Audio Interview
Where do I start with this? This assignment was a nightmare for me, but I learned many, many important lessons along the way. First of all I bought my own audio recorder as a way to avoid the logjam of people trying to check out equipment. This was my first and worst mistake and it led to all the rest of the problems. I bought what I felt was a nice audio recorder (it cost about $100 so I thought that it would be good), I learned about it and thought that I understood it. It seemed to work well enough at first. I searched around and didn’t find any good candidates till Tuesday where I had to settle for an employee at a pizza place I stopped into. I tried to find the quietest place to do the interview so she took me into a large room. It was quiet, but it was large and had an echoe. I wish that I could have found a better place to do it, but I figured quiet and large was better than small and loud. I did the interview and felt pleased with the questions that I asked. I felt that the story was interesting enough and with some editing it could fit together nicely.
The real problems started when I went to school to try to edit what I had on my recorder. I felt that I had a pretty good grasp of sound studio, but I could not get the file of the interview to open in the program. I tried to convert it into all sorts of different formats, but the program would not accept the file. I asked a GTF in the lab for help and he could not figure out what to do either so I realized that I was in trouble. I ended up having to edit the interview on an editing software I had on my computer that was cheap and was not exactly tailored to audio editing. I think that I did a good job cutting and piecing together a coherent story from one that was kind of sporadic, but the audio quality was quite poor and I couldn’t fix it. From this experience I learned that knowing your equipment is very important and that next time I should just use the school’s resources. In the end, I probably spent more time on this project than anyone else, but ended up with the worst result (not to mention I probably have an ulcer now) because I trusted a piece of equipment that wasn’t proven. Next time I will not settle for anything less than the best equipment at my disposal.
Source 4: Alaska natural gas pipeline
New revenues to fill the fiscal gap- gas pipeline (Institute of social and economic research, University of Alaska)
Summary:
This is an article that outlines in detail the impact that the Alaska natural gas pipeline could have on the economy of Alaska and the country as a whole.
Topic:
Category:
Institution- government
What is it?
It is a website catering to the people of Alaska that looks at different issues facing the state through research and government records. It is run by the Universtiy of Alaska.
Title:
New revenues to fill the fiscal gap- gas pipeline
Publication Information:
Institute of social and economic research, University of Alaska
Author:
No author stated
Location:
http://citizensguide.uaa.alaska.edu/5.BUDGET_GAP/5.2.23.gas%20pipeline.htm
Accessed: 1/29/09
Support:
Alaska Department of Revenue
This article uses charts and stats from the records of the Alaska Department of Revenue to show the economic impact of the pipeline on Alaska’s economy.
Audience and Agenda:
This is what the Institute of Social and Economic Research says about itself:
“The Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) was established by the Alaska Legislature in 1961. ISER is part of the College of Business and Public Policy at UAA. It has a core staff of about 30 faculty members, research associates, and support personnel. Roughly one quarter of its budget is from university money and three quarters from grants and contracts. ISER staff members not only do research but also teach undergraduate and graduate courses. ISER maintains the state’s largest economic database and forecasts population and employment growth.”
Additional financial assistance is provided by Fiscal Policy Council of Alaska.
Usefulness:
This is a useful source that provides statistical data calculated by the government of Alaska to show the economic impact of a natural gas pipeline in Alaska. It gives both the benefits and the obstacles that face the pipeline’s use as a viable tool for economic growth. It states the projected cost and projected revenue of such a project with definative numbers. The site is mostly made for Alaskans to check up on the progress of government projects, but with the Obama administration naming it in their agenda as a way to stimulate job growth in the energy sector, that makes it very relevent to anyone living in America. There is constantly updated information on this topic on Northern Gas Pipeline web site.
Works Cited:
This is the site that tells about the Institute of Social and Economic Research:
http://www.iser.uaa.alaska.edu/Home/MoreaboutISER.html
Sources Notes 3: Exploring solar energy
Tech pundit sees bright future for solar energy (FoxNews.com from March 4, 2008 from Boston, MA)
Summary:
This is an article from Fox News from the perspective of a tech insider about new advances in solar energy technologies.
Topic:
Category:
Journalistic- mainstream
What is it?
This is an article from the online version of Fox News in the SciTech section that speaks about solar energy technologies.
Title:
Tech pundit sees bright future for solar energy.
Publication information:
FoxNews.com from March 4, 2008 from Boston, MA
Author:
Robin Lloyd
Location:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,334808,00.html
Accessed:
1/29/09 at 2:30 PM
Support:
Ray Kurzweil, futurist and inventor
This is the only source because the story is a discussion of the perspective and opinions of one expert in the field of solar technolgy. He uses his own data and knowledge of solar technology to make the claims that solar energy could be economically competitive with fossil fuels by 2020.
Audience and Agenda:
This is an article from the online version of Fox News. Fox News is a 24 hour TV news channel with a wide and diverse viewership. The website gets approximately 10.1 million hits per month. It has been rated as the cable news channel with the most regular viewers. It is owned by News Corportation, which is one of the world’s largest news conglomerates with a yearly revenue of approximately $28 billion. It is a publically traded company. Some of the critics of the station say that it has a conservative bias which the company publically denies.
Usefulness:
This article is useful to get a technical perspective on new technology that is being created in the field of solar power that may make it a very viable option to be the main energy source for the entire world by 2020. It is backed up by facts and data from someone who has been working in this field. It argues that with new advances in fuel cell technology that solar energy could be economically competitive with fossil fuels within the next 20 years. It leaves out other perspectives, however, because it is only the opinion of one man. It also does not speak about some of the obstacles that may hinder this speculation from coming to fruition. It coud be useful to anyone with an interest in this subject in that it is written so that even a person with no background in solar engineering can understand.
Works Cited:
This is an article I used to get some background on who Ray Kurzweil is.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Kurzweil
About Fox News:
http://www.quantcast.com/foxnews.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_News_Channel
About News Corp.:
Source Notes 2: Exploration of wind power
A Cleaner Way to Keep the City Running (NYTimes.com published 1/2/09)
Summary:
This is an article from the New york Times real estate section about a group of buildings in the Bronx that are being powered by wind energy. It is an account of some of the first steps being taken in New York towards exploring the possibities of wind power as a new way to provide electricity in the city.
Topic:
Category:
Journalistic- mainstream
What is it?
This is an article from The New York Times website about wind energy in the Bronx.
Title:
A Cleaner Way to Keep the City Running
Publication information:
NYTimes.com published 1/2/09
Author:
C.J. Hughes, NY Times Real Esate writer
Location:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/realestate/04post.html
Accessed:
1/28/09 at 8:30 PM
Support:
Les Bluestone, a partner in the Blue Sea Development Company
Michael Urban, a resident of Brookhaven
Jen Becker, a vice president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation
Mike Bergey, president of Bergey WindPower, a manufacturer in Norman, Okla
These sources work together to paint an all around picture of the benefits and obstacles facing the use of wind power to power homes within a large city.
Audience and Agenda:
This is an article from the online version of the NY Times. The New York Times is a widely read and well respected publication that is accessed approximately 13.9 million times per month is the US. It is the largest metropolitan newspaper in the US and has won 98 Pulitzer Prizes. It is funded by advertising revenue. The paper has a circulation of over 1 million every day. It is owned by the New York Times company which publishes 18 other newspapers accross the country. It is a publically traded company with and approximate yearly revenue of around $3 billion.
Usefulness:
This article is very useful for seeing a specific example of the use of wind power in a large city. It provides information about some of the first buildings in the Bronx to be partly powered by wind turbines. It talks to people who are in the real estate business to get that perspective on the issue. It is written partly for people who are real estate developers who may want to be on the cutting edge of the new technology. It gives a specific example of how the wind energy effects the city, tenants and building owners. It also speaks about how the government is trying to support this alternative energy source with over 60 proposals for renewable energy projects in the city. It gives both sides of the arguement stating the obstacles that could keep this new energy source from becoming a flourishing option for real estate developers to look into in the future. Some of these issues include vibrations and high costs that come from the large turbines. Also the lack of wind flow in the city due to the large buildings that block air flow is another obstacle stated. Overall, it is pretty thorough, stating many examples of how the government in New York is pushing for this to become a more prominent source of energy through tax cuts and intiatives. It also speaks of the economic impact that is being made, which makes it useful to my topic.
Works Cited:
Here is a link that tells a little about a manufacturer of wind turbines that was referenced in the article.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/aerovironment-inc/index.html?inline=nyt-org
Here is another link that mentions Blue Sea Development Company
The New York Times media kit:
http://www.nytimes.whsites.net/mediakit/online/audience/audience_profile.php
More about NY Times:
http://www.quantcast.com/nytimes.com
Source Notes 1: The Agenda
The agenda: energy and environment (whitehouse.gov, 1/24/09)
Summary:
This is an outline of the Obama administration’s agenda regarding the use of alternative energy sources.
Topic:
Category:
Intsitutional- government
What is it?
The official agenda of the Obama administration regarding alternative energy from Whitehouse.gov.
Title: The agenda: energy and environment
Publication information:
Whitehouse.gov
Author:
No author listed
Location:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/energy_and_environment/
Accessed:
1/28/09 at 7:30 pm
Support:
The Obama Administration
These are the objectives of the current administration. The ideas and support are based on the impact that they believe these policies will have on the future of America.
Audience and Agenda:
This website was created by the Obama administration to outline their overall agenda for the future of America. It is accessed by approximately 5.4 million people per month in the US. It is funded by American tax dollars in order to show its constituants what the current administration hopes to achieve during their time in office. The audience is all people that have a stake in the future of America.
Usefulness:
This source is very useful to gain a broad understanding of what President Obama plans to do about alternative energy and what role it could play in fixing some of the key problems that face the new administration. It speaks about how much money will be put into the promotion of alternative energy ($150 billion over ten years). It gives detailed objectives for the short term and long term. It also speaks about how many jobs are expected to be created in reaching these objectives. Being that it is only a broad overview, there are many details left out such as where the money will come from; whether or not it will be taken from some other budget, and specifically where and how this money will be spent. It also does not speak about any negative impacts these policies may have. An interesting point to look into that is outlined here would be that the agenda has a bullet point about building a natural gas pipeline in Alaska, which could lead to many jobs, making it something very relevent to my question. This is a very useful starting point because it will give me specific aspects of this issue to focus on. This goes hand in hand with the analysis of the inauguration speech, but expands on it, giving specific examples and an outlined plan.
Works Cited:
http://www.quantcast.com/whitehouse.gov
The President’s blog:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/
About American government:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/our_government/
Whitehouse.gov home page:
Source notes for Obama’s inauguration speech
Summary: This was a speech given by Barack Obama at his inauguration on 1/20/09. It encompasses a broad range of topics that the Obama administration intends to address.
Topic:
Should the Obama administration allocate large amounts of money in this time of financial crisis to alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, and natural gas as a way to create jobs and reduce our dependance on foreign oil?
Category: This was a transcript of a live speech.
Title:
President Barack Obama’s inaugural address from 1/20/09.
Publication:
I found the full text of the speech on Marketwatch.com through a yahoo search.
Author:
President Obama/ unamed author
Location:
accessed on 1/21/09 at 6:30 pm
Sources: Barack Obama: President/ speech orator, George Washington: First President of USA
Source analysis:
This speech was meant to speak to all Americans and others around the world.
Usefullness:
This was a broad and wide reaching speech, but it did touch on the topic of energy use and alternative energy sources. The speech touches briefly on using alternative energy to help the economy and also how our dependance on foreign energy strengthens our adversaries. This is a good jumping off point in that it shows that alternative energy is on the agenda, but it does not state any specific ways that this agenda will be accomplished.
My Question
Should the Obama administration allocate large amounts of money ($150 billion) in this time of economic crisis to alternative energy sources?
The reason I chose this question is that my dad gives grants to low income people to improve their houses, and in having a converstation with him, he told me that his boss had told him that they need to start looking into what alternative energy sources could help them save on costs in the future. I figured we could learn a lot from one another on this topic. I have also been interested in this subject because I have heard both sides of the story and I am wondering if ideas such as those of people like T. Boone Pickens can really help us move into the future on this crisis. I am also very interested to see if investing in alternative energy really can create as many jobs as President Obama says. I think that if President Obama’s plan works it could help the economy, environment and national safety, which makes it a very important and wide-ranging issue. I just want to know if all of these ideas that sound so great in theory are really a plausible answer to our country’s energy and economic problems.
Legacy print coverage of Obama’s inauguration
In my search to break down the legacy print media’s coverage of President Obama’s inauguration, I decided to look to the Washington Post because of their broad audience and their close proximity to the event. In doing this, I found that the inauguration dominated their front page. There was not a single story that was not related to the inauguration. The first article that I looked at was just a broad overview of quotes and highlights from the speech. There was very little opinion involved so it was a good article for the Post’s broad audience who just wanted to know what happened. The quotes were all basically of the same type, touching on the dynamic between the challeges ahead and the hope of change that is coming. There were many quotes used in this article so the author used Obama’s own words to tell the story, which is a good way to cover something in an unbiased way. The next article I read was a more opinion based article in which the author speaks about what historians are saying about Obama’s chances to make history with his presidency. The sub-headline of the article was “Historians say he could redefine presidency”. This headline gives s a basic overview of what the article is about. This article cites many professors and historians that reiderate the headline. All of the sources pretty much back up the headline. There are no sources that claim the opposite. The rest of the coverage from the Washintgton Post covered a wide variety of angles. There is an interactive map where you can track Obama’s every movement live. There is a live webcast too. Other articles speak about Obama as an orator and compare him to President Lincoln. The post also works the local angle by talking about the impact of the inauguration on Washington D.C. There is an article about the amount of people that are there and also one about the festive atmosphere. At the bottom of the front page there is a special report about the Bush Cheney legacy, which gives a different angle on the event by focusing on the outgoing administration. Again, this is good coverage for a broad audience. Finally, there are dozens of blogs that range from all sorts reactions from a wide variety of different perspectives to a blog dedicated only to the “flubs” of the speech.
week 2
During our first assignment in class, I learned some things about interviewing. One thing that I found difficult was not having a specific direction and trying to guide the interviewee to a legit story that I could use for the assignment. I found that starting with small talk and going from there, as a way to figure out a direction for the interview, was a good way to start. Trying to write ten word sentences was by far the hardest part of the assignment. I feel that I failed badly at this. I am going to need much more practice at that if I am going to get good at it. In doing this, I learned that to write simply is not neccesarily the easiest way to write and that it is an important skill to learn, but can be difficult.
The Ira Glass clips were also very informative. In watching these clips I learned that good stories are made up of anecdotes and reflections on the anecdotes. I also learned that “filtering the crap” is an important part of the search to find a good story. Almost half the work done is searching for the story and it is important to know when a story is not working. The ablilty to kill a bad story gives birth to a good one. I also learned that two common pitfalls are people who try to emulate other people in the way they talk, which makes them sound unnatural and also it is important to have a balance between the interviwer/ interviewee.
Food assignment
Since the time of the ancient Egyptians, apple cider vinegar has been used as a remedy for a wide variety of ailments. Hippocrates was a major advocate, using it as both a medicine and antiseptic. Ever since then, it has been a very popular folk and natural healing remedy. Proponents have claimed that it has positive effects on a wide variety of ailments from heart disease and diabetes to skin care, weight loss and even the hiccups. The reason why I chose vinegar to research is that my mom is one of these people. She has been on a vinegar kick for quite some time now, raving about it as if it is the cure for anything and everything so I thought that this assignment was a good opportunity to decipher fact from folklore. Sea Sheperd of Associatedcontent.com(http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/388099/10_health_benefits_of_vinegar.html?cat=5) is an advocate of a daily vinegar dose much like my mom. In this article, he lists ten ailments that vinegar is supposed to cure from soothing insect bites and sunburns to fighting food cravings, preventing ulcers, aiding digestion and even removing warts. I used this article as a way to get the natural food and folk remedy perspective. However, I don’t believe that it is a very reliable source because its only claim to validity is that vinegar is supported by the American Academy of Otolarynology, which is an ear, nose, and throat doctor’s association. After learning about this organization, I decided to check out why they support vinegar as a remedy. In my search I went to their official website and found this link, http://www.entnet.org/HealthInformation/swimmersEar.cfm, which basically says that the reason for their support of vinegar is that it can be used as a remedy for swimmer’s ear. Perhaps the most informative article I found was one that took a more skeptical approach. This article, http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/the-health-benefits-of-vinegar2.htm, which was on a webstie owned by the people who own the Discovery Channel, had much more facts and took a much more scientific approach. It breaks down the misconceptions such as, while vinegar contains many important vitamins and minerals including calcium, potassium and beta carotenes, it does not contain a sufficient dose of these nutrients to have any effects on preventing or curing a lot of the ailments that are claimed by the folk remedies. It does state, however, the reasons that vinegar can be helpful in the digestive process stating specific examples such as its ability to increase calcium absorption and control blood sugar levels. It also says that it is a healthy alternative to many other additives such as salt and fatty substitutes as a way to spice up bland, but healthy foods. This could be why it is claimed to have an effect on weight loss. In the end, I found that it is not a miracle cure, but as a healthy alternative to other foods, it can be very beneficial to your health. It is just a matter of whether the benefits to you are worth the price of tasting it.
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/the-health-benefits-of-vinegar2.htm
http://www.entnet.org/HealthInformation/swimmersEar.cfm
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Recent
- The Answer to My Alternative Energy Question
- Source 30: Interview with a renewable energy specialist
- Source 29: Green jobs in Michigan
- Source 28: Solar Radiation Monitoring Lab (interview)
- Source 27: Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline ad
- Source 26: Obama’s real challenge with alternative energy
- Source 25: New solar technology
- Source 24: T. Boone Pickens’ plan
- Source 23: alternative energy for low-income housing grants (interview)
- Source 22: graph of US oil imports
- Source 21: Possible routes for Alaska natural gas pipeline
- Source 20: Image of Masdar City
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