I am taking a class in Sociology as a prerequisite to Nursing. This is my first essay for the class. It’s the first essay I’ve had to write in almost a decade, and I found it kind of fun. When I say kind of, it’s because it is still stressful and I turned it in literally 2 minutes before it was due. If anyone actually reads this, please post a response. I’d like to know what you think.
Question: As you probably know, online classes are currently the most popular sections of Sociology 1 that we offer here at CCSF. How do you think that a sociologist would explain why this is?
Online classes are currently the most popular sections of Sociology 1 offered at CCSF. There are many different factors that contribute to this, but I think that from a sociological perspective, the reason has to do with an over-arching trend in the education community toward online learning brought on by the cultural diffusion and acceptance of cyberculture. There are also aspects about sociology that lend itself more to online learning. On a a micro level, I believe that there are things about this particular class and this particular university that would explain the trend towards more students preferring online instruction. Namely, the structure of a lecture class, the internet savvy culture of the Bay Area, and the fact that CCSF has a high number of commuters and people of a low income within it’s student body.
I just went through some old articles and found this. It’s a write-in about an article in City Bike newspaper in September of 2004. This was in response to an article that was written about the special dangers that SUVs pose to motorcyclists, and suggested that this should be grounds to recall SUVs.
Dear City Bike,
I am responding to a letter written in by Jerry Frommer of San Jose who says
…there certainly would be a safety recall if a SUV was found to have a safety defect that threatened the lives of the passengers inside the vehicle…
The scary thing is that there were (are still?) demonstrable threats to the passengers inside SUVs, but they were not recalled.
Remember the recall of the Firestone tires on the Ford Explorer? Sure the Firestone tire was more prone to bursting on the Explorer than other tire brands, but other brands also burst on the Explorer. Just not at as high of a rate. The danger of using a particular brand of tire on a particular vehicle is a relatively minor safety problem concerning the SUVs. The recall was used as a smoke screen to hide other defects in the Explorer (and other SUVs) by deflecting scrutiny to the tire, not the vehicle design.
There were studies that suggested that the higher center of gravity of the SUV made them prone to tip over while rounding turns at relatively slow speeds (as little as 40mph in some instances) but this evidence was covered up. Also covered up was the fact that some are actually prone to combustion upon impact. Spontaneous combustion people! If that is not cause for recall, what it?
SUVs are big, scary, gas guzzling death machines, dangerous to those inside and out. To find out that there is empirical evidence that they are especially lethal to us bikers – and not just the children playing in the driveway – is not surprising.
This article was originally published as the feature and center spread cover story in Urban Moto magazine Issue 43, June 2008. This was their first ‘Green’ Issue. This article is about Michael Sturtz, founder of the Crucible. I talk about the man, how he built a bio diesel motorcycle that broke a land speed record, his organization the Crucible, fire, and how he is green.
Here is a link to the article on Urban Moto’s site [site is now gone].
From left to right: Aliena, Matt Rhea, Kristina Cańizares, Leah Gonzalez. Matt is one of the Diesel Dozen, The rest are from the The Nekyia dance troupe. Photo: Sarah Chaput
Making Biodiesel Sexy by Torrey Nommesen
Michael Sturtz & The Crucible
When I walked up to do the photo shoot, there was this kid walking out with a beautiful Mandolin. I asked him where he got it, and he smiled and said‚ ”I made it!” Along with a long list of class offerings including welding, blacksmithing, foundry, glass working, woodworking, and ceramics, they teach a class on how to make a Mandolin.
If there is something you want to learn how to make, they probably teach it here. You can also learn, among many other things, how to make jewelry, work with neon, make a low rider bicycle, fix your motorcycle, build robots, and dance with fire. This is all part of Michael Sturtz’s vision manifest at a warehouse in West Oakland a block from the BART and right off the I-880.
Before founding the Crucible, Michael had a career as a sculptor. His works are exhibited all over the world, and are in collections in California, Chicago, Vermont, New York, Texas, Italy and England. He was making, selling and teaching sculpture quite successfully. His bio says in humble yet perfect art-speak that “his pieces address both concept and form through the creation of intriguing kinetic machines and strong material contrasts that often include creative mixtures of stone, cast and fabricated metals, glass, kinetics, light, fire, liquid and video.”
Between November 12 and November 26, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is offering a Give One Get One program in the United States and Canada. OLPC, better known for their $100 Laptop, was founded by ex Chairman of MIT Media Lab Nicholas Negroponte to get laptops in the hands of the children of developing countries. If you don’t know what the $100 Laptop is or why you should care, watch this video.
I come up with and change the text for each issue of Urban Moto:
August ‘07:
Benjamin Franklin sought to cultivate his character by a plan of thirteen virtues:
1. TEMPERANCE – Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
2. SILENCE – Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
3. ORDER – Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
4. RESOLUTION – Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5. FRUGALITY – Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
6. INDUSTRY – Lose no time; be always employ’d in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7. SINCERITY – Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. JUSTICE – Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9. MODERATION – Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. CLEANLINESS – Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.
11. TRANQUILLITY – Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
12. CHASTITY – Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.
13. HUMILITY – Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
September ‘07:
(the text was taken from a spam email)
A kind of snow, which hesitates
(Our fortitude grows dim in
By the design of our own silent eyes
Or else, like us, sunk into some long gaze
Seen. What you know is only manifest
Calling me to you with wild gesturings
Silence, are in his hand—birds in a snare;
As if your absence now concluded long ago.
Cuts out of its width (81). Unfair
They tear apart the mist, it is as though,
Swaying in unison beneath the snow,
snoozing. A schoolgirl on vacation gapes,
VIII. Russia: The Great Northern Expedition
—Now that you notice it—have just moved past
At San Biagio, in the most intense room
Covering the land—
In dense bare branches, or the ubiquitous
XXI. Flying in the Arctic
Never does any motion, sound, or light
My only thought is for what has
To listen, by the sputtering, smoking fire,
Through the back of the picture at the patch of white
Will hear the storm-blast of his clarion.
Over the chilly dale.
Snow haze gleams like sand.
Calling me to you with wild gesturings
IX. After the Great Northern Expedition
And piled up at the base of the columns
Rise, to the muffled chime of churchbell choir.
That open before me? What I see
Only whirled snow heaped up by whirled snow,
VIII. Russia: The Great Northern Expedition
Beyond ice floe and berg and ice-bound sea,
Sphinx of questioning substance, or a sort
Deep in the fog that quenches every ray,
It’s snowing, it’s returning to a town
He terrifies the Vast, he seems so wild;
One flash of eye, or blow one clarion-blast;
Photo essay originally published in issue 34, June 2007 of Urban Moto magazine. This documents a crash at the 2007 AMA Superbike race at Infineon Raceway.
This is an article I wrote for Urban Moto. It came out April 2007. It is about how I got towed and they did not give me the choice of using a motorcycle tow company and my bike got damaged.
The City’s Tow Racket by Torrey Nommesen
I was pulled over by a motorcycle cop the other day for an expired registration. The cop had my bike towed and I had to take a cab to the DMV, then another cab to the Police Station downtown, walk to the tow company around the block, and then take another cab to the tow yard. Each stop cost me from $200 to $600 cash (that’s USD for all you non-Yankee Doodles) totaling over a thousand dollars. What a pain!
But the thing that really pissed me off, is that I had to use City Tow. The cop flat out refused to let me use any other company. You need a different set-up to tow a bike, and most places don’t seem to know the difference. The result was that my bike got damaged. I reported the damage but the impound yard responded with a letter the very next day stating that the officer claims the damage was already there.
What pissed me off about this scenario, not so much about the cop lying (I don’t know, maybe he’s just blind, not crooked) is that you don’t get the choice of who tows your bike! I should have the right to choose a type of transport that doesn’t damage my vehicle. I’m not a lawyer, but I thought we had laws against dangerous monopoly.
Here’s an analogy: I’m in he hospital, I am O negative and need a blood transplant, but they only have B positive blood available there. The kind of blood I need, one that won’t damage me, is available from a blood bank a few blocks away, but since the hospital that I am at does not have a contract with that particular place, I have to die.
They seem to think that the economic gain of a government contract outweighs the inconvenience of destroyed motorcycles. It sends the message that the city of San Francisco thinks motorcycle riders are second class citizens.
So what are we going to do about it? If there is anyone out there in San Francisco who has had a similar situation, I’d like to hear from you. I’d also like to hear form a lawyer who would want to work on a class action suit.
Advertisement designed for Urban Moto’s T-shirts. I took the pictures in the ad of my sister. Yes, she’s of age, and no, you cannot have her phone number.
I come up with and change the text for each issue of Urban Moto:
March ‘07:
Once upon a time, there was a girl with golden hair who wandered in drunk and stoned into Urban Moto’s office and found three T-shirts. She tried on the long sleeve one, and it was too big. Then she tried on the short sleeve T-shirt, and it was too small. Then she tried on the girls tank top and it fit just right. Just then, the managing editor, the art director and the art publisher – falling down drunk as usual – wandered in and saw the T-shirts spread across the floor. “Someone’s been wearing my T-shirt” mumbled the art director. “Someone’s been wearing my T-shirt” laughed the art director, “and it’s all stretched out!” “Someone’s been wearing my tank top,” said the managing editor and then kinda sputtered something unintelligible and passed out. The girl with the golden hair ran out the door with the tank top and was never seen or heard from again.
April ‘07:
Cream together: 2 cups butter, 2 cups sugar, 2 cups brown sugarAdd: 4 eggs, 2 tsp. vanillaMix together in separate bowl: 4 cups flour; 5 cups oatmeal (put small amounts of oatmeal in blender until it turns to powder; Measure out 5 cups of oatmeal and only “powderize” that, NOT 5 cups “powderized” oatmeal); 1 tsp salt; 2 tsp baking powder; 2 tsp baking sodaMix: All of the aboveAdd: 24 oz. bag of chocolate chips and 1 finely grated 8 oz Hershey bar (plain).Add: 3 cups chopped nuts (any kind)Bake on greased cookie sheet (make golf ball sized balls) and bake about two inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKEMakes 112
May/June ‘07:
In physics, mass-energy equivalence is the concept that all mass has an energy equivalence, and all energy has a mass equivalence. Special relativity expresses this relationship using the mass-energy equivalence formula E = mc² where E = the energy equivalent to the mass (in joules), m = mass (in kilograms), and
c = the speed of light in a vacuum (celeritas) (in meters per second).
This concept unites the concepts of conservation of mass and conservation of energy, allowing mass to be converted to forms of active energy (eg. kinetic energy, heat, or light) while still retaining mass. Also, active energy can be converted to particles which have rest mass. The total amount of mass and energy in a closed system remains constant. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, and in all of its forms, trapped energy exhibits mass. In relativity theory, mass and energy are two forms of the same thing, and neither one appears without the other.
This is an article I wrote for Urban Moto Which came out February 2007. I give you my opinion of two different custom made ear-plugs and tell why you would want a pair.
Big Ear vs PlugUp – Custom Fit Ear Plugs by Torrey Nommesen
Image from article. Photo by Jennifer Delk
I don’t wear ear plugs around town, but I do when I go on long trips or out for a Sunday ride. I’ve been to San Diego from San Francisco a few times and one of the worst feelings is having an earplug slip. I’m on the highway and I’m in my groove. It’s just me, my bike, and the road. Then all of a sudden the wind whistles in one ear. Do I try to ignore it? Wiggle my head until the other plug falls out? Or do I pull over, take off my helmet, adjust my ear plug only to have it fall out again in another 20 miles down the road? Well, I’ve done all three, and all three options are a real pain in the ass.
This is where an expensive pair of custom made earplugs shows its true value. You can usually find a booth at any motorcycle race in the vendors area or at a motorcycle show. They sit you down and squish this goo in your ear (it helps if you clean your ears before you sit down). The goo hardens a bit and they pull it out. The product is finished right there but you have to wait a little under half an hour.
I’ve been using a pair from PlugUp and I recently got a pair from Big Ear to see the difference. I went on a ride out to Drakes Beach. I used the Big Ear ones on the way up and the PlugUp ones on the way back.
The Big Ear plugs slipped out, so I had to pull over to adjust it. It took a bit to figure out how they were supposed to go in, but once I did, I was golden and they worked great the rest of the trip. Then when I took my helmet off, one of them slipped out and fell on the ground. I think I need a bit more practice with them.
The PlugUp ones worked fine and there was nothing to talk about other than they just worked.
They both cut down the noise of my engine and cut the wind noise of my helmet out (I wear a flip-up, so there’s lots of wind noise), but you can still hear horns and sirens. The Big Ear product seems to be a little softer than the PlugUp one and have less material. The PlugUp ear plugs have an extra bit that goes around the outside. This harder material with more to go around the ear ensures that they stay in place. The softer material of the Big Ear ones are a little more comfortable and they don’t show up as much when you take the helmet off.
I recommend getting a pair of custom made earplugs, they are totally worth the expense.
This is an article I wrote for Urban Moto Which came out January 2007. I give you my opinion of why it is better than owning a car, give you my reasons for using one, and then I take you through the general process. Afterwards I lists and compare the 3 car share options in San Francisco.
When Two Wheels Aren’t Enough by Torrey Nommesen
I don’t need to convince you that motorcycles are great and cars suck. A car is an expensive albatross compared to a bike – gas, parking, insurance (everything but tires is cheaper for a bike). There are many other reasons why we ride, and you can read all about it in someone else’s article in this paper.
But sometimes, you need to pick up your baby sister from the airport, or it’s raining outside and your rain suit has a big hole in, or you’ve got some junk to take from point A to point B and you can’t fit it on a bike with one trip. So, what do you do if you need a car once in a while but you don’t want to own said piece-of-junk-with-a-trunk on four wheels? Do what I do, join a car time-share.
The main impetus for me to sign up for a car share was the point A to B thing. I rent a warehouse where the rent is cheap because it’s across the bay. I use this spot to brew beer and make art. I wouldn’t even have thought about getting that space if I didn’t have access to a car.
I use City CarShare. Tell ‘em Torrey from Urban Moto sent you and I get a little kick back. It is the only non-profit one in my area, so it gives me the warm fuzzies to use them. The 501(3)(c) means that the primary focus of the company is on providing a service to society, not necessarily the financial bottom line.
Here’s how it works with City CarShare, and the process is similar with the other companies:
You have to be at least 21. First, you sign up online with a credit card. You wait a few days as they check out your driving record and do a credit check to make sure you’re not a criminal and that you’ve actually got a license. Then you go through an orientation – either in person or online depending on the company.
To drive the cars, you go online or make a phone call with an automated system to reserve your car for as long as you want in 15 minute increments. You can almost always get a car when you need it, usually even at the last minute. You drive it, then return it to the same location that you picked it up. If the car you want isn’t near you, you can usually get one from another lot a few blocks down. Check the web sites before you join to see what lots are near you (City CarShare calls them ‘Pods’).
A card or key fob opens the car and keeps track of you so they can bill you, and your credit card gets billed monthly. The most I’ve ever paid is $375, but I usually pay about $50 a month.
You fill up the tank at a gas station with a card that’s in the glove box. Always remember to bring it back with more than half a tank, or you’ll get charged if the next driver complains. You get charged a fee if you run the car too late, a little more if you inconvenience another driver (but you can call the system to extend your reservation.) More fees if they catch you smoking in the car or if the car is especially dirty. They wash the cars, but if it gets too dirty you can get it cleaned and they’ll reimburse you. No pets (or at least without pet carriers).
They’ll reimburse you for a cab or come pick you up if the car dies. None of the cars are more than three years old, so this has never happened to me. If you get in an accident, there’s a little form in the glove box. You exchange insurance info with the other driver, call your company and they take care of the rest.
As with all of them, they have trucks if you need to haul a bunch of stuff, or you can get a small car that’s easy to park if you just need to pick up a few things. Best of all, if you don’t need the car, you don’t need to keep it around.
Below is an outline of the ones available in San Francisco.
City CarShare
Plus: Warm fuzzy feeling (read above). The cheapest overall.
Minus: Only for the San Francisco area. You have to come up with $330 deposti up front. No pets (this may change).
Locations: San Francisco and East Bay
Founded: 2001 in San Francisco by a group of activists
Cars: Cooper MINI Convertible, Honda Civic Hybrid, Honda Element, Scion xA, Scion xB, Toyota Prius, Toyota Tacoma, VW Beetle
Cost:
$10/month + $4/hour + $.44/mile
$30 application fee
$300 security deposit*
*The deposit is refunded if/when you quit. You can add others to your plan to waive the $300, but you are responsible if they flake. Waived if you’re a UC Berkeley student
Flex Car
Plus: Nationwide (because of partnership with I-Go).
Minus: it requires a lot of thinking to determine time vs miles to get the best possible rate.
Locations: throughout California and the West Coast including LA and San Diego, Portland (OR) and Seattl With a partnership with I-Go cars, you can use cars in Washington D.C., Atlanta and Chicago.
Founded: Seattle, WA in 1999 (they hit San Francisco in 2005)
Cars: (they list them only by type) Convertible, Hybrid Sedan, Minivan, Pickup Truck, Sports Car, Standard Sedan, Sub-Compact, Utility Vehicle, Wagon
Cost:
hourly or monthly
(San Francisco area, rates differ in different cities)
$25 – $35 application fee (depending on plan) + $50 annual fee
(depending on plan) +
$0 – $730/month depending on plan.
Higher monthly means more “free” hours. Similar to a cell phone plan where you buy a certain amount of hours per month and then pay extra if you go over the time limit.
Standard Plan $0/month + $9/hr
DriveFor5 Plan $25/month + $9/hr
Advantage 10 Plan $85/month up to 10 hours, $8.50 additional hours
Advantage 25 Plan $200/month up to 25 hours, $8.00 additional hours
Advantage 50 Plan $375/month up to 50 hours, $7.50 additional hours
Advantage 100 Plan $730/month up to 100 hours, $7.30 additional hours
Zip Car
Plus: Nationwide plus Canada. The most variety of cars out of the bunch. They have a system where only your key will work with your reserved car, so someone else doesn’t accidentally take it. You can pay hourly or monthly, and they’ll automatically bill you the cheaper rate.
Minus: Not the cheapest option.
Locations: throughout North America including Toronto, Minneapolis, Chicago, New York, Boston, Washington DC, and Chapel Hill, NC.
Founded: Cambridge, MA 1999 (SF in 2005)
Cars: Over 20 makes and models including BMW, MINI Cooper, Volvo, Mazda, Pickup Trucks, SUVs and Prius Hybrids
Cost:
hourly or monthly, you pay the cheaper of the two.
Cars start at $8.75 per hour or $65 per day, and range to $12.75 per hour or $95 per day for premium vehicles
$25 – $50 per year depending on your plan
$25 application fee
I don’t wear ear plugs around town, but I do when I go on long trips or out for a Sunday ride. I’ve been to San Diego from San Francisco a few times and one of the worst feelings is having an earplug slip. I’m on the highway and I’m in my groove. It’s just me, my bike, and the road. Then all of a sudden the wind whistles in one ear. Do I try to ignore it? Wiggle my head until the other plug falls out? Or do I pull over, take off my helmet, adjust my ear plug only to have it fall out again in another 20 miles down the road? Well, I’ve done all three, and all three options are a real pain in the ass.
