Drew Pickering
Windmills in Maine
The state of Maine is going through some changes, the one thing that Maine is not good at doing. Maine has always been the nature state. The place where it is “the way life should be.” Maine is a stubborn state full of stubborn people, but what if changes were for the good of Maine, and the environment.
A new type of energy has storm the east coast in the form of wind. A new wind revolution is changing the way Americans see green energy. Energy is something that is as easy as a gust of wind, making is simple to capture. But how will this wind energy effect our small towns across Maine.
In the more north eastern part of the state, a town called Lee has been the same way for 200 years since it was established. Lee has about 800 people total, and it has little to no economy. Its inhabitants mostly work in the mills and lumber yards in the surrounding areas, which has been a steadily dropping business for a while. Little does Lee know, but it is a prime spot for a set of windmills on Rollins Mountain, a range on the west side of town.
The windmills would provide money for the land owners in the project area, the companies would be paying big dollars for the once known worthless land. The wind turbines would also provide a source of green energy for the state of Maine. Lowering the carbon foot print of our state.
This may sound like a good deal, but there are some problems with the wind turbines. They stick out if place in the middle of Maine on the side of a mountain. There white color and tall stature makes them an eye sore among the Maine landscape. They have been rumored to make a ridiculous noise, that is more of a drowning to the sense.
This will greatly effect the rural towns in Maine. They will have to switch from their rural ways of classic living to giving up natural beauty to green energy and modern technology.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Stop Light
Drew Pickering
Stop Light
As of February the new stop light on the East Entrance of the University of Maine campus has been installed. Its intention was to provide support to the overwhelming commuter traffic that floods the university campus every day. The system is a failure and waste of time for many students.
The light has a system that is primarily for traffic from the main road into campus, but when you are leaving campus the odds are against you. Although the system seems very simple, it is very expensive for the value. Lastly, are the people trying to always beat the red light. All considered I would like to get to school without encountering a light.
The lights primary objective is to cars into the campus in the most effect manner, off the main road into campus to park their cars and run to class. This makes sense; the light has the ability to be programmed to give different times for the stop to go pattern. This light however is very one sided, leaving a line of cars from the main entrance backed up. It takes forever to leave this campus.
The expense of this piece of equipment is ridiculous. The cost of a stop light can be up in the 10, 000 of dollars or more. This equipment does not seem to give us a so called bang for the buck. I have driven through the intersection many times in the last 4 years without the use of a metal box telling me what to do. I feel that we as student have done well overall in completing the task of getting through the intersection safely and quickly.
Red lights always seem to bring out the bad side in us. Why do we always seem to be racing that damn light even thought we know that the yellow means red is coming. I feel that this causes more accidents than anything else. The idiot that figures he has got at least 3 seconds, which may seem like a life time in a car but is defiantly not. They speed through expecting that everyone sees them coming. Meanwhile, the other drivers now affected by the lights draining inability to think for ourselves, we drive aimlessly into the oncoming impatient idiot. This I feel is more dangerous than life without a stop light.
The East Entrance on our beautiful, untouched Umaine campus does not need a traffic light, but save the time, money, and judgment of your students and take the idea of a stop light out.
Stop Light
As of February the new stop light on the East Entrance of the University of Maine campus has been installed. Its intention was to provide support to the overwhelming commuter traffic that floods the university campus every day. The system is a failure and waste of time for many students.
The light has a system that is primarily for traffic from the main road into campus, but when you are leaving campus the odds are against you. Although the system seems very simple, it is very expensive for the value. Lastly, are the people trying to always beat the red light. All considered I would like to get to school without encountering a light.
The lights primary objective is to cars into the campus in the most effect manner, off the main road into campus to park their cars and run to class. This makes sense; the light has the ability to be programmed to give different times for the stop to go pattern. This light however is very one sided, leaving a line of cars from the main entrance backed up. It takes forever to leave this campus.
The expense of this piece of equipment is ridiculous. The cost of a stop light can be up in the 10, 000 of dollars or more. This equipment does not seem to give us a so called bang for the buck. I have driven through the intersection many times in the last 4 years without the use of a metal box telling me what to do. I feel that we as student have done well overall in completing the task of getting through the intersection safely and quickly.
Red lights always seem to bring out the bad side in us. Why do we always seem to be racing that damn light even thought we know that the yellow means red is coming. I feel that this causes more accidents than anything else. The idiot that figures he has got at least 3 seconds, which may seem like a life time in a car but is defiantly not. They speed through expecting that everyone sees them coming. Meanwhile, the other drivers now affected by the lights draining inability to think for ourselves, we drive aimlessly into the oncoming impatient idiot. This I feel is more dangerous than life without a stop light.
The East Entrance on our beautiful, untouched Umaine campus does not need a traffic light, but save the time, money, and judgment of your students and take the idea of a stop light out.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Small Town Kid
Drew Pickering
Small Town Kid
In 1968 a boy was born in the small town of Lincoln. His parents named him Thomas, which very quickly grew into Tommy. The kid didn't speak a lot , quite, content, always kept more to his father. He grew up quick, strong, stubborn, and hard working which most small town kids do. Tom was smart but having the attitude that you cant get paid to go to school, he spent more of his attention on work then on class.
Toms father was a logger, which was the only other profession in this small town other then working in the paper mill. Tom started to help his father at age 14, running the skidder, and hauling logs. By the age of 15 he was running his own operation on the weekends, from chainsaw to skidder, using the equipment while his father was taking the weekend off.
In high school he did not focus on physics or calculus but region classes that included mechanic's, heavy equipment, and woodworking. Tommy would bring his car into class to work on it, focusing on skills that had more practical applications. Tom had also developed a strong personality, the “no bull shit kind.” He only saw one thing that was important, “the harder you work, the better off you are.”
After graduation he went right into the mills, working nights full time, trying to make enough money to ask his girlfriend to marry him. About 5 months after he graduated his family home burnt to the ground. Tom then asked his girlfriend Cindy to marry him on Christmas Day, a month after the tragic incident with the home. Then things turn bad for Tom's family as his father suddenly had a heart attack and died that February leaving no one to reconstruct the widowed mothers home.
Tom took it upon himself to build the house for his mother. Having no experience, and no knowledge of what to do, he took on this large project alone. People around town would stop by and show him different things, which he would work at till done. He worked full time,in the mill an hour away, driving home after work to construct. Every free moment of Tom's life at that time went into a house that wasn't even his. It took him only four months to finish so his mother could move in.
Tom then married Cindy about a year later, starting a family and having 3 kids. He also built five more houses for his family. He would not have done so if not for the skills that he learned in desperate times.
Small Town Kid
In 1968 a boy was born in the small town of Lincoln. His parents named him Thomas, which very quickly grew into Tommy. The kid didn't speak a lot , quite, content, always kept more to his father. He grew up quick, strong, stubborn, and hard working which most small town kids do. Tom was smart but having the attitude that you cant get paid to go to school, he spent more of his attention on work then on class.
Toms father was a logger, which was the only other profession in this small town other then working in the paper mill. Tom started to help his father at age 14, running the skidder, and hauling logs. By the age of 15 he was running his own operation on the weekends, from chainsaw to skidder, using the equipment while his father was taking the weekend off.
In high school he did not focus on physics or calculus but region classes that included mechanic's, heavy equipment, and woodworking. Tommy would bring his car into class to work on it, focusing on skills that had more practical applications. Tom had also developed a strong personality, the “no bull shit kind.” He only saw one thing that was important, “the harder you work, the better off you are.”
After graduation he went right into the mills, working nights full time, trying to make enough money to ask his girlfriend to marry him. About 5 months after he graduated his family home burnt to the ground. Tom then asked his girlfriend Cindy to marry him on Christmas Day, a month after the tragic incident with the home. Then things turn bad for Tom's family as his father suddenly had a heart attack and died that February leaving no one to reconstruct the widowed mothers home.
Tom took it upon himself to build the house for his mother. Having no experience, and no knowledge of what to do, he took on this large project alone. People around town would stop by and show him different things, which he would work at till done. He worked full time,in the mill an hour away, driving home after work to construct. Every free moment of Tom's life at that time went into a house that wasn't even his. It took him only four months to finish so his mother could move in.
Tom then married Cindy about a year later, starting a family and having 3 kids. He also built five more houses for his family. He would not have done so if not for the skills that he learned in desperate times.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Cutting In Maine Jail Systems
In recent news Sheriff Glen Ross is showing concern with the recent Mental Health Bill. Sheriff Ross runs the Penobscot County Jail, and he sees these cost cuts affecting him and his jail.
The state of Maine is cutting back across the board for all systems, but should the jails be included in this big budget plan. Glen Ross states that it should be the last resort for the state of Maine, he states mostly on the fact of the high suicide rate that takes place in the prison. There are at least 100 people in Penobscot county that are put on suicide watch, many of them being in the prison. If this funding were to be cut, Sheriff Ross feels that his employees may be inadequate to run the jail.
When asked to edit this broadcast on channel 6 news, many different ideas came to mind. This includes content, the facts about suicide watches and its importance in the jail system. Or the mental health bill and the cutting of costs which our Governor just passed. How should we share this information with our viewers? What kind of verb usage gets our point across?
The news story primary focus is about the cuts that are going to be made in the jail, but does not really specify how much or what they are. The reporter just states that the cuts will happen, which makes the viewers have a false sense of the actually event.
The article also did a huge switch from the focus on budget cuts to the amount of people that have to be on a suicide watch list. This seemed primarily to give sympathy to the amount of work that the jail has. It was a good tactic, but it was such a large switch in the focus of the news air, that I felt like I was being tricked.
The usage of verb is mostly past tense as what has already happened, and then present to switch to what could happen. The reported did fine as to get his point across and did well in using the proper verbs for the actions.
The state of Maine is cutting back across the board for all systems, but should the jails be included in this big budget plan. Glen Ross states that it should be the last resort for the state of Maine, he states mostly on the fact of the high suicide rate that takes place in the prison. There are at least 100 people in Penobscot county that are put on suicide watch, many of them being in the prison. If this funding were to be cut, Sheriff Ross feels that his employees may be inadequate to run the jail.
When asked to edit this broadcast on channel 6 news, many different ideas came to mind. This includes content, the facts about suicide watches and its importance in the jail system. Or the mental health bill and the cutting of costs which our Governor just passed. How should we share this information with our viewers? What kind of verb usage gets our point across?
The news story primary focus is about the cuts that are going to be made in the jail, but does not really specify how much or what they are. The reporter just states that the cuts will happen, which makes the viewers have a false sense of the actually event.
The article also did a huge switch from the focus on budget cuts to the amount of people that have to be on a suicide watch list. This seemed primarily to give sympathy to the amount of work that the jail has. It was a good tactic, but it was such a large switch in the focus of the news air, that I felt like I was being tricked.
The usage of verb is mostly past tense as what has already happened, and then present to switch to what could happen. The reported did fine as to get his point across and did well in using the proper verbs for the actions.
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