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This week I would like to write about BE CONFIDENT NOT A KNOW IT ALL. I liked the story that Prof. M told about his son being a know it all. I think at times we all tend to be a know it all. I cannot stand people that think they know everything. I have some relatives that act that way. They seem to know everything and know absolutely nothing. If you are going to say something or give your opinion make sure you have something that you can back up your statement. The same thing could go for writing. I read Adrienne Rich’s paper WHEN WE DEAD AWAKEN last semester. I found it to be a difficult piece to get through. She was confident in her writing and expressed through her poems. People need to realize at times that they cannot know everything. I noticed that in my writing this semester I used, I think, I believe several times in a paper. In the future I need to come up with a better way to write my opinion in a way that makes look confident. One needs to have confidence in something. Otherwise they will not succeed. I need to gain better confidence when answering in class. I need to overcome the fear that what I say has some meaning to it. I also need to work on how I say it. One should have a different tone when speaking about something they truly care about. They should have a sense of authority in their voice when speaking and be confident about it.
— DeVillez, Eric, Michael McGuire, Thomas Dow, and Troy Swanson. “Why White Rice.” Be Confident Not A Know -It-All. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2010. Print
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Corey Gallai
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Corey Gallai
This week I decided to write about the poem that we watched in class the other day. Taylor Mali recited a poem on language. The title is a little misleading at first. I went back and read the poem in Why White Rice. I must say it was better hearing the poem than reading it. The poem is about the way we speak and write. Sometimes we say a word but it changes the entire sentence. It is all by the way that we say it. We tend to do this a lot when we write. We may choose to write all these fancy words that we do not know the meaning of, let alone know how to spell. People choose to write like this to impress others. However, it sends the wrong message and people often do not have the same understanding for the way you wrote something. When one writes, they need to take the time to make sure that we can understand what the writer is saying. Mali did a great job reciting the poem. He really made his point during the poem. After watching this poem and reading it the book, I started to realize we tend write sentences that have a different meaning than what we originally had planned to say. Language is everything. The way we say something can really show whether someone is smart or whether they are trying to impress someone. The way someone says something can also change the person listening opinion on the topic being discussed.
Mali, Taylor. TOTALLY LIKE WHATEVER, YOU KNOW? http://www.tayormali.com. Copyright 2009 -
Corey Gallai
Project 5: Service Learning Pt. 2
When Prof. M gave us another service learning project to do, I was not thrilled to do it. I thought, this is going to take forever and I will never get in time. As I started to work into the project, it did not seem that bad. The first step to this project was getting into groups. This part is always difficult to get through. Everyone wants the perfect group. Some people do not like group projects at all. Most of that is due to past experiences. In most school group projects, there is that one person in the group who slacks off. Therefore, everyone else is left to pick up his slack. That was my biggest fear when it came to the group project we had to do in Prof. M’s class. The project has actually been working out for my group.
There are so many topics to choose from when it comes to a service learning project. Our group thought about doing homelessness or world hunger. Many people seem to do that topic. Some of it is those are easier topics to choose from. After discussing which topics to choose, we came up with the subject of animal cruelty. Animal cruelty is an important topic. I think it is one that does not get as much attention as it should. Animal cruelty is the suffering or harm done to animals. Our group chose this topic because we are all animal lovers.
Our group has met several times over the last weeks bringing our ideas together to plan the event and work on ideas for the upcoming volunteer fair. We have all decided to go the Animal Welfare League. We will be working with the animals as well as talking to the people who work there. We plan on also talking those who go and rescue dogs from the homes that they have been abused in. We want to learn more about what the job consists of.
On my own, I have spent a lot of time researching the topic. It is a topic that can become frustrating because of the many different paths you can go to research this topic. There are many animals to research about and how they have been abused. We chose to look into dogs, and other domestic pets. This topic has become more of an issue over the years. Within in the topic of animal abuse there are many subtopics that research can be done in as well. We need to seriously spend more time, making stricter laws to prevent animal abuse/cruelty.
In recent years a bill was passed in Suffolk on animal protection. Anyone convicted of animal abuse would be on a list that is a registry for people that have abuse animals. The people convicted will be on this list for five years. People on this list will also have to pay a fee to keep the registry going (Rick Brand, NEWSDAY). I think this is a great start to this problem. More bills need to be made to help save the animals. They have lives just like us. Michael Vick, was sent to jail for the dog fights he was having. Other countries around the world have made strict laws against animal abuse. However, people still under go the system and continue to abuse animals.I also think that people should have to qualify to own a pet. They government should set up limits to who can own a pet and who cannot. The people qualified to own a pet should have to keep a license stating that they are qualified to own a pet. This could help prevent animal abuse.
Another subtopic with animal abuse is the idea of declawing or debarking animals. According to a poll in MARIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL, fifty-five percent of cat owners say it is ok to declaw cats (Manning, P.1). We have two cats in my family. One of them we had to declaw. One cat would not stop scratching our carpets. One day we decided that she had to be declawed. The declawing of cats leaves them without their front claws. Therefore, they have not great way of protecting themselves in a fight. I thought that the operation would leave our cat in pain for many days. The day we brought her home she was walking just fine. Vets will not do all four feet. They mainly do the front paws. I myself think that declawing should only be done if an animal is constantly destroying furniture or getting in fights with other animals.
On the topic of debarking dogs, I am totally against that. A bark is a dog’s way of communicating with us. According to the same journal, one percent said yes to debarking their dogs. (Manning, P.2). In the article a dog trainer and behaviorist, John Klien would support a ban on debarking (Manning, p.2) . I think that debarking a dog is inhumane. One of my cousins had to debark their dog due to his hearing problems. The high pitches the dogs made while barking were harmful to my cousin’s ears. Many vets nowadays refuse to debark dogs. I may not like how those little yapper dogs’ bark, but no dog should have to undergo the procedure of debarking.
Another thing that I do not support and that could be considered as cruelty to some is the cropping of a Doberman’s ears and tails. When most people think of a Doberman Pinscher, they think of a dog looks very scary due to its ears sticking up. I think it is beyond cruel to crop a Doberman’s ear and cut off their tails. The Doberman has a reputation for being a fierce dog due to the way that it looks. I am glad to see that many vets today will no longer crop a Doberman’s ear and tail.
Overall, this topic has many paths to go down when it comes to animal cruelty. One topic within animal cruelty I want to look into more is dog fights and how to prevent them. Our group will be going to Animal Welfare later this week. After we have gone, I plan to revise this paper telling more of the story that happened while we were there. Animal abuse/cruelty is an important topic. We need to look into more ways to prevent this. In addition we need to adopt more dogs from humane societies rather than going to the pet store or a breeder. I also have three dogs. All of my dogs have come from the local animal shelter.For more information on what to do to help you can look up local animal shelters in your neighborhood or go to ASPCA website. They are an organization that helps with preventing animal cruelty.
Works Cited.
Brand, Rick. “ Animal Protection Bill Passes.” Newsday. 13. Oct 2010. A.4 SIRS Issues Researchers.Manning, Sue. “AP Poll Looks At Feelings on Declawing, Debarking.” Marin Independent Journal. 15 Feb 2011: n.p SIRS Issues Researchers.
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Corey Gallai
This week I am writing about “The Machine That Is Replacing Me”. I found this story interesting to read. As stated in the story, if you read the textbook you will do better. I agree with this statement. Most students will just read over their notes that they have taken in class. If you read the book that goes with the class, you can find out more information. I have been in the situation where I choose not to use the book for a class. I figure, the book is too heavy and I don’t want to carry it everywhere I go. Students in general do not take time to read the textbook due to their busy lives. We all have busy lives outside of school. If we could take 10 minutes every day to read a small section in the book, it could improve how we do in the class. In high school, I never really read the textbook for a class. A lot of times I just looked for the answers for assignments such as section reviews or vocab. I think that is what a lot of students do as well. We just skim through the pages looking for the answers. In high school, I tried not to look at school as a chore or something I had to do. I looked at it as something that would help me later in life. Sure there were times that I did not want to be at school for whatever reason. I knew in the long run that all this school will make me a better person.
— DeVillez, R. Eric, Dow, P. Thomas, McGuire, S. Michael, Swanson, A. Troy. Why White Rice?. Debuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2010. Print -
Corey Gallai
This weeks journal entry is on the presentation we saw on KONY 2012. The video was inspiring and sad at the same time. Joseph Kony is one of the most vicious criminals in today’s world. He had been abducting children from their homes in Africa. He trains them to become soldiers and kill. Many of the young soldiers he has forced into training kill their parents. I did not know that much about Kony. Recently his name has been appearing online a lot. I have heard of the group INVISIBLE CHILDREN. I have never been to one of their screenings before. I am glad I finally got to see one. I heard more about him from a paper that someone in my class did their research paper on Invisible Children. Kony has been active for 26 years. How can this have gone on this long without anyone putting an end to this? I am glad to see that in a few weeks People all over the world will be participating in an event that will help spread Kony’s name around. This will hopefully make people more aware and what to look into who this person is. It is important that everyone knows who Kony is. This can help with finally catching him. I am glad to see that celebrities and politicians are getting involved. Again people may be more concerned to help if they see a popular celebrity like George Clooney or Angelina Jolie get involved in this. Overall, I am glad to have gone to this screening. If we spread the word around about Kony, this could help in the effort to stop him.
KONY 2012. Invisible Children. 3 April 2012 -
Corey Gallai
This week’s journal entry is on Ch. 6 in WHY WHITE RICE, “Writing is Limitless”. This title is very true. If you find a topic that you have an interest in, you can write about nonstop. I also believe that you should not have a limit as to how much you should write. You should be able to write as much as you want. Some guidelines to follow would to make sure it all makes sense. Sometimes when you write and write, you could get lost in your thoughts and things could start to fall apart. Also, if you are given an unlimited amount of words to write, it could make writing more enjoyable. When people are given a certain amount of words to write, they are not free to express everything that they want to say. Writing could then become boring for some and then they will see it as just another boring thing to do. I remember in elementary and high school, there were always limits on how much you could write. In this com class, I feel like I can write more even though there is a limit as to how many words to write. Some of it is due to that we do not need to really have that five paragraphed structure when writing in this class. The idea of writing more should be taught to students more often. The best time to start learning to incorporate unlimited writing in you work would be in high school. Then students are prepared and taught that it is ok to use this “Unlimited Writing”.
— DeVillez, R. Eric, Dow, P. Thomas, McGuire, S. Michael, Swanson, A. Troy. Why White Rice?. Debuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2010. Print -
Corey Gallai
This week’s journal entry is on Bobbie Harro’s CYCLE OF SOCIALIZATION. I found this article interesting to read. I like how he says we are born into a set of social identities. He listed a few categories that we are put into. Basically we are programmed into a certain socialization group when we are born. We really do not get to choose this group. I found as I was reading the article that it was how we are raised. Every now and then someone might to say to someone, “You act a lot like your father or mother”. That sometimes is true. We tend to model our behavior on what we see around us. Sometimes that is not a good thing. I never realized the chart Harro shows in the article is something that I have been using all my life. I just never knew it or realized it. In the section on arrow 1 talks about the rules set for us by the people raising us. We follow these rules for many years. As we grow older, we start to question these rules. We also do not follow all of them that we were told when we were young. Sometimes when we break certain rules, there are major consequences that follow. I also believe we learn from our mistakes. As we grow up we see who we really are. Our attitudes change on certain things. We use what we were taught by the people that raised us and try to do everything they have done. Overall, I liked this article. It made me start thinking more about how I act or how people act in society and why they may act this way.
Harro, Bobby. “The Cycle Of Socialization” p. 15-21. 2012. splatter.writting101.net -
Corey Gallai
Reflection on Service Learning
I participated in the SHARE YOUR SOLES event on March 10. I have done service learning before Prof. M’s class. In high school, I had to complete twenty-four hours of service learning per graduation requirement. When I first heard about this event, I was not that interested. As I helped out in the outing, I started to enjoy it. I really enjoyed going to Share Your Soles.
When we got there, they showed us a few videos about what the organization does. Share Your Soles is an organization that sends shoes out to those how are in need of shoes. Some of the places the shoes were being sent out to were Africa and Haiti. We were told to bring shoes with us when going to SYS. The videos they showed were really sad. It was sad to see these children and adults having to use tar to keep their feet protected. It strange how we take things like shoes for granted. Shoes help keep our feet protected. It is very hard to walk in some areas without shoes. It is really sad that not everyone can have one pair of shoes. We were shown two videos before going to the warehouse. After watching the videos we went into a big warehouse, where we started to help get all kinds of shoes sorted. I was surprised at all the stuff they had. I have never seen that many shoes in one place before. We all stood in a group and listened to the organization founder talk to us about the organization.
Then we split up into groups and were given different tasks. The first hour we stood around not really doing much. We started making signs so we could organize the shoes. After that we started to organize and sort out shoes. There many categories between men and women (i.e. gym shoes, sandals, womens high heels, dress shoes, winter shoes). It was amazing to see how many people have donated to this organization. It shows that people care about these people and need and want to do something about it. For about an hour and a half, to two hours we sorted out shoes. The shoes had to be in a specific row by row count. This makes it easier when the shoes are ready to be shipped in boxes. Some of the shoes that are donated are not able to be worn. So unfortunately we have to discard them. Others come without laces. They have a station for that at the warehouse.
I started to see what a problem this is in the world. People do not have the money to buy shoes. The children in the video shown were using tar to keep their feet protected. The people in the video do not have the kind of paved roads we have here in the U.S. Many of the people that were shown in the video have to travel days to find food and water for themselves. The road they have to take is dangerous. This organization is off to a great start to help make a difference in this problem. If everyone could make a small donation from time to time, I truly think it would make a difference. I was surprised to see what we alone, brought with to the event (in terms of shoes). I also realized, we need to make more people aware of the situation that is going on here. The people who are in need have very bad living conditions. We need to help them out.Overall I really enjoyed this experience. I was glad I blocked time out of my schedule to attend the event. It made start to realize instead of throwing out shoes that we do not wear anymore, why not donate them to people that could really use them . I was a little disappointed in the system of organization when we got there. I felt that we should not have had to make the signs for the people there. That should have been done for us. That way we could start working right away. I would’ve liked it to be a little bit busier than it was on the day I went. I also realized that one person can make a difference. Mona Purdy, the founder of SYS, has made a difference. Her organization has helped those who are in need. I would go back to SYS and help again sometime.
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Keitha Cheeks
Corey you did a good thing by participating in the “Share your Soles” event. That sound like a really good charity for people who don’t have enough money for shoes. You are right about how more fortunate people take shoes for granted; I see it happen every day. A lot of kids aren’t appreciative about how many pairs of shoes their parents buy them and other kids don’t even have one pair. You did a great job of explaining in detail what exactly happened at the Share Your Soles event. As I was reading I can actually picture in my head what it was like and it made me wish I would have joined. You even described what the videos were about in great detail. I know for sure that if I was there and saw those videos showing the kids use tar to protect their feet that would have made me more influenced to help and get the job done as soon as possible. I don’t like to see people struggling for things that most other people take for granted every single day. I do agree that more people should get involved with this issue. It would be great if people could make money donations and shoes. I wish i would have gone because there are hundreds of shoes in my house that could be donated and I also would have gave money, I love to help when I can. If I see or hear about any other shoe donations for charity I will definitely get involved thanks to reading Corey’s essay. A lot of times it takes an influence like this for some people to get involved in service activities. Not only shoes though I could also Donate clothes, and lately my sister have been finding old clothes and clothes she don’t wear and packing them up to take to some type of charity event her friend at work was telling her about. I’m definitely going to take pack up some of my clothes to take. I’m sure just as much people who don’t have shoes don’t have clothes either. I would feel good to give away some of minds just to help without getting anything in return. You actually enjoyed the service activity and a lot of people might think that it’s boring or lame but it’s good to know that it was enjoyable. Also when you said that The Founder Mona Purdy made a difference, that made me think back to the day in class when Mr. Mcguire asked us can one person make a difference. A lot of people responded “No” because to actually make a real difference it would take more than one person to get lots of attention. But you have to think if that one person comes up with the idea he/she really did make the difference because without the idea of the organization there would be no organization. I enjoyed reading this reflection upon the SYS event, it influenced me to get involved with affective organizations similar to it.
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Corey Gallai
The journal entry for this week is on, “Googling is not the same as thinking” by Prof. McGuire from Ch. 5 in WHY WHITE RICE? I found it interesting section to read. Google is something I use several times throughout the day to look things up. In a way you could say Google has ruined us. Instead of trying to take the time to think of something, we go straight to Google. Now I like Google, but sometimes it can become overwhelming. I may look for something and spend hours trying to find what I was looking for. I was able to relate to the part where Prof. M talked about a student taking out their phone to look up a word. I think we do that too much now. We need to take the time to come up with a definition when asked. We need to just write down what comes to mind. Later, we can look it up online. Prof. M made us define some terms and told us to not use our phones. I actually think it’s kind of sad that we rely so much on our phones/electronic devices to help us. We should be able to do things in our lives without the use of our phones/electronic devices. We have become more dependent and turn to technology when we want to look stuff up. I can’t even remember the last time I actually pulled out a dictionary to look up a word. The main point of this section in WHY WHITE RICE is we rely on technology to do the work for us. If Google was to someday stop working, there would chaos. We need to realize that there is nothing wrong with using your brain to come up with ideas or reading a book to help you with looking up something.
McGuire, Michael. “Googling is Not the Same as Thinking.” Why White Rice?: Thinking through Writing. IA Kendall Hunt , 2010. 1P.19-120. Print. -
Corey Gallai
Dear Editor, PLEASE READ!!!
Dear Editor,
I am writing to you on the issue of homelessness. I have recently written a paper on this topic for a composition class I am enrolled in. This issue has become more of a problem over that last few years. We need to find ways to reduce the number of homeless people in the country. I recently read an article in the Tribune about a homeless family in Florida. The family lost their home and the kid’s mother lost her job last year. The family now lives in a motel. They are not exactly homeless, but on the brink of it. The thing that really made me sad was that the number of homeless people in Lake County has gone up tremendously in the last few years. Your article states that Lake County had 122 homeless people in 2005. This year the number has gone up to 2,600. I understand that unemployment is bad nationally and in Lake County it is 9.9 percent. Still, something needs to be done to help these people. I was glad to see that there was a pantry at the school mentioned in the article that helps the homeless children. In my opinion this is a step forward to help the situation.
We need to start making people more aware of the number of homeless people in the country or even in their surrounding neighborhoods. I wish I could think of more ways to help out in this bad situation.
Sincerely,Corey Gallai
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Keitha Cheeks
Homelessness is a very bad issue that I believe will never end. People get kicked out of their homes every day for different reasons. Also, it won’t ever completely end because some people choose to be homeless. They know there’s ways to get back on their feet, but they just choose to live like that I guess because they believe its easier. Corey talks a lot about people who are homeless and who are suffering. Some people are homeless because they rent out houses and the landlords are not paying the mortgage’s and they family is forced to leave even though they have been paying their rent. That happened to my family once when I was in 7th grade. We weren’t homeless we lived with my aunt for a couple of months until my mommy found us a new place. That was just an experience for me first hand of how someone can be homeless instantly without even expecting it. Suppose my family did not have any other family members to go live with for all that time. We would have had to make a living somewhere on the streets or in my Mom’s car. Corey talks about how people lose their jobs and lose their homes. Luckily my Mom was still working and she saved money for us to move into a new house in two months. Corey’s letter make me wonder all the different ways people become homeless. Some people are on the verge of being homeless and they know exactly how much money they have left and how long it will last. Some people aren’t homeless but there close to it. They don’t know where their next meal is going to come from. Its even sad for people who have a little apartment to stay in but don’t have any electricity, food, or even hot water. Once when I was young and i lived on the low end on 51st and king drive I had a friend who would often come spend the night over my house because her lights were out. That was sad for my mother to see so she would let my friend and her mother spend the night sometimes because she went through it sometimes when she was young. My grandma was a single parent of ten, and she struggled most of her life getting by. Hearing those stories make me feel so grateful for the way I am living. I hate to see other people complain about what they don’t have instead of analyzing all the things they have that others dream of having. I like the fact that I have to write upon Corey’s letter because it feel like more of a real reflection than an assignment for a class. It’s not really a good thing to feel sorry for people, you just have to think of ways you can get involved and help them in their bad situations. I would love to do some volunteer work for this issue. I would want to do something huge like help build an apartment building for homeless people.
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Corey Gallai
This week’s journal entry is on CH. 6 in WHY WHITE RICE. I found it interesting to read. I am an avid user of Wikipedia. I was very disappointed and ticked off when Wikipedia was closed for a day, a few months ago. In my other English/writing classes, they have told us that Wikipedia is not a reliable source of information. I remember in eighth grade doing a short project/ class activity on Wikipedia. That was my first introduction to Wiki. Anyone can go and edit the information used on Wiki. I try not to use Wiki when doing a project. If I am to use Wiki, I make sure that I have other sources to compare my notes. I am not against Wiki in any way. I use it all the time if I want to quickly look something up as it is the first link that appears when I type something in on Google. I liked the way Eric wrote this chapter. He provided some humor which made it easier to read. I liked the experiences he shared. I was able to connect to them. I am always cautious when using Wiki. If any search engine tool has an edit button/area, I always think twice about using the information posted on a given site. I use Wiki when I want to get a quick overview of something. My only complaint is that, there is sometimes too much information when looking up a topic on Wiki that it becomes overwhelming. I also check out the references at the bottom of a Wiki page to make sure they are reliable. I can agree that we may choose Wiki over another search tool because it is convenient for us and we can be too lazy to really put some time and effort into some things. I did not refer to Wikipedia when doing the research project in Prof. M’s class.
DeVillez, Eric. “So-Is It Okay to Use Wikipedia, Then?” Why White Rice? 121-22. Print -
Corey Gallai
This journal entry is on one of the articles that I used to help write the research draft. My topic was homelessness. This article talks about how the numbers in homeless children have been set at a new record. It was very sad to read this article. I had no idea what the number of homeless children was. According to Andrew Mach, author, “One of out every 45 children some—some 1.6 million—in the U.S. is homeless” (Mach 1). This article was released in Dec 2011 in Christian Science Monitor. The number of homeless children had increased in 2010 a lot. According to Mach “Last year at least 60,000 more children were homeless” (Mach 1). We need to find a way to reduce this number. The only problem is at a number like this, where would even begin There are agencies that are trying to help kids that are homeless. The factors that lead to homelessness have become a bigger problem over the last couple years. The economic recession is some of the problem here. In the article, Ellen Bassuk, President of the National Center on Family Homelessness says” Homeless Children are invisible to most of us; they have no voice”(Mach 1). I agree with this. I guess you could say there are sometimes when you cannot always tell that the children are homeless. Sometimes there are certain characteristics or features that let you know. Other times you could walk right past them and never know. These children lose hope and feel insecure. They have no home to go. They also lose all their privacy. People have always said that children are the future. How can they be the future if they are in a bad situation like this. Homeless children miss out on everything that other children get. They miss out on an education, or get one that is not good enough. Therefore, they have a very low level at math and reading. Sometimes homeless kids lead a path that will land them in a spot that’s worse than the one they were in originally in. The article was very sad to read. No child should have to go through this. We need to find ways to create more areas(shelters) for homeless children to be able to go to. One of the major problems is, how do you get the money and resources to get a project like this to happen?
Mach, Andrew. Homeless Children at Record High in US. Can The Trend Be Reversed?” Christian Science Monitor. 13 Dec 2011: n.p SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 14 Feb 2012 -
Corey Gallai
Speech Outline Topic Homelessness It is an issue…
Speech Outline
Topic- Homelessness. It is an issue that has become more of a problem over the years. The amount of people that are homeless has increased a lot. The same thing goes for the number of children that are homeless.
1. Homelessness is a big problem in the country and the world. I am focusing on the country. The people who have become a victim of being homeless are left to wander the streets all day looking for somewhere to go or looking for money. They never know when they are going to eat or where they are going to be spending the night
2. Homeless people do not want to be in this situation. They are sometimes forced into situations that have happened in the past. We usually tend to ignore them when they ask for help. We never know what they can do with the help we give them. The main example is with money. If we give them a dollar or spare change, we can never know if they will use it for good or to go buy drugs. While reading some articles to put this piece together, something that really stands out is the increasing amount of children that are homeless. We need to find a way to create more sheltered areas for people that are homeless.
3. I have spent some time volunteering at a homeless shelter in Oak Lawn. I have seen how sad it is to be in this situation. Some of the people staying at these shelters had families and other things that were really going good for them. Now they have had nothing. No person should have to go through this. The homeless shleter runs from October- April.
Conclusion- We need to help out the homeless in as many ways as we can. We need to find a way to create or locate more facilities to keep the homeless sheltered. Especially in the area that we live in where weather can be cruel. If you go to the South Suburban PADS site online, there is a link to help volunteer and make donations. It would great if more people could contribute to this problem that does not seem to be heading in a good direction
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Corey Gallai
Speech Outline
Topic- Homelessness. It is an issue that has become more of a problem over the years. The amount of people that are homeless has increased a lot. The same thing goes for the number of children that are homeless.
1. Homelessness is a big problem in the country and the world. I am focusing on the country. The people who have become a victim of being homeless are left to wander the streets all day looking for somewhere to go or looking for money. They never know when they are going to eat or where they are going to be spending the night
2. Homeless people do not want to be in this situation. They are sometimes forced into situations that have happened in the past. We usually tend to ignore them when they ask for help. We never know what they can do with the help we give them. The main example is with money. If we give them a dollar or spare change, we can never know if they will use it for good or to go buy drugs. While reading some articles to put this piece together, something that really stands out is the increasing amount of children that are homeless. We need to find a way to create more sheltered areas for people that are homeless.
3. I have spent some time volunteering at a homeless shelter in Oak Lawn. I have seen how sad it is to be in this situation. Some of the people staying at these shelters had families and other things that were really going good for them. Now they have had nothing. No person should have to go through this. The homeless shleter runs from October- April.
Conclusion- We needs to help out the homeless in as many ways as we can. We need to find a way to create or locate more facilities to keep the homeless sheltered. Especially in the area that we live in where weather can be cruel. If you go to the South Suburban PADS site online, there is a link to help volunteer and make donations. It would great if more people could contribute to this problem that does not seem to be heading in a good direction
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Corey Gallai
Presentation In The Library Helped A Lot Yesterday!!
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Corey Gallai
This journal entry is on YOUR MOTHER AND I. The article was confusing to read at first. The beginning was flip-flopping between two different topics. One is about cheese and cooking and then the other is about how things changed (i.e. new sources of renewable energy). The story seems to be told from someone to another person. The person telling the story is reflecting on the past. In the story that is being told it is about two people who helped try to make a difference in their lives and the lives of others. They worked with lobbyists, and power conversions. They worked with the U.N. The two people in the story wanted the following throughout their activity. “Listen, we all want to have progress, we all want a world for the grandkids and all” (Eggers 120). The two people in the story also came up with programs and solutions to help others such as, global minimum wage; they fixed AIDS pretty well, along with other things. The story was interesting to read. The two people involved were activists. They tried to help out as they could. However, I do not believe they did all the things said in the story. It takes time to get some things going. They seemed to have done it over a time span of six months. Some projects they discussed in the story take years to accomplish. I think the person telling the story wanted to embellish so he could make others see how important it is to get try and help the world a better place. Even with the quote I used in the first paragraph, I want progress and a great world for the future to live in. However, in the times we are in right now, it does not seem like we are headed in a good direction for the future.
— Eggers, Dave. “Your Mother And I.” How We Are Hungry. McSweeney’s 2002: 115-123. “Splatter: The Messy Art of Writing.” Web. 02, Feb. 2012 -
Corey Gallai
Self Assesment 1 = Completed. Does anyone know what is due for Tuesday?
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Roberto Kobik
I’m not in your class but i’m pretty sure we have the same homework. I believe the self assessment is the only thing due and then that week like usual you will have a reading journal and start our next major essay. But before you listen to that id make sure with someone else. Id hate to steer you in the wrong direction…
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Kristina Marynczak
All you have to do is click “schedule” on this website and go to the appropriate week ( I believe week 5 or 6) but its dated and it tells you what is exactly due. It’s very simple and straight forward and I just discovered this “schedule” last week. But you have your self- assessment due and read chapter 4 from WWR. Also must start on second draft and your reading journal is due Thursday. But look at the schedule it’s very helpful
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Corey Gallai
I decided to write about VILLAGE VOICE for this week’s journal entry. It is about Rajeev Goyal. Rajeev served as a volunteer in the Peace Corps from 2001-03. I was not fully aware of what the Peace Corps does. After reading this, I got a better idea of what they do, and how one person can make a difference. At only twenty-two years old, Rajeev has made a difference. He goes through a lot of work and effort to bring water to a small village. His most challenging task was to organize the labor to make this project work. The villagers of the town did not have the tools/resources to make this happen. Five hundred and thirty-five people helped volunteer on this project. In the end, he is able to bring water to the village of Nepal. I was inspired when I read about the work the Rajeev had done in Nepal. It truly shows that one person can make a difference. I agree that we should do our best to the Peace Corps up and running forever. I was surprised and glad at the same time to see that big time celebrities are involved with Peace Corps. Beyonce and Jay-Z were mentioned in the beginning of the article saying that they would like to speak at a Peace Corps rally. I believe we sometimes take things for granite. It is very good to read about what goes on in other parts of the world. It helps give us a perspective and makes of think of how fortunate we are. It also shows that there are some areas that are not a fortunate. Those areas need to be helped out in any way possible.
Hesser, Peter. “A Reporter at Large: Village Voice, The Peace Corp’s Brightest Hope.” New York: The New Yorker.2010. 101-109. Splatter.writing101.net: The Messy Art of Writing. Web 9 Feb. 2012. -
Corey Gallai
The “Who Should Survive” activity was a tough one. Basically, we were given a list of people. Only seven could survive. You had to choose four people to sacrifice. I should never be in the position to choose who should live or die. While doing this activity, I tried my best to not separate family members. Everyone has the right to die. Everyone has something unique to bring to the world (whether good or bad). In our group we chose to get rid of, Dr. Lang, Jean Hernandez, Mr. Newton, and Dr. Garcia. Dr. Lang had nothing to contribute to the survival of the group He had a Ph.D. in history. Sure he had a family, but there was nothing really important to keep him alive. Jean Hernandez was our second person to sacrifice. It very hard to have to choose a baby to die. However, they will not survive after the incident has already happened. Mr. Newton was our third choice. Even though he was in medical school, he could really help those that would need medical care. Also he seemed bitter concerning racial issues. These people will be in a bomb shelter for a few weeks. They do not want to cause fights or anything while stuck in there. Our last person was Dr. Garcia. Even though he was a doctor, he had two heart attacks over the last five years. I would not want a doctor to help me if they are prone to illness.
The activity was interesting to do. It gave me a different perspective on things. Also, it was interesting to hear what the other groups decided to do when we discussed this at the end of class -
Corey Gallai
This journal is in response to Egger’s WHAT IT MEANS….. I was very confused the first time reading this. However, the title itself was enough to make me want to read this article. I think this gut that the author describes had been in the service at some point in his life. The article is about some guy that in my opinion has A.D.D. He cannot sit still. He is also constantly thinking of what he needs to get done around the house. When he is sitting drinking his orange juice, he seems like a normal guy. Maybe the man sees himself when he saw the picture of the person that died. The man is alone in his house and this person that died is also alone. I think the man was in the service. He probably saw many people he knew killed in action. The picture brought back some of those memories. At the same time he is dealing with some emotional problems. As Eggers writes “Why did he feel violated? He felt punched, robbed, raped. (p.18) I think the man has been keeping some emotions bottled inside him for quite some time. This picture in a way might have broken those emotions for him. I think Eggers leaves it open for us to find out who this person really is. Overall, the article was c confusing at first but made more sense as I re-read a few more times. In today’s world we hear all the horrifying things that happen in wars. The news is always trying to scare us with photos and stories about all the horrible things that are going on. They really need to tone it down a bit. Sure it is important to hear what is going on but keep the details brief.
Eggers, Dave. “How We Are Hungry”, What It Means When A Crowd In A Faraway Nation Takes A Soldier Representing Your Own Nation, Shoots Him, Drags Him From His Vehicle And Then Mutilates Him In The Dust. McSweeney’s, 2004. pgs 17-18. Splatter: The Messy Art of Writing.Web. 2 Feb. 2012 -
Corey Gallai
What Do I Live For, What Would I Die For, What Would I Kill For?
I was asked to come up with answers to the following questions: What Do You Live For? What Would You Die For? What Would You Kill For? I believe we take to many things for granted. People need to have a different look on life and the way they live.
What do I live for? I live for many things. I live for doing the best in everything that I do. Each day I try to do my best at whatever it is I am doing. I always try to have a positive attitude when attempting things. Since I am a musician, I have to always look for ways that I can improve. I spend countless hours practicing each week. I play percussion, piano and alto sax. When practicing, I have to focus on different areas of music. For piano, I have to focus mainly on the fingering. With percussion, I have to focus on technique. So I guess you could say, music is something I live for. I am majoring in Music Ed. I know when I transfer to another school; the competition is going to be insane. There are hundreds of people who are looking for the same career as me. I have to always look for ways to make myself stand out from the rest of the crowd.
When it comes to the question of WHAT WOULD I DIE FOR, I really do not know what I would die for. I try not to think of death. Death is depressing to think about, even though it is part of life. Something I would die for a cause that I believed that was right. If I truly believed in something with a burning passion, I would give my life for that. If dying is the only way this belief or act can be carried out, then so be it. I would also die for my family. My family has been very supportive in all the things/endeavors I have done over the years. My family has helped me become who I am today. I would do anything to make sure that they stayed out of harm’s way
I see no point in killing. At times, I have thought/heard people say “I want to kill you” or, I’m going to kill you”. Most times we do not really mean this. We are just saying it cause we are just ticked off. If I was to kill it would be to get back at someone that may have harmed you in the past. It may seem like a good idea, and that is all one might think about at the time. One might think: “I want to kill this person”. However, they do not always look at the long term effect of this action. Most people that have killed as an act for revenge or something similar do not end up in a good spot. They have committed a crime, and therefore are punished for their actions. They usually end up in jail for life or someone finds them and decides to kill them. Therefore, I do not see a purpose in killing.
This essay has made me think a little bit more about my life and what is important to me. I have found out one of the things I live for. Music is a big part of my life. I love my family and would die for them, and really see no point in killing.
I will definitely be coming back to revise this draft.-
Dawn Murry
Corey seems to be an amazing guy. He is a musician who really does take a lot of talent for one and out a lot of practice. Without those two things I think this job would be harder. It also pointed out lot things pacific that he had to focus on making it the best he can be because he knows there is a lot of other person that have the same talent he does. He basically, indicated that he lives for his music that’s why he focus on making is talent the best. One thing that is important is doing something in your career that you enjoy because you will be able to go a very long way. If you don’t enjoy then there isn’t any form of purpose for you get in that field. Another thing I wanted to point out was once you grasp that then you are able to focus more on getting a degree in it so, when you do go out and apply for a position you can stay out even more. So, great job getting those things achieved. Your different techniques with your instruments can really make you be noticed.
You are right, the thought of death is very depressing and I also try not to think about it. But, in my family we had to experience it first, hand. So, I feel when you are met with it head on then you have a major problem on your hands that must be dealt with. Just by saying that you have to get over that road block called depression, get the emotions under control and pace yourself enough to be able to balance things out. The word depression can hit you so, hard that you don’t even know what to expect from it.
I have to agree with you that a lot of us do through that phase around “I’m going to kill you” truly not meaning what is said by it. That’s why we all need to calm our emotions and anger down. Those two things can get the best of you and take you mentally somewhere you don’t want to go. Once, you make such a poor decision you can affect yourself for the rest of your life and it isn’t worth it at all. Life is like a preciously gem that we must take care of and treat it like it’s no tomorrow. Once, the world gets that this will be a wonderful place to be.
After reading Corey’s essay I gained understanding on what his goals for is life is and where he is trying to take the skills of becoming a better musician. His thoughts on thinking about the word die and why he tries not to focus on that subject. I even gained information on why you should be careful on using the words “I’m going to kill you”. Overall, this was a learning experience once again and the essay was very well writing with strong explanations. Good Job!
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Keitha Cheeks
I completely agree with everything Corey is saying. I also have the same feeling about killing someone. I don’t believe anything in this world is worth killing for. I don’t even believe in death retaliation. What ever someone want or what ever some one did to hurt someone, it is not worth killing them. There are much more things in life to live for than to die and kill for. Death is very depressing to think about. Some people who believe in the after life even don’t want to die. Corey did a good job explaining each question. Not only what he will kill, or die for but how he feel about killing and dying for something.
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Grzegorz Bednarz
In a present world, it is very hard to pursue your passion. To stay on track one needs to put a lot of effort and from reading your essay, I can tell that you are on a good path. Realizing that there will be a lot of competition in your field of study and still going for it is a great thing; and I have much respect for people like you. I agree with you that positive attitude is very important in life and if everyone had the same outlook on life like you, there would be so many great things accomplished.
You had very good point when you answered question about dying. Dying is pointless when it comes to dying for something that you do not believe in. I can see that family is very important to you and if necessary, you would die for the members of your family. Yes, death is part of a life but I do not thing it is depressive. I think it is more depressive of how the person died and what he or she left behind then the actual death alone. Everyone will die at one point in their lives and that’s just how this world is made.
In your answered about “what would you kill for”, I don’t think that you thought about the bigger picture of what that question meant. People not always kill from revenge and hate. There are many other reasons why would one kill someone but I am not here to judge that. I still like your answer about this question and I like that you are honest about it.
Over all, it is strong essay that expressed your feeling clearly about life. It seems like you take a lot of pride in what you are doing and you are very good at it; but knowing that a lot of people have similar talents and trying to improve to be much better than them takes a lot of time and hard work. That’s why I think that you have a lot of motivation in life and you try to do what you love the most. I don’t think I could play three instruments at once; you deserve a lot of respect.
I found couple errors in your essay that you could fix very easily. There are couple shifts in pronoun through your essay and missing a period at the end of second paragraph. In some places you used wrong word that could be substituted for something with more sense. There might be more errors but I am not really good at finding them so you might want to give this essay to someone that is very good at proof reading.
I enjoyed reading your essay because you have slightly different point of view about those three questions and I like to hear other opinions about it because every person is different I like reading others opinion about important aspects and goals of their life. Good job with the essay.
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Corey Gallai
This journal is in response to ECOLOGICAL LITERACY. I believe that the Capra is telling to be more aware of our environment. I know that in today’s world we tend to not think about the environment as much as we need to. Gas prices have increased significantly over the last few years. There has been more talk about trying to find new ways to create a better area to live in. We do not see the problems that will create even bigger problems late in the future. I know that more people have started “going green”. That is only a small step of the way to try and look for a better solution to a cleaner environment. I believe that we will be in a better condition. I like the idea that we have tried to make cars that “seem” to be cleaner and better to use. However, there are still things in those vehicles that are still hazardous. I also believe we really need to start looking into new ways of alternative energy. If we could take more time to read about what is going on with the environment.
Fritjof Capra.”From The Web of Life.” Splatter:The Messy Art Of Writing101.net. Web. 26 Jan. 2012 -
Corey Gallai
Everything seems fair. Grading Contract is fair. If you keep up with everything there will be no problems.
Dawn Murry, and 
Maura Bilek are discussing. 
Keitha Cheeks is discussing. 
Kristina Marynczak, and 
Roberto Kobik are discussing. 
Grzegorz Bednarz, 
Maura Bilek 10:40 am on April 19, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Great job Corey! I think your draft covered so much more than mine did and now I have more ideas about what to add. I think it will be easiest for us to complete this paper after we actually go there today! I am glad our group was able to decide on an interesting and important topic. I think we will learn a lot of valuable information from speaking and interviewing local humane investigators and such. I think we will have a lot of frightening reality to reveal at people about the fair. Just from discussing our topic as a group and going through the process of research, I have learned so many new things about animal cruelty. I agree the most difficult part of this project is trying to decide what to focus on when there is just so much controversy and information surrounding this topic. For example, learning about dog fighting and how much of a commonplace things was really frightening to me. Some more questions we can ask to explain later in our final drafts: what ARE the qualifications to own or adopt an animal? Since we are going to try and persuade people to adopt, I think this is mandatory information for us to seek today at the Welfare league. I think we should look into more pro’s and con’s about declawing/debarking and ask opiniongs of those at the Welfare League. I wonder what kind of damage physically these procedures can do, or if they cause pain to the animal? More valuable questions we can ask today. Overall, this is a great first draft and gave me ideas for my paper- I like your organization of ideas and it flow well. I agree there will be so much more to say after the actual service experience! Good job.
Dawn Murry 8:54 pm on April 20, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
So, far reading Corey’s essay I totally agree with him about everything he is saying. When you first start off into a group you always have doubts about your team members because it’s that first initial shell shocker. I don’t know what it is about the first time meeting and greeting with people but, it’s the hardest thing in the whole wide world. All of these projects actually made me feel the same way to but, after I made it to the “Share Your Soles Event” I was like it’s not that bad as I thought. It takes a lot to go through service projects before I came to this class. As time go on this isn’t that bad at all. Professor McGuire really gets a good workout from his students. It is sad to hear about all the animal abuse that you are hearing day in and day out. It seems as if people are starting to take this dog stuff as a joke. I heard on the news where a Chicago police officers dog attacked another dog on the lakefront and he act as if nothing happen. I feel that as bad as a hit and run. You have to stop and ask yourself what this world is coming to. That’s interesting to hear about the list that you go on if you were caught abusing an animal. The key thing is if you get caught. It seems that people are able to beat the system all the time.