Yes, it's true, term papers ALWAYS suck

CastAway · Post by **CastAway** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 2:12 pm

I have full proof that term papers cannot be fun, no matter how much you try.

This year I am in an interdisciplinary American Studies English/History class, and now is the time that I am working on my term paper. Well, let me tell you, I now have proof that term papers always suck. I tried my hardest to make this one fun... yeah, that's right, I decided to do it on the space program... specifically, a comparison of Kennedy's vision to Bush's new vision... but let me tell you, as hard as I try, this is NOT fun. That is full proof that term papers always suck, no matter how hard you try to make them not suck.

meg · Post by **meg** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 2:52 pm

no way! im taking that class too. i thought the whole interdisciplinary idea with history and english was my school just being 'special'...lol.

i feel your pain!

spacecampaddict28 · Post by **spacecampaddict28** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 5:03 pm

i have all yall beat...i had toi write some 10pg paper on ANYTHING i wanted to in US History, and then i still couldnt make it fun...i wrote about the cold war and the space race but it still sucked to write the paper even though i knew it all and could write it without looking at any books.

stargazer0105 · Post by **stargazer0105** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 8:02 pm

I did that one time, but I have a teacher who is really big on citing your sources and I was like, I dunno I wrote the paper off the top of my head.

meg · Post by **meg** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 8:14 pm

i do that too! i know that i know something from somewhere, but i don't know where. so i make up places where i learned it, or i do a google search for a site.

CastAway · Post by **CastAway** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 8:43 pm

...or you could cite your counselor from your last year of camp as your only source! I made my Cold War background paragraph in my outline completely off the top of my head based on what I thought I knew! I don't even quite know if it's accurate...

meg · Post by **meg** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 8:50 pm

smart! i never thought about doing that.

LaRsOnAtRiXkIx · Post by **LaRsOnAtRiXkIx** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 8:52 pm

i did a paper on the space shuttle once and i used my notes from space camp that i took in my lil notebook as a source.

meg · Post by **meg** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 8:55 pm

hmmm, you guys actually take notes!?!

LaRsOnAtRiXkIx · Post by **LaRsOnAtRiXkIx** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 9:01 pm

when i was in space academy and the book was a lot better i did.
last year, i did like once. i think i was too busy trying to stay awake last year. not that the lectures were necessarially boring, i was just tired.

meg · Post by **meg** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 9:12 pm

most of mine were boring...right when i got there, there was no free time, we went straight into lectures...and i was late and a little, okay, a lot perturbed, so i talked to jedi and boost for a while instead of listening to the lecturer...once they made me sit down, i fell asleeeeeeeeeeeeep...

ah, the lecture on the orbiter... can we say sweet dreams?!?

spacecampaddict28 · Post by **spacecampaddict28** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 12:16 am

its okay i fall asleep in every lecture and i still know the info....haha except for russian space history!

CastAway · Post by **CastAway** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 1:26 am

Yeah, Russian Space History is an honestly fun and interesting one. I'm actually learning some more about that right now due to this term paper...

But yeah, I stay awake during most lectures, but now that they're all powerpoints in dark rooms, and I only get like 7 or less hours of sleep since I'm in Advanced Academy, I sometimes doze off...

Anyways, I don't want to feel like I'm doing this for nothing, so take a look. First, let me say that as much as I want Bush's proposal to be accomplished, I had to take a side, and evidence seems to point the way of my paper. The outline is not tabbed anymore due to Word's autoformat, but you still get the idea... please don't steal my term paper...:

Thesis: John F. Kennedy truly tried to use the space program in order to win the Cold War versus the Russians, and although the current President, George W. Bush, could easily be having similar visions of greatness, his timing makes his new proposal appear to simply be a campaign tool, a goal that is not well thought out and that the United States may never reach.

I. Kennedy
A. Background-cold war
1. Rivalry between US and USSR-“cold” because no actual attacks
2. Both sides worried the other side might attack-therefore prepared weapons
3. Neither side attacked because of fear of retaliation
4. mainly began after WWII, although debatable
B. Background-space race
1. late 1950s, early 1960s, many third world countries looking for ways to organize their governments-look to countries that seem to have more advanced technology (might put in space race paragraph)
2. Kennedy stressed the above heavily in his campaign
3. October 4, 1957-Sputnik
a. Eisenhower was president at the time
b. Only a simple satellite
c. Space race officially began
4. November 3, 1957-Sputnik 2
a. First animal in space-Laika the dog
b. Survived seven days, then oxygen ran out
c. Race to put a man in space was clearly defined
5. January 31, 1958-Explorer I-US’s first satellite
6. October 1, 1958- NASA established-civilian agency, would handle manned space flights
C. Kennedy’s presidency
1. Named his new administration the New Frontier
2. April 12, 1961-Yuri Gagarin
3. April 14-Kennedy meeting with advisers-“I don’t care if it’s the janitor” quote
4. Speech to Congress- “Second State of the Union”
D. Proposed co-op with Russians
1. Initial proposal-over lunch in Vienna
2. Nikita Kruschev said no
3. Kruschev explained to his son that they could not do this because “it will mean opening up our rocket programs to them. We have only two hundred missiles, but they think we have many more.” (quoted Schefter 146)
4. fall of 1963-more meetings
5. this time, the Russians had five hundred missiles, so they considered
6. Kennedy was assassinated before Kruschev made a decision
E. Kennedy’s assassination, fulfillment of his goal
1. Kennedy assassinated-November 22, 1963 in Dallas
2. Gemini program-a step past Mercury in the direction of the Moon
3. Quick mention of the Apollo 1 disaster
4. July 20, 1969-Kennedy’s goal achieved, first man on moon

II. Bush
A. Background
1. Challenger
2. Columbia-people now again aware of dangers of space
3. Mars
a. Pathfinder
b. New rovers-space program back in public eye
c. Mars now a thought on American minds as an eventual goal
B. Announcement and details of proposal
1. money: $12 billion within 5 years
2. complete ISS by 2010, retire space shuttle
3. new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) for beyond earth orbit, first mission by 2014
4. moon by 2020-so far plausible
a. “launching point for missions beyond”
b. “goal of working there for increasingly extended periods of time”
5. Bush quote: “humans are headed to the cosmos”
C. Plausibility of proposal
1. Only $1 billion added to already $11 billion budget for 5 years
2. China also working on a lunar program, leading to possible cooperation or a new race to the moon
3. Boeing is working on a new capsule-style craft like that of the early manned flight programs, could serve as a predecessor to the CEV
4. Major CEV tests by 2007, according to Charles Allen of Boeing
5. Problem with getting enough fuel to launch the necessary food and water
a. Solution could lie in water on Mars
b. Water could be refined for drinking, and also split into hydrogen and oxygen for fuel
c. Possibly robots could be sent to prepare the water ahead of time
6. Problem of radiation on way to Mars-2 possible solutions
a. Add shielding
b. Increase speed, therefore lessening exposure time
c. New, higher-speed engines are being developed
7. ISS taking up lots of money-stuck because of international agreements
8. Robert Zubrin: "The schedule is the first red flag. We could go to Mars in six years if we really wanted to."
D. Likelihood of being a campaign tool
1. Occurrence in an election year
2. Announcement conveniently made when Mars was back in public eye
3. Building somewhat on public expectation
a. Some were expecting him to make announcement at 100 years of flight celebration-no announcement made
b. Attention then moved to State of the Union address-still no announcement made
c. Then made announcement after public was expecting it
4. Some question his methods-possibly rushed or not thought out enough
a. Some think some of his goals could be achieved much sooner and that some steps are unneeded
b. Quote about going straight to Mars from Earth with no Moon stop
5. Other option to Moon-Lagrange point L1
6. Some experts say we could get caught up in moon goal and not get to Mars
a. Quotes from Murray and Zubrin
b. Example of ISS
7. Father tried in 1989 toward similar goal-Mars by 2019, failed
8. One good thing he did-no exact date set for Mars goal, therefore

meg · Post by **meg** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 5:11 pm

umm...wow!

CastAway · Post by **CastAway** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 8:28 pm

Yeah... and my teacher told me I need to reorganize the paragraph structure, so more work is at hand! Then I get to write it! And on top of that, the due date for the rough draft is the Monday after prom! Oh, how evil... I really do see this term paper as the only obstacle between me and Advanced Space Academy this summer.

stargazer0105 · Post by **stargazer0105** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:02 pm

LOL. Don't even ask me about my research paper experience this past month.

spacecampaddict28 · Post by **spacecampaddict28** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:16 pm

ooooh i want to know

SpaceCanada · Post by **SpaceCanada** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 10:24 am

I must stand up for the opposing side to this statement: not ALL papers are bad! Most, yes, but not all... In Year 11/Form 5/Grade 11/whatever I had to write a paper about ASA as justification for my absence from classes for a week. In response to the paper I was granted two credits towards my provincial diploma! Not so bad after all!

Mind you, English papers were never my forté. Something about my opinions on our required reading material never coincided with the teacher's opinion. The phrase "Opinions are your own, and there is no wrong opinion." just didn't apply with my English teacher. It was her opinion, something close to it, or you were wrong. Don't we all just love those papers...

However, I was fortunate enough to write several papers on the space programmes around the world, how they compare to eachother, and how they contribute to society. I also wrote a few papers on space spin-offs, things that have been developed as a result of the space industry. (One of which won me a scholarship to go back to ASA!)

I don't think it is necessarily the paper that is the problem, but the resons you have to write it and who you have to write it for. Even though I have graduated from post-secondary school I sometimes wish I had a reason to write papers about things. I learn so much researching a topic and finding a way to artistically write it all down. Maybe it's just because I'm such a geek!

Oh, and let's not forget the history research paper on the Cold War... The teacher left the subject matter for the paper wide open saying to write about the most significant thing you learned about the Cold War topic in class. We can all guess what I wrote about... all 5-7 (?) pages were dedicated to the Space Race... in great detail. Keep in mind that our text book only mentioned the Space Race in one paragraph. My teacher was caught off guard because he was expecting everyone to write about the politics and chaos of the time!

It's funny... now that I think of it, if at al possible any project I have ever done I have twisted it in such a way that it involved the space programme! I must be an official GEEK!

<This message is almost long enough to be a paper!

>

Who · Post by **Who** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 11:33 am

SpaceCanada wrote:Something about my opinions on our required reading material never coincided with the teacher's opinion. The phrase "Opinions are your own, and there is no wrong opinion." just didn't apply with my English teacher. It was her opinion, something close to it, or you were wrong.

I hated writing papers in school also -- I would get about the same reaction from most teachers/professors. Especailly when your trying to learn the language if its written in a older tounge. It sucks to sit and read with a dictionary by your side to reference all the obsure and obsolete words.

SpaceCanada · Post by **SpaceCanada** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 2:33 pm

Well said!

Although I was fortunate to have a few exceptional teachers. In Year 10/Form 4/Grade 10 we had a class called DrEnglish "de-ring-lish"- a combination of Drama and English. While reading thse bizarre stories we acted them out. It made a thousand times more sense than reading the book alone. The teacher was also very open-minded with a great syllabus. Having class discussions over the book instead of writing papers. We did, however, write papers to meet the cirriculum requirements, but our papers were very open-ended, including character monologues, how class discussions changed or reaffirmed your views on a book, etc. Now that's my kind of learning! (Unfortunately, this teacher has since left/retired and this programme is no longer offered at my former school; so sad!)

In post-secondary school we did a lot of technical writing. I was really good at this stuff because it was based on fact instead of fiction. If anyone hated English classes for the novels, I strongly duggest you take a technical writing course. It gives you a new appreciation for the language arts!