All posts by Niharika Bitra

Fallacies and Poster

Fallacy 1: “Since eighty eight percent of graduates are from private colleges, this shows that there might be a preference to private colleges”
Type of Fallacy: Hasty Generalization. I’m stating the reason for a high amount of people enrolled in privates colleges is because people prefer them more. The high percentage can also be because there are not many public colleges.
Correction for fallacy: State that there is a high percentage of people enrolled in private colleges, but don’t make an unsupported claim at the end.

Fallacy 2: “Government’s involvement in the creation of these institutes [Indian Institute of Technology] will help boost the number of graduates”
Type of Fallacy: Hasty Generalization. I’m saying that the increase in the colleges will increase the number of graduates, which might not necessarily be true.
Correction of Fallacy: Add information of why there will be a boost on the number of graduates. For example, show statistics on how many people apply to the IIT. If there is a lot of competition, then it shows that increase in the number of IIT’s will help boost the number of high skilled graduates.

Poster:
The poster will be divided into three sections. The first section will be about education and the problems that they have, such as lack of professors and lab equipment. The second section will be about the IT industry and how the improvement of education can help this industry prosper. The third section will be about what the government can do to fix the problems in the education system and help keep the software industry going.

Presentation

It took me a really long time to figure out what to research about because there were so many areas that I was interested in. When I worked on my presentation, I became more confident on what the general topic I would like to research about. My topic was broad because I was not sure how to make it more specific. By doing the presentation and having feedback from my peers, I was able to focus my topic more. Before, I wanted to research on the transformations and changes in India that is allowing it become a global power. Now, I would like to research about the impact of education and how it helps the rise of the IT industry. The rise of the IT industry is a large part of how India is becoming an influence worldwide and improving its economy.

Research Journal- Preparation for First Annotation

Burns, R. Nicholas. “America’s Strategic Opportunity With India.” Foreign Affairs 86.6 (2007): 131-146. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 12 Oct. 2010.

Feigenbaum, Evan A. “India’s Rise, America’s Interest.” 76-91. Foreign Affairs, 2010. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 12 Oct. 2010.

Lagerkvist, Johan. “Global Media for Global Citizenship in India and China.” Peace Review 21.3 (2009): 367-375. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 12 Oct. 2010.

Petras, James. “Global Ruling Class: Billionaires and How They “Make It.” Journal of Contemporary Asia 38.2 (2008): 319-329. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 12 Oct. 2010.

Schaffer, Teresita C. “India: Driving the Global Superhighway.” Brown Journal of World Affairs 16.2 (2010): 219-226. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 12 Oct. 2010.

My research topic is about the rise of India as a global power. Although India is a country with the most poverty, it is also improving its economy rapidly. My paper will explore the developments in India and how it is gaining the attention of America. The most promising source for my topic is “India’s Rise, America’s Interest” because it has subheadings that are closely related to my topic. Subheadings such as “The Fate of the U.S.-Indian Partnership” and “INDIA’S PIVOTAL TRANSFORMATIONS” show that this source is about the development of India. By skimming through the article, I can see that it talks about a meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It also talks about how India is improving its infrastructure and creating welfare programs.

Stallybrass Quote

“you are not, nor should be, the origin of your own thoughts”
In this quote, Stallybrass is saying that you will always have thoughts and ideas, but you must also realize that there is a world that thinks as well. This world influences the way you think. This means that you should share the knowledge or your way of thinking to others and see if other people feel the same way. Your thoughts and ideas will be challenged, but this will let you explore the different viewpoints and possibilities. This has to do with the research project because I will be writing a research paper. When I am writing this paper, I must be open to new ideas to see what has already been said and what people are saying now. I must have evidence or the support of other people to claims I will make in my paper. This refers back to the quote. In terms of the research project, the quote is about how I will have my opinion in the research topic I present, but I must be able to look into other ideas and see what information is available to understand my topic better.

Research Journal #4: Research Question, Take 1

I am interested in researching about Stem Cell Research because I want to find out why there are so much negative opinions and this is important because it could help treat some diseases.

Three Questions:
1. What is involved in the process of Stem Cell research?
2. Why is Stem Cell research considered to be an act of religious offense?
3. What are the two opposing views presented on the topic of Stem Cell Research?

Research Journal #3: Enola Gay Meeting

http://www.afa.org/media/enolagay/11-19-93.asp

This document talks about the meeting before the Enola Gay display, in which the idea for the exhibit is discussed. One of the problems for the proposed plan is that there was not enough coverage on the background information of the event. Another problem is that there was too much sympathy for the Japanese people by using an in context approach. The official story in this case would be that the Americans dropped bombs on the innocent people of Japan, who did nothing wrong. This causes bias and also makes America look bad. These problems led to a new perspective, in which the Enola Gay should just be a militaristic item. This would be an in situ approach and would decrease the bias present in the current plan. Also, the number of casualties would not be present in the exhibit, which also decreases the sympathy on the Japanese. This lessens the emotional impact a viewer may have because of the large number of casualties. The ideas and views of the people present at this meeting cause the museum display to be more of an unemotional piece. This is because the in situ approach is taken for the exhibit causing the emotional side of the Enola Gay story to disappear.

esearch journal #2: Gatorade

Gatorade: http://www.gatorade.com/default.aspx#product?s=prime

Counter Story: http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/news/20060309/gatorade-tough-on-teeth

According to the Gatorade website, Gatorade Prime contains carbs and B vitamins to “sustain your body’s ability to burn additional carbohydrates when taken 15 minutes before competition.” The Gatorade Perform is said to make athletes performing at their highest. The Gatorade Recover is said to reduce thirst and replenish the body. All these things sound like they help your body to perform at the maximum and keep the body going.

What does the website descriptions not tell you? They don’t tell you that Gatorade causes erosion of teeth. From a research done in University of Iowa, it is found that Gatorade is more corrosive than Red Bull and Coke. This research shows that Gatorade is not better than soft drinks.

Research Journal #1: Douglass, Frederick (General) – Folder 9 of 9

The name of the article is In the Memory of Frederick Douglass, which is about the death of Fredrick Douglas. Most of the article is about what Mrs. Sewalls said during a convention that talked about his death. It says how great of a man, Mr. Douglass was and his significance during the period of change. The period of change that is being referred is the Women’s Suffrage Movement and anti-slavery movement. It also mentions that before his death, he was attending a meeting. He was given an ovation at the platform, but he declined.

The document is a draft because there are editing marks over the pages. Although the exact date of the article is unknown, we can assume that it is just after the death of Frederick Douglass, which is in the year 1895. The purpose of this article is to reflect on the death of Mr. Douglass and his efforts to change society. Since Mrs. Sewall’s is quoted for most of the article with her speech, which shows that Mr. Douglass knew Mrs. Sewall very well. She is an abolitionist and a suffragist, which shows that Douglass had ties with many well-known figures at the time. It also shows that he is a large advocated of helping women gaining their right to vote. Some the things I wondered while reading this passage is what is Mr. Sewall’s relationship was with Mr. Douglass and who the originial author is of this document.

– http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mfd&fileName=14/14021/14021page.db&recNum=0&itemLink=/ammem/doughtml/dougFolder4.html&linkText=7