Final Rough Draft (Essay #3)

The Blizzard of 2009

            During the winter season of 2009, the east coast experienced a record breaking snowfall. Up and down the eastern coast, nearly twelve states received two feet of snow or more in one snow fall (Stark). On December, 18, 2009 a moist low pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico began moving towards the east coast while high pressure kept to the north of the mid-Atlantic. This caused snow to fall the evening of the 18^th in the Mid-Atlantic. The snow continued throughout the following day. The blizzard strengthened while moving north resulting in heavier snowfall from Maryland to Maine. It covered the region in 16-22 inches of snow. This one snowfall roughly matched average annual snowfall totals of many major cities (Beaven). As a result of the blizzard of 2009, schooling and jobs, communities, and holidays throughout the eastern coast were affected in many ways.

            For many the blizzard of 2009 put life on pause; not being able to get through the door to go to work or even let children continue with their schooling. With workers clearing the sidewalks, roadways, and highways while citizens weren’t allowed to venture out plenty of days of school were canceled while employees of various job sites weren’t able to show up to work. Many communities went without power for days at a time making it unsafe also for businesses, schools and driving to occur. The Frederick County Public School’s policy states that when the roads aren’t safe for the children the “Transportation Department may recommend to the superintendent of schools or designee that all schools dismiss early” or be closed (Office of the Superintendent). Meaning if the roads, sidewalks, and parking lots aren’t cleared then no school.

            Unfortunately during bad weather, such as the blizzard of 2009, accidents on the roadways and airline delays are to be expected throughout the communities. Virginia, alone, blamed the two feet of snow for at least five deaths, thousands of traffic accidents, closed roads and airports, deserted stores on the weekend, and power outages before Christmas (Stark). McKinsey Harris, a commuter from western Virginia to Washington, D.C; stated, “I’ve seen overturned cars, tractor trailers sliding off the road. I had no idea how to handle this weather and I have now been stuck in it for almost 24 hours” (Stark). After the storm moved out, unplowed roads with blowing snow continued to make driving very dangerous for the next couple of weeks. Police responded to more than 2,900 traffic accidents and disabled vehicles in Virginia, and nearly 1,000 drivers were stranded on multiple highways. Rescue workers were called to drive along side roads offering drivers/riders transportation to nearby shelters (Stark). Authorities throughout the Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland areas, ordered residents to stay home to give public crews a chance to plow roads and major highways for safety reasons. Many still ventured out into the wonderland causing more work for the workers; endangering themselves and others around them. Airports closed or delayed flights leaving many air travelers stranded and sleeping on terminal floors hoping for a flight. In a lot of cases, airlines could not promise everyone would be home on time for the holidays.

            Due to the road way conditions and canceled/delayed flights, the 2009 holiday season was altered for many travelers either traveling to or trying to escape the east coast. Airports outside the storm zone were affected as badly as the airports within the zone. The many airports weren’t able to receive flights from or able to land in the east coast (Stark). The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey stated, “… about 1,200 flights were canceled Saturday and Sunday at the New York region’s three major airports” (Stark). Imagine how many flights were canceled throughout the entire country as well.

            The blizzard of 2009 was just the starting point of the 2009-10 winter season for a lot of the United States. A couple months later another blizzard hit the east coast adding to the piles of snow remaining from the previous blizzard in 2009. Yet again, the cycle of the blizzard effects started all over again. Schooling and jobs, communities and holidays were affected but the blizzard of 2009 will always be in the memories of many.

Work Cited:

Azpiri, John. "Blizzard 2009 Snow Totals: New England, DC, NY, NJ Snow Totals." NowPublic. NowPublic, 20 12 2009. Web. 19 Oct 2010. <http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/blizzard-2009-snow-totals-new-england-dc-ny-nj-snow-totals-2541969.html>.

Beaven, Colin. "Historic Mid-Atlantic Snowstorms and Placing the Blizzard of 2009 in Perspective." Colin Beaven (2009-10): n. pag. Web. 18 Oct 2010. <http://www.colinbeaven.com/Writing/More/Historic%20Snowstorms/Historic%20Snowstorms.html>.

Office of the Superintendent. "FCPS." FCPS. Frederick County Public Schools, 04 02 2009. Web. 27 Oct 2010. <http://apps.fcps.org/dept/legal/regulations.cfm?152910821132356427Nav=|&NodeID=367>.

Stark, Lisa, John Ryan, and Michael S. James. "Home for Christmas? Travel Still Snarled After Deadly Winter Storm." ABC News (2009): n. pag. Web. 19 Oct 2010. <http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/Weather/blizzard-2009-travel-snarled-deadly-winter-storm/story?id=9384561&page=1>.

Rough Draft (Essay #3)

The Blizzard of 2009

            During the winter season of 2009, the East coast experienced a record breaking snowfall. Up and down the eastern coast nearly twelve states received two feet of snow or more in one snow fall (Stark). On December, 18, 2009 a moist low pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico began moving towards the east coast while high pressure kept to the north of the Mid-Atlantic. This caused snow to fall the evening of the 18^th in the Mid-Atlantic. The snow continued throughout the following day. The blizzard strengthened while moving north resulting to heavier snow throughout Maryland and up to Maine. It covered the region in 16-22 inches of snow. This one snowfall roughly matched average annual snowfall totals of many major cities (Beaven). In result of the blizzard of 2009 schooling and jobs, communities, and holidays throughout the Eastern coast were affected in many ways.

            Unfortunately, during bad weather such as the blizzard of 2009 accidents on the road ways and airline delays are expected throughout the communities. Virginia, alone, blamed the two feet of snow for at least five deaths, thousands of traffic accidents, closed airports and roads, power outages and deserted stored on the weekend before Christmas (Stark). After the snow moved out of many areas, unplowed roads with blowing snow continued to make driving very dangerous for the next couple of days. Police responded to more than 2,900 traffic accidents and disabled vehicles in Virginia, and nearly 1,000 drivers were stranded on the highways. Rescue workers were called to drive along side roads offering drivers/riders to shelters nearby (Stark). Authorities of Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland ordered residents to stay home to give public crews a chance to plow roads and major highways for safety reasons. Many still ventured out into the wonderland. Airports closed or delayed flights leaving many air travelers stranded and sleeping on terminal floors hoping for a flight. In some cases, airlines couldn’t promise everyone would be home for the holidays.

            Due to the road way conditions and canceled/delayed flights the 2009 holiday season was altered for many travelers either traveling to or trying to escape the East coast. Airports outside the storm zone were affected as badly at the airports within the zone. The multiple airports weren’t able to receive flights from or able to land in the East coast (Stark). The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey stated about 1,200 flights were canceled Saturday and Sunday at the New York region’s three major airports; imagine how many flights were canceled throughout the country as well.

Outline (Essay #3)

Paragraph 1 - Introduction

• Describing the blizzard of 2009.
• Thesis (Effects on schools/jobs, the communties, and holidays)

Paragraph 2 - Effects on schools/jobs

• Delays on education
• Not being able to get to work (Loss of money)

Paragraph 3 -  Effects on the communities

• Traffic accidents
• Airports

Paragraph 4 - Effects on the holidays

• Airport delays
• Snow plowing
• Shopping

Paragraph 5 - Conclusion

• Sum up the paper
• Restate main ideas

Questions (Essay #3)

• How did the Blizzards of 2009-10 effect the school systems?
• When did the snow falls happen and how much snow fell each time?
• Who was effected by the snow falls?
• What is being done today to prepare for another snow fall such as in the 2009-10 winter season?
• How did the environments keep up?
• Did the snow effect the communities?

Cause/Effect Analysis (Essay #3)

Blizzard of 2009

·        Massive blizzard hit the East Coast in 2009.

o   Broke a few records for snowfall.

·        Snow Totals:

o   Philadelphia got 23.2 inches of snow, the second-biggest single snowfall there ever, according to The Associated Press.

o   Washington, D.C, was reeling from the largest one-day December snowfall in history, with 16 inches to two feet in the region falling Sunday.

o   Nearly two feet or more were reported in areas as disparate as Robbinsville, N.C; Virginia; West Virginia; Maryland; southern New Jersey; West Greenwich, R.I; Bourne, Mass; and parts of New York’s Long Island.

o   New York City got 10.9 inches of snow in Central Park and 14.5 inches at JFK airport, amounting to its largest snowfall in several years.

·        Christmas 2009

o   A record-setting storm brought as much as two feet of snow and was blamed for at least five deaths, thousands of traffic accidents, closed airports and roads, power outages and nearly deserted stores on the weekend before Christmas.

o   Airports closed or severely hampered during the storm tried to rebound after many air travelers woke up Sunday on terminal floors. But open seats were scarce after thousands of canceled or delayed flights, and massive delays raged on.

o   In some cases, it seemed airlines couldn’t promise everyone would be home for Christmas.

o   Airports outside the storm zone were affected by the East Coast’s woes. (Not getting flights from the East Coast or being able to land in the East Coast.)

o   12 states from North Carolina to Maine were hit by what they’re calling the “Blizzard of 2009”.

o   In addition to dumping record amounts of snow for December up and down the eastern seaboard, the storm unleashed wind gusts of up to 65 miles per hour in some areas.

o   On Monday, federal agencies in the Washington, D.C. area were closed, and only emergency personnel and some Telework employees were being asked to report to their jobs.

·        Traffic

o   Virginia alone, police responded to more than 2,900 traffic accidents and disabled vehicles, and nearly 1,000 drivers were stranded on a highway. Rescue workers had to drive up and downs roads offering to take riders to shelters.

Final Revision (Essay #2)

Virtual Friends vs. Real Friends

            Human beings have been involved in social interactions since the beginning of time, or at least that’s what the history books have shown. Groups of people spend hours together, getting to know more about each other and enjoying the social interaction. Recently, a new form of meeting people has been discovered via the Internet. The issue with these sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, is that individuals need to realize not everyone is a true friend. This is also the same with in person, face-to-face friends. On Facebook, a person can have over on thousand friends. People need to know how these friends were made, how much the virtual friends can be trusted and if the friends are reliable if needed. These same questions can be asked of face-to-face friends.

            Meeting new people has become easier with the updated technology and the invention of social websites. There are more than five hundred million active users of Facebook alone making it possible to become friends with a college student in Australia or a graffiti artist in London (“Facebook”). With over nine hundred million objects to interact with, such as pages, events, community pages and groups users can find friends with similar interests as their own (“Facebook”). Facebook is an online site that lets people find others and it’s as easy as one click of a mouse to become friends with any other user. There are other ways to meet friends; in the classroom, in college, at work, through friends or wherever life takes place. These people interact with one another and go through their days together or spend time together to get to know one another.

            Not everyone can be trusted; people can betray one another on the internet. Individuals can secretly have different identities. Facebook has a privacy setting that lets the users to control what friends see.  Yet people can always find ways of getting to the information through other information websites, by hacking, or going on another account pretending to be someone else. Sixteen percent of teens consider meeting individuals they have only talked to online and eight percent of them have met someone they had only known online ("Enough is Enough"). Making friends online with the wrong person can spill over into real life, making real life more difficult; causing paranoia, depression, or unsafe feelings. Yet this isn’t always the case. Knowing who is really on the other side of that screen is majority of the time a good idea. In today’s world there have been reports of private investigators, sex offenders and police officers creating fake accounts to gain access to accounts (Wilson). If the person isn’t known already don’t accept the friend request; gaining access to information will increase; looking through personal information, postings, and photos. People can have issues with others in everyday life too. It’s a simple fact; everyone lies and not everyone can be trusted. On the other hand, there are friends a person can trust with anything and all their secrets will be kept safe inside. It just takes the matter of time the individuals spend together, get to know one another and have the chance to get a good feeling on one another.

            Depending on the person sometimes some sort of support when life gets tough is needed. People will go to family and friends; real life friends and the friends found on social websites. Getting in touch with people has become easier with the technology; calling, texting, emailing, and even Facebook.  When communicating with friends on the social networks, who knows if the message will be read or if they will get online within the day or even the week? Unless the user gets online every day, which fifty percent of the Facebook users do log in every day, (“Facebook”), the message may not be received in a timely manner. Just because a person is on another person’s friends list doesn’t mean the Facebook friend will be reliable and be there for the other person. Real friends can be the same way; text messages, phone calls, internet messages can all be ignored. Even doorbell rings, knocking or face-to-face can be ignored. But if a person has that one friend that will be there for anything then it’s one of the best feelings.

            Friends are a part of life; they can help a person during hard times if needed. Either virtual or real life, people can help each other. One should be a little more careful with friends that have never been seen before. Always consider how the friend was made, how much this person should be trusted, and if they are reliable. Friends can be beautiful treasure or a knife in the back.

Works Cited:

"Online Sexual Predators." Enough Is Enough: Protecting Our Children Online. Enough Is Enough, 2006-08. Web. 01 Oct. 2010. http://enough.org/inside.php?id=2UXKJWRY8#6>.

 

"Statistics Facebook." Welcome to Facebook. Facebook, 2010. Web. 05 Oct. 2010. http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics>.

 

Wilson, Robert. “10 Facebook Safety Tips How to Protect Yourself.” The Turley Law Firm. The Turley Law Firm, 2009. Web. 20 Oct 2010. <http://turleylawfirm.com/library/10-facebook-safety-tips-how-to-protect-yourself.cfm>. 



Final Paper (Essay #2)

Virtual Friends vs. Real Friends

            Human beings have been involved in social interactions since the beginning of time or at least that’s what the history books have shown. Groups of people spend hours together, getting to know more about each other and enjoying the social interaction. Recently a new form of meeting people has been discovered via the internet. The issue with these sites, such as MySpace or Facebook, is that individuals need to realize not everyone is a true friend. This is also the same with in person, face-to-face friends. On Facebook, a person can have over one thousand friends; how were these friends made, how much should the virtual friends be trusted and are these friends reliable if needed?  These same questions can be asked of face-to-face friends.

            Meeting new people has become easier with the updated technology and the invention of social websites. There are more than five hundred million active users of Facebook alone (Facebook) making it possible to become friends with a college student in Australia or a graffiti artist in London. With over nine hundred million objects to interact with such as pages, events, community pages and groups (Facebook) users can find friends with similar interests as their own. Facebook is an online site that lets you find people and it’s as easy as one click of a mouse to become friends with any other user. There are other ways to meet friends; in the classroom, in college, at work, through friends or wherever life takes place. These people interact with one another and go through their days together or spend time together to get to know one another.

            Not everyone can be trusted; people can betray one another on the internet. Individuals can secretly have different identities. Facebook has a privacy setting that lets the users to control what friends see.  Yet people can always find ways of getting to the information through other information websites, by hacking, or going on another account pretending to be someone else. Sixteen percent of teens consider meeting individuals they have only talked to online and eight percent of them have met someone they had only known online ("Enough is Enough"). Making friends online with the wrong person can spill over into real life, making real life more difficult; causing paranoia, depression, or unsafe feelings. This is why knowing who is really on the other side of that screen is always the best idea. People can have issues with others in everyday life too. It’s a simple fact; everyone lies and not everyone can be trusted. There are fake people in this world and sooner or later you will run into one of them. On the other hand, there are friends a person can trust with anything and all their secrets will be kept safe inside. It just takes the matter of time the individuals spend together, get to know one another and have the chance to get a good feeling on one another.

            Everyone needs a shoulder to lean on from time to time when things get rough. People will go to family and friends; real life friends and the friends found on social websites. Getting in touch with people has become easier with the technology; calling, texting, emailing, and even Facebook.  When communicating with friends on the social networks, who knows if the message will be read or if they will get online within the day or even the week. Unless the user gets online every day, which fifty percent of the Facebook users do log in every day (Facebook), the message may not be received in a timely manner. Just because a person is on your friend’s list doesn’t mean they will be reliable and be there for you. Real friends can be the same way; text messages, phone calls, internet messages can all be ignored. Even doorbell rings, knocking or face-to-face can be ignored. But if a person has that one friend that will be there for anything then it’s one of the best feelings.

            Friends are a part of life; they can help a person through thick or thin if needed. Either virtual or real life, people can be there for one another. One should be a little more careful with friends they have never seen. Always consider how the friend was made, how much this person should be trusted, and if they are reliable. Friends can be beautiful treasure or a knife in the back.

Works Cited:

"Online Sexual Predators." Enough Is Enough: Protecting Our Children Online. Enough Is Enough, 2006-08. Web. 01 Oct. 2010. <http://enough.org/inside.php?id=2UXKJWRY8#6>.

"Statistics Facebook." Welcome to Facebook. Facebook, 2010. Web. 05 Oct. 2010. http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics>.

Answers (Essay #2)

• http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics 
• Average user has 130 friends
• More than 500 million active users
• People spend 700 billion minutes of Facebook per mon
• "Facebook is an online site that lets you find people. Find people you used to know with Facebook or find out who's living around you." http://personalweb.about.com/od/makefriendsonfacebook/Make_Friends_on_Facebook.htm 
• Real Friends vs. virtual Friends
• Who can you trust?
• Virtual Friends - That's the thing, if you don't know the person in real life how can you trust them?
• It's simple as clicking on a button to add the person to become their friend. You don't need to know the, all you need is for them to accept the request.
• You can look up old friends you haven't seen since high school and reconnect.
• Who's reliable?
• Are they really your friend?
• How did you meet?
• How much time do you spend together?
• What do you know?
• How much should you trust them?
• Benefits of:
• Facebook
• Keep intouch with friends/family who've either moved away/don't have time to see/haven't seen in years.
• "When you find old friends using Facebook you're given the chance to make amends, start over and be best friends again, not to mention find lost love." Linda Roeder
• Keep social groups in contact such as clubs or extra activities.
• Learn more information about a business or organization.