Research Project Step 5 - Final Draft

______Public Transportation for the Future of Fairbanks

____Public transportation: an invaluable ally in the daily commute for some, a waste of time, money, and resources for others. Many people see these projects as a financial sink hole because of how little they feel they get out of them in the end. The accessibility and availability of bus, tram, and train systems are often times constricted, limited to just a few transportation routes with infrequent and sometimes even unreliable service. The transit story is no different in Fairbanks. Even with recent improvements to the system, service is still lacking in some regards. Most bus trips can take two to three times as long as that same trip would take in a personal vehicle. However the problem does not lay in the systems themselves, but rather the way all the systems work together and how they are planned. Although Fairbanks currently has a system of buses providing public transportation, few residence consider the service a viable alternative to their daily commute because they do not find it convenient enough. As a solution to this, methods of improving accessibility and overall usefulness of the system must be researched and considered; primary topics of focus including what compels people to use mass-transit, what kind of systems work well in our climate, and what kind of things do urban planners take into consideration when designing transportation routes.


____One of the most important concerns for urban planners is to figure out how they are going to convince the public to use their systems. Some of the more common reasons people opt out of using public transportation is because it is either too slow or too expensive. Unfortunately, due to the way most communities, including Fairbanks, have expanded over the years, covering large land space areas, this problem is seldom an easy one to combat. Routes have to be long and weave throughout several neighborhoods to provide enough service to the community, resulting in low levels of rider throughput. However, with enough foresight and planning, a good system could do more for its riders and the community than just save them time and money. One study conducted recently suggests that building alternative transit systems could result in a healthier population because the process of using them would require more physical effort on behalf of the public (Stokes 45). One possible way for urban planners to reach out to the community in order to receive support for systems is by appealing to their morals and logic. Sustainable practices are becoming an ever growing trend in the world these days, due to both the state of the economy and global warming. The majority of inner-city transportation systems are all electric, so they are much more environmentally friendly as all the power needed to run them can be produced in one location. Energy produced at a power plant can be created for much cheaper and be done much more efficiently than in a standard internal combustion engine. This also keeps pollution localized, instead of following the buses or trains wherever they go. Even non-electric trains are much more efficient when it comes to energy consumption to perform a task (Banner 16).


____Another positive side effect that can eventually come from a robust and effective transit system is the lessened pressure it puts on everyone in the community to own a car. Depending on circumstances and location, some people may need fewer vehicles for their family, or possibly none at all. Less or no vehicles for a family can translate into saving thousands of dollars a year in car and insurance payments alone, not to mention no more stops at the gas station. One more benefit of getting more people to use public transportation would be increased safety on the roads, as there would be few other vehicles to pose a threat. The website publictransportation.org has a plethora of information about ways to make mass transit systems more enticing for the average person. Such information like, “For every dollar spent, the average household spends eighteen cents on transportation, and ninety-four percent of this goes to buying, maintaining and operating cars,” really illustrates for people how much money can actually be saved by simply choosing to use public transportation over their own cars or trucks. It also mentions the federal Transportation and Equity Act for the 21st Century, an incentive program for commuters who use public transportation or vanpools, allowing them a tax-free monthly benefit of up to one hundred dollars (Facts on Public Transportation).


____Currently, in Fairbanks, the only option for public transportation is a bus system, a network that only provides a realistic alternative for a very small demographic within the community. Even after recent changes to the system, the average wait time between stops at any given service point is still roughly one hour. That is much too long for anyone who does not always know exactly what his or her schedule is going to be. One of the biggest drawbacks of buses compared to other transit forms is the fact that they must abide by the same rules of traffic as all other vehicles on the road. They are subject to traffic lights and traffic itself, both of which, coupled with frequent stops and little right of way on the road results in trips of a snail-like pace. These factors can easily translate into commutes that end up being longer than they would in a private form of transportation such as a taxi or personal vehicle. One solution intended to speed up the trip for buses that many cities around the world are starting to enact are bus only lanes. These lanes allow buses to avoid traffic no matter what time of day it is. However, buses are only a small piece of the mass transit spectrum. An article on greenlivingideas.com provides a fairly comprehensive breakdown on the different forms of mass-transit. As they point out, buses are only one of the four main forms of public transportation. The other three being heavy-rail, light-rail, and trolleybuses (Greening Public Transportation). Trolleybuses are environmentally friendly and easy to maneuver. The fact that they can use roads instead of requiring rails makes them a viable option for beefing up our system. However, in the long run, trolley buses only carry about the same number of people as a normal bus and are also bound by the rules of the road, meaning it is doubtful that they could do much as far as reducing transit times or congestion is concerned.


____________Trollybus from downtown Seattle.

____Another alternative form of transportation is rail-based transit. There are two different categories of rail-based transportation: heavy-rail and light-rail. Both heavy-rail and light-rail trains run on the same gauge tracks. Heavy-rail consists of trains with more cars, designed for carrying more passengers and equipment. Typically, heavy-rail systems are only used for long distance transit, such as between cities; however, many subways and metros are also built for heavy-rail applications. One of the most prominent and fastest growing forms of mass transit is light-rail. Light-rail is more desirable in numerous inner city applications because frequent stops are much more common and light-rail uses far less energy than heavy-rail to get moving again. The fact that they are lighter also reduces stopping distance considerably, making them much safer when they have to operate in crowds. Unfortunately, Fairbanks does not currently have a very extensive rail network. Although, the current rail system does run to many important destinations around and outside of town. These destinations are high traffic areas and are important places of business. If the system was to be utilized for inner-city transit, the initial investment would be minimal, only requiring the purchase of a couple light-rail trams and construction of a few stations.


_____Light-rail tram operating within crowds of people in Amsterdam.

____Yet another form of mass transit that is often overlooked belongs in a category of its own, the monorail. Monorails are unusual because they run on elevated tracks. This design completely removes them from traffic, allowing them to travel from station to station with ease. Monorails come in both suspended and supported varieties. Suspended monorails have the track above the car whereas supported have the track below them. To add to their appeal they also tend to be cheaper to build per mile than conventional rail, about the same cost as a two lane freeway (Greenwood). There are several convenient things about having an elevated track. One of the main features being its minimal ground footprint, meaning it takes us less space than other forms of transportation. Another even more important detail about having an elevated track for Fairbanks would be the low heat transfer quotient toward the ground. Heat transfer to the ground is an important concern in Alaska because of our permafrost issues. Thawing permafrost is dangerous because it can cause the ground to sink, consequently causing damage to whatever was built upon it. Permafrost is responsible for the heaving and cracking of Alaskan roads. About the only drawback from monorails is the fact that they are so rare. Only a few companies in the world produce monorails and they are all different from each other. As a result, communities who build monorails end up locking themselves into lifetime contracts with the manufactures as they are the only ones who make any given piece of their system.


____________Monorail from Disneyland resort.

____The main thing urban planners have to study when designing layouts for transit systems is the movement of people. When do people travel and to where? Weekday mornings people flow from residential areas to business areas and back again after work. Evenings are usually when most people go shopping. Friday and Saturday nights people are looking for entertainment, whether it be going out to the movies or out drinking and dancing, while Sundays tend to be a day for rest with few people going out and about. Defining a cities highest traffic areas and planning to build the system around these pivotal parts is another problem urban planners face. These planners should be interested in light-rail systems because they excel at getting people to and from heavily congested areas quickly and are often cost effective (Neal). Places like downtown, the Carlson Center, the airport, the west and east shopping areas, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks would be examples of some high traffic areas in Fairbanks. Along with route design, planners also have to figure out a way to pay for the systems themselves. An article from MassTransit discusses how the Santa Barbra and Ventura County is attempting to pass a small sales tax that will go entirely toward funding local public transportation systems (Chang-Yen). The price per mile for construction of a light-rail system ranges from about ten to one-hundred million dollars per mile, depending on how much of the system is underground (Middleton). For comparison, road construction cost between three to twenty million dollars per mile depending on building conditions (Highway Construction Cost). Fortunately, the country is hurting for good jobs right now, and this is something urban planners can use to their advantage in getting these projects to go through. After all, the transportation industry is one of the largest employers of labor in the country, right behind agricultural development (Mcelhiney 14). Investing in mass-transit construction is both sustainable and green. The final result will continue to provide green jobs for generations to come, not to mention improve the quality of life for low-income individuals by providing them with a cheap alternative for getting around town and to work (Adler 24).


____The first and most important task for urban planners will be to figure out how to make the public transportation system desirable to the general public. There are many options for public transportation out there. Buses are currently the primary form in Fairbanks, though the ground work for rail based transportation is in place. One popular and, arguably, the most efficient form of inner city transportation is the light-rail tram systems. Light-rail is preferable because it can move the largest amount of people in the shortest amount of time and can accomplish it while using minimal amounts of energy. Fairbanks would be a city that would benefit greatly if its public transportation system was improved. Not only would construction create numerous jobs for the short term but would have a lasting impact on the community by providing lasting green jobs. Fairbanks is still relatively young and full of potential. With enough planning and foresight we could build a highly efficient and cost effective mass transit system.



Works Cited

Adler, Ben. “Ticket to Ride. Democrats have a historic opportunity to boost mass transit, but will they seize the moment?” The Nation. February 16, 2009. Vol. 288 Issue 6. p24-26, 3p.

Banner, Paul H. “The Energy Situation—A Rail Viewpoint”. Transportation Journal. Spring 1974. Vol. 13 Issue 3. p15-19, 5p.

Chang-Yen, Anna. “Santa Barbara Panelists Say Transit Solutions are Local, not Federal.” MassTransit. Jan 26th, 2009.
< http://www.masstransitmag.com/web/online/Top-Transit-News/Santa-Barbara-Panelists-Say-Transit-Solutions-are-Local--not-Federal/3$7820 >.

“Facts on Public Transportation.” Public Transportation Takes Us There.
< http://www.publictransportation.org/facts/ >.

“Greening Public Transportation.” Green Living Idea's. Oct. 27, 2007.
< http://greenlivingideas.com/public-transportation/greening-public-transportation >.

Greenwood, Frank H. "Monorails for Metropolitan Transportation". Transportation Journal. Fall 1963. Vol. 3 Issue 1, p26-29, 4p.

"Highway Construction Cost". Washington State Department of Transportation. July 12, 2004.
< http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/biz/construction/pdf/HighwayCosts.pdf >.

Mcelhiney, Paul T. “Transportation: A Developing Profession?” Transportation Journal. Fall 1964. Vol. 4 Issue 1. p14-21, 8p.

Middleton, Jim. "The Status of North American Light Rail Projects". Light Rail Central. October 23, 2002.
< http://www.lightrail.com/projects.htm >.

Neal, Jim. "Light-rail as planned". Civil Engineering. April 1998. Vol. 68 Issue 4, p54, 4p.

Stokes, Robert J.; MacDonald, John; Ridgeway, Greg. Health & Place. March 2008. Vol. 14 Issue 1, p45-58, 14p.

Proposal Essay - Final Draft

_______________A Digital Age for Textbooks

______Every year, tens of thousands of textbooks are purchased by students from all around the world. Many of these textbooks are simply a new edition of a previously available version with merely a couple extra chapters and reorganized questions. In a world seeking new, more sustainable practices one would think combating this wasteful trend would be higher on peoples’ to-do list. The high cost and great importance of a quality education necessitates this issue to be of significant importance. The solution to this problem would be relatively simple if it were to be accepted wide scale, not only by students, but teachers, professors, and administrators as well. In an age where nearly every student has access to a computer, it is hard to imagine a reason why more institutions are not leaning toward alternative methods of textbook distribution, mainly e-books or other similar practices. Although physical textbooks seem to be the preferred form of educational assistance at most universities, schools should offer all of their textbooks in digital format as well because they are far more economical, easier on students, and less detrimental to the environment.

______To begin with, the price of textbooks can be ridiculously high with those numbers rising annually. The cost of quality printing ink runs at approximately eight-thousand dollars per gallon. Add to this the increasing cost of paper coupled with the necessity for new editions of any given book to be created every so often makes it no wonder why books become so prohibitively expensive. A major issue facing publishers of electronic books are concerns about piracy. However, this does not seem to be a legitimate hesitation due to the rate at which new editions replace old on a semi-regular basis. Some e-books already have security measures which prohibit the unauthorized redistribution of copyrighted materials. While this technique of digital protection against piracy has problematic in certain situations, it could easily be fixed for student applications in order to make it so these hitches are not problems. Distribution could be handled in several ways, one of the easiest being downloading the book off the Internet. Other possibilities would be leasing out thumb drives with certain books on them or even complete preloaded laptops.

______In many cases, textbooks can account for twenty to thirty percent of a students’ overall cost of education. By the end of ones’ college career these costs can be as much as three-thousand dollar, and occasionally well beyond that amount. The total cost of all books purchased is enough to buy several laptop computers each of which far more capable than displaying only static text and pictures. A growing number of colleges are starting to supply laptops to their students as part of their standard tuition. Recently, a new trend of mini laptops has overwhelmed the market as well. Laptops can be obtained for as little as two-hundred and fifty dollars each, a bill that can easily compete with an entire semester’s worth of books for some students.

______Lastly, the mass production of all these textbooks on a yearly basis is terrible for the environment. Even though nearly fifty percent of the product used in paper production at present is recycled not all of it can be. Not to mention the process of making paper itself is not nearly as clean as one might assume. Many toxic chemicals are used to bleach and break down the fibers from trees in order to create the desired type of pulp for different forms of paper. Most of the waste is generated as a side effect of updating content. Each time a new edition for a textbook comes out all the old editions currently in circulation become near obsolete. Fortunately, systems for recycling books are constantly being invented, still textbooks have a higher depreciation rates than most cars meaning sellers seldom make their money back.

______In closing, physical textbooks are just tremendously wasteful compared to the alternative of just releasing everything in a digital format. Presently, the cost of school is high enough that it does not make much sense to force students into spending more than some can barely afford especially when they do not have to. Some schools already offer leased laptops to their students and when comparing the price of textbooks themselves to a computer with numerous PDF documents the price is comparable if not greater. The most important reason we should offer text in both digital and physical format is so we can curb the amount of waste we produce from this overlooked source. After all, with computers being everywhere we should take full advantage of their capabilities.

Research Project Step 4: Rough Draft 2

_________Mass-Transit for the Future of Fairbanks

______Public transportation, an invaluable ally in the daily commute for some, a waste of time, money, and resources to the majority. Or is it? Unfortunately, in many situations, the latter seems to be true in most communities. The reasons for this are not too difficult to visualize. The accessibility and availability of these alternative commuting methods are constricted, limited to just a few transportation routes with infrequent and sometimes even unreliable service. The story is no different in Fairbanks. Even with recent improvements to the system, service is still lacking in some regards. The average wait time in Fairbanks between buses is about one hour. On top of that, the trips themselves can take two to three times as long as that same trip would take in a personal vehicle. Although Fairbanks currently has a system of buses providing public transportation, few residence consider the service a viable alternative to their daily commute. This is because they do not find it convenient enough. As a solution to this, methods of improving accessibility and overall usefulness of the system must be researched and considered; primary topics of focus including what compels people to use mass-transit, what kind of systems work well in our climate, and what kind of things do planners take into consideration when designing layouts.

______The first thing people tend to concern themselves with when considering how they are going to get around is time and money. People want to be able to get from point A to point B as fast as possible while spending as little money as they can. Unfortunately, due to the way most communities, including Fairbanks', have expanded to cover large land space areas, this task is seldom an easy one to accomplish. However, with enough foresight and planning, a good system could do more for its riders and the community than just save them money. One interesting study conducted recently suggest that building alternative transit systems could result in a healthier population because the process of using them would require more physical effort on behalf of the public (Stokes, Robert J.). The majority of commonly built inner-city transportation systems are all electric, so they do not spread emissions everywhere they go. A positive side effect of a good transportation system that people seldom consider is its ability to make the need to own a vehicle not nearly as necessary. This can end up saving people thousands of dollars a year in car and insurance payments alone. Another benefit of getting more people to use public transportation would be increased safety. A sure fire way to avoid car accidents is to avoid cars.

______Currently in Fairbanks, our only option for transportation is our bus system, a network that only provides a realistic alternative for a very small demographic within the community. Even after recent changes to the system, the average wait time between stops at any given service point is still roughly one hour. That is much too long for anyone who does not always know exactly what their schedule is going to be. Another drawback of buses is the fact that they must follow all of the same rules of traffic as all other vehicles on the road. This can result in commutes that are longer than when a form of private transportation is used. One solution to this that many cities around the world are starting to enact are bus only lanes. These lanes allow buses to avoid traffic no matter what time of day it is. An article on greenlivingideas.com provides a fairly comprehensive breakdown on the different forms of mass-transit. As they point out, buses are only one of the four main forms of public transportation. The other three being heavy-rail, light-rail, and trolleybuses ("Greening Public Transportation"). Trolleybuses are environmentally friendly and easy to maneuver, but require a complex and costly grid of overhead lines for power. However, the fact that they can use roads instead of requiring rails does make them a more viable option. In the long run though, trolley buses only carry about the same number of people as a normal bus and are also bound by the rules of the road.

______Another alternative form of transportation is rail-based transit. There are two different categories of rail-based transportation: heavy-rail and light-rail. Both heavy-rail and light-rail trains run on the same type of tracks. Heavy-rail consist of trains with more cars, designed for carrying more passengers and equipment. Typically heavy-rail systems are only used for long distance transit, such as between cities. However, many subways and metros are also built for heavy-rail applications. Probably the most prominent and fastest growing forms of mass transit is light-rail. Light-rail is more desirable in numerous inner city applications. This is because frequent stops are more common and light-rail systems use less energy than heavy to get going. The fact that they are lighter also reduces stopping distance considerably, making them much safer when they have to operate in crowds. Fairbanks does not currently have a very extensive rail network. The current rail system runs to many important destinations around and outside of town. These destinations are high traffic areas and are important places of business. If the system was to be expanded the initial investment would be minimal, only requiring the purchase of a couple light-rail trams and construction of a few stations.

______Another form of mass transit that is often overlooked belongs in a category of its own, the monorail. Monorails are interesting because their tracks run at least ten to twenty feet above the ground. This completely removes them from traffic, allowing them to travel from station to station with ease. Monorails come in both suspended and supported varieties. Suspended monorails have the track above the car where as supported have the track below them. To add to their appeal they also tend to be cheaper to build per mile than conventional rail, about the same cost as a two lane freeway (Greenwood, Frank H.). There are several convenient things about having an elevated track. One of the main features being its minimal ground footprint, meaning it takes us less space than other forms of transportation. Another probably more important detail about having an elevated track for Fairbanks would be the low amount of heat transfer it would pose to the ground. The means that the track would not have much of an effect on the surrounding permafrost. Unfortunately, there are currently few companies that produce monorails and most systems require specific vehicle types for specific track types.

______The main thing urban planners have to study when designing layouts for transit systems is the movement of people. When do people travel, and to where? Weekday mornings people flow from residential areas to business areas and back again after work. Evenings are usually when most people go shopping. Friday and Saturday nights people are looking for entertainment, whether it be going out to the movies or out drinking and dancing, while Sundays tend to be a day for rest with few people going out and about. Defining a cities highest traffic areas and planning to build the system around these pivotal parts is another problem urban planners face. These planners would be interested in light rail systems because they excel at getting people to and from heavy congested areas quickly and are often cost effective (Neal, Jim). Places like downtown, the Carlson Center, the airport, the west and east shopping areas, and UAF would be examples of some high traffic areas in Fairbanks. Along with route design, planners also have to figure out a way to pay for the systems themselves. An article from MassTransit discusses how the Santa Barbra and Ventura County is attempting to pass a small sales tax that will go entirely toward funding local public transportation systems (Chang-Yen). The price per mile for construction of a light rail system ranges from about ten to one-hundred million dollars per mile, depending on how much of the system is underground (Middleton, Jim). For comparison, road construction cost between three to twenty million dollars per mile depending on building conditions ("Highway Construction Cost"). Cost and layout are only the first concerns of a planner. Probably the most important process is figuring out how to encourage people to actually use it. The website publictransportation.org has a plethora of information that have to do with ways to make mass transit systems more enticing for the average person. Such information like, “For every dollar spent, the average household spends eighteen cents on transportation, and ninety-four percent of this goes to buying, maintaining and operating cars,” really illustrate for people how much money can actually be saved by simply choosing to use public transportation over their own cars or trucks. It also mentions the federal Transportation and Equity Act for the 21st Century, an incentive program for commuters who use public transportation or vanpools, allowing them a tax-free monthly benefit of up to one hundred dollars (“Facts on Public Transportation.”).

______The first and most important task for urban planners will be to figure out how to make the public transportation system desirable to the general public. That is because people want to get from point A to point B quickly and cheaply. There are many options for public transportation out there. Buses are currently the primary form in Fairbanks, though the ground work for rail based transportation is in place. One of the popular and arguably most efficient forms of inner city transportation is the light rail tram systems. This is because they can move the a large amount of people in the shortest amount of time and can accomplish it while using the least amount of energy. Fairbanks would be a city that would benefit greatly if its public transportation system was improved. Fairbanks is still full of potential and with enough planning and foresight we could build a highly efficient and cost effective mass transit system.


_____________________Works Cited

Stokes, Robert J.; MacDonald, John.; Ridgeway, Greg. Health & Place. March 2008. Vol. 14 Issue 1, p45-58, 14p.


“Greening Public Transportation.” Green Living Idea's. Oct. 27, 2007.
< http://greenlivingideas.com/public-transportation/greening-public-transportation >.


Greenwood, Frank H. "Monorails for Metropolitan Transportation". Transportation Journal. Fall 1963. Vol. 3 Issue 1, p26-29, 4p.


Neal, Jim. "Light-rail as planned". Civil Engineering. April 1998. Vol. 68 Issue 4, p54, 4p


Chang-Yen, Anna. “Santa Barbara Panelists Say Transit Solutions are Local, not Federal.” MassTransit. Jan 26th, 2009.
< http://www.masstransitmag.com/web/online/Top-Transit-News/Santa-Barbara-Panelists-Say-Transit-Solutions-are-Local--not-Federal/3$7820 >.


Middleton, Jim. "The Status of North American Light Rail Projects." Light Rail Central. October 23, 2002.
< http://www.lightrail.com/projects.htm >.


"Highway Construction Cost". Washington State Department of Transportation. July 12, 2004.
< http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/biz/construction/pdf/HighwayCosts.pdf >.


“Facts on Public Transportation.” Public Transportation Takes Us There.
< http://www.publictransportation.org/facts/ >.

Week 10 - Proposal Draft - A Digital Age for Textbooks

____Every year, tens of thousands of textbooks are purchased by students from all around the world. Many of these textbooks are simply a new edition of a previously available version with merely a couple extra chapters and reorganized questions. In a world seeking new, more sustainable practices, one would think combating this wasteful trend would be higher on peoples to-do list, especially with the cost and quality of education being such a priority. Unfortunately, few people seem to realize how simple the solution to this problem could be. Especially in this age where nearly every student has access to a computer, it is a wonder why more colleges have not looked into e-books as an alternative methods of distribution. Although physical textbooks seem to be the preferred form of educational assistance at most universities, schools should offer all of their textbooks in digital format as well because they are cheaper to produce and upgrade, easier on students, and better for the environment.

____To begin with, textbooks are ridiculously expensive. The cost of quality printing ink runs at roughly eight-thousand dollars a gallon. Add to this the rising cost of paper and the fact that these publishers find it necessary to create a new edition for any given book every couple of years and it is no wonder why these things cost so much. However it does not explain why these publishers continue to choose print over PDF format. One thing publishers seem to be concerned about is piracy, though it does not seem like the most legitimate concern considering the rate at which old material is replaced by new writings. E-books has a security measure that does not allow a copy of the file to be created, and while this protection method has proven to be quite problematic in some situations, it could easily be worked with for student applications as to not be an issue. One simple method of distribution could be to lease out thumb-drives with the digital text loaded onto them that the students could use to read, but only the school would have access to in order to alter or upgrade.

____In many cases, textbooks can account for anywhere from twenty to thirty percent of a students overall class cost. By the end of ones college career, these cost can top the range of three-thousand dollars or more. Enough to purchase several laptop computers, each capable of so much more than just displaying text. Not that paying for ones textbooks is a bad thing, but when the main goal of many students is to go to school to earn an education so that they can make the world a better place, it feels pretty counter productive to contribute so greatly to such a wasteful practice in the process. Schools could very easily lease laptops to students for digital text for way cheaper than what they end up spending by buying printed textbooks.

____Lastly, the mass production of all these textbooks on a yearly basis is terrible for the environment. Even though nearly fifty percent of the product used in paper production these days is recycled, not all of it can be. Not to mention, the process of making paper itself is not nearly as clean as one might assume. Several toxic chemicals are used to bleach and break down the fibers from trees in order to create the desired type of pulp for different forms of paper.

____In closing, physical textbooks are just plain wasteful compared to the alternative of just releasing everything in a digital format. The cost of school these days is high enough and it does not make any sense to force students into spending money in areas they really should not have too. Some schools already offer leased laptops to their students and when comparing the price of textbooks themselves to a computer with a bunch of PDFs, the price comes out to roughly the same, if not far better.

Research Project Part 3 - First Draft - Mass-Transit for the Future of Fairbanks

______Public transportation, an invaluable ally in the daily commute for some, a waste of time, money, and resources to most. Or is it? Unfortunately, in many situations, the latter seems to be more true in most communities. The reasons for this are not too difficult to visualize for most. Often times accessibility and availability of these alternative commuting methods are constricted, limited to just a few transportation routes with infrequent and sometimes even unreliable service. The story is no different in Fairbanks. Even with recent improvements to the system, service is still lacking in some regards. The average wait time between buses at stops is about one hour, while the trips themselves can take two to three times as long as that same trip would take in a personal vehicle. Although Fairbanks currently has a system of buses providing public transportation, few residence consider the service a viable alternative to their daily commute because they do not find it convenient enough. As a solution to this, methods of improving accessibility and overall usefulness of the system must be researched and considered; primary topics of focus including what compels people to use mass-transit, what kind of systems work well in our climate, and what kind of things do planners take into consideration when designing layouts.

______The first thing people tend to concern themselves with when considering how they are going to get around is time and money. People want to be able to get from point A to point B as fast as possible while spending as little money as they can. Unfortunately, due to the way most communities, including ours, have expanded to cover large land space areas, this desire is seldom an easy, or at least cheap, one to meet. This pattern of expansion is referred to as the “sprawl,” and it is one of the greatest challenges facing urban transit designers these days. It creates the question, “how do we organize our system to work with this problem instead of around it?” This first step is defining the problem more specifically, since the details of the issue are a little different for each community. In Fairbanks we have a particularly unusual situation due to not only our extreme weather that exist for nearly three-quarters of the year, but also the fact that we have a relatively low population spread over a very large area. Add to that the challenges of dealing with permafrost and the equation does not get much easier.

______Currently in Fairbanks, our only option for transportation is our bus system, a network that only provides a realistic alternative for a very small demographic for the community. Even after recent changes to the system, the average wait time between stops at any given service point is still roughly one hour, much too long for anyone who does not always know exactly what their schedule is going to be on a day to day or hour to hour basis. Another downfall of buses is the fact that they travel within traffic, as opposed to outside of it like their rail-bound brethren, which often times results in longer commutes than the same trip would produce with a private form of transportation. One solution to this that many cities around the world are starting to enact are bus only lanes, which allows buses to avoid traffic no matter what time of day it is. Greenlivingideas.com provides a fairly comprehensive breakdown on the different forms of mass-transit that are possible. As they point out, buses are only one of the four main forms of public transportation. The other three being heavy-rail, light-rail, and trolleybuses. Trolleybuses are environmentally friendly, but require a large initial investment since they are power by overhead lines. However the fact that they can use roads instead of requiring rails does make them a viable easily implemented option. Unfortunately they also require large amounts of electrical energy, something we do not exactly have an abundance of quite yet in Fairbanks.

______This brings us to our next alternatives: rail systems. As they explain at greenlivingideas.com, there are two different categories of rail-based transportation: heavy-rail and light-rail. Basically the difference between the two is pretty self-explanatory, though both types use the same sort of track. Heavy-rail consist of trains with more cars, designed for carrying more passengers and equipment. Typically heavy-rail systems are only used for intercity transit, however many subways and metros are also built for heavy-rail. Light-rail is more desirable in many inner-city applications because of the reduced amount of energy needed to get them moving, as frequent stops are much more common. The fact that they are lighter also reduces stopping distance considerably, making their use much safer when they have to operate in crowds of people or in traffic, in the case of streetcars. Although we do not have a very extensive rail network in Fairbanks currently, we do have a pretty decent start on one. We already have a main line that runs from UAF, to the train station, to downtown, then around the South Cushman industrial area and over to the airport. All of these areas being relatively high traffic locations that many people frequently travel between. Initial investment would be minimal, only requiring the purchase of a couple light-rail trams and construction of a few stations.

______The main thing urban planners have to study when designing layouts for transit systems is the movement of people. When do people travel, and to where? Weekday mornings people flow from residential areas to business areas and back again after work. Evenings are usually when most people go shopping. Friday and Saturday nights people are looking for entertainment, whether it be going out to the movies or out drinking and dancing, while Sundays tend to be relatively calm with little people going out and about except for maybe the morning church goers. Along with route design, planners also have to figure out a way to pay for the systems themselves. An article from MassTransit discusses how the Ventura County is attempting to pass a small sales tax that will go entirely toward funding local public transportation systems. Cost and layout are only the first concerns of a planner though. Probably the most important process is figuring out how one is going to encourage people to actually use it. The website publictransportation.org has several little gems of information that have to do with ways to make mass transit systems more enticing for the average person. Such facts like, “For every dollar spent, the average household spends eighteen cents on transportation, and ninety-four percent of this goes to buying, maintaining and operating cars,” really illustrate for people how much money can actually be saved by simply choosing to use public transportation over their own cars or trucks. It also mentions the federal Transportation and Equity Act for the 21st Century, an incentive program for commuters who use public transportation or vanpools, allowing them a tax-free monthly benefit of up to one hundred dollars.

______So basically when it comes down to it, this first task will be figuring out how to make the system desirable to use in the first place. People want to get from point A to point B easily, cheaply, and most importantly, quickly. In Fairbanks, we have a huge amount of residential areas to serve, but luckily our commercial and industrial work areas are relatively condensed and localized. Another thing we really have going for us is our relative youth and lack of over development within our city. A grace not all places with a demand for mass-transit options have the good fortune to possess. Our city is still full of potential and with enough planning and foresight we could build a highly efficient and cost effective mass transit system.


_____________________Works Cited

“Greening Public Transportation.” Green Living Idea's Oct. 27, 2007
< http://greenlivingideas.com/public-transportation/greening-public-transportation >

“10 Ways to Enhance Your Community: Unleash the Power of Public Transportation.” Public Transportation Takes Us There
< http://www.publictransportation.org/reports/asp/10ways.asp >

“Facts on Public Transportation.” Public Transportation Takes Us There
< http://www.publictransportation.org/facts/ >

Chang-Yen, Anna “Santa Barbara Panelists Say Transit Solutions are Local, not Federal.” MassTransit Jan 26th, 2009
< http://www.masstransitmag.com/web/online/Top-Transit-News/Santa-Barbara-Panelists-Say-Transit-Solutions-are-Local--not-Federal/3$7820 >

Step 2 - Second Try...

Although Fairbanks currently has a system of buses providing public transportation, few residence consider the service a viable alternative to their daily commute because they do not find it convenient enough. As a solution to this, methods of improving accessibility and overall usefulness of the system must be researched and considered; primary topics of focus including what compels people to use mass-transit, what kind of systems work well in our climate, and what kind of things do planners take into consideration when designing layouts.


“The Chronicle of the Boston Transit System.” Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
< http://www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/history/ >
This short recap of the Boston transit system's history of development illustrates the hardships their system endured and how it prospered through the times. Though most of the information and technology is outdated at this point, much of the information is beneficial to someone looking to learn something from the history of other transit systems. It outlines the city's evolution of public transportation from the first horse drawn carriages to it's need for modern light and heavy rail systems.


“NYCSBS Project.” MTA Planning
< http://www.mta.info/mta/planning/sbs/ >
This is the Metropolitan Transportation Authority website for the state of New York. It outlines a plan for a select bus service (SBS) for the city. As my research project focuses on feasible transit options that Fairbanks might be able to take advantage of, I figured it a good idea to take a look at what kind of plans other communities with more more advanced and longer standing transit systems considering.


“Greening Public Transportation.” Green Living Idea's Oct. 27, 2007
< http://greenlivingideas.com/public-transportation/greening-public-transportation >
This article explains how public transportation can be beneficial for the environment and communities. It also defines the four main forms of mass transit. It contains information on how to make the use of public transportation more pleasant for commuters. It also has an argument for why the social benefits of public transportation justify government subsidies.


“10 Ways to Enhance Your Community: Unleash the Power of Public Transportation.” Public Transportation Takes Us There
< http://www.publictransportation.org/reports/asp/10ways.asp >
This article is loaded with information on how to make public transportation a priority in your community. It touches on what can make a system more appealing to commuters such as integrating stops and stations into the community by making them open, accessible and attractive. It mentions the federal Transportation and Equity Act for the 21st Century, an incentive program for commuters who use public transportation or vanpools, allowing them a tax-free monthly benefit of up to $100.


“Facts on Public Transportation.” Public Transportation Takes Us There
< http://www.publictransportation.org/facts/ >
This website is full of lots of facts and arguments on and for public transportation. It includes statistics for investment versus returns. It also has some interesting tidbits such as: “For every dollar spent, the average household spends 18 cents on transportation, and 94 percent of this goes to buying, maintaining and operating cars.” It contains statistics for how public transportation reduced fuel consumption.


Chang-Yen, Anna “Santa Barbara Panelists Say Transit Solutions are Local, not Federal.” MassTransit Jan 26th, 2009
< http://www.masstransitmag.com/web/online/Top-Transit-News/Santa-Barbara-Panelists-Say-Transit-Solutions-are-Local--not-Federal/3$7820 >
This article focuses on how transportation planners are improving the transit system in the Ventura County area. One idea they are trying to implement is the creation of a small sales tax to help fund their efforts toward improving their rail ways. This is important because figuring out how a community is going to pay for transit improvements is half the battle of actually getting them in the first place. However, I don't see the acceptance of a sales tax being that likely in Fairbanks either, it's still an interesting idea that could be modified to be desirable.


O'Dolan, Catriona “ONE-TICKET, Integrating transport in South East Scotland.” ELTIS European Local Transportation Information Service (2008)
< http://www.eltis.org/study_sheet.phtml?study_id=2024&lang1=en >
This is a case study describing what has turned out to be a very effective method for improving the usability of their mass-transit system. The method involved several different companies coming together in a partnership that enabled them all to offer one ticket that would give their customers service on any of their buses. This is important because it's a method that has proven to increase public usage of mass-transit. While this is not a very useful option to Fairbanks currently, with us pretty much only having city buses for getting around, it could come in handy when our system eventually evolves into something more robust with more transportation options.


Barnhart, Cynthia; Laporte, Gilbert “Transportation on Demand.” Transportation Published by Elsevier (2007) ISBN: 0444513469, 9780444513465
< http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=DHM7U_d-E4gC&oi=fnd&pg=PA429&dq=Transportation+on+Demand&ots=7PopCviu4Q&sig=d62vpMDdwajdU_tlrtOCGkBcvB4 >
This chapter explains what transportation on demand is. It points out the most common types of TOD are dial-a-ride services, like taxis and van trams for the disabled, but also include emergency services like ambulances. Most of these service providers have a limited number of vehicles to do their jobs with so often times their routes change daily depending on demand. The problems faced by TOD are the same faced by all transportation systems: to serve as many people as possible, for as cheap as possible, while remaining convenient.


Hall, Randolph W. Handbook of Transportation Science Published by Springer (2003) ISBN 1402072465, 9781402072468
< http://books.google.com/books?id=xGXeWHXh-qIC&dq=Handbook+of+Transportation+Science&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=tKLbYJv4Q1&sig=xodAXjouHz1JQkiNjceq0JiWbr8&hl=en&ei=9tbLSa6mKImGsQOz_ZWwCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result >
This book approaches transportation as more than just a system of methods and technology, but as a science all in itself. According to this book, transportation, in all of it's forms, obey fundamental properties. This book defines those properties and describes how different forms of transportation relate to one another. It focuses on the fundamental concepts, methods, and principles behind the art of transportation.


Lam, William H. K.; Bell, Michael G. H. “Designing Public Transportation Network and Routes.” Advanced Modeling for Transit Operations and Service Planning Published by Emerald Group Publishing (2003) ISBN 0080442064, 9780080442068
< http://books.google.com/books?id=5SgeUWWv9FkC&pg=PA59&dq=Designing+Public+Transportation+Network+and+Routes >
This chapter has information on a suggested framework for planning a public transportation system. The main focus of the chapter is on route design and efficient route operation. The method involves defining all connection points, or nodes, in a given area and connecting them all in every way possible. All of these possibilities are then whittled down until the most efficient routes are found.


Tanneeru, Manav “U.S. cities scrambling to meet rising mass transit demands.” CNN (July 2008)
< http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/16/mass.transit/index.html >
This article described the troubles many communities around the US are facing when it comes to meeting mass transit demands. It says that as gas prices reached an all time high, so did ridership rates on all forms of public transportation. One interesting issue the article points out is what Cal Mersella, the head of the Denver, Colorado's transit system, calls a “paradox of public transportation.” It has to do with the fact that much funding for public transportation in most communities comes from sales taxes, and how due to the average American's recent trend of spending less money has resulted in less revenue for the transit companies, despite record ticket sales.


Mayerowitz, Scott “Can Mass Transit Rescue America?” ABC NEWS (June 2008)
< http://abcnews.go.com/Business/PainAtThePump/story?id=5058810 >
This article talks about how a well designed system of public transportation may be the best answer for saving the average American some gas money. The article claims that most people could save up to $1800 a year by giving up their cars and using mass transit to get to work instead. Unfortunately, this just is not an option for most Americans today. According to this article, such systems only make sense in densely populated areas in the first place, and even then seldom they get used. The article quotes a researcher from Rutgers University in New Jersey, Rick Remington, as saying, "It's got to be frequent service, it's got to be convenient, it's got to be fast and it's got to have the population density to support it." A commuter from Kansas City says she finally decided to utilize public transportation simply because she was tired of dealing with all the traffic, as opposed to just gas prices, which seems to be driving the recent surge of ticket sales in the cases of many other Americans.

*These last 3 are academic journal articles I found through EBSCOhost*

Hess, David “What is a clean bus? Object conflicts in the greening of urban transit.” Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy (March 2007) 3(1):45-58
This article focuses on the conflicts and controversies of greening urban transit. The primary interest of this article is that of emissions controlled diesel (ECD) versus compressed natural gas (CNG), which may be a better alternative for different areas and why that may be. I found this interesting because CNG is going to be a highly accessible resource in Fairbanks in a couple years, if pipeline plans continue as scheduled. Perhaps this would be a good thing for the FNSB transit system to consider looking into.


Chou, Jui-Sheng “Generalized linear model-based expert system for estimating the cost of transportation projects.” Expert Systems with Applications (April 2009) Part 1, Vol. 36 Issue 3, p4253-4267
This paper is intended to help transportation project managers avoid under estimating project cost. It discusses generalized linear models that were developed in order to continuously track project cost. Due to the fact that an overhaul of the current system in Fairbanks would likely require quite a few large scale transportation projects, understanding how to accurately predict cost would be in our best interest for thorough preparation.


Alder, Ben “Ticket to Ride.” Nation (February 2009) Vol. 288 Issue 6, p24-26
This article focuses on several of the benefits of mass-transit. The primary benefit being reduced impact on the environment. Other benefits covered include the creation of jobs for construction and operation of the transit systems. The author claims that these combined benefits would stimulate the economy.

Essay #2 - Final Draft - Waste Reduction or Management?

______Is global warming a threat or just hype? It is currently one of the largest debates in the world because of the possible outcomes related to it. While many claim that research is inconclusive, community after community in country after country are starting to act, just in case. The results have turned out to be worthwhile in many situations. Everything from people slowing down to conserve gas to purchasing fabric shopping bags as a replacement for plastic is turning out to save their communities money. Although the existence and potential threat of global warming is still widely controversial, failure to take steps toward becoming more environmentally conscious and adopting more sustainable lifestyles causes large amounts of economic damage to our nation because we continue to spend valuable resources on waste disposal instead of waste reduction, it makes it much more difficult to reduce our dependencies on foreign oil, and thus will inevitably cause us to fall further behind the technological curve of the rest of the world.

______As one may expect, the majority of expenses a community faces come in the form of maintenance and upkeep, and as city populations continue to grow, so do these associated cost. Unfortunately, the trend over the last several decades has been to beef up infrastructure for dealing with increased service demand, instead of curbing the demand itself. In the waste management industry, investments have normally been pushed more toward expanding landfills and buying more equipment and vehicles as opposed to developing new recycling plans intended to minimize the need for larger landfills in the first place. The worst part is many of the products that enter these landfills have seldom reached the end of their useful lifespans, and although several initiatives for recycling everything from old electronics to appliances have been created, many of these products and more still find their way into the dumpster. Another fact playing against recycling is the lack of a market for it in the first place. According to an article from earthfirst.com, “Cardboard, plastic, newspaper and metals are piling up across the country as recycling contractors fail to find buyers who will purchase the materials at a fair price.” More often than not though, the options to recycle are overlooked by people to begin with because they are unaware of them or they feel the benefits are not worth the effort. A few cents refund for the cans from a case of soda that cost several dollars does not seem fair to people who think about the amount of money they must be saving for those buying the recycled aluminum. Not to mention, due to lack of dedicated infrastructure, when one factors in the cost and impact of fuel on the environment, they are probably right. Currently, in order to recycle and really help the environment, one needs to stockpile recyclables until a trip to the processing center is economical, a difficult process for those who do not have a whole lot of extra space lying around for refuse. Even as one time use products overwhelm our dumps, many people still opt for the simpler solutions to their daily hassles, such as using paper or plastic bags instead of purchasing cloth bags as an alternative. One method some stores have started implementing is offering incentives for customers to use cloth bags instead; Fred Meyer's, for instances, offers three cents off for each bag a customer brings with them.

______Although fuel is not the only resource that is being wasted here, it does amount to massive expenditures in the big picture, and in a time where reducing our dependencies on foreign oil are becoming increasingly important, exploring methods of reducing our consumption on all fronts becomes an integral part of this fight. Every year the United States spends millions of dollars on fuel alone in the waste management industry. The reason behind this should not be too hard for many too imagine. Processing plants and landfills are huge operations. Some of them have large warehouses and shops for sorting trash and maintaining equipment, and all of them have lots of that last thing, equipment. Seldom are any small machines used when it comes to transporting or dealing with this countries refuse. Plants and landfills usually require several bulldozers, among many others types of equipment: compactors, sorting machines, electromagnetic cranes, etc. - all of which work long daily hours, consuming large amounts of power and fuel. This does not even include the fleet of garbage trucks to keep the trash flowing in. Garbage trucks themselves tend to be one of the wasteful parts of this process. They are massive machines that require tons of energy just to get moving, add that to the fact that they make frequent stops more than just about any other piece of machinery out there and you wind up with cost that are only compounded further.

______While other countries around the globe are combating their problems with the world's waining economy by investing in alternative methods of transportation and power generation, the United States has been dilly dadiling, bickering over the benefits and cost that come with overhauling the country to become more efficient. However, major car manufactures have been receiving a rude awakening over the last several months as vehicle sales plummeted to an all time low, according to The New York Times. Though, as these companies stare dumbfoundedly at their sales lots full of gas guzzling trucks and SUVs, they are beginning to connect the dots on the issue that now may be the time to start thinking about the future of their buisiness, and maybe even the world from a realistic, instead of purely monetary point of view. In the realm of waste management, a couple companies such as the Startech Environmental Corporation and Oshkosh are taking steps in different directions toward battling our waste woes. Startech is developing a processing plant designed to convert trash into energy and fuel without the use of fire or the byproduct of emissions; whereas Oshkosh, with the assistance of the department of energy, is developing hybrid options for heavy equipment purchaser, though both are still in their early developmental stages with their projects. However, at this time, Startech is mostly finding business outside of the United States, and some foreign companies, such as Volvo, already have hybrid trash trucks rolling in Sweden.

______The primary message here is that time is running short for action. Our economy is shaky and ready for support in the form of new investments and strategies. While many of these responsibilities will fall on the shoulders of the community, much of it also lays in the hands of individuals as well. First, it is important for people to show their concern for the current waste situation and their interest in alternative solutions to it, while second it is important to actually follow through with ones personal task on the issue. Recycling programs will not go far if no one makes an effort to utilize them. However, as well as recycling, people and businesses need to remember that reducing the amount of trash they produce in the first place is even more important. Be it bringing your own coffee mug instead of using the Styrofoam cups or by printing memos on the backs of old documents to save paper, every step helps save. In the end, everyone has a little extra cash in their pockets, the airs a little cleaner, and the earths a little greener.




_____________________Works Cited

Stephanie Rogers EarthFirst “Recyclables Heading to Landfills as their Value Decreases” December 10, 2008

Nick Bunkley The New York Times “Auto Sales Start 2009 at an Abysmal Pace” February 3, 2009

Week 7 & 8: Reading Responses #3

The article, "Why and When We Speak Spanish in Public," explains why some people who speak more than one language choose to sometimes speak their native languages in public, instead of English. It is a touchy subject for a lot of people, for some reason. Though while many uneducated or otherwise ignorant members of society are offended or even feel threatened by this behavior, the author of the article, Myriam Marquez, argues that most of the time, those speaking the different languages are not doing so to be impolite to those around them. Instead, she claims, they speak their native languages out of respect for their parents or because they are proud of their culture and heritage. She goes on to point out that even our forefathers realized that creating a government mandated official language would be a little hypocritical for a what was intended to become a free country. A point I would have to agree with above all else. I hate it whenever I hear someone who claims to be a nationalist or a patriot saying something like, "You're in America now, speak English." It has to be one of the most closed-minded, arrogant, and hypocritical things a true American could ever believe. It only adds insult to injury as well when these people start screaming about people infringing on their own freedom of speech as they try to control the way their neighbors speak. Often times I think it is beautiful when I hear people speak in their native languages, or at least more interesting. Personally, I believe it adds more color to the spectrum of our culture. However, I also agree with the points she adds in the last couple of paragraphs of her article. There she mentions that she does think it is rude to intentionally use language to alienate company who does not speak the same language. In my opinion, her acknowledgment of this adds much credibility to her argument, as it shows that not being rude is, in fact, her primary goal.

Week 7 & 8: Reading Responses #2

The three images within the visual argument: “How Others See Us,” invokes all sorts of feelings for me, most of them poor. The first two images, “Europe Gave Us Shakespeare and Beethoven; America Gave Us Jesse James and John Wayne,” and “Misconception,” make me feel shameful where as the last image, “At Home with the Braves,” most just makes me feel sad. I suppose the feelings of shame toward the first come from the fact that I don't particularly like being seen as a “cowboy,” an image of the United States that has become quite popular in recent times, probably due to our previous leader's background. In my eyes the whole association with cowboys stems from jokes and I feel like that detracts from our ability to be taken seriously by the rest of the world. The second image makes me feel ashamed because I'm aware of the broad misconception held by most Americans when it comes to their view of the Arab world. The image depicts what I'm assuming are doves, a symbol of peace, at the top of the picture, and then shifts into planes and eventually bombs falling, images more associated with war and destruction. The last image reminds me of all those who have fallen in combat and of all the families that will never see them again.

Week 7 & 8: Reading Responses #1

The article by Ellen Goodman titled, “The Culture of Thin Bites Fiji,” is all about the way that western, specifically American values, have permeated their way into other cultures around the world. In this case, the country of subject is, as one might suspect, Fiji, with the issue being that of the impact of American media on the younger generations who live there. According to Goodman, the introduction of television and American programming to Fiji in 1995 spurred an epidemic of eating disorders among the female youth of the country. Apparently, prior to this unfortunate tainting of their mindsets, you were considered more attractive the larger you were. One of the primary reasons behind this being that fact that if one had meat on their bones, it was usually a sign of being well fed, almost a status symbol in many instances. Whereas the opposite of this, losing weight or just being thin in general was often a sign of sickness or poverty. Yet these viewpoints were exactly what began to deteriorate after 1995, as, according to this article, nearly one-third of Fijian teenagers developed eating disorders by 1998. On top of that, the article also claims, three-quarters of teenagers said they felt self conscious about their weights, and nearly two-thirds of those interviewed said they had attempted dieting within the past month. This data was collected by Anne Becker, a research director from Harvard. The majority of this argument claims that the introduction of television to the culture was the cause for these changes among younger mindsets, yet they do point out that one cannot prove a direct casual link between the cause and the effect.

Week 7 & 8: Grammar Girl Response - Episode #45

Commas are probably my favorite form of punctuation. I find myself using them quite often, and sometimes I even worry a little bit that I may use them too much, as I notice they can very easily create some pretty lengthy run-on sentences. That sentence there being a pretty decent example of my tendencies, although I'm pretty sure I have their concept down pretty well. Most commonly, when I write, I tend to think about what I'm typing as if I were saying it out loud, so I like to use commas for things like showing a pause in what I'm saying. I feel it gives my writing much more personality by illustrating the way that I normally talk, or I suppose, as some might say, giving it more “voice.” Personally, I don't really know though. I've never considered myself much of a writer, so this is all a learning experience for me. If one hasn't noticed, I've been attempting to push my use of commas to the max in this response, hoping to give as many examples of how I use commas in my writing as possible, as to provide a multitude of opportunities to provide feedback on my proper, or improper, use of commas. Not to mention the whole two-hundred and fifty word minimum length requirement, I have to find some way to ramble on long enough on this subject to achieve that goal. In closing, not to be too redundant or anything, I enjoy using commas, and I feel they are probably my most powerful asset in showing my voice in my papers.

Cause/Effect Workshop Response Questions - Joshua's Second Essay

Thesis
1. Restate the thesis in your own words. If the thesis is a question and not an assertion, make it an assertion. Make sure the words “although” and "because" are in it.

Although there are plenty of things to keep children active these days, kids continue to gain weight and become obese because there are more shows on television for them, the snacks they typically consume are unhealthy, and their parents do not take an active role in their children's health.

2. Does the thesis argue a link between a cause(s) and effect(s)? Is it at the end of the first paragraph?

The thesis does does a fine job of linking the causes to the effect, however is the only sentence in the first paragraph. You need to add some content to lead up to this statement.

3. List the cause(s).

The causes you list are: access to more television shows geared toward children, over consumption of unhealthy snacks, and a lack of parental support encouraging their children's' healthy lifestyles.

4. List the effect(s).

The effect you state is: a continuously growing percentage of obese children.


Audience
Who is the author's audience? Will the audience already agree with the author, or is the author writing to the opposition? How can you tell? Give specific examples.

It sounds like the target audience is parents and probably the ones who oppose this opinion. I would assume this due to the informative and slightly hostile nature of the essay.


Counterargument
List the counterarguments (arguments of the author’s oppositions) used in the paper (there should be at least three). Does the author adequately address these arguments? Do you think there are other arguments that could be addressed? Do you see any logical fallacies?


Uh oh, I think this something I overlooked when I wrote my essay, too. It would not appear that you address any counterarguments in this essay.

Title
Does the paper have an interesting title? If not, help author come up with one.

The essay doesn't appear to have a title yet. It should be something that stands out against other titles and can also benefit from including a little subject relation. Perhaps: Kids These Days. Although that's a little vague.. Maybe: Getting too big for their shorts. I don't know, I don't consider titles to be my strong point, but I know a good one can be pretty important, especially since it is usually the only thing someone looks at before they decide whether or not to read the rest of the article.


Introduction
Is there a catchy lead sentence? What is it? If there isn't one, what would you suggest?

The introduction is only one sentence long and does not have a catchy lead. Perhaps consider paraphrasing the fact from your second paragraph similar to how you did in your conclusion where you wrote: Fifteen percent of the children in America are obese and three out of four of those will be obese as adults. That would make a fairly catchy beginning, however it would require some reworking of the rest of the essay if you were to use it.


Conclusion
How does the author conclude the paper? What do you think of it?

Overall the final message is fine, but it could use some proofreading and rewording. I like the quote from Benjamin Franklin, it's quite appropriate.

Flow/Transitions
Does each paragraph expand upon the thesis? Do the paragraphs flow? Which paragraphs have bumpy transitions?

The flow is a little rough. There are a few run on sentences. Also there are parts that lack or misuse commas which can throw off the reader.
Paragraphs 2 and 4 lack a transition, although the 3rd and the conclusion are fine. Common easily integrated transitions to consider on those might be: "For starters", "First off", "Lastly", or "The last thing."


Other suggestions:

A little extra time proof-reading would be helpful; there are a couple spelling/grammatical errors as well as some run-on sentences. Also, consider eliminating all of your conjunctions - like they're to they are and aren't to are not, ect. - as this can make your essay look more professional. Another thing I noticed was how you added a couple questions in paragraph 3 that did not immediately have answers following them - and from what I know, this is a no-no, so you may want to fix that somehow. And I think that is all I have.

Week 6 - Research Essay Thesis and Source List

Although Fairbanks currently has a system of buses providing public transportation, few residence consider the service a viable alternative to their daily commute because they do not find it convenient enough. As a solution to this, methods of improving accessibility and overall usefulness of the system must be researched and considered; primary topics of focus including what compels people to use mass-transit, what kind of systems work well in our climate, and what kind of things do planners take into consideration when designing layouts.


Chang-Yen, Anna “Santa Barbara Panelists Say Transit Solutions are Local, not Federal” MassTransit
This article focuses on how transportation planners are improving the transit system in the Ventura County area. One idea they are trying to implement is the creation of a small sales tax to help fund their efforts toward improving their rail ways. This is important because figuring out how a community is going to pay for transit improvements is half the battle of actually getting them in the first place. However, I don't see the acceptance of a sales tax being that likely in Fairbanks either, it's still an interesting idea that could be modified to be desirable.


“The Chronicle of the Boston Transit System”
This short recap of the Boston transit system's history of development illustrates the hardships their system endured and how it prospered through the times. Though most of the information and technology is outdated at this point, much of the information is beneficial to someone looking to learn something from the history of other transit systems. It outlines the city's evolution of public transportation from the first horse drawn carriages to it's need for modern light and heavy rail systems.


“NYCSBS Project”
This is the Metropolitan Transportation Authority website for the state of New York. It outlines a plan for a select bus service (SBS) for the city. As my research project focuses on feasible transit options that Fairbanks might be able to take advantage of, I figured it a good idea to take a look at what kind of plans other communities with more more advanced and longer standing transit systems considering.


“Greening Public Transportation”
This article explains how public transportation can be beneficial for the environment and communities. It also defines the four main forms of mass transit. It contains information on how to make the use of public transportation more pleasant for commuters. It also has an argument for why the social benefits of public transportation justify government subsidies.


“10 Ways to Enhance Your Community: Unleash the Power of Public Transportation “
This article is loaded with information on how to make public transportation a priority in your community. It touches on what can make a system more appealing to commuters such as integrating stops and stations into the community by making them open, accessible and attractive. It mentions the federal Transportation and Equity Act for the 21st Century, an incentive program for commuters who use public transportation or vanpools, allowing them a tax-free monthly benefit of up to $100.


“Facts on Public Transportation”
This website is full of lots of facts and arguments on and for public transportation. It includes statistics for investment versus returns. It also has some interesting tidbits such as: “For every dollar spent, the average household spends 18 cents on transportation, and 94 percent of this goes to buying, maintaining and operating cars.” It contains statistics for how public transportation reduced fuel consumption.


Hess, David “What is a clean bus? Object conflicts in the greening of urban transit” (March 2007) Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy 3(1):45-58
This article focuses on the conflicts and controversies of greening urban transit. The primary interest of this article is that of emissions controlled diesel (ECD) versus compressed natural gas (CNG), which may be a better alternative for different areas and why that may be. I found this interesting because CNG is going to be a highly accessible resource in Fairbanks in a couple years, if pipeline plans continue as scheduled. Perhaps this would be a good thing for the FNSB transit system to consider looking into.


O'Dolan, Catriona “ONE-TICKET, Integrating transport in South East Scotland” (2008)
This is a case study describing what has turned out to be a very effective method for improving the usability of their mass-transit system. The method involved several different companies coming together in a partnership that enabled them all to offer one ticket that would give their customers service on any of their buses. This is important because it's a method that has proven to increase public usage of mass-transit. While this is not a very useful option to Fairbanks currently, with us pretty much only having city buses for getting around, it could come in handy when our system eventually evolves into something more robust with more transportation options.


Chou, Jui-Sheng “Generalized linear model-based expert system for estimating the cost of transportation projects” Expert Systems with Applications (April 2009) Part 1, Vol. 36 Issue 3, p4253-4267
This paper is intended to help transportation project managers avoid under estimating project cost. It discusses generalized linear models that were developed in order to continuously track project cost. Due to the fact that an overhaul of the current system in Fairbanks would likely require quite a few large scale transportation projects, understanding how to accurately predict cost would be in our best interest for thorough preparation.


Barnhart, Cynthia; Laporte, Gilbert “Transportation on Demand” Transportation Published by Elsevier, 2007, ISBN 0444513469, 9780444513465
This chapter explains what transportation on demand is. It points out the most common types of TOD are dial-a-ride services, like taxis and van trams for the disabled, but also include emergency services like ambulances. Most of these service providers have a limited number of vehicles to do their jobs with so often times their routes change daily depending on demand. The problems faced by TOD are the same faced by all transportation systems: to serve as many people as possible, for as cheap as possible, while remaining convenient.


Hall, Randolph W. Handbook of Transportation Science Published by Springer, 2003 ISBN 1402072465, 9781402072468
This book approaches transportation as more than just a system of methods and technology, but as a science all in itself. According to this book, transportation, in all of it's forms, obey fundamental properties. This book defines those properties and describes how different forms of transportation relate to one another. It focuses on the fundamental concepts, methods, and principles behind the art of transportation.


Lam, William H. K.; Bell, Michael G. H. “Designing Public Transportation Network and Routes” Advanced Modeling for Transit Operations and Service Planning Published by Emerald Group Publishing, 2003 ISBN 0080442064, 9780080442068
This chapter has information on a suggested framework for planning a public transportation system. The main focus of the chapter is on route design and efficient route operation. The method involves defining all connection points, or nodes, in a given area and connecting them all in every way possible. All of these possibilities are then whittled down until the most efficient routes are found.


Alder, Ben “Ticket to Ride.” Nation (February 2009) Vol. 288 Issue 6, p24-26
This article focuses on several of the benefits of mass-transit. The primary benefit being reduced impact on the environment. Other benefits covered include the creation of jobs for construction and operation of the transit systems. The author claims that these combined benefits would stimulate the economy.


Tanneeru, Manav “U.S. cities scrambling to meet rising mass transit demands” CNN (July 2008)
This article described the troubles many communities around the US are facing when it comes to meeting mass transit demands. It says that as gas prices reached an all time high, so did ridership rates on all forms of public transportation. One interesting issue the article points out is what Cal Mersella, the head of the Denver, Colorado's transit system, calls a “paradox of public transportation.” It has to do with the fact that much funding for public transportation in most communities comes from sales taxes, and how due to the average American's recent trend of spending less money has resulted in less revenue for the transit companies, despite record ticket sales.


Mayerowitz, Scott “Can Mass Transit Rescue America?” ABC NEWS (June 2008)
This article talks about how a well designed system of public transportation may be the best answer for saving the average American some gas money. The article claims that most people could save up to $1800 a year by giving up their cars and using mass transit to get to work instead. Unfortunately, this just is not an option for most Americans today. According to this article, such systems only make sense in densely populated areas in the first place, and even then seldom they get used. The article quotes a researcher from Rutgers University in New Jersey, Rick Remington, as saying, "It's got to be frequent service, it's got to be convenient, it's got to be fast and it's got to have the population density to support it." A commuter from Kansas City says she finally decided to utilize public transportation simply because she was tired of dealing with all the traffic, as opposed to just gas prices, which seems to be driving the recent surge of ticket sales in the cases of many other Americans.

Essay #2 - Rough Draft - Waste Management or Waste Reduction?

Is global warming a threat or just hype? It is currently one of the largest debates in the world because of the possible outcomes related to it. While many claim that research is inconclusive, community after community in country after country are starting to act, just in case. The results have turned out to be worthwhile in many situations. Everything from people slowing down to conserve gas to purchasing fabric shopping bags as a replacement for plastic is turning out to save their communities money. Although the existence and potential threat of global warming is still widely controversial, failure to take steps toward becoming more environmentally conscious and adopting more sustainable lifestyles causes large amounts of economic damage to our nation because we continue to spend valuable resources on waste disposal instead of waste reduction, it makes it much more difficult to reduce our dependencies on foreign oil, and thus will inevitably cause us to fall further behind the technological curve of the rest of the world.

As one may expect, the majority of expenses a community faces come in the form of maintenance and upkeep, and as city populations continue to grow, so do these associated cost. Unfortunately, the trend over the last several decades has been to beef up infrastructure for dealing with increased service demand, instead of curbing the demand itself. In the waste management industry, investments have normally been pushed more toward expanding landfills and buying more equipment and vehicles as opposed to developing new recycling plans intended to minimize the need for larger landfills in the first place. The worst part is many of the products that enter these landfills have seldom reached the end of their useful lifespans, and although several initiatives for recycling everything from old electronics to appliances have been created, many of these products and more still find their way into the dumpster. More often than not the options to recycle are overlooked by people because they are unaware of them or they feel the benefits are not worth the effort. A few cents for the cans from a case of soda that cost several dollars doesn't seem fair to people who think about the amount of money they must be saving for those buying the recycled aluminum. Not to mention, due to lack of dedicated infrastructure, when one factors in the cost and impact of fuel on the environment, they're probably right. Currently, in order to recycle and really help the environment, one needs to stockpile recyclables until a trip to the processing center is economical, a difficult concept for those who haven't a whole lot of extra space lying around for refuse. Even as one time use products overwhelm our dumps, many people still opt for the simpler solutions to their daily hassles, such as using paper or plastic bags instead of purchasing cloth bags as an alternative. One method some stores have started implementing is offering incentives for customers to use cloth bags instead; Fred Meyer's, for instances, offers three cents off for each bag a customer brings with them.

Although fuel is not the only resource that is being wasted here, it does amount to massive expenditures in the big picture, and in a time where reducing our dependencies on foreign oil are becoming increasingly important, exploring methods of reducing our consumption on all fronts becomes an integral part of this fight. Every year the United States spends millions of dollars on fuel alone in the waste management industry. The reason behind this should not be too hard for many too imagine. Processing plants and landfills are huge operations. Some of them have large warehouses and shops for sorting trash and maintaining equipment, and all of them have lots of that last thing, equipment. Seldom are any small machines used when it comes to transporting or dealing with this countries refuse. Plants and landfills usually require several bulldozers, among many others types of equipment: compactors, sorting machines, electromagnetic cranes, etc. - all of which work long daily hours, consuming large amounts of power and fuel. This doesn't even include the fleet of garbage trucks to keep the trash flowing in. Garbage trucks themselves tend to be one of the wasteful parts of this process. They are massive machines that require tons of energy just to get moving, add that to the fact that they make frequent stops more than just about any other piece of machinery out there and you wind up with cost that are only compounded further.

While other countries around the globe are combating their problems with the world's waining economy by investing in alternative methods of transportation and power generation, the United States has been dilly dadiling, bickering over the benefits and cost that come with overhauling the country to become more efficient. However, as major car manufactures stare dumbfoundedly at their all time low sales numbers on their gas guzzling trucks and SUV, some people are starting to connect the dots on the issue that now may be the time to start thinking about the future of the world from a realistic, instead of purely monetary, point of view. In the realm of waste management, a couple companies such as the Startech Environmental Corporation and Oshkosh are taking steps in different directions toward battling our waste woes. Startech is developing a processing plant designed to convert trash into energy and fuel without the use of fire or the emissions; whereas Oshkosh, with the assistance of the Department of Energy, is developing hybrid options for heavy equipment purchaser, though both are still in their early developmental stages with their projects. However, at this time, Startech is mostly finding business outside of the United States, and some foreign companies, such as Volvo, already have hybrid trash trucks rolling in Sweden. However, due to supply and demand, current models of hybrid vehicles tend to run about two to three times as much as their gas guzzling brethren. Another oftentimes overlooked technology that countries like Canada and Italy have begun investing in is the use of CNG (compressed natural gas) vehicles. CNG vehicles, while not necessarily one-hundred percent clean, still produce dramatically less pollution and the fuel can be produced for much less money.

The primary message here is that time is running short for action. Our economy is shaky and ready for support in the form of new investments and strategies. While many of these responsibilities will fall on the shoulders of the community, much of it also lays in the hands of individuals as well. First, it's important for people to show their concern for the current waste situation and their interest in alternative solutions to it, while second it's important to actually follow through with ones personal task on the issue. Recycling programs will not go far if no one takes the time to sort their trash. However, as well as recycling, people and businesses need to remember that reducing the amount of trash they produce in the first place is even more important. Be it bringing your own coffee mug instead of using the Styrofoam cups or by printing memos on the backs of old documents to save paper, every step helps save. In the end, everyone has a little extra cash in their pockets, the airs a little cleaner, and the earths a little greener.

Plagiarism Exercise

I cannot say I learned anything new about the subject, however it was good review. There was definitely some useful information about how to and not to paraphrase, as well as some good examples of how to cite something correctly. I am confident that I am aware of what plagiarism is and that I shall not partake in it.

Week 5 - Reading Response 3

The main point that Basitis is trying to get at in his article, “Skin deep: What Polls of Minorities Miss,” is how inaccurate the media's knowledge of minorities can be. He claims the reason for this is poor polling practices and the high cost associated with increasing the accuracy of these polls. With any given poll, it's important that the information gathers attempt to acquire information from as many diverse sources as possible. When dealing with the general public this is relatively easy, because you have a large pool of subjects to gather information from. However, when dealing with smaller portions of the population, things get much more difficult because as sample sizes drop, margins or error increase. The primary reason for the high cost of more accurate polls is quite simple: in order to battle these error margins, much more effort must be put forth on the part of the interviewers in order to find suitable, diverse subjects. Often times, the targets for these minority polls don't necessarily speak English as their first language, this adds additional complications to the situation, because now the surveys must be translated in order to be conducted, and then translated back to English in order to be integrated into the resulting data. Along with already being quite expensive in the first place, some pieces of information can be lost or misinterpreted when translated between languages. On top of that, statistics suggest it's best to match an interviewers race with that of the interviewee, an additional expense to surveyors.
The proposal Basitis makes is that the media and other organizations need to bring attention to these challenges at a local level. The point of this would be to inform people of the importance of gathering accurate information about various minorities' opinions on different topics to ensure a more equal understanding of the views community members do and do not share.

Week 5 - Reading Response 2

The advertisement for the “courage: the anti-drug” campaign is a proposal argument because it provides different solutions one might consider taking to solve a problem involving a friend or loved ones drug or alcohol problem. Specifically in the courage ad it is proposing that if you really care about someone, it's important to do the right thing to help them, even if it could jeopardize your relationship. In a way, all of these ads are proposal arguments in that all of them have the underlying message of “choose not to do drugs.” In the regret ad, the proposal is to think of the consequences before making a bad decision. I find the “I am” ads to be the most effective of these because they come off as much less aggressive in their messages than their alternatives. In my opinion, all of these ads wander a fine line between a well-meaning public service announcement and an ill-informing piece of modern propaganda. The “I Am” ads do a better job of avoiding this label by instead of attacking those or those close to people with problems, they praise those who choose not to do drugs. I feel this gives those ads a much more positive and thus effective message as opposed to an offensive message emphasizing feelings of fear or sadness as weapons in the war on drugs. I think it's more effective to convey a message intended to encourage good choices than a message meant to discourage bad choices. It's kind of like when you tell someone they cannot have something, it only makes them want it more.