Sean Horan

Journal #15 - Final Impressions

2010-04-22T18:42:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed University Colloquium. A lot of my friends complain that they had to take Colloquium. I’m not just saying this, but I really do think that Professor Davis make the class more interesting. Instead of just telling us what to learn and drilling stuff into our head, Professor Davis gave us the microphone and let us talk together as a group. I did not participate in these group discussions as much as I would have liked to because I am a shy person in front of large groups at times. But, I found myself talking to my peers and my parents about topics that we had discussed in class. I really enjoyed listening to what most people in class had to say on the topics. The activities were very interesting and made me think. Ecological Footprint alone helped me be more environmentally significant.

I know a lot of students would disagree with this, but I do think that if students were called on to talk about the topic, it would help everyone get involved. It seemed like the same people were talking. There were times when I had something to say, but I didn’t get a chance to because it seemed like the same people were always talking on the topics. I am not trying to say bad things about them, I give them great respect for participating, but sometimes I would like to hear the opinions of the people that kept quiet. I think these people might hate getting called on at first, but in the long run in the class, I believe they will be glad they got called on.

One other thing that I could suggest for Colloquium would be to get involved more on the field trips. I would have liked to help out at Corkscrew Swamp more instead of walking around and learning. I think that if we learned before the field trip, and then went and participated, students would get a lot more out of the experience. Besides this and the calling on students for class discussions, I really think this class is great. The way Professor Davis conducted class and gave assignments was very fair and made it enjoyable for me to learn. The David Orr articles were good as well. I think Professor Davis should definitely keep the readings and maybe discuss them a little more in class. Like go over his main ideas and quotes. This was a great class and the way class was set up made it fun and enjoyable for me to learn about the environment and participate on the field trips.

Journal #14 - Sense of place interview

2010-04-22T18:23:00.000-07:00

Interviewing my Grandmother was very interesting and funny. She is ninety-four years old so I knew whatever she said was going to be a lot different than what is going on today. She grew up in Scranton, PA. While discussing University Colloquium with my Nana, (that is what we call her) she was amazed that there was a class on the environment. She said that one of the main things she has noticed all these years was that there keeps getting less and less trees. She said that in Scranton, no one could go outside without seeing many different types of trees. She told me stories about how her and her brothers and sisters would climb trees all day. Not just as a child, but also in college. This amazed me because I only used to climb trees when I was a child. She told me that she couldn’t imagine growing up in a place like Fort Lauderdale (where my parents live now) because there is very little trees. She explained to me that the beach was not anything compared to the real environment that she grew up in.

My Nana even told me that the beach was more beautiful when it was not all “spiffed up” by humans. All of the fun she told me she had when she was a child really got me thinking. I realized that there weren’t many environmental classes where she was from because people then were in the environment experiencing it every day. I feel like humans in today’s world need to go on trips and take classes to have experience with the environment that people had for free during my Nana’s era. She told me that Colloquium sounded like a really fun class. I told her about our class discussions and the field trips that we have been on. Even though she got to experience the environment so much, i could tell she wished she was out there with me on these trips. She kept asking me questions about the course and was very interested while i was responding with answers. I wish there were classes she could take because i could tell she definitely misses the environement. The world is building more roads and chopping down more trees every day. We as people need to do something about it. And if not, I’d hate to see how little environmental experience my grand children get.

Journal #13 - Canoe Trip at FGCU Marine Lab

2010-04-22T18:10:00.000-07:00

This Canoe trip was one of my favorite field trips in University Colloquium. I used to canoe all the time as a kid and it really brought back memories. The water was so nice and smooth and it was really relaxing being out there canoeing with my classmates. I used to canoe on a lake, and to my surprise it was much different canoeing in these canals. It was much harder to steer and the wind blew our canoe a little at times. The mangroves were all over the sides of the canal. This was way different from the lake I used to canoe on. We would stop next to these mangroves and hang on to wait for our other classmates. But we needed to make sure not to hang on too hard so that we would not harm the mangroves. While on this trip down the canals, I thought of how peaceful it would be to be in my own canoe paddling down the canal with no one around me but nature. This sounded so peaceful to me. The few boats that went by did so in such a polite and peaceful manner. I envisioned boats traveling by fast and not caring for the animals in these canals and others around them. I was wrong. Seeing this really made me see how much most people have respect for the canals.

When we stopped at a sand grove, I got out of the water. I could see fish swimming near my legs and I got a close up look at the mangroves as well. They were so strong. At this point I could see how they are used as a shelter for animals. I do not remember seeing any trash on this trip. This surprises me because I did a Cape Coral Canal clean up and found pounds of trash. It seemed like this was a much more respected area and I liked that. All of these areas should be respected because we as humans are the visitors. That is why I enjoyed cleaning up canals in Cape Coral so much. I felt like my species had disrespected the species that live in these canals and cleaning up after them made it look and feel so much nicer. These canals are very real and peaceful and I hope they stay that way.

Journal #12 - Urban Fort Myers and Southwest Florida Historical Museum

2010-04-22T18:04:00.000-07:00

The Southwest Florida Historical Museum was a very unique museum in my opinion. It had a lot of great art work to display what things were really like in each category. The Egyptian period was my favorite. They had a fake tomb of King Tut which I thought was very interesting. The different instruments that were used in the past were outstanding. I always get excited about things like this. I got excited like this in ECHO as well when they showed us all of the things they built to survive. I love the saying “catch a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime”. This is really what I thought of when being in this museum because there were so many interesting inventions. The ways the rooms were separated were very nice because it was like stepping into a different time zone going from room to room.

Urban Fort Myers was different than I thought it would be. I have only been downtown Fort Myers once and it was at night so pretty much everything was new to me. I pictured it to be more populated than it was. The huge tree that was in the city was something that I definitely did not expect to see. There were a lot of interesting stores and nice places to eat. Like I said, there were not as many people as I was expecting. It seemed like a small town rather than a city area. The courthouses and buildings looked old yet presentable. We stopped and listened to a man that had lived there his whole life and he told us some interesting things about downtown Fort Myers that were not there today. The people there seemed nice and it looked as if most of them kept to themselves. I would like to go on a day when there are more people. But I think it was good that there weren’t a lot of people so that we had a chance to explore as a group. I would make Fort Myers more lively and welcoming so that people would want to go there and become involved with the community. I would do this because it seemed very boring and low key. People like to be in lively places and have fun while being involved with their community.

Journal #11 Energy Usage

2010-04-22T16:44:00.000-07:00

a)
12:00 am – 9:00 am
· Cell phone on with alarm clock set
· Air conditioning on
9:00 am – 10:20am
· Alarm goes off
· Turn ceiling light on. Off when I leave the room
· Use bathroom (flushing toilet and turning bathroom light on)
· Brush my teeth – use water for a total of 15 seconds
· Take a shower for only 5 minutes and use hot water
· Turn kitchen light on. Off when I leave the kitchen
· Turn on living room light and television to watch a show while I eat my cereal
· Turn my room light back on to get dressed then turn it off and leave for school
10:20 am – 10:45 am
· Drive to school using gas and electricity for my car lights inside and brake lights outside
10:45 am – 11:00 am
· Walk to class using no electricity beside my phone in my pocket
11:00 am – 12:15 am
· Sit in class using the lights in the classroom that were on when I got there
12:15 am – 2:00 pm
· Make a phone call after class
· Walk to Subway to eat. All the lights on in Subway. Electricity is used to heat my sub.
· Texting while eating (using my phones electricity)
· Walk to the library and use a computer.
· Lights all throughout the library
· I print four pages I need for class using the computers energy and the printers energy.
· Walk to class while making a phone call
2:00 pm – 4:25 pm
· In class using the electricity of the lights on the ceiling
· Get out of class early

4:25 pm – 6:10pm
· After class I walk to the water fountain and get a drink for about 5 seconds
· Then I text my roommate on the way to my car
· Drive to the gym using gas and lights on my car
· I go inside the gym with my ipod on using the ipods electricity
· All of the lights are one inside the gym and I use the bathroom once and consume about two twelve ounce bottles of water from the water fountain
6:10 pm – 8:05pm
· Drive home using gas and electricity in my car
· Get home and turn on my bedroom light and ceiling fan
· I take a 7 minute show with warm water
· I go on the computer to check over my homework and e-mail from 7:25pm to 8:05pm
8:05pm – 9:00pm
· Cook a burger on my George Forman grill
· I use energy by opening and closing the refrigerator
· As well as use the kitchen light
· I watch television while I eat until 9:00pm
9:00pm – 10:00pm
· I usually don’t watch much television, but a good show comes on so I watch it until it is over at 10:00pm
· This whole time using the energy of the television and the ceiling light
10:00pm – 10:05pm
· I go in my room and turn on the light
· I then check my e-mail for 5 minutes
10:05pm – 10:15pm
· I brush my teeth using the water for about 15 seconds again
· I also use the bathroom and flush the toilet
10:15pm – 11:25pm
· I go on the computer and surf the web while talking to friends online and doing online homework until 11:25 pm
· My light and ceiling fan are on

11:25pm - 11:59pm
· I turn off my light and fan (AC still on)
· I set my alarm clock on my phone and my phone stays on all night

b) Meter reading not available.
c) Florida Power and Light
d)
· 32.7 miles on this day
· One person drove with me to the gym after class
e)
· Gas mileage – about 18 miles per gallon
· 11,381 miles driven a year (estimated)
g)
I was surprised when I saw how much energy I used in one day. Ever since we have talked about our ecological footprint, I have been cutting down significantly on resources that I do not need. I have been eating what I order and not ordering too much to eat. I have also been being careful with how much water I use. Taking shorter showers and never leaving the faucet running. I found that after doing this for a few days, it becomes a habit and very easy to do. My main concern was driving. I do not usually drive with people during the week because I am so busy with school and work. I normally drive alone and I do not pay attention to how much I drive. I could not find the carbon output on the website, but I am sure I put out too much carbon into out atmosphere. I did not realize I drove so much. I am going to try and drive less so that I do not harm the environment as much. I feel like I keep making little changes that are building into a big change in my life and it feels really good. It also feels good because I can tell my friends are starting to do the same things I do because they hang around me so much. So I am not just helping the environment myself, I am also getting other people involved.

Journal #10 Corkscrew Swamp

2010-04-22T16:24:00.000-07:00

During this field trip we did a lot of walking through the wilderness. Half of the group went with an instructor and the other half went with Professor Davis. I was with the half that went with Professor Davis. She pointed out some very interesting things along the way while walking through corkscrew swamp.
There were wide fields at one point while we were walking on the board walk. The path was like a big circle throughout the swamp and could be starte at either end. This particular field trip was not one of my favorites. I love nature, but i like to get out there and partisipate in things instead of just walk around and look at it. I feel like i would have felt a lot better about this field trip if we actually got dirty ourselves and did some work. I know from experience that makes me feel important to the environment.
We saw some interesting spots along the way including a spot for birds. We came up to this spot on the trail and there were people taking pictures of the birds. Everyone was very quiet. I liked how all the people (even people not in our class) were respecting nature and the birds by not disturbing them. This was very peaceful to me. There were sections in the board walk that were cut off so that animals could cut through if they need to. I had never seen this before on any other trail and thought it was very thoughtful. I learned a lot on this field trip, but i feel like i could have learned it even better if i was out there helping out. I'm not sure if we are allowed to be more hands on in these field trips, but if we are, i think this one would be a great one to get dirty and work.

Journal #9 - Ecological Footprint

2010-03-11T10:05:00.000-08:00

My ecological footprint was 8.3.

This means that if everyone lived like me there would have to be more than 8 planets. I have done the ecological footprint before and my score was higher, so I am happy about that. But, my score was still way too high and I would like to improve a lot more next time I take the ecological footprint.
A big thing that I need to change is how i conserve energy. It seems like after taking my last ecological footprint I conserved energy by turning off lights more for about a few weeks, and then I stopped. I need to really try and conserve energy more and do it every day, not just for the next few weeks. I am getting a lot better at recycling, but my roommates do not recycle at all. something I could to to change this would be putting boxes in my house that are marked for recycling and encourage my roommates to recycle. I do understand my ecological footprint is bad, and I am trying to make it better. I can't make it perfect, but I can improve it and encourage other people to improve theirs. And by doing this, I believe it will help the world and if I reduce other's ecological footprint, it will be like making mine even better.

Journal #8 - Food Intake/Packaging

2010-03-11T09:44:00.000-08:00

2 eggs
one cup of orange juice
one slice of bread
butter
gronola bar
redbull
protein bar
12 inch steak and cheese sandwich from Subway
24 ounce sprite
doritos
1 gallon of water
gronola bar
pizza from cici's
salad from cici's
coco-cola
1 cup of milk

Calories - 2,270

I have researched my calorie intake before and I already knew how many calories is good for a man my age. This is right around the number for an active man to have calories for.

The food that i ate in this particular day was not a great diet. I ate a lot of fats especially when I went to Cici's Pizza whcih I do not go there often. I pretty much have the same breakfast every day. I like to keep protein bars and gronola bars with me throughout the day for a healthy snack. Most of my food for this day was not made by myself, except for breakfast. Being a students and working, I do not get much time to make my own food so I have to go to places like Subway. I try to shop at Publix and get healthy food, but most of the time it doesn't work out because of my busy schedule. I looked up my food and it is mostly food that is in high demand, like steak, cheese, milk, and pizza. These foods are not a great diet, but i think that it is much better than the diets I see from my peers.

b)Portable items

text books
book bag
cell phone
keys
clothes
shoes
hat
bracelet
watch
belt
plates
cups
napkins
paper towels
junk mail
bills

After going through these items, I never realized how many portable items I use every day. All of the things that these items came in were things that seems wasteful. I get a rediculous amount of junk mail every day and usually i don't even open it. This stood out to me as a big waste. The amount of napkins I used for each meal was also surprising to me. I never think about these things and after doing journals on them, I really try to conserve more. It puts everything in perspective for me and I even talk about it with my friends.

http://www.personaltrainingfitness.com/food-calories-list.html

http://www.weightlossforall.com/food-calories-list.htm

http://www.caloriecountercharts.com/chart1a.htm

Journal #7 - Field Trip#2 Estero Bay Historic Cottage and Matanzas Pass Preserve - Conservation 20/20

2010-03-11T09:26:00.000-08:00

The historic cottage was very interesting. The woman that was our guide had some very interesting stories. The boardwalk was something that I was very interested in because of the fact that they made it out of recycled material. I thought to myself how much these people really cared about the environment to do this. I feel like after every field trip something stands out and hit me that it really is important to recycle and preserve our environment. Many people say that it doesn't make a difference unless everyone does it, but places like this show me that they make a difference in many ways by the little things they do in these preserves for the environment.

I thought it was great that these people wanted to preserve the undeveloped natural areas in Lee County. This is the first time that I have heard of this program and I think that everyone involved in it is very involved with the environment and it really makes a difference in these preserves in Lee County. I do not know of any other programs like this one. I have not been very involved with places like this, but the more i see them, the more I would like to take a part in them. I have not been given the opportunity to work with the environment as much as i would like and I feel like many of the places I have volunteered at were soup kitchen and day cares. These places are very important, but I would like to broaden my horizon and volunteer and conservation like this one. I think that tax dollars for land preservations is a good thing, because the tax dollars that we put into these preservations will evertually help us in the future. I have never been to a preservation like this, and I feel like that is because they are hard to find these days. I think that we put our tax dollars into a lot of things and I believe preservations should definitely be one of them. Then I an feel like I am making a difference even if I do not have the time I would like to have to volunteer at these places.

Journal #6 - Water Right and Water Usage Reflection

2010-03-11T09:01:00.000-08:00

a) I think that people that find water that flows beneath common ground should not be able to sell it for a profit. I believe this because water is something that every human being must have in order to survive. Although I do think that people should work for a living and deserve what they get, I also think that water should be something that is given to everyone. I do realize that water is scarce in some places, and I think that this can change. If people find water sources, it should be shared with everyone. Projects as going under earths surface to find more water is great in my opinion. I do think that it should be done in an organized way, as to not hard any living thing. If this is going to happen, it needs to be done in a place where wildlife is not harmed. I believe that a lot of people take water for granted. I can go to the store and get fresh water any time i want. This is not the same for everyone and I think that people are not going to realized this until water is scarce for them. So I believe that going under earths surface to get water is smart, but it needs to be done in an ecologically friendly way. Some alternative ways to get water to cities like Dallas could be through transportation. There are more and more roads going up each and every year and I think that this would be a great way to get water to places where water is scarce. I do not think that roadways should be every where because they really harm our environment, but I do think that there can be a transportation way that is not harmful to our environment and trains can also be use to carry water to these unfortunate cities. I think that there is potential for Florida to have a problem like this because Florida is more secluded than any other state. If there is a shortage of water here, we do not have many neighboring states to rely on and the transportation will be much further than if this happens in other states.

b) Beginning my 24 hour period of measuring how much water I used, I tried to do the same thing I do every day. I drink a lot of water, so I knew my usage of water was going to be pretty high. I did not realize how much water i used brushing my teeth, showering, washing my hands, and going to the bathroom.

24 hours of water usage...

Brushing teeth: 1 liter
Washing face: 2 liters
Washing hands: 2.5 liters
Flushing the toilet: 4 gallons
Drinking: 1.5 gallons
Showering: 5 gallons
Dishes(hand washed not dishwasher): 1 liter

After adding all of these up, I was very surprised at how much water I used on a daily bases. I have been much more aware and I make sure i do not waste water. For example: turning the faucet off while brushing my teeth.

Journal #5 - Future of Food

2010-03-11T08:28:00.000-08:00

My favorite food is Cool Ranch Doritos.

Here are the ingredients and facts about Cool Ranch Doritos.

Organic White Corn, Expeller-Pressed Sunflower Oil, Buttermilk Powder, Sea Salt, Tomato Powder, Whey, Yeast Extract, Cheddar Cheese (Cultured Milk, Salt, Enzymes)Tapioca Dextrin, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Gum Arabic, Sugar, Malic Acid, Dextrose, Organic Sour Cream (Cultured Organic Skim Milk, Organic Cream, Cornstarch, Organic Nonfat Dry Milk, Acidophilus and Bifidus Cultures Added)Torula Yeast, Lactic Acid, Spice and Citric Acid.

As you can see, there are many genetically modified ingedients in Cool Ranch Doritios.
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 oz (28g)
Amount per Serving
Calories 140
Calories from Fat 63
% Daily Value
Total Fat 7g
16%
Saturated Fat 1g
4%
Trans Fat 0g

Cholesterol 0mg
0%
Sodium 170mg
7%
Total Carbohydrates 18g
7%
Fiber 1g
4%
Sugar 0g

Other Carbohydrates 17g

Protein 2g
2%
Vitamins
Minerals
Vitamin B6
Vitamin E
Riboflavin
Thiamin
4%
4%
2%
2%
Calcium
Iron
Magnesium
Phosphorus
2%
2%
4%
6%

SOURCE: http://www.foodsdatabase.com/LinkedLabel.aspx?FoodId=17255

The ingredients were grown mostly in corn fields. The Doritos come from corn and then artificial flavors are added to them to give them their great taste.

Cool Ranch Doritos are made in factories. They get their natural corn from corn distributors from all over the world.

In order to make any types of chips, including cool ranch Doritos, fossil fuels must be used. There are millions of bags of doritos made each year and the fossil fuels to make these add up.

There is not a big about of water required to make cool ranch Doritos as there is for other foods. The water is used for some of the ingredients, but it does add up because of the large number of them that are made every year.

"The Future of Food" documentary was excellent. It really related to my favorite food because it talked about corn that is a main part of Cool Ranch Doritos. They also talked about the heavy machinery that is being made and that is already made to take large amounts of corn and distribute it to companys like Doritos that are at a high demand for it. Although Cool Ranch Doritos is my favorite food, it does have an effect on the environment because of the amount of corn and fossil fuels it requires to make. I was very surprised when i research Cool Ranch Doritos and saw all of the ingredients in them. I think consumers should be aware of the ingredients in their food, because if we were aware, we would not be eating many of them. There are a lot of foods that are very good, yet they are harmful to us and our environment.

Sources: http://www.api.org/classroom/tools/facts-fossil-fuels.cfm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doritos

Journal #4 - ECHO

2010-03-11T07:48:00.001-08:00

ECHO was a very interesting place. I was amazed by all of the things they had there that made food, cooked food, and even cleaned water. I realized how much i took turning on my stove to cook meals forgranted. People make these complex machines that cook their food because they don't have automatic stoves like many Americans do. They had many different types of stoves that were build and our guide explained each one and how each part of them had a purpose. I recall one stove that trapped the smoke so that it would become hotter and cook better. All of these machines were hand made and I was very impressed. There were workers cutting melons as we were walking by and our guide explained that some of them were engineers and doctors and this amazed me because they were so smart and instead of doing something that made a lot of money, they were doing something to help others and our environment.

A sign that caught my eye was about Urban Gardens. It explained that they were used in crowded cities that had limited space for gardening so they would use rooftops and "above ground" gardens. Some examples are, high density household gardens, roadside nurseries, and refugee camp nutrition gardens.

I do not have much experience with gardening. When i was younger I would help my mom gardening, but it would always be flowers, not food. I think that I could grow my own food, but it would take practice. I would like to try and grow my own food some day. The people that have to grow their own food are very emperienced and maybe one day I can learn from someone that grows their own food day by day.

The ECHO field trip really taught me a lot about how people grow their own food and how they cook it. The Treadle Pump was also very remarkable. When pressurized, they can lift5-7m cubed of water every hour from water sources that are 7m deep. They are also a lot cheaper than motor pumps and they can be made locally. Our guide had someone from class use this pump and it seemed very effective and not that tiring to use. Another thing that caught my eye was the Morina, knw as "The Miracle Tree". This tree is ECHO's most popular plant and is very nutritious.

Field Trip #1 - Campus Trail

2010-01-28T10:22:00.000-08:00

Although i missed this trip because of my flight to Pennsylvania, i did go on a little tour of the campus on my own.
I have been going to school at FGCU for over two years now and i love how friendly we are to the environment. I love it when i see aligators on campus on a rare occasion. When i walk down those walkways through the woods i can take a fresh deep breath because of how clean the air is. It is great to walk and see all the trees and birds and other animals that live here on campus. I am glad that they share their home with us and that we did not kick all of the animals out of their habitat. Watching that video in class about how the University was made was very interesting. I did not know there were so many rules about building in environmental places. I thought it was very cool that the University was so concerned about not destroying animals habitats to build this University.
Besides just my every day walks through the beautiful environemt that FGCU has maintained, i also went for a walk in the nature trail near the Rec Fields. I walked into that path and heard so many different noises of species that live out there. From crickets to birds. I sat on the bench that is out there and just relaxed for a little while. It is amazing how soothing nature can make you feel. I was hoping i would see an animal on the path but i did not. I wish i could have gone on the trip to the nature trail with the class but i feel like i am in nature five days a week coming to FGCU for classes. I hope this University stays environmentally friendly because it really makes FGCU unique.

Sense of Place - Your Neighborhood

2010-01-28T10:13:00.000-08:00

I never noticed how much nature is in my neighborhood until this assignment. I go outside on my front porch and there are trees all around. I do not have neighbors on either side. One side is filled with bushes and trees and the other side is a big lot that someone plans to build a home sometime soon. Walking down my street there is a gas station and some other houses a little ways down. There are bushes and trees everywhere. I see and hear birds all the time around my neighborhood. There are also a lot of racoons that come and eat the garbage we put outside in bins. Of course they run away everytime i walk outside or come home. My neighborhood isnt very pretty, but it does have a lot of bushes and trees. There is a possibility that it could become pretty if some time and effort was put into these bushes and trees to help them "shine" a little more. Maybe i will make that a little project that i can work out throughout the semester. I wish there were more animals around my neighborhood.

Incoming Reflection

2010-01-28T10:06:00.000-08:00

I am very excited about this Colloquium class because i do not get to learn about the environment and experience the evvironment as much as i would like to. We already went on a very interesting field trip to ECHO. Seeing the things the people make there was incredible. I go home and turn a switch to turn on my stove, but at ECHO they showed us hand made stoves that people use to cook their food. They showed us so many different ways to make/grow food that i didnt even know were possible.
One great experience ive had with nature was going to the Golden Gate National Park one summer to volunteer. This was an amazing experience and i plan on going back again one day. I love nature and i wish i got to work with nature more often. I look forward to more field trips to various places in this Colloquium class and i would take it even if it wasnt a required course.