Experience with Reddit

Reddit is an online community where articles are posted where users can vote on. This is my first time to ever use the website; it actually is the first time I have ever heard of the website. It did not take me long at all to get used to as it pretty easy to use. I used the search tool and found a "reddit" dedicated to space. The link for this is http://www.reddit.com/r/space/search?q=SPACE&sort=relevance&restrict_sr=on&t=all. There are a lot of posts relating to space travel and future exploration on this website. One of the posts that caught my eye said "How to keep the NASA space program afloat: 1: Create a TV show called "America's Top Astronaut". 2: Have people compete during astronaut training exercises. 3: Use the money from endorsements to fund the next manned shuttle into space." The link is http://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/hxzea/how_to_keep_the_nasa_space_program_afloat_1/. At first, I thought this was like a joke, but then after reading many of the comments, I realize this may be the effort needed to for Americans to support space travel. This would definitely help fund the space program. Television networks would also see benefits. Comments started going off topic, but were still interesting to me as they were all regarding the current status of the space program and their opinions about it. The best part about reading all these comments, for me, was that there was no one general answer. Instead, everybody voiced their opinion, and both sides of the argument were heard. I feel like to truly understand a subject, no matter how you feel about it, you need to hear bout sides of the issue. Overall, I found this website very interesting and will definitely visit it again for this subject, as well as many of my other interests.

Waste Not, Want Not

Today, I read a pretty interesting article that kind of got me thinking about our culture and how it is currently designed to function. The article is "Waste Not, Want Not" written by Bill McKibben, a leading environmentalist and avid writer. In this article, McKibben tries to inform the average American on how much he or she wastes and how this needs to be changed. He initially begins with talking about material waste, such as plastic, glass, etc., but then goes deeper than that implying that ideas, work, money, and even time are all wasted with the current lifestyle employed by Americans. He defines waste as doing anything that just is not necessary. An example he stated about wasteful Americans that really stuck out to me was when he talked about the automobile industry and how, now, engineers are more worried about torque and speed instead of fuel efficiency. I like the way he used statistics comparing the accelerations from the past and now, and then asserting that the current advancements in acceleration cannot even be used to the full potential due to legality. This makes these modifications and advancements unnecessary, and ultimately waste. Another example of waste he stated that really caught my attention, mainly because I do not agree with him, was when he wrote that "40 percent of Harvard graduates have gone into finance, consulting, and business" are a form of waste. Finance, consulting, and business are key components in a structured society and I, myself, would love to receive consulting from a Harvard graduate. For those 40 percent of Harvard graduates, these fields may have been there long- term dream or goal, and definitely was not a waste for them. Overall, this article was interesting, and informative- 2 strong components of a good paper.

My research topic is supposed to be related to my major Aerospace Engineering and this article is supposed to help draw questions for my own topic. After much thinking about this article and my field of interest, I am close to deciding my main argument of my research paper. Since this article was about "waste", and many Americans find that too much money is being "wasted" on NASA, I think I am going to argue against that notion and state that not enough money is being spent on NASA.

This topic is still subject to change so if anyone has any better ideas or suggestions, let me know.

Library Help

So, obviously, doing a research paper entails doing research on a given subject. Due to our papers being related to our majors, my research will probably entail something to do with Aerospace Engineering. Maybe I should try and get away from my usual style of research which is hours and hours of "Googling." I find myself in the library a considerable amount of time during the semester (usually studying or printing off something), but I have never actually looked for a book or searched for articles. When I visited the library homepage, I noticed there was a page solely dedicated to Mechanical/ Aerospace Engineering. The link to the page is http://info.library.okstate.edu/content.php?pid=356949&sid=2919276. So, I figured everything I need for this research paper will be on that page and I would not have to do much searching. However, once the page was finished loading and I had a chance to view it, I was slightly disappointed. I felt like it was lacking content. Also, I noticed the page I was redirected to when clicking the link for Mechanical/ Aerospace Engineering was a page that covered all disciplines of engineering and not just my major alone. There are a few links on the homepage that were interesting, and I bet that there are a lot of books available covering my discipline once I thouroughly search the database. I can always ask Mr. Kevin Drees for help when I need to find material as he serves as the Subject Guide for the library. I had no idea that such a position existed, and now that I do, I'll definitely try to take advantage of it. There are four websites listed on the subject homepage. One of the sites does not work; however, one of them named "A Sightseer's Guide to Engineering" is quite interesting as it lists innovation based on engineering discipline. Even though there are a couple interesting sites on this library page, I, myself, find more interesting information from Google.

Major Decisons

Hello all. This is my first blog post I have ever done and you will probably be able to tell as you read on. First off, I would like to say that I have created this blog because I want to and not because I have to for a class. I would like to introduce everyone to my major, aerospace and mechanical engineering. I am currently in my fourth year of school at Oklahoma State University, but it will take me five years to graduate with a Bachelor's Degree.

Ever since I was a young child, I have always had one dream. This dream was to become an astronaut. I can thank my man Buzz Lightyear for that. He was just so cool to me, and obviously I wanted to strive to be cool, so I might as well follow in his footsteps. As a child, this dream never seemed unrealistic as I was always told, "You can be whatever you want to be." Growing older however, I started thinking a little bit more realistically. Without a doubt, I am still striving to become an astronaut; but, I chose a major which allows me to find a career where my interest lies and can be more easily attained. This is why I chose aerospace and mechanical engineering. With this background, I plan to go into an engineering job working with spacecraft design and developing new space technology ultimately advancing space travel.

Since I am one year away from graduating, I need to start making decisions following. I am currently planning on going to graduate school to get my Master's Degree in Aerospace Engineering and then wanting to go into the workforce following. I feel like Oklahoma State University has prepared me well so far for the next step in education. Also, I have recently done an internship with NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston and I feel as if that experience has also prepared me well for the next step in industry.

So, I guess now you know about my major and interests. This post probably was boring to read, but since you're going to be reading many of my blog posts in the future, I didn't want to make this one interesting and mislead you guys. Just kidding. The next blog post will be spectacular!

End Blog.