Editorial Topic

The parking here at TCU has always been a topic that I have a strong view about. I've always thought the parking has been less than satisfactory. Yes the school has enough parking for everyone, but who wants to park in the "Freshman Overflow Lot" and walk a half a mile back to their dorm?

Ive been to many other campuses around Texas, visiting friends, and almost every single one has had a large parking garage for their students. So why cant this idea be implemented at TCU? Some would say its because we don't has as many student as other universities. To that I would use SMU as an example. They have about the same number of students if not a couple thousand less, yet they have a parking garage on the east side of campus. Another reason someone might argue not to build one could be that the look of a parking garage would damage the image of TCU. This is possible but I'm not suggesting they build one six levels high. A simple two or three level parking garage would help tremendously.

Unit 3 Topic

When looking through different articles on TCU's news website I came upon an article and video about the parking around campus. This causes a few problems around campus and in the surrounding neighborhoods. Because of the inconvenience of some of the existing parking, some students resort to parking on neighborhood streets near their classes. I myself become extremely frustrated when I come home from work or out of town late and find that the only parking spaces available are those in the "Freshman Overflow" lot. The article says there are around 7000 spaces around campus but not all are available to students and the ones that are seem to be on the outskirts of campus.

Unit 2 Portfolio Author's Note

The progression of this paper has been long and tedious. Now that I have completed the paper,I feel very strong about the paper as a whole. I made many revisions after all the different workshops we performed in class and with all the revisions I received from my classmates in my group.

In my initial drafts I realized I was drastically lacking in analysis of each of my sources. I also was worried about how I was going to complete eight to ten pages for this paper. By analyzing the sources closer and really trying to find those"hidden meanings" by the different words each author used I extend my paper greatly. Another way I completed the required number of pages was by analyzing more sources. This also gave me a wider range of views on the topic.

Most of my work has been turned in through email. I feel that is the easiest way to ensure I didnt forget anything. To be honest I was a little confused on which documents were which on my computer so I might have included some things that weren't needed. By putting all of the documents together it also give me a sense of accomplishment. Seeing the final project compared to when it started, I can tell how much work I put in to it.

Topic Progression

When thinking abou this paper and how it has progressed since that first day in class I realize how much a paper really can change. When this assignment was given to us I originally was set on doing a topic that related to my major of Kinesiology. I first chose the subject of whether or no doing physical therapy with a center was needed to have a full recovery. I was also planning on looking into the views of people from all different view points such as; a patient who went through physical therapy and one who didn't, a doctor who performed a surgery, and a physical therapist. When starting my research on this topic I became very frustrated. There were some accounts of people's experiences after an injury or surgery but just couldn't find enough information to form a good paper.

Because of this lack of information I changed the topic of my paper to the steroid scandal surrounding Alex Rodriguez. Since baseball is "America's Past-time" and the media is constantly covering stories on this topic I knew I wouldn't have much trouble finding source for this topic. When I found my first few sources I realized that I needed to narrow down my topic, it was too broad. I narrowed it to "Whether or not Alex Rodriguez should still be considered for the Baseball Hall of Fame". This proved to be much more successful.

When starting this assignment I wasn't reall interested in the type of paper we were assigned to write. After doing the research and learning more about the topic I was looking at, the paper has grown on me a little, it's not so much a chore to work on it.

Author's Note:
The major part of my paper that I am worried about is the analysis for each source. I feel my analysis on the source from Posnanski's article was sufficient but the rest I was a little hesitant on.

Topic and the Community

When I think about the topic I am writing about, Alex Rodriguez and his mistake of taking steroids, the main way I feel it could effect the community is with the kids. When you're a kid one of the main things you love to do is play sports, in my opinion. As a child you form views about what decisions are right and wrong and by idolizing professional athletes, kids tend to follow in their footsteps, to some extent. If children see superstars like Alex Rodriguez admitting to taking steroids, what is going to stop them from doing it? They might get the idea in their head that its okay, and in turn make a terrible decision.

You can also look at the effect of professional athletes' actions and what the parents of children who look up to them, do in response to those actions. Take the incident that occurred with Kobe Bryant a few years back. No parent want their child idolizing someone who was accused of beating a woman. Just like a parent wouldn't want their child around a smoker because could result in problems later on in life for the child, the same could occur in that situation.

Uni 2 First Draft Author's Note

When writing my first draft over the past week or so I have had a few problems and a few things i liked. Some of the things i had problems with mainly had to do with the rhetorical analysis in the articles and other sources. I don't feel I wrote enough on that, rather I feel I focused more on telling what each writer had to say on the topic. So far I think this is a decent draft but I think it could be longer and probably needs some grammatical work. I also want to make sure I did each of my MLA cites correctly.

Body Paragraph Preparations

When I started writing the two body sections for two of my sources i realized something that changed my view on this writing assignment a little, getting a page to two pages wasn't that hard. By realizing this the paper or assignment became a little more enjoyable to write and easier to put ideas together.

Another thing I noticed while writing the initial bodies for these sources was that there are many more articles on this source than i first thought. Just by trying to learn more about the writers or going deeper into the sources I had already obtained, I have found much more information on these first two sources.

After completing these two drafts, so to speak, I know they need some work. One concern I have with them is he length. They are obviously a little short at first glance. I think by sitting down and taking a good look at the story and using the charts I have available more it will shape into a better paper overall.

Portfolio 2 Pre-Writing

Connections Between Sources:
-When thinking about each of the sources and how they connect, the obvious reason is the topic of Alex Rodriguez and his usage of banned substances. Going a little deeper into the topic, the thing that ties them all together is what the overall result of this event is going to be. Will Rodriguez be left out of the Hall of Fame and just be another player who cheated his way to fame and fortune? Will a numerous amount of other professional athletes be exposed for doing the same thing Rodriguez and this whole incident have no effect? Or will the voters for the Hall of Fame look past this and realize he is an amazing athlete that made a mistake?

Controlling Idea:
-There are many supporters of both sides of the issue of whether or not Alex Rodriguez is Hall of Fame worthy after this event.

Order of Sources:
-Reflecting on the three sources I have gotten sources so far, I feel the one to start with would be the Interview between Peter Gammons and Alex Rodriguez. By stating this source first it give a basis for other sources to go off of. Some other sources make comments about Rodriguez's comments in the interview so this would give reference to go back to. The next two could probably be interchangeable because they are very similar article just arguing opposite sides of the issue. I believe the order of those two could effect the readers final view on the subject because the last source they get information from could change what sticks out in their mind more.

Transitioning:
-Since the last few sources are directly related to the topic in which the interview talked about i feel that making the transition from source to source will be a somewhat easy task. Between the last two sources, i think the best way of changing would be to state that the next source is in direct contrast to that of the previous one.

Research Perspective

When I first heard of the incident with Alex Rodriguez, I was one of those people saying things like, "he's an idiot". By doing that I felt he had thrown his career and his legacy away. After doing research on this topic for a week or so, I have altered my views a little bit. Although he did break the rules by taking steroids, in his interview he claimed to have never known what they truly were. He also talks to Peter Gammons, in the exclusive ESPN showing, about the time frame of his actions. Rodriguez says he first started taking the steroids when he arrived in Texas and was feeling the pressure of fans, owners, and the press. He also says he stopped taking them in 2003 for fear that the substance was banned without his knowledge. When looking at his expressions and hearing his story, I have developed an understanding of what he did. Large amounts of pressure can push a person to many uncharacteristic things.