The idea of sustainable architecture isn't new. Historically most of the inhabitants of earth have lived in completely green dwellings. But we've moved on as a society and a tee-pee just isn't going to cut it anymore. We love our comfortable homes. We can't get enough of hot showers and flushing toilets. Take away the TV and laptop and you've removed the heart & soul of the new American consumer. There isn't really anything wrong with that in and of itself, but what happens when we turn a blind eye to the effects of our consumption? Sure anyone who has lived in an old house south of this campus knows the costs of drafty windows and uninsulated attics on their wallets-50 bucks a month in utilities for 8 people?! Wha?-but what about the effect that those drafty windows have on the environment? Is living in a "green" house affordable for the masses? Is it even possible? What even is a sustainable dwelling? Is the technology available for us to be better citizens in the ecological world? And then there are the objections about the aesthetic qualities of sustainable architecture. "It looks like a spaceship" a friend told me when I asked what he thought about a LEED certified house. "But would you live in it?" I asked. "Maybe for a week or two." Is it ignorance that keeps us tied to the old ways or are the old ways so familiar by now, that to imagine a house looking anything other than the house we see in our minds is too foreign to be comfortable.

Social Environement and the STRESS!

What are the causes of stress? What doesn't cause stress may seem like the better question. Like this image to the left, we may feel that there is so much going on that our own head cannot simply contain all of it. But what is it specifically that causes all these troubling thoughts? Was it something that we were born with? Or perhaps it was the environment we were raised in? There were and there still remain many influences which may cause any individual to feel that there is simply too much to handle. Life should be made simpler, no? We have enough already with our own lives, be it financial, social, mental, physical, the list goes on forever! So why can't we eliminate the problems we feel to be unnecessary? Is there really a valid reason to say that I deserve to have less stress than others? Or should we to learn how to better handle and cope with the stress?

Issues Paper: Organic vs. High Productivity in the Honey Industry

Organic honey production is when beekeepers choose not to use chemicals in their hives. This increases the value of honey and is safer for the environment. However, organic honey has many negative effects to the honey industry. It isn't cost effective. If beekeepers choose to go "green" they are required to spend a lot of time and money that they simply don't have. This increases the honey price which consumers aren't willing to pay or can't afford. Organic honey production also decreases hive survival. Beekeepers use chemicals in the hive to get rid of pests (wax moths, mites, beetles, etc.). By not using these chemicals the hives will die (only 1 of 5 hives survive under organic hive management).

WATCO Question: What are the consequences of organic honey production to the productivity of the honey industry? What are the consequences of the use of chemicals to the value of honey production and safety of the environment?

Researching the effects of advertising and the environment

Advertising reaches millions of people each and every day. It has the power to change the world through every person reached. The environment is a growing issue among Americans and throughout the world. We need something that reaches millions and even billions of people to educate and show how to make the world a greener place. Advertising has the power to reach mass audiences through the use of media. Advertisers need to provide us with new ideas and ways that we can help the environment.

WATCO question: What are the consequences of advertisers providing new ideas and campaigns to help the environment? What is the responsibility of advertisers to do environmentally friendly campaigns?

Research Issue - Illegal Immigration

America is a country of worldwide immigrants, and it is from this vast diversity we contrive our greatness. On the other hand, and in today's American economy, illegal immigration is not only increasing our domestic population, but also increasing unemployment, taxes and the financial deficit: problems that legalized Americans have to deal with. I propose that the federal government as a whole take action in preventing illegal immigration by helping to improve neighboring governments and therefore reducing the negative side effects of illegal immigration in America.

WATCO: watco illegal immigration on public education? watco illegal immigration along the desert borders between America and Mexico? watco illegal hired labor at below minimum wage?

Food Inc.

So I made the same mistake that most of us did and just wrote about what was on my mind. There is little to no analysis in this post. I wrote it during class and didn't think it would be fair to revise and analyze. (Sweet rhyme huh?) So here it is:

I read a book over the summer. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. I don't want to ruin it for anyone, but turns out the dilemma is that we've ruined a good thing that we had for ourselves. For thousands of years we've had a free lunch. All energy comes from the sun. Sun to Plants to Man/Sun to Plants to Animals to Man depending on who you talk to and what you eat. We took part in that chain. Respectfully. The sun knew it's place. The plants and animals did what they do naturally. Humans reaped the rewards. "The Earth is yours and everything in it." Then BOOM! The Industrial Revolution took over. Thanks Eli Whitney. Suddenly waiting for the sun to shine wasn't convenient. Now the farmer doesn't have to get dirt underneath his fingernails. Now the American diet is floating on a yellow sea of corn. Now the government gives subsidiaries to plant or not plant certain crops. Now a homemade meal consists of meat from another state, Fruit/Vegetables from another country and liquids that appear to be from another planet. The great American plains, that proverbial bread basket is now running low on supplies. It's been over-farmed, over-run and over-packed into concrete slabs of soil and left for dead under rows and rows of a mutated grass. God bless America! And God please bless the American diet!

Rhetoric Used in "Food Incorporated"

The example I selected from "Food Incorporated" that demonstrated good rhetoric was the part where a mother was telling her story about the death of her son. Her son died because the food he ate was contaminated from poor health standards at the meat factory. This brought the audience to an emotional level (pathos) because it pulls at your heart strings. by using a child the audience felt a greater sense of loss because his life had just begum. He was perfectly healthy and had so much to live for. They also used pathos by showing the same video of this happy child before he was sick over and over again to reiterate their point. Through repetition the expression of emotion was heightened and it was unlikely that their audience would forget that story. You wanted something to change so that this wouldn't happen to future children. You wanted the factories to have more restrictions and healthier standards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgnWsUyRNtE&feature=related