Topic: Identify a situation on the campus or in your community which you would like to see changed. Write a well organized essay in which you explain the situation, the nature of the change you would like to see made, and the reasons why this change is necessary or desirable.

Sample UDWPE Paper A: a "6" PAPER

There would seem to me to be several ways to help the situation. The most obvious of these solutions is to increase the amount of parking available. Another solution is to make car pooling more attractive. Set aside space in a convenient lot for these cars with three or more occupants. Perhaps another incentive would be to charge less for a parking sticker for this lot. Also having free advertising in the school paper for car pools might encourage more students to try and contact potential ride sharers. In other words, make it convenient for car poolers. In this same vein, buses or vans could be run to outlying areas which have large numbers of Northridge students as residents. Charge a fee which would be less than the student is now paying in parking fees and gas. lf the buses or vans were advertised in the paper to increase student interest and if they were run at convenient times, l am sure many students would take advantage of the opportunity.

A somewhat different tack would be to encourage bicycle riding and/or walking. Many students living close to campus still drive when they could be bicycling. Making the roads safer for bikers is of major concern and unsafe conditions are the reasons given by many who do not ride. Providing bicycle lanes on all streets around the campus would be extremely beneficial. This would decrease contact with the faster moving traffic. Adding more bicycle stands on campus which are secure would also encourage bike riding. Perhaps courses on bike riding safety could be conducted on campus. Again, advertising of the new bike lanes and bike facilities would encourage more people to ride. Also advertising the health benefits of riding or walking should increase the number of students who will take advantage of this inexpensive means of transportation. There are several reasons why this change is both necessary and desirable. As enrollment at Northridge increases, the problem is only going to get worse. The problem is already bad and something needs to be done now to alleviate it. Increasing available parking would do the most good and provide safe, lighted parking for the majority. Parking on dimly lit side streets has been very unsafe at night for quite some time. The other solutions to the problem which I have outlined above are all energy conserving. Not only will gas which was wasted cruising lots and streets for available spaces be saved, but more gas will be saved by using car pools, buses, vans, bikes or leg power. Friends will be made in the car, bus or van pools. Health benefits can be derived from the bikes or from walking.

In conclusion, l feel that if you make it cost effective and convenient for people to conserve, they will do so. This conservation alone could probably alleviate the parking and traffic problem or at least reduce it significantly. lt is up to the school and community to make it convenient.

Comments

This is a clear and organized treatment of the CSUN parking problem. It deals with all three parts of the topic: the situation, the change needed, and reasons for the change. It is well detailed, in fact more so than necessary in setting forth the changes to alleviate the problem. The paper is carefully written and nearly error-free, though the style is rather pedestrian and there are several infelicities (e.g., a switch in person in the first paragraph, switches to the imperative mood, and occasional wordiness).

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Sample UDWPE Paper B: a "6" paper

Perhaps one could even justify racial-based separation within an area of common interest on the grounds that common racial and cultural ties promote even better understanding within a common sub-group. l refer specifically to the fact that there is a "Student Business Association (almost exclusively white), a "Black Student Business Association" (exclusively black), and a "Chicano Student Business Association (exclusively Chicano). Now, all three of the aforementioned share the "common" distinction of business students, yet they choose to sub-divide further. lt can be argued that valuable contacts leading to post-graduate employment are made through these clubs; it can be argued that Chicano or Black students have problems not usually affecting whites (such as being victimized by racial discrimination on a conscious or unconscious basis, or a poorly-educated "inner city school" background; it can also be argued that these racially-divided clubs arose in response to insensitivity and non-accommodation by the earlier-existing predominantly white clubs

What I personally cannot justify is the lack of communication and exchange of services between these types of organizations. This lack of exchange results in wasted resources through duplication of services, increased social (racial) separation, misunderstandings, and what I refer to as "hardening of the attitudes." Why is it necessary that there be three separate accounting tutoring labs -- each staffed separately by each club? Why are all Charity Fundraisers done on an individual group basis? Why are there no "joint" club parties? The potential for duplication and misunderstandings is obvious -- less obvious is the "hardening of the attitudes." If a person grows up in a racially or culturally isolated neighborhood, it is possible he will attend K-12 still in racial isolation. College is usually the "last chance" to reformulate attitudes and discard stereotypes for these persons. And if a person is isolated in college, what chance is there for growth of understanding and communication? This, to me, is the crux of the problem -- not the (valid) existence of the separated clubs, but that they are so self-contained as to allow almost complete insulation from the attitude-stretching that comes of mixed social interaction.

Every culture (majority or minority) is valid by definition, and deserving of preservation. Every group has a right to bond together in common identity. But in our diverse society, we must learn to work together, even while retaining our individuality, and to learn how is a process that takes time and effort. l feel that the excessive insulation (through "comfortable shelter") provided by the non-interaction of these groups short-circuits this learning process, laying the foundation for continued future racial and culture misunderstanding and separation.

Comments

Sample UDWPE paper C: a "5" paper

Due to the advanced state of industry a number of devices and machines have come into common use which, often through intentional misuse, result in very serious injuries. Two examples are the automobile and the gun. When a serious injury results from something such as an automobile accident the victim usually has a very short period in which to obtain emergency medical intervention before the shock resulting from his or her injuries is irreversible. Usually this period of time is not longer than one hour, and is often less. If measures to treat shock and the cause of the shock, massive internal bleeding for instance, are not instituted within this first hour after the injury the mortality rate increases exponentially every fifteen to twenty minutes.

The state of emergency medical care currently practiced in this community involves an excellent pre-hospital phase under the jurisdiction of Los Angeles City paramedics. The paramedics have jurisdiction of about thirty-five emergency rooms to which their patients can be transferred after beginning medical treatment at the scene of the accident. This is where the problem occurs. To provide the best possible emergency care at the hospital, two factors play an important part. First, the staff must work on at least two to three severely injured patients daily to maintain their technical skill at top level.Second, surgeons and operating rooms must be available within 15 minutes notice, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year. In the San Fernando Valley, this level of care is not met anywhere. In greater Los Angeles, this level of care is met at less than six hospitals. The problem involves too many emergency rooms for the population. The cost of maintaining an operating room on fifteen minute standby day and night would put hospitals out of business, since even the busiest hospitals only receive three to four severely injured patients each week. The patient load would not support the very high cost of this service.

The best remedy to this situation would be to designate "Trauma Centers". Instead of having thirty five emergency rooms taking care of the critically injured patients three or four selected emergency rooms would be geographically designated to receive all of the critical patients. This would provide enough of a case load to justify the special equipment and staff that is required for such system. Most importantly however, the morbidity and mortality rates from serious accidents would be decreased because the equipment and staff would be available to immediately treat a patient's shock as well as the underlying cause of the shock. By providing a higher quality of care without duplicating the services of an emergency room only a few blocks away, the rate of rising health costs could probable be effectively checked in the area of emergency medicine.

This entire argument can probably be summarized by considering a hypothetical case study. A young woman falls asleep at the wheel of her V.W. bug and crashes into a telephone pole. Paramedics arrive finding her unconscious and in a sever state of shock, although she is showing no evidence of external blood loss the paramedics begin to treat the shock, but not the unknown underlying cause, and bring her to the closest trauma center. The emergency room team, having seen eight or ten cases similar to this in the last few weeks recognize the few possible causes of the patients shock and prepare to take her to the operating room while continuing to treat the shock. Within fifteen minutes a surgeon has evaluated his patient, received the results of the lab test and X-Rays, and is confident in his diagnosis of a ruptured spleen. The laboratory has twelve units of cross matched blood ready within twenty minutes of the patients arrival to the hospital. Within thirty minutes of her arrival the patient has been taken to the operating room, had her abdomen open and explored for injuries, and her damaged spleen removed. The cause of her shock has been treated within forty five minutes, the shock reverses, and the patient now has about a ninety five per cent chance of recovery. The cost of this to her has been about two thirds of the old system and her chances of recovery, if this accident had occurred between 10 p.m. and 8 AM are twice that of the old system. The overall asset of this newer system to society is obvious.

Comments

Sample UDWPE paper D: a "4" paper

At the present moment most CSUN students consider the Northridge campus as a place for academics only. There is no sense of emotional attachment, no interest in being an active participate in the universities growth. Due to the large size of the university, most people readily accept their ID#, and complete their schooling as mechanically as that number. Classmates often don't know each others names even though they sit next to each other for a whole semester. And even if they pass one another in the hall, rarely is a smile exchanged.

It would be a very exciting and refreshing change if all students put forth that little bit of extra effort to make other students feel a welcome part of the campus, to take pride in CSUN. Since the size of the campus cannot be decreased to give that personalized feeling of belonging, it is up to the students attitudes to make the change. If all students gave out more smiles to strangers, or make an effort to allow a classmate who has been absent to copy class notes they would make a few more friends. Frequently people would attend more school sponsored events if clas s mates encouraged them, and wanted to see them there.

This change is desirable because it makes CSUN a more desirable to go to school, and enriches the lives of all participants. Everyone enjoys a friendly face and a word of encouragement and support. (especially after a difficult exam). By exposure and interaction with more people, the individual is able to grow in knowledge in more than academic directions. They are able to grow socially & develop other interests than their major. The individual whose an excited participant in school activities also has opportunities to develop life-long friends, for often there is not as great an exposure to people once a career is started.

Although CSUN is a large campus, there is no excuse for students to ananamously loose themselves among one another. By putting forth the effort to show interest in others and the growth of the college, many additional benefits can be derived.

COMMENTS