Blog Source Report 2: There is no doubt in the importance fossil fuels play in our combustion driven society. The finite resources are getting harder and harder to find, driving up the cost to extract them, in turn driving up the price to the consumer. What the article “Beyond Industrial Agriculture? Some Questions about Farm Size ,Productivity and Sustainability” explores is the idea that our current agricultural practices will have to be abandoned due to rising fuel costs. Philip Woodhouse points out that food production out grows the population and that today’s farmers rely heavily on mechanized labor. These two factors may cause a change to a more labor intensive farm system, also reducing the average size of a farm. I found this to be an important source because Woodhouse does not denounce either side of the issue, he merely points out what the future may hold for our industrial farmland. The importance of fossil fuels, even in our agricultural system, is very pertinent information in light of recent catastrophes. This source shows the possibility of our society evolving past the current system, creating a more sustainable and reasonable farming system. To remain unbiased, it is important to examine all the possibilities of our future, if organic sustainable farming will become the main system, or if we will continue to use business-like agriculture to sustain our population.

I feel that every citizen should be concerned with the way we grow crops, the future of our well being depends on these farmers and their techniques.

The major stakeholders are the farmers who are involved with the various types of agriculture practiced in the United States.

The most difficult part of researching this topic would be understanding the jargon used in the industry. I know little to nothing about farming so I think I would have to do a bit more work to understand exactly what the issue between these two sides is.

My initial position is favoring the multi crop farming. It seems to me that these monoculture farms have turned into big business and no longer care about the well being of those who eat their products. Profit is what these farmers are most concerned about and this is evident in the way they farm the land.

http://www.helium.com/items/1319748-monocultures-or-permaculture

Topic 2. MARIJUANA! The debate for whether the plant should be used medically has been raging throughout this country for some time now. Many feel that the medical benefits of the plant should be exploited to help those that are suffering from illness. Others feel that the plant is a drug that can severely harm those who use it, and should be treated as any other drug.

I found this topic interesting because marijuana has been accepted; demonized; accepted; then demonized once again in our countries history. It would be interesting to research why the plants has had such an uneasy existence in our history.  CSU students should be interested in this topic because of the recent explosion of medical marijuana dispensaries that have popped up around Fort Collins in recent years. The major stakeholder are marijuana growers, drug dealers, the sick, and the government.

The hardest part of this research would be finding unbiased information about the effects of the plant on the human body. Marijuana carries a stigma which probably has a negative effect on the information available about the plant. I am also very biased about the topic.

I don’t think marijuana should be used for medical purposes, it should be legalized flat out. It is ridiculous that our government has waged a war on a relatively harmless plant. A war which costs tax payers millions of dollars, puts money in criminals hands, and prevents people from accessing a possible medicine that could ease serious pains.

http://www.norml.org/

Topic 1. As the United States continues to wage war in Afghanistan and Iraq, many feel that the money spent on war would be better used here at home to fix our economic woes and unemployment.

Students at CSU should be interested with how our country is dealing with the soaring unemployment rate. Graduating from college into a terrible job market affects the chances of students getting the jobs they had hoped for throughout their college careers. Without jobs out of college, how will students payoff loans?

The most difficult part in researching this topic is the scope of the unemployment issue. There are many different factors that contribute to unemployment, so I feel that sifting through those would probably be a bit challenging.

I definitely agree that we should be more worried about our internal affairs than those of other nations. These wars were started in the name of national security, yet Bin Laden is still at large. In such a time of economic downturn, we need to help our own citizens first, then worry about the rest of the world. Has anyone checked out the cost of this war lately? http://www.costofwar.com/

http://cartoonbox.slate.com/bensargent/

Topic 2. The never ending battle for gun rights. Though the constitution clearly protects the right to bear arms, is there still a necessity for everyone to be strapped to the teeth?

CSU recently needed to repeal their campus wide gun ban because of a threat of a law suit. Students should be interested in the fact that people are walking around campus with concealed weapons.

This is a heated debate that has raged on for decades, the most difficult part will be to find statistics that are unbiased. Each side wants your support so badly that many numbers are skewed in favor of one side or the other.

I am a firm believer in the right to bear arms, though I feel there should be very tight gun control laws. The right to bear arms should not be abused and taken advantage of, though it seems many people attempt to do so, even at our own school.

http://cartoonbox.slate.com/hottopic/?image=3&topicid=106

In order to make disaster relief more effective, the federal government has to relinquish some of its power to state governments so that they can more effectively manage disasters on a local level.

Throughout the article, the author points out local officials discontent at how the federal government has been dealing with the situation in the Gulf. Though in some areas, the relief has been effective, there are local issues that need to be addressed that the government simply cannot foresee.

This is not the first time the federal government has had issues dealing with disaster relief. Similar problems arose during the hurricane Katrina relief effort, the federal government not only botched the effort on a large scale, but it was unable to address local problems after the initial response. As we can now see, many parts of New Orleans and the surrounding areas are still in shambles, and many people never returned to their ruined homes. If local officials at the time had more power to control relief efforts, the outcome of that tragedy could have been much more favorable.

There is a the simple fact that local officials are more familiar with the needs of the people and area that they represent. There is no possible way that an entity as large as the federal government can foresee all the issues on a local level. There is a reason that these officials are elected, and the federal government should give them the power to protect the people they represent. There is no question at the importance of a strong central government, but a balance must be struck in order to prevent problems such as this oil leak from becoming a massive issue.

The authors main claim is stated as ” He opened the door far too wide to alternative policies that aren’t real alternatives — and to more stalling”. The author feels that because of the way Obama has gone about dealing with this crisis, he has left to much room for argument and other ideas, causing any kind of significant legislation from being passed. Throughout the article are examples of different politicians ideas for cleaning up our fossil fuel usage, though each one has good points, the ideas are too fragmented to make any real impact. A reason given by the author for this inability of our government to agree upon an energy bill is the fear of higher prices. Other bills do not meet criteria because of no mandatory greenhouse gas emissions or price signals, and yet another bill falls short because it only deals with automobile emissions. Instead of working together, it seems that politicians are to focused on certain aspects of the fossil fuel issue, what the author suggests is that these smaller ideas need to be put together in a all-inclusive bill that will address all aspects of our dependency, therefore having a real impact on the way we consume fossil fuels.

There are a few counter point that the author brings to light, one being the possibility of rising energy costs, while he also mentions a fear of crippling our economy by passing this type of legislation. Despite these  counter points, the author still believes that this incident in the Gulf should be used as a launching pad for some kind of significant legislation.

Multimodal compositions have evolved with technology. The author mentions in his third point how the creation of these compositions has become mentally stimulating and time-consuming to the creator, but also has a positive effect on the audience that interacts with it. Everyone involved is able to become more absorbed in these compositions, stimulating their brains more than previous methods were able to.  A younger generation is able to relate to these compositions because of their proficiency in the technological world. Multimodal composition will therefore have a greater impact in the classroom, both for the creator and for the audience because of the experience necessary to understand these compositions.

The authors fifth point outlines just what kind of impact multimodality will have in the classroom. Though this may not replace writing class, it will help in students understanding of writing. They will be able to analyze writings from many different vantage points with multimodality. Teachers will benefit in the way they present material to their students. The opportunity to use a plethora of teaching tools will allow them the enhance their teaching methods.

The author pretty much points out the amount of waste that comes from the food industry. Not only do people waste food in their homes, but resources used to create that food are also wasted. This article really does not come as a shock to me. We live in a capitalist society which needs consumption by its citizens to function. With that comsumption comes waste, obviously lots of it. In order to curb this waste, we need to slow our consumption on top of other methods of conserving resources, such as recycling, reusing, and composting.

Since I’m a Forestry/Fire science major i should write about burning forests and beetle kill, right?