Journal #1 02/19/2021 Solar Panels

In class we began our first graded assignment, a Technical Description of an object, mechanism, or process. I chose to develop a technical description of a solar panel. A solar panel is a mechanism that turns the energy from the sun, or solar energy, into electrical energy which is used to power everything from lighting to heating. I chose to discuss solar panels because I believe that they are the future of energy, and by researching them further for this assignment I can further my knowledge and understanding of how they operate and the various benefits they provide. Furthermore, I believe that everyone should be exposed to the potential of solar panels, many people dismiss them because they do not understand the massive benefits that they can provide our environment as well as the consumers that use them. While conducting research on this topic I came across a very interesting article that displayed how solar energy and fossil fuels can be used in unison. The article displayed an average home, powered by solar panels, but still connected to the cities power grid which runs off fossil fuels. On a regular day where the sun is neither too bright nor too dim, the home requires only the energy from its solar panels to function, and therefore does not use the power provided by the cities power grid. On a stormy or cloudy day when the suns energy is not enough to power the home on its own, the city pumps power to the home through its central grid. The city is able to determine how much power is required for the home and how much power remains in the solar panel batteries, the city then provides the difference between the required energy and the energy available. On a very sunny day when the solar energy far exceeds the energy required to keep the home functioning, the excess energy is pumped into the cities power grid. The city then transfers that energy to homes that do not have solar panels and depend on the cities power grid for energy. This is a massive benefit to the entire community as clean energy is prioritized over fossil fuels, but the community is not solely dependent on solar energy and have an alternative power source in case of poor weather or unexpected circumstances. Furthermore, the home that provides solar energy to the cities power grid receives compensation in the form of reduced utility bills. For example, if on a stormy day a home with solar energy required 1000 watts of power from the cities central grid, but a week ago when the sun was bright and powerful that same home provided 500 watts of excess power to the cities power grid, that home will only be required to pay a utility for 500 watts of power. The benefits of solar panels greatly outweigh the possible issues. As solar panels become more affordable, accessible, and sustainable they continue to rise to the top as the future of energy.

Journal #2 02/26/2021 Technical Description

I submitted the first draft of my technical drawing yesterday. I was happy with the way the draft came out, I feel like it is well organized and easy for a reader to follow along and understand. I more or less followed the guidelines that were provided to us on how to create a technical description. In my introduction I described what a solar panel is, what it does, how it functions, what are its components and less relevant details like how it looks. Instead of writing body paragraphs I decided that I would describe the components of a solar panel one by one. I decided that paragraphs are too messy and it would be better organized in the form of a list. This allows for a reader to easily locate the component they want to know more about, along with a detailed explanation of what that component does. Rather then having to read through multiple paragraphs to find the component and its function, which is tedious and time wasting, all of the components are listed and easy to locate. I would definitely like to add some diagrams or images and display them next to their corresponding component, this would give the reader an even better understanding of what that component is and what it looks like. I had difficulties finding images that are small enough to fit on the page but also detailed enough for a reader to understand it. I will continue searching for images/diagrams and hopefully for my final draft I will have a few that I can include in my assignment. In the conclusion I explained how the solar panel actually works. By explaining how all of the components work together I was able to provide a detailed and cohesive explanation of the science behind solar panels. It was important that I clearly defined the function of each component in my “details section” otherwise it would be very difficult for a reader to follow along in my conclusion. My technical description definitely has room for improvement, but as a first draft I am quite satisfied with it.

Journal #3 03/04/2021 Waze App

While making a response for one of my peers, Dylan Lang, I became very interested in the app that he was writing about for his technical description assignment. He was discussing a navigation app called Waze, which I had not heard of until then, and all of the interesting features that it provides for the user. I usually use Google maps for navigation while driving but after reading that Waze alerts of you nearby police patrols, speed cameras, and community based traffic reports, I decided to give Waze try. I have been using the Waze app for about two weeks now and it has probably saved me around six hours in commute time. The app provides updates while you are driving of reported traffic jams and road congestion, allowing me to avoid certain roads and ultimately saving me a lot of time. My favorite feature by far is that the app alerts me of reported speed cameras, I often travel to places that I am not really familiar with and I am not surprised when I get a ticket in the mail every now and then. But with Waze’s cool feature I have a way of staying alert and updated, and ultimately saving myself money. I am really glad to have stumbled upon Dylan’s free write a few weeks ago, Waze is saving me both time and money.

Journal #4 03/12/2021 Overcrowded Platforms

For the memo assignment my group and I decided to discuss the packed and overcrowded subway platforms in NYC. Overcrowded platforms are not only a health risk but also result in train delays. Overcrowding causes trains to load and unload passengers for longer then expected periods and the large capacities both on the train and waiting for the train causes conductors to travel much slower in order to prioritize user safety. An article that I found by the The New York Times, contains a graph that displays overcrowding as the number one source of train delays since 2015. Furthermore, since 2010 annual subway usage has increased dramatically but the quantity of available train carts and subway stations has remained stagnant. The MTA has not taken the necessary steps to satisfy the large spike in subway usage. A solution that my group and I came up with was opening up old and constructing new entrances/exits to subway stations. With limited access points subway users are often packed into small areas on the platform and squeeze themselves into whatever train cart is the closest, even if there are more spacious carts available at other areas of the platform. With more entrances/exits subway users can better distribute themselves around the platform and on the train carts. I believe this issue is more relevant then ever. With a global pandemic in our midst, overcrowded platforms and train carts are perfect places for the virus to spread. Overcrowded platforms are the leading cause of train delays, can result in fatal accidents, and in our current condition are completely unhealthy.

Journal #5 03/18/2021 Memo Outline

This week my group and I submitted an outline for our memo assignment. We chose an outline format similar to the one that we read about in chapter 14 of our Technical Communications course book. Our outline format contains the heading, topic, purpose, summary, discussion, recommendation, and the work cited. We divided the work such that I was responsible for the topic, purpose, summary, and work cited; while my group mates Talike and MD were responsible for the discussion and recommendation. While working on our heading we chose to address the memo to Mayor Bill de Blasio and the CEO and Chairman of the MTA Patrick J. Foye. We chose them to be our audience as they already have an understanding and knowledge about the subway system and the issues that it faces. As the Research Director I have the responsibility of finding sources and information to use in our memo. To make the research easier for myself I split it into two parts. The first part of my research was to find relevant and useful information about the affects that overcrowding has on “on-time” train performance and the safety risks of overcrowded platforms. The second part of my research was to find potential solutions for overcrowding. I found several articles that contained useful data about the direct relationship between train delays and overcrowding. The New York Times has a lot of relevant articles regarding overcrowded platforms and two of my sources are from their website. Regarding potential solutions, I found an article that discussed opening more entrances/exits to better regulate platform congestion. Additionally, I found an article by the MTA that proposed the implementation of wider doors on subways carts to making boarding and exiting the train faster and more efficient. I will continue to research for more relevant and useful sources to incorporate in our first draft.

Journal #6 03/26/2021 Memo Draft

On Monday my group and I submitted the first draft of our memo assignment. We made certain that our draft included all the required components of a memo such as the heading, the purpose, the summary, the discussion, and the recommendation. Our summary was short and concise and introduced the topic that we are discussing in our memo. Both our discussion and recommendation used direct evidence from our sources to support our argument. I worked on the recommendation section of our draft and proposed the solution of establishing more access points to subway platforms by opening old or constructing new entrances/exits to ease platform congestion. I included quotes from Councilman Mark Levine and Comptroller Stringer to support my argument. An issue that we have in our first draft is that we did not thoroughly describe the dangers of overcrowding. In our summary we stated that overcrowded platforms can result in severe or even fatal accidents if commuters are accidentally pushed or fall onto subway tracks. However, in both our discussion and recommendation we failed to mention and explain how this problem is related to overcrowding and how our proposed solution can fix it. It is very important that in our final draft we thoroughly explain the relationship between subway accidents and overcrowded platforms, and explain how our solution is the best way to prevent accidents. Furthermore, we can improve our draft by removing sources that we did not use directly in our memo from our work cited page. I made a bibliography for all of our sources, but it seems that we will only directly reference 4 or 5 of those sources in our memo. Removing the unused sources from our work cited page can shorten our memo and make it more appealing. Although our first draft is a great start we definitely have room for improvement.

Journal #7 04/10/2021 Lab Report

In class we began our next assignment in which we have to create a lab report. I chose to use solar panels as the topic of my report because I have already spent quite some time researching this subject during our technical description assignment. In the lab report I will focus on the advantages and benefits of solar panel usage and identifying potential improvements to solar panel technology. One of the advantages of solar panels that I will discuss in the report is that solar panels are solely dependent on solar energy. Solar energy is produced by the sun and its light rays which makes it an abundant and renewable energy resource and much more advantageous then scarce and limited non-renewable energy sources such as fossil fuels. One of the benefits of solar panels that I will discuss in my lab report is that the process of converting solar energy into usable energy does not emit any hazardous gases. In contrast to fossil fuels like coal which emit dangerous gases such as carbon dioxide when they are converted into energy, solar panels are environmentally friendly and do not release any harmful gases. One of the potential improvements that I will discuss in my report is replacing Silicon semi-conductors with Gallium-Arsenide semi-conductors. Although Silicon is much more abundant and therefore much cheaper then Gallium-Arsenide, the structure of Gallium-Arsenide allows for faster movement of electrons and can therefore generate energy more efficiently and in higher quantities. If the cost of Gallium-Arsenide can be decreased we can develop solar panels that are much more efficient and only slightly more expensive then standard Silicon based solar panels.

Journal #8 04/17/2021 Lab Report Draft

I submitted the first draft of my lab report assignment. I feel like I did a good job fulfilling all of the requirements of a professional lab report. I had good information that was properly cited, and the argument I made was well supported by the sources and evidence that I incorporated. I struggled on the “Methods and Materials” section because my lab report was not really much of an experiment. I instead used that section to describe my argument and the evidence that I was going to use to support it. Furthermore, my first draft is well over the maximum 3 page requirement, my lab report itself is 4 pages and the references are an entire page long. I struggled to keep my report short because I had a lot of content and supporting details that I wanted to add my report. I will try to condense the report by emitting certain supporting evidence that I included, I will review my draft and determine which sources and evidence are most essential to my report, and the rest I will remove in order to keep my report short and concise. I have often have this problem of explaining myself too much when I am writing. When I start writing and the ideas start flowing I just find it hard to regulate what is essential and what is optional. All of the ideas seem like good ideas so it is hard to omit some. It is definitely a flaw in my writing that I am always looking to improve upon.

Journal #9 04/24/2021 Martial Arts

Martial arts have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I began practicing Sambo at the age of 4 and continued for the next 3 years before my family and I moved from Russia to The United States. Sambo is not too popular in America and there are practically no academies anywhere in New York that practice it. Instead I enrolled in a Judo academy and practiced Wrestling on the weekends in the nearby YMCA. I took both Judo and Wrestling very seriously; attending as many classes per week as I could and participating in every tournament I could find. For someone who could barely speak English and had zero friends, Judo and Wrestling were my escape from reality. I spent as much time as possible in the academy, staying hours after practice ended to improve a technique, work on my cardio, or any excuse I could come up with to stay there longer. I did not go to the park or the movies on the weekends like normal kids, I spent every Saturday and Sunday at the Y perfecting my takedowns, learning new technique, and hitting the gym to increase my strength. There were only two things that mattered to me: school and grappling. I loved the competition aspect of martial arts, I would enroll in any tournament I could find; some where big official tournaments held in famous academies and gyms, others were lowkey tournaments hosted in Church basements. I enjoyed the commitment of cutting weight, the rush of adrenaline and nerves before a match, and most of all I loved to win. Winning to me was much more then just standing on a podium with a plastic 10 dollar medal; winning was proof that all that hard work and all that pain was worth it. In freshman year of high school during a Judo tournament I improperly executed a hip throw and ended up shattering my clavicle and dislocating my left shoulder. I was forced to take a long hiatus from grappling and my parents were convinced that they would never let me grapple again. It was my first time ever sustaining a serious injury and it really spooked my parents, all my mother could speak of for the next few months was “what if you had landed on your spine instead of your torso, you would never be able to walk again”. I spent the next two years completely void of martial arts, focusing on my school work and developing a social life. After long and tedious arguments with my mother, eventually my dad and I managed to convince her to let me start grappling again. She refused to let me do neither Judo nor Wrestling, and so in the summer of junior year I enrolled in a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academy which I have been training at ever since. It was a relief to finally be back in the world of martial arts, it was like I had found a missing part of myself. I know that my chances of competing at an Olympic level shattered the same day that my clavicle did, but it is still my life long dream to open my own Martial Arts academy one day. I hope that in the future I am successful enough to retire early and devote the rest of my life to teaching the beautiful art of grappling. Grappling and martial arts were always there for me; through the good times and the bad times I could always find happiness in hitting the mats. I hope that one day I can share that happiness with the world.

Journal #10 05/09/2021 Victory Day

76 years ago the Soviet Army plowed through the German Eastern Front entering the country and ultimately taking control of the capital Berlin. After the suicide of Hitler on April 30 and the surrender of all German troops on May 8 the war was finally over. The surrender was made official the following day on May 9 and the world erupted into jubilation, but none more then the Soviet Union. The Soviets suffered a catastrophic quantity of casualties during the war, more then 24 million soldiers and civilians were killed by Hitler and his savage Nazi army. No other allied force came even close to the number of causalities that the Soviet Union had suffered, the French, British, and Americans each suffered around half a million casualties during the conflict. The Soviets picked the short straw and lost nearly 10% of their entire population. After taking a close look at those statistics it is no wonder why May 9th is the most popular and most celebrated holiday in Russia. No other nation in the world celebrates the defeat of the Nazis with as much passion and joy as the Russian people. Soldiers march through the red square in Moscow, parades of thousands fill the streets of Novgorod and St. Petersburg, Kremlins in every Oblast raise their flags to full mast and shoot fireworks every hour. May 9th in Russia makes July 4th in America look like a typical weekend barbeque. Before I moved to America, I would look forward to May 9th more then my own birthday. Every year my grandfather would dress up in his army uniform and take me and my brother to St. Petersburg to watch the army marches and parades. It is a truly unique and exhilarating experience and I hope that in the near future I will have the opportunity to come home and celebrate Victory Day in the motherland. There is no day more celebrated and more important to Russian history then May 9th, Victory Day.