The other day I was looking through the syllabus for this class and to my unpleasant surprise I noticed that our final projects are to be presented in a few weeks. I have yet to really dig in and start my project. I have some initial ideas of what I want to do and what I want the final piece to say but as far as formulating the project I have yet to start. So I decided this blog would begin my process and hopefully get me going.
As many of you know my final project is over the issue of Global Warming. I have decided that instead of a traditional research paper that would be essentially pointless, I am going to make an informative DVD. I feel that in more people would prefer to watch something than to read a “boring” research paper. The idea of making a DVD stemmed from my previous experience making a short multimedia project in Power Point. Instead of making a presentation like project I am hoping to use other software that would allow the project to be like a DVD. More people are familiar with DVD’s now and I think it won’t take on any negative connotations in peoples’ minds like a presentation might. Also it would be easy to distribute. If we were to present our projects, this would be an easy way to present my project. I could distribute the DVD at schools, libraries, or even just leave a copy in someone’s mailbox. Having the ability to reach so many people with this DVD is definitely an advantage. It would also be a cheap method of distribution. Blank DVD’s are not expensive when bought in large quantities so the costs associated with distributing the DVD would be minimal. For these reasons I feel that making a “movie” if you will, would be not only a more creative way of getting my message across but also a more impact full way.
In order to actually make the DVD I will need to familiarize myself with the different software available to me that would allow me to make the DVD. This will no doubt be the most challenging part of the process. I am not very knowledgeable about these software programs and how to use them. I think I will probably use a program called, Final Cut Pro. Fortunately it is available on campus because these programs can cost hundreds of dollars. Also from my preliminary research of this program it will be suitable for what I intend to use it for. Hopefully I will be able to familiarize myself with this software enough and quickly enough to finish my project and make it meaningful.

This week’s reading stirred up many different emotions regarding homelessness here in America. I do believe that this is the best country in the world to live in but I do feel guilty saying that knowing that we have a serious problem with homelessness in America. It is shameful that the richest country in the world cannot come up with a better way of dealing with such an enormous problem. From reading the responses posted on the forum I got the impression that most everyone thinks of homeless people as old, dirty, toothless, individuals who have made bad decisions in their lives to get to this point. The truth is, many of our homeless are children, and of those children almost 42 percent are under the age of six. This to me is the saddest part of the entire problem. It is easier to dismiss the issue of homeless when we think of the type of people described above, but when it is children who have no control over their situation it becomes harder to turn your head. There are over one million homeless children in America; how does this happen? There are many other “poorer” countries that have a smaller percentage of children amongst their homeless. If other countries that are not as wealthy as us can do a better job with their homeless than why can’t we? It seems like there needs to be a natural disaster before this country does anything to help the underserved and even then it isn’t enough. I feel partly responsible because like most other Americans I do next to nothing to help the cause at all.
The worst thing about our homeless, especially homeless children is the fact that it would cost less money to help prevent homeless than it does dealing with it once it has become a problem. It has been said that one dollar to prevent homelessness will save three dollars in healthcare costs and other programs that are funded by taxes. Homeless children get sick twice as often as other children; twice as many ear infections, four times as many asthma attacks, five times more stomach problems, six times as many speech problems, and twice as many hospitalizations. This adds up. More money spent trying to help these children than would have been needed to prevent their unfortunate situations. These are just physical problems that homeless children face, not to mention the psychological problems these children develop.
There are many contributing factors that lead to such a high rate of homelessness in this country. Mainly housing is just not affordable to most low income families. Housing rates have continued to increase. In forty of the fifty states two full time minimum wage workers working forty ours a week, fifty two ours a year, could not afford a two bedroom home at fair market rates. With homelessness on the rise, year after year coupled with a decline in affordable homes results in a compounding homeless problem. I didn’t write this week’s blog to make anyone feel bad, although I have made myself feel that way; I wrote it just to inform people that much of the homeless population is comprised of children who cannot help their situations.

In an earlier blog I mentioned how sports played a big part of my life. Well, this time of year is one of my favorite times of the year. Not only is the weather changing for the better but it is time for March Madness. I love the NCAA tournament and even before the tournament we get to witness great conference tournament games. It is a time of year when every fan, young or old, can appreciate great basketball. The five - twelve seed upset, the Cinderella stories, Mid Majors knocking off Goliaths and basketball games all day, everyday is something that everyone can enjoy. Arguably the best time of year for all of sports. I often hear people ask the question, “If you could only watch one or the other, the Superbowl or the entire NCAA Tournament, what would it be?” For me the answer is simple, the NCAA Tournament. Not that I am a bigger fan of basketball, because in reality I like football more, but the tournament is something different entirely.
Last year one team near and dear to my heart, Syracuse Orangeman of Syracuse New York, had only one chance to make it to the dance, win their conference tournament. This doesn’t sound like a tough task at hand but their conference; the Big East is one of the best, if not the best conference in the nation. Syracuse did pull off the upset, becoming the highest seed to ever win the Big East Tournament at number 9. They also became the only team to ever win the tournament by wining four games in a row, each in heroic fashion. However the momentum gained after wining the tournament did not carry over to the big dance as they were bumped out early on. None the less it was a great run.
So why do I bring this up. Every year when college basketball crowns their national champion there is no doubt about who it should be. Sixty-five teams get their crack at the crown, whereas in college football, every year there is some controversy over the championship. College football should adapt a similar tournament to crown their champion. Not that they should have a sixty-five team field, but at least a plus one system, that would allow the winners of the two top bowl games play for the championship. All I am asking for is one extra game, one game! This wouldn’t fix the problem entirely but it sure would bring some validity to the current system.

For my final project I am incorporating some sort of multimedia project about global warming, at least I hope to anyways. I have already completed one for another class and might choose to use a similar format for this project; a Power Point presentation that goes on its own without the need for me or anyone else to run the presentation. I also thought about using a more sophisticated program that would allow me to present the information better. I have seen others use Windows Movie Maker and their projects came out very well done, so I may try to use that. The only problem would be my extremely limited experience with this program so if anyone has any suggestions on what program I could use that would be great.
Or maybe I could make some major revisions to the project that I have already done. Oh no, there is that word again, “death work”! I think that it would be good for me to revise the current version of the multimedia piece. I don’t feel comfortable with its ability to convey what I want it to say the way it is now. The biggest question that still needs to be answered is, “How can I better get my message across to the readers/viewers?” I think with the appropriate changes and time I could make it say what I want it to, or at least do a better job saying what it is now. In order for a piece like this, one last has no narrator to do its job affectively, the projects meaning must be clear and for a project with such ambitions as this there surely is room for improvement, room for additional supportive information and maybe information to the contrary. I can incorporate the more popular alternatives there are in today’s society of why global warming isn’t happening into my project and then dispel these alternatives. This would strengthen the meaning and hopefully add to the persuasiveness of the piece.
This brings me to another concept spoken about in Nancy Welch’s book, Getting Restless, the idea of “potential spaces”. Potential spaces defined by D.H. Winnicott are, “(spaces) in which participants are able to consider and examine their external realities from a one-step distance. It’s an intermediate arena that, neither immersed in nor divorced from contentious social debates, encourages questioning, experimentation, negotiation, and play.” For me to accurately describe and depict what global warming is than I must step back and look at this issue form all angles. That is were the idea of potential spaces can help me. These spaces will afford me to remove my self from the equation and review the information with an unbiased mind set. So far I cannot say that I really have done this. I haven’t really questioned any of the information that I have read nor have I researched the possible alternatives that others offer as an explanation to our Earth’s increased temperature. That is the next step for me to take in this project. Continue researching the issue and truly look into the alternatives with an open mind; only then will the process of revision yield worthy results.