Ref7ection

SMC Reflection

The SMC has helped me learn about the problems facing my species by pushing me to do more relevant research than I would have normally done, if not pushed to do so by the daily constraints. I believe that the biggest issue to equines right now is their mistreatment by the Bureau of Land Management–specifically their unethical roundups. It is the most important because it harms the most amount of wild horses–animals that have no real humans or advocacy groups to help them, and is federally funded, so no real legal action will be taken. I found that the American Wild Horse Campaign’s solution of mandating that cameras be added to all roundup vehicles is a step in the right direction. That way we can hold the BLM accountable for their actions by constant monitoring by us, the people and taxpayers who want the equines to be cared for in the right, ethical way. I can most certainly use the American Wild Horse Campaign’s information on their page to help define the problem that is the BLM, and their proposed solution of cameras helps suggest a better solution.

My best tweets are the ones shown above. I like these ones the most because they showcase the kind of activism I like the most–activism that can be done by the most amount of people and which has the greatest impact for the effort involved.

Infographic

I made this infographic for the SMC project, which advocates for wild horses. As we can see above, the infographic lists the ways that wild horses are being mistreated in the US, especially by the Bureau of Land Management.

Making Arguments

I learned a lot from the animal rights speakers that we listened to this week. Their compelling arguments come from their appeals to the main three argumentative categories: logos, pathos, and ethos. I will apply the tactics that I discussed in the canvas discussion from the speakers–namely their passion and thoroughness. I could possibly quote some of the arguments to pathos made by Yourofsky or Singer.

Peer Review

When I peer reviewed Rong and Alan, I gave a lot of feedback on their papers. I thought that for the most part, their work was on the right track. Alan’s use of diction could use a bit of work, and Rong’s paper could use a lot more work–when I reviewed his paper, much of it was missing or unwritten. Some of the best advice I gave to Alan was cutting down on the wordiness/filler language that he was using. I gave him three strong suggestions in the Scholarly Ethos section that I hope he implemented. I didn’t get much advice, but one of the strongest pieces of advice I received from Alan was his help in cutting down on unnecessary details in explaining the methodology of the experiments.