Sunday, April 26, 2009
During public sphere week I represented Habitat for Humanity. The group is based on helping people in need get quality homes at little cost to the family. I noticed some techniques that worked for some people and some that didn’t. There were some things that we could not stop from being a problem. The reason I joined Habitat is because the organization and I have things in common. They build homes to help the community. I enjoy volunteering in my community to give back for what they have given me. I also have acquired some skills through working for a lawn and landscaping company. I have the abilities to design and build landscaping around homes. I also enjoy building things and seeing the things I helped build come together. Some problems that we faced were not able to overcome were time. Our class is at an extremely early time for most collage students. We faced a very small crowd which was mostly for people who had class around eight o’clock in the morning and others that were going to their nine o’clock classes. Also during our day of the week we had an orientation for incoming freshmen. Also, the school did not cooperate like they said they would. One would assume that the school that made the class would actually help to make the class a success. Some things that many people found affective was using flyers on smaller paper. Other groups used pamphlets to give a large amount of information. Throughout the day as I walked past the UC bridge I would see the groups handing out their information and talking with interested people. During the day I was bombarded with papers from the other classes. At first it was over whelming, but as the week progressed they found out that it did not work. The people needed to spread out and talk slowly and be friendly. Being friendly helps in numerous ways, people will react better with people being nice than more demanding. The further you were away from the other groups the more people you have time to actually interact with instead of being interrupted by another person projecting their group onto them. Overall I feel that public sphere week was a success. The groups came together handed out their flyers and gave their talks to people. Some students out of their shell and began talking with students that they normally would avoid, or be afraid to talk to. I personally enjoyed the time to get outdoors and advocate with my peers. I have made some new friends along the way and joined an organization that I plan to be in the rest of my collage career.
Habitat for humanity is an organization that’s main goal is to help the less fortunate families get nice homes by getting a community to help with volunteering and donating. I joined the group because I enjoy helping people and I have a few skills in that area of work. I feel the organization does a great job of helping people. The organization brings towns and businesses together to help one family. I feel this is a huge symbol of what the United States is about, bringing people from all different races and backgrounds to help. The organization has helped many people around the world. Habitat has been building houses since Millard and Linda Fuller founded the organization in 1976. Since ‘76 they have built and rehabilitated more than 300,000 homes worldwide(Habitat). Here at USI we are looking to build our first home on our own next year. We recently became our own chapter outside of Evansville. Habitat does good things for needy families. For families in need Habitat helps them out by building them a home that is at little cost to them. The houses are not free to the people so they are not given away. Homeowners also have to pay for homeowners insurance. Yet the home is a great place for people to live. The home is up to code and is safe for the families children if they have them. With all good things there also is people against Habitats ideas. In the area surrounding Winter Beach, FL residents are arguing that a cluster of homes, approximately 450, are planned on being built around the 65th street area which is only a few blocks from gated communities and other upper-class housing. The residents believe that this community will turn out much like another one of Habitats projects. The people against the housing development say that crime will increase like the ones around the other community did. The people did not take care of their homes so the values of the homes in surrounding communities decreased. Many of the people living around that community are upper scale people believe that the housing development should take place in another area that is surrounded by similar priced homes, not their million dollar homes(Clustering). Habitat works hard in their screening process to make sure the people who are receiving these homes are hard working families and they try not to allow the community to fall apart because of the development. I am a proud member and believe that they do great things for the community. Habitat works on bringing communities together by building and remodeling homes. They should continue to do these great things for another 50 years. Please help out your community and join Habitat today!
Habitat, "The History of Habitat." Habitat for Humanity Web.26 Apr 2009. http://www.habitat.org/how/historytext.aspx.
People against Habitat Clustering, "Does Clustering Work for Habitat?." Web.26 Apr 2009. <http://www.noclusterhabitat.com/Home_Page.html>.
Habitat, "The History of Habitat." Habitat for Humanity Web.26 Apr 2009. http://www.habitat.org/how/historytext.aspx.
People against Habitat Clustering, "Does Clustering Work for Habitat?." Web.26 Apr 2009. <http://www.noclusterhabitat.com/Home_Page.html>.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Goal!
Well... I am joining Habitat for Humanity. Their goal is to build homes for people who are in need. I would like to get involved in a group and help the community. Even though I am not from Evansville it is my new found home. Also, I have some expirence with landscaping from my job back home. This will allow me to use my skills in that field to help create a nice area for the owners of the home. Also I use to build forts in my woods behind my house. I feel that my forts were very skilled, they were waterproof. My overall goal is to help generate money for the orginazation. This should be rather difficult because I do not know anyone and do not know the area outisde the Lloyd Expressway. We may be small in numbers but with help from businesses around Evansville we can make a huge impact on the community. For public sphere day my group plans on making posters and having the Habitat pamphlets that our group has to pass out. Also we plan on having a way to collect money for the group. There also is a race that will help collect money for the group. We also have shirts that we will be waring around and possibly having some to hand out to people for winning some sort of game
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Participation in Public Discourse
Have you ever experienced bad service at a restaurant? Or stated your opinion to try and get something done? Every American has experienced bad service at lease once in their life. There are many ways to handle these situations. One can either not tip as well as normal, or you can go to the manager and find a way to handle the situation. At a more expensive restaurant you expect better service. Well not it is time to go through my experiences with service in the restaurant world. Another example would be have you ever started, or joined a group or organization because you believe something.
I have had bad service in many different establishments around my hometown. My family is normally quiet and take things with a grain of salt and allow things to pass without very much fuss. We go to the Heston Hills. It is an upscale restaurant in my hometown. We go there numerous times throughout the year. My family is very good friends with the owner, we attend many of their functions and have known them for many years. We went to their restaurant one evening during the summer and the waiter was unaware that we were very good friends with the owner. The man was dressed well, like most of the others, he wore a suit and tie. The abnormal thing about the waiter was that he was not the nicest person that evening. He must have been in a bad mood, he lightly threw our silverware onto the table. Normal people just set the silverware on the table around us.
During dinner he only came over to the table once and asked if we were satisfied with our meals so far. Which was not a big deal because the food there is always satisfying to me. Near the end of the dinner my family was not finished eating, and he brought the bill like he was trying to rush us through the meal. By this point my parents were getting frustrated with the waiter. They decided to still tip well but talk to the owner of the establishment. After dinner we went to the office and spoke with the gentlemen. He said the man has had a bad evening because he dropped a customers food and was pretty frustrated about that. We let it go and were glad that we still tipped well.
Recently on campus I have joined a face book group that my friends created. It is about smoking on campus. Sorry Ms. D but smoking really bothers my asthma. Every morning when I walk into the LA building or the Library I smell smoke and I cannot stand the smell. It makes me begin to have trouble breathing and sometimes I have to use my rescue inhaler. The 30 feet rule is never put into effect and most professors and students do not abide by the rules.
So during these expirences I have learned that somtimes it is better to go with your initial thoughts rather than just being rude and not tipping. I usually am quiet and let things pass by normally I will not tip as well as normal. There are many ways to go about dealing with the issues that one has. The best way to deal with it is up to you. You can either stand aside and allow yourself to be walked on or stand up for yourself and do what you believe is right. Much like my friends who made the group on facebook . Just remember there are some people that have bad days in the service industry so be curtious. Do not always jump to a conclusion about their personality.
I have had bad service in many different establishments around my hometown. My family is normally quiet and take things with a grain of salt and allow things to pass without very much fuss. We go to the Heston Hills. It is an upscale restaurant in my hometown. We go there numerous times throughout the year. My family is very good friends with the owner, we attend many of their functions and have known them for many years. We went to their restaurant one evening during the summer and the waiter was unaware that we were very good friends with the owner. The man was dressed well, like most of the others, he wore a suit and tie. The abnormal thing about the waiter was that he was not the nicest person that evening. He must have been in a bad mood, he lightly threw our silverware onto the table. Normal people just set the silverware on the table around us.
During dinner he only came over to the table once and asked if we were satisfied with our meals so far. Which was not a big deal because the food there is always satisfying to me. Near the end of the dinner my family was not finished eating, and he brought the bill like he was trying to rush us through the meal. By this point my parents were getting frustrated with the waiter. They decided to still tip well but talk to the owner of the establishment. After dinner we went to the office and spoke with the gentlemen. He said the man has had a bad evening because he dropped a customers food and was pretty frustrated about that. We let it go and were glad that we still tipped well.
Recently on campus I have joined a face book group that my friends created. It is about smoking on campus. Sorry Ms. D but smoking really bothers my asthma. Every morning when I walk into the LA building or the Library I smell smoke and I cannot stand the smell. It makes me begin to have trouble breathing and sometimes I have to use my rescue inhaler. The 30 feet rule is never put into effect and most professors and students do not abide by the rules.
So during these expirences I have learned that somtimes it is better to go with your initial thoughts rather than just being rude and not tipping. I usually am quiet and let things pass by normally I will not tip as well as normal. There are many ways to go about dealing with the issues that one has. The best way to deal with it is up to you. You can either stand aside and allow yourself to be walked on or stand up for yourself and do what you believe is right. Much like my friends who made the group on facebook . Just remember there are some people that have bad days in the service industry so be curtious. Do not always jump to a conclusion about their personality.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Blogs I commented on
I commented on Johnbrochill's blog.. KAWWW's blog and USI English 201 Service Learning's blog.. and Wildcat's
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Analysis of a Blog
Analysis of a Blog - “Lunch is not a date” By Ian Coburn
The Blog is wrote was about how the female author feels about lunch not being a date, as the title states. A little background on the author. She is a comedian in her twenties. She’s from Chicago, Illinois and wrote for a column at a newspaper but got it taken away because of her crazy views. She still wanted to share her feelings to her loyal readers, so she began bloging and sharing her feelings again to the public.
The audience for this writer would be people who enjoy her comedy and her articles. Most of them are probably in their twenties and understand about relationships and girls. The audience would have to not be children because they wouldn’t understand about relationships yet. She is not a serious writer at all, she uses comedy to get her point across. This especially added to the article, it made me enjoy reading it because it gave off a really relaxed feel.
The blog gave plenty of examples explaining her main point which was to show how lunch is not a date. For men a lunch date is mainly frowned upon, because that means the man is being put into the friend zone. Sosuave.net defines the friend zone as “A zone in which one is cast into precariously (without ones control) which is entered by an individual who is of non-interest to the party (girl)and is only good for emotional support (A pillow to cry on).” Commonly this is a bad thing for guys, they are normally looking to be in a relationship with the female that they are taking to this lunch date.
I personally feel that lunch cannot be a date. I feel that lunch is something you do with a family member, or close friend. The only acception would be if you are in collage and you see this girl everyday and the only time you have is to take her to lunch right after class. Then I feel it works for that and that only. If you are not in school and she wants to have lunch that means you are most likely being put into the friend zone. I have been put there before, and trust me, the guy does not want to be there but has no other choice because if they say something then the friendship gets awkward.
She has many good reasons on why lunch is not a date. She feels that women feel more comfortable when she asks the man to a lunch date, because she feels she is putting off the vibe that she just wants to be friends and the guy will understand. Dinner is more formal anyways so when the guy takes the girl to dinner he shows that he is interested and that he can try and impress her. Lunch makes this more difficult because it is more informal and can easily be at a deli or simple place. Most single men do not initiate the lunch date because that is not their intention when they begin to talk to the female.
Overall I enjoyed reading the article it was entertaining to me because she provided comedy and a good incite on the female vs. male prospective. Her main reason for writing the article was to entertain the audicence and show her followers that she is still out there and if they enjoy her writings to keep following her blog.
The Blog is wrote was about how the female author feels about lunch not being a date, as the title states. A little background on the author. She is a comedian in her twenties. She’s from Chicago, Illinois and wrote for a column at a newspaper but got it taken away because of her crazy views. She still wanted to share her feelings to her loyal readers, so she began bloging and sharing her feelings again to the public.
The audience for this writer would be people who enjoy her comedy and her articles. Most of them are probably in their twenties and understand about relationships and girls. The audience would have to not be children because they wouldn’t understand about relationships yet. She is not a serious writer at all, she uses comedy to get her point across. This especially added to the article, it made me enjoy reading it because it gave off a really relaxed feel.
The blog gave plenty of examples explaining her main point which was to show how lunch is not a date. For men a lunch date is mainly frowned upon, because that means the man is being put into the friend zone. Sosuave.net defines the friend zone as “A zone in which one is cast into precariously (without ones control) which is entered by an individual who is of non-interest to the party (girl)and is only good for emotional support (A pillow to cry on).” Commonly this is a bad thing for guys, they are normally looking to be in a relationship with the female that they are taking to this lunch date.
I personally feel that lunch cannot be a date. I feel that lunch is something you do with a family member, or close friend. The only acception would be if you are in collage and you see this girl everyday and the only time you have is to take her to lunch right after class. Then I feel it works for that and that only. If you are not in school and she wants to have lunch that means you are most likely being put into the friend zone. I have been put there before, and trust me, the guy does not want to be there but has no other choice because if they say something then the friendship gets awkward.
She has many good reasons on why lunch is not a date. She feels that women feel more comfortable when she asks the man to a lunch date, because she feels she is putting off the vibe that she just wants to be friends and the guy will understand. Dinner is more formal anyways so when the guy takes the girl to dinner he shows that he is interested and that he can try and impress her. Lunch makes this more difficult because it is more informal and can easily be at a deli or simple place. Most single men do not initiate the lunch date because that is not their intention when they begin to talk to the female.
Overall I enjoyed reading the article it was entertaining to me because she provided comedy and a good incite on the female vs. male prospective. Her main reason for writing the article was to entertain the audicence and show her followers that she is still out there and if they enjoy her writings to keep following her blog.
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