Category: College Works

Stuff either Tress or I wrote while in college

English Comp II Essay 1

Posted on by tblubaugh

Editors Note: I wrote this exactly thirteen years ago!  This was a time when the MP3/Napster debate was the main focus of my life, and this kicked off many other projects, essays, surveys and so on.  You can probably tell there is a bit of a bias here, but whatever.  Some grammatical and spelling errors corrected.

Some people are looking into using MP3’s as an alternative to audio books as the article “E-audio is on the Horizon” in the Library Journal.  On the other hand, most people use MP3’s as a form of free music according to the article “Bye-bye record store, hello Web music?” in a recent PC World.  MP3’s are one of the most debated topics in the information technology world and both of these articles look at what the benefits of MP3’s are but it is very clear that there are two different views in each article.  The magazine looks at what is more popular right now and a more computer based audience, while the journal is looking at using what is popular to benefit the public and looks at a more educated audience.

The Library Journal article focuses on libraries across the United States that might look at replacing their audio books from cassette to a digital from.  The article points out that the favored format of digital audio books would be MP3 because of their size and their popularity with music.  The article also points out that most libraries are going to stay with the cassettes partially because the proper funding is not available to provide players for the digital audio format, added not many libraries have the proper support to get digital audio at this point in time.   The article covers some of the popular MP3 players available and goes on to mention that if patrons brought their own players it would be worth looking into.  Unfortunately publishing companies will suffer some of the fate that the record companies are going through with music MP3’s on the Web.

The PC World article covers what many people use MP3’s for free or inexpensive music available on the World Wide Web.  The article compares different ways to accesses songs on the Web and in turn gives the authors pick of the litter.  The author then covers some of the Napster issue, which has become the most popular way to acquire MP3’s over the web, although it is the major target of the record industry for allowing free music to millions of user across the world.  The author uses his own experience to tell the audience just how easy it is to get MP3’s off the Web, and even how easier it is to access his own MP3’s any where in the world with a Internet connection.

Looking at the differences and similarities in these two articles shows that both cover the idea of digital audio known as MP3’s and how they can be beneficial to people anywhere.  The major difference in these articles is the audience.  The journal looks at benefiting the people who listen to audio books that are on cassettes or compact disc by switching over to MP3’s.  Whereas the magazine focuses on benefiting the people who use cassettes or compact disc for music by getting the same music off of the Internet.

 

Works Cited

 

McCracken, Harry.  “Bye-bye Record Store, Hello Web Music?” PC World Jun 2000: 43-44.

Proquest.  B.J. Harrison Lib., Marshalltown (IA) Community Coll. 22 Jan. 2000

<http://proquest.umi.com>.

 

Oder, Norman.  “E-audio is on the horizon.” Library Journal Nov 15, 2000: 42.

Proquest.  B.J. Harrison Lib., Marshalltown (IA) Community Coll. 22 Jan. 2000

<http://proquest.umi.com>.

What was Chevy Thinking?

Posted on by tblubaugh

Editors Note:  This was a English Comp. I paper I wrote in October of 1999.  Don’t recall the grade, but I am sure it was pretty poor.  I have corrected the grammatical and spelling errors I found.  Funny how I now have a 2003 Impala that I bought new.

When most people heard the phrase “Chevy Impala” in the fifties though the mid-eighties, they thought of a car that is big, power-full, as well as stylish.  Chevrolet treated their Impala fans once again in 1994 to “The New Impala SS” and produced these cars for two years. Chevy sold out every order and could not handle all of them.  Almost six years has passed, and now Chevrolet has introduced the 2000 Impala, and the cars are not selling as Chevy anticipated.

The Impala was created in 1958, as an added option on Bel Airs.  The cars were so popular that Chevy made the Impala a separate car the following year.  The basic theme on the car was “a sporty car with all the luxuries of an expensive car.”  In 1962 an added option, Super Sport (SS for short), that was the real take off for the Impala.  Chevrolet keep this pace up until 1970 when they dropped the SS option, and made the Impala more of a luxury car, like the Caprice, than a sports car.  In 1977, Chevrolet redesigned the car and toned down the power for the gasoline crises and stripped the car of many options.

Chevy continued to do this until 1985 when they ceased production of the Impala for the first time.

Chevrolet gave the Impala a chance once again 1994 through 1996, and ceased the car for a second time along with the Impala’s sister car, the Caprice. Chevy took the standard Caprice body (like in the past), put in all the neat options (unlike in the past), and added a LT1 engine (high performance engine found in Corvettes, and police cars) in and made everyone jet black, and called it “The new Impala SS.” In 1996, Chevy improved this car by getting rid of the digital dash, and moved the shifter from the column to the floor for an added sporty look.  Chevy also added two colors to the standard jet black; forest green, and maroon.  These cars kept the previous Impala spirit alive with the luxury of a Cadillac and the performance of a Camaro.  These cars were also the most expensive Impalas in history, running around thirty thousand apiece.  In December of that year, Chevy announced that there would be no more Impalas this century.

Just two months ago, the 2000 Impalas were available for sale at select dealers.  Now they are at all Chevrolet dealerships.  When the public caught eye on the 2000 Impala, they were both impressed and let down by this car.  They were impressed by the car being downsized in size, however still being able to hold six adults with ample elbow room (not on the LS model to be described later).  Chevy also shocked some people when they put a 3.4 liter six cylinder engine in as apposed as a V8, yet the V6 put out almost as much power as a small V8 would but no where near close to what the LT1 produced.  Chevy also offered an LS model that has all the optional equipment on the base model standard as well as a 3.8 liter V6 that puts out twenty-five percent more power than the 3.4.  Chevy also added the round real taillights that was popular in the sixties, and killed off in the seventies.  People were let down when they saw the price.  These cars are being sold at around twenty-three thousand, when they should only be sold at around eighteen thousand.  The public noticed this when you could buy a Chevy Lumina (a car of similarity to the Impala) for around sixteen thousand, and get all the goodies that the Impala has, as well as the performance.

Chevrolet could be in big trouble if their “flagship car of the millennium  is not selling as they had hoped.  Though the new Impala has a few themes from previous Impalas, and a nice look, they will not sell at the price that Chevy has set for them.  If Chevy would of keep the Impala as big and bad as they had achieved in the mid-nineties, then I believe they would be selling as good as they were then, if not better.