Daily Commute: 50 miles. But my parents who work at UAB and I take the same car almost everyday therefore 50/3 is ~16.7 miles. Carpool can significantly reduce your energy impact.
Annual Commute to school: ~3116.7 miles.
Annual Gas Consumption: 129.9 gallons. My parents drive a 2001 Toyota Avalon which has a fuel efficiency of ~24MPG. It's pretty energy efficient, but I'm hybrids and smaller cars are even more efficient. Also the car is getting old, therefore it's MPG might not be as great.
Annual Energy Impact (Oil Consumption): 3.1 barrels
Annual Green House Gas Emissions: 1.7 tons of carbon dioxide emitted.
Vehicle Air Pollution Score: 2. VAP Score is based on how much smog-forming air pollution is emitted. It's on a scale of 0 to 10 (0 is the worst and 10 is the best). So a 2 is pretty bad. I looked at other cars produced in 2001, they all have VAP score of 1 to 3. Then I checked out the 2009 Toyota Avalon, its VAP Score is 6!!! Obviously people are more conscious now. Technology has enabled us to reduce impact on the environment. Of course this over production of green house gases started with the Industrial Revolution.
Next year, school year, I will be in college. I hope my commute will be less. I'm going to UAB so I do have the option of living at home. But more than likely I will dorm and will walk/bike to class more. I probably will only go home once or twice a week so my commute should decrease by about 50%.
I did this same energy audit in APES a year ago. My transportation distance did not change at all in my 5 years at ASFA. Cost of commute has since oil prince fluctuates. 2007-2008 school year had the most expensive gas.
Again carpooling is one of the best ways to reduce transportation energy. Carpool will also save you parking money. Too bad Birmingham doesn't have public buses/subways every where. Everyone wants to live out so they can have big houses and lands. Another way to decrease transportation energy is to get a more fuel efficient car. I drive a 2001 Toyota Corola which is more fuel efficient than the Avalon my parents drive. So next year my energy impact will also decrease since I will switch from driving a 24MPG car to a 30MPG car!!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Friends
A friend is someone whom you feel comfortable going to a bar with wearing sweatpants. A good friend is someone whom you feel comfortable going to a bar with wearing no pants.
Lol, my mom read that quote somewhere yesterday… then I guess I don’t have any good friends since I’m not going to go to a bar wearing no pants. Chinese people have a similar saying. We say “穿一条裤子都嫌肥” which means best friends are so close that there’s still room if they wear the same pair of pants.
How do you define a good friend?
In movies, there’s always the popular girl whom everyone wants to be friends with. But how many real friends does she have?
How can you make friends and keep them?
Seniors will leave and move on to college soon. How many of the people I call friends now will I keep in touch with? How many new friends will I meet at college?
Maintaining a friendship takes a lot of work. Technology has made it easier (facebook, e-mail, text message, etc.). But to truly keep a friendship going, both parties need to put in effort. One of my best friends in the world lives in China. We met when we were in the 3rd grade. Maintaining a friendship over the Pacific Ocean is difficult. It means I have to give up at 6:00 A.M. on a Saturday so I can call her. It means I have to stare at a dictionary so I can write a letter to her (yeah, for a while, I forgot how to write in Chinese. I had to look every other word up in the dictionary).
I will work very hard to keep in touch with my good friends at ASFA. I don’t need many friends, but I need the ones I have to count.
Anyone wants to give me tips on how to keep up with friends?
Lol, my mom read that quote somewhere yesterday… then I guess I don’t have any good friends since I’m not going to go to a bar wearing no pants. Chinese people have a similar saying. We say “穿一条裤子都嫌肥” which means best friends are so close that there’s still room if they wear the same pair of pants.
How do you define a good friend?
In movies, there’s always the popular girl whom everyone wants to be friends with. But how many real friends does she have?
How can you make friends and keep them?
Seniors will leave and move on to college soon. How many of the people I call friends now will I keep in touch with? How many new friends will I meet at college?
Maintaining a friendship takes a lot of work. Technology has made it easier (facebook, e-mail, text message, etc.). But to truly keep a friendship going, both parties need to put in effort. One of my best friends in the world lives in China. We met when we were in the 3rd grade. Maintaining a friendship over the Pacific Ocean is difficult. It means I have to give up at 6:00 A.M. on a Saturday so I can call her. It means I have to stare at a dictionary so I can write a letter to her (yeah, for a while, I forgot how to write in Chinese. I had to look every other word up in the dictionary).
I will work very hard to keep in touch with my good friends at ASFA. I don’t need many friends, but I need the ones I have to count.
Anyone wants to give me tips on how to keep up with friends?
Sunday, April 5, 2009
North Korea
When we had the War on Terror discussion in class, Clint/Sadie/Steven talked about North Korea. They said that North Korea was about to test their long-range missiles. The paper said something like even though North Korea said they are just sending a satellite, US believed that they are actually testing weapons. The few days later, Russia came out and said that North Korea was just sending a satellite.
Personally, I don’t understand why the US is so paranoid about North Korea sending stuff into space. How come US can have nuclear weapons and other countries can’t? So US will use weapons for a good cause and North Korea will use them to destroy the world? I don’t buy that. The US has not right interfering with other country’s business. If the US is the only country that has nuclear weapons, then it will control and may be even hurt other countries. Check and balance is needed. So other countries need to have nuclear weapons too. I think the world will be at peace if every country has nuclear weapons. Then we will all be on equal ground. Again, balance is very important, like Lao Zi instructed.
China’s position on this issue is very important. The Chinese government never came out and formally pressured North Korea to abandon its nuclear and/or space programs. Based on Chinese history, China does not like to interfere with other country’s business. China went through similar pressures. Under Chairman Mao, China developed space and nuclear technology. China/Chairman Mao was pressured not to do it. Also China/Chairman Mao was criticized for starving the people to develop technology that will not directly improve the standard of living. But China did anyways. In my mom’s and my opinion, China won’t be where it is now if it weren’t for those developments. Because China has nuclear weapons and advanced space technology, China is more respected and “feared” on the world stage. The US is way less likely to go to war with China than with most other countries. Of course military strength is only one of the reasons. So China understands why North Korea is doing this now better than any other country on earth.
The US government really should not interfere with other governments. If another government is corrupted, leave it for the people to over throw. US also doesn’t have the right to decide who can have nuclear weapons. If you want to win, then just get stronger. It’s like if I wanted to go to Harvard I should work hard and make better grades. I shouldn’t go destroy Avo’s homework and spread rumors about her.
At the end , I want to include an interesting fact. At Suju’s concert, they sang a song titled “Luxemburg.” The lyrics describe different countries. For example, it said China has many people and Maldives is the best place for honey moons. Surprisingly, at least to me, it describes Korea using the phrase “will be united soon.” I guess Koreans, at least South Koreans, really want to be re-united with North Koreans. I thought it was interesting.
Personally, I don’t understand why the US is so paranoid about North Korea sending stuff into space. How come US can have nuclear weapons and other countries can’t? So US will use weapons for a good cause and North Korea will use them to destroy the world? I don’t buy that. The US has not right interfering with other country’s business. If the US is the only country that has nuclear weapons, then it will control and may be even hurt other countries. Check and balance is needed. So other countries need to have nuclear weapons too. I think the world will be at peace if every country has nuclear weapons. Then we will all be on equal ground. Again, balance is very important, like Lao Zi instructed.
China’s position on this issue is very important. The Chinese government never came out and formally pressured North Korea to abandon its nuclear and/or space programs. Based on Chinese history, China does not like to interfere with other country’s business. China went through similar pressures. Under Chairman Mao, China developed space and nuclear technology. China/Chairman Mao was pressured not to do it. Also China/Chairman Mao was criticized for starving the people to develop technology that will not directly improve the standard of living. But China did anyways. In my mom’s and my opinion, China won’t be where it is now if it weren’t for those developments. Because China has nuclear weapons and advanced space technology, China is more respected and “feared” on the world stage. The US is way less likely to go to war with China than with most other countries. Of course military strength is only one of the reasons. So China understands why North Korea is doing this now better than any other country on earth.
The US government really should not interfere with other governments. If another government is corrupted, leave it for the people to over throw. US also doesn’t have the right to decide who can have nuclear weapons. If you want to win, then just get stronger. It’s like if I wanted to go to Harvard I should work hard and make better grades. I shouldn’t go destroy Avo’s homework and spread rumors about her.
At the end , I want to include an interesting fact. At Suju’s concert, they sang a song titled “Luxemburg.” The lyrics describe different countries. For example, it said China has many people and Maldives is the best place for honey moons. Surprisingly, at least to me, it describes Korea using the phrase “will be united soon.” I guess Koreans, at least South Koreans, really want to be re-united with North Koreans. I thought it was interesting.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Project
For the final project in 21st Century Challenges, Kelsey and I will work together.
We want to talk about FOOD, more specifically food processing. Americans eat a lot of canned and frozen fruits and vegetables and not enough fresh foods. We want to explore the differences between consuming fresh and processed foods. Both the Pros and Cons. For example, eating mainly processed foods, the diet is extremely low in fiber. Low fiber diets caused by processed foods can lead to a medical condition caused Diverticulosis and Diverticulitis. These conditions are very painful and can cause much damage in the gastro-intestinal system.
Processed foods are not only not as good for the body but also less cost effective than fresh foods from the local market (in terms of transporting, processing, etc.). Kelsey and I plan to research this topic and present our findings in a paper and a pretty presentation.
Also, we will explore how we use processed foods without even knowing it. For a specific example, we plan to make muffins and identify the sources of processed food if any. We'll see if there are hidden processes behind the goodness of home-made muffins.
We want to talk about FOOD, more specifically food processing. Americans eat a lot of canned and frozen fruits and vegetables and not enough fresh foods. We want to explore the differences between consuming fresh and processed foods. Both the Pros and Cons. For example, eating mainly processed foods, the diet is extremely low in fiber. Low fiber diets caused by processed foods can lead to a medical condition caused Diverticulosis and Diverticulitis. These conditions are very painful and can cause much damage in the gastro-intestinal system.
Processed foods are not only not as good for the body but also less cost effective than fresh foods from the local market (in terms of transporting, processing, etc.). Kelsey and I plan to research this topic and present our findings in a paper and a pretty presentation.
Also, we will explore how we use processed foods without even knowing it. For a specific example, we plan to make muffins and identify the sources of processed food if any. We'll see if there are hidden processes behind the goodness of home-made muffins.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Food and Water
I read Sadie’s blog and checked-out the so_many_a_second site. It is really cool and I want to encourage everyone to see it. The site says that 200 stars are born every secons. Under the people category, it says that there are 2.5 more inhabitants on earth every second. 4 new people lose access to safe water every second. The world is growing at a fast rate; access to safe water is decreasing at an even faster rate. So it’s more and more important (by the second, I’m serious) that we use our water carefully.
Genetically modified crops that can grow in more arid environments save water resources. Agriculture accounts for ~80% of the nation’s consumptive water use. Efficient irrigation systems and water management can also help the farmers save money and conserve our limited water resource. Food and water are closely related. More efficient production/use of one can alleviate pressure on the other.
Genetically modified crops that can grow in more arid environments save water resources. Agriculture accounts for ~80% of the nation’s consumptive water use. Efficient irrigation systems and water management can also help the farmers save money and conserve our limited water resource. Food and water are closely related. More efficient production/use of one can alleviate pressure on the other.
Oxford Weekend and Anti-intellectualism
While I was at the Oxford Scholars Weekend, there were discussion groups about 21st century challenges. The main focus of my group’s discussion is America’s anti-intellectualism. Americans seem to have a growing hostility towards intellectual pursuits. In movies and etc., nerds are tormented and hard working students are not celebrated. The media often describes intellectuals as “out of touch.” This anti-intellectualism causes problems in the education system. Teachers can’t seem to inspire student because students have no desire of to learn whatsoever. There are infinitely number of ways to teach (in school or out of school), but if kids don’t want to learn, there’s not too much we can do.
As I reading about anti-intellectualism, I gained a little insight into my middle school. I came from a small, private Christian school. It has K4 to 12th grade and only ~200 students. There, the focus is on being a good Christian and getting closer to God. It’s a school but no one cares about science, history, etc. (that’s why I left the school). I read that some conservative Christians believe that public education suppresses religion (especially Christianity). Atheism and Deism spread among the educated during the Enlightenment. Puritan John Cotton wrote in 1642, “The more learned and witty you be, the more fit to act for Satan will you be.” In my opinion, in this case, religion is hindering their prosperity. Conservative Christians’ anti-intellectual practices discourage me from believing in Christianity.
As I reading about anti-intellectualism, I gained a little insight into my middle school. I came from a small, private Christian school. It has K4 to 12th grade and only ~200 students. There, the focus is on being a good Christian and getting closer to God. It’s a school but no one cares about science, history, etc. (that’s why I left the school). I read that some conservative Christians believe that public education suppresses religion (especially Christianity). Atheism and Deism spread among the educated during the Enlightenment. Puritan John Cotton wrote in 1642, “The more learned and witty you be, the more fit to act for Satan will you be.” In my opinion, in this case, religion is hindering their prosperity. Conservative Christians’ anti-intellectual practices discourage me from believing in Christianity.
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