project 4, almost ready?

I have been thinking a lot lately about project 4 because i feel like i would be unsatisfied with what i had originally planned on doing. I thought and thought and thought and then came to the realization that i wanted to do my project in favor of the gay rights movement and URI, and still include how i think the students should be circulated through the dorms already on campus without constructing and spending millions of dollars to build a separate dorm.

There was recently an article in URI's alumni magazine talking all about the gay rights movement so i am starting with that as some of my research. There have also been quite a few newspaper articles published about this issue both in the school and other local newspapers. I think this sort of cliche topic can be made a bit fresher due to the fact that it is only pertaining to URI and it's students ways of reacting to the gay community on campus and how this community is choosing to fight back.

Trying to start Project 4...

We have a new project that will be due in the beginning of May about a social issue on campus. We have had to do a project about this before and I think that I will do again. At the beginning of the year the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and question community at the University of Rhode Island felt very uncomfortable at school. A lot of hate crimes were recorded against the LBGTQ community which caused them to hold a peaceful protest in the URI library in order to gain rights. They wanted more staff members and a new building for the LBGTQ community as well as a dormitory for those students in order to feel safe and comfortable on campus.

I do feel like all students on campus have the right to feel safe and comfortable, and i do think it was awful that members of the same university were conducting hate crimes towards each other. Yet, i think it is unreasonable for the members of the LBGTQ community to request their own dormitory and living quarters. In order to obtain equality for all i don't think that a group should be segregated like that. I'm still thinking about how i can construct this project without stepping on any toes because i do believe in equal rights. Any ideas on how i can portray this information without sounding like i'm against the LBGTQ community?

Informative Genre Project...take 2!

I just wanted to say thanks to the guys that commented on my blog, you both gave me the little push that i needed to move forward and some good tips to continue with my project! I was a little bit worried about the topic at first thinking that it wasn't a good idea and that i needed to change it, but after my blog post and my post with students in my own class at URI I feel more confident about making my choice to discuss safe sex on college campuses.

I completed my fieldwork over the course of 2 days which i though would take me a lot longer. I printed out a 3 question survey and passed it out to 75 students over the course of 2 days which asked question about student's knowledge and practice of safe sex. I also interviewed one of the nurses at our Health Services office asking her about different methods of contraception offered at URI and how available it is to students. I got some really great information from the students and the nurse I interviewed and incorporated it into my essay that coincided well with the data that i gained from the research i did on the topic of safe sex.

I have a few more things to add to my paper and just a double check of grammar, but I think i'm on the right track with this paper!

The Informative Genre Project

The issue i will research for my informative piece will be safe sex on college campuses. The two audience segments that i will target for my writing will be high school students that will soon be entering colleges and students already enrolled at colleges and universities. Safe sex on college campuses will or will be directly affecting these two audience groups so that is why i chose them as my target audiences. The involvement of these two audience segments will help propel the issue through cycle of written publicity because they will able to provide first hand insights and experiences about the issue and provide information. I will do a more thorough analysis of college students due to the fact that the research will be about safe sex on college campuses. The demographics, interests, values, assumptions and knowledge base will all start off around the University of Rhode Island. Though i can not identify all aspects of this audience group i am aware that they all have a thirst for knowledge and have goals as they graduated high school and moved on to a higher education. The profile of this audience group suggest that the content of the article i will write will be based on how college students are faced with the dilemma of safe sex and how easy it is for them to practice this act. A local publication that will give me access to my audience would be URI's paper, the 5 cent cigar as well as the Narragansett Times newspaper which is available to all students that attend URI as most students that live off campus live in the town of Narragansett. 

A few things that i could use some help or advice on would probably be my research for this project. If anyone could provide some insight to any good websites or references that will provide really great research for this project so that it doesn't seem too overdone or cliche, that would be great. I know that students that i interview and survey on campus will provide answers that coincide with the University of Rhode Island's students, that hopefully mirror most other colleges campuses and universities. Any advice on how to make this project A+ material would be fantastic! Thanks so much!

Introduction

 Hi, my name is Rachel Quimby and I'm a sophomore at the University of Rhode Island.I'm originally from New Hampshire and traveled south to live closer to the beach! I love to play sports, soccer and lacrosse and traveling has become a passion of mine as I have been to many places in the US, Europe and South America. I'm planning to study abroad in Paris next semester, which I am very excited about. I'm majoring in political science and am thinking about a minor in writing. I plan to attend law school after graduating URI and then continue on to practice entertainment law, which doesn't take me to trial, just negotiating contracts with, hopefully, the rich and famous!