In preparation for your final project, the portfolio essay, I'd like you to write about the class goals. Pick one of the five goals from the class Web site, and write about it. What do you think it means? What are some examples of class work we have done to learn about that goal? Have we learned enough about to fully understand the goal? What more does Mr. Munger need to do to ensure that we know what we need to know for this class?

Post at least two comments on this topic by the end of the week. At least one of your comments should be a response to someone else's comment.

Deborah Tannen has written widely on how to get along with the people you love. Read this chapter from her most recent book about effective communication between adult family members. Do her recommendations make sense?

Do your parents still treat you like a child even though you are now (technically, at least) an adult? How should parents' behavior to their kids change when they turn 18? Should adult children still defer to their parents? Why or why not?

I'm suggesting that you explore this topic as a potential topic for essay 4. Write at least two comments for this journal entry, and we'll discuss them in class next week as we begin work on essay 4.

Check out the Gulf War coverage over at The Onion, "America's Finest News Source." Is this not the best coverage of the war yet seen?

P.S. Just in case you don't figure it out right away, the entire Web site is a joke. What do you think? Is the war on Iraq a joking matter? Is this site funny? Is it appropriate to make jokes in times of war? Please make two comments to the class journal by the end of this week.

This is another possible topic for Essay 4. I'd like everyone to post at least two comments on this topic. You can either post a new response or respond to someone else's comment.

An article in slate.com suggests that modern surgical techniques can do almost anything to improve our bodies--not just surgery to make us look better, but also stronger, faster, smarter. Should such surgical techniques be pursued? Are some of them better than others? Should they be better regulated by the government? Should they be covered by health insurance? Here's your chance to speak out!

I'd like the class to help determine what the topic for essay 4 should be. Remember, Essay 4 is a claim of policy essay, a big research project. So it should answer the question "What should we (or someone else) do?" We've already discussed traffic enforcement and fast food lawsuits. What issues interest you? Post at least one comment by the end of this week suggesting a topic.

Comment on this journal entry to explain which scene you'd like us to view again in class, and why. Submit one (just one) comment by Wednesday, March 5.

Are fast food companies just as evil as tobacco companies? Recently, the same lawyers that forced tobacco companies to cough up billions of dollars in legal settlements have started to take on the fast food industry.

The complaint? That fast food companies don't give customers enough information about the health problems that can be caused by eating too much fast food. This article suggests that they just might have a case.

What do you think? Do obese McDonald's patrons have anyone but themselves to blame? Or should they be able to cash in on the misdeeds of fast food companies?

Post at least two comments on this issue by the end of the week. Be sure that at least one of your comments is a response to someone else!

Since so few of my students in section 18 actually managed to make it to class today, I thought I'd reward them by letting them pick the class journal topic for this week. The topic: cameras for speeding tickets. In the future, you may get your speeding ticket in the mail--no police officer would need to pull you over. Instead, patrol cars would be equipped with cameras that could snap a photo of your license plate, and the ticket would simply appear in your mailbox a few days later. See the Charlotte Observer story for details.

This, of course, leads to many more questions. Would/should such a violation go on your record? Could/should you get points for tickets-by-mail? Should/would it affect your insurance bill? What about the future? Does this pave the way for privacy-invading cameras on every street corner? Could you some day be fined for littering, jay-walking, or even public drunkenness, simply because it was caught on camera?

Please post at least two comments on this topic by Friday, February 21. At least one of your comments should be a response to someone else's comment.

This is just a place for you to record your thoughts on yesterday's space shuttle tragedy. Of course it won't be graded--it's completely optional. But sometimes in times like this it's good to be a member of a community.

Let's have a good old-fashioned debate, discussing how big a problem drinking is on UNCC's campus. Overall, is drinking a good thing or a bad thing? Make sure you provide some specific examples. Try to acknowledge the statements that have already been made--by either responding to them directly or by adding something new to the debate. You should make at least two comments to this journal entry by Friday, February 7.

Your comments should be at least a paragraph long.

Your topic for Essay 2 is to write a claim of fact supported by research on drinking in college. For Friday, you need to do some prewriting work on your own--brainstorming, clustering, freewriting--whatever works for you. The goal of this activity is to come up with a tentative claim for your essay. Once you've done that, post your claim in a comment to this journal entry. Then pick someone else's claim--one that nobody else has commented on--and respond to it, writing a paragraph-long explanation of whether it meets the requirements of a claim of fact.

More and more teenagers have cell phones today. Yes, it's 2003, and neary everyone has one, but is it appropriate for teens to have them, too? After all, it's difficult enough for high school teachers to keep their students' attention. With the added distraction of cell phones in the classroom, can anything be learned?

The News Journal of Ohio published an editorial on the topic just this past week. Read the article, then comment on whether you agree on this proposal for controlling teen cell phone use in school. Post at least two comments, and make sure you reply to at least one of your classmates' comments. The goal is to have an online conversation, where you read and respond to others' opinions. Be as specific as possible, using examples from your own experience to support your points.

For this week, your comment should be a question you'd like your peers to answer when they read your paper. For example, you could ask if you've done an effective job using examples, or if your claim is clearly stated.

For class on Wednesday, you will write your question on a sheet of paper, and then pick two additional questions to ask using the list of questions your classmates have posted. In this way, you will be able to see the kinds of questions your classmates are asking and use them to get help with your own writing.

Welcome, English 1102 students, section 18! (If you're in section 8, you want the other journal!

This is where we'll share ideas, discuss issues, and sort through problems in becoming better academic writers. Please submit a comment and give your real name, just so we know we're all here. See you in cyberspace!