Corrective actions at VT

There is no AC in the majority of dorms on Campus. How do we correct this? Contact the RA's to find out contact info and send emails to Housing and Dining Services to ask why the improvements to the dorms have not been made. Also sending a petition around on the VT survey system would reach everyone on the campus systems. This would allow the university to see how many students want the AC dorms.

There are no thermostats in the rooms to regulate climate control systems. The initial costs to the upgrades would be large but the long term savings on the more efficient dorms would counter these initial costs.

Community Issues

So we have to list problems we have found at Virginia Tech since we have arrived.

-One of the main problems is that cadets have to walk through freezing weather in basically nothing, ie slacks, a t-shirt and windbreaker.
-The buses are not aggressive enough. They have time hacks to meet but they are hardly ever on time because they have to stop for students. Stopping for students is one thing but stopping for every student is another.
-The food courts all close to early; we are college students and have crazy schedules so we do need food at Quad Zero.
-THE MATH EMPO!!!!!!! THE BUSSES NEVER RUN LATE AND EVERYBODY STAYS LATE. There are never enough tutors there to help the students and those that are there you can never understand. The math is really simple but they don't want to hire people and expand so they give us to computers to "teach" us a class that would be 6 weeks long if a professor tought the material.
-The steam tunnels are not built for students, they need to expand them so we can walk to class without being in subzero temps.

Essay Feedback

The essay came out better then I thought it would. My paragraphs contain more of my thoughts then I hoped they would, which is encouraging. Though I need to work on my transitions between the styles within my essay. I move from a rhetorical style to an informative style and I need to smooth out that transition a bit more. Other then that I have obligatory few typos and grammar issues but not too many which is another plus.

Pilot's License!

I stayed with my family over the weekend and it provided a nice break from the Corps and school. Though I can say I should have probably worked on school more over the weekend but these weekends seem to be getting shorter and shorter. Anyhow I got the stack of mail that had not come to my current address and was continuing to go to my home address; included in this was my permanent Private Pilot's License! I had my temporary one but the current one should make it easier to rent planes and fly which I have not done since I have been here.


Do you know how hard it is to not fly when one has a license to do so??? Every time we have a nice day of 10 miles vis, clear skies, and low winds all I can think about is getting up and flying. Seriously for those thinking about getting into aviation, be sure you know what you are getting into. Once you taste the freedom that a Pilot's License gives, you will forever walk with your eyes to the skies. It's like a wonderfully addicting drug with only one painful side effect. It tends to empty your wallet at an incredibly fast rate.

Risk taking in Essays

I think I will try something entirely new for me.....An essay without a direct conclusion nor a specified 3 point/5 paragraph format.

I am trying to see what type of writing I can do and trying to form a personal style using personal experiences and tangents that relate to the topic in some way.

Conclusions.....

Do we need them?

What purpose does a conclusion serve? It sums up the paper? I don't think an conclusion, or a paragraph dedicated to restating your major point is needed in many cases. A classic argumentative essay would be the exception because its purpose is to bludgeon you across the head with the point of the essay until you submit to superior logic and reason. Surveying movies, "No Country for Old Men," and books, "Go down Moses," there does not need to be a clear conclusion to move people. Maybe the genius of these works is the way in which they leave you to wonder....

What makes a good Essay?

Or "How do you make a subject yours?

I think, since there aren't any real definitions of "The Essay" I will go ahead and make my own definition or criteria. I think a good essay is one where the author takes the subject and makes it his own by adding discussion, reflection and opinions of his own on the subject. The essay doesn't have to have a specific format, and may have digressions throughout. Really, an essay can be rated on how well the author blends facts, opinions and personal experiences.

The thing to find, after you write your first draft, is to find why you wrote something that may not make sense. I find as I write a first draft I end up with sentences that seem totally unrelated. These may end up being your most personal opinions an a subject so find out why you put it, where the connection is, and what the train of thought was that led you to that conclusion. Find this and you can make that connection in the essay and make the paper something that is truly your own.

Research Proposal comments

A lot of the things I had to work on were structural issues. I need to rearrange the Research Methods section and correct the research questions. I also had some opinion items in the Results Expected section.

How is a big question as well. How will this research be done? Where will I get these items? How will I obtain documents, how will they be examined? I need to figure out how to do these with out actually doing the research connected with them.

Essays

"The Stunt Pilot" and "Ali in Havana" are both descriptive essays.

In "The Stunt Pilot" Annie Dillard seeks to convince you of the artistic expression contained within stunt flying. Being a pilot myself I agree with her 100%. You could also say it is partially a biographical essay, Dillard outlines a portion of Rahm's life and his death.

"Ali in Havana" is interesting and informative. Though I would tend to think of it more as a short story then an essay. I don't feel like the auther is presenting an opinion. He is telling of events not seeking to convince me of anything. My definition of an "essay" would be a persuasive paper. Maybe this is classified as an essay because it is in first person and not from a third person perspective like many stories.

I couldn't find "Silent Dancing" on Google books.....Anyone know where to find it?

Fall Break

I think Fall Break is like "fun sized" candy, just big enough to give you a yearning for more and then reality crashes back in on you because there is none left.

With the Corps, any chance you get to leave you take. And yet, when you come back the sinking feeling in your gut returns. It's an odd combination of relief and sorrow. I'm not sure where these thoughts will lead....more later.