The Recreation Discourse Community

     First of all I’d like to mention that I think switching the focus of our blogs to major-related publications was an extremely helpful tactic. Once we understood the basics of rhetoric theory we were able to adapt this information to our field and analyze it while gaining further knowledge of ongoing research and issues. The combination made the course informative and, most importantly, relevant to our focus as students.

Discourse Community

     Learning about the topics that top professionals in the field find interesting and worthwhile has given me a better understanding of my discourse community. I have read numerous textbooks and articles over the past four years so I understand who this community is in theory but most of that work is directed at teaching the basics. The Journal of Leisure Research highlights the specifics, performs case studies in every corner of the world, and adapts the theory to the people and places involved.

      The recreation and leisure discourse community is very committed to the importance of public land management and social wellbeing. It values nature, fitness, diversity and community by researching nearly every combination of these values as possible. This community looks at the world through lenses of needed improvement in the social, environmental and economic worlds.

On Linton et al.

     The Journal of Leisure Research follows the Conventions of Structure, Reference, and Language in a traditional manner. The flow of the argument is based on the scientific method and roughly follows every research project produced. The Intros, the Methods, the Data, the Analysis, and so on are all clearly stated. The best part about these articles is they are incredibly reader friendly and can appeal to any group of people.

     In line with the traditional research methods, this journal is constantly citing previous journals and projects to the point of insanity. I have never been a fan of in text citations because it breaks up the continuous flow of the paragraph but I feel like this journal took it to a whole new level. It is important to credit existing work but I think every other line full of last names and page numbers is unnecessary.

     The language used in the journal articles I have been reading is fairly direct and clearly has a product in mind. The authors explain the situations and theories, provide the data of the study, and state what it means in the context of the situation. At the end, this or that has occurred and it has certain real-life implications.

On Swale

     As far as introductory structure goes, the Journal of Leisure Research establishes a territory by explaining the important ideas and theories behind the subject matter almost immediately. This could be defined as making topic generalizations or simply providing situational context and information. In addition previous research plays a prominent role by citing publications that touch on the issue and provide a greater framework to build on.

     When establishing a niche, the best way to describe these articles via Swales is in the form of raising a question. These articles want to find out more about the relationships between people, communities, the environment and the economic context. By seeking out specific groups or ideas, the authors seek to find out what connections are present.

     As far as occupying this niche, It is clear the introductions outline the purposes of the study (why this research is being conducted) and it indicates some structure (scientific method) but doesn’t spend much time on announcing principal findings. These findings may be touched upon in the Abstract section but the majority of the articles I have read leave the findings to the end. Whether this is intentional or not I cannot tell but it provides incentive to read on once the topics suck you in.

     The process of “knowing” is the basis for every pursuit of knowledge and this scholarly journal provides a medium to the leisure and recreation field. The beliefs and values are present but the articles are played out in a strictly scientific manner that provides little room for interpretation. Experts can use this knowledge to adapt to their own research or professional work to better understand their own world.

    

Visual Research

     Research is basically putting in time and effort and using current knowledge to uncover unknown knowledge. Everyone wants to know more about things and every field requires this type of intellectual progression. Some people make research their career, whether it is in an academic or professional setting, and some just like to learn new things for the sake of learning. 

     Take Creative Inquiry for example, Clemson has recently been pushing not only its professors into the labs and field work but on its students as well. Realizing the important benefits the unknown has to offer, not to mention excellent resume building, is what research is all about.

     Classically research is “done” in the library or in a laboratory. The article “Use of Visual Research Methods to Measure Standards of Quality for Parks and Outdoor Recreation” in the Journal of Leisure Research discusses not only taking research outdoors, but removing the written word. Given the advances in today’s technological realm and the nature of parks and outdoor recreation, it is only natural for “visual research” to exist.

     Visual research harnesses technologies such as computer aided design (CAD), geographic information systems (GIS), and virtual reality (VR) to document what is really going on outdoors. Advancements in cameras and satellites give us the power to view almost anything for an indefinite period of time.

     One way to utilize visual research in this field is to monitor ecological processes, particularly degradation. Using one picture as a baseline (whether it is old or current) provides a starting point. And the changes that occur over time can be monitored by camera or video, from up close or from outer space. How things change, and the goals of the organization, will determine how the place is then managed.

Trail Camera

     Another way to incorporate visual data into a research project is by using cameras to monitor visitor use. I am currently involved in a research project studying visitor use at the Campus Beach (formerly the Y Beach). We used what are called trail cameras to monitor certain areas over a two week period to see which areas got used the most and for what purpose. From this information we can analyze the visitor demographic and their usage styles.

 

     Visual research information can fill in the blanks that classical research cannot reach. By using technology to our advantage and utilizing every research medium, the bar can be set higher and the envelope of knowledge can be stretched one step further.

Impact of Greenways on Property Values

Would you prefer the view outside your window to resemble this?

 

Or this?

While everyone is entitled to their own opinion for any given reason, I am willing to assume a large majority would prefer the first two "backyards" over the last two. This is because we place some degree of satisfaction in the presence of green areas, whether it is a lawn or a forest. The subject of my journal article this week is greenways. To define greenways I shall differ you to our friend Wikipedia:

"long, narrow pieces of land, often used for recreation and pedestrian and bicycle traffic."

"The term greenway comes from the "green" in green belt and the "way" in parkway, implying a recreational or pedestrian use rather than a typical street corridor, as well as an emphasis on introducing or maintaining vegetation, in a location where such vegetation is otherwise lacking. Some greenways include community gardens as well as typical park-style landscaping of trees and shrubs. They also tend to have a mostly contiguous pathway, allowing urban commuting via bicycle or foot."

 The research article, "The Impact of Greenways on Property Values: Evidence from Austin, Texas" by Sarah Nicholls and John L. Crompton, discusses how greenways can positively affect property values in urban housing markets. The article begins: "While many of the advantages of public green spaces are highly intuitive
and easy to describe, they are often difficult to quantify."

Many people, whether they be ordinary citizens, businessmen, or government servers, naturally focus on tangible benefits of a place such as it's amenities or condition, but its the intangible factors that could be key. Property values can stimulate the local economy and this paper was an attempt to prove that parks and greenways are a valid means of accomplishing this task. 

By using the Proximate Principle and Hedonic Pricing, these researchers developed 3 study areas and a number of variable by which to judge them including the Sales value of property, View of greenbelt, and distances from various community facilities. 

The proximate principle essentially states that "that the value of a specified amenity is at least partially captured in the price of residential properties proximate to it." That means the things around your house help dictate how much it is worth. This is why people invest in their surroundings, whether it be their backyard garden/deck/pool, or push to have better public facilities such as schools or parks. 

Hedonic pricing is an economic technique developed to measure this principle. It uses six broad characteristics that influence and explain property prices. These are physical or structural features of the individual property, neighborhood conditions, community conditions, locational factors, environmental
factors, and macroeconomic market conditions at the time of sale.

The essence that I took away from this research was that hedonic pricing is a more throughout and accurate representation of property values than the average methods used because it takes into account the quality of life in a given area. There is a reason 2 out of the 3 study areas found property values benefiting from greenways, open space and nature provide intrinsic positive value. Now that there is more concrete proof, this value maybe see its way into the extrinsic realm of the real estate market. Investing in the community's parks and recreation facilities not only provides environmental and recreational benefits, but aesthetic and economic advantages as well.

Leisure vs. Obligation

“The relationship between obligation and leisure is complex,” begins the article I have chosen to read from the Journal of Leisure Research this week. Before stumbling upon “Leisure and Obligation: An Investigation of Volunteer Tourists' Experience at Kenya's Taita Discovery Center” I would normally have categorized these two ideas as opposites with cut-and-dry differences. But after learning about these research participants’/volunteer tourists’ experiences in Kenya I realized there is more of a continuum between leisure and obligation.

This study was conducted at a Kenyan Discovery Center located between East and West sections of a National Park. The goal of this Center is to conserve the wildlife population’s corridor between the two sections. The difficulty is there are private and communal lands in between this popular migration route so there are obvious conflicts between families, farmers and wild animals. The Discovery Center realizes it needs to work with the community in order to protect the wildlife and find a balance that benefits both stakeholders.

To do this, Taita Discovery Center relies on tourists attracted to wildlife viewing, conservation, and public service. Traditional tourism is almost always classified as a leisure activity because it is not mandatory, you are free to do what you like, and you are, hopefully, enjoying yourself. The opposite of this spectrum would be an obligated activity such as going to work.

The interesting part of this research study is that the tourists who come to this discovery center do so to work AND enjoy themselves. In fact, working in the fields of conservation management and community development is what makes their trip fun.

The results of this study, or why obligatory leisure is desired, came down to these 6 things:

“obligations were described as agreeable because they ( 1 ) were freely chosen and volunteers were not coerced in any way, (2) allowed the volunteers to differentiate themselves from traditional tourists, (3) occurred in novel physical and social settings, (4) were directly related to global causes about which the volunteers felt strongly, (5) were enjoyable, and (6) were perceived as free from evaluation.”

While I never initially thought about it in this way, I think these reasons for enjoyment make perfect sense. It comes down to the idea of truly enjoying what you do and finding value in your work. It’s sort of inspiring in a way – people spending their vacations or time off to volunteer and help out a community of people and animals, and they’re still having as much fun as they would in some tropical resort. The work, the company, and the surroundings are rewarding, not burdening.

On that note: “Find something you love to do and you'll never have to work a day in your life”

Urban Park Eras

As a student in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management I catch a lot of flack about how I don’t do any work and my classes are about studying what it’s like to have fun. While I concede that I am not learning the technical ins and outs of medicine or engineering, I strongly believe in what I am learning: the ins and outs of a functioning society in an environmental context. My classes have dealt with a balance of social and natural sciences and I consider myself lucky to be involved in such an adaptable and relate-able field.

My concentration within PRTM is Park and Protected Area Management which focuses on how the natural world affects our social, economic, and physical wellbeing. I have chosen to use the Journal of Leisure Research for my blog posts for the remainder of the semester. I look forward to delving deeper into my area of expertise, recognizing topics from my classes and applying this knowledge to the articles and research papers I read. I hope to share some of these issues with my class and promote an understanding of the study of recreation and leisure.

The first article that caught my eye was about a book called The Politics of Park Design and how it is the “only comprehensive account of urban park development in the United States.” Written 30 years ago by Galen Cranz, this book starts out discussing the need recognition of parks in cities goes through the four stages of park politics up to present day. 

The first urban parks were called Pleasure Grounds and emerged from the idea that people needed an escape from the filth and crowd of city life. These “antidote” areas were to stimulate minds in an open, natural environment.

In one sense, this is exactly how I feel about the purpose of urban parks in today’s society and I am relieved our American ancestors felt the same way, because without this consideration, parks can be easily swallowed whole by housing or business development.

The second era in urban park development is known as the Reform Era because workers began having more free time and therefore more time for themselves. This was the beginning of playgrounds and swimming pools thanks to urban social workers recognizing the first need to “keep kids off the streets.”

I picture the kids from City of God or mini Green Street Hooligans swinging on swings or swimming in pools rather than beating the crap out of each other or robbing their neighbors.

The Recreation Facility era of the mid-20^th century sort of removed focus from the well-being of people to the well-being of the facility. There was a pride in enhancing and maintaining sports facilities and competitive spirit instead of maintaining green space and recuperation.

I can’t say this is my favorite aspect of the park and recreation field but it is important to note how economically beneficial athletics can be. The real money, however, is in the balance.

The final era, considered up until the book’s publication in 1980, is the Open Space era. This era craved connectivity and open space as a reaction to the facility structure craze for the earlier generation. This type of thing has to do with public squares, vacant lot parks, and corridor parks such as along a river or lake.

If Cranz were writing this book today, I will go out on a limb and deem the modern area the Sustainability era. Concepts of the environment are shifting toward sustaining the current ecosystems we have in an attempt to minimize human impact. I think that the fact we even have green spaces in urban areas attests to a healthier environment and a recent push in environmentalism is benefiting public health, economic stimulation, and social capital.

So that's an introduction to my interests and field of work. In the future I plan to find research and issue articles about things going on in our social and natural world.

FLASH MOB

After reading the Smart Mob article and discussing the relatively new phenomenon in class today, all I could think about was

A) Re-reading the book mentioned in class called The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell and

B) The very similar term "Flash Mob" that I have been hearing about in my local news for the past few years.

First of all, Malcolm Gladwell is a great writer and has a lot of well-crafted, knowledgeable things to say about a wide variety topics. He has been a writer for the New Yorker for over a decade, written a many successful non-fiction books and was named as one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in 2005.

My favorite Gladwell work is a book called Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. If you ever want to learn about "gut-feelings" and split-second decisions (and why they are correct) I recommend you check it out. Fairly quick and easy read that can really open your mind up to intuition.

Here is one way to quickly and broadly summarize how The Tipping Point relates to social networking and smart mob's from a fellow Blogger's site:

 

Source: http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2006/07/visualizing_the.html

My real interest in this expansive topic of social networking, connectivity and technology is the concept (and practice) of Flash Mobs. In the past two years the City of Philadelphia has experienced a number of flash mob instances and from what I understand they are essentially identical as smart mob's, only these mobs have turned violent. 

Being from the Philadelphia area and frequenting Center City regularly, to hear about hundreds, even thousands, of teenagers flooding the streets at the same time randomly can be kind of disconcerting. 

Why are they here? How did this start? What are they going to do?

Whether innocently started for excitement or callously concocted for crime, these mobs have shown up and turned the streets into mayhem.

2008

On one hand you have a seemingly peaceful attempt at an impromptu World Series Parade:




But in this next video, things turn into break-ins and rioting:





Obviously social networking can be used for crime but these flash mobs in Philly (and other cities in the United States and abroad) truly show both the power of social networking and the inevitable dangers new technology poses for society.

This next video is a news report explaining the situation in more detail. It reaches for answers as to why these mobs exist. This situation brings up countless speculations and inquiries about the smart/flash mob subject.




For the sake of blog post brevity, I'll save my personal opinions for a later date and please let me know what you think.


I'd now like to revive your outlook on smart mobs before I sign off. They can be clever, meaningful, or just really funny.


FLASH FREEZE





FLASH NINJA

Group Projects: The Incentive

I have worked on so many group projects in my academic career that they have become quite the norm. I still dislike them and often dread having to pick partners, figure out meeting times, and allocate workloads.

That being said, ever since middle school I have understood the importance of being able to get along with people, if only for the short time the group is together. It is a practical life skill and can really make things go smoother.

My favorite part about the group project model is when teachers give essentially two grades, an individual part and a group part. This is the incentive that really encourages every group member to contribute to the project to the best of their ability.

By holding members personally responsible for the work they were delegated, and implementing a "grade your group members" part of the project, the 'slacker' mentality is largely weeded out. I'm not sure when teachers started grading projects this way but I'm glad they did. Accountability is such an important trait that we should be making sure it is rewarded.

Metaphysical Rhetoric

Was it just me or did today’s class start to feel like a 300-level Philosophy class? Personally, I enjoyed the subject a lot because individual perception and personal interpretation are two topics that continually blow my mind. I love how EVERYONE sees, feels, reads, and rationalizes EVERYTHING differently. I know there are some “absolutes” and in conversation we tend to agree with each other on a variety of things but I believe we never truly understand exactly what the other person is thinking. There are too many nuances and too many signals where we can differ, too much background and situational knowledge to consider. This isn’t a bad thing and often it isn’t enough to cause a problem because most of the time it goes unnoticed.


In the case of technical writing however, we all read into things differently and come up with differing ideas of what they mean. Today’s article by Carolyn Miller theorized about the difference between scientific logic and fact and the message the writing portrays. When it comes down to it, most scientific expression is based on “scientists” (in the loosed possible sense) trying to come up with a concise way to represent the facts to the audience, whoever it may be. And even if it is their peers or the average public, neither was there to witness the discoveries and no one will inherently know how the scientist felt. There is a disconnection between what happens and how we explain it, and that missing piece is the failure of words to satisfy the need.


I think one of the things Miller was getting at, as outlined at the end of the article, is that technical writing doesn’t need to be an exact science and but rather a device to bring the audience (whoever cares about what is being written) together. It creates a community or culture around a subject and can be discussed as it is interpreted by individuals as to what the meaning truly is about.

Catering to the Audience

     I completely forgot to write a Blog post last week so I have had the opportunity to read a number of my classmates entries in catching up after the weekend. Writing Instructions seems to be the popular topic and rightfully so. This is our first real assignment in this class and although it seemed like an easy one at the start I am starting to change my mind. It seems we are all gaining a new appreciation for the little booklets that come with our purchases, trying their best to make sense in the heads of every random buyer of the product or service.
     The more specific the topic, i think, the easier it is to write instructions for something because your audience is highly specialized and therefore easier to cater to. I think the real difficulty arises in trying to  write instructions for the general public, anyone. We all interpret things differently and I think that pays a huge role in our perception of instructions. Some love the all visual Ikea ones and some despise them, some need warnings and hints and explanations while others just want the bare facts. As we continue our assignment process, I think it is great we have a chance to go over our work with our group and get feedback. This way we can see how others interpret our work and gives us an idea of how to cater more towards the audience.

 Random Question

What do you think would be the hardest thing to write general instructions for?
I'm going with Jury Duty

Exisitential Exigence

     Ever spend time thinking about those major life challenges that question your existence? Why are we here? Is there really a God? What is our purpose in life? No? Well good for you lucky few. These issues may seem lofty and impossible but they do provide an obstacle that you want to overcome or a problem you want to solve.

     In Bitzer's "The Rhetorical Situation," the concept of thinking in 3's continues with a new concept of rhetoric. The article breaks it down into three parts: exigence, audience and constraints. Exigence refers to an observable issue that needs resolution, providing a subject matter for the rhetorical situation. It is also closely related to how I view a part of the idea of existentialism, but more on that in a minute. The second part of the rhetorical situation is audience, meaning the rhetorical discourse needs to be directed toward someone in a convincing manner. Also I think it is important to note that this audience should be capable of either making the change or at least passing along the message to others. This gives the rhetoric direction and action. The third part are constraints because without something or someone standing in the way, rhetoric would probably fall flat and become meaning less. If everyone agreed on every issue there may well be an audience but who cares? There is nothing to argue.

     Existentialism takes into account a lot of different ideas and beliefs about the world but what I am interested in is the resolution of issues that rhetoric takes on. This broad belief system, in part, focuses on free will and how life isn't rational. Rhetoricians may be trying to persuade or enlighten a group of people who simple won't listen/understand/care about what is being said. Think about our political system and how people may make their voting decisions. I know plenty of people who vote for candidates based on a number of things unrelated to what they say. Do you think everyone who votes watches the debates, researches the issues, and is swayed by the political rhetoric throughout the campaign period? My point is no one knows how rhetoric will affect society, or individuals, if even at all; but overcoming obstacles, and searching for answers, is an essential part of the rhetorical situation. Without it, we are preaching to an audience without a point.

And in relation to the Mosque controversy, here is an article I stumbled upon "proving" (and I use this term with the utmost sarcasm) that there are people out there very, very easily swayed by the rhetoric (enthymenes) missing important premises:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/man-already-knows-everything-he-needs-to-know-abou,17990/

Rhetoric: Necessary Evil

     After reading Herrick's piece about rhetoric, I feel like I don't view this form of writing any differently, only with a little more empathy. He brought up lots of examples proving that we use persuasion in almost every part of our lives: business, music, love, etc. Prior to Monday, I reserved persuasion for essays in English class and political debates, both inherently evil enterprises, but now I see how persuasion can exist everywhere and don't know where we would be without it. Rhetoric, in the sense of Athenian decisions on war or twisting the truth in "Thank You For Smoking", is just one way of looking at the genre.

I particularly liked the definition that characterized rhetoric as

"Achieving clarity through structure"
and
"Sense of beauty through aesthetics"

I think it casts rhetoric in a different light, a light that makes it seem both technical (clarity and structure) and persuasive (beauty and aesthetics).