I-Search Project Data summary

I interviewed Mr. Mason for my I-Search project on the length of the cafeteria lines.  He acknowledged the problem and told me his take on the predicament.  He said that we are limited in what we can do to solve the problem.  The exit for the lunch line is pretty narrow so it would be hard to just throw in another counter right between the two like I was suggesting.  So one of my new ideas is that we pushback the two existing counters so there is more space between the two and throw in a double-sided counter between the two.  So instead of two counters there would be four.  Even though Mr. Mason acknowledged the problem, he did not think that at this point in time it was that big of an issue.  He says that in all his rounds of the cafeteria he never sees anybody who does not have time to finish there lunch.  But the lunch line problem could become more serious very soon because of the overpopulation problem that BHS will face in the upcoming years.  Another idea that I had after my talk with Mr. Mason was some type of queue system which could possibly stagger the lunch process so the entire lunchroom does not enter the line at the same time.  The queueing theory is something that I am currently researching because it is directly related to the lunch line problem.  The queueing theory is the study of lines and a model is normally created to predict how long a given line will last.  I think that using the queueing theory could be essential in my solution to the problem and the model created could help identify which solutions will help, and which ones hinder the line problem.

Book Review: Gang Leader For A Day

Book review on Gang Leader For A Day.

Final Public Office Speech

Ethos: Ethos: I want the audience to see me as competent and the man for the job. 

Pathos: I want the audience to feel that they need a hall monitor. 

Revised Public Office Speech

Ethos: I want the audience to see me as competent.

Pathos: I want the audience to feel devoid and that they need a hall monitor.

Public Office Speech

Ethos: I want the audience to see me as competent.

Pathos: I want the audience to feel devoid and that they need a hall monitor.

My Story Speech

The ethos that I used in my speech is that of a veteran zoo keeper. The pathos that I used was that I wanted the new worker to feel amused and enthralled about his/her new job.

Best Idea From Research Topic

After reading 10 articles and blogs about surfing I feel like I'm Kelly Slater. I think the best topic that I gathered from my research is surfing's rich history.  People surfed hundreds of years ago before Columbus even landed on the New World.  I also learned a lot about surfing culture and how it is more than just catching waves. Researching surfing also made me think about what I want to do with my life.  I kind of liked the thought of surfing on beach all day, even though that is not very feasible. Another interesting article I read was all about the start of women's professional surfing.  It was a good article that clearly outlined the four factors that caused the start of women's surfing.

Car Speech Revision

First Reading and Research Assignment

World Book Advanced, “Surfing”- This article was pretty basic.  It gave a lot of logistics about the typical surfboards used, and how you are supposed to stand on a surfboard.  This article didn’t provide much historical information, but an interesting fact that I didn’t know before was that people in what is now Hawaii were surfing before Columbus sailed to the New World.  These ancient Hawaiian surfers used boards that were up to 18 feet long.  This article also touched upon how one is supposed to ride a wave.  I’ve never surfed before so this was new information that I found interesting.  The last interesting piece of information that I gathered from this article was that to train for surfing, surfers will bodysurf.  Body surfing is when you ride a wave without a board. 

Encyclopedia Britannica, “Surfing Culture”- This article gave me tremendous insight on the creation of surfing culture in the 1960s.  Because new surfboards were light and easy to transport, surfing became more popular and a subculture was created.  Although this surfing subculture started in Southern California, it eventually spread all around the world because of surfing movies, magazines, and travels of California surfers.  The culture was reinforced because of a surfer-language that developed.  “Wipe-out,” meant to fall off your board, and “surf’s up” meant that the waves were high enough to ride.  Surfer culture also had its own “dress code”.  Surfers typically wore a t-shirts, narrow white Levi’s jeans, and Ray Ban sunglasses.  This culture was male-dominated and quickly became mainstream after several Hollywood surf films.  This article was very interesting and informative.  I knew hardly anything about surf culture before reading this article so it was a big help. 

Encyclopedia Britannica, “Surfing History” – I confirmed what I read before that surfing started in pre-modern Hawaii.  Another fact that I learned was that 19th century missionaries assigned to the islands disapproved of surfing and banned the pastime.  After this, surfing was only practiced sporadically in Hawaii by the end of the 19^th century.  Surfing made its revival in the 20^th century when Hawaii developed as a tourist destination.  At this time the sport spread quickly to California and Australia.  American writer Jack London also helped increase surfing’s popularity by publishing several articles in popular American magazines in the early 20^th century.  Hawaiian surfers George Freeth and Duke Kahanamoku helped spread the popularity of surfing as well.  Freeth was hired by an American industrialist to promote a new railway line in Redondo Beach.  After Freeth’s visit, surfing became popular in California.  After Kahanamoku won the 100-meter freestyle event at the 1912 Olympic games, he was invited to Australia to thrill crowds with his swimming and surfing skills.  This helped establish surfing in Australia. 

Encyclopedia Britannica, “Recent Trends in Surfing”- One recent trend in surfing that I found interesting was that women have started competing in professional surfing.  The article explained that there were not many women surfers, and the very few women in the sport would participate in male competitions.  But a professional circuit began in 1977, and by the mid 1990s women started taking up surfing in big numbers.  The article explained that four factors explain this sudden increase in the 1990s.  The first factor was the appearance of female surfer Lisa Anderson, who won four consecutive women’s world titles (‘94-’97).  The second factor was that a debate was solved concerning the best surfing style for women.  Professional women surfers decided that women should surf aggressively like men.  The third factor was that sports equipment manufacturers began making surfing gear for women.  This freed women from wearing the impractical bikini while surfing.  The final factor was that the long “Malibu boards” made a comeback and made it easier for beginners to learn surfing. 

Club of the Waves Blog- “Surf Imagery”- This was a pretty interesting blog that discussed the imagery that is associated and found I surfing.  Before reading this blog I knew nothing about surf imagery.  But after reading, I learned that surf imagery is much more than just waves and sunsets.  An interesting fact that I picked up from this is that surf art can be found in graffiti, advertisements and everyday objects.  Something else that I learned and found interesting is that people have been creating surf art for thousands of years.  Starting with cave drawings by old native Hawaiians, to graphic designers in the 21^st century.  Surf imagery is also entwined in commercialism and popular culture, with clothing and punk music being as much about surfing as “hitting the waves”. 

Club of the Waves Blog, “History of the Surfboard”- This was an extremely informative article about the evolution of the surfboard.  The first surfboard it discussed was the Hawaiian surfboard.  An interesting fact that I learned that was depending on your social class in Hawaii you would have a different type of board.  Commoners’ boards were 10-12 feet.  Noblemen and Chief had 14-16 feet long boards.  The next major change in surfboards was the making of a hallow surfboard.  This hallow surfboard was the first mass-produced board in 1930 and was much faster in the water.  The next major change was getting rid of the square tail.  This made the board more maneuverable.  The evolution of the surfboard is very interesting and the progress over the years is fairly remarkable. 

Surfing Magazine Blog, “What’s He On? Craig Anderson’s African Safari Sled”- This wasn’t the most informative article, but it still was very interesting.  This blog was one of the first I read that was truly immersed in surf culture.  The article is about a pro-surfer, Craig Anderson, and his small surfboard.  Anderson’s surfboard is five feet, six inches, which is very small as far as surfboards go.  The author of the blog went surfing with Anderson in South Africa, and said that the pro-surfer surfed amazingly despite this short board.  I think that an experienced surfer, whose intended audience is probably other experienced surfers, probably wrote the article.  That’s what made this article so interesting for me.  The fact that I was able to read what other dedicated surfers presumably read. 

Surfing Magazine Blog, “You Are Here: Tai Graham, Multi-tasker”- This was an article about this semi-pro surfer Tai Graham.  The article talked about his life and now he had some pretty cool jobs and still is able to surf a lot.  I liked this article because I felt like I was able to live vicariously through Graham’s life.  This article was so interesting to me because although I have never surfed before, I really want to learn and I have this dream of being on some tropical island just surfing all day.  Tai Graham seems to be living my dream that I thought was impossible to live.  I think it would be really cool to have a job(s) like Tai Graham and travel the world and surf whenever you want.  

Exploratorium, “The Science of Surfing”- This article is about the science of surfing.  I always wondered how surfing worked from a physics standpoint, so this article was just perfect for me.  Before reading this I didn’t understand how surfers were able to generate so much speed and move around the wave.  This article explained a lot, and even though the physics was really rudimentary compared to what I’m learning now, it was still interesting and informative.   I also liked how the article had a lot of pictures and diagrams to help show the points that they were making.  These pictures definitely helped increase my comprehension. 

University of Florida, “The Origins of Surfing,”- This article was pretty well written and contained a lot of useful information. The only problem with the article for me is that it was fairly repetitive.  It was hard for me to find .edu sites on surfing so this was the best I could do.  An interesting fact that I did pick up though was that the first surfers were fishermen who found that surfing was an easy way to get ashore with their catch.  That is pretty cool because you don’t think of surfing as being a practical application for someone.  I also reaffirmed that surfing was at one point a huge part of ancient Hawaiian daily life. 

Second Car Speech

Here is my second Car Speech! 

First Car Speech

My name is Corey and I like cars: