Free Write #2

I have narrowed the sustained research project down to two possiblilities:

1. The town of Owego where I live is looking to build a Riverwalk along the Susquehanna River.  Many people are in favor of this structure because they feel it will bring more visitors and therefore revenue into the area.  Many are opposed to the project because it will be built along the back of buildings that line the river.  From the front the building facades are historic and beautiful, from they back they appear rather dilapidated.  No one wants to be walking along that site.  In addition, nearly half the town was under water after the flood of 2006, and many people feel the investement on the Riverwalk would be wasted should this ever happen again.  There has also been as issue raised about security on the walk, people are concerned that this will become a gathering place for unattended youth, and intoxicated people leaving the bars at night.  Many of the resident’s in the apartments contained in these buildings are concerned with the noise as well. Parking is limited in the downtown area and some have proposed investing money in parking instead.  For the research piece, I would look to business owners, legislatures, residents, and consumers to compile information with regard to what research has gone into this project and how this would benefit the town, or if the overall opinion is that this is a huge waste of money, labor, and time.  There are many opportunities to incorporate photographs into this as well.

2.  Reality Check is an anti-tobacco program whose major goal is to stop the publication, advertisement, and promotion of tobacco use toward youth.  With this project there would be many opportunities to photograph the various ads, and the placement of those ads-that are clearly put in place for youth to see.  Our local Reality Check would be a resource for information regarding what local legislation has been passed to prohibit this message to youth, and which community groups and organizations have participated (via memorandum of understanding) with Reality Check in the fight to stop the promotion of tobacco toward youth.  Also, the RC youth participants, and attendance at RC events would provide my research with first-hand knowlegde of this program.

I feel that both projects would certainly be interesting to do, but would like some feedback on which project would elicit the most information/research opportunity that applies to our course and would actual accumulate enough for a 10-12 page paper.

this series of photos is of a fleet of vehicles owned by an excavation company.  These vehicles are very expensive and I am sure a fleet this size is worth millions.  It is interesting to see the weak gate that covers the entrance.  At first glance it appears as though anyone who really, really, wanted to could get one of those trucks out of there.  This company has used the landscape as a theft deterrent.  There are steep embankments in front of the trucks that would make it difficult to drive out of.  Right before the highway, there is a ditch that is probably 10-12 feet down.  This set-up reminded me of Flusty’s crusty space, as the landscape provides an obstruction for not so much entrance, but for theft.

The picture of a person and a book is an icon that represents a library. The arrow is an index showing the direction to go to get to the library.  This is a universal sign that is used many places to indicate the location of a library.

The picture on this sign is an icon because the picture of the turtle is what the sign is about.  The indexicality of the sign is the words that literally spell out a warning for drivers to watch out for turtles.  This sign is context dependent in that it is located in Owego where everyone knows that since a local pond was drained two years ago, many turtles have been trying to cross this busy road to find water. (my children and I have taken a few snapping turtles off this road before they got hit)  If this sign were located elsewhere it would likely be meaningless.