of this project and hopefully we can accomplish it.

The Most Interesting Man

Throughout my entire freshman year, one teacher has continuously entertained and taught me so much about not only math, but also life. My Honors Math 140 professor, Adrian, has somehow managed to combine not only rhetoric with his teaching skills, but also uses a little bit of the TED genre as well. This guy knows how to work a room. Whether it be his humor, witty teaching style, or his singing ability, Adrian grabs the attention of his class everyday and never lets go. Now obviously the most important job of a teacher is to teach and he does this so well. I have learned a world beyond math when sitting in his class and he is able to keep us interested even when the topic may get to complciated for a freshman student. This guy is a genious and whether it is his credentials, or ability to derive almost anything, no one ever questions his credibility. On top of that, he teaches with a passion. This guy loves to teach and he shows it. The man even brings in food for his class that is home cooked by his wife.

Perhaps what exemplifies a good teacher is that not only do they make their students grow, but also teach them beyond the classroom. He teaches in a way unlike any other teacher I have ever had or probably will have. Like we learned form the TED genre, he seizes the room and never lets go. This is the most important aspect of teaching because if you can make your class interested then you can make them learn. As I go through college I can only hope for more teachers like this who not only challenge theirs students, but reward them for their success.

 

Teamwork (Passion)

As I sit here typing this blog at 3 am, I do it cheerfully with paint covered hands. What am I talking about you may ask? Well, in order to better my fraternity house, me and my brothers have been redoing the basement of our house for the past week and although the nights have been late, they are totally worth it. We have accomplished so much and it was not because of one person, but because have all worked together.

Teamwork is something that is very vital in all aspects of life, but may sometimes be forgotten in the college aspect. When one thinks of college they think about independence and getting good grades all by themselves. Although most hard-work comes from only you, there are still many aspects of college that require teamwork. Whether it be sports, group projects, or bettering your community, big things can only be accomplished with teamwork. It is important to always fine tune your people skills because almost all work environments outside of college require working well with others. College is a great oppertunity to build team skills becasue it presents us with a multicultural environment with oppertunities to grow and work together. Take advantage of them and down the road you will be thanking yourself.

As I finish this project with 22 men, I feel very accomplished. It is so crazy how almost two months ago I had never met any of these people. Look at what we have accomplished now. It seems crazy, but hard-work and dedication do pay off and it is always nicer to reap the rewards with a couple friends.

Frack Frack Frack

As most know, we are doing our documentary on fracking and the controversy around it. As a whole, we are trying to explore both sides of the coin and see if one side outweighs the other. We have split off what we want to individually accomplish and then we will bring it together as a whole and pull this project together. Hopefully by the end of this project, people will be more informed of fracking and its positives and negatives.

My role is to possibly find interviews and articles written by people in the fracking industry. I will then take this information and weigh it with the opinions of those who oppose fracking. It will be great to see what the industry says about fracking and then also see what the public thinks as well. I have  a friend whose dad is in the fracking industry and his interview will be attempted to be obtained. A first hand account could really improve our credibility on an already controversial topic. This information will be presented in an organized and informed way. I will use pictures, statistics, and slides to help make this as easy as possible. When explaining all this to my audience, I will take a confident tone and trust my sources.

When one looks at our project as a whole it should be quite strong. Fracking is something that not too many people are well informed about so it is great that we will be getting information out to the public. Our goal in this research is to find if fracking is worth all the trouble that it has been deemed.We are trying to tackle this from all angles and get multiple sources from different areas of fracking. Environmental aspects, power, and the race for natural resources will all be mentioned. Fracking is here and takes place in Pennsylvania. Is it worth it? We hope to find out.

 

Titicut Follies

I am pretty sure that by just viewing the title of this blog post, nobody could foresee what this documentary could be about. Titicut Follies is a documentary directed by Frederick Wiseman and exposes the awful treatment of mental patients in mental hospitals. It is grueling, terrifying, and informative. This documentary was so controversial that it was even banned from tv screens in several states. Massachusetts only allowed the film to be viewed by people in the related field of psychology or psychiatry. So what did this film do so well that has put it on many lists as one of the best documentaries ever filmed?

The first and most striking aspect of this documentary is that it is all real live footage. There was no censoring and Wiseman made sure that all viewers saw the horrors in real time. Yes, it may have been too much for some, but force feeding the public truthful information was necessary and Wiseman realized that. The narration throughout the documentary is also quite interesting. While being exposed to these horrid images, the narrator remains calm and almost contradicts the images on screen. This is not a bad thing. This makes the shocked audience realize that what they are seeing is true and although it is gruesome, it is something they need to take notice of. The narrator does a great job in keeping a calm mood to keep the audience calm themselves while viewing this documentary.

Perhaps what this film does best is that it gets its point across but understands its audience as well. Yes, the images may be a turn off for some, but it is countered with a great narrator who reminds the audience that what they are seeing is real and needs to be taken into account. This no holds bar documentary opened so many people’s eyes and started a push for patient rights in the late 1960’s to early 1970′ and it did it the way it needed to be done.

 

The link has images and video from the documentary.

 

 

Frozen Solid

Living in Pennsylvania all my life has definitely made me become accustomed to cold weather. I loved playing in the snow as a kid and even though I am older now, I still enjoy winter. However, now that I am experiencing winter at State College, I am starting to find that the season I used to love is now my most hated. If anyone wants to experience cold weather in full force, spend a few weeks in State College. Just last week, I attended a football game and by halftime I could not feel my feet, hands, or face and believe me I had dressed quite warm. I almost had to leave the game due to the weather but luckily I toughed it out.

Something that I quickly realized from all this is how important it is to be prepared for any type of weather. I have now experienced temperatures above 100 degrees, been in the middle of a hurricane, and froze my toes off all in one semster. All this has taught me to always be prepared for anything college throws at you. I was not prepared for winter or the hurricane at all. I had no rain gear and did not think a heavy jacket was needed. I suffered for that and spent many days sitting in class covered in rain or freeing while walking to class. Trust me, it is not fun. I finally pulled it together and purchased the necessary articles of clothing and am now prepared for anything.

College is very stressful to begin with and not being prepared for any type of weather can greatly deter your success and put you in a bad mood. Next time I attend any location for an extended period of time, I know for sure I will be looking at the weather report for the following few weeks ahead.

 

Making the Transition

This is the first time I can honestly say that I have ever had to convert a research paper into a speech, let alone a TED talk. With less then a week to prepare I knew I had to be very good manging my time in preparation. The problem that I faced was that I felt that my paper by itself was weak, so I decided to redue major portions of my thesis and almost create a new argument. I did not define media and technology very clearly in the paper and I made sure to do this in my speech so my audience would not be confused. I also decided to switch the viewpoint I wanted to express to something that could apply to a bigger audience. I felt the transition was successful. In preparing for a TED talk, I did not do much differant then if it was a regular speech. I prepared in a leture hall, but obtained a clicker to switch slides while speaking. This proved extermely helpful because it basically functioned like the TED talk rooms. The TED talk was actually fun as it allowed the speaker to get creative and be able to gain the audience’s attention more easily through the use of technology. It was nerve wracking at first, but who would not be nervous with Kyle glaring you down……

Overall it was a great experience and TED talks are definitely the future of public speaking. Whether its through pictures, videos, or even your own props, the ability to attract attention should not be missed. As speakers, the number one goal is to draw an audience in. Once you have your audience at attention, then you can make your point. There is no easier way to do this then by a TED talk. I encourage anyone to watch one if you have not. You will be surprised by how effective and entertaing they can  be.

History of a Public Controversy

Our group has decided on fracking and I coulnd not be more excited. It is a great topic to explore becuase Pennsylvania is one of the nation’s leading energy suppliers via fracking. This project opens up many possible ideas. I believe it will be important for our viewers to not only udnerstand fracking by definition but also to perhaps view it through a video or even a live feed. Important things that will be necessary for research are: what percentage of the country’s power comes from fracking, and what percentage of the country’s pollution comes from fracking. These two topics will be the weight of the entire presentation and determining if one outweights the othere will be very important in proving if fracking is here to stay or if it needs to go.

 Energy plays such a vital role in our lives that there should be no problem in attracting an audience. After doing research it will be important to decide which side of the coin we feel as a group is better. This will also prepare us for those against the viewpoint we have and we will have to rememeber to still reach out to the audience as a whole. This is always vital in portraying anything to an audience.

Fracking looks to be a great topic and it will be exciting to research and see just how much it affects our daily lives here in Pennsylvania.

Energy Drinks

As I was finishing up my formal Chemistry report in West computer lab I looked around and noticed just how many people were drinking energy drinks. Sure it is 2 am and many of us still have so much work to do, but on top of cramming school work, how good can those drinks be for your health. I decided to browse the web and I stumbled across many different articles. I thought I would just share a few things I learned. Contrary to popualr belief, most doctors do not recommend consuming any energy drinks as they are not good for one’s health and although they heighten senses, most usually lead to a crash. Now I know many of you are saying what about five hour energy? They too are just as unhealthy. Remember that our body gains energy by burning the food in our stomaches and thus energy is created. This natural process is what gets most of us through our daily routines. When one starts to substitute energy drinks for a meal, things can get unhealthy. Rememeber that on top of giving us energy, food also supplies our organs and other bodily functional groups with nutrients to grow and thrive.  By taking a drink of these energy supplements we are stressing our body and pumping out energy without refueling the body functions that are helping to make this energy. That can not be good at all  and eventually our bodies get so exhausted we crash. So as I look  round and see all these people working hard and drinking energy drinks, I am waiting for one person to just pass out. It seems as if a few  already have.

Just remember that when you are tired and craving energy to continue to function, grab a meal or a snack not a energy drink that will only stress your body out even more.

Public Controversy

Deciding on a topic for our group’s public controversy was no easy task. There are millions of topics to choose from and many more pop up each day. We decided we wanted to do something that related to us on a more personal level and so tentatively decided on fracking as our topic of choice.

Hydraulic Fracturing is the process of drilling into reservoir rock formations and releasing petroleum, natural gas and other abundant energy sources. So what is so controversial about this process? Fracking can cause air pollution and ground water toxication that can be very unhealthy. Over the past few years it has been a hot topic for debate and the main argument is does the good outweigh the bad consequences of this process.  It is a very interesting topic because it shows how far we will go to get energy sources for our state. This will be a great controversy to discuss and its long term impacts will be analyzed. On a broader note this also touches on the everlasting search for renewable enregy and the means to obtain it. Wheter we implement that toipic or not will be decided.

 Of course this reamins a tenative subject.  Other ideas included capital punishment and gentic modification. These topic are a bit harder as the arguement of religion comes into play but still remain possible choices as well.