Christopher LaMarche
Professor Franklin
Example Essay
15 September 2008
My dad
My dad is the epitome of a hard worker. Throughout his life my dad has worked long and often tiresome hours. For the majority of his working career since I have been born, he has worked the 10 PM to 6 AM shift. This work style causes much fatigue and also creates circumstances where he can be up for some twenty-four hours straight. His job can be a stressful one having worked in such places as school busses and prisons, yet he never complains. My dad works swing shifts which make for even more fatigue. Sometimes he’ll come home for a mere eight hours before heading back to work. I still can’t imagine how he can do all this work.
Even with this tough work schedule my dad still has some free time but he doesn’t use it purely for himself. My dad spends most of his free time volunteering. The majority of his free time is spent as Scoutmaster of Boy Scout troop 473. In this position he goes above and beyond the call of duty, he plans everything from fishing trips, to paintball excursions, to overnight canoe trips. On top of this he also goes to, and leads, the troop’s weekly meetings. As if all this weren’t enough, he had to plan and carry out this year’s fall camporee. In order to carry this out he had to bring several water-based groups together for a full weekend. Additionally he had to make sure some hundred Boy Scouts remained safe and happy. Not only was he not paid to do this, but he actually lost money along with tremendous amounts of his time. Even in the midst of all this he still finds time to be an active member of the delta county dive team (they are the ones that recover and possibly save people who have drowned in any waters in Delta County.) This group requires a few weekends a year and an on-call status throughout the week. Even though he has only been on the team for a year he has already been on a call for a drowning victim. Even with all of the politics and argument involved with being on the team, in my dad’s eyes the benefits to society are worth the cost.
After all of this has been done my dad Will still find time to take the family, or maybe just us guys, out to have some fun. On of the biggest things my dad does with the family is go scuba diving. We have a fairly inexperienced family so we have only dived on shallow wrecks such as the Bermuda in Munising, and The Nahant in Escanaba. It is a time consuming activity that takes a lot of preparation, yet my dad manages to get two or three trips in every year. Along with this we also do the traditional yooper hobbies of hunting and fishing. My dad takes the family out to Fairport as often as possible to fish for King Salmon. He also takes us out to the pier in Gladstone to fish of off that for a while. Lastly, of course, my dad and I go hunting. Not only do we go to my Grandpa’s camp every rifle season, but we also bow hunt from our yard, goose hunt in the fields of Flat Rock, duck hunt in Little Bay De Noc, and grouse hunt whenever the opportunity comes our way.
As anyone can see my dad is a very busy man. He works tirelessly for me and our family. He even helps me with my Eagle Scout project. I know he must get tired yet he rarely lets it show and for that I am greatly appreciative. Let me leave you with a little story about my dad. A few days ago my dad was driving one of my grandpa’s trailers home from camp, the trailer had a load of dirt. On the way he hit a bump and the entire axel of the trailer split in half and fell to the road. He then went back to camp to get another trailer to haul it home. When he got home he could have called up my grandpa and told him his busted old trailer finally broke down. Instead he decided to spend a good amount of time and money to fix it himself. He had to grind away the tops of the rusted bolts, weld on top of years of caked on grease and dirt, and flip the rather heavy trailer numerous times just to keep my grandpa from dealing with it. If that’s not a true hard worker I don’t know what is. ↓
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| Name: 10calama | Date: Sep 17th, 2008 10:34 PM |
| if you have opened this I am srry, I just need to transfer some college files from school to work. Srry for any inconveniance ↑ |
| Name: Joeys_Mam | Date: Sep 18th, 2008 2:29 PM |
| lol. Try emailing it to yourself next time. ↑ |
| Name: 10calama | Date: Sep 24th, 2008 10:02 PM |
| I know, I've tried but the two computers aren't compatable and it never seems to work. This is a lot eaisier. ↑ |
| Name: 10calama | Date: Sep 24th, 2008 10:17 PM |
Christopher LaMarche
Professor Franklin
Compare and Contrast
24 September 2008
The liberal vs. conservative political viewpoints
Since the enlightened period two political philosophies have been brought into existence, Liberal and Conservative. These two philosophies are the natural opposites of one another but, they may also have some similarities, especially in today’s American government. ↑ |
| Name: 10calama | Date: Sep 29th, 2008 10:49 PM |
In order to have a full understanding of these two philosophies one must look at them in an unbiased way; it is my intention to do that here.
One of the most controversial subjects of our time is Abortion. In this issue the two political viewpoints have very strong beliefs. On one hand conservatives believe that human life begins at conception and therefore abortion at any stage should be considered murder. Conversely Liberals believe that a fetus is not human life and it should be for the individual woman to decide if an abortion is right for them.
Another hot button issue in today’s society is gun control. In this area conservatives believe that the second amendment (The right to bear arms) gives everyone the right to buy and own guns. Additionally gun control does not deter criminals rather it encourages them because they can be fairly certain anyone they rob will be unarmed. On the other hand Liberals believe that if fewer guns are sold that should mean fewer crimes are committed. They also believe that the second amendment only gives governments the right to raise militias, and that it does not give every citizen the right to own a gun of their choosing.
In recent years the Patriot act has been under much scrutiny. This act, which was signed into law by President Bush on October 26, 2001, allows government agencies the right to do things such as tap phone lines, read e-mail records, search financial and medical records, and so forth. On this issue both conservatives and Liberals are in agreement that this act may go too far. However Liberals are far more opposed to it than conservatives are.
One of the most stanch differences between liberals and conservatives is their views on taxes and government size. Liberals believe that with higher taxes the government can improve the quality of living for all citizens. They believe that more government involvement in economic and even some personal matters can only lead to good. Meanwhile conservatives believe that the government should not have so many “give-away” programs. They say that money should be spent by those who earn it. They believe that the economy will take care of itself without government involvement. ↑ |
| Name: lindalu | Date: Oct 2nd, 2008 6:17 PM |
| Very nice paper 10calama. ↑ |
| Name: 10calama | Date: Nov 13th, 2008 3:54 AM |
| Name: lindalu | Date: Nov 13th, 2008 4:21 AM |
10calama,
Where have you been hiding? Its been a long time! ↑ |
| Name: 10calama | Date: Nov 17th, 2008 10:22 PM |
Christopher LaMarche
Professor Franklin
Persuasive essay
10 November 2008
Is Radicalism Charitable?
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is a legally charitable organization allowing any donation made to them to be tax deductable. This may sound like a great idea; a group committed to ethics is a perfect candidate for charitable dollars. As good as their intentions seem however; their means are too often radical and even unlawful. A group, such as PETA, who supports terrorism, unlawfulness, and radicalism, should not be considered a “charity.” I should begin by clarifying that I am not at all against animal welfare. I believe that animals should be treated with the utmost care and humanity as far as is possible. I also should clarify that I do not disagree with everything PETA does; I like how they find those who unnecessarily harm animals. Unfortunately many times they go too far, crossing the boundary between charitable activity, and criminal.
When one donates to a charitable organization such as PETA one expects their money to go towards programs that helps those they advertise they help (in PETA’s case animals). Unfortunately, the majority of moneys donated to PETA go towards often illegal street performance. In these performances there are often nude characters and violent themes. Oftentimes performers throw buckets of fake blood on passers by who happen to be wearing animal products. Although PETA does run an animal shelter, it is grossly underfunded to the point where 90% of the animals taken in are euthanized. The amounts of money PETA spends on things that really don’t help animals are staggering. 21% of PETA’s income is spent on street performances, 24% goes to getting new members, 11% of their funds goes to membership development, nearly 2 million dollars goes to merchandising, and 25% of their funding goes to often illegal undercover operations and “rescues”. Why does a group that does not use its funds to help animals, but to commit illegal acts and attract new patrons, be considered charity.
When one thinks of charity some names that come to mind are The United Way, The Red Cross, The Christian Children’s Fund, and The ASPCA. All of these groups have one thing in common, while everyone may not financially support them, everyone agrees with what they are trying to accomplish. The same does not hold true for PETA. 95% of Americans disagree with what PETA stands for (Vegetarianism, total animal Liberation, etc.). A group that does not have at least a majority of the people agreeing with its values should not be considered charity. PETA does not deny its controversial nature; they pride themselves in making people angry. They have gone so far as to compare the holocaust to chickens, and cannibalism to eating a steak. Almost every view PETA has is controversial, most people believe fur is a perfectly fine choice of attire, not PETA. They say it is biodegradable and therefore good for the environment, not PETA. Many people believe animal testing is necessary to prevent human suffering and death, not PETA. Many people enjoy going to horse races and watching the magnificently trained horses do what they do best, not PETA. Many people believe hunting is a necessary part of any land management program, not PETA. Lastly, as I have previously stated 95% of Americans believe eating meat is a necessary part of a healthy diet, not PETA. My point is this, a charitable group should do things everyone agrees with, and their views should be generally accepted by the majority of people. PETA has none of these traits and therefore should not be a charitable organization.
James Boydston was an everyday, hard working American citizen. For the majority of his life he had been a veterinarian, but today he is enjoying his retirement. ↑ |
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