Short of the Week

Documentary Link: http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2014/10/16/happy-hour/

What aspects make it a good documentary?

The way they film this documentary is very interesting because there is not much speaking on their part there is just shots of them speaking and you just have to infer what the person was asking. I think that it made you have to pay more attention to really understand what is going on in this documentary.

What could make it a better documentary?

I think that they could have ended the documentary better with more of a conclusion rather than a “cut to black” ending.

Blog Reflection

My research and writing techniques have changed in a great way throughout the blog research project. I have learned how to stretch paragraphs adding more content without running on. I did not have the best research strategies before this project. I used to just type my topic into whatever search engine I was using at the time and just clicked the first link. Now I have learned how to properly research online. I felt that one of the things that really worked well has been finding good articles and other media that I wrote about. Some of the difficulties I faced during this project was just uploading all of them. I have a problem with time management and sometimes I just forget to upload one of them.

Cost of Meal Plans Taxed

I found an article from Magna’s Campus Legal Monthly through Academic Search Complete, one of the libraries online databases, entitled “Cost of Meal Plans Taxed” published by Magna Publications.

Years ago there was a tax exemption on meal plans at universities across the nation. The state commission has waived sales tax for decades. But due to recent renovations of campuses across the nation the commission thought that these new dining halls are  in direct competition with private off campus vendors. As a result the tax exemption was cancelled. The costs of tuition aside, the cancellation of this exemption will add another 7% to the already high prices of the meal plans on campuses across the nation. This was also hard on the universities themselves because a lot of them had to get new point of sale systems at all of their dining halls. As a student, do you feel that this cancellation of the tax exemption is necessary? With this extreme amount of newly found revenue by the government, how do you think spend all of this money? I feel, to some degree, that this new tax on college meal plans is necessary. On the other hand, public universities’, like UK, dining halls are not just open to students. So they could create a system that will tax the people who are not students and exempt the tax for the ones that use the student ID.

Soaring Food Prices Squeeze Dining Halls

I found an article from Chronicle of Higher Education through Academic Search Complete, one of the libraries online databases, entitled “Soaring Food Prices Squeeze Dining Halls” written by J. J. Hermes.

In this article Hermes talks about how the prices of college dining services has skyrocketed. Some schools have coped with the spike in food prices by decreasing their menu options and being a little modest in regard to their portion sizes. But instead of decreasing portion sizes or options for students, Rich Neumann said, his staff has put an emphasis on marketing to off-campus students. "In fact, we've upgraded our menus because we're trying to get more students to participate in our meal plans," said Mr. Neumann. "The only way we see out of this dilemma is increasing our revenue." Food-service workers at Ohio University have cut some costs by making many products like cookies, pizza dough, and sandwich rolls from scratch, avoiding more expensive pre-made cookie dough. Baking from scratch will save the university nearly $100,000 in food costs each year, Mr. Neumann estimated. Is this spike in food costs temporary? Is there a solution to this problem? Has The University of Kentucky experienced this issue?

Uk Dining speed

I found an article on kentucky.com published by the Herald Leader entitled “University of Kentucky plans to privatize its dining services.” This was written by Linda Blackford.

Blackford explains how the University of Kentucky will be privatizing their dining services. This means they will be working with other companies, like sponsorships, to improve the overall quality of the student’s dining experience. The University’s biggest fear was that all of their products will be outsourced, but Capilouto urged to have the use of “Kentucky Proud” locally grown products in the contract. This will expand UK’s locally grown food budget, which now stands at nearly $1.8 million a year. Blackford also mentioned that UK partnered up with a big developer from Michigan, Education Realty Trust, to build $348 million worth in new dorms. Which is projected to bring 21% more students to the University by next fall. Sadly that did not include any new dining facilities. So UK is now requesting donors from $25 to $50 million to use on new dining halls that match the new residence halls under construction. All of the money they are spending makes me think, Is this worth it? Will the service actually be better? If not how else would this money be spent?

Privatization of UK Dining

I found an article on kentucky.com published by the Herald Leader entitled “University of Kentucky plans to privatize its dining services.” This was written by Linda Blackford.

Blackford explains how the University of Kentucky will be privatizing their dining services. This means they will be working with other companies, like sponsorships, to improve the overall quality of the student’s dining experience. The University’s biggest fear was that all of their products will be outsourced, but Capilouto urged to have the use of “Kentucky Proud” locally grown products in the contract. This will expand UK’s locally grown food budget, which now stands at nearly $1.8 million a year. Blackford also mentioned that UK partnered up with a big developer from Michigan, Education Realty Trust, to build $348 million worth in new dorms. Which is projected to bring 21% more students to the University by next fall. Sadly that did not include any new dining facilities. So UK is now requesting donors from $25 to $50 million to use on new dining halls that match the new residence halls under construction. All of the money they are spending makes me think, Is this worth it? Will the service actually be better? If not how else would this money be spent?

Formal Proposal Reflection

For my Shark Tank Formal proposal I used a familiar teqnique that was taught to me in high school which was just a introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. To transform formal proposal into a informal presentation I basically took the three main points I made in the proposal and just spoke about those in depth. Then I used the three visual aids we were allowed and described the significance of those pictures. I felt that my strengths in the written proposal were that I clearly stated each of the ideas that supported my thesis. I also feel that I clearly stated my thesis statement. In the presentation of the proposal I felt that one of my strengths were that I clearly described each of the visual aids which made my audience truly understand why my organization deserved to have a documentary made about them. I also felt that I made eye contact with the audience. I felt that some of my weaknesses in my written formal proposal were that my conclusion was lacking content, which is something I need to work on for upcoming writing projects. Some of the weaknesses in my Presentation was that I did not really state why this organization should become a documentary. I also had a few “um” moments where I think I recovered well. I think I just need a little bit more preparation for any upcoming assignments.