Peer review journal

    My peer review experience in this class has been extremely limited.  I have only been able to attend one peer review workshop due to recent  medical conditions.  My experience was interesting to say the least.  I showed up and expected to find a full class, which wasn’t the case.  After discussing what was expected of us students with some peers; I set off to complete expectations.  I found another student that I haven’t really talked to this semester and asked him to exchange papers with me.  As we were peer reviewing each other paper, we kept having to reference the grading guide which was a inconvenience.  I think that was the one thing that slowed down a lot of the progress that could of been attained that day.  I believe that general guidelines could be a much more effective reviewing method than the specific questions.  I believe that grading the peer review experience could be used to effectively motivate people to contribute their fair share.  For example, if I was to exchange papers with another student and gave a mediocre review to that student the next class when the peer review reviews where distributed.  I would get a lousy mark and he would write a brief description of why he felt I deserved it.  The instructor would then have the final say in the matter when reviewing the review comments and either finding them to useful or garbage.
As for the current system I did find it helpful and it is the highest scored paper I have received this semester.  So to answer the next question, I believe it did make me a better writer because the person who reviewed my paper lived up to his expectations and I turn did my fair share.  To answer this question I believe that I would have to ask him if he took my peer review advice and if he got a better score because he took my advice.  The best input I think there is about the peer review process is that it allows you to see another persons paper and compare your own paper to theirs.  With that you can see your own short comings and their short comings as well as each others’ strengths.

Week 13 Journal: The Current Situation.

       In my readings, I have encountered some interesting thoughts about my topic.  I have learned more about the discipline and the ideas in the field.  I learned that the field has undergone a schism and currently a repair.  I don’t know if I will continue with this field in life.  The field of study and the applications of the work fascinate me.  If I didn’t become a doctor or a lawyer, I think that my first choice would be an archaeologist.  The things that I have read in the scholarly journals have led me to believe that the field of archaeology is a field in which pure research can be done; any question about any of the past civilizations can be asked and possibly answered.

            The articles show that the current members of the field are contributing along with the rest of society to better mankind through understanding of his past.  This has really appealed to me and strengthened my interest in the field.  I have been impressed with the theories that from a very young age I have thought to myself without prompting or outside influences, being written for this scientific community.  That really blew me away seeing that theory about the
Easter Island being a model for the rest of the world.  I will continue my research outside the classroom to better understand this field of interest for me.

            I cannot imagine a world without the benefits of archaeology after creating my annotated bibliography.  The research I want to study is about anthropological archaeology and how the environment affected a societies decline.  The Polynesian cultures and African continent are where I would like to spend my time studying.  It also doesn’t hurt that these locations are rich in beautiful scenery, warm tropical weather and cost of living is next nil.  Those are just perks to a career that could be spent in dirt, creating wealth of knowledge for the rest of mankind.

Paper 4 research update.

          After speaking to Ms. Smith about what to do on this paper, I now know what is expected of me.  I will write this paper on an archaeological topic that interests me.  Specifically, my paper will have to deal with pre-Christian Roman archaeology.  This is as far as I have gotten.  I have read the paper four blog on englclass.wordpress.com  and the supplemental links that were attached to it.  I will spend all of tomorrow researching and finishing my rough draft of this paper.  

My degree and Archaeology

            I’ve thought about what I could do for my major.  I don’t know how long it will take at this point to get my degree.  The reason for this uncertainty is that I don’t know how many courses I will take this next semester.  I have to pass the courses I have taken now, and then I will be able to make an informed decision.  I want to finish up an associates degree in behavioral science and later get my bachelors.  I would like to transfer to the University ofUtah; after getting my degree.  The only thing that is keeping me from staying at U.V.S.C. is the lack of a serious archaeology program.  I love archaeology and the program falls under the behavioral science department.  I don’t know what to do with a degree in archaeology.  I just know that I would like to study the subject of archaeology.

            The one class that U.V.S.C. does offer in the field of archaeology; I have taken and thoroughly enjoyed.  The class was taught by Professor Stecker.  He would stand in front of the class and tell stories of his adventures and then relate the subject matter to the current subject.  I would like to have the opportunity to have some of these same experiences to relate to friends and family members.  The reason I bring this up in this journal entry.  Is that with all the recent papers and journals I have written for this class, I have given the subject a lot more thought.  I have wondered with a degree in archaeology what can I do if I don’t get into graduate school?  I am taking a degree that I have a personal interest in and I feel it will better me as a person.  Yet, if I don’t get into a graduate school whether law or medicine the degree will be worthless.  This relates to the article I wrote about.  Should I be motivated to find another major that would benefit me financially or stay with the major I have and hope for the best? 

            My financial worries of the future are not enough for me to change my degree.  I find that if I don’t get into the schools I would like; then I will make do at that time.  Heck, I might even become a college professor and get a doctorate degree in archaeology.  I just don’t know what the future holds for me and my degree.  I have decided thinking more upon the matter that I will take my degree that I get in archaeology and apply it to whatever career I accept.  That financial motivation will not change my mind on whether I am an archaeology major or a financial major.  I find the articles that I read about digs throughout the world to be some of the most interesting written works that I have read.  They describe the finds and the excavation methods that are being applied to that dig.  I am glad that I have read up and thought more on the subject.     

A Connection to the Past

The article is about the discovery of Aboriginal sites and cave paintings in a region of Australia, where there was thought to be none. The discoveries are being found about a 150 miles away from Sydney the most populated city in Australia. The writer of this news article approaches the topic as would the late Crocodile Hunter; Steve Irwin would in my personal opinion. The writer tries to put his enthusiasm in the voice of the paper. He writes as if he were talking and as I read the article it sounds like the Crocodile Hunter is in my head narrating. He talks in Australian common speech and not the academic tone a scholar would use for a scholarly paper. I found the difference to be a challenge reading the Australian article versus the vernacular that is used for the scholarly paper. The Scholarly paper uses field specific terms that another archaeologist would use; where as the Australian article uses terms that a common Australian would understand.

The Australian writer’s purpose in writing this article is to generate interest the field, in the local Aborigine people, and the Australian public to preserve these treasures. The field of archaeology is a interesting field that generally gets a blast of interest and then none at all until something else is found. The Aborigine people in the article seem disconnected from their past and when these treasures of their past are found they should take pride in their ancient history. Finally, the writer is writing to get the public excited in these treasured finds. The author doesn’t ask any questions he announces these great discoveries and conveys his excited ness in the article.

I found this article to not provide questions or answers. I do believe that it was intended to provoke thought and interest in the Aboriginal sites and their cave paintings. I thought that this is another example of how wide and diversified the field of archaeology is. Be able to specialize in the field of Australian Aboriginal Cave painting is an example of how one might spend their life. With this new and exciting field of archaeology, I do believe that the author would be proud of his article and the affects it had.

 

 

 

My Feeling’s towards “I’d Rather Smoke than Kiss”

 

            Ms. King begins her essay by explaining her background.  She is a 54 yr old woman who started smoking around the age of 26.  She explains that she didn’t start smoking out of teenage rebellion.  That her mother had started smoking long before she was born and that she was a heavy smoker.  She goes on to explain that the reason that she started smoking was that she is writer and that she is thrifty.  One day while out at the store she noticed a box of cigarettes that had a drawer like opening.  Deciding that those boxes of cigarettes would look very nice with her paperclips in them she decides to buy two boxes.  She empties out the cigarettes in a drawer and replaces them with paperclips.  A while later she decides that instead of leaving the cigarettes loose in the drawer the reason she bought the boxes for the paperclips for.  She would use the cigarettes and make sure that they weren’t wasted.

            Ms. King finds that she enjoys cigarettes and the activities that were found with smoking and the company she kept.  Ms. King then devotes the rest of the essay in the battle against the “smokist.”  She describes them as passive misanthropes that instead of being full blown bigots.  The “smokist” has chosen the route of passive hate.  Smokers were content to die solitarily, until it was found that second hand smoke could kill.  The “smokist” uses this argument, as the basis of their complaint.  The “smokist” then went on the hunt for smokers; restaurants, airplanes and airports were the initial battlegrounds. 

            The essay briefly goes over the consideration the Federal government has given to the plight of smokers.  It has noticed that the smokers don’t live to the full age that their non-smoking counterparts live to.  This is good in regards to the budget that is allotted to social security.  She summarizes that the author of the government report that has this information notes that it is a public crusade and not an attempt to save money.  To end the subject of government intervention in regards to smokers; she quotes the governmental representatives who are working with the Citizens against tobacco smoke.  They are going to try to remove smoking from all forms of public transportation that is funded by the government.

            The end of the essay is devoted to comparing the smoker to the new minority. She describes that the smoker is now look down upon in society as below average.  That the blue collar worker is the new generation of smokers.  That the college educated individual is more likely not to smoke than the blue collar worker is.  Finally, that the tobacco companies are now targeting the poor, white females of this country as a new outlet to sell their products to.  She ends that the smokers are being categorized as substance abusers and that this losing battle to non-smokers is non-democratic.

            When I first read this article back in high school I found that I agreed with the non-smokers.  I was a non-smoking high school rugby team captain.  The ideals spouted by Ms. King seemed valid concerns, but didn’t really affect me on a personal level.  Towards my senior year in high I actually started smoking cigarettes.  My friends all had been smoking since we were in middle school and I was curious what all the fuss was.  I became a prolific smoker and at my pinnacle I was smoking 2 packs of cigarettes every three days.  I was also smoking cigars and pipe tobacco.  I have never tried chewing tobacco and never wish to.  I have recently quit and will only smoke cigars at very special occasions i.e. bachelor parties, and record releases to name the majority.  After becoming a smoker and a quitter I found that Ms. King does have a valid point.  There are those people amongst us that are very pleasant to be around until they find out that you are a smoker or that you were a smoker.  I can personally attest to a good number of women that were interested in dating me or friends until we mentioned the fact we were/are smokers.  This hatred and fear for smokers I do not understand even after quitting for my own health.  I feel just as strongly as Ms. King does against those that prejudice smokers for being just what they are.

The Past’s View of the Future.

I had no questions reading the scholarly journal of my field.  The article is written by Professor emeritus Brian Fagan.  As I understand his reputation, he is one of the preeminent authorities in the field of Archaeology.  He wrote the text book I used in my archaeology class and Professor Stecker, if I remember right had nothing, but good things to say about him.  The journal was about “Archaeology: the Next 50 Years,” Fagan goes over the archaeological finds of the last 150 years.  He lists the great finds and the archaeologist that found them.  He then spends the rest of the article discussing how archaeology is becoming a field in which the members are becoming increasingly specialized.  That it is becoming increasingly unlikely that a lost civilization or horde of treasure will be found.  That the future of the profession will be spent finding out the minute details that made up day to day life in these cultures.

            He spends a good deal of time discussing how technology will be the guiding hand of archaeology; the study of the past.  How with the advent of new technology, the accessibility to archaeological sites that were inaccessible becomes a reality.  Technology will allow archaeologist to view sites that would disintegrate normally under the current methods.  The questions that Fagan asks are about where technology will lead the field that used to be based of scholarly knowledge and guess work.  He mentions only one of his contemporaries and that is to illustrate that through technological help an archaeological find that helps define a culture was found.  I found the piece to be a thoughtful outlook of the things to come.  I guess I already have had these thoughts and ideas instilled in me by Professor Stecker.  This information isn’t anything new.  This article only voices the thoughts of the older generation that is leaving.  The current and new generations are already implementing and using technology to its fullest.  This article that was more of a mission statement than a journal, it states the future to come simply.

Bibliography:

ARCHAEOLOGY The Next 50 Years. (cover story) By: Fagan, Brian. Archaeology, Sep/Oct2006, Vol. 59 Issue 5, p18-23, 6p, 5c; (AN 21751870)
Notes:  Print Journal Held Locally, Call Number GN700.A725, 1991 to present

Behavioral science is my major at U.V.S.C. and it is referred to as Anthropology at the

University of
Utah.  I plan to transfer and that is why I felt it was important to provide that information.  It falls into the categories of social and behavioral science.  I would like to have an emphasis in archaeology or human evolutionary ecology.  Growing up as a kid I always thought it would be great to be a paleontologist or an archaeologist.  The reason I still don’t want to continue into those professions is that, I felt that I can do more good as a doctor in the field of medicine.  I think that my major is more intended in my perspective to give me, a more unique character than what I currently have and it is a field of interest that will keep me intellectually stimulated throughout my life.

Archaeology is the study of the past.  I have taken the course at U.V.S.C. and found it to be one of the most interesting and difficult courses I have ever taken.  Though the text book and the professor tried to explain that the Indiana Jones of the field were just a Hollywood image and sometimes a collection of all the dangerous situations and adventures that have ever happen as whole to the profession.  Listening to the adventures of my professor I knew that I would be completely satisfied with life if I only got to have a fraction of the experiences that my professor had.  I have always loved digging in the dirt and that is where the majority of an archaeologist’s time is spent out in field (unless, your specialty is marine archaeology.)  Finding a lost civilization or a missing pharaoh is the dream of many an archaeologist.  Who often spend most of their time asking where to begin?  The archaeologist must have a good working knowledge of the site that he/she is working on.  A clear understanding of the people that they are trying to learn more about that lived in the area that they are exploring.  As the professor explained, most archaeologists specialize in one field and have good working knowledge of surrounding fields.  As an archaeologist who specializes in Roman archaeology, you might be expected to have good working knowledge of New Testament archaeology, marine archaeology, and Babylonian Archaeology all in one site.

            As to me personally, I would like to study the Rapa Nui of Easter Island and find out what caused their civilization to develop along the path that it did.  They are the only culture of Oceania that has/had a written language; I wonder what caused this feature to only develop among the
Rapa Nui and not the other people of the geographic region.  The scholars in my field have asked how the
Rapa Nui moved the constructed Moai to their locations.  There have been a lot of different theories.  The archaeologists that have studied the culture of
Easter Island know the archaeological timeline of the island, what are left is the details.  Such questions as to where certain foreign influences came to be on the island and other unknown questions that people ask.

Digging Up the Future.

Behavioral science is my major at U.V.S.C. and it is referred to as Anthropology at the

University of
Utah.  I plan to transfer and that is why I felt it was important to provide that information.  It falls into the categories of social and behavioral science.  I would like to have an emphasis in archaeology or human evolutionary ecology.  Growing up as a kid I always thought it would be great to be a paleontologist or an archaeologist.  The reason I still don’t want to continue into those professions is that, I felt that I can do more good as a doctor in the field of medicine.  I think that my major is more intended in my perspective to give me, a more unique character than what I currently have and it is a field of interest that will keep me intellectually stimulated throughout my life.

Archaeology is the study of the past.  I have taken the course at U.V.S.C. and found it to be one of the most interesting and difficult courses I have ever taken.  Though the text book and the professor tried to explain that the Indiana Jones of the field were just a Hollywood image and sometimes a collection of all the dangerous situations and adventures that have ever happen as whole to the profession.  Listening to the adventures of my professor I knew that I would be completely satisfied with life if I only got to have a fraction of the experiences that my professor had.  I have always loved digging in the dirt and that is where the majority of an archaeologist’s time is spent out in field (unless, your specialty is marine archaeology.)  Finding a lost civilization or a missing pharaoh is the dream of many an archaeologist.  Who often spend most of their time asking where to begin?  The archaeologist must have a good working knowledge of the site that he/she is working on.  A clear understanding of the people that they are trying to learn more about that lived in the area that they are exploring.  As the professor explained, most archaeologists specialize in one field and have good working knowledge of surrounding fields.  As an archaeologist who specializes in Roman archaeology, you might be expected to have good working knowledge of New Testament archaeology, marine archaeology, and Babylonian Archaeology all in one site.

            As to me personally, I would like to study the Rapa Nui of Easter Island and find out what caused their civilization to develop along the path that it did.  They are the only culture of Oceania that has/had a written language; I wonder what caused this feature to only develop among the
Rapa Nui and not the other people of the geographic region.  The scholars in my field have asked how the
Rapa Nui moved the constructed Moai to their locations.  There have been a lot of different theories.  The archaeologists that have studied the culture of
Easter Island know the archaeological timeline of the island, what are left is the details.  Such questions as to where certain foreign influences came to be on the island and other unknown questions that people ask.

My concerns of the future

I am constantly kept up at nights thinking of the future.  How I went from not being able to drive five years ago to having almost absolute freedom when it comes to travel.  I think of what the future holds for me and how the world has changed in the last 20 years.  It is nowhere near the same as it was 20 years ago when I was born.  What is it going to be like in another 20 years? Or  when I have children will they have to work twice as hard to make it through life?  As the world becomes faster and the price of living goes up will there be point where all average Americans will have to scrape by?  These questions and this fear of the uncertainty of the future are what keeps me up at night wondering and sometimes worrying. 

This topic is something me and my friends kick back and forth on occasion.  The conversation generally starts about a observation that was noticed that day.  It could be anything from the news to newspapers to just plain hearsay, but the next five minutes after the observation is shared is spent discussing it.  Sometimes the conversation just winds down and nothing more is said about the topic and its left at that.  An example of one of these topics would be when we discussed the admission of killer years after the crime had been committed.  One of us hadn’t known about the details of the case, so the time was spent catching the other friend up to date with the situation.  When a topic is found that we both have an expressed opinion about it usually takes about an hour for the conversation to be over.   I have found that the expansion of urban development slightly frightens me from these conversations.  When my father was a kid he remembers looking over the valley and seeing almost nothing, but farmland as far as the eye could see.  He’s not even fifty, and he has seen a rapid development of what was primarily farmland into what is the suburbs of Salt Lake City.  I have seen the very same thing happen around my Grandfather’s farm.  What was surrounding fields of corn have now become two story homes with lawns.  I have thought of how different the state will look in the future, this and other similar concerns are what keep me up at night.

Simply, the future’s uncertainty has me worried.  I have spoken to many different people and no one seems to be completely fine with the uncertainty of the future.  Everyone has a doubt that they would love to see reaffirmed.  Whether it is the journal assignment that they would like a good grade on or the family member’s health who is uncertain and being monitored in a hospital by health care professionals.  I have realized there is always an uncertainty that scares people and that the future’s constant change and uncertainty sometimes keeps me up at night.  There is no way to take control of the situation, it is influenced by to many different factors.  The only answer I can see is to live life as you would like life lived and hope that the factors that you can’t control do not influence the way your life is lived.  This isn’t a practical answer for everyone, it really doesn’t fit my needs.  I live life and adjust when I have to, I am sure this is the same with a lot of people.