October 2008 Archives

Here's my annotated sources, I have found a lot of information but I need to sort through it and find a way to narrow my information some more, or find a more interesting spin on it.

I am not completely sure what person I want to use as an interview for my research paper.

 

This is my annotated sources entry.  The topic is the LZR Racer by Speedo. Unfortunately, as  I wrote this outline, I found that the number of quality sources quickly ran out, and that the NCAA's ban on the suit had been overturned, which could have been a key part of my argument.  So I'm wondering if I should continue with this topic, or should I type up another annotated sources entry this weekend for my backup topic, which is arguing in favor of nuclear power, and would definitely have a much larger base of sources to choose from.

I will delve into the controversial issue of Davidson college administrators monitoring student emails. My thesis, that it is unethical for college administrators to create a power structure by accessing and releasing information from student's emails.  My intended audience is fellow Davidson classmates, who are interested under what circumstances their emails are opened and what is done with their information.  I will give a brief description of the legal ethics behind email privacy, focusing on specific student examples and relevant consequences of such court cases. In addition, I will look into the specified conditions under which student email are searched and accessed. In regards to my research, I will interview the ITS staff in charge of monitoring the emails. These primary sources will give me information regarding under what circumstances emails are monitored, the method of searching for through emails and what is done with these emails. On the other hand, if they do not give me this information it compounds the unfairness of the situation by giving administrators access to our emails with very little accountability or transparency.  In addition, I will use articles from the legal information databases and personal cases to give a background of the legality of email privacy.

Mayersohn, Norman. "The Batteries are Included." The New York Times 14 Sept. 2008.

This article provides evidence to the sustainability of hybrid cars.  Mayersohn sites that battery technology as of now cannot support a totally electric car.  Therefore, hybrid cars are the best way to solve our alternative energy crisis as of now.  Mayersohn never agrees that hybrids are the only way.  Obviously other technologies like hydrogen would be more efficient.  However, Mayersohn makes the point that if America wants to help reduce emissions and oil dependency, hybrids are the best choice as of now.  In his article, Mayersohn list various hybrid cars on the market.  All of these cars are compact and small.  While Mayersohn does not address concern for safety due to the smaller cars, the impact of more drivers with smaller cars on safety is apparent.


Hybrid survey shows economic benefits." National Post 25 Apr. 2008.
 
This is an article from a Canadian news outlet.  The article discusses how the website IntelliChoice.com has punctured the myth that hybrid cars aren't a good economic investment.  The article says that ItelliChoice is "a leading source for automotive ownership cost and value analysis in the United States."  The survey discusses
Hybrid and non-hybrid versions of the same vehicle for the 2008 model year. The survey examines how each vehicle performs based on a projected total cost of ownership figure over five years or 113,000 kilometers. Besides fuel costs, which are considered the primary savings for hybrid cars, the survey factors in other major cost items that consumers often overlook such as maintenance and repair costs and car insurance.
The survey proves that hybrid cars are not only good for the environment but made sense to purchase.

Incantalupo, Tom. "Driven to the fuel-efficient." Newsday 21 Aug. 2008.

This article is from a major New York newspaper called Newsday.   It discusses the growing trend of hybrid cars and fuel efficiency.  The article quotes Jeff Schuster from JD Power and Associates.  He describes that all major automobile manufacturers are heavily invested in hybrid technology.  The article notes that the push for fuel efficient vehicles will have a major impact on the automotive industry to include hybrid vehicles.  This article is useful for me because it describes the many hybrid sedan vehicles and mentions the relatively new technology for hybrid SUV (eventually I would like to find a more credible source to cover this topic).  Since the technology is not as very well developed as hybrid technology for sedans, the ability to have safer and larger vehicles that are eco-friendly is out of the question at the moment.  All hybrid SUVs do not come close to competing with the fuel efficiency of hybrid sedans.  This could be a good topic for me to discuss as a means to increase safety and fuel efficiency in the future.  If hybrid SUVs can be developed to be as efficient as sedans, car safety and fuel efficiency can be met.  Otherwise, other measures will need to be taken to meet the safety of drivers with small hybrid cars.


Healey, James R. "The number of small-car owners is growing even though ...... more drivers die in small cars." USA Today 20 Aug. 2007.

This article backs up my main claim that smaller cars are unsafe.  Even though this is common knowledge, the article's importance lies in its claim that more people are buying smaller cars.  An increase in smaller vehicles decreases safety against larger vehicles.  The article sites studies by the insurance industry and the National Academy of Sciences and the reasons why smaller vehicles are unsafe.  There is a likelihood that this trend will continue to grow.  Fuel prices are not lower than in 2007 and SUV purchases are steadily decreasing.  Consumers are now purchasing smaller vehicles and eventually will purchase hybrids for even greater fuel efficiency.  

Crain, Keith. "Surprise! Small cars aren't so safe." Automotive News 25 Dec. 2006.

This article for Automotive News sarcastically points out those smaller cars have never been safer.  While the sarcasm is humorous, the main point of the article supports the struggle between safety and fuel efficiency.  The article discusses that the EPA has been trying to get consumers out of large vehicles for forever while the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration puts safety first (large cars provide better safety).  With the recent push for more fuel efficient cars, smaller vehicles are the best tool to combat fuel efficiency.  The article sites that the only real way to make small cars safer is to eliminate large SUVs.  Obviously this will not happen anytime soon.  However, there are ways to discourage the purchase of SUVs.  Incentives for hybrid cars (to consumers and producers) encourage the purchase of smaller hybrid sedans and discourage the purchase of SUV.  An even more efficient way to discourage SUVs would be to set some kind of CO2 emission requirement that would be hard for any SUV to meet.  Ultimately, the best way to increase small car safety is to make SUVs just as fuel efficient, creating little incentive to purchase a small car over a big car.  I would like to further investigate the battle between the EPA and the NHTSA.

Garman, Erica. "Will a Tax Break On Hybrids Skid to a Stop?" The Washington Post 19 Oct. 2008.

This article discusses the negatives and positives of hybrid incentives to consumers.  As of now, consumers who purchase a hybrid pay a penny per $100 assessed value of their hybrid car.  Regular car owners pay about $4.20 per $100.  Negatives of the incentive note that people who own luxury hybrid SUVs receive the tax break but their cars mpg is that of a normal small sedan who does not receive the incentive.  Positives of the incentive include that 80% of consumers purchase hybrids for the incentive.  Overall, I think the incentives should be in place but modified.  Congressman Stevens Miller wants to give the incentive to all-electric vehicles.  However, I find this to be counterintuitive.  Very few all-electric vehicles are available because the battery technology is not efficient enough to be practice.  Also, if incentives are removed from hybrids, their cost might out way their benefits for saving money at the pump (the survey by IntelliChoice includes incentives). Instead, an incentive program that requires a certain mpg for various categories of vehicles would eliminate freeloaders who own inefficient hybrid SUVs.  I want to further research incentive programs for automakers to continue researching how to make hybrid cars even more fuel efficient. 


Comments: I feel like my topic is coming together but i need to get away from newspaper articles and magazines. 

Work Cited

 

Abbasi, Ahmed, and Chen Hisinchun. "Writeprints: A Stylometric Approach to Identity-Level Identification and Similarity Detection in Cyberspace," ACM Transactions on Information Systems, 2008. Vol. 2, Issue 2.  7:1-7:29.

 

Hinduja, Sameer, and Justin W. Pathcin. "Offline Consequences of Online Victimization: School Violence and Delinquency" Journal of School Violence. Vol. 6 Issue 3, 2007, 89-112.

 

Hoffman, Lance. J. "Building in big brother : the cryptographic policy debate," New York : Springer-Verlag, 1995.

 

Jasper, Margaret C. "Identity theft and how to protect yourself," Dobbs Ferry, N.Y: Oceana Publications, 2006.

 

"Sex crimes and the Internet : hearing before the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred Tenth Congress, first session, October 17, 2007." Serial No. 110-87. Washington : U.S. G.P.O. printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary, 2007. <http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_house_hearings&docid=f:38335.pdf>

 

 "The national strategy to secure cyberspace : [electronic resource] draft for comment / The President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board," Washington, D.C:, the President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, 2002. <https://ezproxy.lib.davidson.edu/login?url=http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS22941>

 

 

    The Internet is often thought of as a negative technology when it comes to music and the music industry. Downloading music and pirating are two of the biggest concerns on the minds of anti-internet music lovers. However, as the music industry evolved and begun to really discover what popular culture wanted from music, the producers and record labels began taking advantage of artists and the music they wanted to play. Music today has largely become a week-by-week fad change...

Annotated bibliography for politics and social networking sites.

After several weeks of searching, I have decided to address the topic of blogs, and more specifically look at how blogs have an impact on politics through their journalistic capabilities.

I have decided to write about technology in golf and how golfer's abilities are undermined by the new technology that they are constantly bombarded with.

Sources:

  

                                                                                                                                    Taylor Martin

 

Thesis:

 

·         Because nuclear power is a sustainable energy source and its development increases national security, nuclear power will be the primary source of energy for the United States within 10 years.

 

Research:

 

·         The development and use of nuclear power as an energy source has been disputed over the last half century. I want to prove that the benefits of nuclear power outweight the risks through increased funding and development of new technologies. As a viable alternative to fossil fuels, nuclear power is an efficient form of energy with minimal environmental damage, and it is a symbol of economic and military strength in the global arena. I am writing to with the intended audience of politicians, scientists, and environmentalists and aim to disprove the criticisms that nuclear energy is ¹⁾ a dangerous, declining energy source, ²⁾ damaging to the environment (radioactive waste), ³⁾ and a cause of nuclear proliferation. Science and technology databases such as Academic Search Premier, AccessScience, and Web of Knowledge offer the most information relevant to the creation of nuclear power. Science journals (IoP, SPIN Web, etc.) have information pertaining to the the pros and cons of nuclear physics. PAIS International is an additional resource for political arguments and policies concerning nuclear proliferation. If possible, I would like to interview a professor who has experience with nuclear physics. These are a few routes to explore; however, there is such a wealth of information on nuclear power that anything could be a potential source.

 

Howard, John. "Nuclear Power's New Age." The Economist 06 Sept. 2007.

 

·         The general point of this article is that the development of nuclear power is inevitable because of the global economic strain. The reliance on fossil fuels has developed countries looking for alternative energy sources to insure domestic economic stability as well as national security. Many environmentalists are starting to embrace the idea of nuclear power as an alternative energy source, and the general international consensus is pushing the creation of more reactors.

 

Rosa, Eugene A., and Riley E. Dunlap.. "Nuclear power: Three decades of public opinion." Public Opinion Quarterly 58.2 (Summer94 1994): 295-324. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 26 Oct. 2008 <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9410063648&site=ehost-live>.

 

·         This article focuses on the social perspective toward the use of nuclear power and nuclear plants. The 3-Mile Island incident in Pensylvannia is used as an example to portray the reactions of Americans in response to the disaster. The pros and cons of nuclear plants are related to the way in which people percieve nuclear technology. Whether or not the government supports nuclear power is critical to a population's response to the idea. The third part of the 20^th centurty offered little support for nuclear power; however, there is now a renewal of interest in the development of nuclear technology.

 

Singer, J. David, and Volker Krause.. "Alliances and Nuclear Proliferation: A Matter of Reliability?." Conference Papers -- International Studies Association (2006 Annual Meeting 2006): 1. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 26 Oct. 2008 <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=27205035&site=ehost-live>.

 

·         The balance of power concept is adressed in this article to prove that nuclear weapons/technology keeps powerful countries in-check. The idea of increased nuclear proliferation is mentioned. Singer states, "We expect states to be more likely to engage in nuclear proliferation if (1) they lack support in military conflict from any nuclear major powers, (2) they have no nuclear major power allies, (3) nuclear major power allies do not support them in military conflict, and/or (4) nuclear major power allies are diverted from assisting them in military conflict because they are preoccupied with other armed confrontations." This is a key to my thesis in proving that regulations are crucial to prevent the top down model of nuclear proliferation.

 

Rogers, Kenneth A., and Marvin G. Kingsley.. "The Politics of Interim Radioactive Waste Storage:The United States." Environmental Politics 13.3 (Sep. 2004): 590-611. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 26 Oct. 2008 <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=14433467&site=ehost-live>.

 

·         The political viewpoint on radioactive waste is addressed in context of the known technology used to dispose of it. Since there are insufficient funds to develop new methods to destroy radioactive "hard" waste with no damage to the environment, plants are forced to store used uranium and fuel rods underground or in tanks. Private funding must be accompanied with government spending in order to secure long-term energy with no risk to the people or environment.  If new technology is created to provide a better means of destroying radioactive waste, plants would be passively secure (non-threatening) to the environment and the surrounding area.

 

 

Rahn, Frank J.. "Nuclear power." AccessScience@McGraw-Hill. 26 Oct. 2008. http://www.accessscience.com, DOI 10.1036/1097-8542.459600.

 

·         The encyclopedia entry for nuclear power gives general information about the history, use, and future of nuclear power. This is important in order to understand the United States' current ranking compared to other world leaders using nuclear power as energy. The creation and development of nuclear energy is described in great detail which clearly points out the future advantages of fission.  As for the safety of nuclear power, meltdowns are becoming less of a threat with newer innovations to stabilize the reactor core.

 

Lynas, Mark. "Why greens must learn to love nuclear power." New Statesman 137.4914 (22 Sep. 2008): 54-56. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 26 Oct. 2008 <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=34376121&site=ehost-live>.

 

Nuclear power used as energy is the best alternative to other fuel sources. The long term cost is cheap compared to the expense of building the plants. Nuclear energy is sustainable and a viable source of fuel with low impact to the environment. Mark argues in favor of adopting nuclear power to fight global warming and climate change and to conserve natural resources. The number of supporters for nuclear power is growing exponentially with the economic strains on the international market.

           

Annotated Bibliography: Light pollution

Topic Description

The sky in most major, bustling cities today looks like a starless orange haze. The bright city lights fade out the stars and lighten the sky, a popular concern with astronomers or people who want to make the city more aesthetically pleasing.  However, few people know bright city lights have a great effect on human health and are damaging the environment.  Birds, sea turtles, and insects are examples of species affected by light pollution. Experiments have also been conducted linking excessive exposure to artificial light to increased risk of breast cancer.  Other misconceptions many people have about light pollution are that light at night prevents crime and more light improves visibility.  Dark skies need to be treated as a scarce natural resource.  For my research paper, I am targeting city planners and city residents in order to spread education on the topic. I am planning to research my topic in the library's indexes and databases.  I think the "Science and Technology" and "Popular Sources" indexes, which include databases such as LexisNexis Environmental, will be very helpful. I want to look at sources explaining experiments that test how artificial light is related to breast cancer and how artificial light affects peoples' internal clocks.  I would like to interview a person knowledgeable on my topic and I may try to contact one of the authors of the articles I read.

Possible Thesis: Light pollution is serious problem that needs to be addressed as it is threatening human health and the environment.

Sources:

1. Longcore, Travis, and Catherine Rich. "Ecological Light Pollution." Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. Vol. 2 , no. 4 2004, 191-98.  26 Oct. 2008.

<http://www.urbanwildlands.org/Resources/LongcoreRich2004.pdf>.

This article will help explain the specific ways light pollution affects ecosystems.  The name "light pollution" alone has the connotation of mainly human's declining ability to see the sky. However, there needs to be more recognition of the different types of light pollution besides astronomical such as ecological light pollution.  It affects important parts of numerous species' behavior including foraging, reproduction, migration, and communication.  Light pollution disrupts ecosystems and affects the competition and predation.  The article also discusses steps that should be taken in the future to protect ecosystems such as the environment monitoring protocol needs to include measurements of light disturbance. 

 

2. Stevens, Richard. "Artificial Lighting in the Industrialized World: Circadian Disruption and Breast Cancer." Cancer Causes and Control (May 2006), 501-07. <http://data.nextrionet.com/site/idsa/breastcancerstevens.pdf>.

This article gives a detailed explanation of how extended exposure to artificial light during the night is increasing the chance of women getting breast cancer.  The main reason behind the risk of breast cancer is thought to be that melatonin is reduced  and estrogen increased.  The article explains that the artificial light theory first came about when scientists investigated the question of why there are so many more cases of breast cancer in developed countries than in developing.  The article not only provides an explanation of why not spending enough time in a dark environment increases the risk for breast cancer in women, it also gives examples of experiments that scientists have conducted to test the hypothesis. 

 

3. Guynup, Sharon. "Light Pollution Taking Toll on Wildlife, Eco-Groups Say." National Geographic News. 17 Apr. 2003. National Geographic. 26 Oct. 2008.

<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0417_030417_tvlightpollution.html>.

This article makes an interesting point that dark skies should be considered a natural resource; dark skies should be protected just as rivers and forests are protected. This point could be a major part of my argument and help explain how people's views need to drastically change towards light pollution. There is not enough concern for the topic. The article also focuses on the harmful effects light pollution has on different animal species.  Birds, sea turtles, frogs and salamanders are examples of animals at risk. An experiment on frogs and the effects of lights showed that light exposure even affects aspects of physical development such as hormone production.  The hormones is frogs regulate things such as how much fat frogs store in the winter and when they produce eggs.

 

4. Klinkenborg, Verlyn. "Our Vanishing Night." National Geographic. Nov 2008. 26 Oct. 2008.

<http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/geopedia/Light_Pollution>.

This article is helpful because it gives an overview of the problem of light pollution. It is not extremely detailed, but addresses some of the important issues related to light pollution. We are constantly extending the day and shortening the night and as a result people's internal clocks are out of rhythm.  Light pollution harms the environment because it affects many animal species.  Small nocturnal animals such as bats and rodents are more visible and prone to predators because they feed off insects, which are attracted to bright lights.  Birds' normal behaviors change including age of maturity, migration schedules, and sense of direction.  Sea turtles can't find dark beaches for their eggs and baby sea turtles can't find the direction of the ocean when they hatch on brightly lit beaches. 

5. "Melatonin." Making Treatment Decisions. 20 July 2007. American Cancer Society.

26 Oct. 2008.

<http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_5_3X_Melatonin.asp>.

This article is about different aspects of melatonin including what it is, why the body produces it, and how it affects the body. The information about melatonin in this article will be helpful in explaining the effects of light pollution on humans.  Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland in response to darkness; it is important for sleeping and waking. While there is still a great deal of research to do on melatonin, some scientists believe it is a powerful antioxidant that block free radicals from destroying cells and stop the spread of certain cancers.  Other relevant information the article includes covers research conducted on the effects of melatonin and cancer and how melatonin supplements would affect the body.

 

6. "Building Community." Nightscape: 18 pgs. 26 Oct. 2008. <http://data.nextrionet.com/site/idsa/nl73-74.pdf >.

A section in this article discusses how overly lit areas can actually be more dangerous than darkness.   One possible solution to decrease light pollution is to dim city lights or remove some streetlights. I will be able to use this article to dispel a counter-argument people could have against this solution that less light is more dangerous. Bright light limits the eye's ability to see in darkness and uneven light makes it difficult to see details. Reducing criminal activity will also be an incentive for city planners to focus on lowering light pollution.  Well lit cities will improve the environment, lower energy use, and improve the charm of the city.

Sources:

Originally I was looking for a topic related to medicine and I was mostly looking at prescription drugs. I was finding interesting topics, but I had a very hard time finding a debatable topic. The other day I read an article in National Geographic and decided to take my paper in a new direction.  My new topic is: bright city lights are damaging to our environment and human health.  Ecosystems are out of balance because many animal species such as birds and sea turtles are threatened. Excessive exposure to artificial light has been linked to increasing the risk of diseases like breast cancer. While it is widely known that bright city lights make it hard to see the stars, few people know of the other serious effects caused by the lights.  

After making little headway with my recycling topic and also having little luck finding sources for my television-intelligence correlation, I've decided to pursue a new topic (although) still in relation to television. I'd like to examine televangelism and research the negative effects it has on the Protestant Christian religion as a whole. I feel televangelists, though popular in the room they are broadcasting from, are actually pushing people away from the faith instead of drawing them to it. I think the results of my research could be very interesting for the Protestant community.

I am planning on investigating politics and their relationship to social networking sites. I'm still not sure how I am going to narrow the topic. I was thinking about arguing that the future of political campaigns lies in social networking sites and not print media. Any thoughts?

I have decided to narrow my thesis specifically to nuclear power.

Thesis: Because nuclear power is a sustainable energy source and its development increases national security, nuclear power will be the primary source of energy for the United States within ten years.

I think this will be interesting because I can also incorporate the argument that nuclear technology is a "balance of power" between countries. 

I need some help finding some more sources for my topic. I'm still not positive how I'm going to narrow it down, but I'm going to go the route of the effect of the internet on the music business and try to argue that pirating is actually having a more positive effect on the music business. I'll have to find a good strategy for arguing that and I can probably do even better with the thesis but thats what I have for now.

I have narrowed my topic to poppies in Afghanistan but am not sure that I am going be to able to tie it back to technology to a huge degree.  Although, I guess I could try to treat poppy cultivation as a technology.  Would that work?

After searching for the past several weeks for a legitimate topic, Professor Miller and myself concluded that writing about blogs would be the best option.  My ideas so far are to either look at blogs as a legitimate source of investigative journalism, to look at the effects of blogs on politics and see where it takes me, or discuss how to determine the legitimacy of a blog.  My question is where should I start and where should I go to find some solid information?

So I have been browsing the catalog and databases for about an hour everyday this week, and am still struggling to find a few strong sources for one of my potential topics. I was wondering if anyone had had particular success with a resource, or could point me in the right direction. My potential topics are as follows:

Negative impacts of technology in sports

Potential economic returns of going back to the moon

Negatives of Solar Power in the short term.

Thank you.

I have run into a wall with information and arguments for small arms and gun control.  I have decided to move away from that and do technology in sports. 

I've decided to research the topic of communications, mainly Internet and cell phones, and how they've changed people's relationships to be much less personable. I need to do some research in the library to find books and articles on this topic to get better ideas of how to narrow my thesis and possibly find a more interesting standpoint on it. Where would be the best place to do this? And does anyone have an any ideas for how I could make this a more unique idea to research?

I have an email into the agent I interned with to see if she has any insight on how i could narrow my topic. I asked if there were any crimes in particular that she has seen a rise in and that she finds interesting regarding the internet and identity theft and identity fraud. Where could I find some other sources about internet and crimes?

For my paper, I want to focus on how prescription drugs are excessively used. I think many times patients are misdiagnosed and the patients and doctors are both to blame. People are always looking for the quickest, easiest way to solve their problems. Patients will sometimes see a drug commercial and then list off the symptoms given on television to a doctor, practically writing their own prescription. Doctors are also influenced by drug companies to prescribe certain drugs more often.  While prescription drugs are needed by some patients, I think there are many cases when the roots of the problem are not fully investigated and the patient is misdiagnosed. 

I found an example I could use to make my paper more specific of the increase in the use of Ritalin with children. Some quick facts I found:

- In most schools today, about 1/3 of the students are using Ritalin. 

-Recent studies are showing that many children diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed Ritalin either don't need the drug or may have a learning disability. 

-Schools received budget cuts and class sizes increased. At the same time the use of Ritalin increased. One site i read said,"drugs like Ritalin are being used as a social control."    

I think the example of Ritalin and children sounds interesting and I hadn't heard much about it before; it seems like a more recent argument. Any thoughts?

I've been doing some research, and I've come across some interesting things that might help narrow my thesis.

What would be resources for my research topic: Its wrong for colleges such as Davidson to monitor their students email accounts. I am looking for resources such as court cases dealing with the subject and privacy laws. Also, anyone who has any interesting ways to narrow this topic would be greatly appreciated.

Looking at solar power now, I want to focus on short term weaknesses. Something along the lines of "While solar power may one day be the power source of the future, it's current inefficiency and high costs prevent it from being a current solution to energy and oil dependency problems in light of the current economic conditions."  I would appreciate thoughts on to whether or not this could work as both a topic, and as a temporary thesis statement.

Where would be the best place to research car safety and/or highway safety.

Just wanted to get some feedback about this topic.  I had been thinking about how the military technology has had an effect on America, and after today's discussion in class I figured that I could almost argue the exact opposite of Taylor.  Instead of saying that technology has caused conflicts, I would say that the advancement in weapons technology has done more to keep America out of major conflicts than anything else.  I would obviously need to narrow this down, but does this idea or topic sound interesting to anyone?

I'm thinking about changing the focus of my topic to something more like:
The internet and progress in communication technologies has often been considered a bad thing for popular music and the music business, while in fact it has had a beneficial effect for independent artists and created a more diverse musical culture.
What are your thoughts on this topic?

I think this is a better thesis:Since the Cold War, technology has been the underlying cause for war between the U.S. and other nation-states.

I am still trying to decide whether or not I should argue that technology is the cause of war or is this too bold of a claim? Any ideas on how I can incorporate technology on an international level as a symbol of power for countries?

I'm still having trouble defining my thesis. I think Facebook would be an interesting paper topic that is relevant to our generation. I'm just not sure which direction to take my thesis. I need to focus it more, most likely on one aspect of facebook. Any ideas?

I've decided to concentrate my research paper on some aspect of hydrogen filling stations, and ultimately their connection to the reason we can't use hydrogen cars tomorrow. But I'm not sure where to go with just the filling stations..

The excerpt from Al Gore's The Assault on Reason seemed to correlate EXACTLY with my thesis, only that it took a completely opposite stance on the subject. Gore voiced his opinion that the Internet is a savior for democracy, allowing people to get their news from a much more varied source, and presumably one that is unflinching in its neutrality and allowance of multiple points of view.

The problem with this, of course, was well paraphrased by David Brooks in his Editorial about the book, saying: "Has Gore ever actually looked at the Internet? He spends much of this book praising cold, dispassionate logic, but is that really waht he finds on most political blogs or in his e-mail folder?"

I am still not really sure where i want to go with my paper.  I want to discuss how technology has an impact on small arms because I think that a lot of time is spent talking about nuclear weapons and not about small arms.  Some ideas for topics that I have are letting ex military and police teachers carry concealed weapons to school.  Or make it legal for someone to buy a pistol in the state of north carolina at 18 since they can by a rifle at 18.  I don't understand why an 18 year old can buy a weapon that is capable of doing damage at over 500 yards when they can't have a pistol that is not very effective outside of 50.  I also think if teachers have served in the armed forces or are and ex cop they should be able to carry a concealed weapon to school if they take a course in order to defend themselves and their students in case of a school shooting.  These are just a couple ideas that I have about small arms in our every day lives.  I would like some advice as to where to go with these ideas or if any of you have any other ideas that would be interesting.

For the most part, I found Gore's opinion on the solution to the downfall of reasoning ridiculously idealistic. Like Brooks says in his review, the Internet is much more populated with violent, emotional arguments than it is with intelligent and logical ones. Also, Gore seems to contradict himself in the excerpt. First he claims that Americans are becoming "disconnected from the democratic process," and argues that we are slowly being alienated from our government which no longer seeks our support on issues, just our financial support and our votes. However, at the very end he asserts that "networked democracy is taking hold," so apparently we're getting more involved as we're being cut-off. 

Not sure what direction to go with my thesis.  I could focus more on where highways are put and why (positive or negative reasons), low speed limits make highways more dangerous, or the negative effects of Nadar's book on car safety.  Any thoughts?

My theses both discuss the ideas of common misconceptions in regards to certain technology, an area both Marx and Winner seem to specialize in. Marx believes technology and advances in that field have gradually shifted over the past 200 years. Originally, technological innovations were made in order to advance society as a whole, but as time progressed, they were made self-servingly and to make a profit. I feel Marx would respond most to my argument about television and how it has helped to increase the intelligence of the American viewing public. If Marx looked at the beginnings of television and how far it has come, he could easily apply his theory to the timeline. Television, he might argue, was originally intended to help inform the public with domestic and international news items, but the fierce competition to attract viewers caused the television stations to appeal more to the entertainment side of the brain than the intellectual side. Winner, on the other hand, would respond more strongly to my argument about recycling and how it is an energy waste rather than an energy saver. Winner's essay focuses more on the political nature of technology and those who operate it. Winner might find recycling a prime example of how there needs to be a centralized administrative system in place in order to direct it, much like the railroads or nuclear energy plants. And if those in charge have some sort of political or social agenda, like Robert Moses with his Long Island overpasses, the administration could easily manipulate policies and processes for their own designs. For example, if a foresting magnate is on the administrative board, he could easily declare that recycling paper was a waste and all paper must be made from scratch instead of recycled.

                My topic is the potential downfalls of solar energy.  Leo Marx's article "Does Improved Technology Mean Progress?", while not specifically about this subject, provides great insight into the broader themes of the topic.

               

Leo Marx, and his theory that improved technology does not necessarily improve society, would probably believe that my thesis that blogs have changed the way that Americans receive news, and allow the populace to distribute news based on what they think is important.

                Marx argued that improved technology sometimes may be detrimental to civilization and technology may be used to repress, not necessarily helping society. I think that he would believe that the distribution of news by more decentralized sources may lead to a less political influence on the news, and blogging has done just that. While some blogs are still greatly influenced by political views, the spectrum is no longer as specialized, such as liberal newspapers or conservative radio.

                Marx would think that such a diverse group of sources for news will help to bring to the forefront of news what regular Americans think is important, instead of what biased news sources want us to believe.

In "Do artifacts have politics", Winner argues the relatively unnoticed political power of technology in varying degrees.   Winner would agree with my topic on the negative effects of speed limits and the American highway system.  Winner's discussion of "technical arrangements that precede the use of things in question" directly relates to speed limits and highways (28).  When there was a strong push for safety and less gas consumption, the United States forced states to abide by speed limits.  At the time, this invention seemed fitting.  But, as Winner describes, choices become fixed in equipment and social habit (30).  Highways designed with relatively low speed limits had flexibility in design in the beginning.  However, their flexibility has vanished and their practical purposes may be out dated.  But the technology's power holds firm.  To redesign the United States means of auto transportation would be a huge undertaking.   The resources required would be enough to make the issue relatively untouchable.  This alone would support Winner's argument of technological determinism.  The technology in place holds strong political power that towers over the averagely timid politician.  
In Marx's article, speed limits and highway safety follow his discussion of social issues versus technocratic ideals.  Marx says, "the debased technocratic version of the progressive worldview has slowly gained adherents...and by now it is one of the chief ideological supports of an adversary culture" (75).  Speed limits broadly fit the idea of technological progress being reevaluated by the public.   The public going against the technocratic idea demonstrate Marx's hope for questioning the use of technical progress.

After reading both Marx and Winner's opinions on technology, I think they would both support my research topic because it emphasizes a few strong points of both of their arguments and examinations of technology.  

In Marx's article, "Does Improved Technology Mean Progress?, he discusses the shift in beliefs from the view that technology and technological improvements are a sound judge of American progress to the more recent skeptical standpoint that presents a more negative "view of technological innovation as an index of social progress" (65). Shifts have also occurred from an Enlightenment belief that science and technology worked towards the goals of liberation from political oppression, towards a technocratic stance that that "science-based technologies are in themselves a sufficient and reliable basis for progress" (76).

 

My research topics both have to do with forms of technology and their affects on society. One looks at the effects of violent TV and videogames on children's levels of aggression, and the other examines how drastically methods of communication have changed with the introduction of the Internet and cell phones, and how they've made relationships much less personable. Marx would definitely argue that all of these forms of technology-TV, Internet, video games, cell phones-may not necessarily be marked as positive changes in society. Yes, each of these innovations has its upsides to the advancement of society, but each can also have detrimental effects. Although I haven't picked which topic I would like to study, with either one I plan to examine those negative effects of either aggression or less personable relationships. Mark would see this as a quality argument, since his entire piece discusses why Americans have made the shift from Enlightenment to technocratic and how.  At a certain point of technological advancement Americans began to examine the motives behind these innovations, and realized that they can't always be used as an index of progress in our world. Mark states, "only by questioning the assumption that innovation necessarily represents progress can we begin to judge its worth" (77). Although innovations that have enhanced media and communication are extremely impressive and can be valuable, their possible negative affects on society are what I plan to explore through my research paper.

 Langdon Winner questions the idea that certain objects are inherently political. Winner states that most objects are not political but their users may make it appear this way. However, under certain conditions technologies themselves can be political. I believe that Winner would respond to my research topic: It is not right for colleges to monitor student emails, by asking me to delve into the context that the technology was developed and its intended purpose.

I believe Marx would agree with my thesis that the rise of internet networking technology has made relationships less intimate.  Marx asks "Does improved technology mean progress?"(77).

For my paper I want to discuss how the powers of the world like the US and the UK use the possibility of nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands to distract people from the true weapons of mass destruction, small arms that they sell. 

=Thesis=

Since technology provides the foundation for today's globilization system, it serves as a symbol of power for the United States and is the underlying cause for conflict on the global stage.

Marx would argue that Americans viewpoints vary on the impact of technology in the global arena depending on their age, social class, and political stance. Like the example of Jefferson and Webster, technology affects people to various degrees based on their reliance on technology; thus, it is evident that businessmen, teenagers, and anyone who uses the internet, for instance, to trade stock or sell on eBay will support the idea that technology has a massive effect on globalization. In today's world, the speed of your modem is more important than the number of nuclear weapons you have.

Winner would argue that technology is not the root of global conflict because technology is meant to provide order. Technology's aim is to improve the lives of people by providing safer foods, better roads, and more effective medical treatment. Winner argues that nuclear energy, for example, cannot be taken out of context until it is accepted and used on a large scale. Certain technologies require a tradeoff between necessity and consequence.

Both would agree that technology does in fact determine a nation-state's level of power in on the world stage. 

In my research paper I am hoping to discuss in some respects how the Internet has made committing certain crimes, such as identity theft, much easier for criminals. Leo Marx presents in his work "Does Improved Technology Mean Progress" the question does improved technology mean progress, and that in order for technology to be progress it must have a predetermined purpose. With the invention of the Internet it was not intended for people to gain access of information they should not have and use it for illegal purposes. Marx states that people today have lost the interest to "name the social ends for which the scientific and technological instruments of power are to be used," meaning that no one decides the limits of technologies. So in the case of the Internet, I think Marx would argue that people were naïve and did not realize the full potential of the Internet and the major problems that could arise. A predetermined purpose for the Internet had not been set, no one decided what this "progress" was going towards or what it was supposed to accomplish. Marx believes that by setting these "goals" for what the technological innovation should be used for it "can provide the criteria required to make rational and humane choices," meaning there would be less room for people to take advantage of the technology and misuse it, which is what has been happening with the Internet. Marx would also encourage people to weigh the actual costs and benefits of the Internet, and ask if it's really worth it to make accessible all this information just for criminals to use against the society. The Internet, with it's wide range of possibilities, Marx would argue that there may be too many ways in which things could go wrong, and say that the Internet possibly is a technological innovation that is not progressive. 

Leo Marx, in the article "Does Improved Technology Mean Progress?", discusses the misleading notion that many Americans have adopted overtime:  technological improvements are a primary basis for and an accurate gauge of progress. 

In Marx's article, he writes about how American attitudes toward technology have changed from believing science and technology are means to be unconfined politically and socially to believing in a more technocratic view that innovation alone is progress. While some people hold this technocratic view, it takes more than just the invention of a new technology for it to earn the label, "progress."

For my research paper, my topic is prescription drugs. Doctors give out prescription drugs and patients accept prescription drugs all too easily to improve their health.  In our highly developed world patients are constantly searching for the newest medicine and don't consider the possible roots of the problem as often, such as stress or lack of sleep. Marx would think my topic makes a valid argument. In the end of the article Marx writes, "Only by questioning the assumption that innovation necessarily represents progress can we begin to judge its worth"(77).  Science and technology mean progress when we are able to find the right purpose and answer the question, "Progress towards what?" (77). The innovations themselves are not progress; the new, usually more efficient ideas and reasons why innovations are invented are progress. My example supports Marx's statement because it shows how there is not progress toward anything except drug companies making more money.  The drug may solve one health issue while creating another causing the patient to buy more prescriptions, or the patient may not need the drug at all and therefore it is not effective.  Marx would argue that drug companies need to prove their drug actually helps patients and doctors need to be more careful when diagnosing.  Both doctors and drug companies need to shift their focus from making the most profit to finding the best way to cure patients. 

Thesis: The advance of musical technologies has caused people with unique musical talent to be thrust into the backdrop of popular musical culture.

    Based on Marx's claims and arguments in his essay, "Does Improved Technology Mean Progress?" I believe that Marx would find my thesis to be a good example of what he wants to emphasize....
    Winner would probably want me to think about whether or not it is truly the technology to blame or actually the situations in which the technologies were developed...

Topic 1 - Programs that allow users to legally purchase and download music (iTunes, Napster, etc.) are growing in popularity. This increase in users could seriously lower piracy and forever change the way we listen to and purchase music.

topic 1: cyber crimes/ crimes on the internet

Causing controversy has never been so difficult for me. As I pored over topics trying to think of how technology affects the United States, it never seemed so difficult for me to find something that would incite a reaction other than "Well, Duh." 

Some useful resources sent by Kristen Eshleman:

Here is the link to Sphere - the widget they can use to help find similar blogs.  Our blogging platform is "MovableType": http://www.sphere.com/get-widget

Technorati published a set of guidelines to help you get this site noticed through their service.  The students should read this and adhere to these: http://support.technorati.com/guidelines/

And finally, they can use these as well to search for authoritative blogs:

Google Blog Search: http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en
Technorati: http://technorati.com/
Weblogs (need to create a personal account): http://www.weblogs.com/home.html