Blog 9: The Johnson Center

Jesus Esteves

Ms. Lopez

WRD 110

25 September 2014

Topic: Johnson Center- Source identification

            For this blog I decided to do some research about the Johnson Center.  I found an article on the UK’s campus recreations page under the section about the different facilities. This specific article was titled “Johnson recreation center”. It didn’t have an author and since it is updated every day I don’t know when it was first published.

Topic: Johnson Center- word summary

            The Johnson Center‚ located on Complex Drive‚ is a state–of–the–art recreation facility that is designed to provide choices and opportunities for healthy living. The appealing‚ open environment encourages participation and development of a positive‚ healthy lifestyle. It is a great place to gather‚ make new friends‚ and take a positive step towards lifelong health and fitness habits. The Johnson Center is opened from 6-midnight Mon-Fri, 9-9 on Saturdays, and 11-midnight. These hours make it easy for students to be able to fit working out into their schedules, especially us freshmen that are getting used to college. This Article also provided us with the different amenities in the Johnson Center. According to the article the things we can find at the Johnson Center are:

• ·         Multi–purpose gymnasium
• ·         Four–lane elevated jogging track
• ·         Fitness/conditioning center
• ·         Group fitness studio
• ·         Cycling studio
• ·         Four racquetball courts
• ·         Climbing Wall
• ·         Locker and shower facilities
• ·         Lobby/lounge area

 

Topic: Johnson Center- Reflection/questions

            I found this article to be very useful for future research. I gained some knowledge about the Johnson Center as well as some curiosity about it. This article made me wonder if the Johnson Center is big enough for all the students that use it? Have they considered making it bigger?  Around what time is it the busiest? What percent of UK students actually go to the Jonson Center on regular bases?

The Arboretum

Jesus Esteves

Ms. Lopez

WRD 110

23 September 2014

Topic: The Arboretum- Source identification

            For this blog I decided to look more into the voluntary opportunities in the arboretum. I found this article at http://uwbg.galaxydigital.com/volunteer/agency/need/?need_id=3104 under the section titled “Docents: (Tour Guides)”. It didn't give me the date of when it was published nor who published it.

Topic: The Arboretum- word summary

            The purpose of this article was to educate people about the volunteer opportunity of becoming a Tour guide. This need is ongoing since different people come to the arboretum every day. This article was broken down into three parts. The first part was what the purpose of this job is which is to educate visitors to The Arboretum about the mission, goals, history, infrastructure, and planting development of The Arboretum and encourage membership in the Friends of The Arboretum Organization. The second part was pointing out the qualifications required to become a tour guides. There weren’t many qualifications but the main ones are: you must like to work with people of all ages and abilities, and like being outdoors. Enjoy public speaking and sharing your knowledge and gardening skills. And you must attend at least one general volunteer orientation. The last part of the article talked about who you need to contact in order to become a volunteer or for any other information. The person you must contact is Sharon Dean.

Topic: The Arboretum- Reflection/questions

            This article was very helpful because I had questions about how to get involved with the arboretum, specially volunteering for being a tour guide. The biggest reasons that I would want to be a volunteer are to expand my knowledge on the arboretum and also to give back to the community. Some questions that came to my mind after reading this article were: What is the Friends of the Arboretum Organization? Who is Sharon Dean? Does anyone that meet the qualifications automatically become a volunteer? How difficult is it to become an actual volunteer?

Reflection

Jesus Esteves
Ms. Lopez
WRD 110
23 September 2014

Assignment Reflection

1.  For my formal proposal i decided to do something different than what I've always done. i first decided to look over all my blogs and picked out what information i wanted to use. Once i had that down i decided to find a "problem". Once i figured out what the problem/argument of my proposal was going to be, i came up with my thesis. After i had my thesis down all i did was just connect my main points with the information i had written down and made it into a proposal.
2. Turning my formal proposal into the shark tank presentation was quite simple. i just took the main information from my proposal as well as my argument and briefly talked about them. In my presentation i focused more on a persuasive approach  and the reason why we should make a documentary on this topic.
3. My strength in both the formal proposal and the shark tank presentation was that my argument was clear and I included enough facts on why we should make a documentary on this topic.
4. My biggest weakness in this assignment was that i was a little shaky on my presentation. This could be because I didn't practice that much so i wasn't fully ready. But this is something that i can easily solve for my next assignment by putting more time into practicing.

Blog 6 - The Arboretum

Jesus Esteves

Ms. Lopez

WRD 110

18 September

Topic: The Arboretum- Source identification

            For this blog I decided to do more research about the arboretum. I found this particular article online at http://uwbg.galaxydigital.com/volunteer/agency/display/?agency_id=3715# and the tittle of the page was “The arboretum, State Botanical garden of Kentucky” under the section [Get involved]. It didn’t provide a date of publication.

Topic: The Arboretum- word summary

            The purpose of this article was to inform people from the community about things that they can help with in the Arboretum. As I've mentioned before the Arboretum depends on people to volunteer. In the article they mentioned some volunteering opportunities.  A few that caught my attention were: “Adopt-A-Plot for Roses Participants, Arboretum Volunteer Days, Docents: Tour Guides, Receptionist at the Visitor Center” (Get Involved). All of these things had a tab with more information about them. The information that they provided was stuff like dates, times, requirements, and how to sign up for them.

The Topic: The Arboretum- Reflection/questions

            This Article was very useful because 1) It cleared up some questions I had about volunteers at the arboretum and 2) now I know how I can sign up for maybe further research. Some questions that came to my head were: Does everyone that works at the Arboretum do it voluntary? How many people volunteer per year? What is the most common age range of people that volunteer? 

Blog 5- The arboretum

Jesus Esteves

Ms. Lopez

WRD-110

9 September 2014

Topic: The Arboretum- Source identification

            For this blog I decided to actually go to the Arboretum and take a picture there.  This picture was taken Thursday 9/11/14. This picture is at the entrance of the arboretum.

Topic: The arboretum- Summary

            As you guys can see this picture is of me at the entrance of the arboretum. The reason I decided to take a picture there because in my opinion this is an important place at the arboretum. The reason I say that is because as you can see there is a building behind me. This building is called the “Visitor Center” and is where you can go and get more information about whatever you need at the arboretum. The next thing we see is a big sculpture behind me. This is really cool because I didn’t know that there were sculptures throughout the Arboretum and I am a huge fan of this kind of art. The last thing we see is the rock I’m sitting on. As we can see, the rock has stuff written on it and in big letters says it is titled “Spirit Rising”. This Rock then goes on to explain that the sculpture was made to acknowledge and give thanks to the close friends and helpers of the founders of the arboretum. Then it goes on to a list of names.

Topic: The arboretum- Reflection/summary

            My trip to the arboretum was very helpful because I had the privilege to see for myself how pretty this place is. This specific picture will help me in further research because I now have an idea of who some of the founders were and also because I know where the visitor’s center is and that can be helpful for further research.  Some questions that came to my mind while taking this picture were: How long how has this sculpture been up? Why/how did this people help the founders? Were they important people in the community? 

Blog 4- The arboretum

Jesus Esteves

Ms. Lopez

WRD-110

9 September 2014

Topic: The Arboretum- Source identification

            As I continue my research on the arboretum I keep finding more and more stuff about it. This is an article that was posted online which I found at http://www2.ca.uky.edu/arboretum/gardenetiquette and it was published by the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment.  This website is updated daily therefore it didn't give me a date of when it was published

Topic: The Arboretum- Article summary

            The purpose of this article is to provide readers with the Arboretum’s etiquette and rules. According to the article, the Arboretum is not very strict when it comes to rules because they depend on their visitors to help them maintain the beauty of their gardens. The Arboretum’s plant collections, like other museum collections, are very important to them and to all the visitors. The Arboretum came up with 14 basic rules and always ask guests to please respect and follow them while visiting the Arboretum. Out of the 14 there were 6 rules which in my opinion are the most important ones and everyone should absolutely follow them. These rules are: “1. do not remove flowers, foliage, insects or plants. Specimen collection is prohibited unless you have special permission from The Arboretum office. 2. Use the trash receptacles provided. 3. Open fires and grilling are prohibited. 4. Plant labels and tags provide important information. Do not move or take labels. 5. Operate motorized vehicles on the entrance driveway and designated parking area only. Exception: motorized wheel chairs and approved service vehicles. And 6. Do not release animals into The Arboretum ecosystem.” (The Arboretum).

Topic: The Arboretum- Reflection/questions

            This article will help me in further research because when I start visiting the arboretum to learn more about it I will know the rules and won’t break any. All though the article was clear about the Arboretum’s rules and I have no questions about them it did make me wonder other things. Are there cameras throughout the Arboretum? How can they make sure people are following the rules? What would happen to someone that breaks the rules? Do people actually follow these rules?

Blog 3: The Arboretum

Jesus Esteves

Ms. Lopez

WRD-110

9 September 2014

Topic: The Arboretum- source identification

                For this blog I decided to do some more research about the Arboretum. This is an article that was posted online which I found at http://www2.ca.uky.edu/arboretum/all_gardens.php and it was published by the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment.  This website is updated daily therefore it didn’t give me a date of when it was published.

Topic: The Arboretum- article summary

                This article provides us with the different things that we can find in the Arboretum. The four main things that this article talks about are: The Arboretum landscape features, the wildlife, the different types of horticultural gardens, and of course the arboretum’s woods. Some of the landscape features that the arboretum provides for its guests are Gazebos, Pergalas, a Children's Garden, Stone fences, Fish pond, and Fountains with sculptures. This article also shows us that wildlife exist in the Arboretum because there are Bird boxes, Bat boxes, Habitat gardens, and Natural areas throughout the place. The most important thing in this article was when it mentioned all the different types of horticultural gardens because that is one of the biggest reasons people go to the Arboretum. The Arboretum has 9 different types of these gardens which are a Rose Garden, Fragrance Garden, Perennial Garden, Annual Flowers, Herb Garden, Vegetable Plots, Home Fruit and Nut Plantings, All American Trials and Displays, and Ground Cover display. The last thing that the article mentions is what we can see in the Arboretum’s woods. Some of the things that people might come across while passing the woods are: Ecological restoration, Invasive plant removal, Wetland, and Historic trees.

Topic: The Arboretum- Questions/reflections

                All though this article does a nice job on listing all the main stuff you can find in the Arboretum, it also made me wonder a lot of things. Some of the questions that I have come up with after reading the article are: How long did it take for all the gardens/trees to grow? How much money was invested in making the arboretum? How much maintenance goes on to keep this place so beautiful? And why did they choose these 9 gardens instead of others? All this questions will allow me to find more information about the arboretum as I keep my research going. Once I find the answers to these questions this article will be useful in making a documentary because I will be able to add a section that explains what kind of things people can see in the Arboretum and the background of it.

Blog 2: The Arboretum

Jesus Esteves

Ms. Lopez

WRD-110

4 September 2014

Topic: The Arboretum- source identification

            In this blog I have decided to do a picture of the Arboretum. I found this picture while going through google images. I was not able to find who took this picture. This picture was taken last year.

Topic: The Arboretum- Word summary

            Even though this is not an article, there is a lot of interesting things we can see in this picture. The first thing that caught my attention was the nature aspect of it as we can all see the different types of trees and bushes. In the right top corner there is part of a red cabin. This picture also demonstrates how the Arboretum is a popular place since we notice all the people walking and standing around. Another thing that caught my attention was how the trail in made out of dirt. For some reason I didn’t expect that.

Topic: The Arboretum- Reflection/questions

            This picture was able to give me a quick glimpse of what the Arboretum looks like. I defiantly want to go check it out now. One thing that really left me curious was what most of the people were doing. As we can tell they were all taking a picture of the same thing. This leads me to wonder what they were taking a picture off? Why did it get their attention over the other things? What part of the Arboretum are they in? I am excited to go find out for myself what it was that they were taking a picture of.

1st blog- The Arboretum

Jesus Esteves

Ms. Lopez

WRD-110

4 September 2014

Topic: The Arboretum- source identification

            I found this article online at http://www2.ca.uky.edu/arboretum and it was published by the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment. There wasn’t a date of when it was published because the website is updated daily. I found this article while looking stuff up on google about the Arboretum.

Topic: The Arboretum- article summary

            The overall purpose of this article is to allow people to learn more about the Arboretum. I was able to learn that the Arboretum was created in 1991. One thing that really caught my attention was how the University of Kentucky had a big part with the creation of this place but it wasn’t just the university who made this possible. The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government also had a big part to do with this. Throughout the different articles in this website we are able to see that the Arboretum is not only a fun beautiful place to visit but most importantly is where students can either go to take a break from their stressful day or to study in a very calm outdoors place. Another important thing I learned after reading this article was that in 2000 the Arboretum was named the “Official State Botanical Garden for the Commonwealth of Kentucky”. The Arboretum is more than 100 acres in size. There are different aspects of nature throughout all this acres which allows people to gain knowledge of different plants, trees, soil, stones, ect... But the Arboretum isn’t just a place for people to learn about nature. The reason I say that is because the Arboretum every year also provides people with the opportunity to watch different plays as well as seeing bands perform live.  

                                                                                                                          

Topic: The Arboretum- Reflection/questions

            Reading the different things throughout this website made me realize how lucky all UK students are for having this wonderful place so close to our campus. It is a privilege to be able to go to such a wonderful place without having to pay anything. All though this article really helped me learn a lot about the Arboretum it left me with a lot of questions. The main questions I had were: Who takes care of this place? Where has all the money that has been spent to make this place the way it is come from? Why did the University of Kentucky decide to collaborate in making this place? Did they think it would improve students experience as well as their academic accomplishments? Who was the person that came up with the idea of creating this place? I know that all these questions have an answer to them and I hope that I will be able to find them further down my research.