It’s 10:00 in the morning and the select students who were forced out of bed begin to make their way to class. As they pass the Student Union, one would expect to see morning dew on the trees, squirrels and birds enjoying the suns bright rays, the smell of sweet breakfast being cooked at Wackadoo's and Chick Fil A. All of a sudden, ear-shattering speakers blasting brutal heavy metal music abruptly halt the morning sereneness. Say goodbye to the squirrels because there’s a new animal by Student Union, an electric beast raging and roaring from the speakers of what you read to be the Heavy Metal Appreciation Club at UCF. Founded in 2006, The Heavy Metal clubs mission statement, stated on their MySpace page, is "To increase awareness, legitimacy and acceptance of heavy metal musical styles and culture, to promote a sense of community among listeners, and to expose each other to new styles of music through the creation of an open forum." The world has its views on metal and the club here tries to break that stereotype by showing there's a fun and friendly side of metal. While I respect the club's existence, there are a few issues at bay. But overall, the main problem with the Heavy Metal Club at UCF is that it's too loud, too early, and harms the business of clubs and organizations as well as student’s grades nearby.
On www.observationsofanerd.blogspot.com, recent surveying has concluded that there are a higher percentage of night owls in college students over any other demographic of people in the United States. With a fact as such, the last thing any student would want to hear on their way to class after a night with lack of sleep is fast paced metal. While many students are up late studying and sleeping their day away unless woken by class, there are just as many early worms that bring the campus to life at dawn’s break. Most people that choose to get up early have an agenda and are always busy tackling their most important obstacles in the wee hours of the morning. The result is that many difficult classes and important faculty/staff meetings wind up taking place very early and are scheduled as such to avoid distractions and the business of the campus later in the day. The student union is located at the center of the University of Central Florida’s campus where it stands in the company of the UCF Library, the College of Sciences building, Engineering 2, Health & Public Affairs, and Classroom 1. Being in such a crucial area, the sounds of what’s going on at the student union echo their way around their immediate area, all the buildings listed above. With this said, the Heavy Metal Music club at the University of Central Florida should not play loud music near an area where so many students and faculty are trying to get important work and studying done. I believe it’s worth saying that such a distraction could have an unprecedented effect on students’ grades in the long run if the Heavy Metal club continued its early music sessions. According to Jacques Wright, a student who wakes up early to attend his anatomy and chemistry classes says, “After long weekends, I wake up three to four hours early to get in a solid study review for an exam or quiz I have that morning. Some days however, the Heavy Metal club is playing their music so loudly I cannot hear myself think.”
The other problem affects morning birds, night owls, and metal heads themselves; that is communication. The student union serves as a center of distribution of news, current events, and information on different things occurring on campus to students. A numerous amount of non-UCF organizations are out there as well. During election times, many candidates make trips to the UCF campus or send representatives who pay a substantial fee for being able to post a tent. Many political campaigns come out such as Power Shift 09, a campaign as stated on http://www.powershift09.org “fueled by young people across the country to demand bold action on climate and energy in 2009. They are urging President Obama and Congress to pass a strong and comprehensive climate and energy plan by December that creates millions of new jobs, ends our dependence on dirty energy, brings America lasting security and reduces harmful global warming pollution.” With such a short time frame to increase awareness of the movement and to be able to make a superb difference in the eyes of Congress, it is very important that organizations such as these be heard; especially among college students who have enormous potential for making change in office over other groups of people. All of the other clubs and organizations that are outside of the Union trying to convey messages and gain support or votes cannot be heard over the loud music of metal playing as well. Most fraternities have a frat house off campus (many of which are farther away than you’d think) and don’t have the advantage of being widely known because they are off campus, unlike many sorority houses. I guarantee that two to three times more individuals know of Delta Delta Delta than individuals who know Iota Phi Theta. The point is that these smaller clubs need a way to advertise their existence and do so by hanging outside the student union where they can converse with fellow Greek community members and simultaneously gain new pledges. In both cases, time is of the essence and less time heard is less people joined and less money made. Groups like Power Shift 2009 and TOMS shoes who depend on those few hours a day Monday through Friday are extremely undermined due to the annoyance of really loud music. Nobody wants to go to campus to hear speakers blasting at concert level decibels. It is quite a sight to see a crowd with a pleased look on their face next to a bigger crowd of people with looks of discontent on their faces. Most of the clubs and fraternities don’t have all the time in the day to be out there and don’t gain as much student activity. The importance of this issue is that productivity is slowed near the student union and the music creates a big distraction to students studying for their early morning tests and organizations with limited time to make business.
If things were different, say the Metal club set up their tent at 3 or 4pm, I don't think there would be as much of a predicament. I mean let’s face it; as students and faculty getting up early most of the week, we're simply cranky when we get up and things (especially loud things) can be nearly intolerable. A later time in the day or a relocation of the Metal club's tent to a less busy area would make everyone happier. The music wouldn’t bug as many people as it would in the morning compared to the afternoon. This is usually when students and some faculty get a second boost of energy for the day and aren’t as grumpy, plus its super hot outside and fewer people choose to hang out outside. If the Heavy Metal club relocated to areas with less foot traffic, say between Ferrell Commons and the Health Center, not nearly as many would complain of their high volume music. In my opinion when it comes down to it, the simplest solution to end the dispute between the Heavy Metal club and other clubs & organizations is to just turn the volume down! Students such as Laurent Saint-Louis say these words of wisdom, “If the Metal club just brought a boom box to the student union instead of an Orange or Gibson professional grade speaker/amplifier, the volume would be nowhere near distracting as it currently is.”
Monday, October 26, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Commentary Essay Draft
It’s 10:00 in the morning and the select students who were forced out of bed begin to make their way to class. As they pass the Student Union, one would expect to see morning dew on the trees, squirrels and birds enjoying the suns bright rays, the smell of sweet breakfast being cooked at Wackadoo's and Chick Fil A. All of a sudden, the morning sereneness is abruptly halted by ear-shattering speakers blasting brutal heavy metal music. Say goodbye to the squirrels because there’s a new animal by Student Union, an electric beast raging and roaring from the speakers of what you read to be the Heavy Metal Appreciation Club at UCF. Founded in 2006, The Heavy Metal clubs mission statement, stated on their MySpace page, is "To increase awareness, legitimacy and acceptance of heavy metal musical styles and culture, to promote a sense of community among listeners, and to expose each other to new styles of music through the creation of an open forum." The world has its views on metal and the club here tries to break that stereotype by showing there's a fun and friendly side of metal. While I respect the club's existence, there are a few issues at bay. But overall, the main problem with the Heavy Metal Club at UCF is that it's too loud and too early.
On observationsofanerd.blogspot.com, recent surveying has concluded that there are a higher percentage of night owls in college students over any other demographic of people in the United States. With a fact as such, the last thing any student would want to hear on their way to class after a night with lack of sleep is fast paced metal. While many students are up late studying and sleeping their day away unless woken by class, there are just as many early worms that bring the campus to life at dawn’s break. Most people that choose to get up early have an agenda and are always busy tackling their most important obstacles in the wee hours of the morning. The result is that many difficult classes and important faculty/staff meetings wind up taking place very early and are scheduled as such to avoid distractions and the business of the campus later in the day. The student union is located at the center of the University of Central Florida’s campus where it stands in the company of the UCF Library, the College of Sciences building, Engineering 2, Health & Public Affairs, and Classroom 1. Being in such a crucial area, the sounds of what’s going on at the student union echo their way around their immediate area, all the buildings listed above. With this said the Heavy Metal Music club at the University of Central Florida should not play loud volume music near an area where so many students and faculty are trying to get important work done. I believe it’s worth saying that such a distraction could have an unprecedented effect on students’ grades in the long run if the Heavy Metal club continued its early music sessions. According to Jacques Wright, a student who wakes up early to attend his anatomy and chemistry classes says, “After long weekends, I wake up three to four hours early to get in a solid study review for an exam or quiz I have that morning. Some days however, the Heavy Metal club is playing their music so loudly I cannot hear myself think.”
The other problem affects morning birds, night owls, and metal heads themselves; that is communication. The student union serves as a center of distribution of news, current events, and information on different things occurring on campus to students. There’s more going on than just what’s happening at our school at the student union as well. During election times, many candidates make trips to the UCF campus or send representatives who pay a substantial fee for being able to post a tent. Many political campaigns come out such as Power Shift 09, a campaign as stated on http://www.powershift09.org “fueled by young people across the country to demand bold action on climate and energy in 2009. They are urging President Obama and Congress to pass a strong and comprehensive climate and energy plan by December that creates millions of new jobs, ends our dependence on dirty energy, brings America lasting security and reduces harmful global warming pollution.” With such a short time frame to increase awareness of the movement and to be able to make a superb difference in the eyes of Congress, it is very important that organizations such as these be heard; especially among college students who hold high potentials for making change in office over other groups of people. All of the other clubs and organizations that are outside of the Union trying to convey messages and gain support or votes cannot be heard over the loud music of metal playing as well. Most fraternities have a frat house off campus (many of which are farther away than you’d think) and don’t have the advantage of being widely known due to an on campus location such as many sororities posses. I guarantee that two to three times more individuals know of Delta Delta Delta than individuals who know Iota Phi Theta. The point is that these smaller clubs need a way to advertise their existence and do so by hanging outside the student union where they can converse with fellow Greek community members and simultaneously gain new pledges. In both cases, time is of the essence and less time heard is less people joined which is less of a difference that could be much greater. Groups like Power Shift 2009 and TOMS shoes who depend on those few hours a day Monday through Friday are extremely undermined due to the annoyance of really loud music. Nobody wants to go to campus to hear speakers blasting at concert level decibels. It is quite a sight to see a crowd with a pleased look on their face next to a bigger crowd of people with looks of discontent on their faces. Most of the clubs and fraternities don’t have all the time in the day to be out there and aren’t gaining as much student activity. The importance of this issue is that productivity is slowed near the student union and the music creates a big distraction to students studying for their early morning tests and organizations with limited time to make business.
If things were different, say the Metal club set up their tent at 3 or 4pm, I don't think there'd be as much of a predicament. I mean let’s face it; as students and faculty getting up early most of the week, we're simply cranky when we get up and things (especially loud things) can be nearly intolerable. A later time in the day or a relocation of the Metal club's tent to a less busy area would make everyone happier. The music wouldn’t bug as many people as it would in the morning compared to the afternoon. This is usually when students and some faculty get a second boost of energy for the day and aren’t as grumpy, plus its super hot outside and fewer people choose to hang out outside. If the Heavy Metal club relocated to areas with less foot traffic, say between Ferrell Commons and the Health Center, not nearly as many would complain of their high volume music. When it comes down to it, in my opinion, the simplest solution to end the dispute between the Heavy Metal club and other clubs & organizations is to just turn the volume down! Students such as Laurent Saint-Louis say these words of wisdom, “If the Metal club just brought a boom box to the student union instead of an Orange or Gibson professional grade speaker/amplifier, the volume would be nowhere near distracting as it currently is.”
Works Cited:
1. Murray, Zachary “Zebu”. “Heavy Metal Knights @UCF.” MySpace. August 2003. Web. 15 October 2009.
2. Lynn, Christie. “Night Owls- the energizer bunnies of society.” BlogSpot. 24 April 2009. Web. 19 October 2009.
3. Wright, Jacques. Personal Interview. 17 October 2009
4. Power Shift 2009. “History of the Energy Action Coalition.” MySpace. Apr. 2008 Web. 18 October 2009.
5. Saint-Louis, Laurent. Personal Interview. 18 October 2009.
On observationsofanerd.blogspot.com, recent surveying has concluded that there are a higher percentage of night owls in college students over any other demographic of people in the United States. With a fact as such, the last thing any student would want to hear on their way to class after a night with lack of sleep is fast paced metal. While many students are up late studying and sleeping their day away unless woken by class, there are just as many early worms that bring the campus to life at dawn’s break. Most people that choose to get up early have an agenda and are always busy tackling their most important obstacles in the wee hours of the morning. The result is that many difficult classes and important faculty/staff meetings wind up taking place very early and are scheduled as such to avoid distractions and the business of the campus later in the day. The student union is located at the center of the University of Central Florida’s campus where it stands in the company of the UCF Library, the College of Sciences building, Engineering 2, Health & Public Affairs, and Classroom 1. Being in such a crucial area, the sounds of what’s going on at the student union echo their way around their immediate area, all the buildings listed above. With this said the Heavy Metal Music club at the University of Central Florida should not play loud volume music near an area where so many students and faculty are trying to get important work done. I believe it’s worth saying that such a distraction could have an unprecedented effect on students’ grades in the long run if the Heavy Metal club continued its early music sessions. According to Jacques Wright, a student who wakes up early to attend his anatomy and chemistry classes says, “After long weekends, I wake up three to four hours early to get in a solid study review for an exam or quiz I have that morning. Some days however, the Heavy Metal club is playing their music so loudly I cannot hear myself think.”
The other problem affects morning birds, night owls, and metal heads themselves; that is communication. The student union serves as a center of distribution of news, current events, and information on different things occurring on campus to students. There’s more going on than just what’s happening at our school at the student union as well. During election times, many candidates make trips to the UCF campus or send representatives who pay a substantial fee for being able to post a tent. Many political campaigns come out such as Power Shift 09, a campaign as stated on http://www.powershift09.org “fueled by young people across the country to demand bold action on climate and energy in 2009. They are urging President Obama and Congress to pass a strong and comprehensive climate and energy plan by December that creates millions of new jobs, ends our dependence on dirty energy, brings America lasting security and reduces harmful global warming pollution.” With such a short time frame to increase awareness of the movement and to be able to make a superb difference in the eyes of Congress, it is very important that organizations such as these be heard; especially among college students who hold high potentials for making change in office over other groups of people. All of the other clubs and organizations that are outside of the Union trying to convey messages and gain support or votes cannot be heard over the loud music of metal playing as well. Most fraternities have a frat house off campus (many of which are farther away than you’d think) and don’t have the advantage of being widely known due to an on campus location such as many sororities posses. I guarantee that two to three times more individuals know of Delta Delta Delta than individuals who know Iota Phi Theta. The point is that these smaller clubs need a way to advertise their existence and do so by hanging outside the student union where they can converse with fellow Greek community members and simultaneously gain new pledges. In both cases, time is of the essence and less time heard is less people joined which is less of a difference that could be much greater. Groups like Power Shift 2009 and TOMS shoes who depend on those few hours a day Monday through Friday are extremely undermined due to the annoyance of really loud music. Nobody wants to go to campus to hear speakers blasting at concert level decibels. It is quite a sight to see a crowd with a pleased look on their face next to a bigger crowd of people with looks of discontent on their faces. Most of the clubs and fraternities don’t have all the time in the day to be out there and aren’t gaining as much student activity. The importance of this issue is that productivity is slowed near the student union and the music creates a big distraction to students studying for their early morning tests and organizations with limited time to make business.
If things were different, say the Metal club set up their tent at 3 or 4pm, I don't think there'd be as much of a predicament. I mean let’s face it; as students and faculty getting up early most of the week, we're simply cranky when we get up and things (especially loud things) can be nearly intolerable. A later time in the day or a relocation of the Metal club's tent to a less busy area would make everyone happier. The music wouldn’t bug as many people as it would in the morning compared to the afternoon. This is usually when students and some faculty get a second boost of energy for the day and aren’t as grumpy, plus its super hot outside and fewer people choose to hang out outside. If the Heavy Metal club relocated to areas with less foot traffic, say between Ferrell Commons and the Health Center, not nearly as many would complain of their high volume music. When it comes down to it, in my opinion, the simplest solution to end the dispute between the Heavy Metal club and other clubs & organizations is to just turn the volume down! Students such as Laurent Saint-Louis say these words of wisdom, “If the Metal club just brought a boom box to the student union instead of an Orange or Gibson professional grade speaker/amplifier, the volume would be nowhere near distracting as it currently is.”
Works Cited:
1. Murray, Zachary “Zebu”. “Heavy Metal Knights @UCF.” MySpace. August 2003. Web. 15 October 2009.
2. Lynn, Christie. “Night Owls- the energizer bunnies of society.” BlogSpot. 24 April 2009. Web. 19 October 2009.
3. Wright, Jacques. Personal Interview. 17 October 2009
4. Power Shift 2009. “History of the Energy Action Coalition.” MySpace. Apr. 2008 Web. 18 October 2009.
5. Saint-Louis, Laurent. Personal Interview. 18 October 2009.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Commentary paragraph
It's 10:00 in the morning and the select students who were forced out of bed begin to make their way to class. As they pass the Student Union, one would expect to see morning dew on the trees, squirrels and birds enjoying the suns bright rays, the smell of sweet breakfast being cooked at Wackadoo's and Chick Fil A. All of a sudden, the morning sereneness is abruptly haulted by ear-shattering speakers blasting brutal heavy metal music. Say goodbye to the squirrels because theres a new animal by Student Union, an electric beast raging and roaring from the speakers of what you read to be the Heavy Metal Appreciation Club at UCF. Founded in 2006, The Heavy Metal clubs mission statement is "To increase awareness, legitimacy and acceptance of heavy metal musical styles and culture, to promote a sense of community among listeners, and to expose each other to new styles of music through the creation of an open forum." The world has its views on metal and the club here tries to break that stereotype by showing there's a fun and friendly side of metal. While I repsect the club's existence, there are a few issues at bay. The main problem with the Heavy Metal Club at UCF is that it's too loud and too early. Recent surveying has concluded that there are a higher percentage of night-owls in college students over any other demograph of people in the United States. With a fact as such, the last thing any student would want to hear on their way to class after a night with lack of sleep is fast paced metal. The other problem affects morning birds, night-owls, and metal heads themselves; that is communication. All of the other clubs and organizations that are outside of the Union trying to convey messages and gain support or votes cannot be heard over the loud music. It is quite a sight to see a crowd with a pleased look on their face next to a bigger crowd of people with looks of discontent on their faces. The importance of this issue is that productivity is slowed near the student union and the music creates a big distraction to students studying for their early morning tests or organizations with limited time to make business. If things were different, say the Metal club set up their tent at 3 or 4pm, I don't think there'd be as much of a predicament. I mean lets face it; as students and faculty getting up early most of the week, we're simply cranky when we get up and things (especially loud things) can be nearly intolerable. A later time in the day or a relocation of the Metal club's tent to a less busy area would make everyone happier.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Letter to non UCF friend
Dear Friend from Wisconsin,
Hey there how’s it been?! I hope things have been going as great for you as they have with me here in Orlando. I know it’s been a while but I figured I’d give you a little news in what I’ve been up to. Class is fantastic and the walks in the mornings are so peaceful as the sun rises. The Student Union is the epicenter of activity on UCF and is always bustling with students. It’s an energetic atmosphere as clubs and organizations left and right try to gain students’ attention to join or get involved. As morning peaks, on my way to Chemistry, the Metal Appreciation Club at UCF have a tent set up with speakers blasting fast paced metal music. I noticed that many people seemed a little agitated that the music was so loud. I asked myself “how many of these people in their booths absolutely hate metal music?” I figured by the looks on many faces that over half seemed to be annoyed at the fact that they couldn’t hear their voice or anyone else’s. I’m not sure if your too much of a fan metal or not, but I certainly have respect for the newer styles of metal emerging; this doesn’t mean I’m a huge metal fan but in small doses it’s ok. Do you believe they should continue their quite successful scheme; considering it’s tent is always full of people? Even though it has the right to be a club wouldn’t you agree that there is a way to fix this rock between a hard place through campus policy? A simple solution would definitely be to just relocate their tent to an area with less or minimal foot traffic. They could also reschedule their time to be out by Student Union, because such a busy area deserves to gain some grounds on and be part of this university’s collective culture. Besides the problem of being too loud and too early, I began to wonder if any situations would arise due to the negative feedback of the majority of students outside. I also reminisced of the time when you and I were fishing in Key Largo in a nearby bay when two jet skiers used the same bay to practice their stunts in for 90 minutes. We were so upset that there loud engines and fast speeds were so close and scaring all the fish away that we wanted to tell them to get lost and that this was a bay for fishing not water sports. In the end though, they had the right to be there on their jet skies. There was nothing that said they couldn’t be there so we dealt with the nuisance by listening to music in the cabin and eating lunch. In the same way that we found a way to resolve our conflict by making the best of the situation at hand, other organizations could use the time the loud music is on to get paper work done, or use alternative means of getting attention such as captioned videos, or larger signs that are clear and readable. This basically showed me, and I hope you realize it to, that there is never a need to jump to hostile or radical action. By showing respect and using effective strategy, one can implement more successful activities if they take advantage of the situation (such as the one with the Metal club) at hand. I hope you take care and write your response back to me on the Metal Appreciation Club.
Sincerely,
Christopher
Hey there how’s it been?! I hope things have been going as great for you as they have with me here in Orlando. I know it’s been a while but I figured I’d give you a little news in what I’ve been up to. Class is fantastic and the walks in the mornings are so peaceful as the sun rises. The Student Union is the epicenter of activity on UCF and is always bustling with students. It’s an energetic atmosphere as clubs and organizations left and right try to gain students’ attention to join or get involved. As morning peaks, on my way to Chemistry, the Metal Appreciation Club at UCF have a tent set up with speakers blasting fast paced metal music. I noticed that many people seemed a little agitated that the music was so loud. I asked myself “how many of these people in their booths absolutely hate metal music?” I figured by the looks on many faces that over half seemed to be annoyed at the fact that they couldn’t hear their voice or anyone else’s. I’m not sure if your too much of a fan metal or not, but I certainly have respect for the newer styles of metal emerging; this doesn’t mean I’m a huge metal fan but in small doses it’s ok. Do you believe they should continue their quite successful scheme; considering it’s tent is always full of people? Even though it has the right to be a club wouldn’t you agree that there is a way to fix this rock between a hard place through campus policy? A simple solution would definitely be to just relocate their tent to an area with less or minimal foot traffic. They could also reschedule their time to be out by Student Union, because such a busy area deserves to gain some grounds on and be part of this university’s collective culture. Besides the problem of being too loud and too early, I began to wonder if any situations would arise due to the negative feedback of the majority of students outside. I also reminisced of the time when you and I were fishing in Key Largo in a nearby bay when two jet skiers used the same bay to practice their stunts in for 90 minutes. We were so upset that there loud engines and fast speeds were so close and scaring all the fish away that we wanted to tell them to get lost and that this was a bay for fishing not water sports. In the end though, they had the right to be there on their jet skies. There was nothing that said they couldn’t be there so we dealt with the nuisance by listening to music in the cabin and eating lunch. In the same way that we found a way to resolve our conflict by making the best of the situation at hand, other organizations could use the time the loud music is on to get paper work done, or use alternative means of getting attention such as captioned videos, or larger signs that are clear and readable. This basically showed me, and I hope you realize it to, that there is never a need to jump to hostile or radical action. By showing respect and using effective strategy, one can implement more successful activities if they take advantage of the situation (such as the one with the Metal club) at hand. I hope you take care and write your response back to me on the Metal Appreciation Club.
Sincerely,
Christopher
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