one

here are all of them, three of them revised, because i haven't been putting them up.

CONTACT ZONE AND BORDERLAND IMPLICATIONS In “Writing Centers as Linguistic Contact Zones and Borderlands,” Carol Severino argues that the view of writing centers as places where diverse ideas and language usages meet is a useful model for examining the role of writing centers at the university. While she often falls into dramatics and redundancy, her main point that the writing center should be thought of as a place of convergence for dialects and ideas is well argued, and I agree with it wholeheartedly, based on my experience at the center. Severino first makes the argument that the writing center is a contact zone, a place where different cultural and literary/linguistic ideas meet, due to the different backgrounds of the students using the center’s resources. Moreover, the writing center can not only be a place for ideas and linguistics to converge, but also to expand, as clients share cultural knowledge with their consultants, and their consultants help them express their identities. I have witnessed this at the Writing Center, as people from many different backgrounds, whether they be social, ethnic, or geographic, bring their assignments in to the consultants. The result of these interactions, argues Severino, is contact literature, which is “often characterized by nativization of a non-native language,” resulting in “autoethnographic texts.” Severino also points out that another contact literature form is the result of the mingling of multiple languages. A student at an American university who is from another country may use his/her native grammatical constructions to say/write something in English, often leading to new words/phrases that better explain an idea than any normal English word would. This is significant not only for the two involved in the writing process, but also for the English language as a developing and changing form of communication. I have observed for an international student from Korea, and he did have new and interesting ways to explain his ideas that were not ‘normal’ phrasings in English, but nevertheless explained his feelings better than a native English speaker could. The consultant and I, as the observer, were able to witness these new ideas and linguistics in his paper, and I for one enjoyed hearing them, thinking about what they meant to him, and finding ways for him to use them in a grammatically correct way. Contact dialects, on the other hand, are the spoken equivalent of contact literatures. Severino argues that while informal language is often used in the writing center, it should not be confused with the complex ideas being explained with informal language. She quotes Judith Langer as calling this “literate thinking,” where the thinker is able to critically engage with his/her paper and mold it to his liking. I also have seen this in the center, as the consultants will speak somewhat colloquially about a paper in a very in-depth, critical way, attempting to correct the colloquialisms and grammatical errors in a paper. This “easy going” type of speech allows the consultants to talk to their clients in a more direct, personal way that often helps move the clients in the right direction. Carol Severino argues correctly in Linguistic Borders and Contact Zones that the Writing Center is a place where different ideas and linguistics collide, to the cultural and linguistic benefit of both the client and the consultant. My limited experience at the center only supports these ideas.
WORKS CITED Severino, Carol. “Writing Centers as Linguistic Contact Zones and Borderlands.” Professing in the Contact Zone: Bringing Theory and Practice Together (2001): 230-239.

Revise for Voice.

“I hear the beat of music rising from within the draft.”
Voice is the quality in writing. It makes the reader read on and interested in what is being said.

It was called style in the past, but not today as it seems that it can be bought of the rack or something that is imitable easily. Tone, used but limited. The academic today prefer to use the term voice as it shows that it comes from within. Shows the humanness and part (consistent) within the writer. The way people present their ideas and their views is thought heir specific voice.

“I am a writer because I am selfish and I want to be heard. I am a teacher because I want other to be heard. All rising their voices” in various ways from which we all learn.

Main Lib.

I usually work at the library on Sunday nights between 6 to 10 pm. Last Sunday was an exception as I came in work for someone else and I was signed to work from 4 to 10 pm. I was not feeling too well, but decided to come in because getting to work following a usual routine keeps me on track and helps motivate me to get my work done too. After solid 5 hours of work, I decided that I was done for the day and I needed to gone home; I didn’t feel well. I asked Andy’s permission and he said it was okay for me to leave 30 mins early. YEAH. I was done with work and having him sign by sheet when a client came up to me and said:

“Hi, I think you have worked with me before.”
“Yes,” I replied. “Hello,” I added.

Then, the client asked me if I could help her with her paper. “I can not, I am not feeling to well,” I answered. She did not listen and added it was only a two page paper and she only wanted grammar help. I think took the center for granted and felt that it was a drive through for grammar check. Last time, she expected me to check 75 pages within an hour for grammar. Watching her, Andy interrupted and asked the lady to not bug the consultants. She stood there and gossiped with a few girls around her and this made Andy’s client angry. “Mam, I’m not trying to be rude. But can you please move,” said Andy’s client to the Lady.

Andy, Step. and I discussed this incidence last Monday afternoon and concluded that clients at the center come too late. Many clients come because they are asked to by their teachers and many come for some last min advice. They know that the center closes at 10 and many students sign up at 9 and we do not get to them. Its not that the consultants do not want to work with the students, it’s just impossible to work with 15 students in one hour.

So at work today, we posted many signs asking students to please come on time to signup for appointments and stay at their place once they sign up. We also reminded them periodically that the line was long and they might not get picked. We stressed this during the last 30 mins. Being finals week, I wish all the fellow consultants good luck. However, I also want to stress that students do not mean to be rude, many to them are really stress. As consultants, we just need to be calm and if she student is too frustrated, we should have them contact Trixie or Steph.

After working at the main library for a whole semester. I know for certain that many students do not know about our new online appointment system. It would be cool if the writing center made the front page of MSU's website (a little section with the center's picture and link.) We could use this opportunity to educate our students of the new appointment system. Overtime, we should ask the company that made the appointment system to help us keep track of the number of students who visit the website to make an appointment and compare that number to the number of students who actually get an appointment. These numbers could help us ask more funds. We could also put links to surveys on our website for student feedback?

Big Daddy at the center

Research shows that caffeine levels in Pepsi are about 37.5 millig while coffee has around 155 millig, but that’s not the only reason why we have coffee at the writing center. Over the past 4 months, I have noticed clients of all ages and backgrounds ask me if they could help themselves to a cup of coffee before starting the session. There could be a few reasons why did decided to have those shots:

1) They were scared because I was their consultant.
2) They knew that caffeine acts like Adenosine, a byproduct of cells work that helps keep us awake. Caffeine, like Adenosine is “widely used as stimulant of the central nervous system to induce vigilance and increase the time spent awake.” “One review recently declared that ‘regular caffeine usage appears to be beneficial, with higher users having better mental functioning’”
3) They could just be addicted to coffee. “Simply put, caffeine is addictive and many people are motivated to maintain their consumption to avoid aversive withdrawal symptoms, rather than for the positive side-effects (Schuh & Griffiths, 1997).”
4) They just like coffee or wanted to try it.

A few clients had no clue that we had coffee at the writing center. Regardless of the reason why we have coffee at the writing center, I feel it is important to choose our coffee wisely. I feel that the center to pledge to equality for all and starting this Fall, we should buy coffee that is a part of the Fair Trade organization.

“Since its creation, Fair Trade in the U.S. has immensely increased its market of buyers. For example, while Sparty's, MSU's coffee-shop chain, is heavily involved with Fair Trade products (check out the logo), what some students do not always realize is places like Starbucks, Beaner's, Paramount Coffee and Espresso Royale also do partake in using Fair Trade, but generally to a lesser degree. Sparty's buys 100 percent Fair Trade certified products. On the other hand, according to Professor Jaffee, a company like Starbucks buys a small amount of Fair Trade coffee, but invests more in their own company's coffee-producing community promotions.” http://thebiggreen.net/article.php?id=906