Writing 107j -- Week 4 -- what is the "do-able" idea?

1/25/2012

Hi all, great job being so active here!
This week, it's time to get real.
You want to save the world, you want to end the death penalty... You have big ideas, which is excellent, but now is the time to focus in on the POSSIBLE.

This week, we would like you to really lay out your tangible goals for the project and some potential, realistic strategies for accomplishing them.
Pick your "do-able" idea.
and do it.
Also: please don't forget to include your name and email! If you are already working with someone, note it in your post!
And, check out the photo blogs from the 120 class http://ucsbprojectpulse.weebly.com/photo-class-blogs.html

20 Comments

Jessica Oliveira

1/28/2012 03:58:55 am

"California taxpayers spend more than $25 million dollars to collect and bury the 19 Billion single-use, non-biodegradable plastic bags we use each year."
In 2009, Santa Barbara began a “Where’s Your Bag” campaign, promoting education about the environmental and health dangers of plastic bags and encouraging purchasing reusable tote bags."
However, this campaign did not suffice the needs to fix the issues we have with recycling and plastic. The new campaign that is currently in the works is hoping to do better as this time the main goal is to stress to people about why they should switch to reusable grocery bags while shopping.
Julia Brownley, assembly woman, said that she will have the California Legislature reconsider the Brownley Bag Ban, the state-wide ban to eliminate plastic bags altogether.

Currently, "about 10% of all California residents currently live under a mandated bag recycling program." Most of these areas are in Northern California. Goleta and Santa Barbara are both having debates of whether a bag policy should be adopted. The Isla Vista food-coop has already made a ban to plastic bags, even without this policy into effect.

http://thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/2012/01/ban-the-bag-debate-resurfaces-in-santa-barbara
http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/california-legislature-will-reconsider-brownley-bag-ban-2012

Alexis Kafkis

1/29/2012 07:41:00 am

I came across this site doing research for another class, it may prove to be helpful in your research: http://sites.healthebay.org/assets/pdfdocs/issues/plasticbags/Plastic_Bags_Fees_Bans_Short_Version.pdf

Jessica Oliveira

1/30/2012 02:53:21 am

Thank you so much, I will be sure to look into it!

Cissy Ross

1/31/2012 11:46:09 am

Thanks for helping a colleague, Alexis.

Rafael Sanchez-Cruz

1/30/2012 03:36:21 am

Deciding to keep up with my idea of "La nota roja" that I brought up week 2. I have some people in mind to interview that could give me some insight including journalism students in Mexico.
[email protected]
(209) 679-8407

Joel Dickenmann

1/30/2012 09:29:02 am

I came up with a new idea. It is concerned with the numerous bottle collectors in Isla Vista. The project would be on social justice, something along the "poverty amidst plenty"-line. That is, observing the social inequalities that are prevalent in IV (here the yellow porch, there the family going through your trash) makes me wonder if these inequalities could be generalized to American society as a whole. Strategy-wise, it would be a good idea to talk to the bottle collectors first, then find out where they bring the bottles to, and lastly find out who profits from that. I am open to suggestions or for collaboration.
[email protected]

Alexis Kafkis

2/5/2012 05:54:08 am

I know the IV Teen Center deals a lot with not only teenagers in IV who are not college students (there are about 700 kids under the age of 18 currently living in IV) but also with their families. They may be a helpful resource for you to investigate regarding socio-economic positions of families in IV, their jobs (including bottle collecting), etc. Just an idea!

Carly McMaster

1/30/2012 12:01:00 pm

I've narrowed my project idea down within the realm of social justice and abortion rights to focus on crisis pregnancy centers- particularly looking into one in Santa Barbara called Friends of Life. Crisis pregnancy centers across America have been criticized for being affiliated with the Christian church and giving fake medical advice to women considering abortions in order to dissuade them.

My article would hopefully reveal this relatively unknown injustice and point out the irony of a group supposedly dedicated to bringing justice to unborn children using such suspicious and deceptive means.

I'm collaborating with Alaina Judd from the photojournalism class and we have been in contact with Planned Parenthood and hopefully Friends of Life for interviews.

Carly McMaster

2/7/2012 03:17:50 am

We've also been in contact with the San Francisco City Attorney and City Supervisor, both of whom worked to pass the recent ban in SF on false advertising specifically by the Crisis Pregnancy Center. Hopefully we'll be able to set up phone interviews within the next week or so with them to see their motivation behind this ban and how justice plays a role.

Denna Taherzadeh

1/30/2012 03:00:57 pm

As stated in my previous post, I would really like to explore how our consumption choices here affect people's human rights across the world. I would particularly like to look into conflict minerals such as, the 3 T's (tantalum, tin and tungsten) used in electronics that fuel the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I not only want to focus on the horrific war in the DRC but also make a strong connection between the the victims and the consumers, as too often it is very difficult to see how much of an influence we as consumers may have.

There's a documentary called 'Blood in the Mobile' that I want to watch to learn more about the issue. Also, a few other campuses have taken steps to make their campuses 'conflict free' and more conscious of their campus purchases, so I will look into that too. The organisation 'The Enough Project' also has quite a lot of information from the DRC and about the conflict, so I will use them as a resource.
I really want my piece to tie in our 2 worlds and how much we can unconsciously or consciously effect others.

Feel free to comment or e-mail me, I always appreciate other people's input!

Denna
[email protected]

Tessa Tapscott

1/31/2012 02:44:04 pm

I have been trying to narrow down my topic, even though my research has been leading me down more tangents than I began with. After reading over the information Cissy sent me about the Slick Gardener case, a Buelton rancher who was charged with the neglect of at least 270 wild horses, and I have contacted the two main horse sanctuaries that rescued most of the horses. My next step would be to look into more recently cases and contacting Santa Barbara animal control.
However, I have underlying hesitations in that this topic will not hold my interest or yield a dynamic final project. Yet I feel like some other ideas might be too far fetched, for example researching the varying opinions surrounding Obama's recent legalization of horse slaughter for human consumption or attempting to find evidence of dog fighting in Goleta.
I am also still in contact with photo student Alina Lipanski about a collaboration.

[email protected]

Minami Coirin

1/31/2012 03:11:44 pm

Minami Coirin
[email protected]
(209) 351-3804

I met with Sean Ison, from the photography class, last week for his interview and we decided to collaborate together on our final project. We want to focus on the injustice of Asian Americans. When narrowing into our topic we came up with a couple ideas. First we were thinking about the injustice of Asian American children and the assimilation process to the American culture against their parents wishes. Another idea was to focus on the stereotype Asian Americans (young adults) are subjected to based on how "American" they look, based on the physical features, clothing style, or accents they have. We would love any input or help with out idea so we can get a jump start on the project soon! Thanks!

Mariana

2/1/2012 06:40:04 pm

Have you read any of Amy Tan's works? It might be helpful:

http://teachers.sduhsd.k12.ca.us/mcunningham/grapes/mother%20tounge.pdf

If not, still a good read (:

Kalie Wertz

2/1/2012 06:54:03 am

I was rethinking my topic because it was so broad and actually was looking at Clare Bredenoord's photoblog and was interested in the issue of race and "whiteness". White people have created a social stratification system, and it would be interesting to see how race affects students, as well as all others within our modern day society.

[email protected]

Jill Agonias

2/1/2012 02:36:11 pm

My subject is yoga & mediation in prisons. I go to a couple of yoga studios in Santa Barbara and this weekend I'm going to ask them if they, or another teacher they know, has taught yoga in prisons. Hopefully one of them says yes! I'm going to collaborate with Andrea Napoli from the photojournalism class.

[email protected]

Minh N Nguyen

2/1/2012 05:14:20 pm

My feature will be about LGBTQ members in the professional career realm, how to maneuvered the system of prejudice and their stories (maybe a case study), I will work with Danielle Aguilar from the RCSGD who is going to run a program all about Queer Careers.

[email protected]

Abby Whyte

2/1/2012 08:04:40 pm

I am pretty positive I am going to do my feature on stigma toward mental illness. I am going to try to contact a group on campus that works to combat these stigmas called Active Minds. Many people toss around words like bi-polar and schizophrenic when attempting to insult another person. These words are however not to be taken lightly and are hurtful to those that actual have these illnesses. Not only are mental illness stigmatized; they are frowned-upon, kept secret, seen as weakness or, not taken seriously.

The movement to get rid of the negative connotations with mental illness is pretty new. Could be likened to elimination of the N-word, not using 'gay' to mean 'bad' etc. Not many people think about being PC toward mental illness. It blew my mind when I first thought about it so I figure it will make for an interesting feature.

If I can get in touch with this campus group I think I will have a definite direction and a very do-able feature. It probably doesn't hurt that my mom is a mental health care worker either :).

Let me know if you would like to work with me. I think it could be good material for a photojournalist student.

Abby
[email protected]

Mariana Prestigiacomo

2/2/2012 07:28:29 am

For now, my topic is on low-income and/or homeless children and how their economic status affects their social and development. I want to know whether the programs or organizations available for them are actually helping and whether there is room for improvement. I have access to an organization for low income children (big sibling, little sibling type of deal), the homeless shelter, and Inocencio. Hopefully, I'll get interviews out of all!

Anyone interested, I'd love to collaborate!
[email protected]

Joseph Aidan link

5/28/2012 04:33:23 pm

Excellent! I admire all the helpful data you've shared in your articles. I'm looking forward for more helpful articles from you. :)

Joseph Aidan
www.arielmed.com

internet savvy link

9/16/2012 11:17:02 am

I have read your article, I am very much impressed because you way of explanation quite good and very informative. And one more thing I have got to know that everyone has a different style to write the article, but I must say your article sounds very good.

<a href="http://www.tulleeho.org">internet savvy</a>
www.tulleeho.org

Writing 107j -- Week 4 -- what is the "do-able" idea?

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