Reseach Pamphlet

In Progress

Welcome, Freshman Class of the University at Buffalo!

College already, huh? New housing, new levels of classes, and just when you thought it was over, new research opportunities! As one of the largest research universities in the country, here at UB we want you to have the best start to your university-level research, so Nonexistent Research Team at UB (NRT) would like to help you get a foot in the door to one of the most difficult, yet rewarding, subjects you'll learn here: research.

So, where do I begin?

You'll want to start off with an argument or hypothesis you want to make: anything really! Just pick out a topic and an argument that you believe will be relevant to you and your interests, such as:
"Cats should be allowed in the dorms for their comforting abilities."

I have a topic, I have an argument, it's time to Rock 'N Roll!

You have a topic you want to argue or you want to research, so where do you go now? As Newton and many others have said, it's time to "Stand on the Shoulders of Giants". You don't really think you know everything, do you? There's so much of the world that's unknown to many of us, such as how to cure cancer or why the answer to life is 42 (well, maybe not that) - so you'll need to get sources and articles that help back up your claim - unless you want to do all of that long, hard, tedious work yourself, it's up to you!

Research, Research, Research!

Now is the most tedious, but still the most rewarding part of this whole process: the research itself. Most (if not all) of this should be done in with help from the UB Libraries. They'll provide much of what you're looking for: cited scholarly articles, university research from around the world, and primary, experimental research that will help support the claim you're making. Be sure to get help with citations from resources like the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) to ensure you're not plagiarizing, or using somebody elses ideas as your own.


I'm Lost, I'm Confused, What do I do now?

You're human, you're prone to mistakes, you're prone to errors, but there's still something you can do about it! All of the libraries at UB would love to help you check your sources, find articles, and ensure you're citing correctly. That's why they're here, to help you! They can be found at many of the physical UB Library locations, such as at the Capen/Silverman or Lockwood Libraries.

So, now it's up to you. Summarizing what we have so far:
Find a topic or argument you want to make
Find articles that support your claim
Cite your sources, and last but not least:
Get help if you need it!

TV Pitch: "LifeSwap"

"LifeSwap" - Is my Reality TV idea that takes two people, from the same occupation, and switches their roles within the company, organization, or school...kind of like Wife Swap with professions (Thus, comes the name!). They swap their lives for a week, and then are filmed again the week after that as their original profession/occupation/study. So, what exactly do I mean by that? Take a look at the Pilot and other episode ideas:

Pilot: Robby and Ben
In this episode, we switch around the lives of UC Santa Barbara students Rob and Kat.
Kat, a Junior Chemical Engineering student with a GPA of 2.2 will switch her studies in the school for two weeks with Rob, a Communications major with a GPA of 3.8. For the first time in his life, Rob will have to figure out what exactly trigonometric functions are, while will have to cope with extended free time.And more intriguing than that, they'll have to resume their daily lives after a week of stressful changes in study habits, course schedules, all in the name for a fight for a $50,000 prize.

"LifeSwap" is a show that most likely would appear on an "Over the Air" station, such as CBS, NBC, or ABC, because it most likely won't attracted just one demographic. I view the show as attracting Men from 18-30 as well as Women from 18-50. It attracts users who like "stress induced reality", falling in line with the show Hell's Kitchen (without the cooking).

Stay tuned for future episodes of LifeSwap, featuring Cameron and Whitney, a mechanic and secretary, respectively!

Digital Identity

Hmmm, My Digital Identity:

I'm electing to Alex Hubbard.
Myself? Well, yeah.
Sure, I wouldn't change my name, but I believe a name says nothing about my identity.
I wouldn't necessarily change what I'd believe I had physically, I'll change what's hard to change physically, and that's attitude.
What's wonderful and costly about the internet at the same time is the fact that you can pretend to be anyone you want to be, but I don't believe it's quite that easy to "pretend" what your attitude is towards others. Even if it's not the easiest job in the world to show appreciation in real life, if you truly believe that you do, it'll come out on the internet - even if you're material goods don't.
So, what makes this identity particularly stand out online?
I wouldn't be the guy flashing around what makes me "amazing", I'd make sure you're the one feeling amazing.
That's not a lot of words to describe my actions, but the actions, as I'd like to believe we all know, speak much louder than words.
Put in one sentence, I'd be the person who thinks before he does.

There's really no pictures, videos and the digital like to describe my digital identity. If I'm wrong, tell me (please!)

Post One (Visual Argument)