Mike Stark

When I looked at the environment around me, I was unsure at first what to say was an opposition, but then after looking through my notes I realized some obvious oppositions around the University of Minnesota campus. One of the first oppositions would have to be a gravity versus movement example. The buildings around us have to deal with gravity when being constructed. Without thinking of how to deal with the effects of gravity on the building, it would crumble to the ground. So the resolution to this opposition would be to use columns or pillars to hold up the structures or even just use load bearing walls. Another example of this is the parking ramps around us like the Oak st. parking ramp. Due to gravity a car can't jsut float to the second level, to overcome the gravity we build ramps to get the car to the top of the ramp or to the bottom in a safe manner. Another opposition that i noticed was houses that have large trees in their backyards, so some this could get in the way but a resolution for this type of opposition could be to turn it into a tree house. Having a tree hosue would give another room for things to happen, like another room for children to play. Another resolution for this would be to jsut turn it into an umbrella of shade. By doing this you would be letting the oppostion sculpt the area it effects.
Another opposition that we are not dealing with yet, but will be soon is snow. This is like a man versus land opposition. When the snow falls it causes many problems. In the snow driving becomes difficult becuase it makes the roads slippery and dangerous. Snow also makes it hard for students to trek to class becuase the deeper it is the harder it is to walk through it. Resolutions for this type of opposition start with eliminating the snow in general. Many times to deal with snow on the roads we try to plow it or melt it befire it affects the people using the roads. We do the same to help the people walking through the snow as well. Snow also brings with it the cold and frigid weather. This opposition is dealt with in different ways depending on the where it occurs, Eskimos build igloos to protect themselves from the brutally cold wind and snow, while here in the cities we pump our homes full of heat and pack the walls of our houses with insulation to protect against the opposition of the cold and snow.
Well these are a few of the oppositions that I thought of as i think if more I will try to add them.

Posted by Mike Stark at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Roller coasters, there everywhere. But are they a phenomenom? Yes! Roller coasters can be precieved but not one but many of the senses. You can feel the roller coaster fly aorund the track, the noise of the rickety old train cars banging the tracks, and you can see the coaster go up and down around the track. This fact makes it a phenomenom. It also is a complex system that inculdes things, frameworks, and clockworks. When and where roller coasters were started can be tracked and calculated to the exact time. Finally the roller coaster has destination, and that is to get around the track, and back to where it started. These reasons make roller coasters phenomena.

http://www.coastersandmore.de/bilder/sfh/sfh10.jpg

One aspect that makes a roller coaster a phenomenom is that it has clockworks. The path that roller coaster takes is completely predictable. The time that it takes to travel the track to how many times the wheels rotate on the train cars can be predicted and are always periodic. Roller coasters also include frameworks. This is true becuase you can have many different types of roller coasters but they will all the same thing. You can have steel or wood coasters and they are all related becuase they perform the same type of entertainment. The roller coaster is also made up of things. The things like the track, the train cars, the structure holding up the track, they all take up space. They all have size and can be measured to certain standards. They also have shape and attributes.

http://www.coastersandmore.de/dummy.gif

All these clockworks, frameworks, and things come together to make a roller coaster a phenomenon.

Posted by Mike Stark at 12:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

When asked to pick a place that is meaningful to me I was able to easily able to chose one place. Altough it might sound a little corny a meaningful place for me would have to be my high school at Totino Grace in Fridley. It is meaningful to me because not only did i recieve a good education but i recieved more then that. At Totino Grace I made many life long friendships with fellow classmates even some faculty. Totino Grace is meaningful place becuase when you first start attending it you might feel out of place, but my the end you feel like your part of it. This is what I feel is its Genius Loci. It starts out feeling like your house, but in the end you're calling it your home. When you go there you know what to do. You become part of a family, everyone knows everyone and you can feel the sense of friendship.

The Genius Loci at Totino Grace is not like one you might find at a regular high school. Through the four years that I spent at Totino Grace I always felt like I belonged, and that is the distinctive atmosphere that you get when you walk in the front doors at Totino Grace. You are constantly being reminded that you are part of a family there, from the cooks in the kitchen knowing your name in the lunchline to the teachers you've never had knowing who you are. The Genuis Loci in Totino Grace is unique to Totino Grace, and I am glad I was able to experience it.

At Totino Grace the Genius Loci is even brought outside of the walls of the school. You experience it through the numerous community service oppurtunities. The atmosphere of being part of a giant family is constantly growing and present and that is why it's a meaningful place for me.

Posted by Mike Stark at 8:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)