Peer Review Thing

   1.     What is the broader topic that the author proposes is a problem?

-       - Air pollution
   2.    How does the author define that topic? State that definition here.

        - The negative impacts of air pollution on people's healths

   3.   Is there a readily identifiable thesis statement which states the problem and reasons in a because claim?

       - Yes, air pollution is a serious problem because it harms millions of people's health.

   4.   How is the problem contextualized? (e.g. when the problem began, what has already      been done regarding the problem, the consequences of the problem, etc.)
      - It is currently happening and is putting health at risk; laws have lessened the effects but not eliminated them.
   5.   Is the problem topic specific and located in the smallest possible category? (e.g. cats > feral cats on UF’s campus)
     - Yes, air pollution instead of general pollution

   6.    Is the problem unique? If the topic is popular (e.g. obesity, gun control, abortion), does the problem statement offer a new interpretation of the common problem?
     - Yes, a solution in my mind hasn't been introduced yet by any organization

Blogpost #4

Before I moved to Florida, I lived in Denver, Colorado, for 5 years. Moving to Miami after so many years of a strictly-American environment was a drastic change in my life. Although I love Florida, Colorado holds a special place in my heart. My family and I go back every year to our cabin in a small city named Aspen in Colorado. This is the same cabin we would stay in every time we went to the Aspen ski resort to snowboard back when I lived in Denver. We've been returning to the cabin for over 8 years now and whenever I miss the chance to travel to Aspen with my family I get upset because many childhood memories were built there. I have a sense of belonging in that house. Even as an 18-year-old, I feel like I'm 10 again when I visit.

This house stands on a mountain top in the middle of an Evergreen forest. It is surrounded by Evergreen trees and is next to a river that follows a road to the local ski resort. On mildly cold nights, my dad brings out chairs and lights up a fire for us to enjoy s'mores with our friends and family overlooking the crystal valley below us. It is a beautiful image; photographs and drawings don't come close to capturing its beauty. The cabin and its surroundings has definitely made an impression on me that will last for eternity!

Proposal - Problem

Air Pollution

A multitude of diseases are contaminating young children in cities concentrated with smog. A haze in the air mixed with air pollutants is called smog, a thick and toxic smoke cloud. Air pollution is caused by humans primarily through manufacturing. Living in industrialized cities exposes you to the product of manufacturing. “Particulate matter and chemicals” are spewed into the atmosphere by large companies such as the coal industry [1]. When coal is burned to produce electricity, for example, carbon dioxide and mercury are shot up into the air. Other toxic compounds that contribute to industrial smog include “carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, and volatile particulates,” that flow free into the air we breathe through the combustion of fossil fuels [1]. Coal, oil, and natural gas are common fossil fuels that humans utilize daily to drive their cars and turn on their heaters. These dirty gases and particulates that are discharged into the atmosphere are harmful to humans in many ways. Air pollution is a serious problem because it harms millions of people’s health. When exposed to the compounds that make up industrial smog, people's nervous systems, respiratory systems, and cardiovascular systems are at jeopardy.

Industrialized areas of the world thrive with big business and smokestack factories but suffer from dense clouds of smog. According to research conceived by the National Resources Defense Council, developed cities, such as Los Angeles, experience exposure to increasing levels of toxic particles that people aren’t aware of [2]. A problem related to this is that parents don’t know what the pollution is doing to their children. Kids are particularly prone to air pollution because their “lungs are growing and because they are so active,” says the American Lung Association [3]. Because they are active, they spend much of their time outdoors breathing in large amounts of pollution. 

Global warming, a dangerous phenomenon that refers to the increasing temperatures of planet Earth’s surface, is directly related to air pollution. To make matters worse, “increasing temperatures speed the process [of air pollution] and result in more smog.” This is a problem because even with pollution-control laws, millions of people in developing and developed nations still face “permanent respiratory diseases [3].” The group of people most vulnerable to pollution in the air are the ones who have asthma and allergies. Rising smog in big cities “heightens sensitivity to allergens, impairs lungs, triggers asthma attacks, and often sends people to the hospital [3].” Air pollution is only increasing in the future if nothing changes today. Laws like the Clean Air Act have been enacted to reduce air pollution and have mitigated the issue, but cases of toxic smog creating respiratory diseases and damaging children’s lungs keep appearing more consistently [3]. Nature used to be a clean haven as opposed to facilities that concentrate chemicals indoors; however, the outside world is becoming just as polluted.

Brief solution:
A solution to reducing air pollution even more is to take more drastic measures regarding laws. By making the public more aware of the consequences of living in cities engulfed in smog, an organization (of which I haven't decided yet) could gather petitions to enact a law forbidding certain polluting acts (of which I haven't decided yet) and either promoting stunning incentives or imposing unrelenting punishment.

Proposal

Global warming is a widely controversial issue. There are multiple solutions to mitigate the warming of earth's surface and its direct effects but the problem hasn't convinced enough people to act towards stopping it.

Practical:
Industrial firms should adopt environment-friendly practices that reduce dirty methods of production. Larger taxes should be placed on coal-burning and reckless techniques of deforestation that hurt the environment as well as its biotic factors.

Research:
I'd have to research what kind of media appeals affects the most people. When I find it, I'd research the most deadly effects of global warming and expose it to the public.

Media:
I'd have to research, in detail, the harm pollution does to the public and make the public more aware. Because people have been exposed to so much propaganda on climate change already, I'd have to introduce a new form of advertisement that leaves a truly depressing impression on people that will finally change their minds and force them to alter their opinions on global warming.

Challenge Check-In #2

TO: Mikayla Beaudrie

FROM: Pietro Nicastro

DATE: July 26, 2014

SUBJECT: Challenge Check-In #2

I watched a documentary on Kurt Cobain that I had seen a while back to refresh my memory and remembered things I had forgotten about him that deem Cobain a Gothic icon. I also researched some of his songs' lyrics and analyzed them. I found that much of his music adopts Gothic elements; Cobain composed some dark songs that support his relation to the Gothic. I am happy I chose this topic!

Blog Post #3C

As a young child, I watched tons of cartoons on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. My favorite show, by far, was Tom & Jerry. I vividly recall a scene from that show that taught me a lesson that I later encountered again in my life. 

There is an episode where Tom, the emotionally and neurologically-damaged cat, chases Jerry and his friend, Quacker the duckling, with a lawnmower. Jerry and Quacker run into Quacker's mom and tell her about the dilemma. Momma duck then calls her husband, a large and muscular man-duck, to deal with Tom.

What I remember most vividly, however, is how man-duck ruthlessly caught Tom and annihilated his pride by repeatedly mowing Tom (with the lawnmower) against a tree to his very bones.

I learned something about ducks that day. I had always pictured ducks as docile animals until that episode. Although I hadn’t personally had a bad experience with a duck yet, I kept the idea that ducks may be homicidal in the back of my head. 

As the years passed, that scene from Tom & Jerry was remained away from my memory. Then, I had the brilliant idea of giving bread to a duck at a park. I don’t know why I did such a thing; I should have known that ducks prefer male genitalia over a silly slice of bread.

That scene upheld my lifelong belief that ducks are bloodthirsty in cartoons as well as in real life. The fear that I felt during that Tom & Jerry scene consumed me once again on that awful day at the park.

I always knew cats were evil creatures but I never suspected ducks to hate mankind.

Challenge Check-In #1

I am choosing to do Challenge #2A which is Gothic music production. I will write about Kurt Cobain because he is an icon in the music industry and displays multiple elements of the Gothic in his music, lyrical content, personal life, and attitude/personality. I plan on breaking apart Kurt's songs to analyze his lyrics and researching more about his life. I chose music production because music is central to my identity so learning more about music is a wonderful opportunity. I picked Kurt Cobain specifically because he's greatly impacted my taste for music many years ago and still remains an eminent figure in the world even after his death.

Blogpost #2B


         Tenth grade marked the beginning of my coffee addiction. I would enjoy a large glass of coffee with milk every morning to start my day. I also relished the occasional cup of Cappuccino, Cafe Mocha, Espresso Macchiato, etc. Although drinking coffee with milk became a daily routine, I did not know how to make coffee. We had a regular brewer at home that required the simple 3-step procedure. Every time I attempted to make myself coffee, it would either be too strong or too watery. So yes, my mommy would make Pietro his coffee. Until one day I decided to study the practice of coffee brewing. To tell you the truth, my mother just ordered me to learn… so I obeyed her. 

          Pietro’s task of the year: make some damn good coffee. I was determined. Every day before school, I’d try. My mood at the time could have been described with inspiration and motivation. My mother showed me one last time how to perfect it! The bad thing was that I had to deal with weeks of drinking appalling coffee in the morning due to a little mistake in the process. After about 2 months, yes, 2 months, I began to taste my mom’s coffee in my own creation. “Wow” I thought, “this is indubitably worth the 2-month period of drinking sad coffee.”

          The next week my mom bought a Nespresso machine. It didn’t require the skill I had just learned- the skill that cost me weeks of consuming disappointing coffee. The new machine was much better than my mom’s coffee. Today if you ask me to make coffee, I’ll turn to you and say, “how do you do that?”

                                                   

    This symbolizes my objective. I wanted to get past the annoying and painful stage (trial and error) to achieve the brilliance that was my first own great cup of coffee.

 

This symbolizes the Nespresso machine. Some see it as a reward, and some see it as a waste of my time. Although it completely erased my memory of how to use a normal coffee brewer, I take it as a reward for trying my best.

My mother frowned at me when I asked her again. I remember her exact words vividly: “you’re no longer an infant, Pietro.” I was no longer an infant. That punched me hard on the center of my brain; those words finally woke me up.

It was already the 3^rd grade and all the kids in my class had them in different models, colors, and sizes. Jordan and Mitch would ask me why I didn’t have one of my own. By then I had already made up over 15 excuses. I considered myself a master at convincing people by telling them that mine were “lost” somewhere inside my house… They were such fools.

In reality, I was the fool.

I didn’t own what seemed to be the number one fad in school simply because I hadn’t learned how to operate one. Among these fads included Yu-Gi-Oh cards and rolling backpacks, but owning each of those wasn’t enough to hide the humiliation for my inability to conform correctly.

This was all my fault.

My parents tried teaching me for years how to adopt this one practice but I was stubborn. I wanted to remain an infant because it was easy. After numerous weeks of trying to teach me and receiving in return my disreputable obnoxiousness, they told me I wouldn’t get one until the fourth grade.

I was stuck with Velcro shoes for another whole year.

Jordan and Mitch constantly talked about their green-laced Nike’s and how great it felt to be “grown up.” I was left out; I paid the price.

When the year finally came to an end, I obtained my very own pair of shoes with laces. No more Velcro; no more shame in P.E. class, no more being left out. But one thing was missing.

I walked up to her and asked if she could tie them for me- what my parents had been trying to teach me for years. My mother frowned at me when I asked her again. “You’re no longer an infant,” she said.

I kneeled down, grabbed both ends of the lace, and tied them.

Looking back, I was still, unquestionably, the fool.