Research Papers

Over my time at the University of Michigan, I have learned a lot of information. I've learned it through lectures, research articles, books, professors, guest lecturers -- the list goes on. Especially when talking about topics such a media and communications, I have a lot of knowledge backed up. This morning I have been writing a research paper about how advertising has changed between radio and television. I wrote about 2.5 pages before realizing that I had done absolutely no research. I had accumulated at least that much information on the topic throughout my studies here.

Now, because I know this information is not my own first-hand knowledge, how much of this do I need to cite? I feel that since I have this knowledge in my head, it isn't plagiarism. It is simply a culmination of information that I have received over time. How do you quantify where you located this information over the years? I feel that it is a little ridiculous to cite every sentence that you write, but where do you draw the line? I hate having to back-track to find the information that I already know and have already written about...

/rant.

M-16s in the MLB

I was meeting with a professor in the MLB today to discuss a research paper that I am currently writing. As we are sitting there with the door open to his office (school rules), 4 huge police officers go running by with bullet-proof vests on wielding M-16s. The last cop pokes his head into the office:

Cop: "Have you seen anyone with a gun?"
Prof: "Not today."
Cop: "Close the door and lock it." The cop runs after his buddies.

We sit there baffled for a minute, having just had an M-16 pointed in our faces in the middle of a friday afternoon in a school building and we continue to talk about the paper for about 10-15 minutes. The cop then returns, lightly tapping on the door, giving us the all clear. He then proceeds to explain that it was a false alarm -- a boy was dressed in a spiderman costume and ski mask for a presentation and someone called the cops. It's still unclear as to whether this "bandit" had a fake weapon or not...

Documentary: Michigan

I've been working on a multi-media documentary for a class I am currently taking at UofM. The class is called Documentary: Michigan and each student in the class individually makes a multi-media documentary about a topic of their choice. I am focusing on what it means to be a Wolverine and how these perceptions change based on peoples affiliation with the University. So far, I have interviewed students, alumni, faculty, and administration. The documentary will be a website (I'll post the link once it's finished) which will include text, photography, audio, and video elements.

While this is only a class through the University, I have learned a lot about html and CSS coding and hope to be able to use these skills in the future. In addition, I hope that people will continue to respond to my documentary and that I will be able to add more input as I receive it. There is currently a comment feature on the webpage and I hope that people continue to fill out my survey about being a Wolverine.