Rooney, Ben. (2011, May 6). Your monthly gasoline bill: $368. CNN Money, Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/05/news/economy/gas_prices_income_spending/index.htm
I found this just though google. I trust this because CNN is a relatively reputable news source, and the information provided is simply fact in the form of figures, not something that can really be swayed. I am going to uses its information on gas prices in my podcast.
http://money.cnn.com/news/storysupplement/economy/gas_prices_by_state/index.html
I did not cite this because I was not sure exactly what it would be considered and how to cite it, but I came across it from the last article. I trust its accuracy for the same reasons. I am going to use it in my podcast, and also include it in my anchor text.
Transportation for America, (2011). Aging in place, stuck without options Retrieved from http://t4america.org/docs/SeniorsMobilityCrisis.pdf
I found this one using Lexis Nexis. This is pretty current, released in June, and very thorough and reliable, as the report seems to use specific facts and figures instead of just rhetoric. I don't know exactly how I would fit this into my project as a whole, as my problem is local, but I may use it as an anchor text in my webtext.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
week of 7/11
The following four sources I found on the NWI Times website. My research process I used was essentially just looking back on the websites archives to the past few years. These are all relatively recent, only going back two years, and they are reliable and accurate because they are in a reputable newspaper.
Benman, K. (2010, November 21). Statehouse a dead end for transit cash. nwi.com, Retrieved from http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/article_a79da9f6-8ec0-5976-9f1f-823eae99085a.html
Benman, K. (2009, November 5). State lawmakers unlikely to rescue mass transit . nwi.com, Retrieved from http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/article_9076b7e5-cc20-5acb-8a02-f2fd5418c2e2.html
Guinane, P. (2009, July 5). Nwi transit future up to tax-leery voters. nwi.com, Retrieved from http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/article_8b5dd586-1a03-5653-b271-eccd69d14629.html
Tejeda, G. (2009, September 23). Disabled residents complain mass transit is lacking . nwi.com, Retrieved from http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/article_522b5d65-a64b-5716-bf1b-fae5b9688a68.html
The articles above, as well as a few I did not use, led me to the NIRPC website, where I found this comprehensive plan for the Region over the next decade, one part of which deals with my topic. It is obviously authoritative because the NIRPC is in charge of this whole project. It is recent, update in June 2011. And it is reliable and accurate because the plan is a detailed and researched look at how every public work in the plan is now, and how they plan to expand them in the future.
Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Comission, (2011). Comprehensive regional plan 2040 Portage, IN: NIRPC. Retrieved from http://www.nirpc.org/2040CRP/Draft/DraftPlan.html
NOTE: I am not sure if this cite is fully the correct format. I considered this to be an online government document, but it does not seem to have some of the things such a document should have, such as the document numbers. Furthermore, each part of the plan is its own downloadable part, instead of opne whole long document. How should I cite this exactly?
Monday, July 11, 2011
Week 3 redo
For my webtext, I had difficulty finding an opposing argument against raising taxes. I found plenty of things against it, but most of them had suspect support at best and seemed like the writer was just trying to find a seemingly sound argument, but was just really saying, "This is my money, you can't have it." Some were not even trying to hide it, and were just angry rants on how taxes are socialism or un-American. For the other side, which is for raising taxes to fund schools, I found plenty of support. For the part about cutting benefits, I found support for both sides.
For my anchor texts, I used wikipedia's entry on the whole Wisconsin situation because it has a lot of information and cited links to many sources. I used a transcript of the incident wherre the Wisconsin governor was recorded because a written transcript in a nnewspaper seemed more professional than just a youtube link. I included the part about teachers' salaries because somehow I couldn't fit it in anywhere in the written piece. And I included the Daily Show clip because I thought it was a good piece of satire on the arguments that teachers are living large on benefits, which is a poorly-supported, empty argument that I avoided including in my piece.
For my color scheme in the design, I wanted to do something looking similar to a chalkboard because it had to do with school. Black would be too stark, so I chose a darker green. I made the title page white like chalk, though I used a pretty standard font because the somewhat messy font that would look like writing on a chalkboard seemed a little too informal, and didnt even show up on the final page, anyway. I used yellow to indicate subtitles because people can see where the piece transitions to a new thought, and I used plain black text because it still showed up well on the green.
For my anchor texts, I used wikipedia's entry on the whole Wisconsin situation because it has a lot of information and cited links to many sources. I used a transcript of the incident wherre the Wisconsin governor was recorded because a written transcript in a nnewspaper seemed more professional than just a youtube link. I included the part about teachers' salaries because somehow I couldn't fit it in anywhere in the written piece. And I included the Daily Show clip because I thought it was a good piece of satire on the arguments that teachers are living large on benefits, which is a poorly-supported, empty argument that I avoided including in my piece.
For my color scheme in the design, I wanted to do something looking similar to a chalkboard because it had to do with school. Black would be too stark, so I chose a darker green. I made the title page white like chalk, though I used a pretty standard font because the somewhat messy font that would look like writing on a chalkboard seemed a little too informal, and didnt even show up on the final page, anyway. I used yellow to indicate subtitles because people can see where the piece transitions to a new thought, and I used plain black text because it still showed up well on the green.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Week 3 Post
Lack of public transportation
This problem effects everybody who cannot drive for whatever reason. The reason this problem exists is a lack of funding. A possible solution would be to suggest to people that any money they would lose to taxes for this would be less than they currently spend on gas.
This problem effects everybody who cannot drive for whatever reason. The reason this problem exists is a lack of funding. A possible solution would be to suggest to people that any money they would lose to taxes for this would be less than they currently spend on gas.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
WEEK 2, Post A
Compton, Mary. (Ed.). (2008). The global assault on teaching, teachers, and their unions: stories for resistance. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
This source is good for providing support for teachers unions, and against cutting funding for them. It is reasonably up to date (2008), and it provides both expert opinions on the issue and personal stories and reflections on teachers in unions.
Burroughs, Nathan. (2008). Arguments and evidence: the debate over collective bargaining’s role in public education. Informally published manuscript, Center for Evaluation and Education Policy, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. Retrieved from http://ceep.indiana.edu/projects/PDF/PB_V6N8_Fall_2008_EPB.pdf
This source discusses the power of Teachers Unions in politics, as well as the effects on students collective bargaining might have. It is also from 2008, and comes from a reputable policy institute from a reputable university. Since the report is more neutral and objective, it probably will be used for support for reaching the MOR conclusion, rather than supporting one specific extreme in the argument.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Week 1, Post A
1. Bad Weather
This year has seen more severe weather than many years past, all over the country. Hundreds have died in Missouri and Alabama from tornadoes, and even in Illinois and Indiana, there has been outbreaks of damaging storms and tornadoes. Is this just a partuicularly strong year, or have weathe patterns changed as a result of global warming. People who might care are those who are effected by the storms, which is potentially everybody. Another group who might care are energy companies, who would possibly be hit with restrictions if any environmental laws are passed on account of the weather.
2. Gas Prices
Gasoline jumped to about four dollars per gallon earlier this year and has stayed at about that level. Many people are being hit hard by the price increase. Many have speculated that this is a result of the various uprisings in the Arab world, the source of most of the U.S.'s oil. Others have suggested that it is simply speculation and oil companies inflating the prices People who might care about this are motorists who pay for gas, as well as speculators and oil companies who make money off of gas.
3. Public Schools
All over the country, there is turmoil regarding public education. Many school systems have no money and are forced to cut faculty to the point that too many students are in one class. Also in the news is the issue of lawmakers cutting benefits and bargaining rights to teachers' unions. My high school in particular was recently in the midst of letting go several teachers. People who might care about this are the teachers this law directly effects, and the students and parents of students who attend public schools.
This year has seen more severe weather than many years past, all over the country. Hundreds have died in Missouri and Alabama from tornadoes, and even in Illinois and Indiana, there has been outbreaks of damaging storms and tornadoes. Is this just a partuicularly strong year, or have weathe patterns changed as a result of global warming. People who might care are those who are effected by the storms, which is potentially everybody. Another group who might care are energy companies, who would possibly be hit with restrictions if any environmental laws are passed on account of the weather.
2. Gas Prices
Gasoline jumped to about four dollars per gallon earlier this year and has stayed at about that level. Many people are being hit hard by the price increase. Many have speculated that this is a result of the various uprisings in the Arab world, the source of most of the U.S.'s oil. Others have suggested that it is simply speculation and oil companies inflating the prices People who might care about this are motorists who pay for gas, as well as speculators and oil companies who make money off of gas.
3. Public Schools
All over the country, there is turmoil regarding public education. Many school systems have no money and are forced to cut faculty to the point that too many students are in one class. Also in the news is the issue of lawmakers cutting benefits and bargaining rights to teachers' unions. My high school in particular was recently in the midst of letting go several teachers. People who might care about this are the teachers this law directly effects, and the students and parents of students who attend public schools.
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