Week 13 Blog #3

In the article “How to buy a horse at an auction,” by Dr. Jim Hamilton, DVM, he states what is the best way to buy a horse at an auction. This is very hard because auctions are where problem horses go. Either the horse has a very serious medical problem or is crazy. People have no real way of telling this without having an actual vet check before buying a horse. This is impossible at horse auctions because there is not enough time to bring a vet to check the horse out. Potential owners therefore have to rely on their own horse savvy to figure out whether the horse is worth the money they will be paying for it. They need to be able to tell through a fence when the horse is being sold. This is very hard because from far away a horse can look completely different than up close. At auctions horses can also be drugged to look calmer or to look like they don’t have a problem. Many owners may send their horses to auctions with pain killers in them too so that the horse will not show if it has a lameness of some kind. The vet, who is the author of this article, gives advice as of how one should make sure the horse they may buy is not a problem horse. One thing the buyer has to do is look over the horse’s body in the back pens and make sure there are not any scars, which may be evidence of an injury that could affect them. The owner also needs to look at the eyes, teeth, and feet, in order to make sure the horse can see, eat, and walk without a lot of difficulty. If these three things are not healthy the owner will have to spend a lot of money on a vet and farrier to fix the horse. One question about this article is whether auctions allow vets to be on site and give horses vet checks at a buyer’s request, or is that not allowed?
Article used: http://www.ultimatehorsesite.com/articles/hamilton_howtobuyahorseatauction.html

Week 13 Blog #2

Since my research paper was peer reviewed on Monday I have viewed grammar problems as my priority. I read through my paper again and couldn’t find a lot that I thought I needed to improve on. I disagree with putting too much emotion in a research paper because I believe that doesn’t make it as formal as it should be. I believe that you must state your opinions about the topic in your thesis and through the information, quotes, and evidence you put in the paper. The grammar issues were the only basic ones in the paper that I saw as needed to be fixed mostly. There were also a couple MLA citation problems that could be improved on. For example, when I did in text citations I did not put the period in the correct place. I also had to changed the names of the sources to make them correctly cited.

Week 13 Blog #1

Before my research was viewed today I believed that it had many strengths and weaknesses. Its strengths appeared to be the facts and quotes used as evidence in the paper. I also believed that the sources were very strong and helped me a ton with the paper. The movie especially was very helpful because it was exactly what my paper was about and didn’t leave anything out. My weaknesses were the clearness of my argument and the ways to fix the problem in my paper. For example, the solution to what I’m argument is very hard to decide how to fix the problems that are occurring in the horse world. It was hard for me to tell how many weaknesses my paper had because most of it wall all facts laid out to support my thesis and it had barely any of my personal opinion in it. It didn’t have a lot of emotion in it because I was taught to not put emotion in my research papers because that isn’t very formal.

Week 11 Blog #3

In the article “Wild Horses Move From Threatened to Critical,” by the Equine Post, it talks about the numbers of wild horses starting to diminish. The government has placed wild horses in national parks in order to keep their numbers up, but they keep going down. The next level after critical is extinction, which is what the program has been working against for a long time. They are now starting breeding programs to make new herds of horses so that if there is an epidemic and they have to kill of some of the herds they will still have descendents of the original wild horses. The author believes that it is horrible with how low the wild horses population numbers are going down. They think that it is a good idea but a little weird about starting to breed a new outside herd in case a catastrophe occurs. This defeats the purpose of the original wild horses because it brings in human contact and they are pretty much making hybrids. Although, it is good because the wild horses will still be around. It is really scary to think of there being a huge catastrophe or spread of disease where they’d have to kill off a herd that is already diminishing. On the east coast it doesn’t seem like there’s a huge problem with the wild horses as there is on the west coast or in the Midwest. It’s hard to believe that farmers over here are talking about there being huge numbers of mustangs that are ruining the land and eating a lot of the range up, yet if there are so many why are they in danger of going extinct. This isn’t helped by horse slaughter either because this makes them disappear even more. How are these animals going extinct when they apparently are having a hard time controlling the population?

Article used: http://www.equinepost.com/resources/articles.asp?ID=55

Week 11 Blog #2

I have encountered at least one naysayer that has to do with my topic. I was watching a movie, which is one of the sources, and there was a definite naysayer in it. My topic is about the slaughter of horses, especially mustangs and burros getting taken off BLM lands and getting sold to slaughter. In the movie the narrator would ask peoples opinions about this issue. Some of the farmers in the area believe mustangs should be taken off the BLM lands because apparently they are a competitor for the food with the farmers cows or sheep. I believe that in some ways the famers reasoning is for the benefit of their animals, but I believe that the mustangs really don’t make it so the famers animals can’t eat. There is so much range land the mustangs are of the smallest percentage that use the roughage there. If anything, it’s the cows and sheep that could be making the mustangs lose weight. Overall, taking the mustangs off of the public lands and sending them to slaughter is a horrible solution to the fight over food for livestock. The farmers don’t even own the land and therefore have no right to complain.

Week 11 Blog #1

The Horse Protection Act is a law that prohibits the inhumane treatment of horses within our country. It should be protected in order to keep horse safe, unabused, and without suffering up to the point of their death.

Week 10 Blog #3

In the article “Rocker’s daughter wins ASPCA Maclay Championship,” it talks about how Bruce Springsteins daughter won one of the biggest junior jumping competitions in the country. This competition is a huge deal. All of a riders training goes into this competition. With over 13 years of training going into under two minutes of adrenaline rushing competition, it is a huge accomplishment to win it. She spent countless amounts of hours training and competing in order to even qualify for this event. Her parents were extremely proud of her and have even more appreciation for the sport as a result. Her father, Bruce, mentioned how horse riding is similar, yet different compared to his band performances. He said how in these horse competitions all of your practice is shown, but unlike his band performances, riders only have one shot to show their skill and that they deserve to win it. In band performances if there is a mess up they can just play it again at a different location, and get a redo. This doesn’t go on at horse competitions at all and Springstein is very impressed and proud of his daughter’s accomplishment. The author’s opinion on this situation is that it is great publicity for the horse world and is a great accomplishment for this little girl. I believe that it is great to see celebritys kids riding horses and winning competitions because it shows that they don’t always get the special treatment. In show jumping one isn’t judged, but timed, and truly the best of the best win. This article represents this notion in that famous people don’t get special treatment, and Jessica Sprinstein had to work extremely hard for this huge accomplishment. One question I have about this article is whether people from her training barn were able to show at her level or if it was just her.
Article used: http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-news/2008/11/03/springsteen-wins-maclay.aspx

Week 10 Blog #2

Ever since becoming a university student I haven’t had that bad of time management issues. It feel like I have a lot more time off than I did in high school. I used to not get home till four and was taking six classes every day. This didn’t give me much time for homework, and I had really bad time managemen skills. Once I got to college I started having a lot more freetime and when everyone was doing their homework I would feel obligated to do mine too. This helps me have more motivation to do my homework earlier because then I am less stressed and have a lot more freetime. The only times when I have horrible time management is when it comes to studying for exams. This is when I completely put studying off till last minute and I don’t even start studying till the night before. This was a problem for me in high school too, and hasn’t changed since becoming a university student.

Week 10 Blog #1

Taken from Week 9 Blog #1

A potential topic for my research paper is the issue of horse slaughter. I have been thinking about doing my paper on the horse protection act. I could also do it on the issue of mustangs and burros being taken off state land and sold at auctions. These topics interests me because they are an undermined issue in our world today. A lot of people aren’t that familiar with it either. I also am very interested in the horse industry and this is one of the controversies that is going on in it. This topic is a very suitable choice for my purpose because it has many different opinions and catches within the subject. For example, they have outlawed horse slaughter in the U.S., which is great because horse slaughter should not be happening, but now people are selling and smuggling horses to different countries where they aren’t treated humanely. They aren’t treated humanely there because there aren’t any animal welfare laws like there are in the U.S. This means that horses were treated nicely and under state protection before being slaughtered in the U.S., but now they are going through horrible treatment on their way to be killed. This shows how controversal this topic is and how many causes and effects there are to it.

Week 9 Blog #3

In the article “Mustang Competition Leads to Adoptions, Funds,” written by The Associated Press, it talks about how the BLM is booming with mustangs and is in danger of overpopulation. Since the economy has been bad people haven’t been able to make it to the auctions that go on after mustang roundups. The solution to this problem was making mustang competitions. In these competitions the roundups would catch a bunch of young mustangs and send them to trainers. These trainers would mess with them for 60-100 days and in the end take them to a competition. At this competition they would show off what their assigned mustang has learned. They would try to show how much better their mustang was than the others. At the end of the competition there would be a musical freestyle where the final ten or five would make up their own patterns to show off what their horses could do. The winner after this final part of the competition would get a purse and a title. After this there would be an auction with all of the mustangs that came to the competition where people could buy them. This is a huge money raiser for the mustang foundation and gives an alternative to having to euthanize them instead of adopting them out. The authors stance on this whole issue is that it is great for the mustangs because now they don’t get euthanized and are put in good homes. I believe that this is great for the mustangs too, and it promotes what great horses they can be since most people believe them to be untamable. One question I have about this article is whether it is really true that the mustang population is booming and is it true that the government needs to reduce the numbers every four years? How are they growing so rapidly when everyone else is freaking out that they are all disappearing?

Article used: http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=12847

Week 9 Blog #2

Works Cited

United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. To amend the Horse Protection Act : report of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on S. 311. Washington : U.S. G.P.O., 2007.

Last of the Spanish Mustangs. Dir. Len Johnson. Writ. Len Johnson. Perf. Len Johnson. DVD, VHS. Len Johnson Productions, 2006.

Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. ”U.S. horse slaughter exports to Mexico increase 312%.” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 232, no. 2, (2008): 176

United States. Bureau of Land Management. Burns District. Kiger Mustang, The. Hines, Or.: Bureau of Land Management, Burns District, 1990.

“The Horse Protection Act.” Animal Welfare Information Center Newsletter, Volume 8, Number 2, Summer 1997

Farlex. “Horse Protection Act 1970.” The Free Dictionary.10/27/08

Week 9 Blog #1

A potential topic that I have been thinking about for my research paper is the issue of horse slaughter. I have also been thinking about doing my paper on the horse protection act, or the issue of mustangs and burros being taken off state land and sold at auctions. These topics interests me because it is an undermined issue in our world today that a lot of people aren’t that familiar with. I also am very interested in the horse industry and this is one of the controversies that is going on in it. This topic is a very suitable choice for my purpose because it has many different opinions involved with it. For example, they have outlawed horse slaughter in the U.S., which is great because horse slaughter should not be happening, but now people are selling and smuggling horses to different countries where they aren’t treated humanely. They aren’t treated humanely there because there aren’t any animal welfare laws like there are in the U.S. This means that horses were treated nicely before being slaughtered in the U.S., but now they are going through horrible treatment on their way to be killed. This shows how controversal this topic is and how many causes and effects there are to it.

Week 8 Blog #3

In the article “Snohomish therapeutic-horseback-riding lessons for children ends,” by Jennifer Sullivan, it is announced that a long time riding center for disabled people has all of a sudden shut down out of the blue. They have been relying on donations from the public because they are a nonprofit organization but this year their key fundraiser had barely anyone sign up for it. This was a huge shocker to the board of the program and in order to cut his losses without going into anymore debt he had to shut EquiFriends (the riding program) down. This was a complete shock to the public and no one, not even the employees saw this coming. They are in the process right now of selling their tack and equipment in order to pay back families that have already paid the program for their kids lessons. EquiFriends had already gone over their $50,000 bank credit and are completely out of money. The economy right now isn’t helping either since everyone has lost so much money in the stocks they don’t have any extra money to donate. The author of this article believes that it was a complete shock that EquiFriends closed down. She believes that this is a huge disaster for the families that sent their children there and it was large downfall for the community. People had specifically moved their children up to the Snohomish area in order to give their kids this unique kind of therapy. Families have also been struggling to pay for it so much since the government won’t cover any of the costs. EquiFriends tried to help these families by only charging them a third of what the price really should have been. I was completely blown away when I heard that this place was shutting down because it had been doing so well for the past ten years. It is a huge loss for the community and is a large example as to how bad our county’s economy has gotten. One question about this topic that I would like to explore is if there is any way of them making a comeback or if it is totally over? If the economy comes back up will they still have the money to restart what they have just shut down?

Article used: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008284301_equifriends19m.html

Week 8 Blog #2

I am very picky about the kind of texts I enjoy reading. I particullarily like books pertaining to horses, with lots of action and adventure in them. I like reading books where I don’t want to put them down and I can’t wait to start reading them again. I enjoy reading horse books because I am familiar with the subject and books about them get me interested really fast. I am taking animal science 101 this semester and I enjoy the lectures that they give. We don’t have a text for this subject but the lectures are just as good. The lectures relate a lot to the books that I like to read because they are about the livestock industry and about the mechanics of it. We also had a lecture on horses last week and I really enjoyed it. This is because I knew about the majority of information they were going over, but it still interested me to go over it in class.

Week 8 Blog #1

In the past I have written many collaborative essays. All of them were very different in the division of the workload and the arguments among the group members. In my first experience with collaborative writing, it was with some friends in high school. We got to pick our groups so we ended up pairing up because we thought it would be fun. It all started to go downhill from there when we couldn’t agree on a topic. We all wanted to do a different topic and no one would give in. Once we all finally agreed then there came the problem as to where to do the work and what day. No one was willing to give up one of their beloved weekends to work on this paper together. It was very frustrating because we needed to get this paper done and no one was willing to make the sacrifice that was needed to get the paper done. After this experience I have learned to dread group papers because I don’t know how it will work out and I don’t like arguing over schoolwork.

Week 7 Blog #3

In the article “The Importance of the Helmet,” by Lydia K. Kelly, she talks about the importance of wearing a helmet. She brings up the potential dangers of horses and how they hurt and kill people every year. She gives examples of how even the most disciplined, trained, and worked with horses can at any second throw a rider. If the rider doesn’t have a helmet on they have the potential to break a bone or get a concussion. Horses weight over 1000 pounds, and most of it is pure muscle. They are more dangerous than a motorcycle because they can think and are unpredictable, unlike a motorcycle which is controled by the driver, and it can’t think. Motorcycle riders are forced under the law to wear helmets no matter what age they are. Horse riders on the other hand don’t have to wear a helmet once they reach 18 years of age, and in todays society most kids don’t ride with helmets. Wearing helmets is a very serious issue in the horse world. I agree with the author in that we need to make sure to support the wearing of helmets. With so many adults and trainers that kids look up to not wearing helmets, it makes kids think that it’s cool not to wear a helmet. They are raised resenting the wearing of helmets, and sometimes being sneaky and not wearing them at all. This is particularly dangerous because I know that when I was younger I would do the craziest and most dangerous stuff with my horses that I wouldn’t even think of doing today. What personally helped me wear a helmet more often was when I showed my horse I had to ride english, and it was required to wear a helmet because that was the “look.” This encouraged me and other kids to wear helmets while we were riding at home because it made us feel more professional. One question I have relating to this helmet issue is that how could the government force motorcycle riders to wear a helmet and take special driving tests to even drive one on the street, yet there are little kids riding huge thinking animals who don’t even wear helmets? Why doesn’t the government make a law and enforce it better so that kids aren’t practically driving motorcycles around without helmets or even some supervision?
Article used: http://www.articles3000.com/Pets-and-Animals/143506/Horse-Riding-The-Importance-of-the-Helmet.html

Week 7 Blog #1,2

Dear Robert Cook,
I have read your letter to the editor on http://www.bitlessbridle.com/Cook_Dean_ltrs_Your_Horse.pdf , and I have found there to be a couple logical fallicies in it. In the letter you said the researchers and vets aren’t completely happy with the results of shoeing to help horses with laminitis issues. The goal of shoeing a horse with laminitis is to make the horse sound again and not in pain. With a good farrier this is exactly what the shoes do, if the horse seems to be in pain the vet will also give it specific a specific pain killer designed to help wit the laminitis. When someone makes a horse barefoot after having shoes for a long time the horse goes lame and is very tender footed. If the farrier trims the horses feet too short they will start to bleed. Shoeing is needed for certain horses in certain climates, even the barefoot theory will leave a horse lame depending on the horse and the climate. Yes, leaving a horse barefoot is best for the health of the horses feet in its natural habitat, but in reality, since we have taken horses out of their natural habitat and have confined them sometimes shoeing is desperately needed to keep a horse sound. An example of the barefoot theory not working better than shoeing is horses in the northwest. Thoroughbreds especially don’t have good feet, with the moist climate in the winter, and the dry climate in the summer, their feet go through many drastic changes. Especially with the variety of footing the horses have to walk on, they go from walking on hard rocky gravel to walking in muddy mush. The mud will soften their feet and when they go on to gravel there is a shock and their feet get sores. This is a reason why shoeing is a big necessity. In reality, shoeing is not a horrible thing to do for horses, everyone has their own opinion, and different things work for different horses.
Sincerely,
Betsy

Week 6 Blog #3

In the article “Horse Show Skills and Solutions,” written by Cindy Hale, the issue that is addressed is how at horse shows the people who ride bays and chestnuts have a hard time being noticed by the judge. Then the article points out some tips on how to be noticed in the show ring and not blend in with the other horses and riders. It is very true that people with bays and chestnuts tend to blend in a lot in the show rings. Eventhough the judge should be able to consider everyone in the ring, it is hard to judge a class of all plain colored horses. The author also believes that it is very difficult to stand out and get ones true placing from the judge when one is riding a bay or chestnut horse. The author suggests to make the horse more noticable by making its white markings extremely bright. Although this is a good tip, if ones horse and minimal white, making the white markings brighter won’t do much for the horse that has a lot of chrome. The author also believes that the rider can stand out better with a brighter undershirt under the normal huntcoat. This gives a nice accent to ones show clothing, but one has to be careful that they don’t go too overboard to the point that it mkes the judge mad and they biasly mark you down. A third suggestion is to ad a little bit of bling or something extra to ones tack. One can do this by getting a custom browband with beads and jewels on it, this will definitely catch the judges eye. Most judges won’t mark a person down for this either as long as it’s a normal browband with nothing hanging off of it. A question about this topic that Iwould like to explore is if the judges try to pay even more attention to the bays and chestnuts in order to tell them apart? Would this make the judges pay less attention to the colored horses and then give them a disadvantage?
Article used: http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-exclusives/plain-brown-horse.aspx

Week 6 Blog #2

Peer reviews can both be beneficial and difficult. They are very beneficial for both the writer and the reader. For the reader it tells them about their writing and helps them find out how to make it better. It also gives them a critical example of someone elses opinions on their writing style. They can be beneficial for the writer because the writer gets practice proof reading other peoples works, and in turn when they proof read their writings their proof reading skills would have gotten better. They also get exposed to different writing skills and can figure out which ones work and which ones don’t. Even though peer reviews are very beneficial, they are also difficult for the reviewer and the writer. They are difficult for the reviewer because it forces them to critically state their opinion of a complete strangers paper. They are expected to give helpful feedback and not mess up. A peer review is difficult for a writer because as they read the peer review they can disagree with the reviewer, and can get very confused and defensive about the content and mechanics of their paper. This makes peer reviews both helpful and difficult.

Week 6 Blog #1

This advertisement is telling people to order movies on the 1996 equestrian games. It is telling the audience that even when the games are over, they can still watch them and enjoy them in the comfort of their home. They can subscribe to the outtakes by sending the company “Spur” money, and can either have the subscription for one or two years. They use this visual image to catch the horse lovers attention. The image uses pathos by being very simple and showing the excitement of the equestrian games. When people see this image they can’t help but want to watch the movies. The text of the advertisement is very small and inviting. The diction of it uses memorable wording to make one miss the equestrian event, and then draws them into thinking that it would be nice to take the games home with them instead of leaving all of their memories of it for that day. The text doesn’t detract from the image, but makes the audience try to focus on it.

Article used: http://www.dagmarhorseart.com/horse_art_articles/Spur_Ad_1996.jpg

Week 5 Blog #3

In the article “Why egg prices are a shell game,” by Anthony Mirhaydari, it is brought to attention that there is a rise in egg prices. It says how if there is such an increase in price there has to be an increase in supply and demand. This is great news for the farmers, with a greater demand for eggs they won’t have so much trouble selling there eggs for whatever price they want. Although the negative part is that the egg producers have lowered there flocks and made this demand possible by making a shortage of eggs. This makes it possible to raise the prices for them since the demand for them was small, they tricked the market into believing that the demand was higher because less eggs were being produced. To protect the consumers from what the egg producers are doing, the egg producers are being forced to make bigger cages with less birds in them. I believe that what the egg producers are doing is ridiculous but smart on their part. They are teaming up to control the economy for the eggs and are being able to force consumers to pay for overpriced eggs. They are still smart in doing this because they have found a way to make more money in a falling demand for eggs. They have found a way to no lose money and how to stay afloat in our overpriced economy. The author of this article believes that the “naughty” egg producers will get caught and be forced to have to lower their prices, and in the end will get in trouble and ruin ties with egg sellers. He believes that as time goes on and they keep taking advantage of the prices, they will start getting in trouble and not have a good name in the egg producing industry. The buyers of the eggs who distribute them out to stores will also not want to buy from them because they won’t want to get in trouble with the government.

Article used: http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/topstocks/archive/2008/09/25/evidence-points-to-manipulated-egg-prices.aspx?emc=el&m=1596843&l=9&v=e3f55dfac8

Week 5 Blog #2

Thesis Statements on the Effects of Terrorism
1. In our world today terrorism has been negatively effecting people; with its use of violence to intimidate and threaten people it has caused mental, economic, cultural and physical damage.
2. Throughout history and up to today terrorism has negatively effected societies mentally, economically, culturally and physically.
3. Although some people view terrorism as only an act of patriotism, it has very negatively effected societies in our world today.
4. Terrorism has negatively effected the world for many years, whether it be with economic depression or mental damage, it is still occuring and harmfully taking its toll on societies.
5. Despite most societies efforts to get rid of terrorism, it is still occuring and negatively effecting everyone and everything it comes into contact with.

Week 5 Blog #1

In deciding a topic with my group members for paper 2, we had to use invention techniques. The main technique we used was listing. Before we started the list we decided that we wanted to write the paper on a controversial topic. This would make the paper automatically have two sides, and a variety of information. We also had to decide on a topic that all of us had at least a tiny bit of knowledge on. This would help to make sure that we all aren’t blindly writing about something we don’t know at all. After agreeing to write about a controversial topic we started listing off what topic could be controversal. As the list began many of the topics were way too broad to write about. Then we started to have to specify and narrow the topics down. Once we started narrowing them down though, we decided that the majority of them wouldn’t have that many sources to go to or use. Finally after listing off a bunch of topics we decided on the negative effects of terrorism. This is a very controversal subject and has a lot of works published about it.

Week 4 Blog #3

In the article “Wisconsin Milk Production Could Exceed Plant Capacity,” by Laurie Fischer, she discussed the issues of milk production in Wisconsin. We all know that Wisconsin is famous for it’s cheese. The cheese factories use an extreme amount of milk, and therefore milk is in high demand there. In the past there was a large deficit in milk and they had to truck milk in from other states. Luckily, the dairys are now producing a surplus amount of milk, which is exceeding the plant capacity. Now the cheese plants in Wisconsin are either building new ones for the milk to go, or adding on to their existing factories to put more milk. This is a huge boost in profits for the dairys and cheese factories, and now that the milk is mostly all coming from Wisconsin the factories get fresh milk to make the cheese with.

I believe that it is great that the Wisconsin cheese factories are building new places to put the milk that the dairys are now overproducing. I believe that this is great for the economy and for farmers. The surplus production of milk shows a lot of improvement from the later years when there was a large deficit in milk and they had to truck it in and not even use fresh milk. I also believe that with this sudden surplus in milk, hopefully the costs per gallon will go down too. After reading the article I believe that the author’s opinion is very similar to mine. She doesn’t say a single negative thing about this subject. At the end she states how the DBA supports all the dairys and tries to make a positive environment for them. The question that I would like to explore after reading this article is what will happen as the amount of milk keeps on rising? Will there be such a big surplus that milk will stop selling?

Article used: http://www.widba.com/pdfs/news/WisconsinMilkProductionCouldExceedPlantCapacity-2.pdf

Week 4 Blog #2

In Part 1 of the book “They Say I Say,” by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, a lot was discussed about how to best write what others say. It was discussed how to best intoduce what “they say” and how to do it formally and respectfully. There were guides on how to say what “they say” without exactly copying it. A lot of the templates had to do with introducing thoughts, views, and ideas. The templates helped with teaching how to introduce views that one does not agree with, and how to make it respectful and considerate. It also discussed about how to summarize others writings. In summarizing one needs to have a clear thought on the direction they are going, and understand where the writer is coming from. One needs to use the correct kind of wording so the summary isn’t bland, or so that it’s not a play by play. There is also a section on how to quote in one’s writing. It shows how to make quotes relevant, how to include them in the paper correctly, and how to not add quotations. This section was very helpful in teaching how to focus on what “they say.”

Week 4 Blog #1

In the article “For Buyers, Many Roadblocks,” by Christine Haughney, there is a lot of tex that quotes people’s exact words as evidence of something that “they say.” The writer has integrated the quotes into her article by bringing up the issues facing the real estate industry today, and quoting people who have experienced it first hand. The people who have experienced these issues are quoted saying the main points of the problems they have faced. They reveal the “tricks” that companies play on them and the catches to the deals they make. The writer brings up the quotes by writing a little summary about the person she is about to quote. She says what kind of position they are at the present time, and then puts in the quote. The writer ties the quotes into her text very professionally and makes each quote relevant. Therefore, I don’t have any suggestions for this article based on what I have read in this chapter.

Article used: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/realestate/21cov.html

Blog #3 Week 3

In the news article “Turning Horse Owners Into Illegal Traffickers,” by Steve Dittmer, it is stated that the U.S. House of Representatives are looking over a new law. This law outlaws the known “possession, sale, delivery or transport of horses for slaughter for human consumption.” This means that the original owner of a horse is responsible and eligible to be arrested if their horse somehow ends up going to slaughter, whether they still own it or not. I believe that this law does have good intentions, but is laid out completely wrong. The buyer who takes the horse to slaughter should be arrested, not the old owner. Although, if the old owner knowingly sent there horse to slaugher, they should get arrested. The reason why I believe that the owner who unknowingly sells their horse to someone who is going to take it to slaughter is because I have had second hand experience with this.

My friend encountered a man who comes by her stable every once in a while to try and sell horses. This time he brought a paint mare who he said that unless someone bought her, he would take her to slaughter. My friend bought her to save her life, and once the mare was rehabilitated and healthy again, she tried to sell her to a good home. The old owner, who owned the mare before the man had a hold of her, contacted my friend and said that that was her horse. She said that she had given the mare to this man because he said that he would take her up to his ranch for the following year and turn her out with his horses. If this law had been passed the woman who owned the horse would have gotten arrested because in the police’s eyes she had sent her horse off to slaughter. The author believes that this law will make horse owners look like drug dealers, it will also make it a lot harder to sell a horse, and owners will shoot their horses instead of trying to pay for them or trying to sell them. A question about this article that I would like to explore is how will the cops enforce this law? When the transporter of the horses has them all in a stock trailer, he doesn’t have any papers on the old owner or any documentation on the horses besides the proof that he owns it. How will the cops catch the old owners?

Article: http://www.agribusinessfreedom.org/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=208&Itemid=49

Blog #2 Week 3

There are large differences of opinions throughout the U.S. about horse slaughter. The majority of the population is against it, as a result horse slaughter is illegal in the U.S., but others are for it. The people who are against it want it outlawed all over the world; this is because it is seen as cruel, abusive, and inhumane. The people who are for it see horse slaughter as population control, place to dump their horse when it’s old or crazy, and as a way of making money.

I believe that horse slaughter she be legalized in the U.S. The problem with outlawing it is that then horses are smuggled to other countries and slaughtered a lot more inhumanely then they would be in the U.S. This is because in the U.S. we have laws that state in the slaughtering of animals they must have the correct care up to the time they are slaughtered. In other countries the animals are abused and neglected up until their slaughter. This is why I believe horse slaughter is better to be legal in the U.S., so that the animals don’t get abused even worse in other countries.

Blog #1 Week 3

I adopted many strategies from A Writer’s Resource to use in the writing of my autobiography. One of the strategies I used in the writing of my paper is by revealing my opinion about writing and how I got to the skill level I am today. Doing this in the paper may have helped me make connections with my readers. By sharing my personal experiences it made the paper more interesting and fun to read. Another strategy I used in my paper was writing it in chronological order. I believe that this helps the reader follow along with the story and helps lead up to the conclusion. It also makes the paper a lot more organized and easier to read. It makes the paper easier to write too in the sense that I could go through my life and not randomly list subtopics off. I used the present tense strategy in the last paragraph. This is because it was my immediate hope my English 101 class and what my present expectations are. I used all of these strategies in my paper to help with its overall appearance and content.